I Became an FFF-Rank Bread Shuttle
Do you know when a person's emotions get twisted the most?
Right in the throes of love and depression.
They seem like polar opposites, but look closely and they share something in common: the distortion of emotion and psyche. Unless someone's mind is already twisted to the extreme, those feelings give rise to thoughts that are completely out of character.
Kim Hyeongmin was no different.
His first love liked another guy? What could be sadder than that? Unrequited love threw his heart into chaos—especially when he'd been under the delusion that he held all the cards.
And so, around lunchtime, Kim Hyeongmin called for Han Sein. He told Jeong Ayeong to get lost for a bit, then began the most important task of all.
If he couldn't have Kang Hyeona… then why not just destroy her love?
Kim Hyeongmin wore a narcissistic smile. As expected, am I a genius?
Just do what he'd always done, the way he'd always done it. It was simpler than he thought. If Kang Hyeona bullied Han Sein, he wouldn't be able to like her, right? Kim Hyeongmin had never been bullied himself, but he knew enough that people hate those who hurt them. A simple fact. The corners of his mouth curled up in a sly grin.
"Looks like something good's happened?"
"Yeah."
Kang Hyeona brought Han Sein over with an air of indifference. She was beautiful and cool today, as always.
"Hi, Sein."
"Hi."
"Let's hang out a lot starting today. Got it?"
"…Sure."
Han Sein looked at him as if he didn't like him one bit. But Kim Hyeongmin wasn't the type to get offended by a look like that. He had a far grander, more brilliant plan in mind. He could overlook that level of resistance as mere cuteness, right?
"Hyeona, aren't you thirsty?"
"…A little?"
That was a keyword too—a kind of hint, a code. Kang Hyeona, who'd watched him for a long time, understood what he meant. But before her mouth could open, Kim Hyeongmin's voice came out faster. Not so much a rebuke as a change. Kim Hyeongmin, who'd always hidden in the shadows watching and enjoying from afar, had stepped onto the field and started moving. Slowly. Very slowly, he would break him—with his own hands, with his own mouth.
"Sein~"
"…Yeah."
His voice was sly. Bright and cheerful, trying to sound free of malice. In a tone that rose and fell, he mixed in a request that was hard to refuse.
"Could you go buy some bread and drinks for us?"
"……."
Silence. Kang Hyeona's heart began to race faster and faster. What if he resisted? If he clenched his teeth right here, veins bulging in his neck, and did his utmost to defy Kim Hyeongmin? She'd have to hit him. She didn't have a hobby of hitting guys. But she had to hit him. Knock him down, torment him. She had to make the person she liked suffer—not playful teasing with lines, but line-crossing violence. A trembling anxiety bloomed from deep within Kang Hyeona.
"I don't have money… If you give me some, I'll go buy it."
"Hmm…"
Thank goodness. Kang Hyeona's held breath finally escaped. She was truly relieved that Han Sein wasn't stupid—that he wasn't a fool who would charge headlong into an unavoidable situation.
"Alright. Here."
"Thanks."
"Three minutes."
"…?"
"Be back within that. You can do it, right? I'm really hungry."
Anxiety rose again, but it didn't spiral into an unmanageable situation. Kang Hyeona's lips quietly closed.
"Okay."
His mouth answered casually. But his eyes alone shone vividly. Even as he was being bullied, even as anxiety gradually engulfed him, those eyes of his never lost their light.
Thump, thump. Kang Hyeona's heart beat faster and faster. Her feelings for him began to grow larger and larger.
Jarvis, give me directions.
My name is not Jarvis.
Just trying it out, man.
…….
Lunch period itself was generous enough—about thirty minutes? But three minutes? That was a whole different story. I was going to lose my mind.
"Haa, haa…"
My heart hurt. The way it pounded felt all wrong. If this had been a normal body, it wouldn't have been a problem, right? Walking to the snack shop took five minutes. Running, assuming no crowds, would have been plenty of time. The problem was that I was weak.
Had I been running for a minute? Thirty seconds? I couldn't tell. The only certainty was that I was dying.
"Heuk, ha, heuut. Haaeut… haak, haa…"
Am I actually dying? The moment I stopped without meaning to, my vision swam. Dizzy, nauseous, barely able to keep myself upright.
"Haa, ah…"
Then a soft, yielding sensation brushed my side. Even as ragged breaths tore out of me, I slowly lifted my head and recognized the woman who had come up beside me.
"Haak, haa, K-Kang Hyeona…?"
"You're like this after running for a second?"
"Uh, uht, hht. Y-yeah… m-my body is a little… haa, ha… weak…"
"……."
The woman supporting my body was Kang Hyeona—an Important Soul.
There was something moving about the way Kang Hyeona handled people. Spending ten-odd years attending to one person was no easy feat. It took a sharp mind, real sense, and the broad patience to absorb every bit of bullshit thrown her way. In that regard, her potential had well and truly exploded once she became an academy student.
She was human too, after all—a person who moved according to her feelings. In the not-so-distant future she would have to torment him, yet the worry rising in her chest refused to be ignored no matter how hard she tried. Honestly, it was less worry than the desire to stay close to Han Sein for even a little longer. You could call it lying to herself. In other words, rationalization.
So Kang Hyeona worked her mouth hard.
"Where are you going?"
"I was thinking of going too."
"I told him to do it. Why?"
A cold voice. This was a man who, rumor had it, even martial artists couldn't beat inside the house. Kim Hyeongmin's eyes settled into a chill, and his lips jutted out like a duck's in clear displeasure. She had to handle this well. Kang Hyeona moved between desire and social survival. Her body prepared to head for the snack shop while her mouth worked to soothe Kim Hyeongmin's mood.
"You like cheese bread, right? You think he's going to buy that?"
"……."
A flinch. The corner of his mouth twitched. She had to match him this carefully—this exhaustingly. Even if she didn't curse him out in her head, the difficulty and discomfort were real.
"That and a picnic set—good?"
"Yeah…"
"I'll grab them separately with him. Just wait a bit."
"Fine."
A brief misunderstanding. Wasn't it true that friends who fought hard and then made up grew closer than friends who simply got along? Whether that was why or not, Kim Hyeongmin's expression melted into pure softness. With feelings for Kang Hyeona already in place, even a small favor made his heart flutter. That was just how people were.
Anyway—mission success. She'd wondered if she really had to go this far, but Kang Hyeona knew her place well. If you weren't outstanding, this was the kind of suffering you had to endure.
It was right after Han Sein left. The moment she descended the stairs, his back came into view. The way he ran looked awkward and precarious. The expressions on the nearby girls' faces rubbed her the wrong way—they passed by giggling with their friends, probably trading dirty talk. Kang Hyeona's mood soured.
In that instant—
"……!"
Kang Hyeona kicked off and shot forward. Her body raced at high speed. Wide strides and sharply driving legs closed the distance in no time. His running slowed. Then came a stagger worse than a walk. Han Sein's precarious body was literally on the verge of collapse. She stuck right to his side.
It felt like saving someone precious. Checking his condition took priority over noticing the body she was supporting and touching. Worry colored Kang Hyeona's gaze, and the sight of Han Sein slowly lifting his head was nothing short of stimulating. Sweat already beading even though he hadn't run far. Rough breaths riding the air. Trembling, precarious eyes and cheeks flushed red. As if proving how awkward and uncomfortable their relationship still was, his flustered voice reached her.
"Haak, haa, K-Kang Hyeona…?"
Words flickering inside her mouth. She still needed to censor them, though. Right now Kang Hyeona and Han Sein were nothing to each other. These feelings were hers alone. She sorted the flood of emotions rising in her chest, sorted them again, and held them on her tongue.
"You're like this after running for a second?"
"Uh, uht, hht. Y-yeah… m-my body is a little… haa, ha… weak…"
"……."
Even when she didn't want to think about it, Kim Hyeongmin rose naturally to mind—a body that was fine, a mind that was rotten. The kind who twisted desire into reality just to beg for attention. A classic villain. And then she took in the brilliant young man thrashing with everything he had to escape the situation he'd been given.
With a body this frail, he'd still covered for his seatmate without flinching? With a body that would topple from the lightest shove, that staggered as if it might collapse after running such a short distance—he'd still pushed his own will through?
Kang Hyeona's chest burned with a sharp ache. Maternal instinct, maybe? Women were supposed to carry responsibility and provide for their families. Every girl born in this country was raised that way, and Kang Hyeona had lived with that mindset too. Looking at Han Sein, that feeling naturally hardened into resolve.
I want to protect him. This man. Make him mine. Keep him by my side for life. I want to turn Han Sein into Kang Sein. I want to protect this brilliant person exactly as he shines.
A wish bloomed in Kang Hyeona's heart.
And then the crisis arrived.
"Haat, ha. Haa… I-I'm dizzy… j-just a little. Sorry. Just a little…"
Han Sein braced himself against her as if sinking into her arms. Their bodies pressed flush together. The hand around her waist was nothing more than a desperate struggle not to fall. Hot, ragged breaths swirled against Kang Hyeona's chest. A bird so frail it might break under the lightest force began to rest, leaning into the wolf's embrace.
"Heuut, heuu, haa…"
How that felt to the wolf was something no one else could know.