Meeting
Let's think about this rationally.
Rationally.
There was no way a fictional character from a manga or anime would come to wake him up.
But what if it actually happened?
Even if he didn't want to, he'd have to accept it.
That he'd been reincarnated into that very story.
The work he'd reincarnated into was none other than The Band ~Girls Do Band~, the manga and anime he'd loved so much.
Surprisingly, the body he'd possessed wasn't all that different from his previous life's—especially since the name and face were exactly the same, which raised some serious questions.
Whether it was coincidence or not remained a mystery, an unprecedented occult event with no clues whatsoever. Tae-il mulled over various doubts.
For example, what had happened to the original owner of this body?
Why, out of all the countless stories, had he ended up in the world of The Band ~Girls Do Band~?
Over ten years had passed since he'd been dropped into this miraculous world that wasn't so different from his previous life, yet his questions lingered unresolved. Sometimes, the whole thing felt so unreal that he wondered if he had truly been possessed or reincarnated.
Questions like these never stopped popping up.
Did I die?
His previous life hadn't been particularly long, and there was no trace of death in his memories.
If he really had died, that would mean he'd gone young.
Whoa, come to think of it, I died without even going to the army.
As he reminisced on this previous life—unclear if it was a gain or a loss—a rattling sound reached his ears. Soon after, light footsteps and a presence approached.
Tae-il's eyebrows twitched slightly.
He sensed it instinctively.
The school's secret weapon dispatched to disrupt his precious nap had arrived.
"Haa."
A faint sigh echoed unusually loudly on the quiet rooftop. The intruder approached with narrow steps, thudding steadily toward Tae-il.
Tae-il tried to keep pretending to sleep right up to the end.
"Shin-zzang! Skipping class on the rooftop again?"
A sweet yet exasperated voice tickled Tae-il's ear affectionately.
Tae-il turned his back to the voice, desperately ignoring the unwelcome interrupter of his nap.
"Ignoring me? Then Ayane has no choice but to think for herself?"
The nap-ruiner snatched away his eyemask-cum-notebook.
The intense summer sunlight pierced through his eyelids, making Tae-il grimace involuntarily.
"Urgh…."
Tae-il rubbed his eyelids gingerly.
He cracked his eyes open and looked at the interrupter who had ruined his nap.
His gaze met that of a girl in a black sailor uniform, crouched by his head.
She beamed at him.
"All woken up now?"
Tae-il refused to communicate, closing his eyelids in response instead of answering.
The midsummer sun blazed directly overhead, its rays overwhelmingly strong. The girl giggled at Tae-il groaning under the harsh light and poked his side playfully.
"Shin-zzang. Still not awake? Want a kiss?"
"I'm up. Wide awake, thanks to you."
Tae-il snapped irritably as he spoke, and she pouted in clear disappointment.
But the disappointment soon melted into a bright smile.
Tae-il didn't notice.
The green afterimage flickering in his eyes stubbornly hid her expression.
"Ahh, my eyes hurt like hell. If I go blind, it's all your fault, Ayane."
"Heeheehee. Serves you right for skipping."
Tae-il shut his mouth, unable to counter the irrefutable truth.
"And even if Shin-zzang goes blind, it's fine. Ayane will take care of you. Food, laundry—everything!"
"You're saying some scary shit, kid."
His vision finally clearing, Tae-il sighed as he saw Ayane smiling like a flower.
Katsuragi Ayane.
One of the four main heroines of The Band ~Girls Do Band~, and Tae-il's childhood friend of over ten years.
"What period is it now…?"
"Still a ways till lunch, so get up quick, Shin-zzang."
Ayane dusted off her butt as she stood and extended her hand as if saying, take it.
Tae-il hesitated at the sight of her slender, delicate hand that felt like it had no strength at all.
Just yank her down?
The temptation to drag his childhood friend into nap hell rose slyly. But ruining his own reputation was one thing—tarnishing someone else's went against his principles.
His dilemma remained just that—a dilemma.
Tae-il obediently accepted Ayane's help and stood up.
But his head still throbbed from the prolonged exposure to the blazing sun, so he leaned against the chain-link fence like he was collapsing.
The fence rattled with a pleasant clink.
"You okay?"
Tae-il nodded faintly at Ayane's worried question.
Unlike the ondol-heated floor, the chain-link felt nicely cool.
Tae-il relaxed his lips at the refreshing sensation against his back.
"Shin-zzang. You pulled an all-nighter again, didn't you?"
Ayane, who had been watching him silently, spotted the dark circles under his eyes and closed the distance casually. She pressed right up against him, rubbing his cheek without a hint of reserve.
It was the kind of thing that should fluster anyone, but Tae-il took it in stride.
"Eh, it just kinda happened."
It wasn't because years as childhood friends made her feel less like the opposite sex or anything ridiculous like that.
He'd just gotten used to it a bit.
Even so, prolonged contact made even Tae-il—who prided himself on his mature mindset—succumb to basic physiology, so he subtly grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away.
Ayane pouted inwardly in disappointment.
Her childhood friend missed the look, averting his gaze to avoid meeting her eyes.
Though she probably wouldn't have minded if he noticed.
"Shin-zzang. You know what they say? Teens who don't sleep properly during growth spurts don't grow tall."
"Yeah?"
Tae-il brushed off the jab at his male pride with indifference.
His height in his previous life hadn't topped 170cm.
Back in Korea, his short stature had felt humiliating, but in Japan, he realized he wasn't that small and relaxed a bit.
Plus, his current height was 172cm— a whopping 2cm taller than before!
Even with a more irregular lifestyle than his previous life, he'd grown 2cm more!
Ayane's advice fell flat on Tae-il, who had already surpassed his past self.
"Anyway, proper sleep patterns are essential for diligent school life. Got it?"
"Maybe I should cut back on coffee and energy drinks…."
"Shin-zzang, that's caffeine addiction. Bad for your health."
Ayane placed her hands on her hips, lecturing him to avoid habits that disrupted daily life.
"It's great that Shin-zzang enjoys his hobbies, but a student's duty is studying. Right?"
In short: please stop skipping, for fuck's sake.
Tae-il rebelled timidly.
"Can't you let it slide since I get good grades even when I skip?"
"I'll let it slide if you don't flunk Japanese Lit and History!"
"So you're not letting it slide…."
Tae-il sighed openly and picked up his bag from the floor.
"A student's duty is studying~."
Ayane hummed it like she'd discovered a fun rhythm, turning it into a song.
Tae-il wanted to argue that, counting his previous life, he was already pushing 40 with over 30 years under his belt—but one look at her beaming smile shut him up obediently.
Well, for a 30-something, she's basically a kid herself.
As with typical reincarnation clichés, he'd often been called a genius or told he was mature beyond his years as a child.
Now, he was just treated like a second-year high school syndrome patient.
The expectations had faded, but Tae-il preferred it that way. Being seen as a weirdo was less stressful than false hopes.
Or, put differently, it was escapism.
"Shin-zzang! Hurry up! Keep dawdling and I'll dock points under morals committee authority!"
Seeing him lag, Ayane whined to get going already.
She even tried a scary face for her "threat."
But a kitten baring its teeth only made him want to laugh.
"Got it. Got it, so slow down a bit."
"No way. You think Ayane doesn't know you're scheming to miss even a minute of class?"
"Is that my image?"
"Yup!"
Ayane declared it firmly.
Blame Tae-il's poor image management. Since teasing her since childhood, she'd come to "trust" him in the weirdest ways.
Tae-il always had to add a few words to correct misunderstandings.
Like now.
"I'm not planning to run, especially not from you of all people. Relax."
"R-Really? As expected, only Ayane can track down Shin-zzang! Ehehehe."
Ayane smiled innocently at his response.
For a moment, a base urge whispered, pat that fluffy head!
Pat pat.
The ultimate protagonist move that always showed up once in rom-coms and harem stories.
But unlike in fiction, real girls apparently didn't like it much. Some hated messing up their hair; others felt patronized like dogs.
If the reaction was good, it was because she liked you that much—or your looks made it believable.
Tae-il knew this.
But a thief who learns late doesn't know dawn. Late-bloomer otaku culture had thoroughly corrupted him. He was a full-fledged otaku now.
And like any otaku's reason, his crumbled powerlessly before desire.
The problem was mindlessly patting her head as a kid in this manga world.
For whatever reason, Ayane loved it more than expected, and Tae-il enjoyed experiencing the fantasy for real.
Win-win.
They'd tacitly agreed to this embarrassing skinship whenever bored.
Only possible because they were picture-perfect childhood friends.
These days, though, she'd grown shy and never asked for it.
To clarify: not less, but zero.
Leaving habituated Tae-il suffering withdrawal.
As he eyed his unsatisfied right hand, Ayane yanked his arm.
"Come on! Let's go to class."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Answer once!"
Exchanging their now-familiar manga-style banter, Tae-il slung his bag over his shoulder obediently. Ayane led the way down the rooftop stairs.
"Seriously. You know Ayane gets called to the teachers every day because of you?"
"If it's such a hassle, just ignore me and live your life."
"How could Ayane do that? We're inseparable childhood friends!"
Tae-il halted abruptly.
Inseparable childhood friends.
A term he'd never had in his previous life, now utterly familiar.
Ayane's gaze toward him differed slightly from typical opposite-sex friends.
Just like in the original, her mental fragility hadn't changed much as a child. Tae-il naturally stayed by her side, watching to keep her fragile heart from breaking. She leaned on him as if it were natural.
She'd improved now, but back then, she clung like a cicada, drawing teasing from other kids.
Tae-il blamed himself, thinking it was because he was Korean.
Kids are innocent.
Unable to discern right from wrong, they speak their minds bluntly.
Thus, they don't hesitate with words that might hurt.
The attacks made young Ayane shrink further, deepening her timid reliance on her childhood friend Tae-il.
A vicious cycle.
She was much better now.
The Katsuragi Ayane who hid in her shell, walled off from everyone, was gone.
She had grown.
Unlike the original, she no longer rejected others—instead, she approached more proactively.
Tae-il felt proud of his friend's growth, yet worry crept in.
Time flew; high school first-year summer approached.
High school first-year summer. The original timeline loomed.
Will it be okay?
Now, of all times.
Tae-il began regretting the cracks he'd put in the original story.
Noticing his change, Ayane peered at his face worriedly.
Tae-il silently accepted her touch.
"Lately, Shin-zzang's been weird…."
"Have I?"
"You keep trying to distance yourself from Ayane."
He feigned nonchalance, but the direct hit made Tae-il swallow dryly. As she puffed her cheeks and glared, her amber eyes sparkled.
Tae-il felt himself being sucked into those eyes. Finally, her gaze too intense, he whipped his head away.
Not forgetting to grumble: damn pretty like a manga character.
She ranked below Iris among the four heroines, but to Tae-il, they were equals—just different flavors—eclipsing most celebrities or idols.
Iris was sexier; Ayane, cuter.
"Ah, avoiding my eyes again! That's why you can't make friends, Shin-zzang. Ayane's told you a million times: look people in the eye when talking."
"You've got me as a friend. More would just be a hassle."
Tae-il scratched his head lazily.
He'd tried making friends. Parents worry if their kid's a loner, so he'd made efforts.
To him, friends were insurance.
Considering the original, he couldn't stick to Ayane forever in high school. He wanted an escape route prepared. It failed, though.
He'd had friends in his previous life.
In short, he wasn't antisocial or a total outcast.
Yet here, sans Ayane, he had none—purely because making Japanese friends as a Korean was tough.
Ayane, oblivious to his struggles, flushed beet red.
"What's up?"
Tae-il stared blankly, and she hurriedly schooled her expression.
"W-Well, can't be helped! For now, Ayane's your only friend. Nyahaha!"
"Me?"
Ayane's speech slipped; her self-reference became "me."
Unaware, she clanked down the stairs like an unoiled robot.
She looked dangerously unsteady, so Tae-il grabbed her hand first.
"Hieeek!"
He'd only meant to steady her.
But Ayane shuddered like she'd been shocked.
"Ayane, you'll trip and freeze up again."
"N-No I won't! The invincible morals committee member Ayane has no weaknesses!"
"Sure. Just hold tight so you don't fall."
Full of openings to anyone, but Tae-il played along for her sake.
"For real!"
"Yeah, yeah."
Leading her like coaxing a child, she grumbled but never shook off his hand.
Instead, she sidled closer, pretending otherwise.
Their right and left arms brushed.
Unlike Ayane's pounding heart in the romantic moment, Tae-il furrowed his brow.
Kinda annoying.
His eyes fixed on the armband reading Morals Committee rubbing against his clothes.
In the original, Ayane was in the Library Committee.
But this Ayane proudly wore the morals committee armband.
The Morals Committee had a peculiar ring to it.
In light novels, the ones guarding morals were often the first to wreck them.
Even in The Band ~Girls Do Band~, they're far from actual morals.
Villains skilled at snowballing rather than cleanup.
In The Band ~Girls Do Band~, the morals committee constantly obstructed the four heroines.
Partly because Iris caused incidents daily, but mostly grudge-fueled overreactions turning everything into conflict.
Of course, as a student-run group like the student council, immaturity and emotions were expected.
The original committee even grew and parted amicably with the heroines later.
Tae-il glanced sideways at Ayane.
She noticed and stared back.
"What, Shin-zzang?"
"Nothing. Suits you. The armband."
"Really? Other committee members say Ayane lacks dignity. As expected of Shin-zzang!"
She sparkled with trust and joy.
Tae-il, uncomfortable with her delight, averted his eyes again.
His mind was a mess.
Original destruction kept circling his thoughts.
In the original, Ayane lived a gray, drawn life as a high school girl.
Before meeting Iris, no friends, bottom grades, no dreams—just vaguely liking music, a gloomy girl.
Now, top grades, morals committee member, beloved by all.
Tae-il was happy for her as a friend, yet the thought of destroying the original bred endless anxiety.
The unstarted story's ruin gifted him boundless torment.
The culprit behind it all remained annoyingly nonchalant.
Infuriating.
"Ow!"
So he flicked her forehead with a knuckle rap.
"That hurts, Shin-zzang!"
"Sorry."
No ulterior motives. None at all.
Probably.