Resolve
When the house beyond the ridge came into view, the sun had already set, ushering in evening.
Normally, Tae-il, who wasn't very active, wouldn't feel hungry yet at this hour.
Gurgle.
But today was different.
Ayane poked her head out at the sound from beside him.
"Shin-chan, hungry?"
"It's already dinnertime."
Was it because he'd met Iris, one of the main heroines of the original story, and exhausted his mental energy?
Tae-il rubbed his stomach, which was already crying out for food.
"Gonna wash up first, right, Shin-chan?"
"Yeah."
Tae-il answered weakly.
The hunger he'd just felt had drained a huge chunk of energy from his body.
"Don't you need me to bring anything over?"
"Nah, it's fine! Your house is full of retort pouches anyway, right?"
"I have convenience store bentos too."
"Ayane gets mad?"
Ayane puffed out her cheeks like a threatening pufferfish.
She didn't like that Tae-il insisted on buying convenience store bentos when he could just eat at her house. She wanted him to treat her family like his own, but it felt like he was always keeping his distance.
Of course, Tae-il had his excuses.
"I gotta eat breakfast too..."
"We go to school together anyway—can't you eat breakfast at my place?"
"How could I? That'd be imposing."
"It's not imposing!"
"I feel bad about it."
No matter how close they were, mooching two meals a day at someone else's house was something Tae-il could never accept.
If he were originally from this manga world, maybe.
But Tae-il remembered his past life—he was an impurity from the outside world. In his common sense, even with close neighbors, freeloading was limited to once or twice. Anything more was imposing.
Ayane seemed to think differently, though.
"Muu. It's really fine..."
"Just hold back a bit."
He sometimes found Ayane's tantrums like this troublesome.
With no choice, Tae-il patted her head.
Ayane no longer demanded it herself, but head pats were still effective. Proof: the sulking Ayane suddenly went quiet.
"...Does Shin-chan think Ayane's some convenient pet that does whatever if you just pat her head?"
"As if."
If he thought that, he never would've gone through the hassle of turning her into a social butterfly—cutting off her reliance on him alone and blocking her from others.
What, is she some yandere or something...?
Male yanderes are a sin.
Tae-il shook his head, banishing the image of himself restraining Ayane with dead eyes.
"Anyway, it's really not like that."
"I know. Ayane trusts Shin-chan, after all."
Tae-il smiled faintly at his childhood friend's trust.
"Someone who says they trust me shouldn't pout like that."
"Ah, I wasn't!"
Ayane flared up and swatted his hand away.
She regretted it a beat too late with an oh no, but Tae-il just grinned without a care.
Tch...
Ayane sulked, feeling like she was the only one overthinking it.
"Gonna wash up right away?"
"Gonna rest a bit first. Why, need help with homework again?"
"Today's homework is Japanese history?"
"Eek!"
It was one of Tae-il's few weaknesses.
Like a guy, he could follow up to the Warring States period somehow, but after the Tokugawa shogunate, Japanese history lost all appeal fast.
Just like how most students lose interest in Korean history after the modern era—he'd completely lost his passion for it.
"What about your homework, Shin-chan?"
"Same as usual: workbook problems and note-taking."
"That's unfair!"
Ayane vented her frustration.
Coincidentally, the Japanese history teacher in Tae-il's class was the type who didn't assign homework.
Instead, they made exams brutally hard, earning infamy among upperclassmen.
"If it's unfair, transfer to Class 7, the free class."
"Even if Ayane wanted to, the teachers wouldn't let her?"
Ayane was in Class 2. Classes 1 through 4 were college prep classes—full of top students aiming for university.
Classes 5 through 8 were colloquially "free classes," where the original Ayane belonged—lots of specials and club-focused kids.
Tae-il, with no college ambitions and no club activities, just heading straight home, was a rare case.
Guys like that don't come to Yuuma in the first place.
For reference, all The Band ~Girls Do Band~ original characters except Iris were in free classes.
"You won't go to college prep even after promotion, right, Shin-chan?"
"Probably not? No reason to. If a guy like me went, it'd ruin the study vibe—imposing, right?"
"Ayane worries that Shin-chan thinks too negatively about himself."
Tae-il held back at Ayane's concern.
He didn't think he'd stay in Japan forever. His parents were both working, often away—frequent business trips as employees of a Korean company.
His parents in his past life had done the same.
Thanks to that, he'd moved a lot as a kid, making it hard to make friends at school.
Just when he'd bond with someone, they'd leave.
For some reason, this life's parents hadn't dragged him around. He was curious but didn't ask—afraid it'd open Pandora's box. Afraid he'd wake from this dreamlike world back to gray reality.
He had to admit it.
Tae-il liked this world now.
And for him to like it, there had to be Katsuragi Ayane as its gear.
Tae-il didn't know.
That he depended on her more than she did on him.
So he always pretended otherwise, tormented by anxiety and stress.
No word from his parents yet, but they could move anytime.
Naturally, he leaned toward Korea for college prep.
Preparing for overseas admissions to brace for sudden goodbyes.
Unlike Ayane, who'd never once imagined them apart.
"It's been six years since you started freeloading dinner at our house."
"Yeah. Already that long."
"At this point, aren't we basically family?"
"Yeah?"
In fact, Tae-il was half-treated like a Katsuragi family kid.
"So eating breakfast together isn't weird, right?"
"It is."
"Why!"
What's the difference!
Ayane felt like she'd die of injustice before their clashing common senses.
"Shin-chan's a wallflower!"
"Mm-hm. A real man needs some stubborn pride."
"Taking that as a compliment!?"
Tae-il covered his mouth, stifling chuckles.
Her exaggerated Japanese mannerisms still made his toes curl and gave him the urge to smack her—but he'd learned the truth: pretty people pull it off.
Fine, forgiven! If you're mad, get prettier or handsomer!
Gurgle.
"Haha. Laughing made me hungrier. Take responsibility for my stomach, Ayane."
"R-Responsibility!?"
Ayane's cheeks flushed.
"H-How? Should I prepare a marriage certificate right now?"
"Why a certificate? Just make tamagoyaki."
"Muu. Ayane's not a tamagoyaki shuttle..."
Ayane made killer tamagoyaki, thanks to her sushi chef dad.
And Tae-il loved kimchi jjigae.
Tamagoyaki with kimchi jjigae was gospel to him.
"Don't wanna, don't have to."
"I'll do it..."
Tae-il grinned at Ayane's deflated enthusiasm.
Comfortable.
With Iris, he'd been so anxious and unsettled.
Is this what family feels like?
When not stressing over the original plot, Tae-il showed his true teasing friend side.
Ayane preferred that Tae-il much more.
He treated her truly at ease.
Never showed it to others.
Made her feel one-of-a-kind.
Like I'm the only one he handles with care...
Ayane's cheeks burned. She fanned herself against the heat.
Still summer. That's why it's hot. Yeah. Definitely.
"See ya later."
"Yeah!"
They parted at the house entrance.
Up in his room, Tae-il flopped onto the bed without turning on the light.
"Haa. Tired."
He wanted to just sleep like this.
But closing his eyes brought back Iris's face vividly. And the thin book on The Band ~Girls Do Band~ he'd pretended not to look up in his past life.
Great imagination was sometimes poison.
His lower half ached.
Tae-il was dying.
"Aaa. Was fine with Ayane, but..."
Like being bewitched by a succubus. Today he finally got why Iris's scenes always had guys hitting on her nonstop.
Any guy would want to confess to a beauty like that at least once, rejection be damned.
At least it'd mean one-on-one time with her.
At such a virgin thought, Tae-il kicked the blanket.
"Auuugh! Fucking hell!"
He punched the pillow in pointless rage.
Hoping for some relief, but no dice. He shook it, snapped back to reality, and collapsed again.
"I'm a full citizen of this world now."
Self-mocking, he stared blankly at the ceiling. The once-unfamiliar ceiling was now familiar. Like the saying, humans adapt—he was proudly part of this world now, original plot be damned.
He tried accepting it calmly, but deep down, something braked: This isn't reality.
Twisted the original with good intentions, but now as it kicked off, he regretted it.
"What an idiot..."
Self-loathing, he closed his eyes—and today's encounter etched clear in the dark.
Arisugawa Iris.
Her jewel-red eyes seemed to suck him in; conversely, her cherry-moist lips made him want to devour hers right then.
"Going insane."
Tae-il shook his head to dispel the fantasy.
"What's the difference anyway?"
Ayane was no slouch in looks.
Under his delicate care, she'd bloomed prettier than in the original—not an exaggeration.
Each petal of Ayane's flower made him praise the author who'd left her backstory.
He'd even secretly snapped growth photos, feeling proud.
"Ah, maybe that's why?"
Familiar faces make changes hard to notice.
Tae-il was used to Ayane's beauty. To him, she was reality; original Ayane, just a benchmark.
"Still too much..."
How often to meet to get used to Iris? Could he even? Maybe never meeting was better?
Thoughts spun like a hamster wheel.
Eyes shut, she appeared; he tried erasing her, but her voice tickled his ears like hallucination, mocking him.
After tormenting under Iris's phantom for ages,
"Gonna wash up first..."
Feeling self-pity at the night-bloom scent on his nose, he shuffled to the shower.