A Savior in the Rain
I saved the heroine of an erotic game. I convinced myself that everything I did was solely for Jo Ayoung's sake.
After all, if the only future awaiting her was a miserable, utterly horrific ending, wouldn't it be better if I claimed her first? If I helped her experience a normal, ordinary romance instead? That was the thought that drove my actions.
There was absolutely no other emotion mixed into it.
...Really, there wasn't.
With those thoughts in mind, I watched the students trickling out of the auditorium after the freshman orientation ended.
"Seriously, she's so annoying."
"Total fox."
"Did you see how she wore her uniform so short on purpose? She was totally loving the attention from the guys."
"She did the exact same thing at her old school... Ugh."
It was playing out exactly like the plot of the game.
Every single girl leaving the auditorium was badmouthing Jo Ayoung, who had unwittingly stolen the gaze of every male student inside with her naturally provocative figure.
And among them, one girl—clearly the type to take things too far—seemed to have more than just petty gossip on her mind.
Instead of heading straight to her assigned classroom, she lingered outside the auditorium doors, her face twisted in a nasty scowl as she waited for someone.
How much time had passed?
Just as the majority of the students were filing downstairs toward the classrooms, Jo Ayoung, who had stayed behind to gather her award certificates, stepped outside—only to be instantly cornered by a group of girls. She froze, utterly bewildered.
"U-um... did you need something from me?"
Ayoung forced the gentlest expression she could muster, clearly trying her best to avoid any trouble with them.
"Did we need something?"
"Ha... look at this girl."
The girls, who looked like seasoned delinquents, shoved Ayoung against the hallway wall and began to badger her.
"Hey, did you come to this academy just to seduce guys?"
The one who spoke first was a fierce-looking girl with bleached blonde hair and multiple ear piercings.
Ayoung shook her head, opening her mouth to deny it, but—
Yank!
"Kyaaa... Ahhh!"
Before she could even speak, the ringleader violently yanked the collar of Ayoung's white shirt.
"Look at this."
She poked at the taut fabric stretched over Ayoung's chest, sneering.
"And you're still going to deny it? Huh?!"
Poke, poke.
The shirt, already tight to begin with, was pulled upward until a button popped off. Through the gap, her pale, milky skin spilled into view.
"Must be nice, Ayoung~ Having tits like these and wearing clothes this tight on purpose. No wonder the guys are drooling over you."
Ayoung shook her head frantically, squirming to break free from the girl's grip on her shirt.
But her struggles only stretched the fabric further, and the collar slipped completely off her shoulder.
Revealing her pristine white bra, a stark symbol of her innocence.
"L-let go of me...!"
Even Ayoung, who had been resisting as meekly as possible, panicked at the sudden exposure of her underwear. She desperately tried to cover herself.
But...
"Why? Isn't this exactly what you wanted?!"
The girls surrounding her only grew more aggressive.
"Do you remember what happened before? When my boyfriend confessed to you?"
"I-I never..."
Ayoung squeaked in a trembling voice, but the girls scoffed at her denial and pressed harder.
"She's seriously delusional."
"You were giggling and acting like an idiot after Uchan confessed to you back then..."
At that, Ayoung shouted back for the first time.
"I never did that!!!"
Her voice was thick with genuine, agonizing frustration.
"W-why does this always happen to me? I never wanted any of this... Why are you doing this to me?"
Large, tear-filled eyes looked on the verge of spilling over.
Normally, regardless of how pitiful she looked, this erotic game—whose sole purpose was to break characters and subject them to humiliation—would have had these girls torment Ayoung endlessly, eventually calling in some older thugs to finish the job.
But there was one crucial difference from the original game: I was standing right here, watching it all unfold.
Slowly, I began to step into the narrative.
They say life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain...
That was what a counselor had told Ayoung back when she was struggling under the weight of relentless bullying.
She had said that even the harshest rain would eventually make the soil fertile, helping Ayoung grow into a wonderful person.
But those sweet, empty words were not enough to sustain her...
The reality Ayoung faced was far too precarious.
"Who do you think you are, raising your voice?!"
The girl—who seemed to hate her for no reason at all, and had gone so far as to tear Ayoung's shirt and expose her underwear—did not stop there. She continued to torment her.
"If you hate the attention so much, maybe you should dress properly! Huh?!"
It wasn't as if Ayoung hadn't thought about that.
She knew better than anyone that tight, form-fitting clothes accentuated her body and drew the lecherous gazes of men.
But if she wore larger sizes to accommodate her still-growing breasts and hips, the loose fabric would slip and slide whenever she moved too quickly.
To her, looking provocative was the lesser of two evils.
Having her clothes slip off in public, exposing her bare skin and underwear for all to see, was a humiliating memory she never wanted to relive.
Haunted by that trauma, Ayoung had always preferred clothes that were slightly tight but secure, rather than loose garments that might slip down.
She had chosen her uniform based on that same logic, but the problem was that the uniform turned out even smaller than she had anticipated.
To the other students, who knew nothing of her circumstances, she might have looked like a girl desperate for male attention. But to Ayoung, it was nothing but a curse.
It felt as if the world existed solely to make her miserable; no matter what she did, things never turned out right.
Her clothes were always either too tight or too loose. The boys fantasized about her body, and the girls hated her for seemingly baiting that attention on purpose. It was a never-ending cycle.
But today, it was harder to bear than ever.
Please stop. Please, anyone...
She desperately wished for someone to suddenly appear and save her.
Yet, deep down, she already knew. In her entire life, no one had ever come to rescue her in moments like this.
Just as she was about to give up and let go of everything—
"Hey. Why don't you cut it out?"
A boy's voice echoed from down the hallway.
The group of girls and Ayoung snapped their heads toward the sound.
"You're taking it too far."
Standing at the end of the corridor was a male student. He wore a black hoodie over his school shirt, looking on with an indifferent expression.
Sharp eyes peered out from beneath slightly messy black hair, and his tall frame commanded attention.
"Who do you think you are?!"
"Yeah, why are you sticking your nose in our business?!"
Startled by the sudden intruder, the girls tried to snap back defensively, but—
"......"
As the boy approached them with a cold, expressionless face, they instinctively shrank back.
"...We'll deal with you later."
Leaving Ayoung behind, they scurried away in a panic.
It was a surprisingly anticlimactic end.
The boy watched the fleeing girls for a moment before turning his gaze to Ayoung.
Feeling his eyes on her, Ayoung hurriedly bowed.
"T-thank you so much."
Hearing her formal tone, the boy let out a soft chuckle.
"I'm in the same year as you. You don't have to be so formal."
At his words, a memory flashed in Ayoung's mind—the boy she had briefly locked eyes with inside the auditorium.
"Ah... you're..."
Ayoung tried to piece her thoughts together to continue, but before she could, the boy reached out.
"Before that, shouldn't you cover yourself up? I mean, I don't mind, but..."
...What doesn't he mind?
Dazed by his baffling remark, Ayoung stood frozen for a second before following his gaze downward.
Her shirt was torn so badly it could barely be called clothing anymore. It had slipped all the way down past her navel, completely failing to cover her.
"D-don't look!"
Her face flushed crimson as she frantically yanked the shirt back up to her shoulders. Squeezing her eyes shut, she whimpered,
"W-what do I do?"
If she went back to the classroom looking like this, it would cause another massive scene. The sheer panic made her mind go completely blank.
Just then, she heard the soft rustle of fabric being pulled off.
Startled, Ayoung opened her eyes.
"Here. Do you want to wear this for now?"
The boy was holding out his black hoodie to her.