Scandal (2)

"Hello?"

"Ah, hello."

Mun Su-rin had her platinum-blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, and true to her office as student council president, she was in uniform. I kept my gaze locked on her face, concentrating so my eyes wouldn't wander.

"I can sit here, right?"

"Ah — yes. Of course."

She's sitting with me? Just like that?

Mun Su-rin paid no mind to how flustered I was. She set her clutch on the neighboring seat as if it were the most natural thing in the world, then hung her coat over the back of the chair.

"You like that, huh?"

"Pardon?"

"The Claire Rose Latte. The owner told me nobody besides me ever orders it. He was going to take it off the menu, then he saw my face and decided to keep it. Finding out someone else actually orders it too… I'm oddly happy about that."

"Ah… yeah. I like it. That spicy kick at the end is seriously addictive."

"Right? Right? Why doesn't anyone else know how good this is?"

Sluurp.

Watching her order two Claire Rose Lattes and slurp them down with little pull-and-suck sounds while grumbling between sips was, against all odds, cute. Part of me wanted to just hand her mine.

Her affection had gone up by five since the last time we'd met. I hadn't done a thing. So why was it climbing?

"Sorry about the cafeteria earlier. I wanted to talk with you, Ho-yeon, but that place draws far too many eyes."

"No, it's fine. I was the rude one last time. I never imagined you were the student council president."

"It's alright. We were both at fault, so let's just leave it there."

Su-rin leaned forward and locked eyes with me. Her face was suddenly close enough that I jerked my head back without thinking.

"W-why are you doing that?"

"It's strange. We've only seen each other a handful of times, but whenever I look at you, I feel this ease — like we've been friends for years."

"..."

The heroine mindset is fully locked in. That was the only explanation I had. If she already felt familiar with me, I wasn't about to complain. It made the route that much easier.

"Ah — then you can drop the formalities. I'm only a first-year, after all."

"Yeah? Then I'll talk casual. You do the same, Ho-yeon."

"Understood, President."

"I said be casual. We're only two years apart."

"Still, I can't just talk that way to the president…"

She pinned me with a look of pure dissatisfaction.

"Here. Repeat after me. Noo. Na."

"Noo… na."

"Heheh… ahem. Yes. Just call me noona. Su-rin noona is even better."

"Okay. Got it, Su-rin noona."

"Kh-heh…"

Every time I said noona, she clamped a hand over her mouth and twisted in her seat like some returning senior who'd just been called oppa by a freshman girl.

Why is this so easy? Mun Su-rin…

One word. Noona. And she was down for the count. Had I ever made a girl smile just by calling her that? I felt oddly proud of myself, watching her hide a glowing smile behind her hand.

Click!

A shutter snapped from the direction of the floor-to-ceiling windows. I turned, and a man wrapped head to toe in a black coat was already sprinting away into the distance.

"Hey — that bastard."

I shot to my feet to go after him.

"It's fine. Sit down, Ho-yeon."

"Why? That's a paparazzo. If I go now I can still catch him."

Mage route or not, there was no world in which I couldn't run down an ordinary person on foot.

"That guy isn't a civilian. Even if you caught him, he'd just deny he took anything. And a single photo of me sitting with a guy isn't enough to do real damage anyway. It's fine."

She already sounded like she'd given up on it.

"Wait — not a civilian? An awakened person is doing paparazzi work? Does this happen to you a lot?"

"Yeah. I stopped counting. It's not like I'm a celebrity. I never thought I'd have to worry about this kind of thing."

Su-rin let out a long breath and went back to sucking on her Claire Rose Latte.

The Stalker Incident. It's about to start.

The main event of Mun Su-rin's route. It looked like the Stalker Incident was finally spinning up. In the original, the protagonist worked through the case alongside her, and the two of them grew closer in the process. I already knew who the stalker was — but they hadn't attached themselves to her yet. If I stepped in now, I'd just look like a lunatic.

"Anyway, I saw that one-on-one sparring video. You're pretty good."

"Sorry? How did you even see that?"

"It was up on Everyday. So they posted it without your permission."

My video making the rounds wasn't what mattered. What mattered was the main event — the Stalker Incident. I had to get involved. Not at the start, either. I needed to step in around the time Su-rin was worn down and struggling. I felt bad thinking it, but that was how you made the route easier.

"…It's fine. Um, noona. If anything comes up."

"Hm?"

"If you ever need help, tell me right away. I'll do whatever I can. You've seen it yourself — I'm not completely useless."

"Hehe. Okay. Thanks."

She was looking at me the way you'd look at a little brother who'd grown up overnight into someone dependable. It was kind of embarrassing.

"I should get going, then. Su-rin noona."

"Yeah. Get home safe. Ah — wait!"

She rummaged through her clutch, pulled something out, and held it toward me.

"Give me your number before you leave."

Everyday. The online community used by the students of Victoria Academy. Awakened-related news, guild intel, newly appeared dungeons — useful information circulated freely among the cadets. And of course, it had a free board. On Wednesday night, a single post turned the entire forum upside down.

The post had almost no text — just a single photograph sitting there by itself. Mun Su-rin covering her mouth with one hand, laughing, and across from her, a young man smiling back. Anyone looking at it would have sworn they were a couple enjoying a date. The post blew past five hundred upvotes and locked itself to the very top of Everyday's feed.

One otherwise unremarkable post dropped onto the quiet community like a meteor, and it spread at a terrifying speed.

Lee Ho-yeon. He had caught the eyes of the faculty and Elise when he took down a Rank 7 Scrap Iron Giant during the last exam, but most of the student body still had no idea who he was. A one-on-one sparring video against Lucy had gone up, but almost nobody knew the boy in it was Lee Ho-yeon.

The ones hit hardest were the first-year A-Class cadets.

"Yo, you see Everyday? They're saying Lee Ho-yeon is going out with the student council president."

"What? For real?"

A-Class was louder that morning than it had ever been. One of the male cadets finally boiled over.

"What the hell is so great about Lee Ho-yeon that he gets to date Lady Mun Su-rin?"

"Are you actually asking because you don't know? A face like that, he could live the rest of his life just cashing in on his looks."

"..."

A female cadet delivered the fact like a blade, and the boy sat back down with a wounded look on his face. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The semester had barely started, and there hadn't been much worth talking about. So of course the scandal between Lee Ho-yeon and Student Council President Mun Su-rin sucked up every ounce of attention. There was no official confirmation that the two of them were actually dating — but just like that, the name Lee Ho-yeon was known across the whole of Victoria Academy.

And then.

Rattle—

The boy at the center of it all stepped into the classroom.

Friday morning.

No sparring today — just theory classes. I'd pushed my magic training hard into the night ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠because of that. I'd already finished a full pass through the theory textbook and skimmed the major papers, so I figured I could let the bookwork rest for a while.

"Haaah. I'm so tired."

Waking up in the dorms had started to feel normal. I pulled the curtains and a nasty wash of morning sun wrapped itself around me. I wasn't the type to shower in the morning, so I just washed my hair, splashed my face, and shook the water off. I threw on my cadet uniform in something like an approximation of presentable and headed out. Being back at a university still felt fun. For now, anyway.

On the walk to class, an unusual number of eyes kept finding me. A cluster of guys huddled in a corner, whispering. They were looking at me… right? Or was I imagining it?

"Lee Ho-yeon… something something."

"…kill that guy…"

They were too far away to hear clearly, but my name kept surfacing in pieces. Maybe it was the one-on-one video Su-rin noona had mentioned yesterday. The feeling sat wrong in my stomach, so I picked up the pace toward the first-year lecture building.

Rattle—

The moment I stepped into A-Class, every pair of eyes in the room ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swung toward me. And they didn't swing back. They just kept staring.

What? Why is everyone looking at me like that?

More than thirty people, not saying a word, all watching me. It was actually a little terrifying. I was seriously considering closing the door and walking back out when Kim Young-han came over.

"Morning."

"Yeah, morning. Why's the vibe like this? Something happen?"

"It's because of you, scandal guy."

Scandal guy? The words sat there for half a second before yesterday came back — Mun Su-rin, the cafe, the camera.

"Don't tell me this is about the photo with Noo— …with the president?"

"Yep. One picture and the whole academy lost its mind. Are you actually going out with her?"

If I said yes here, what would happen? Best case, I end up dating Mun Su-rin. But dating Mun Su-rin wasn't the goal. The goal was clearing every heroine. Worst case, I don't get to date her and her affection tanks on top of it. Playing it safe was the right call.

"No. We just ran into each other at a cafe. We like the same drink, so we talked for a minute. That was it."

"You sat down together just because you like the same drink?"

"We already knew each other."

"…Yeah? That's a relief, then."

A trace of unease lingered on Kim Young-han's face, but what was I supposed to do? I'd said what I'd said.

"See? I told you it wasn't true."

"Sure~ I heard you freaking out about quitting her fan club, though."

"Can you shut up?"

I cut through the classroom as it boiled back into noise and dropped into my seat. There was still a little time before class, so I pulled out my phone — and a message that had just arrived was sitting on the screen.

I glanced over at Rumi. She was chattering away with Lucy like she had no idea a message had been sent at all.

Anyone watching would think she already believed we were dating. No need to keep the conversation going, so I let it drop.

"Alright. Good morning."

Right on cue, our homeroom professor Kim Jin-hyeok walked in. Slicked-back hair and a black suit, same as always.

"Good morning. A few announcements today. Starting next week, freshmen will be allowed to participate in club activities. Choose at least one club you want and submit it by next Friday, and…"

The dull announcements finally ended, and everyone started bustling around to get ready for the morning lecture.

"Next class is Mana Studies. This is gonna suck."

"What? I'm actually looking forward to it. They said it's the most practical class in the whole academy."

Mana Studies. It was classified as a theory course, but it ran more like a practicum. They taught a lot of techniques you'd actually use as an active hunter, so I was looking forward to it myself.

"Hmm."

I was supposed to be working the heroine routes, but lately I'd been playing the model academy student a little too well. I already had weekend plans with Rumi. Nam Da-eun and Elise wouldn't even be approachable until I was at least threatening first place in either the written or the practical exams. Mun Su-rin wasn't in the same year, and the remaining heroine I was planning to go see over the weekend. Which meant the only heroine I could so much as talk to right now was… Lucy.

I looked around the classroom. Lucy was packing her things for Mana Studies right next to Rumi.

Affection wasn't bad on either of them. I could at least go over and say something. Rumi and I were in the same group — I'd use that as an excuse.

"Rumi, did you send our photo to the professor?"

"Ah — Ho-yeon. Yes. I sent it that same day."

"You two look pretty close."

Lucy said it with a little extra edge in her voice. Sharp, for someone sitting at 27 affection. She always got needlessly picky when it came to Rumi's friends, and she had no idea she was the reason Rumi couldn't make any. Rumi wasn't the type to voice that kind of complaint, so the whole thing just kept eating its own tail.

"Hey, Lucy. Rumi and I are in the same group, so of course we're going to get along."

"Well, yeah. You're not a bad guy, Ho-yeon. But if I find out you two are meeting up privately, I won't let it slide. Got it?"

"Haha. As if."

"…"

"What? Rumi, why'd you go quiet all of a sudden? Someone might think you two already made weekend plans."

"N-no, it's not like that."

"…"

Rumi's eyes darted around like they couldn't find a place to land. So she couldn't lie to save her life.

"……Hey."

"The assignment looks done, so I'm gonna head out. See you later, Rumi. You too, Lucy!"

When a moment goes like this, the best move is to leave. Fast. Because I am, after all, Lee Ho-yeon the bad boy.

"Hey! Lee Ho-yeon, get back here! What did you do to our innocent Rumi?!"

"Lucy, wait — I'll explain! You can't use magic in here!"

Was this… not what being a bad boy was supposed to look like?