Promise with Yee Eun-chae 2
"Hyun-ah?" Lee Se-na turned to Seo Moon-hyun with a bewildered look, sensing the fury and hostility laced through his voice. To her, she had simply come to repay the favor after I saved her on Monday, bringing a small gift along. She could not understand why he was reacting with such open anger.
"Se-na, I asked why you're here."
His tone had grown almost coercive. His gaze burned with undisguised hostility toward me, and Lee Se-na, catching that, looked even more confused.
"Hey, Seo Moon-hyun. Why are you being so sharp? Se-na only baked some cookies to thank me for helping her on Monday. That's all."
I kept my voice calm while lodging the protest, choosing not to call out his hostility directly.
"She baked cookies for you?"
Seo Moon-hyun's jaw tightened. Even he was lying to himself; at its core, he simply could not tolerate me becoming more famous and successful than him. He believed he should have been the one hailed as a hero after saving Arian Liberin from the villains, yet I had stolen his place. The sight of Arian standing beside me only fueled his rage further.
[He must have tricked my friend Arian into staying by his side. No matter what I say, she won't listen. He really did a number on us, driving a wedge between us.]
That seemed to be the conclusion he had reached after yesterday's brooding. Or rather, the resentment he had long suppressed had finally exploded into concrete form the moment he saw Lee Se-na offering me cookies.
What, that was how it played out in the original story, wasn't it?
But in this world, none of that had happened. If I had not intervened, Lee Se-na would have been raped for real, and Arian Liberin would have died. Seo Moon-hyun had not even known what was going on in the first place.
"Se-na, let's go."
Seo Moon-hyun grabbed Lee Se-na's hand, trying to forcibly drag her away from the spot.
"H-Hyun-ah?"
Lee Se-na was flustered, but Seo Moon-hyun paid no attention to her words, his grip unyielding. I stepped in to stop him.
"Seo Moon-hyun, what do you think you're doing right now?"
When I snapped at him, he glared at me, his eyes still filled with hatred. His voice came out cold.
"Why are you butting in? This is between Se-na and me."
His sharpened demeanor seemed worse than yesterday, and it was not solely because Lee Se-na had given me cookies. That had merely been the trigger. The real reason was likely that Yee Eun-chae and Yoo Eun-chae had gone home with me the day before.
[I'll find out exactly what you did after taking Eun-chae and Hyun-ah home. I'll definitely get my friends back.]
Seo Moon-hyun's gaze flicked briefly toward Arian Liberin before returning to me. He was convinced I had stolen Arian, Yee Eun-chae, and Yoo Eun-chae—all of whom should have belonged to him—and the sight of them heading to my house had apparently fueled a night of spiraling delusions and hatred.
Honestly, the guy just keeps getting worse.
Even as the thought crossed my mind, I spoke evenly.
"Seo Moon-hyun, you can talk to your friend however you like. But if she's really your friend, you shouldn't need to drag her away so roughly. A few words would be enough, wouldn't they?"
Seo Moon-hyun glared at me, his face twisted as if he could not find a rebuttal, yet he still refused to release Lee Se-na's hand. Obeying me would have felt like admitting he was wrong. In his world, he was the flawless embodiment of absolute justice, and I was the evil that had to be eliminated for standing in the way of that justice.
It's ridiculous that I'm considered evil just because my grades are better and I get along with pretty girls.
If I had been born a mana awakener with less talent than Seo Moon-hyun, he would have killed his own older brother without hesitation, pinned every crime on me, and then gaslit himself into believing it was all true.
"Hyun-ah, that hurts."
When Lee Se-na voiced her pain, Seo Moon-hyun finally let go of her hand.
"Sorry, Se-na. But we need to get out of here quickly."
"…I'm sorry, Mr. Moon-jin."
Lee Se-na apologized to me again with a guilty expression, which only stoked Seo Moon-hyun's anger and inferiority complex further.
"Don't talk to that guy. Just come here already."
His tone had shifted into outright commands.
[Why is Hyun-ah acting like this? Ha… I thought he'd pulled himself together yesterday…]
Lee Se-na shot me an apologetic look, yet she obediently followed Seo Moon-hyun's words and went to his side. Seeing her compliance, Seo Moon-hyun's expression eased slightly as he left, with Lee Se-na trailing after him.
"Cheon-nim, the more I see that man, the less I can tolerate him."
Arian Liberin stared after Seo Moon-hyun's retreating figure with clear displeasure. She already knew the story of the Seo family and was aware that Seo Moon-hyun was my younger brother. Now that she understood his true nature in greater detail, her contempt for him was genuine.
"Lee Se-na seems like a good person… I can't understand why she's associating with someone like him. Maybe she was fooled by his hypocritical facade?"
"That might be part of it. Being childhood friends probably clouds her judgment as well."
Unlike the other heroines, Lee Se-na had been Seo Moon-hyun's childhood friend for a long time. Having only ever seen the righteous persona he projected, she found it harder to see through to his true nature.
I want her.
Lee Se-na was becoming more and more tempting the longer I looked at her. With her pure, bagel-girl vibe, her turn would come once Yoo Eun-chae's was over. There was even a perfect event coming up that would make her fall into my hands.
"Cheon-nim, couldn't you make Lee Se-na your woman?"
At that moment, Arian Liberin suddenly whispered the suggestion to me.
"Why do you think that?"
In response to my question, Arian smiled with her usual innocent, pitiful charm, though a sly fox-like glint flickered beneath it.
"It's such a waste and a shame for Lee Se-na to keep being deceived by him. It might sound underhanded, but if she stays with that man, her ending won't be good. Taking her away would actually be saving her."
As she spoke, her hand lightly brushed the back of mine.
"If Cheon-nim just slept with her once, Lee Se-na would probably end up like me or Min-hye, unable to think straight and unable to live without having sex with you. Don't you think?"
Her words sounded teasing, yet they were sincere. If I had truly wanted it, Lee Se-na would have already fallen completely for me long ago and spent last night tangled with Arian, Seo Moon-min-hye, and me. But I had sworn off that method many times over.
"That's not the way I want things to go."
"It seems Cheon-nim does like Lee Se-na after all?"
"If she becomes my woman, of course I'd be happy. But that's something she has to choose for herself. Just like with Eun-chae and Hyun-ah."
When I mentioned Yee Eun-chae and Yoo Eun-chae, Arian nodded in understanding.
"Yes, her own choice matters most."
"So what's important is helping Lee Se-na realize Seo Moon-hyun's true nature. The choice comes after that, on her own terms."
The relationship between Seo Moon-hyun and Lee Se-na had already developed a small crack from today's incident. I would ensure she uncovered the truth about him on her own, which would completely sever their bond.
Even just revealing my identity would be solid proof of his true nature.
If I added Seo Moon-min-hye's testimony on top of that, Lee Se-na would understand everything and be able to break away from him. Still, as I had thought before, the most crucial step was first cultivating her own resentment toward Seo Moon-hyun.
Seo Moon-hyun conveniently self-destructed today.
I stored the box of cookies Lee Se-na had baked for me into my inventory and stopped thinking about the two of them. The less I interfered with Lee Se-na from now on, the more effective it would be.
I'm keeping an appropriate distance without showing any interest, yet Seo Moon-hyun is the one throwing a fit all by himself.
With that thought, I turned to Arian Liberin.
"We'll think about Lee Se-na later. Let's head to the cafeteria. We arrived early, but if we linger here we might end up late."
"Yes, you're right."
Arian and I stepped through the academy's main gate and made our way straight to the cafeteria.