An Ordinary Male Student?
The first impression wasn't bad at all. The class applauded after listening to Shinwoo's self-introduction. It was just a shame that they kept turning their heads away to avoid eye contact. 'Well, even I'd be scared of myself...'Shinwoo gave a bitter smile. Since this was their first meeting, he'd have to be satisfied with this much for today. This was that kind of world, after all.
Everyone was too afraid of him to even look directly. If they accidentally made eye contact, they could be killed by a man simply for being women. Shinwoo briefly wondered what it would have been like if he'd been born female instead. But he soon broke into a bright smile. People always said first impressions were half of how others perceived you. He wanted to prove he was a good person. Even if it was just to fulfill his past life's bucket list of making friends, Shinwoo told himself to do his best in moments like these.
Meanwhile, the girls of Class A were desperately suppressing their female instincts out of fear of how they might act if they made eye contact with him. They turned their eyes away from Shinwoo as if searching for an escape route, eventually glancing toward the very back of the classroom. There sat the still-composed... 'Don't look don't look don't look don't look.' ...or at least pretending to be, the freshman queen Elena, sitting with one leg crossed in a dignified pose.
'As expected of Lady Elena...!'
'To maintain that attitude even in front of a man!'
In truth, her gaze had simply been frozen, unable to tear away from the smile of a man who shone like the sun itself. Unaware of this, the girls' admiration for her only grew stronger by the second.
"Shinwoo, isn't it uncomfortable standing for so long?"
"No, not really..."
"Of course not! How could a man be expected to stand this long because of women! It's ridiculous! I'll find you a seat right away!"
The homeroom teacher approached Shinwoo, who stood right beside her, with extreme caution. She looked as terrified as if she were handling a live grenade with the pin pulled. But everywhere her pointing finger went, her students stared back like lionesses eyeing their prey. No matter where she seated him, it felt like it would become news within a week. And not in a good way.
Then, the homeroom teacher's finger, frozen in indecision, finally stopped. Perhaps because of the reverence she usually received as a queen, no one dared sit beside her. It was the seat right next to Elena.
"S-Shinwoo! Would you... sit... in the very back... please?"
"...You can speak comfortably, ma'am."
Shinwoo looked at where the nearly-fainting homeroom teacher was pointing and, for the first time, made eye contact with Elena. Unlike the other students, she was staring directly at him. Maybe because she was the first classmate who hadn't avoided his gaze, Shinwoo smiled with genuine delight.
But Elena was different. Under the watchful, saliva-swallowing stares of her classmates, she was simply frozen in tension as she looked toward where Shinwoo stood.
'Why? Just why? Why is he still coming this way?'
Shinwoo walked past the girls, gradually making his way toward the back. No matter how composed Elena was, this was dangerous. The stimulation was too intense. To maintain her charisma, she first tensed the muscles in her face. Then she closed her eyes as if tired, completely blocking her field of vision. To others, she would simply look like a girl showing indifference to the approaching transfer student.
Elena, who had instinctively avoided the crisis with her quick wits, seemed satisfied with her own response and gave an awkward little smile.
And at that sight...
'Is Lady Elena actually sleeping?'
'With a man like that about to sit right next to her?'
The classmates' misunderstanding-filled respect for her deepened even further.
"Is it okay if I sit here?"
"...Do as you like."
Even from a distance, his voice sounded like a beast. If she had to compare it, it was like a white tiger that only lived in the harshest frozen environments. A male transfer student with overflowing confidence and a high-pitched voice—everything about him was something her father lacked. And now this man was asking permission from her, a woman, before sitting beside her.
Elena could barely manage a reply, her mind screaming What kind of man even is this? Right now, the only thing she could say to him in her haughty voice was those four words. Anything more and her trembling throat would reveal to the entire class that she was nervous. Then her image as the next successor to the respected senior Chaewon would plummet into that of an ordinary girl who went crazy for men. After all the effort it had taken to reach this position, she would rather die than let that happen.
So Elena turned her head completely to the opposite side, away from Shinwoo. She was determined to appear as indifferent as possible. To become the true queen of this prestigious high school, she would absolutely not waver for any man.
But that resolve shattered in less than a few seconds.
"Nice to meet you. As I said earlier, my name is Han Shinwoo."
The male transfer student's voice seemed to be directed right at her. Like the song of a siren tempting sailors, a man's voice in this world held a kind of magic that stole women's attention. Elena hesitated for a moment but eventually lost to instinct and slightly opened one eye to glance beside her. At the impossible sight before her, her previously haughty poker face finally broke.
"Wh... what?!"
Startled beyond measure, she shot up from her seat. Her face flushed bright red as if she'd seen something she shouldn't have. The other girls in the back row reacted the same way.
"Y-you... what exactly are you doing, you pervert!"
"...? I was just trying to shake hands..."
Shinwoo's right hand, innocently extended with the pure intention of becoming friends. But in this world, a man's handshake carried all sorts of significant meanings. At least to women, it did. Especially for a minor who hadn't even reached adulthood yet, it was far too stimulating.
Elena's eyelids trembled as she fell into deep thought. At first she'd been relieved, thinking he might slap her for reaching out, but no! She was the daughter of a proper household with a father, after all. Unlike ordinary women who enjoyed being hit by men, she had high enough standards to dislike it. So if only he'd assaulted her and left a terrible impression... then she could have used that feeling as a stepping stone to ignore this male transfer student for the rest of her life while reigning as queen!
This was the first man other than her father she'd ever encountered. And for such a man to personally extend such kindness first. Queen or not, from this moment on, Elena had become simply a woman.
"L-Lady Elena. Aren't you going to shake his hand?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"Then... would it be okay if we did?"
At some point, the attention of the entire class had shifted to the back of the room. The homeroom teacher had long since fled outside. The girls who would normally have backed off with a single glare from Elena were now completely wild-eyed, panting like dogs in heat.
Even Shinwoo looked slightly flustered by the sudden crowd. But at that moment...
She grabbed it.
"I-I'm the one who should be saying please take care of me..."
Elena, still pretending to be arrogant, took the hand Shinwoo had offered. Her face was still far too stimulated to look at him directly, so she kept her head turned away. But even that was enough to make Shinwoo beam with happiness.
"Yeah. I'll be counting on you too."
And that bright, handsome smile of his... it was only because Elena had been stealing glances at it that she managed to endure. Every other girl in the classroom who had been staring openly at Shinwoo widened their eyes as if witnessing a god, then lost consciousness for a full ten minutes.
"Huh? What? ...Eh?!"
The bell rang. It signaled the end of fourth period. The girls stood up from their seats and stretched to loosen their stiff bodies. Once again, there was only one exception. Elena, completely drained of energy, remained slumped over her desk.
"Ugh..."
"Are you okay?"
"?! O-Of course I am...!"
Shinwoo spoke to her out of concern for her exhausted state. But what he didn't know was that to Elena, it had the opposite effect. After all, he was the one who had made her like this.
'Who do you think got me into this state...!'
Normally, she would never have shown such an undignified sight. But right now, she had no choice if she wanted to recover her stamina. Shinwoo, who still hadn't received his textbooks, had been struggling without any books since first period. Elena had ended up as the partner of this troubled pretty boy. So, almost by force, she had shared her textbook with her seatmate who didn't have one. For a full four periods!
Just thinking about it again made her face turn as red as a tomato. Her meticulously organized textbook, filled with perfect notes and underlines. And a male student who watched it with sparkling eyes and even praised her.
"Elena, you're really knowledgeable!"
"Ugh?! B-Be quiet!"
Praise from a man. That alone was dangerous enough. "Is the teacher talking about this part?" His finger would land on the words she had underlined. "Or is it here?" His finger would poke at the words she had circled. It felt as if he were sensually tracing her own body. From the very start of class, Elena experienced something she never had before—she couldn't concentrate on the lesson at all. It was a good thing she'd reviewed in advance. She had been nervous the whole time that she might get the answer wrong if the teacher called on her.
'Anyway... he's really such a troublesome person...'
Regardless, she would have to endure two more periods after lunch in this state. To replenish her energy for that, Elena pulled something out of her elegant bag. It was a three-tiered lunchbox shaped like a palace.
"Let's eat well."
She had originally planned to eat only the first tier for her diet, but because of this man, she decided she would have to eat everything. She brainwashed herself that this was absolutely not an excuse.
However, unlike the other students who took out their lunchboxes, Shinwoo stood up from his seat.
"...What are you doing? This is a precious time to enjoy the pleasure of eating."
"Ah, it's just that I have a prior engagement."
The transfer student who had only started school today already had plans. Normally, Elena would have been curious and pried for details. But right now, she was actually glad and decided to send him off quickly.
"Oh, I see. Then please come back before the next class starts. So we can share the textbook again."
"Yeah. Got it."
Whenever Shinwoo was next to her, her body would heat up on its own. Thanks to that, she could eat her meal in peace, and a happy smile spread across her face. The ordinary girls in the class looked quite disappointed. But even if they had known where Shinwoo was going, they wouldn't have dared follow him.
Because the classroom Shinwoo headed toward after climbing the stairs was the S Class for third-years—a place normally only accessible two years from now. It was the classroom where his older sister was.
"Sister. I'm here."
"Y-You really came?!"
"President, I believed in you!"
"If any of you... pull any weird stunts while I'm eating, you'll all die by my hand."
After Yoo Duhak had been forcibly transferred, Chaewon had become the student council president of the prestigious high school. She first subdued the girls in heat with a charisma full of murderous intent. She was a true queen, completely different in discipline from Elena, who held a similar position. Then, to her younger brother who had just opened the classroom door, she flashed the brightest smile in the world.
Chaewon pulled out the five-tiered lunchbox she had prepared just for today and said,
"Now then, shall we eat lunch together, just the two of us, here at school? Little brother?"
"I'd love that."