The School Goddess Asked Me to Be Her Black Knight
It's basic common sense that when you return to school after military service, you end up an assa. At a department MT crawling with bright-eyed freshmen, when you don't know anyone, haven't made any friends, and you're just sitting in the corner drinking soju by yourself, you can't help but think, If only I hadn't gone to the military.
Right about now, I could've been jumping right into the party and having fun with everyone. Like that returning senior over there chatting with a first-year girl, using the black knight excuse to talk about this and that and maybe even aiming for a CC early in the semester.
Or at the very least, I might have exchanged a few words with the female classmates. Things like that—almost delusional thoughts.
“…….”
Ah, yeah. I know. Even after the military, the guys who can pull off CCs will, and the ones who make friends will too. But you know what? Even knowing that, when I see the other returning students already grouping up among themselves, and some of them clearly hitting it off with the freshmen right in front of me, I have no choice but to blame the military.
Because if I don't blame the military, I'd have to admit it's all because of my hopelessly pathetic communication skills. And the second I admit that, my pride as a man would shatter into pieces.
So I have no choice but to believe this is all the military's fault and that I bear no responsibility. Even if I know it's nothing but an ugly mental victory….
…This is why the military is the problem. The military needs to disappear.
Of course, North Korea would have to go first. Anyway.
It was right when I, crumpled up in my corner, was lost in all sorts of wild imaginations.
“─Ah, got one!”
“Who? Who got picked?”
“It's Yuna. Yuna's up!”
Someone had been caught in the random drinking game. And that someone was.
“Huh, me?”
Mo Yuna. A first-year freshman famous for being so beautiful that everyone in school knew her. The girl unanimously acknowledged as the goddess of our department—no, our entire university. Naturally, she was also such an inssa that an assa like me had never even spoken to her.
“Yuna, I heard you can't drink well. Want me to drink for you?”
“If you need a black knight, just say the word. I'll do it for you anytime, Yuna.”
The moment that thought crossed my mind, two male students boldly stepped forward, volunteering to be her black knight. This was obvious too, but they weren't offering purely out of kindness.
I'll drink in her place and try to spark something with the school goddess!
They were thinking something sleazy like that. How do I know? Because I'd just had the exact same thought. The fantasy of drinking for the freshman Mo Yuna, whose elegant aura made the word "pure" feel alive and breathing, and then getting some romantic tension going.
…Romantic tension, my ass.
But that was pure pathetic delusion. Guys way more inssa than me were already lining up to drink for her. Why would she ask someone like me, barely existing in the corner of the room? Honestly, if I were Mo Yuna, I wouldn't ask me either. Just silently sipping my drink, I obviously looked like I had zero social skills.
“If you're not going to be the black knight, then drink. But you know if you can't finish it in one shot, you have to take a penalty drink, right?”
“Drink it, drink it!”
“Yuna, fighting~!”
“Ah, um….”
“…….”
I knew it was pathetic delusion. But watching Mo Yuna get pressured into drinking and looking uncomfortable, I couldn't stop myself from imagining what if she came to me and asked me to be her black knight.
If she just comes to me.
I could really drink it for her. When I turned twenty and drank legally with friends for the first time, I downed five bottles of soju by myself and was completely fine. I could knock it back in a really cool way.
…Sigh.
But what would that even accomplish? An assa who can drink well is still just an assa who can drink well.
I was about to drop my pathetic fantasies and had started fiddling with an empty glass when.
“Um.”
It was then.
“Sunbae-nim, I'm really, really sorry but….”
The heroine of my pathetic delusion, Mo Yuna, walked right up to me. Holding the glass in her hands, she fidgeted adorably as she spoke.
“Could you… perhaps drink this in my place?”
At first I didn't realize she was talking to me. That was natural since Mo Yuna and I were complete strangers who'd never even had a conversation before. I assumed she must be asking the person next to me, someone in the same year but not particularly close.
Who is it?
So I glanced left and right, only to find both people on either side staring straight at me. I realized it late.
“Huh? Me?”
When I pointed at myself, startled, Mo Yuna nodded.
“Yes. You, sunbae-nim.”
Her slightly shy demeanor. To anyone who didn't know better, it might have looked a little misleading, and the murmurs around us gradually grew louder. Starting with Hey, who's that guy? then, he's a second-year, does he know Mo Yuna? Is there something between them? All sorts of speculation flew around.
“I really can't drink well…. …Would that be okay?”
While I sat there dazed from my delusion becoming reality, Mo Yuna suddenly held out the glass.
“…….”
I had no idea why Mo Yuna was asking me of all people to be her black knight, but this was a heaven-sent… a golden opportunity!
I nodded and snatched the glass.
“Okay? Of course it's okay. I can drink really well!”
And then one shot. I manly gulped down every drop, then flipped the glass upside down and shook it to show it was empty. It wasn't anything special, but because the person who'd asked for a black knight was Mo Yuna, cheers erupted from all around.
“Oooh~ So cool~”
“That was awesome!”
Is this what an inssa's life feels like?
Getting cheers from girls just for drinking some alcohol that wasn't even good for you. For someone whose only drinking experiences involved lamenting life with smelly guys, it was a completely new sensation. My heart fluttered for a moment, but.
“Okay, next~!”
That feeling lasted only a few seconds. Seeing everyone move on to the next game like nothing had happened, I realized this wasn't me becoming an inssa. I'd just had a brief taste of the inssa life.
…Farewell, inssa's life.
Having quickly come back to my senses, I calmed down and set the glass aside. But then.
“-Sunbae-nim.”
Mo Yuna naturally slid in right beside me. So smoothly it was like she'd been sitting there drinking with me from the start. She slipped between me and the person next to me and spoke softly.
“Thank you. …What will you wish for?”
“…….”
A wish. …A wish?
Why was Mo Yuna suddenly asking about my wish?
Ah.
I snapped out of my stupid thoughts. Right. I'd just acted as her black knight. The whole thing was so unrealistic that I'd momentarily forgotten.
“Uh…. Well, it's fine?”
“Pardon?”
“You don't have to grant me any wish.”
The fantasy of using the black knight excuse to get some romantic tension with Mo Yuna was literally just a fantasy. For an assa like me, the mere fact that I'd been Mo Yuna's black knight was already an incredible story I could brag about to my friends. So I really had no intention of asking her for any kind of wish, but.
“…….”
For some reason, Mo Yuna started looking at me with a subtly dissatisfied expression. Thinking I must have said something wrong, I awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck. She opened her mouth with a pout.
“No, I don't like that. It would feel like I'm owing you, sunbae-nim.”
“What? Owing me for something like this? I just drank in your place. It's really fine.”
“-Sunbae-nim.”
Mo Yuna moved a little closer.
“Even if you're okay with it, I don't like it.”
“…….”
For a moment, my breath caught. It wasn't because the pure, elegant beauty Mo Yuna turned out to have a surprisingly strong will. No.
Mo Yuna. She was even more beautiful up close. Her waist-length black hair, long eyelashes, plump lips, and slender neck. It wasn't just her face—every single part of her seemed to radiate the word "beautiful."
“So please tell me. What is your wish?”
I'd been staring in a daze without realizing it. Her words pulled me back to reality. Barely regaining my composure, I felt embarrassed and cleared my throat while touching my neck.
“Ah, right. Then….”
A wish. Honestly, I hadn't thought of anything specific to ask for….
But they say if you squeeze hard enough, something comes out. Something flashed through my hurriedly scrambling mind.
Ice cream.
“Buy me an ice cream later or something…?”
It was such a random thought that I barely knew what I was saying. So.
“Ice cream…?”
“Yeah. Drinking makes me crave something sweet.”
I'd said it without thinking, figuring I shouldn't ask for anything too big, so a normal ice cream was safe. But to Mo Yuna it must have sounded different. Her expression toward me became strange for a moment, then.
“…I understand. Then.”
She quickly returned to a neutral face and nodded.
“Later, go to the convenience store with me—”
“─Okay. Lee Sunwoo, you're up!”
Just as Mo Yuna was about to say something, my name was suddenly called. Startled, I looked up.
“Hey, drink up!”
The third-year senior leading the drinking games—the same one who'd been rejected when he volunteered to be Mo Yuna's black knight earlier—shoved a full glass of alcohol at me.
“Me? Uh, I didn't do anything though?”
“You have to drink because you didn't do anything, you idiot!”
Drink because I hadn't done anything? It was an unreasonable demand, but the look in the senior's eyes was serious, so I drank without complaint. Then.
“Huh? Hey, there's still some left?”
That senior kept finding fault and forcing me to keep drinking.
“No, come on, for just this much…”
“Hey! No complaints, just drink it. Don't you know leaving any makes it a penalty?!”
“…….”
After downing one glass, then another.
“-Uwek.”
Even with my high tolerance, I reached my limit and passed out.
In the end, on that MT night, I never got to eat the ice cream Mo Yuna was going to buy me.