Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: #2. Am I the Pushover Protagonist? (2)
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Objectively speaking, Kang Woojin was quite handsome.
His shaggy hair and years of neglect in styling somewhat obscured his appearance, but overall, his physique was large and well-built, and his height—reaching around 182–183 cm—was far from that of an outcast.
Yet despite that, the reason he became the unofficial(?) pushover of Stella Academy and prey for delinquents was entirely due to his personality.
An extremely timid loser.
With a complicated family background, Kang Woojin had always suffered from rock-bottom self-esteem.
His handsome looks only drew attention for a time; now, even that had become nothing more than an accessory for the delinquents who trampled over him.
The vain punks would often bully the good-looking Kang Woojin to make themselves stand out even more.
That’s how he got the nickname “self-esteem vending machine,” and his relatively well-off wallet—unusual for a student—also made the delinquents’ lives more comfortable.
“Woojin came to school?”
Hearing the news that Kang Woojin had shown up after a long time, the homeroom teacher—whose hair was half-bald—smiled in relief.
“Yes, sir.”
Facing him, Cynthia nodded in the staff office.
“That’s good. I was worried he might get held back. Expecting grades from him might be too much, but at least in the second semester, make sure he attends regularly. Cynthia, you help him out a lot.”
The homeroom teacher handed her printed papers and added:
“Take these to the classroom and hand them out. Tell the students to make sure they deliver them at home. They can see it on the school app too, but many parents are still used to analog.”
Soon after, Cynthia left the staff office holding the stack of papers.
“……”
Her arms should’ve been aching from the weight, but she had no time to think about that.
Murmur, murmur.
The hallway before homeroom was quite noisy, but none of it reached her ears.
‘Woojin……’
Her head was filled with thoughts of Kang Woojin.
It was always somewhat like that, but today it was especially bad.
All because of what happened in the morning.
‘Why did he suddenly do that……?’
She repeatedly pressed her dry lips inward and released them, her expression full of confusion.
Cynthia liked Kang Woojin.
But having never been in a proper relationship, she couldn’t clearly distinguish between “like” and “love.”
‘His cheek… must’ve hurt a lot, right? Was I too harsh?’
Blushing slightly, Cynthia slowly walked toward the classroom.
Step.
And the moment she crossed the classroom threshold—
“Uh?”
Her eyes widened.
All the students in the classroom were staring in one direction as if they had agreed beforehand.
Following their gaze, Cynthia was shocked.
It was because of the two men who had just been fighting—Kang Woojin and Park Taesoo.
“Fuck, you damn loser bastard……”
Park Taesoo sat on the classroom floor, looking up at Kang Woojin.
It was obvious he had been beaten badly—his lips were torn, his face covered in blood like a mess.
His eyes were bloodshot and swollen. By tomorrow, bruises would probably bloom.
In contrast, Kang Woojin looked perfectly fine.
Anyone could see clearly who the victim and the perpetrator were.
However, Cynthia—who didn’t know the full situation—couldn’t escape her existing perception.
“Hey! Park Taesoo!”
She slammed the printed papers onto the teacher’s desk.
“Did you bully Woojin again?!”
With her hands on her hips, she strode toward them.
The Kang Woojin she knew was always the victim, and the delinquents—including Park Taesoo—were always the perpetrators.
At first glance, it looked like Park Taesoo got beaten, but since she had already concluded Woojin was the victim, she was filled with concern for him.
If a delinquent who constantly fights was injured this badly, how badly must Woojin have been hurt?
Even if he looked fine on the outside, there must be wounds under his uniform.
After all, delinquents were skilled at hitting in ways that didn’t show.
It wasn’t unreasonable for Cynthia to misunderstand.
“Park Taesoo, seriously! I told you not to bully Woojin, didn’t I?! I’m telling the teacher everything!”
“What the hell are you talking about? Can’t you see?! This time I got beaten! Fuck!”
Park Taesoo protested with an aggrieved face, but it didn’t work.
Given his usual behavior and the karma he’d built up.
Watching the situation unfold in confusion, Kang Woojin quickly grasped what was happening and smiled inwardly.
‘Lucky.’
* * *
Watching Cynthia and Park Taesoo argue back and forth, I gave a small nod.
‘So his name is Park Taesoo.’
I remembered.
In the original work, he was just a minor extra with no illustration, but depending on the route, he was the kind of punk who would even harass Sia.
‘Maybe I should’ve beaten him more.’
He’s a friend of the “Golden Sun” who targets Cynthia—well, not exactly a friend, more like a friend of a friend.
“Look at my face! I got beaten, damn it! This is driving me crazy! Why are you yelling at me?!”
He raised his voice toward Cynthia.
Swoosh.
Then Cynthia, who had been glaring at Park Taesoo, suddenly reached out as if to protect me and pulled my face tightly into her chest.
Her touch was careful and precious, like she was handling a sacred object.
‘Smells nice……’
Her pleasant scent, along with the softness of her clothes and the feel of her chest, stimulated my instincts.
Buried in her ample chest, I relaxed into her and naturally closed my eyes.
It felt like I hit the jackpot.
I never expected this at all.
“Seeing you yelling, you look perfectly fine! Park Taesoo, if you keep bullying Woojin, I won’t stay quiet either!”
Cynthia snapped sharply at him, continuing to defend me.
I wish she’d say something vulgar in that same voice later.
‘I want to touch… but I should hold back this time.’
Just as I barely(?) suppressed my sexual urges—
Thud!
A heavy sound echoed.
Turning my head slightly from within Cynthia’s chest, I saw the homeroom teacher slamming the attendance book down.
“Fuck, what now?!”
“It’s me, idiot.”
Park Taesoo whipped his head around and saw the teacher behind him, startled.
“No, I, uh… that is……”
“Park Taesoo. Again, you?”
“That’s not it……”
“Always fighting, and just now what? ‘Fuck’? Do you not even care about teachers anymore?”
The middle-aged teacher scolded him, echoing Cynthia’s earlier reaction.
Thanks to Park Taesoo’s terrible reputation.
“…Sorry.”
“Sit down, or go to the infirmary.”
“Yes……”
With his head lowered, he returned to his seat.
“What are you looking at? Turn your damn eyes away!”
Taking out his frustration on the surrounding students.
* * *
Homeroom ended, and the boring first and second periods were over.
Only cleaning and the closing ceremony remained.
“Taesoo, if you went to the infirmary, don’t slack off—clean properly. I’m watching.”
“Ah……”
“Ah?”
“I-I got it. I’ll do it properly.”
Leaving aside Park Taesoo, who got caught by the teacher, I quietly wiped the classroom windows.
Some students spoke to me, but most of it was just formal.
Even though I beat Park Taesoo after coming to school for the first time in a while, a certified loser doesn’t suddenly become a hero.
The only person I could comfortably talk to in this unfamiliar place was Cynthia.
“Sia. The cleaner’s out—where can I……?”
But—
Whip!
Cynthia turned her head away, crushing my expectations.
She had been like this since earlier.
Whenever our eyes met, she would quickly look away as if she had seen something she shouldn’t.
“……”
For some reason, she seemed even colder than in the morning.
‘Did I mess up again?’
When she hugged me earlier, I definitely didn’t touch her.
If anything, she touched me—I swear to heaven, I didn’t do anything wrong.
“Don’t tell me… she’s embarrassed?”
As I muttered quietly, Cynthia flinched from afar.
Looks like I was right.
Pretending to be indifferent, she was clearly listening and paying attention to me.
More precisely, she was conscious of me.
‘It’s probably because of the kiss this morning.’
A classic cliché—her childhood friend, whom she always saw as a younger brother, suddenly felt like a man for the first time.
‘Cute.’
Cynthia, gripping the mop tightly with both hands, her ears red to the tips.
She was so cute I wanted to bite her to death—no, bite her gently.
If I lifted that academy uniform skirt and spanked her, wouldn’t she make even cuter sounds?
…Or maybe not.
‘Anyway, I should steadily raise her affection level like this.’
Unfortunately, I couldn’t act on my fantasies recklessly.
If I touched Cynthia carelessly, it would likely backfire like it did in the morning.
So I “trained” Cynthia only in my imagination and walked past the real her toward the bathroom.
Step.
Honestly, I wanted to just go all the way first, but everything has order and stages.
My revenge against the heroines of this world would begin by steadily gaining their affection.
‘There are heroines who respond well to force, but Sia is very situational.’
As I wrung out the rag, I recalled a famous quote often used by a well-known soccer player:
Don’t think the world has abandoned you.
The world never had you to begin with.
…And that was also something one of the NTR guys in this world said to me while publicly humiliating me.
「Don’t think she abandoned you. She never had you in the first place.」
Fuck, thinking about it again pisses me off.
‘Yeah… first, I’ll make it so she has me.’
As I twisted the rag with all my strength—
“…Um, Woojin.”
Cynthia peeked her head into the men’s restroom and cautiously called me.
“Yeah? What is it?”
“Well—”
“Whatever it is, say it quickly. Someone might see. Or just come in and lock the door.”
At my blunt words, she looked startled.
But not for long.
Click, thud.
Closing her eyes tightly, she stepped inside the restroom.
She showed a surprisingly bold side.
…Hmm, is this my chance?