Knuckle Flicks and Frozen Foreheads
In one corner of the classroom, boys and girls mingled, laughing and playing.
-Thwack!
-Ow!
-Hahaha!
Rock-paper-scissors knuckle flicks. It had been all the rage since the start of the new semester. I had no idea who started the trend, but I was nothing but grateful.
That's an event too.
Gently flicking the forehead of a girl baring it eagerly for the hit—to raise her favorability.
-Eyyy~ Hey, what was that? You like her?
-No, shut up! I just couldn't put any force into it.
-This guy's face is turning red!
Something like that flow...
...And conveniently, no Seon-ha today.
Seo Seon-ha had been called to the student council right from the first day of high school, leaving the classroom empty of her presence.
They say the time that determines a first impression is at most seven seconds.
And the time it takes for that first impression to harden like concrete? In my experience, it's about seven days.
Seven days.
In other words, once those seven days pass, changing that image gets a whole lot harder.
So for about the first week, even someone with a stern face like me has to put some effort into their facial muscles.
Last year in third-year middle school, I skipped that step, and my image wasn't great.
"Not great? It was straight-up trash. Honestly."
"Thanks. For reminding me."
During break time, Sung-ho dropped by our class and slurped on his peaknik noodles from the front seat.
Kim Hyun-jik and Park Sung-ho.
The two who, toward the end of our third year of middle school, had treated Seon-ha horribly one day and clumsily hit on the other heroines without cutting ties with that trash behavior.
Ball friends.
"Whoa, Yeon-woo. Check this out, it's insane. If you search 'chest' on your tube, you get good results, but 'bosom' brings up censored stuff?"
...What kind of person was I in this world that I hadn't cut off these idiots even by that age...
There's seriously no usable side characters.
By the way, Park Sung-ho is a regressor. He says gates exploded ten years in the future, and as an S-rank hunter, he went down with the final boss and returned to ten years ago. In short, he's a crazy bastard. If you don't believe him, he gets seriously pissed, so Hyun-jik and I just nod along appropriately.
"Yeon-woo. Wanna know my biggest regret before I died?"
"No. Go to your class."
"Not getting to date in school."
"Then go do it. Don't bother busy people."
"Ah, I wanna touch some boobs."
"Don't say it so loud. Please."
"Why? It's my dream."
"Give up on your dream and die."
Don't interrupt this rare precious time without Seon-ha.
"Studying? On the first day? That's why you're unpopular."
Not studying—writing love letters to the heroines...
Got to be careful so Seon-ha doesn't snatch them midway.
...
Popularity, huh...
Well, in terms of popularity, Park Sung-ho was several levels above me.
Beyond his gently curved eyes, he had a personality that made people feel at ease approaching him. A bit of a perv, though.
"Wanna know how to get close to girls?"
"Yeah. Tell me."
"Huh?"
I was definitely interested in that area.
No, to escape this place, it was an essential virtue.
Like right now.
-No way, really? Wow, I didn't expect that from her.
I had no clue what to say to Ban Gyu-ri, the smiling main heroine chatting with her friend up front. Even without Seon-ha around.
Sure, I could toss out some random line to break the ice, like last year when I'd flail around desperately saying I'd be right back.
But now I knew from experience that letting a boring first impression solidify was worse than not starting at all.
How do you even start a conversation...
In a game, it'd be simple. Spend time, check reactions, figure out what she likes.
But this was different. Vividly real skin and all. And you don't suddenly drop a shut-in visual novel addict into reality and expect them to nail it.
Plus, there's a world-top-tier interferer.
…
Irony of ironies. Dragged into a visual novel by guys clueless about dating girls, and now I need to learn how to date girls.
"Hmm. How should I explain? Want a demo?"
"Yeah. Hurry."
Before Seon-ha shows up.
"Short on words, huh."
"Master, please demonstrate..."
"Alright! How about that girl up front with ponytails on both sides? She's a bit short, but my type."
"Hey. Not her."
I told him, pointing out that he'd targeted Ban Gyu-ri.
"Huh? Why? You gonna hit that?"
"Yeah. My ideal type."
This punk trying to block the main heroine's path.
"Got it. Then you pick one, Yeon-woo."
"Uh... hmm..."
Should go for someone who looks easy.
"Her. Demo on her."
I pointed to the girl tilted sideways, glued to her phone game. So absorbed she might get sucked into the screen.
"Hey, she's not easy."
"Not easy?"
Approaching her while she's that focused seems like it'd piss her off...
Sung-ho strode over without hesitation and plopped down beside her.
The girl side-eyed him once, then refocused on her game.
-Oh.
-Whoa, she's nailing it...
-Ah, kaboom...
He propped his chin, tossing in reactions like that.
Then, when the game ended, they suddenly high-fived.
......What???
The girl giggled with Sung-ho, chatting about the game. He said he knew nothing about it.
Sung-ho waved goodbye to her and came back.
"See? That's the vibe. Get it?"
"No!? Not at all! I have zero clue!?"
What the hell? Like watching a shorts video that draws a circle then instantly spits out pro-level art.
"In short, break the guard with a good first impression, then common interests are key."
...Same crap as those know-it-all YouTubers on human relations.
If that worked, I wouldn't ask you.
The bell rang, and Sung-ho headed back to his class.
...First impression.
Telling that to me, who's already botched it with half the heroines...
For example...
The barely passable Han Hyun-joo shuffled in through the front door and stood at the podium. Next period was Korean.
"Th-there... um... Yeon-woo. C-can I start class...? I was gonna open to page 8..."
Han Hyun-joo asked, tapping her two index fingers together nervously.
"Y-yes... go ahead..." Please stop asking me.
Someone raised their hand.
"Teacher! Can I go to the bathroom?"
"...A-ask Yeon-woo first."
Don't ask me.
How scared of me is she...
This wasn't just a botched first impression level.
How do you even fix an already flipped image?
Having gotten my permission to start, she opened her textbook and our eyes met.
I immediately applied what I'd just learned.
-Grin
I smiled brightly. Han Hyun-joo, terrified, whipped her head away like she'd seen a ghost. Damn.
"Your smile looks nice."
Instead, Seon-ha in the next seat was blushing while staring at my face.
"......When did you get here?"
"Just now."
"You said you were busy today..."
"Yeah. Gotta head back soon. But I figured you'd miss me, so I came. Happy?"
If I said no, she'd probably hang Han Hyun-joo and Ban Gyu-ri from the flagpole tomorrow.
"Sure."
"Yeon-woo."
"Yeah?"
She made rings with her index fingers and thumbs, parting her long black hair into twin tails.
Leaning in close, she asked,
"Is this your type?"
"..."
"No, right?"
"Yeah."
She undid the rings, her hair cascading back to normal.
"This is better, right?"
She inched even closer.
...
I'd pointed at a girl in class with the same hairstyle as her and said,
"Yeah, that kind's good."
"......You brat."
I take back what I said earlier.
Forget Hyun-jik, who betrayed humanity for an apology phone; Sung-ho was definitely helpful in my life.
Lunch time.
Sung-ho, popular with the girls, stood outside the school building playing knuckle flicks.
-Aaaah~! Don't hit so hard!
-Okay, okay! Hahaha!
Ban Gyu-ri, the main heroine, was there too.
Chance.
I quickly pulled out my phone and messaged Hyun-jik.
-Hmm?
A minute later.
Okay... clear shot. Even if she bolts here now, it'd take a few minutes.
I approached the group pretending it was coincidence.
"Ahem."
"Oh, Yeon-woo?"
"Uh, Sung-ho. Ahem..."
"Ah."
Quick on the uptake, Sung-ho recalled I'd claimed Gyu-ri was my type and read my eye signal instantly.
"Hey, hey. This is my friend—let him join."
What a good boy. You're a real friend. Let's keep the bromance eternal. Until I go back, anyway.
I awkwardly blended into the group and played a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors.
-Paper!
-Paper!
-Paper!
Her tied hair bounced cutely every time she lost or won as penalty.
Great reactions.
Our eyes met, and she flashed a pretty smile with those brown eyes. Nice. This first impression feels solid.
I didn't slack on Seon-ha checks in between.
-Paper!
And... finally.
The result I wanted.
"Aaaah."
Ban Gyu-ri whined as she got the penalty.
"Yeon-woo... right?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Go easy...?"
"......Yeah..."
Hey, is that even a thing to say?
Gonna flick lighter than a dandelion seed on the wind.
A gentle flick beats no flick at all—it's in the Goguryeo watermelon lore too.
"Go easy...?"
She asked again. Clearly scared of getting hit.
"Y-yeah... I'll go easy. Where even to hit..."
Sung-ho whooped teasingly, stirring the flirty vibe.
"Good... I can't handle pain well. Hehe, I'm Ban Gyu-ri."
"Lee Yeon-woo."
She shyly lifted her bangs with her palm and stepped closer.
I pretended to hesitate, overlapping thumb and index finger in front of her forehead.
"Aaah~ Hit me already!"
She coquettishly stomped closer.
As I hesitated, Sung-ho chimed in with top-tier assist: "Hey, why not hit her~ you two got something going~". You're getting lunch on me, for real.
Legendary first impression secured.
"Now...?"
"Mhm...!"
I flicked my finger gently. Like handling a newborn, tender and delicate.
Just before contact.
—THWACK!!!
Something hurtled at insane speed, smashing her forehead. '...Ice chunk?'
-Wobble
Ban Gyu-ri fell flat on her butt.
...
"!!!!"
My gaze snapped up the trajectory.
There... at the third-floor window, Seon-ha holding a slingshot... grinning...
...
So she's the one who started the trend. And the "busy today" was a lie too.
"Gy-Gyu-ri!"
"Wh-whoa, blood on her forehead? To the nurse!"
"Her forehead's caved in...!"
"How do you hit someone's head hard enough to draw blood!? You psycho? Trying to kill her!???"
"No! Wrong...! That wasn't me...!"
"Waaahhh!!! Waaah!"