Heroine Codex, Textbook
Age: 22
Homeroom teacher for class 1-3.
Orange low ponytail hair. Always hunches over, making her look shorter than she is.
Timid, very fearful personality.
Fears me. Sticks flat to the wall and shuffles backward just seeing me approach from the end of the hall.
Seon-ha's first target.
Must be elite—passed the teacher certification exam at that age, despite appearances.
Favorability toward me: 1 out of 10.
#2 [Ban Gyu-ri]
Same age.
Class 1-4.
Brown eyes. Twin brown tails reaching her waist. A bit short.
And... hot-tempered, totally opposite her gentle first impression. Just earlier, her face furnace-hot, bawling her eyes out.
—Lee! You fuck! Come here! If I catch you, you're dead! I'll smash your forehead just like that!
Barely ditched her after a chase, clutching a brick like a maniac. Wasn't even me who did it.
Can I survive our next encounter?
Favorability toward me: 0 out of 10.
#3 [Mok Hye-won]
Only know the name.
#4 [Lee Jin-yu]
Fell for Seon-ha's total bullshit about her opera talent, shipped off to Moscow for "study abroad." Effectively scrapped heroine.
Favorability toward me: Irrelevant
#5 [Yeon Ju-hee]
Same age.
Same class in middle school grade 3.
Bob haircut. Tall. Big chest. Really big.
Extremely gentle personality. Sweet and approachable.
The main heroine I actually got fairly close to in middle school.
Until Seon-ha snatched my letter and swapped it with one full of savage wording like "brainless cow" or whatever.
Favorability toward me: 2 out of 10.
#6 [Bang Ga-yul]
Same age.
Blonde ponytail. Voice is insanely loud. Her "Uwahahahaha!" laugh echoes to the end of the hall. Super sociable, but total airhead. Zero situational awareness. Seriously believes dinosaurs still roam the earth.
But terrifying when pissed. Fights like a pro—once went toe-to-toe with an actual gangster and won.
Favorability toward me: 2 out of 10.
"Seo Seon-ha.
Black hair glossy like the night sky melted down. Black eyes of unknowable, bewitching depth.
Graceful curves. Snow-white skin. Praise as God's masterpiece isn't overkill.
A kingdom-toppling beauty with intellect, virtue, and figure in perfect balance. Her very existence is a gift to me. Our bond grows ever more tender by the day.
Favorability: 250 out of 10..."
*thud*
Closing the Heroine Codex shut cut off Seon-ha, who'd been reciting her own entry.
"Yeon-woo?"
"Yeah."
"What was that just now?"
"Nothing. Just some novel setting I'm working on."
"...I've memorized it."
The Heroine Codex had turned into a Death Note.
Why was the girl who'd gone to visit a friend in class 2 already back?
…
I sneak a sidelong glance at Seon-ha's expression.
*pout*
She was actually mad for once—cheeks puffed out a bit.
'...'
No good ever came from pissing off Seon-ha.
"Uh, looks like there's a misunderstanding..."
"...Do I look like an idiot to you?"
"..."
"There's more of that stuff in your bag, right?"
…Huh?
Seon-ha stuck out her lower lip, sulking.
"...You're right. That's definitely not all, is it?"
"No. What are you talking about? There's nothing else."
"Whatever. I don't believe you. Liar."
"For real? Wanna check my bag?"
…
Seon-ha took the bag I offered, pretending to barely resist. She rummages through it half-heartedly.
"...Nothing weird. Sorry for suspecting you."
"It's fine."
Even if there was, what business is it of yours? You're not even my girlfriend. But say that, and who knows whose flowerpot gets sniped tomorrow? Better keep my mouth shut.
*rattle*
The front door slid open, and in waddled a potbellied middle-aged guy, math textbook tucked under his arm.
"Turn to page 12."
"Huh? Teacher, it's the first day—right away...?"
*thud*
Someone's question got answered by him plunking down a wooden stick on the podium—the kind only good for corporal punishment.
"He looks super strict. Right?"
"Yeah."
I agreed with Seon-ha.
What can I say... He seemed like the type who'd realized kids don't like him anyway, so he might as well lean into the stiff old-fart teacher vibe instead of trying to be friendly.
"Oh no!"
Seon-ha, digging through her bag, suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth in shock.
"I forgot my textbook."
"Huh?"
"What do I do? Can't follow the lesson without it. Total unprecedented crisis. Ahh, skipping the book in such a strict teacher's class? I'm done for— he'll probably murder me."
"Oh dear... What a pickle."
"Wahh, wahh."
Wahh wahh, my ass.
Seon-ha rubbed her eyes with her fists in fake crying. Pure theater.
'...'
Sharing a textbook. The sweet event where you lean shoulder-to-shoulder with a heroine in distress, noses almost touching over the same page. I figured she'd play along with Seon-ha's script and get all cozy... 'Think again?'
You think I didn't see this coming? That you'd "forget" your book someday for this event? That's why I'd been lugging two copies of every subject textbook for months. Back nearly broke.
"Wahh. Anyone wanna share a textbook with me? Wahh."
No need. I've got two in my bag. Textbooks don't boost favorability anyway.
'Hold up.'
Was I gonna fall for this every day? Time to shut it down firm. I turned my back to her, pulled out the math textbook I'd planned to give her, and flipped through it with a flutter.
'Nothing there.'
No love notes or anything disastrous tucked in.
'Hurry up and hand this over... then I'll use the other one...'
…
Huh?
I rummaged deep in the bag.
Gone.
No matter how much I dug, no second math textbook.
'?'
Why only one? I'd never forget my two-per-day routine.
…
"...You're right. That's definitely not all, is it?"
"No. What are you talking about? There's nothing else."
"Whatever. I don't believe you. Liar."
"For real? Wanna check my bag?"
…
She swiped it then.
*
"Maybe pull it out soon? The textbook."
"...You just took one. From my bag."
"What are you talking about?"
Look at her playing innocent. Her eyes screamed the truth beneath the lie.
'Damn it.'
…
What now? She's right next to me—can't say I don't wanna share.
Just deny I have one too? Nah.
She already saw inside my bag earlier.
Imagine...
"Oh my, you hate sharing with me that much? Lied about not having one?"
"No, that's not—!"
"Hello? It's me. Ship these kids to Antarctica right now."
…
Stealing just one means she knew about the other.
"You look deep in thought."
Seon-ha twirled her bangs around her finger as she spoke.
"Teacher's heading this way. Better pull it out soon, no?"
Yeah... Can't not have a textbook out now. Telling Seon-ha "you're not my type, scram" would be about the same.
…What to do? In times like this...
"Ah shit, big trouble..."
It was Ahn Jae-ho in the front row.
"Forgot my book... Damn..."
…
Oh.
"Jae-ho. No book, right? Right now."
"Y-yeah... Screwed. Teacher seems like a hardass."
Extra panic: his desk mate girl had no book either.
…Perfect.
'Lend it to them.'
Can't claim no book after showing Seon-ha. But playing the noble guy sacrificing for friends? Different story.
No real bond with Ahn Jae-ho, but way more convincing than denial. No room for Seon-ha to nitpick.
Who can argue with "I'm just a good guy"?
"Jae-ho. Just use mine..."
…
Hold up.
Glance at Seon-ha beside me.
She's watching me with a relaxed smile.
'...'
Is this...
Coincidence?
Seon-ha's precious "forgot textbook" event happening in this hardass teacher's class? Front row duo both bookless right now?
'...Suspicious.'
Too contrived.
The flow making "lending the book" seem like the only escape.
…
*step step*
The teacher circled the desks, eyeing everyone.
Turns and heads our way.
We're last. Up close, his face looks even stuffier.
…
One theory hits.
'What if Seon-ha's real goal wasn't sharing the textbook... from the start?'
She'd already bought off the front row pair.
If this prickly teacher is the type to say:
Then it'd be just me and Seon-ha in the hall alone.
Alone in the hall. Bigger favor-grind event than sharing a book.
'...Not certain.'
Testing odds. I raise my hand; teacher nods curtly for me to speak.
"...Teacher. Did you just teach class 2?"
…
He answers my out-of-left-field question with annoyed bluntness.
"...Yeah, class 2. Why?"
…
Bingo.
Seon-ha said earlier she went to class 2 to see a friend. Weird now that I think—does Seon-ha even have friends? Nah.
She scouted info there. Math teacher kicks bookless kids out to the hall.
'...'
If I'm not schizophrenic.
This "share textbook" event was bait to look like the goal. Lure me to the easy Ahn Jae-ho escape... then score the bigger hall-date prize.
Seon-ha's board, her game.
"Seon-ha. Let's share mine."
"..."
I open the book and set it in the middle of our connected desks.
*step step*
Teacher finishes his lap, arrives at our back row.
"You two got no book? Both?"
Asking Ahn Jae-ho and his partner.
They both nod no.
"Why?"
They glance at Seon-ha. Bought off, confirmed.
"No book, why sit in on class? Out, you two."
They head out buddy-buddy.
Teacher skips us—we had one book. If I'd given it to the front, me and Seon-ha would've been out.
…
Seon-ha rests her chin on her hand.
"Hm..."
Watches the expelled pair a moment, then presses her shoulder against mine.
"Well, this works too."
"......"
Win: hall date. Lose: share book. She gets hers either way.