The Pinnacle of Light and Shadow
In a school for adults, the authority of a Student Council President elected by the entire student body is incomparably more powerful than in a typical high school. While high school student councils are limited to managing budgets or organizing events, the Student Council of the Upper School holds authority equal to that of the faculty-led student affairs and grade-level departments. In public schools like ours, where there is no all-powerful chairman of the board, the Student Council could theoretically impeach the principal and vice-principal if they reached an agreement with the teachers. Since the Student Council also has a hand in student disciplinary actions, no delinquent who actually wants to graduate from compulsory education would dare cross them. Those who don't care about graduating are usually filtered out during high school anyway. Judging by our conversation this morning, both Hong Gyuhwan and Kwon Juran still needed their diplomas.
"Is this your doing?"
The President asked, her arms crossed as she looked down at the overturned desks and chairs. Min Seohye, a second-year, was admired by students of all genders. The phrase 'beauty and brains' might as well have been coined just for her. She possessed an aristocratic face and an elegant demeanor. Her tireless stamina was hard to believe, given her slender, delicate frame. A genius who had never once lost her spot at the top of the school rankings. Having stood out since her first year, it was only natural that she was elected Student Council President by an overwhelming landslide.
"..."
"I thought as much. Then, first of all, please put everything back the way it was."
The President demanded, met only by Gyuhwan's silence. However, the first one to move was Su-ah.
"Sigh... Forget it. We'll clean this up. We have another class coming up, and he'll be late if he does it alone. Besides, I doubt he'd even do it right."
As Ji Su-ah stepped forward, the other students began to help her.
"As expected of Ji Su-ah. You truly are an exemplary student."
Su-ah, who was on friendly terms with the President, gave a cool, nonchalant thumbs-up before lowering it to focus on tidying up.
"Just get him out of here quickly."
"You heard her, didn't you? Please return to your own classroom immediately."
"Tch..."
Leaving Gyuhwan as he slunk out into the hallway, the President walked over to me.
"The reason that man caused such a scene must be because of you, Kwon Juran."
Juran suddenly grabbed my shoulder and pulled me close to her side.
"I didn't do anything."
"Is that so, Ha-woon?"
It was true that she hadn't done anything wrong, and thinking back to this morning, she was actually the one who had saved me.
"You can't really say Juran did anything."
"You aren't being threatened, are you?"
Before I could even answer the President's question, Juran lost her temper.
"This bitch..."
"To me, Ha-woon looks like a small animal that has become prey to a wild beast. I simply couldn't just pass by."
Seohye spoke with a gentle smile, completely unfazed. Yet, her words carried an ominous undertone. Especially the word prey.
"Haha... No way..."
"If you ever need me, please feel free to find me. She is a rather... dangerous woman, isn't she?"
"You don't seem any less dangerous yourself, you bitch," Juran spat.
"I am only dangerous to those with poor conduct. To a diligent student like Ha-woon, I pose absolutely no threat."
I agreed with the President, but I knew better than to open my mouth right now.
"Well then, Ha-woon. I shall see you again."
With the next class fast approaching, the President left the classroom. As I stared blankly after her, Juran spoke.
"Be careful."
I'm sorry, but the one I need to be careful of isn't the President—it's you.
"That bitch... the way she looked at you was so sleazy."
I was used to girls looking at me with sleazy eyes. After all, there were girls who would make greasy expressions whenever they tried to force me into women's clothes.
"I'm used to it."
"Are there a lot of bitches who look at you like that?"
"Sometimes... yeah."
"Hmm... I figured as much..."
Well, there probably won't be any today. No one wants to come near me because of you.
In the end, we ended up eating lunch alone together as well. No one sat anywhere near our table in the corner of the cafeteria. Eating her food heartily, Juran brought up Seohye.
"You seem to know the Student Council President."
At the beginning of the semester, when the Student Council election was in full swing, Su-ah and I had been scouted by Seohye, who was a candidate at the time, to join the council. It was customary to run the campaign with people you had handpicked beforehand and then appoint them once elected. Disliking the spotlight, I had declined, while Su-ah only helped with the campaign and chose not to join the council afterward. To her, the election was just a fun event; she didn't want to be tied down by the Student Council for an entire year.
"I see."
"But you... you seemed to have something going on with her too..."
I didn't know Seohye deeply, but I had never seen her provoke someone like that before.
"We were friends in elementary school. We drifted apart when we went to different middle schools, and then we met again in high school as completely different people. She seemed really disappointed in me since I'd been getting into fights since middle school."
Listening to Juran calmly open up about her relationship with Seohye, I finished my meal and stood up. I returned my tray to the rack and left the cafeteria.
"What are you doing after school?"
Just as I thought, she plans to keep me tied up after school too.
"I have plans with a friend."
I had made plans in advance, anticipating this.
"What about tomorrow?"
"Huh?"
I hadn't expected her to ask about tomorrow's plans today.
"Uh... well... I don't really have anything planned yet, but..."
"Don't make any other plans. Meet me."
Her sheer intensity made it impossible to refuse.
"If nothing urgent comes up... I'll do that."
Thinking that I absolutely had to manufacture some urgent business, I headed toward the library.
It was a place I frequented often, but today, I also went there with the goal of shaking Juran off. I figured even if she followed me, she would quickly grow bored and leave given her personality. My prediction was wrong, but I was satisfied that she didn't bother me as much as she did during class. As I quietly read my book, I glanced over at Juran and saw her sleeping with her head turned toward me. Her peaceful face, glowing softly in the sunlight, was dazzling.
Once homeroom ended, Su-ah approached me.
"Ha-woon, let's go."
"Is she the friend you made plans with today?"
I answered Juran's question honestly.
"No."
"I thought you said you were having dinner with Taehyun. Were you planning to leave me out and just hang out with him?"
It seemed Su-ah, having heard about it from Taehyun, wanted to tag along.
"No, you said you were going shopping, so I thought you'd go with the others."
I packed my things and stood up naturally as I spoke.
"See you tomorrow," Juran said.
Su-ah replied before I could. "Yeah, see you tomorrow, Juran."
"Oh, uh, yeah."
Juran seemed slightly flustered, not expecting Su-ah to answer instead of me.
"Bye, then."
Since I had no desire to see her tomorrow, I simply said goodbye. I left with Su-ah to meet Taehyun at a burger joint a short distance from the school.
"Whoa... So that's what happened."
After hearing about what had transpired this morning, Su-ah nodded as if everything that had happened at school finally made sense.
"I heard Hong Gyuhwan even barged into your classroom and threw a tantrum."
"Sigh... A man blinded by jealousy. It was pathetic to watch."
The couple continued their conversation.
"Jealousy?"
"It looks like Gyuhwan likes Juran."
"Ha-woon mentioned something like that this morning too. But if it's jealousy... then the target is definitely him, right? This guy."
"Yeah. Juran was practically screaming that she has feelings for Ha-woon."
Su-ah had just awakened the very anxiety I had been trying so hard to deny.
"Don't say such terrifying things."
"Hmm, isn't it fine? Why don't you take this opportunity to tame Juran, Ha-woon? It'll make the classroom atmosphere a lot better."
"Her nickname is either 'Mad Dog' or the 'Lion Queen,' and you want me to tame someone like that? Are you telling me to date her or something?"
"You don't necessarily have to date her to tame her. Playing hard to get and teasing her might actually make her easier to train, you know?"
"You... are wicked."
"Hmph, Taehyun! Ha-woon called me wicked."
Taehyun looked at Su-ah with eyes still dripping with affection as he replied.
"Even I think... you're a bit much."
"Aw, what? You're my boyfriend, you're supposed to take my side."
"No, it's just... now that we're dating, I'm starting to see things I didn't notice before. But you know, Su-ah..."
He wrapped both of his hands around hers.
"I love even that side of you."
"Oh, stop it~ ♡"
Please, do this somewhere else. Actually, they didn't need to go elsewhere; I could just leave. I had finished my burger anyway, and the whole reason I made plans with Taehyun in the first place was to avoid Juran.
"Well, I'm off."
"Where do you think you're escaping to?"
Su-ah's voice held me back.
"To be honest, the only reason I made plans today was because of Kwon Juran. Thanks to you guys, I managed to avoid her. Now, it's time for your date."
"Hmm... then are you going to be okay tomorrow?"
She pointed out a crucial detail.
"Sigh... I'll have to start worrying about that now."
"Heh, wouldn't it be better to put our heads together for something like that? Right, Taehyun?"
"Exactly. What are friends for?"
You bastards are just enjoying this.
"Come to think of it, there was a lot of talk about you among the girls today, Ha-woon."
"I bet. Me and Kwon Juran? That's more than enough to get people talking."
"That too... but there were actually a lot of girls who seemed frustrated."
"Do they feel like their toy was stolen by a wild beast?"
I guess there were some perks to having Juran around, even if the danger far outweighed them.
"It's not quite that... How should I put it... Some of them seemed to feel like they were being NTR'd."
If so, that made things even more dangerous. If a woman's intuition picked up on that, then Juran's feelings were highly likely to be romantic.
"Hmm... Is it like, they just thought of him as a guy friend, but once another woman claimed him, they felt jealous and realized their true feelings too late?"
Su-ah fell deep into thought at Taehyun's speculation.
"No. If it were that, I would have been the first to notice if any of them secretly liked Ha-woon."
Something crossed my mind. The Second Wish. Could it be that they were all beautiful virgins? I couldn't bring myself to ask.
"Besides, even I... feel a bit..."
Muttering with her eyes cast downward, Su-ah suddenly widened her eyes.
"Has my intuition gone dull? Hahaha..."
She laughed awkwardly.