Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Are You a Girl Too?
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Are you a girl too?
Sports field.
A bushy-haired guy wearing thick-rimmed glasses asked the club members.
“Has Teacher Song Si-yeol shown up?”
His name was Lee Sang-hyeon.
He was a third-year student about to graduate from the academy and served as the president of the Hero Culture Research Club.
“No. Same as always—he said to handle it ourselves.”
The club advisor, Teacher Song Si-yeol, never got involved in the club's operations or activities.
Lee Sang-hyeon appreciated the lack of interference most of the time, but it sometimes felt like a huge burden.
Running a club as a mere high school student wasn't easy.
He especially felt the pressure lately.
The Hero Culture Research Club was on the verge of disbanding.
The minimum number of members required for a club was five.
Right now, including President Lee Sang-hyeon himself, they only had four.
If they couldn't recruit any freshmen at this orientation event, disbandment was almost certain.
Lee Sang-hyeon couldn't bear to see this historic(?) club—passed down since the academy's inaugural class—meet its end on his watch.
'Still, with Isia here, we'll manage somehow.'
He hated himself for finding comfort in that thought.
Isia was the club's only female member.
She was a heteromorph Awakener—a beautiful girl with cat ears and a tail.
The Hero Culture Research Club wasn't one that boosted your resume, but she had joined due to her circumstances.
She had a speech impediment and couldn't speak.
Popular clubs wouldn't accept her, so she chose this one because it seemed free of cliques.
Dressed in a maid outfit, Isia set up the tables.
Lee Sang-hyeon's strategy was the so-called "cat-eared beauty maid operation."
It was all about showing off Isia's charm to attract new members.
Before long, the booth was fully set up.
Each club ran their booth according to their theme.
For example, the Combat Archery Club had set up a simple target range where people could try shooting arrows.
The Hero Culture Research Club didn't have any real activities to offer, so they decided to run a maid coffee shop.
But there was a problem: Isia was the only one who could pull off the maid role.
How was a girl who couldn't speak supposed to handle maid duties properly?
In the end, they decided to go with her looks alone.
Cat-eared beauties weren't exactly common.
Lee Sang-hyeon explained to Isia what she needed to do today.
“Isia, we'll make the coffee and food, so you just bring it to the tables. Let us know if it gets too tough.”
Isia nodded.
She had lost the ability to speak ever since awakening.
Her vocal cords had become similar to those of an animal.
Surprisingly, no one was coming by.
Cold sweat trickled down Lee Sang-hyeon's back.
If they didn't snag anyone here, it was disbandment city.
'Ugh... what do I do?'
That's when a tall male student started lurking around nearby.
'Ah, he's not coming our way. He looks like he's hunting for the Practical Combat Club.'
But he headed straight for the Hero Culture Research Club booth.
'Huh?'
“Hey there.”
His hair was dyed blond, and he had piercings in his ears.
His sharp features made Lee Sang-hyeon shrink back.
'He's a total thug...! What kind of attitude lets punks like this into first year? Wait, I heard they took extras because of that incident....'
Shin Noda furrowed his brow slightly and asked again.
“Hey. Didn't you hear me?”
Lee Sang-hyeon was naturally timid.
He replied, utterly terrified.
“Ah, yes!”
“Coffee and one croissant, please.”
“Yes. Uh, if you take a seat, the maid will bring it over!”
His hands shook as he prepared the coffee.
Isia took the coffee and bread over to him.
Shin Noda grabbed Isia's hand as she turned to leave.
“Thanks. Mind if we chat for a bit?”
“Uh-uh.”
She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but no words came out.
She fidgeted with the tray in her hands.
“No way... it can't be.”
Shin Noda muttered under his breath.
Lee Sang-hyeon thought it was a complaint and stepped out from the counter, trembling.
“U-Um, our maid has a speech impediment, so she can't talk. Please understand.”
“Oh, really? Is there a senior named Lee Ji-hoon here by any chance?”
“No....... I've never heard of a Lee Ji-hoon.”
“Ha....... First the protagonist, now the supporting characters are girls too?”
Shin Noda took a sip of his coffee.
“I'd like to join. That cool with you?”
“Uh, uh-huh. But do you know what kind of club this is...?”
“Yeah, something like a fan club for heroes, right? I like heroes too. Uh....... Boltman?”
Lee Sang-hyeon was convinced when he saw him hesitate at the mention of his favorite hero.
'He's joining just to hit on our Isia!'
Even while talking to Lee Sang-hyeon, he kept glancing at Isia.
Lee Sang-hyeon did plan to use her looks to save the club from disbandment, but he couldn't hand her over to some dangerous guy like that.
“N-No, that won't work... Huh?”
Before he knew it, the thug had sidled up to Isia and was getting handsy.
“Woo-hoo~ Cat-eared beauty? I'm one lucky dude! Mind giving me your number, my little kitty baby?”
“Uh-uh.”
It actually sounded perfectly normal, but that's not how it registered in Lee Sang-hyeon's ears.
A grim future flashed through his mind.
Isia falls head over heels for that blond thug, gets used and discarded—body and heart sullied.
Then she comes to him, the club president, stroking her swollen belly and saying, “Sang-hyeon oppa, even a filthy girl like me is okay, right...?”
'No! Absolutely not!'
Lee Sang-hyeon couldn't stand by and watch the princess of the Hero Culture Research Club fall to a scumbag like that.
He interrupted their conversation and shouted.
“You have to pass a test to join! Tomorrow after school! Come to our clubroom and take the exam!”
“Huh? Applications are due tomorrow, though? If I fail the test, where am I supposed to go?”
“That's your problem. If you don't like it, go join somewhere else.”
Lee Sang-hyeon's voice trembled.
He'd never said no to anyone in his life.
But he mustered his courage to save Isia.
Some clubs did have tests.
Popular ones like the Practical Combat Club or Swordsmanship Club.
The issue was, if you failed, you'd have to pick from the leftovers—and for students gunning for hero track, that was a disaster.
To catch the eye of top management agencies, you needed good grades plus hero-related extracurriculars, so lots of students took those tests.
Naturally, rejects wouldn't even consider places like the Hero Culture Research Club.
The members stomped their feet and whispered at Lee Sang-hyeon's sudden move.
“President, we're short on members and facing disbandment!”
“Yeah! This isn't the time to be picky!”
“Uh, uh-uh.”
The last one was Isia, sounding desperate.
“Fine, whatever.”
Despite the unreasonable demand.
Shin Noda shrugged and accepted readily.
***
6 PM.
Park Ha-yeon dragged Shin Noda and Laura to a nearby shopping mall.
First up: clothes for Laura.
They'd thrown her the smallest thing from Park Ha-yeon's closet in a pinch, but it still hung loose.
“Oh my. Is she your daughter? She's adorable!”
The sales clerk smiled brightly and made small talk, turning Park Ha-yeon's face red.
She'd mistaken them for family since they were in casual clothes.
“Yeees? Heh-heh.”
Shin Noda casually patted Laura's head.
Laura's lips pursed.
“Nope, not my daughter. She's my cousin's little sister. We're out shopping for her clothes with a friend.”
Park Ha-yeon's expression darkened slightly.
Oblivious, Shin Noda started picking out clothes for Laura.
“Laura, pick something you like.”
“Hmm~ The fashions here are so peculiar.”
The sales clerk chimed in with recommendations.
“How about this? It's the latest release—perfect for a little one!”
“What do you think?”
“Hmm. Too childish.”
Shin Noda sighed and asked.
“Got anything a bit more mature?”
“Ah, how about trying this on?”
Laura went into the fitting room and changed.
Park Ha-yeon clapped her hands in delight at the sight.
“So cute!”
She thought to herself.
'I'd love to have such a cute kid as my daughter!'
After some back-and-forth, Shin Noda bought clothes for Laura.
Now they wandered the restaurant district in search of dinner.
Shin Noda spoke first.
“What do you want to eat?”
“Eat whatever Shin Noda wants!”
“I want to try this thing called sushi! Raw fish on rice—it's a first for me!”
Sushi it was. They headed to a sushi place.
They ran into a rowdy group of high school girls from afar.
Classmates from Shin Noda's homeroom.
“Hey! Isn't that Shin Noda?!”
“Hi, Shin Noda!”
“Hey!”
Shin Noda glanced at Park Ha-yeon and returned the greeting.
“Yeah, hey. What are you all doing here?”
“We're shopping for clothes! What about you? Who's the girl? Date?!”
A faint smile played on Park Ha-yeon's lips.
“Nah, just a girl friend. From Class A. We're buying clothes for my cousin's little sister.”
Whispers.
“As expected of Shin Noda. Yang Min-seo and now this—who knows how many girls he has?”
“Doing all the work with that face~”
The girls gossiped among themselves.
For some reason, Park Ha-yeon felt a swell of pride.
She was sure these girls were secretly jealous that she was shopping with Shin Noda (just the two of them?!).
Shin Noda waved as he passed them.
“See you tomorrow.”
“Bye-bye! Take care!”
“Have fun on your date~!”
He sighed after the playful classmate's tease faded behind them.
'By tomorrow morning, the rumors will be all over school.......'
They went to a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant for dinner.
It had a Japanese-style interior.
The chef gaped in admiration.
“Wow. Your daughter's got quite the appetite! Outeating adults like that.”
A tower of plates had piled up in front of Laura before they knew it.
“Haha. Not my daughter.”
Shin Noda ended up paying over 400,000 won for that meal.