A Subtle Shift
I stared blankly at her.
Han Si-a was gazing quietly at me.
With that expression that seemed to say, “You’ve got to be kidding,” I slid half my textbook over to her desk.
“What is it? Again? That weird look on your face.”
“No… It’s just that you’re showing it way too sincerely. That’s weird.”
“Even if I’m showing it, what do you expect? You’re going to starve if you keep being like that.”
“That’s not like the old you at all. A guy who used to grab whatever he could just to mess with people… this is suspicious.”
She muttered something about trying to hide some scheme and fixed me with a suspicious glare.
Life is a balanced exchange.
Seon Woo-hyun had always been the kind of guy who followed that rule to the letter.
His childish narrow-mindedness and petty competitiveness.
Those were exactly the qualities a comic-relief character was supposed to have.
And they had to be displayed equally—no matter the gender.
If it had really been the old Seon Woo-hyun, he would have asked for something in return instead of just handing over his textbook.
Like, “Buy me a hamburger from the snack bar.”
So it made perfect sense that Han Si-a was flustered by my selfless act of showing her the textbook.
Ha… That’s why Woo-hyun keeps saying he’s tired.
Just doing one little favor is already a struggle for him.
I knew that, but I still felt it all over again—how strangely this guy gets treated.
“S-Surely you’re not thinking I’ve fallen for you or anything ridiculous like that?”
Even Si-a, of all people, was throwing out a suspicion like that.
I let out a long sigh, utterly speechless.
“Just hearing that makes me lose the urge to show it to you. Ugh.”
“No no, wait! So you really did just want to show me the textbook? With no strings attached? You?”
That kind of thing was completely out of Seon Woo-hyun’s character.
But I wasn’t Seon Woo-hyun anymore.
On the surface I was still acting like him, but only enough to keep things from seeming too unnatural.
Inside, I was a twenty-nine-year-old adult.
I had zero desire to act childishly around an eighteen-year-old girl.
And in the end, I had planned to gradually show a more mature side.
After all, I couldn’t completely imitate Seon Woo-hyun.
This was simply the first step.
“Si-a.”
“Yeah?”
“I read something on the internet yesterday.”
“What was it?”
“People say good deeds create good karma that comes back around later.”
“So?”
“That’s why I’m trying to live a bit more kindly now.”
“Ah…”
I made a silly sound, and only then did Si-a nod.
If it had really been the old Seon Woo-hyun, he would have treated it like some urban legend and done something like this.
It was too much.
Why wasn’t showing a textbook with good intentions allowed?
It was annoying, but I couldn’t do anything about it.
This was exactly the kind of shift I needed to keep demonstrating.
“If that’s the case…”
“Then we’re good, right? Class has already started. Teacher.”
While we were still bickering, I watched the teacher write something on the blackboard.
I slid the textbook all the way toward her again.
She scooted her chair a little closer.
“Thanks. I’ll just borrow this for today.”
She gave me a light smile of gratitude.
***
“And according to the double-syllable rule, the character 'L' becomes 'N'…”
I sat listening to the homeroom teacher’s lecture and stared at the textbook.
The squiggly characters swirling inside Si-a’s head.
Ah… I’m so bored… my body is itching… I want to practice the dance moves…
Despite the class, her mind was full of random thoughts.
Memories of getting scolded by the trainer yesterday for messing up too many times flashed by.
She started rehearsing the choreography of a famous girl-group dance song inside her head.
Just in case, I shouldn’t quit school yet. Si-a.
Her parents were worried she might not debut, so they made her study alongside it.
She tried her hardest, squeezing in training and homework, but it was honestly not easy.
Practice late at night, then collapse at home—next morning she’d be groggy from lack of sleep.
While she was like that, filling her head with lessons she didn’t even care about or understand.
Her real wish was to practice the parts she had gotten wrong yesterday or the song sections she still messed up.
But who cares… Why did he have to be in this class?
She turned her head to look at her neighbor.
Seon Woo-hyun.
I couldn’t call us close, but he was one of the guys in this class she liked the least.
Even though he had good social skills and was fun to be around, he lacked weight and sincerity… no direction, just an ordinary clueless teenage boy.
By high-school age, the mental ages of boys and girls had already diverged.
Most girls felt that way.
They thought about their future careers, where life was heading, and took life seriously.
Compared to that, Seon Woo-hyun seemed like one of the most thoughtless ones.
He always spouted nonsense, never gained weight, and still mocked himself for it.
His studies were left to the side, and he only chased games or sports, sleeping through school like an irresponsible kid.
That was exactly how Si-a saw Seon Woo-hyun.
And with his tall stature and decent looks, he should have been popular with the girls.
He’s got a good face too. If he just got his act together, he’d probably have plenty of fans.
She had thought that before, but today something felt off about his usual clueless attitude.
For starters, he was volunteering his textbook for free.
And now he was listening to the teacher’s lecture without even dozing off.
With a surprisingly serious expression on his face.
What the heck? Did he eat something weird?
Or had he picked up something weird from the internet again?
She had no other choice but to think that.
Seon Woo-hyun was that kind of guy.
The science teacher—the scariest one in second year—had given up on him long ago.
After getting scolded and then giving up, he had ended up using the school as his official sleep room.
Yet here he was, calmly pulling out his textbook and paying attention to the lecture?
It was just as unbelievable as the sun rising in the west.
“And the same principle applies to characters like this, where 'L' changes to 'N'…”
Was she pretending to understand, or did she actually get it?
She watched him scribble something in the example problems on the textbook, staring blankly at the scene.
Has he ever looked this serious before? Him?
She had spent a whole year with him and Yoon Tae-jun, but this was the first time she had seen him so focused and earnestly trying.
Maybe that was why his concentrated face looked kind of cool.
The tightly pressed lips and furrowed brows.
And those round, bright eyes fixed on the teacher.
She was the one staring at him, yet he hadn’t noticed.
It was an astonishing sight: him genuinely paying attention to class.
He’s kind of handsome when you look at it like that.
The focused expression was a far cry from his usual playful smile—and it looked pretty good on him.
She shook her head like a dog that had been sprayed with water.
What was I just thinking? About Seon Woo-hyun of all people?
Si-a was instantly baffled by the thought that had popped up on its own.
Of all people, Seon Woo-hyun.
That was probably just a one-day mood swing at most.
Or maybe not even that—next class he’d probably be asleep again.
She turned her head back to the teacher, still lost in thought.
***
“Thank you~”
Right after the homeroom teacher’s greeting, he left the classroom.
The moment class ended, Si-a shot up from her seat and dashed over to Nam Yu-ri.
They were laughing and chatting like old friends.
I closed my textbook.
It’s been ages since I’ve studied. This is rough.
I wasn’t exactly the type to pay attention in class, and it had been almost ten years since I left the exam-prep life.
Even with an adult mind, high-school material didn’t feel easy.
Still, the basic knowledge I had might have helped.
Compared to Seon Woo-hyun, I seemed like I had a better grasp of things.
But why does Si-a keep staring at my face the entire class?
I had pretended not to notice at first.
I had asked her to show the textbook, and now her gaze kept falling on me during the lecture.
How could I not notice?
Right next to me was a beautiful girl staring at my face.
I ignored it while pretending to study, but it was impossible to ignore completely.
“You don’t think I’m a replacement for some alien or something ridiculous, do you?”
Si-a’s thought patterns were four-dimensional.
Maybe she was wondering if my changed appearance meant I wasn’t Seon Woo-hyun anymore.
It gave me the creeps.
While I was still pondering, someone plopped down beside me.
“What’s up? Seon Woo-hyun?”
“What?”
“You two looked cozy earlier, watching the textbook together.”
Yoon Tae-jun tossed out that uncle-like joke with a chuckle.
He knew perfectly well we could never be like that.
How annoying this dense guy was.
“I just didn’t bring my textbook, so I showed it to her. Stop forcing a couple thing, you delusional idiot.”
“Why can’t that be? Earlier Si-a was staring at your face too.”
“Was she actually looking?”
“She was suspicious, that’s for sure.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s a thing like that, man.”
I waved off Tae-jun’s confusion.
If Si-a had heard that, she probably would have been hurt.
What a troublesome kid. He should just date her already.
“But what’s going on? Seriously.”
“What?”
“Why are you even listening to class? That’s weird.”
It was like an impossible event had occurred.
Tae-jun looked at me with disbelief in his eyes.
I clicked my tongue.
You of all people? Why do so many people have a problem with me paying attention in class? This school is ridiculous.
Since I was planning to study from now on anyway, I just wanted to put an end to the complaints.
I declared it plainly.
“From today, I’m going to study too.”
“What? You? Suddenly? Are you sick?”
“What’s weird about a student studying? It’s normal. I felt the pressure when I was in second year.”
“…I guess so.”
Tae-jun gave me an uneasy look.
But my logic was sound, so he had nothing more to say.
“After all, you and I are both pass-fail, right? So let’s study hard together.”
“Hey, that’s not fair. I never studied hard in first year? We’re different.”
“Even so, there’s a twenty-point difference.”
“Thirty points is like eating? That’s the result of my efforts.”
Seon Woo-hyun couldn’t study either, but that was fine.
Thankfully I had a friend to study with.
It made things easier when you rode the same wave with someone close.
No loneliness.
At that moment, Nam Yu-ri stood on the desk to give a notice.
“Everyone, pay attention for a second. Teacher has an announcement.”
The noisy students instantly quieted down at her voice.
President material. Student-council material.
She had real charisma.
Tae-jun and I turned toward her face.
“You all know we’ve been running the Cluster System at our school, right?”
“We’re doing it again this second semester. Even the kids who missed it last year will get more spots this time, so please join if you can.”
Yeonseong High School.
The place where “Our Romcom” characters appeared had some unique quirks.
Like any rom-com school, clubs were active and extracurriculars were plentiful.
Compared to regular high schools, we had more programs the school itself assigned.
One of them was the student Cluster system.
In other words, the program where students taught students.
It paired struggling kids with high-achieving ones for one-on-one tutoring after school—a fantastic system.
That’s why Yeonseong High was famous for its high average scores.
Not just the few who got into top universities, but the overall average was strong.
Plus, Cluster participants got extra points on their self-introductions and records.
If the team earned scholarship benefits from performance bonuses or mentee grades, motivated students flocked to it.
“Applications close today. Make a list by the end of the semester. Understood?”
The kids nodded at her words.
Yu-ri stepped down from the desk and turned to me.
“Are you doing that?”
“Huh? Yeah. How’d you know?”
“You said you wanted to do it in first year.”
Because he had only done track in middle school, Tae-jun lacked a strong study foundation.
His grades had suffered for it.
In first year he missed the chance because the number of spots was limited.
Anyway, his participation in the Cluster was already set.
That was one of the few ways he and Yu-ri would cross paths.
They were both in the student council, so they were friendly, but the Cluster was what had brought them closer.
They started talking about their personal lives instead of just club duties.
“Then I should apply too.”
“You?”
“Yeah. I told you I’m starting to study now.”
Back in the original story, Seon Woo-hyun would never have touched something like this.
But I had to use the Cluster program.
It was free tutoring offered right at school—how could I pass it up?
Outside tutoring cost real money, after all.
From an adult’s perspective, there was no reason not to join this jackpot program.
After all, I was going to study anyway.
“This guy is serious?”
“I’ve never told a lie in my life.”
“That’s the first lie you’ve told.”
We traded nonsense while walking to the sign-up sheet and wrote our names.
Probably Tae-jun’s tutor would be Yu-ri.
Then who was mine going to be?
I hope it’s a pretty girl. My tutor.
“If you say that, it’ll definitely be a guy.”
“Ugh.”
Near and dear.
I wrote my name on the list with a secret wish that my mysterious pretty tutor would be a girl.
Two days passed.
***
And the next morning, the Cluster matching list was posted.
When I saw the notice, I froze in place.
The gods had finally granted my prayer.
After all, my mentor was an incredible beauty.
But.
[Mentor - Nam Yu-ri / Mentee - Seon Woo-hyun / Lecture Room - Multi-purpose Room 102]
…Why was Yu-ri my mentor? What the hell?
Something about the situation was getting strangely tangled.