My Own Secret
The Cluster matching sheet I applied for two days ago has finally arrived. All the students who applied should head to the mentor-mentee lecture rooms, check the schedules, and sign in.
That morning.
I had been waiting for the mysterious pretty girl tutor.
The moment the Cluster announcement was pinned to the bulletin board by the teacher, I sprinted straight forward.
Although the kind of atmosphere that develops from receiving tutoring isn’t all that common, I had heard rumors that a few students actually ended up as couples because of the Cluster program. I figured I could at least hope for that much.
No matter how active the extracurricular activities were at our school, not everyone participated in the Cluster program.
Some of the students who had posted the announcement with me walked along together.
And I found my name right there on the sheet.
Seon Woo-hyun… Seon Woo-hyun… There it is.
[Mentor — Nam Yu-ri / Mentee — Seon Woo-hyun / Lecture room — Multi-purpose Room 102]
When I read the details on the announcement, I froze solid.
Why is my name here…?
Strangely, I had been matched with Nam Yu-ri.
In the original story, Yoon Tae-jun and Nam Yu-ri were supposed to be paired as the normal flow.
Was it a printing error?
Or maybe my hopes were too unrealistic. I rubbed my eyes and looked again, but the text on the printout hadn’t changed a single character.
“Wait a second. What about Yoon Tae-jun then?”
So what happened to Yoon Tae-jun, who should have been the one paired with Nam Yu-ri?
I checked the announcement to find out.
And I spotted his name two spots below mine.
[Mentor — Kang Hyeon-cheol / Mentee — Yoon Tae-jun / Lecture room — Multi-purpose Room 104]
He was matched with Kang Hyeon-cheol, who looked like a pretty typical guy.
I was panicking because I didn’t understand the English, when someone beside me spoke up in a soft voice.
“Oh? It’s my mentee Woo-hyun.”
She skimmed the announcement with her slender finger and stopped right where her name was.
That elegant little gesture felt like something a normal person wouldn’t do, and it made me realize she had grown up in a privileged household.
“Yeah, weird, right?”
“Huh? What’s weird?”
I answered without thinking, then quickly spun a quick excuse.
“Nothing. Just… incredible. Getting tutoring from the number one student in the whole school is amazing, right?”
“Tch. Overdoing it.”
Nam Yu-ri smiled sweetly at my exaggeration.
Her smile was unbelievably pretty—slight upturned eyes and naturally curved pink lips. It was like staring at a whole painting, and I almost got lost for a second. I turned my head away pretending I hadn’t.
“But seriously, Woo-hyun. What’s gotten into you?”
“What do you mean?”
“The Cluster. Honestly, I didn’t think you’d even apply.”
You of all people?
The questions from people who had zero expectation for me were making me wonder if it was even worth answering.
“Just… I figured I should start studying a bit now that I’m in second year…”
“Oh? Really? How did you suddenly come up with that?”
“Well… I turned second year, and… well, I can’t just keep not studying…”
The same tone my kindergarten teacher used when she praised me for brushing my teeth.
I ended up feeling a little embarrassed too. Maybe because Koreans are generally sensitive to compliments, it felt weird for Nam Yu-ri, who was giving such pure praise for something that was supposed to be a normal part of being a student, to do it.
When I answered shyly and awkwardly, Yu-ri suddenly grabbed my hand.
“What? Woo-hyun, you suddenly grew up. Don’t worry. I’ll teach you with real dedication. I’ll make your grades climb nonstop.”
“Uh… thank you.”
Her sparkling eyes looked straight at me.
I could feel my cheeks warming up without realizing it.
She probably hadn’t done it on purpose.
She seemed to have a very high opinion of people who were trying to improve themselves. She always valued growth mindset and felt sorry for those who didn’t have it.
So the fact that I, who had been acting like I’d given up, suddenly changed my mind was probably just making her excited.
“Then… let’s go.”
“Ah, sorry.”
She didn’t even realize she was still holding my hand. She suddenly pulled away, her cheeks turning pink in surprise.
That natural flirting had gotten Yoon Tae-jun on board too, probably.
I had almost confessed just now.
I couldn’t say I didn’t understand why.
“By the way, just curious—Nam Yu-ri.”
“Hm?”
“Do you know what the matching criteria are?”
I had no idea why I had been paired with her, so I asked.
Normally someone else wouldn’t have to ask, but Nam Yu-ri was the class president and student council president of our class.
She had done the Cluster last year too, and she was really close with the teachers.
The student council also played a big role in school, so it was common for such comprehensive programs to land on their agenda.
I was throwing out a guess in case she might know something about the matching system.
“Why are you asking me?”
“I thought maybe you’d know.”
“Sharp. Actually, I do know.”
“For real?”
“Yeah. I overheard the responsible teacher talking about it.”
She explained the matching system in a way I could easily understand.
As I listened, I naturally realized why I had been paired with her.
“So… it’s based on grade order? Is that right?”
“Yeah. I’m first in the whole school, and among all the people who applied for Cluster, Woo-hyun’s grades were the lowest. That’s why we got paired.”
That was how it had happened.
Once I heard her explanation, the reason became crystal clear.
In the end, the trigger for this whole thing was that my grades were lower than Yoon Tae-jun’s.
Probably in the original story Yoon Tae-jun had been the lowest among those who applied.
That’s why he had to get paired with the highest-graded Nam Yu-ri.
But I, who hadn’t applied for Cluster in the original story, now had applied.
And that changed everything—I ended up paired with Nam Yu-ri.
I asked her to confirm my theory.
“Do you know that guy named Kang Hyeon-cheol?”
“Kang Hyeon-cheol? Yeah, I know. He’s second in the whole school.”
As expected.
After hearing her answer, I was sure.
p>Yoon Tae-jun had been a bit higher than me in grades, so he ended up paired with the second-place student.
“But why is that?”
“Because I got matched with Yoon Tae-jun. Just like that.”
Yu-ri nodded as if it were obvious.
…So the original story got really twisted after all.
Anyway, knowing the reason didn’t change the outcome.
In the end, looking at the situation now, I had snatched Han Si-a’s seat next to me away from Yoon Tae-jun.
And on top of that, I had taken the tutoring mentor seat for Nam Yu-ri, who was Yoon Tae-jun’s mentor.
“I thought my little intervention would twist the original story… but…”
Honestly, I hadn’t expected it to change this much.
Because I wasn’t the kind of person who would actively do something big.
I had only figured I’d quietly study hard in class and maybe flirt with a nice girl or two.
But my small actions were slowly shattering the bonds between Yoon Tae-jun and the heroines.
“But whatever. It wasn’t on purpose.”
It was true that worrying about it wouldn’t change anything.
Plus, I wasn’t one of the original protagonists or original story protectors like the ones in the web novel I had read.
I wasn’t thinking I had to make sure Yoon Tae-jun and the heroines ended up together, or that my actions had to protect the original story.
Of course I hoped they would end up together, but if that was their destined path, as long as I wasn’t deliberately interfering, I would end up falling in love with them anyway.
And there was no need to skip out on the free opportunity to grow thanks to the Cluster just to keep the original story on track.
“Besides, every time I chose something from now on, I couldn’t take Yoon Tae-jun and the original story into account.”
It would be nice if the original story’s twists were minimal, but with me around, it would change no matter what.
And since I had already transmigrated as Seon Woo-hyun, this world was no longer a novel to me.
The heroines’ love and Yoon Tae-jun’s life were less important to me than the fresh youth and life that had been given to me.
…So from now on, I had no choice but to make choices for my own life.
Since it had become reality, this world wasn’t going to have a fixed ending like a novel.
Of course, there was still some inexplicable guilt toward Yoon Tae-jun, but I thought that feeling was meaningless and brushed the complicated thoughts aside.
It was far better for me to be living a better life than in my last one.
Not sacrificing myself for someone else.
This time, I had promised to live fully for myself, enjoying my whole life.
So.
“Anyway, I’ll be relying on you for the whole year, mentor.”
“Me too~ Let’s work really hard together and become the top student, then get scholarships and have fun! Fighting!”
“Yeah.”
Right now, it was more important to look good in front of the teacher who would be teaching me from now on.
I was looking forward to it. The Cluster program.
I didn’t even like studying, but it was probably because the tutor was so pretty.
Probably the only secret I’d ever keep to myself.