Chapter 7
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: The Extra's Change (7)
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Midterms were right around the corner.
After the end-of-day ceremony, Woo Hana was called by the homeroom teacher and headed to the staff room.
The teacher asked if her parents hadn't contacted her even once, and if they were really doing okay.
Woo Hana left the staff room without a flicker in her expression, assuring them that everything was fine.
And on the first floor of the academic building.
She stood there for a moment, staring blankly outside.
More precisely, at the rain falling outside.
The gentle drizzle that had started was growing steadily heavier, even as she gazed at it vacantly.
...Spring rain, huh.
This was bad.
'No umbrella.'
Fortunately, reality grabbed her by the ankle and yanked her out of her reverie.
Woo Hana turned around.
'Gotta buy one at the canteen.'
The moment she did, their eyes met.
It was Lee Minwoo, just pulling out a black folding umbrella.
"No umbrella?"
Lee Minwoo asked.
Caught off guard by his unexpected appearance, Woo Hana recovered quickly and answered.
"Yeah. I was heading to the canteen, so..."
"They're all sold out. This is the last one."
"Oh."
Lee Minwoo spoke matter-of-factly.
"Where you headed?"
"Me... downtown."
Downtown was the complete opposite direction from where Lee Minwoo was going. He paused to think it over, while Woo Hana looked up at him, tilting her head slightly.
A height difference big enough to easily fit a shoulder. Brows furrowed just a touch.
Is he thinking it over...? Kinda burdensome. Should I just say it's fine?
The moment that thought crossed her mind, Lee Minwoo spoke up.
"But... you got something going on?"
"...Huh?"
It was such an out-of-left-field question.
For an instant, Woo Hana's pupils trembled faintly.
Not just random—it pierced straight to her core, like a dagger to the lungs. Shocking.
How did he know?
I hid it all perfectly.
Woo Hana instinctively checked her expression.
...Looks fine. At least on the surface.
That's when Lee Minwoo held out the umbrella in his hand toward her.
"Here, take it."
Woo Hana didn't even have a chance to respond.
He brushed right past her and stepped outside, then plunged into the rain without a second thought.
It was so absurd that Woo Hana froze again.
The umbrella in her hand still carried the warmth of his body heat. Ahead of her, his back receded casually through the downpour.
She snapped out of it late. Woo Hana hurriedly shoved open the door and ran out after him.
"Minwoo! Hey, Lee Minwoo!"
Her voice scattered into the rain.
He was already pretty far ahead.
"Hey! At least to the convenience store! I can buy one there!"
Did her shout finally reach him?
Lee Minwoo, who had been walking ahead, stopped and turned back.
"I'm already soaked. Just take it and go."
A smile tugged at the end of his words. Brief, but unmistakable.
"..."
Woo Hana couldn't say a word.
First time I've ever seen him smile...
The moment he got home, he headed straight for the bathroom.
He'd run through the rain, so water dripped from head to toe.
After sprinting so hard, it was impossible to tell if it was rain or sweat.
He turned on the shower, and warm water cascaded down his shoulders.
He showered leisurely, then got dinner ready.
His little sister had said she'd eat out...
No need for anything fancy—just something to fill the stomach.
So he made fried rice.
He plated it and sat at the table, picking up his phone out of habit. Like always when eating, he opened N-Tube to play some music without thinking.
Bzzz.
The phone vibrated softly against his palm.
He glanced down. A personal message from Woo Hana.
They'd exchanged numbers last time they met outside, swept up in the moment as a group.
She was even in the five-person group chat.
Of course, he hadn't said a word there since getting invited—not even checked it after day one.
But this was a private message.
[Woo Hana]: What're you doing?
[Lee Minwoo]: Got home safe. Don't worry about it.
[Woo Hana]: How am I not supposed to worry when you just shove an umbrella at me like some caveman and bail?
[Woo Hana]: And I was just curious what you're up to right now?
[Lee Minwoo]: Just got home. Showering and eating now.
[Woo Hana]: Oh?
[Woo Hana]: So normal?
[Woo Hana]: What're you doing after dinner?
[Lee Minwoo]: Gotta study.
[Lee Minwoo]: Exams in less than a week.
🐰!
[Woo Hana]: Right.
[Woo Hana]: Exams are coming up, huh.
[Lee Minwoo]: Yeah.
[Lee Minwoo]: Study hard.
He sent that reply and set the phone down on the table.
In the meantime, the N-Tube video he'd left running kept playing music.
Woo Hana gripped her phone with both hands, half-reclining on her worn-out mattress.
The screen showed the last message.
[Lee Minwoo]: Study hard.
From that clichéd response, she could tell he had no interest in keeping the conversation going.
Well, she wasn't dying to drag it out either.
She had her own things to mull over.
She'd figured from the start that Lee Minwoo wouldn't make a big deal of it.
But gratitude was gratitude...
Should I do something in return?
Sending a gift icon felt insincere, so in person?
Woo Hana paused at the thought.
'Ah, but that feels a bit...'
She could picture it: handing it over directly.
Too much attention.
'No.'
For someone like Lee Minwoo, scenes like that probably happened all the time. He might not even bat an eye.
'...All the time.'
Her thoughts screeched to a halt again.
It irked her in a weird way, imagining herself lumped in with everyone else.
Woo Hana shook her head sharply, rejecting her own contradictory feelings.
Her thick black hair spilled softly across the mattress.
"Ah, Hana, this isn't you..."
Her soft murmur faded toward the low ceiling.
Staring up at it with a clear head, Lee Minwoo's voice asking if something was wrong flashed by—then the umbrella handover. And finally...
The smile as he turned back to look at her.
Woo Hana shook her head vigorously to banish that last image.
It was just... careless words and careless actions. Nothing more.
Definitely nowhere near affectionate. If there had been real warmth in them, she could've understood these tangled thoughts.
But Lee Minwoo's gestures were lighter—more like flicking a pebble without a second thought.
That's what she wanted to believe.
"Lee Minwoo is off-limits."
She had to stop here.
This was a fight with no chance of winning, plain as day.
She'd just end up hurting herself, obviously...
"So absolutely not."
The exams were over.
"Come up one by one and get your report cards."
The homeroom teacher's voice rang out from the front of the classroom.
Every time a name was called, a student would stand and go up. My turn came quickly.
"Lee Minwoo."
"Yes."
I went up front to grab my report card and met the teacher's pleased gaze.
As expected, solid scores. I'd already known from rough-grading my own tests.
Still, seeing it official was different.
Back at my seat, I checked it over—no surprises from my self-check.
"Holy shit."
Seo Jaehyun, peeking over from the side, clamped a hand over his mouth.
"You aced studying too?"
One math problem wrong from a miscalculation. One science from a trap option.
Everything else perfect.
Maybe not surprising. Still first-year curriculum, and the first high school exam—they'd gone easy.
"The world's so unfair. Giving me an inferiority complex."
His over-the-top reaction meant I'd picked the wrong target.
"Truly a broken world... but I'll forgive it and make the best choice."
"Revenge arc male lead?"
"For finals, I'm gluing myself to Minwoo's side."
"Just a sneaky little thief after all."
Ji Hyunsu clicked his tongue at Seo Jaehyun.
"What if your idiocy rubs off and tanks Minwoo's grades? You gonna take responsibility?"
"No chance. Minwoo's a god. Born from the perfect mix of supreme genes—the ultimate human."
"..."
While they bantered, the teacher finished handing out all the report cards.
"I said club activities would start after exams, right? The clubs are coming to promote now, so free time until then."
"Oh."
Low cheers erupted here and there.
The second the teacher left the room, groups waiting outside peeked in.
And the first bunch to enter.
Judging by their name tag colors, they were upperclassmen.
What caught my eye first wasn't the girl leading them, but the placard-like signs the ones behind were holding.
[Acting? You can do it too.]
[Protagonist on stage. Next one's you.]
Anyone could tell it was the theater club.
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