The Mesugaki Who Picked the Wrong Target
Ryu Chaeeun had green hair and green eyes, a rare combination even among Awakened. As expected, she was a mage specialized in the life-type magic system, just like Jeong Jaeha. More specifically, she focused on plant-based magic, making her one of the very few whose major aligned one hundred percent with his. It wasn’t surprising at all that the two of them had grown especially close within Cheongun Academy. Even though, in the original novel, she was destined to be kidnapped by Han Taeyang and subjected to sexual training in a truly tragic fate.
‘Well, that won’t happen anymore.’
Since I had taken over Han Taeyang’s body, that unfortunate event would never occur. Just looking at how Ryu Chaeeun was living a perfectly normal school life even as a second-year student proved it. There would be no kidnapping or confinement by some delinquent thug, no treatment as a broken sex slave. And because of that, she wouldn’t be forcibly separated from Jeong Jaeha, the boyfriend she’d been happily dating.
In a way, among all the heroines in the original story, she had received one of the worst endings. From my perspective, she was one of the cases where I felt the greatest satisfaction in having changed the plot. And yet…
“First, don’t talk to me unless it’s absolutely necessary. Second, refrain from any physical contact unless it’s truly unavoidable. Third, stay at least three meters away from me at all times.”
“……”
“If you follow these rules, I won’t interfere with you either, Taeyang oppa. Do you understand? Let’s both keep a proper distance.”
Seeing how Ryu Chaeeun was treating me right now, I was starting to feel a slight twinge of regret. It had been good to do everything possible so she wouldn’t meet that miserable end, but…
‘Maybe I should have scared her a little.’
Had it been a mistake to play the role of a completely harmless delinquent during that process? As a result, Ryu Chaeeun had formed an entirely new relationship with me, one quite different from the original story. Just look at the way she was staring at me right now, spinning that annoying little smirk on her lips.
In the original first part, she had simply despised Han Taeyang. In the second part, she had feared him and obeyed. But the way she behaved toward me now in this reality that had become the world didn’t resemble any of those versions.
I sat in the café where we had gathered to discuss the practical exam and clenched my fist until it trembled.
‘Should I really smack her just once…’
No matter what I was thinking inside, Ryu Chaeeun, sitting across from me with her legs crossed, simply sipped her drink with an utterly relaxed expression, making a soft slurp. None of the reactions she would have shown in the original story were present. For example, she wasn’t displaying thick disgust at simply sitting face-to-face with me, nor was she trembling in fear, unable to meet my eyes.
Well, if I had to pick, it was closer to the former, but the emotion floating in those light green eyes of hers was less “hatred” and more “contempt.”
Ultimately, it was because I had spent the past year completely reversing the narrative that Han Taeyang and Ryu Chaeeun had built in the original story. It was a completely different treatment from the way I had consistently mocked the other heroines and earned their dislike.
When I thought about it, it was all my own fault. The truth was, I had been a little scared.
“Huu…”
I forced myself to ignore the gaze of Ryu Chaeeun, who was smiling brightly as if something was so amusing, and brought my coffee cup to my lips.
…In the original story, Ryu Chaeeun had received especially harsh treatment, and I had felt sorry for her. I had hoped that in this reality, at least, she wouldn’t meet such a fate. With that mindset, I had tried to avoid any interaction with her beyond the bare minimum of acquaintance. Since the main characters in the original had established relationships, it wasn’t possible to completely avoid getting involved, but I had done my best, in my own way, not to interact with her.
I had sincerely hoped that this heroine would live out the happy life she was supposed to have.
However.
“Hey, Taeyang oppa~? Han Taeyang. Han Taeyang?”
Perhaps my attitude of clearly avoiding her and steering clear had felt refreshingly novel to her. In this world, Ryu Chaeeun had begun showing interest in me first, in a very strange way.
“Seriously, if someone’s talking to you, can’t you at least answer? Did you even hear what I said? Hm?”
But this “interest” shouldn’t be misinterpreted. It was definitely not positive.
Ryu Chaeeun’s interest in me was, needless to say, not romantic in the slightest.
“…No, you’re the one who told me not to talk to you.”
“Aww, answering me is a completely different matter. What good is someone with zero flexibility? Hehe.”
It was more like curiosity toward a zoo monkey that kept avoiding only her. At any rate, if I had to classify it, it was closer to negative interest than positive. At least from my perspective.
Even though we had only exchanged a few words, I already felt exhaustion creeping in and let out a deep sigh. Of course, whether I did or not, Ryu Chaeeun giggled and stretched her long, superior legs under the table, lightly tapping the top of my foot.
“You said to refrain from physical contact.”
When I reluctantly shot back out of frustration, it was a meaningless resistance. Ryu Chaeeun wagged her index finger from side to side and clicked her tongue.
“That’s also a separate matter. It’s fine when I do it, but not when you do it, Taeyang oppa. Isn’t that obvious? You’re a playboy who seduces female students, and I’m a poor, pitiful girl who might become your victim.”
“…Ah, I see.”
When I replied in a sour tone, she took it even further, wrapping her arms around her own shoulders with a playful expression and exaggerated gesture.
“Or what? Are you saying you’re going to touch me too, like you do with Seolah unnie or Ahyeon unnie?”
“……”
“Kyaa~ No way. I have a boyfriend, you know.”
As expected, there was nothing good about talking to her for long. I was learning that obvious truth all over again. When the hell were the other group members going to show up?
I glanced vaguely out the window and muttered inwardly.
‘Damn mesugaki bitch.’
At times like this, I sometimes—actually, quite often—felt a quiet sense of reality hitting me. Seeing the heroines I once loved from the original story living well warmed my heart, but when the butterfly effects caused by my choices came back to torment me like this, it also made me a little… angry, and a little regretful.
At the very least, when it came to Ryu Chaeeun, it was hard to deny that I had made a mistake in how I had established our relationship. How nice would it be if I could properly educate this annoying brat just once?
It was around the time when that desire for a thorough lesson was gradually taking clearer shape.
Vrrr—
“…?”
Suddenly, the smartphone I had left in my pocket vibrated briefly. Wondering if it was Baek Seolah, who had been placed in the same group for this practical exam, I took it out and checked.
[Jeong Jaeha]
‘What the?’
An unexpected sender had boldly displayed his name on the lock screen. I reflexively glanced at the green-haired girl across from me. When she blinked and asked, “Why?” I immediately focused back on the phone screen. Whether Ryu Chaeeun’s face soured at the blatant ignoring or not was none of my concern.
Hey, Han Taeyang.
I heard you’re in the same group as our Chaeeun.
Remember what I told you last time?
That I might have a favor to ask you later, so I’d contact you when the time came…
It’s about that favor.
“……”
Even so, the timing was strangely perfect, and the meaningful content of Jeong Jaeha’s message made a certain premonition strike me like a bolt. I slowly lifted my gaze.
“…What? What’s with that weird look in your eyes?”
Ryu Chaeeun, who had been directly hit by that gaze, flinched unusually and showed clear discomfort toward me.
“It’s nothing.”
Instead of replying to Jeong Jaeha right away, I put the smartphone away and said,
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“…Saying it like that makes me even more curious. No, what is it?”
“I said it’s nothing.”
The moment Ryu Chaeeun’s eyebrows twitched at my indifferent reply and she tried to press for an answer in that habitually high-handed attitude she always used with me—
“Ah, there they are. Our group members.”
“……”
Right on time, the café door opened and three people—two guys and a girl—walked in. Ryu Chaeeun, who had been about to say something more, pressed her lips shut and turned to look sideways. The remaining three members of Group 15 for this practical exam, excluding me and Ryu Chaeeun.
Among them, Baek Seolah, who had been scanning the interior of the café, locked eyes with me exactly—
“Over here.”
“Ah.”
When I lightly waved my hand, she soon brought the other two over to our table. And right before they arrived, Ryu Chaeeun, her eyes glaring with dissatisfaction, muttered softly,
“…Just wait until we’re alone again. Taeyang oppa. You’re dead. For real.”
“……”
I met her eyes for a brief moment, then deliberately turned my head away in a clear show of ignoring her. Perhaps not expecting that reaction, a considerable amount of bewilderment flashed across Ryu Chaeeun’s face.
‘Seriously.’
Just because I turned my head once, why was she making such a sulky expression? I wondered if she had seen how I treated Baek Seolah and Seo Ahyeon last year and still acted like this. It would have been nice if she had noticed that I had been treating her specially all this time, but… well, it didn’t really matter if she hadn’t.
It was just my gut feeling, but…
Perhaps soon, the time for that thorough lesson I had so desperately wished for might finally arrive.