Chapter 145. Hero, People Aren't NPCs...
Chapter 145. Hero, People Aren't NPCs...
Afraid that Laila might spot me, I pulled my hat down even lower.
"Oh, I... I think you've mistaken me for someone else. I'll just be..."
— Grab...
Park Hyo-jung seized my sleeve as if she would never let go.
Whatever the case, this scene was prime entertainment.
Some people watched the situation with curiosity, while others were already making phone calls somewhere.
"Ha, you're trying to run now that you got caught?"
Park Hyo-jung, who had snatched my arm, really was like a Maltese.
A tiny frame, brows furrowed, fearlessly picking a fight in her own way.
I couldn't help but crack a smile at the sight.
"Are you smiling? Do you think this is funny right now?"
Park Hyo-jung flared up.
"No... that's not it..."
While I trailed off and scratched the back of my head, campus security guards on patrol approached from somewhere.
Park Hyo-jung swiftly raised her hand and called them over.
"Over here! Here! Someone suspicious is following me!"
The situation instantly grew chaotic, and a security guard approached and spoke politely.
"Are you a student? Could you show me your student ID?"
"..."
Student ID?
I couldn't find it anywhere.
It must have disappeared when I went missing and during the move.
"Are you perhaps an outsider? Entering the school building can be problematic."
'Ah, crap...'
More than half my face was already covered by the mask, and I'd pulled my hat down deep, but...
Could I get out of this situation?
"Excuse me..."
Just then.
"He... Hero!"
Laila's voice rang out from somewhere.
As I realized Laila had caught me, I also thought this was my way out.
"S-So this is where you were..."
Laila spoke with a dumbfounded expression.
The moment our eyes met, I bowed my head slightly and looked at her with desperate eyes.
'...!'
Laila sighed and approached, speaking with practiced ease.
"Ah, he's my boyfriend... and he's a student here. He was just dropping something off for me..."
At Laila's words, Park Hyo-jung's eyes widened like saucers and she asked,
"Whoa... big sis, your boyfriend is also a student at our school?"
"Yeah... he just woke up and came straight here, so he's wearing a hat and a mask... sorry for causing a misunderstanding."
Laila smoothly added the lie, then smiled at the security guard.
"Haha... class was canceled today, so I left my wallet at home."
"I see... please be careful. We've been sensitive lately because of outsider issues."
Laila smiled brightly as she spoke.
Maybe because the security guard was a man, he was completely disarmed by her smile.
Once the guards left, the students who had considered it no big deal also scattered one by one.
"Honestly! Come here!"
Laila puffed out her cheeks with an angry look.
Then she grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the crowd.
"Big sis~ I'll go with you!"
And as soon as we entered a quiet corridor.
— Smack! Smack!
"I can't live like this! You should have at least contacted me before coming!"
A small white palm struck my forearm repeatedly.
At her words, I lowered my head like a convict and muttered in a shrinking voice.
"I, I just... I was worried, and I missed you..."
At those words, Laila's expression went blank for a moment.
Just as the corners of her eyes softened and the corners of her lips were about to follow suit.
"Ugh...! You're trying to get away with it again by saying things like that...!"
'Didn't work...?'
Right then.
"Huff... haah...!"
Someone came running this way, breathing raggedly.
The three of us looked over simultaneously, and Laila and Park Hyo-jung cried out at the same time.
"Senior...?"
It was the student council president who had led the freshman orientation.
Having run over panting, he bent over to catch his breath and spoke.
"Huff... Where have you been? The Department Head is looking for you right now..."
"What? Then you could have just contacted me by phone... you didn't have to..."
"I sent messages but you didn't read them...!"
"Oops."
Laila smiled sheepishly.
"I'll go right away. Do you by any chance know where...?"
"I know where the Department Head's office is. Let's go together."
Laila nodded and turned back to Park Hyo-jung.
"Sorry. Go on ahead to the lecture hall!"
"Huh? Okay! Take care!"
While Park Hyo-jung waved, I grabbed Laila's hand and headed for the stairs.
The floor where professors gathered, a place students normally didn't frequent.
"Really... next time, you absolutely have to contact me before coming!"
Laila spoke with solemn dignity (?), as if she were still angry.
— Peck.
I bent down and gave her a short kiss on the cheek.
At the sudden kiss, her face flushed red.
"Seriously...! What if someone sees...!"
"Then I'll openly stamp my mark."
Turning the corner of the building, we saw the cluster of professors' offices.
And in the distance, a middle-aged man was pacing in front of the Department Head's office.
He spotted us approaching and cautiously raised his hand.
"Oh! I was just looking for you!"
He spoke with a touch of fussiness as he strode toward us.
His gaze, while greeting, soon lingered on me.
"...And who might this person be...?"
I sensed a subtle mix of wariness and curiosity.
Laila blinked, momentarily at a loss for words.
'I mean, you don't usually bring your boyfriend to a professor's office...'
"Ah, I'm a freshman, so he was guiding me to the Department Head's office."
Laila trailed off, scratching her head.
At that, the Department Head nodded again, gesturing toward the door.
"Please, come in."
Since it seemed like an important matter was being discussed, I tried to tactfully edge backward.
But Laila spoke confidently.
"Ah, it's alright if he comes in too, isn't it?"
The Department Head looked back and forth between us with a troubled expression.
"Well... there's the matter of security, so..."
"It's fine. He's someone who already knows everything about me."
At those words, the Department Head trailed off and rubbed his forehead.
Internally, he seemed to wonder, 'Is he from the Association?' while also resigning himself with the thought, 'Who's going to say anything to the Unknown Hunter...'
"Alright, then, please have a seat here."
Having guided us to the Department Head's office, he brewed coffee himself and brought it over.
Then he sat down awkwardly and cleared his throat.
"Well... Hunter, no, Student..."
Unable to settle on the proper title, his words kept wavering.
"You can speak comfortably, Professor."
I added slight emphasis to the word 'Professor'.
The Department Head nodded with an expression that said, 'Ah, right.'
Quick on the uptake, he immediately understood that Laila wanted to maintain the boundary between 'student and professor.'
"Then... Laila Student."
The Department Head adjusted his posture more seriously and got to the point.
"It's nothing else... I have something to tell you regarding your spouse. It seems we may be able to help with restoring your academic registration."
Listening from the side, I nodded quietly.
The worry of, 'Would I have to take the college entrance exam again?' disappeared.
"It's a bit awkward for us to convey this directly... so if you, Student, could give him a hint..."
Laila took a sip of coffee and spoke.
"It might not be necessary for me to deliver the message personally."
"?"
She looked pointedly at me, sitting beside her.
Following her gaze, the Department Head also turned his eyes to Song Hoon.
"...?"
Slowly, I took off my hat and mask.
The Department Head, who had been staring at my face, widened his eyes; his lips parted and closed repeatedly.
"Uh... Uht? Uuht?"
His mouth opened and closed a few times before he hastily set down the coffee cup he was holding.
"Hello, Professor. Ah, you must be the Department Head now."
"Oh my, yes... It's a pleasure to meet you."
The Department Head rose from his seat, bowed deeply, and accepted my handshake.
Beads of sweat were forming on the back of his head.
"Ah, of, of course... I'm aware that you are in a relationship with Laila Hunter, but..."
Flustered, his term of address momentarily switched from student to Hunter.
"If restoring my academic registration is possible, I would certainly be glad."
The Department Head nodded and jotted something down on a piece of paper.
Then he suddenly tilted his head and muttered to himself.
"But if the two of us walk around together for no reason... won't the school become incredibly noisy?"
The Department Head flinched.
"Already... there are many students who have a hunch about Laila Student."
"What?"
When I tilted my head cluelessly, the Department Head looked at me with an expression of disbelief.
"Laila Student walks around without a wig, without lenses, and even without makeup... Did you truly think people wouldn't know?"
Actually, that's true.
I never sincerely believed that 'people wouldn't know.'
I thought they wouldn't know to some degree, but...
"They all just pretended not to know..."
"Mm..."
"Meeting a celebrity outside is just a 'wow' moment... you don't go up and pretend to know them. Although a few do go to get autographs and such..."
He chuckled, adding, 'There were no such people among our department's students.'
"In the first place, they wouldn't dare speak even if they knew."
"Is that so?"
"How could a mere employee... dare approach the CEO first and speak casually?"
"..."
The 'Department of Gate Security Strategy,' where everyone would end up working in this industry in the future.
In that industry, the Unknown Hunter was a person no one dared to cross.
The clueless freshmen might not know, but the upperclassmen about to enter the job market were cautious, ever so cautious.
"They probably think that if they clumsily get too chummy and fall out of favor, it's the end for them, right?"
At the Department Head's words, I quietly looked at Laila.
She let out a deep sigh and nodded.
"That's right. Sometimes groups of seniors would talk to me, but... no one ever approached me for a personal conversation."
"..."
"Hero, did you honestly think people wouldn't know?"
"Wh-What? I knew too, alright?"
Laila's look was one of pure exasperation.
I could count on one hand the number of times I'd seen that expression on Laila's face in my life.
"I-I'm serious, I tell you?"
"Hero, people aren't NPCs in some stealth assassination game..."
At that moment, the Department Head shook his head and changed the subject.
"Ah, anyway... If you wish, we will restore your academic registration."
"Mm... I'd like to graduate alongside Laila..."
"That's a simple matter."
"?"
"Since the school is the one conferring graduation in the first place... We'll take care of everything on our end."
"Oh?"
A senior more than five years ahead of the current freshmen.
Was I going to re-enter as a fresh-faced newbie?
"Of course, we will handle a change of major during the process as well."
The Department Head rubbed his palms together and explained eagerly, as if everything was already prepared.
"If you wish, graduate school admission would also be quite easy..."