Do You Like Me?
“…So that’s how I dodged every last one of their skills, took down two of them, won the match, and even walked away with Finals MVP.”
Clap clap clap clap—
“Wow, that’s seriously amazing! You were already famous at school for being good at games, Jinwoo. My friend is a world champion…! It’s so wild.”
Yoon Si-a clapped and praised me with genuine enthusiasm. I knew her compliments were sincere, yet what washed over me wasn’t pride so much as embarrassment. One look at her eyes told me she wasn’t really following or relating to any of it.
Thinking about it, that made perfect sense. Even back in school, Si-a had been the type furthest from games.
Ugh, this is embarrassing.
It felt exactly like being that one nerd who stays quiet all day and then, the second a familiar topic comes up, launches into a monologue only he understands…
Is it just a feeling, or am I actually that nerd?
If the person listening had been Kim Iseo or Lee Su-a instead of Yoon Si-a, I’d already have taken a hit by now—something along the lines of “Quit yapping about stuff only you care about.”
“Haha… You think so?”
“Mm-hmm!! For real!”
I sat there awkwardly under Si-a’s pure, admiring gaze while she kept heaping praise on me for a good while longer. Then she rested her hand over the back of mine on the table.
Her hand was as warm as her heart.
“Huh…?”
“Jinwoo, if there’s something you’re curious about, you don’t have to hold it in. You can ask.”
The words left her carefully. Some people might have found the timing random, but she had read my mind perfectly. Ever since I’d reunited with her—no, ever since I’d first laid eyes on Kang Hae-rin again—there had been something I’d wanted to know.
Come to think of it, Si-a had always been good at sensing the things other people couldn’t easily say out loud.
Encouraged by her words, I finally asked the question that had been sitting with me the whole time.
“Uh, so… how did you all end up at the same school? Stuff like this is pretty rare, isn’t it…?”
Smiling, Si-a leaned in close and spoke almost in a whisper.
“The truth is, Hae-rin’s mother is the chairperson of the Saewa High board. That’s how we could all gather. Hae-rin had been saying since high school that she wanted us to stay together even after we became adults, but none of us except her ever imagined it would actually happen like this.”
Only after hearing that did I understand how Kang Hae-rin, the same age as me, had ended up as Academic Affairs Director.
But Saewa High is one of those autonomous private schools you need pretty high grades to get into. Didn’t the parents push back?
Si-a wouldn’t know about that part, so I didn’t ask. She kept going.
“And now even you get to work with us… doesn’t that make this destiny?”
She clasped her hands over her chest, eyes sparkling as she talked about fate—exactly the same as she used to—and a laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it.
“Ah, what—why are you laughing—!!”
After that we caught up a little more on what we’d been doing, finished lunch, and my first day of work ended without anything else of note.
And now, somehow, a whole month had already gone by.
I was carrying a box of delivered medicine and supplies toward the infirmary.
What I’d realized over the past month was this: sure, I’d been assigned as a public service worker attached to the main staff office—but on top of that, I seemed to have become the personal errand boy for Kang Hae-rin’s whole crew. Most of the actual orders came from Kim Iseo and Lee Su-a, of course…
Well, if I’m honest, it’s more of a good thing than a bad one.
From what my training-camp buddies said, it was common to get stuck with every random school chore outside your official duties. In my case, none of that ever happened.
And by pure coincidence—or so it seemed—whenever the admin office was short-staffed and I was about to get pulled into outdoor work, a request from Kim Iseo or Lee Su-a would conveniently redirect me to the relatively easy jobs of cleaning the infirmary or the gym.
“I brought them.”
I knocked on the infirmary door. Lee Su-a opened it with a smile. Every time I saw her I thought the same thing: she was ridiculously, unfairly pretty.
“Jjinu’s here? Just set it down over there—”
The moment I moved to put the box where she pointed, a soft hand closed around my butt.
Squish squish.
Su-a’s touch—something I got about once a day now, and had started to confuse with a reward rather than harassment. No, on second thought, it was definitely a reward. Every time she did it, I got so turned on I had to chant every mental prayer I knew just to keep the rising lust in check.
“Hey, is it really a good idea to do that right now? I’m holding a box of medicine. What if I drop it…?”
Knead knead—
“Aww—you won’t though— I trust my Jjinu, you know? You’re not gonna disappoint me, are you?”
“Ugh, do whatever you want….”
I said it and started shelving the medicine with her. Of course, Su-a was busy groping my ass with one hand, so most of the actual work fell to me…
Back in high school, whenever she touched me like this I would freeze solid and not say a word. Now that I was a grown adult, at least I could talk through it. And whenever I did complain, Su-a just took it in stride…
Then a thought hit me out of nowhere.
Wait… does Su-a like me? When we were kids I could brush it off, but still doing this as an adult…?
Getting my ass grabbed every time we met was not a normal situation, so it felt like a pretty reasonable conclusion. No—if anything, I felt pathetic for only thinking of it now.
Ha. Realizing Su-a’s feelings this late… I really am a terrible guy. So what do I do now? Just grab her back and confess? Tell her I liked her too all along…?
Even I could tell how pathetic that sounded. But I’d gone my whole life without any real relationship experience, so I had no idea how to act. Even during my pro career I never used social media; I just locked myself in the practice room and played games every day.
The only data I had on male-female relationships came from mass-produced harem wish-fulfillment anime, and that was worse than useless in real life. Follow that and you’d end up a criminal.
Well, the reason I’d started watching those anime in the first place was so I could cast Kang Hae-rin’s crew in the roles and enjoy my own little mental victory…
Even while my head was spinning, my hands kept moving, and I finished organizing the supplies.
“I’m gonna head out now.”
Pat pat—
“Good work, my Jjinu—”
Su-a gave my butt a familiar little smack. If the idea had never crossed my mind, fine—but now that I was thinking she might actually like me, just walking away felt like a waste. I turned back to look at her.
It’s just the two of us. I should ask her seriously.
“Hey, do you maybe li—”
In that instant, my eyes met someone watching us from behind the privacy curtain around the infirmary bed.
Burning red eyes. Kim Iseo.
What…? Why is she here?
Seeing how thoroughly uncomfortable she looked, I cut myself off in a hurry.
“Hm? What?”
“Ah… nothing! Anyway, I’m going!”
Whatever. There’ll be plenty of other chances.
I fled the infirmary like that and returned to my desk. Not long after, Kim Iseo walked into the main staff office. The other teachers must have all been in class; it was just the two of us.
The look in her eyes earlier made me flinch for a second, but she couldn’t have followed me on purpose. She was assigned to this office too…
My hopes didn’t last. Iseo came straight over and spoke in a lower tone than usual.
“Hey. Stay after work today and help me organize the equipment.”
She’d piled plenty of little jobs on me before, but they’d always been things that could be finished before quitting time, so this threw me a little.
“Uh…?”
“Didn’t you hear me? Stay after and help me.”
She looked more irritated than usual. Come to think of it, even back in school Iseo used to interfere whenever Su-a tried to touch me. More precisely—whenever Su-a reached for me, Iseo would throw me first and slam me into the classroom floor with some technique.
Shudder—
Just remembering it brought the old pain back, and my body gave a little tremble. She must have thought the reaction was about her request, because her voice got smaller when she asked again.
“Do you hate it that much…?”
Of course I hate being told to work overtime with no extra pay. Wouldn’t you?
That stayed in my head. What came out of my mouth was something else.
“Fine. I’ll help.”
Well, when she asked that earnestly, helping once wouldn’t kill me. It definitely wasn’t because I was scared of her.
Six in the evening.
The second work ended I took the key and ledger I’d already been given and headed for the gymnasium equipment room inside the gym.
Huh…?
It was spotless. She’d asked me to help organize, but the storage room was already clean and perfectly arranged—not a single thing out of place.
If it’s this tidy, there was no need to stay after school… What’s going on?
Still, since I was already there it felt weird to do nothing, so I stood comparing the neatly stacked equipment against the inventory ledger. That was when Kim Iseo stepped inside and locked the door.
Click—
“Hey, if it was this clean you didn’t really need to call m—?”
I trailed off when I saw her frowning, opening and closing her fists.
“Hey. Did you like it?”
The second she said it, the scene in the infirmary flashed through my mind, but I played dumb on purpose. If I was wrong, bringing it up would only remind her.
“L-like what…?”
“Did you like getting felt up by Lee Su-a!”
Why is she yelling…. Of course I liked it, but saying that out loud is a little much—how am I supposed to answer?
She suddenly strode forward and shoved me against the wall. I still couldn’t figure out how a girl that small compared to a guy could be this strong.
Thud—!
She punched the wall right next to my face and kept talking.
“Your face says it all. You liked it. It wasn’t harassment—you two were enjoying it together.”
What am I even supposed to do in this situation? Apologize?
Honestly, I was terrified. The fear stamped into me since school, plus the shove just now, made one thing crystal clear: even if I went all out, I could never beat Kim Iseo. Then again, I’d spent my whole life playing games. I’d never hit anyone, never even been in a real fight, so of course.
The next thing she said made me lift my eyes from the floor and meet hers.
“Then let me touch you too.”
??????
It felt like a dozen question marks had just been slammed into my skull.
What… is this?
The face that had looked so scary a second ago suddenly seemed different. The flush wasn’t anger—it was embarrassment. Normally I would have said yes just out of fear, but in that moment Su-a flashed through my mind.
Right! I can’t give my body to someone else when there’s a girl who likes me.
Of course, Su-a liking me was pure speculation on my part. For now, though…
“No!”
She clearly hadn’t expected rejection. Her pupils visibly shook. Her fists trembled, and through gritted teeth she forced the words out slowly.
“Why…? Su-a gets to, so why not me?”
Ah… now that I think about it, maybe I should just let her…?
But maybe because I was so cornered, the unfiltered truth I hadn’t even been conscious of came flying out.
“Th-then let me touch your chest too. That’s fair, right?”
Ah shit… I’m actually done for.
I curled up as small as I could and covered my face, bracing for the punch that had to be coming—but Iseo just stood there, face bright red. When I carefully lowered my arms, she was wearing an expression of pure fluster I’d never seen on her before.
Somehow that gave me a little more courage. Or maybe just recklessness…
“I’m right, aren’t I! It’s weird if only you get to touch. What if I change my mind and report you for sexual harassment? If we’re doing this, mutual touching is better, isn’t it?”
Even as I said it I knew this was a terrible idea…
But the water was already spilled.
Th-this time I might actually get hit…?
I curled up again into a defensive stance, but her reaction was nothing like what I’d expected. Kim Iseo bit her lower lip, lowered her head, and unzipped the top of her PE uniform. Then she pushed her bra-clad chest toward me and muttered in a voice so quiet I almost couldn’t hear it.
“Th-then… you go first.”
Holy shit… this is actually happening?