Ambiguous
Ambiguous
The reaction was slow, likely because the content was hard to believe coming from Shin Yu-ri, and her voice was a half-step lower than her usual mid-range tone.
"Uh... that's true. It is a shitty thing to do to Jae-hyun."
Lee Ju-yeong was overwhelmed by the momentum and admitted it first.
"I think so too. Please don't be mad. Besides, I didn't say it, that Ahn Woo-jin guy did! But my heart hurts a bit. Actually, a lot."
Choi Jae-rim apologized first.
Even while doing so, he felt wronged, so he teared up at the end.
"Uh... sorry. I was a bit thoughtless... but why do I have to apologize for this? I'm not doing it to Choi Jae-rim or Jae-hyun, so why to them?"
Ahn Woo-jin, who had suddenly become the owner of the arena, was confused but apologized anyway.
The less close guys responded roughly like this, but Choi Da-ram and Han Ye-rin were too surprised to react.
Fortunately, only the people around them heard it.
"Hey, even so, comparing him to Jae-hyun is too much! Jae-rim is fine too, but the opponent is too strong! Your intentions are impure, aren't they?"
And the fact that Shin Yu-ri's response was quick.
Her tone was bouncy again, pitch raised, as if nothing had happened.
Even her laughter that cleared the air around her, and her playful gestures.
"This is rude to both of them, you know?"
They nodded one by one, agreeing with her words, despite looking suspicious.
"It is rude."
"Definitely, definitely."
"Ahaha... true. Woo-jin, you were in the wrong here."
"The real rudeness is what you did to me... Keuhuk."
"Watch your mouth."
Kim Jae-hyun suppressed Choi Jae-rim, the only one talking nonsense, and the incident was settled.
"You've finally gone crazy. You've finally lost it."
"You did look tired... are you okay now?"
Shin Yu-ri's voice, surrounded by Choi Da-ram and Han Ye-rin, is bright as always.
"Honestly, I am a bit tired. See these dark circles? Huh?"
"I don't see them at all. You look pretty?"
"Honey..."
I looked at Shin Yu-ri and felt it anew.
Why did I feel uncomfortable with her in particular?
Because she's a lead character in a webtoon?
That was solved a long time ago.
If it wasn't, how could I hang out with Lee Ju-yeong?
He's the protagonist.
If it were just for a reason like that, it would have been resolved already.
"Ye-rin, get ready for a kiss."
"Eek. That's a bit..."
It's just... Shin Yu-ri's personality is the problem.
Of course, I knew.
That she has a huge interest in me.
It's something I said when consulting as Nogada, but the dense male protagonist is a character that only exists in fiction.
If a woman truly likes a man and shows it, he has no choice but to know.
However, I just knew too much.
I knew that the feelings Shin Yu-ri showed me were likely curiosity and fun rather than affection, and that's why the fear was greater than the excitement.
Because I know her.
I know her cold and dual-natured side well.
That's why the closer she got, the more scared I was.
Because I don't know what she's thinking inside.
"Jae-hyun! It's my first time seeing you play basketball. It was cool, wasn't it?"
Still, is it because we've known each other for quite a while?
Or maybe because her face has become familiar.
I felt like I could see a Shin Yu-ri who was reading the room somewhere beneath that bright mask.
Or perhaps looking worried.
As if she was worried about her true self being found out...
"Thanks."
But what if even that is acting?
It's a dilemma.
What if it's acting, upon acting, upon acting, upon acting?
Shin Yu-ri was a natural-born master of acting, as if to prove her bloodline, and knowing that characteristic of hers, I doubted every single one of her actions.
I thought it might be a bit excessive, but... well.
"Like! The squeaking sounds! Especially that, shooting from super far away! How do you make those?"
Look.
The various emotions that were lingering in her eyes have disappeared without a trace, haven't they?
Shin Yu-ri is still scary.
I was so scared that if I kept her by my side, I might give her my heart.
Because I know better than anyone that those feelings wouldn't be reciprocated.
If there's a problem here...
"But I have a favor to ask... could you do it for me?"
Is it just the fact that I'm drawn to her even knowing all that?
That's why I couldn't cut her off.
My adolescent body wants her.
At the same time, my mind is telling me to keep her away.
Which comes first, the heart or the mind?
If I were a normal reincarnator, the heart would have come first, but I wasn't.
I couldn't have been old enough to talk about mental age.
Even if I count my past life's memories, I died before I could even live 9 years.
Since more than half of those 9 years were infancy, it doesn't mean much now.
Would it have been better if I had lived a bit longer?
Even if I had, I would have eventually become a slave to hormones and been all woozy.
So... what I want to say is.
My ambiguous relationship with Shin Yu-ri is entirely my fault.
A half-baked reincarnator with a weak mentality, unable to cut off the temptations of a woman of Shin Yu-ri's caliber.
Usually, they show great willpower talking about past life memories or whatever, but I couldn't do that.
An ambiguous supporting character and an ambiguous reincarnator.
Fantastic.
Come to think of it, my past life never helped in this regard.
Frankly speaking, even if I didn't have knowledge about the webtoon, considering my nature, with Shin Yu-ri...
No?
If I didn't know the webtoon, would I have just gone along with it, grinning?
I looked at the bright Shin Yu-ri and was soon convinced.
"Wow, the ball is really big. Look. I have big hands too, but I can't grip it all."
I would have gone along with it.
Thank you, past life.
I won't say you're meaningless from now on.
By the time I finished a smooth agreement with my past life, Shin Yu-ri, who had been staring up at me, opened her mouth.
"Why didn't you dunk? Looking at you running earlier, I thought you could."
To her pure question, asked as if it just occurred to her, I thought for a moment.
"Because it's inefficient."
I said it as it was.
Because dunks are inefficient.
I could do it if I wanted to, but it uses much more stamina and the stability is lower.
It's much better to just do a layup or shoot normally.
And to tell the truth, I didn't really think about it.
My body always moved in search of efficiency.
It's the kind of thing that only comes to mind after being told like this.
To me, a dunk is just about this much.
"But it's cool."
That is true.
Because a dunk doesn't just stop at 2 points.
"Not just anyone can dunk, right? To put it directly into that high place..."
Shin Yu-ri, trailing off, looked straight into my eyes.
"You have to be as tall as you and have good jumping power."
"Is this the favor you mentioned earlier?"
"That's right. I wanted to see it in person at least once."
Shin Yu-ri squinted her eyes and stepped closer.
She held out the basketball she was holding and continued.
"Show me. A dunk."
Was it because of the heat from the exercise?
Or maybe the excitement from the victory.
If not that, maybe it's because of that damn eye-smile.
It was a request I would have brushed off normally, but today, I accepted it.
There's no special reason... just because I can.
Because it's not difficult.
I don't know if I should say it's thanks to it, but I found a smooth compromise with my past life.
Yeah, it's something like that.
ㅡThump
The basketball bounces on the floor.
ㅡSlap
It touches my palm.
At that moment, I shoot my body forward as if bouncing off my feet.
I bypass an imaginary opponent that wasn't even there, and jump straight up.
My hand was pulled back with all its might.
If I'm going to do it, do it properly.
ㅡKwaaang!!
A roar echoed through the auditorium, and I landed with the ball amidst the commotion.
"Whew."
A dunk.
So, this is my first time doing a proper dunk like this.
It's actually quite fun.
"Wow, crazy bastard."
"I only saw that in games..."
"Did we play a game with someone like that? Hey, 2nd place did well too."
"Looking at it, he was just slacking off. No wonder he was fresh alone."
The reverberation faded, and I turned around at the voices I heard in between.
And faced her.
"Waaa..."
The blooming Shin Yu-ri.
Her face literally bloomed.
Her lips, which always drew a neat arc, were naturally parted, showing off a smile, and her eyes were wider than usual, reflecting the emotions in her pupils without filtration.
And those emotions were directed entirely at me.
Really, a vivid emotion to the point of being burdensome.
Maybe that's why.
Thump.
I averted my gaze from that face without realizing it.
You crazy bastard.
The opponent is Shin Yu-ri.
Get a grip.
That's just a performance for show, too.
No, is Shin Yu-ri some kind of monster?
If that's acting too, I admit it.
That's a real expression, isn't that why I'm fluttered?
What's in those pupils is the truth.
A perfect truth without anything calculated.
Come to think of it, the way she was reading the room earlier seemed real too.
Let's assume that.
So what changes?
That's just her mask breaking because she was surprised.
In the end, she's still a dual-natured person.
So what if she's dual-natured.
As long as the side she shows me is consistent......
Stop.
I caught and extinguished the sparks that were wandering around my head all at once.
Maybe because I've done it a lot while living as Nogada, it wasn't that hard.
I naturally acted calm.
"Happy?"
Oh, this.
This isn't the usual me.
It's an adolescent boy grumbling to chase away embarrassment.
"Happyyy."
Shin Yu-ri, who smiles while drawing out the end of her words.
"Then I'm going."
It was a bit dangerous.
"Huh? Wait, where are you going in such a hurry..."
I walked away without listening, and eventually opened my mouth.
"I have an appointment. I have to go quickly. Going."
I didn't turn my head.
Because if I turned around, I felt like I'd get caught again.
Fortunately, or should I say unfortunately, Shin Yu-ri didn't chase after me.
"Uung, okay. See you later. Maybe soon?"
She just delivered an incomprehensible greeting.
"Ihadtoomanythingshappen todayIt'sreallyexhaustingButyouguysdidn'tcome."
It was the content of the text, to be exact, that I heard as soon as Nogada entered.
"Why is she acting like a bitch."
"Why are you like that~?"
At the question of the more rough-than-usual Nogada and the strangely excited Yulia, Ajura barked sorrowfully.
"There really were so many fucking things that happened I'm just an action leader but why do I have to receive these messages!!!"
"Hmm."
Nogada took out a pickaxe.
"I will explain it clearly from now on."
"Okaaay."