SAV Chapter 12

The class bell rang, but there was still a gap before teachers would arrive from the staff room to the fifth floor. Students who hadn’t returned to class yet were running in the hallways.

 

We found a relatively quiet spot, and Lee Gyuseong stopped, glaring at me with displeasure.

 

“What about the 300,000 won?”

 

Before that, there was something else I needed to address.

 

“Didn’t I tell you not to do it? Didn’t you hear me?”

 

When I asked this, Lee Gyuseong’s sharp, monolid eyes softened for the first time. He tilted his head and brought his face close to mine.

 

“Huh? I didn’t hear anything.”

 

“You did hear me.”

 

“Are your ears clogged? I said I didn’t hear.”

 

“Someone got hurt.”

 

Lee Gyuseong quickly grabbed my collar and pulled me closer, glancing around. Then he whispered very quietly in my ear.

 

“You told me to do it, didn’t you? I did what you said, so why are you making a fuss?”

 

“What I told you was not to do what you were planning to do.”

 

“I said I didn’t hear!”

 

I glared back at Lee Gyuseong, who was staring at me from just inches away. Then I forcefully knocked his hand away from my collar.

 

“Or did you pretend not to hear? Thinking I’d be screwed if we got caught by the teacher, since you could just say I ordered you to do it? I guess that situation earlier seemed like a perfect chance for you to get rid of both me and Choi Jeha, who you’ve always disliked?”

 

Lee Gyuseong’s father worked at the small company run by Cha Eunseong’s father. When Cha Eunseong found out about this, he used it as leverage to make Lee Gyuseong, who was originally a delinquent, his errand boy. In a way, Cha Eunseong had messed with Lee Gyuseong’s family, so there was no way they could get along.

 

“You know well,” Lee Gyuseong admitted, seizing a moment when no one else was listening.

 

“If you were going to take the hit for Choi Jeha anyway, why didn’t you just die from a blow to the head instead of surviving and making things complicated for everyone?”

 

Lee Gyuseong, who had been showing his twisted emotions openly, suddenly composed himself when he made eye contact with a student heading back to the classroom. He let go of my collar and smoothed out the wrinkles he had made.

 

It seemed clear that Lee Gyuseong was conscious of that student’s presence, though I wasn’t sure of their relationship.

 

“We’re not done talking,” I said as Lee Gyuseong spat a curse and tried to enter the classroom.

 

“Fuck, really. You’re nothing without your backing,” he muttered, stopping in his tracks.

 

Lee Gyuseong turned his head slightly to look at me. His monolid eyes, narrowing at the corners, looked sharp with just a slight tension in his eyelids.

 

“The guy who’s nothing without backing is going to stop now. So you should stop too.”

 

“Stop what?”

 

“I won’t involve your father’s job anymore, so stop bullying Jeha.”

 

Lee Gyuseong, who had been itching to torment Choi Jeha, seemed unable to process the situation when told to stop. He looked back at me with a twisted expression.

 

“Are you on drugs?”

 

“No. While we’re at it, let me say one more thing. Put that back where it belongs by tomorrow.”

 

“Put what back?”

 

“The 300,000 won. What you did is a crime.”

 

Lee Gyuseong furrowed his brow and bared his teeth.

 

I had made a guess based on the amount mentioned in the DM matching the school trip fee Choi Jeha had lost. But Lee Gyuseong’s reaction practically confirmed he was the culprit. With a vicious expression, he spat out a curse, flipped me off, and stormed into the classroom.

 

***

 

It had been several days now.

 

I still hadn’t woken up.

 

At this point, I was starting to wonder if I hadn’t fallen asleep but actually been transmigrated into the synopsis my sibling had written. At first, it was very confusing and difficult. But I realized that in a situation where I didn’t know when I’d return to reality, just struggling would only wear me down mentally. So I decided it was best to accept this life in the novel as quickly as possible and endure until the day I could go back.

 

So whenever I remembered parts of the synopsis, I added them to a memo pad, planning how to handle future situations.

 

Of course, the first priority was to become Choi Jeha’s friend rather than his main tormentor.

 

Though it had only been a few days since entering the novel, I’d learned quite a few things:

 

First, Raon Jena High School is an all-boys private school. Second, Kim Juyoung, who was described with flowery language as a goddess, is actually male. Third, the school cafeteria food is delicious.

 

I was a bit surprised that my sibling’s synopsis wasn’t a school romance but a BL story. However, I didn’t feel uncomfortable about Choi Jeha falling in love with another man and dedicating everything to that love. It was more like, “Oh, there’s a gay person around me?” I’ve always been an open-minded person.

 

I decided to continue school life as the new Cha Eunseong, combining the information I knew with what I’d newly learned.

 

Ding dong dang dong.

 

As the cheerful melody played over the speakers, students rushed out to the hallway as if a triathlon had started.

 

“Save me a spot in front!”

“What’s the side dish today?”

“Stir-fried pork.”

“Shit, let’s run!”

 

Amidst the chaos, only Choi Jeha’s seat remained peaceful, as if in another world. With Cha Eunseong (me) no longer bullying him, Lee Gyuseong had also backed off. Thanks to that, Choi Jeha’s peaceful lunchtime had returned.

 

‘Can I feel a little proud of this?’

 

I glanced at Choi Jeha preparing for lunch. He was taking out a packed kimbap and a drink.

 

While high school lunches are usually free, Raon Jena High School was a private school that didn’t offer free meals. Moreover, if you signed up for evening self-study, you had to pay double for meals, which was a bit burdensome for Choi Jeha right now. So he would alternate between cafeteria meals and bringing kimbap, bread, or cup noodles.

 

‘Kimbap again today.’

 

Choi Jeha carefully unwrapped the plastic from his kimbap. Watching his long, straight fingers, I was reminded of the gentle touch when he had tended to my bruise.

 

‘Such soft hands for someone with such a prickly personality…’

 

Squinting slightly at the light coming through the window, I looked at the kimbap wrapper Choi Jeha had removed. Seeing the convenience store logo, I guessed he’d brought an expired one again.

 

‘Should I buy him some sushi tonight?’

 

That sushi place from yesterday was pretty good.

 

Planning to raid the convenience store where Choi Jeha worked, I got up to head to the cafeteria.

 

After eating three extra servings of stir-fried pork, my stomach felt like it was about to burst. So I couldn’t eat the banana and yogurt drink that came as dessert. Thinking I might give them to Choi Jeha, I stuffed them in my pocket.

 

As I left the cafeteria heading towards the main building, I heard voices of students playing basketball on the field.

 

“Hey, pass! Pass it here!”

 

The moment I looked over, a student who made eye contact with me missed his pass. The ball bounced off the ground and flew towards the stands next to the field. To be that intimidated just from eye contact—it really drove home what kind of presence Cha Eunseong had been at this school.

 

The ball bounced a few more times before rolling to a stop, gently hitting the shoe of a student sitting in the stands.

 

The loafers were old but clean, conforming to the school’s regulations for neat, flat shoes. Below the slightly short pant legs, ankles were visible. They gave an impression of thick, solid bones wrapped in firm muscle.

 

Following the crisp line of the trousers upward…

 

Long legs stretched out comfortably, resting two steps below on the stands. The seams of the pants pulled taut over the thighs, almost precariously so. Hands rested on top, with prominent veins visible from the back of the hand up to where the sleeves were rolled halfway.

 

Without exaggeration, it was exactly the body I wished I had.

 

‘That physique is insane.’

 

The guy, who had been tilting his head back towards the sky with black earphone cords in his ears, suddenly dropped his chin. Then he picked up the ball at his feet with one hand.

 

A clear blue sky above, trees lush with leaves below. And there, a guy with flawless, perfect looks. A basketball gripped tightly in his large, strong hand. The scene that unfolded before me in less than 10 seconds felt like a moment from a youth drama.

 

I was half-entranced, admiring Choi Jeha, when a student’s shout asking for the ball snapped me back to reality. Embarrassed to realize I’d been staring at him as if time had stopped, I rubbed the back of my heated neck. Then, with a start, I reached into my pocket. The banana I’d brought for him was still cool. Curious about how he’d react if I gave it to him, I hopped down the stands.

 

“Hey, isn’t that him?”

“Who?”

 

I overheard whispers from students huddled together watching the basketball game. Given how close they were to Choi Jeha, he must have heard them talking about him too. My light steps suddenly felt heavier.

 

“The guy they say only goes after Omegas who look like they’re about to differentiate.”

 

“Oh, is that him?”

 

A student who had been filming his friends playing basketball on his phone turned the camera towards Choi Jeha, snickering.

 

“Wow, his form is insane. Total hottie.”

 

“Oh yeah, I heard about that too. They say he treats non-Omegas like trash.”

 

This wasn’t part of Choi Jeha’s character setting that I had read. While there could be plot developments I didn’t know about, the character settings had never been off before. So my first thought was that these rumors about Choi Jeha must be false.