Sub… what?
I expected things would go badly if I offended Seo Hyunho, but this was far worse than I imagined.
“Th-this is so sudden… How could I possibly ask something like this of you, senior…?”
My lips had gone completely dry. Trying to dodge and push him away indirectly only worked once or twice. At this rate, Seo Hyunho might explode any moment.
Ah, maybe it would be better if I just fainted right now.
“Then I’ll do whatever I want.”
His voice sank faster than expected. Joohoon was now only about one step away from Yoohee.
As if he had no intention of going easy on her anymore, Seo Hyunho looked down at Yoohee while radiating a chilling, sinister aura.
Beneath that nearly 190-centimeter-tall frame, Yoohee had become nothing more than easy prey. She had to somehow use her wits.
If she wanted to avoid being trapped in the male lead’s web and continue walking the proper path of an extra.
“P-please hold my hand!”
Yoohee’s high-pitched voice cut through the air and scattered like a desperate scream.
Perhaps shouting quite loudly had worked, because Seo Hyunho stood there blankly, blinking.
“What did you say?”
“I-I said please hold my hand… That, that’s what I want.”
A handshake was something even friends did, wasn’t it?
She would just hold hands and end this relationship cleanly.
[Constellation ‘Mala-Flavored Chur’ says your small courage leaves them utterly disappointed.]
[A small number of constellations jeer at you.]
Amid the chaos caused by Seo Hyunho, the reactions of the constellations seeped into her ears.
Was Mala-Flavored Chur a new constellation who had just arrived? Judging by the nickname alone, they seemed like someone who liked spicy things.
“You want to hold hands?”
Seo Hyunho asked again as if he couldn’t believe it. When Yoohee nodded firmly, he let out a hollow laugh, as if the air had escaped from him.
“Ah, holding hands… What is that supposed to accomplish?”
Seo Hyunho instantly closed the distance that had been about one step between them. Then, as he placed both arms against the pillar of the corridor where Yoohee was leaning, she found herself trapped inside a body covered entirely in muscle.
While Yoohee’s eyelashes trembled several times, Seo Hyunho merely blinked slowly once.
‘God….’
Although Seo Hyunho’s nighttime affairs were not described in detail in the original story, at this moment Yoohee felt like she could understand to some extent.
With just those eyes filled with desire, most women would probably have willingly given him everything, ready to offer even their hearts.
That bastard. He only had a handsome face.
“Se-senior…!”
Before Seo Hyunho’s melodramatic gaze became even deeper, Yoohee hurriedly called out to him.
“Why.”
Was it the protagonist’s privilege? Even his voice sounded as if it had been coated with honey.
“T-this isn’t right… I mean, you’re my senior, and I’m your junior. This isn’t proper according to etiquette….”
“What era are we living in?”
“I’m only a C-rank guide. A-and I’m not even pretty. M-my personality isn’t great either…… I-I’m not on the same level as you, senior.”
“….”
At Yoohee’s passionate self-deprecation, Seo Hyunho’s expression changed noticeably. From his eyes to his lips. He quietly examined Yoohee’s face before opening his mouth.
“Your self-esteem must be really low.”
“Ye-yes…! That’s why I absolutely don’t suit someone like you, senior!”
As Seo Hyunho’s momentum weakened somehow, Yoohee took it as her chance and continued her passionate speech even more.
Seo Hyunho, who had been staring at her, lowered one of the arms that had been resting against the corridor pillar.
She thought he was finally stepping back.
But then—
Swoosh.
Seo Hyunho moved his hand. At the same time, her face suddenly felt strangely empty.
“You look much better without it.”
In Seo Hyunho’s hand was the horn-rimmed glasses Yoohee had been wearing.
‘Wait. Had I been wearing my glasses this whole time…?’
She must have forgotten to take them off when leaving the library. But anyway, why did he take her glasses…?
“You’re not that ugly.”
With a blunt yet sweet tone, Seo Hyunho whispered.
They say a frog can die after being hit by a stone thrown carelessly. Yoohee was exactly that frog.
Unlike Seo Hyunho, whose expression did not change at all, Yoohee froze completely, forgetting even to blink.
‘This bastard— no, why is Seo Hyun-ho saying something like this to me?’
She couldn’t understand it at all. In the original story, Seo Hyunho had always been cold even toward the female protagonist, Gayoung, and he had never once said warm words to the fish trapped in his “fishing pond” either.
She only came back to her senses when she heard the constellations’ reactions.
[Constellation ‘Mother of Failure’ blushes.]
[Constellation ‘Mala-Flavored Chur’ looks forward to the spicy next development.]
Seeing them react this way even though Seo Hyunho wasn’t a candidate for the male lead, he must really be exceptionally handsome.
“Th-there’s no way… I’m embarrassed to even show my humble face to you, senior.”
“You—”
Seo Hyunho opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment, a bright flashlight suddenly shone on the two of them.
“Students over there! What are you doing there!”
It was a security guard patrolling the academy.
As Seo Hyunho clicked his tongue and took one step back, Yoohee took the opportunity and immediately bent at the waist.
“S-senior, I’m sorry! I won’t follow you around again from now on!”
Then she ran down the hill faster and more nimbly than anyone else. Of course, she didn’t forget to snatch back her glasses.
Clatter, clatter.
While sprinting, the backpack hanging on her back like a turtle shell bounced up and down. She was anxious that Seo Hyunho might grab the bag and stop her, but fortunately, that did not happen.
When she safely arrived in front of the guide dormitory, the status window appeared again.
[Congratulations! You have completed the first sub-scenario, ‘The Appearance of the Legendary Original Male Lead’!]
[As a reward, you have obtained a self-defense spray.]
Plop.
A small self-defense spray dropped into Yoohee’s palm.
She felt frustrated at such a ridiculous reward, but at least she felt relieved knowing that Seo Hyunho’s route had completely disappeared now.
Meeting him scared the hell out of her. Let’s never meet again, Seo Hyunho.
***
The next day, as soon as Yoohee had free time, she went to visit Joohoon first.
Having realized that even attempting guidance could hurt Joohoon, she did not recklessly try to perform guidance today.
She simply exchanged ordinary conversations with Joohoon, talking about this and that.
“My roommate, you know. We were classmates in high school? We weren’t that close back then, but still, meeting a familiar face here made me really happy.”
“That’s good. Are you in the same class as that friend too?”
“No, we’re in different classes. Jin hee is in the Kestrel class, and I’m in the Black Panther class.”
“I see.”
Joohoon nodded and responded enthusiastically.
However, the reactions of the constellations were different.
[Several constellations yawn at the boring conversation.]
***
[The constellations openly expressed their boredom, but Yoohee also had no other choice.]
She couldn’t suddenly succeed in guidance in such a dramatic way right now. At the very least, she needed to raise her guidance ability to 20 before she could even consider trying a second attempt.
“But Joohoon, how was it for you in America? You always only talked about things around you on the messenger. You never really told me how you were doing.”
While Joohoon was in America, he always talked about things like his classmate Alex getting into trouble over something, or how long his dog Jack swam, rather than talking about himself. Even the photos he sent were mostly pictures of scenery, with himself completely absent.
“It was just normal. My stories wouldn’t be interesting.”
“How could that be? I want to hear them too.”
When Yoohee stared at Joohoon, he lowered his gaze again as if he felt troubled.
“When I was in America, nothing special happened. After school, I played basketball, and on weekends, I exercised… When I had free time, I think I mostly spent it like that.”
Honestly, it was unexpected.
Looking at his fully grown body now, it wasn’t all that surprising, but when he was in Korea, he never really played soccer with the other boys either. Had he started to enjoy exercising during that time?
“You like exercising. I never knew.”
“I just… didn’t have anything else to do. Because you weren’t there.”
“Hmm?”
When Yoohee asked with a bewildered expression, Joohoon continued speaking calmly.
“Because you weren’t there, I realized how boring my life actually was.”
Still carrying an apologetic look in his eyes toward Yoohee, the corners of his eyes curved slightly.
“So there wasn’t anything special. Boring, right.”
When Joohoon smiled sadly, Yoohee felt as if her heart dropped with a thud.
The constellations were shouting something toward Joohoon in her ears, but Yoohee ignored them for a moment and fell into her memories.
Joohoon had always been the same since childhood. A child who was used to hiding himself and enduring things without showing it.
He was truly too kind. Foolishly so, to the point of being frustratingly self-sacrificing.
“Idiot… If you say that, then I’m the same. I just studied at school every day and went to the academy afterward. Nothing special happened to me either.”
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