Became an Observer in Love Company

After the opening ceremony ended, the halls of the Academy were still bustling with activity.

Most students were gathered in small groups preparing to head home, but I was heading in the opposite direction.

[Behind the gymnasium. Observing this scene will surely pique your interest. I recommend observing.]

The system was quietly informing me of my destination.

It didn’t feel particularly forceful. Rather, it felt more like a recommendation.

I didn’t have to go, but personally, as a fan of the original work, if there was an interesting situation to witness, I didn’t want to pass it up.

Looking back, I might be suited to being an observer.

A cluster of lush bushes had grown behind the gymnasium.

The system kindly pointed the way with an arrow.

After walking for quite some time, a secluded clearing appeared.

I could really feel how large the Academy was. There were places like this too.

In any case, I was an observer, and in that sense, the current situation was… a truly excellent scene.

Tap.

The sound of something brushing against the floor.

Unconsciously, I turned my gaze toward the source of the sound.

“Ha—”

Someone took a deep breath.

What I saw was a somewhat shadowy clearing due to the dense trees, a space lit by narrow beams of sunlight, with a person standing at its center.

Lee Jian.

She quietly moved one foot backward.

Her left arm was raised high, the other elegantly extended.

Perfectly centered. Steady gaze.

In that moment, I instinctively realized that she was preparing for something.

And then, she moved.

Her toes lightly brushed the ground, splitting the air, while her arms and legs flowed naturally.

In the rear of the gymnasium, without any lighting, her movements beneath the sunlight filtering through the leaves weren’t just actions—they were closer to a flow.

Maintaining balance and lowering her body, she rotated and straightened back up.

The speed gradually increased.

A tense silence.

This wasn’t a simple dance.

She was already on stage.

Even in the empty space, she had created her own stage.

“……”

I quietly observed her.

One step, then another.

Just as she was about to finish her movement—

The sound of her toes brushing the floor wavered slightly.

Her body lost its balance.

“…!”

She tried to regain her composure for a moment, but it was already too late.

Tap.

She tilted forward, knelt on one knee, and used her hand to absorb the shock.

She didn’t fall over completely, but the flow was unmistakably broken.

And finally,

Our gazes met exactly.

“……”

“……”

Quiet forest, awkward silence.

I didn’t say anything.

But she was completely frozen.

“……Did you see?”

I didn’t respond at all.

She squeezed her eyes shut, then quickly stood up, straightening her uniform.

“Ah, no! I didn’t do anything. I just tripped. I tripped over a rock, that’s all!”

I quietly watched her.

“……I see.”

“What is that reaction?!?”

“Just tripped, huh.”

“Yeah! That’s right!! …But why does it feel so embarrassing?”

She covered her face with her hands and sighed.

I quietly adjusted my glasses.

To be honest, the movement she displayed earlier was quite impressive.

A moment too precious to call black history.

Yet, she was extremely embarrassed by the fact that she had been seen.

She covered her face again, muttering.

“Please, just forget you saw it.”

…As an observer, this was rather interesting.

Possession, it wasn’t bad at all. It meant I could witness scenes that didn’t exist in the original work.

I quietly watched her for a moment before speaking.

“Why?”

“……What?”

“Why must it be forgotten?”

“Of course! It’s embarrassing to think someone saw me dancing alone in a deserted place!”

I mulled over her words.

“Wasn’t it just a trip?”

“Oh.”

She stopped as if to retort, then sat down again and sighed.

“Ah, whatever. Just forget it!”

I shrugged lightly and said,

“I won’t forget.”

“What?!”

“It just looked good.”

Upon hearing this, she stared at me in surprise.

“……”

Her gaze was filled with a mix of confusion and bewilderment.

I adjusted my glasses and added,

“It was a scene worth remembering.”

Nodding, I muttered.

Her expression subtly changed. Somehow, her face seemed even redder than before.

“What, what are you saying all of a sudden?”

I quietly observed her.

While standing, she avoided looking at me.

“If you talk about it with anyone else, I won’t let it go unpunished!”

After a moment of thought, I said,

“I won’t talk.”

“Really?”

I nodded lightly.

She sighed, grabbed her uniform jacket, and said again,

“Today’s event…let’s just keep it a secret between the two of us, alright?”

She took a step forward and made a gesture as if to oversee things.

“Kim Dohyun, I’m watching you.”

She stared at me for a few more seconds, stuck out her lip, and turned around.

“Alright, I’m leaving! You should go home too!”

With that, she left quickly.

I quietly watched her as she disappeared, then noticed a small trace underfoot.

The spot where she had lost her balance and fallen earlier still bore faint traces of her toe.

“This is the first time.”

It was the first time someone noticed me without me making any sound.

And it was also the first time someone remembered my name.

It was quite funny since even the kids who were in the same class couldn’t remember my name.

I don’t know why something so trivial makes me feel so warm.

For how long was I standing there? A still chilly spring breeze brushed past me.

I slowly left the back of the gymnasium. The surroundings were growing darker, and the red sunset was disappearing behind the buildings.

It was the first time I had seen someone so fully immersed in dance, even off the stage.

As I left the spot, I muttered,

“…It really was a nice sight.”

I couldn’t quite understand why I had said that.

I don’t know who possessed me, but they seem to have some minimum sense of conscience at least.

They provided me with a place to stay and gave me a decent amount of money every month.

Thanks to that, I could live without worrying about money.

Well, I mean, it’s just talk. This world still feels strange to me, so I can’t really stay here indefinitely.

When I waved my finger, mana spread through the air, and the lights in the house turned on.

A world that runs on mana energy instead of electricity.

I didn’t know how to handle mana initially, so I almost starved at home.

‘Let’s not talk about it.’

I sat at my desk and turned on the computer.

When I entered my email address, a system window floated in the air.

[Would you like to submit your observations from today?]

[Y/N]

After submitting the report, a familiar loading message appeared.

However—

[An anomaly has been detected.]

My fingers froze instantly.

“…An anomaly?”

Is this the start of the original story? Because I’m getting more involved with the original characters.

*

Before the class started, an uneasy atmosphere filled the classroom.

A new classroom, seats that still felt unfamiliar, and faces whose names I hadn’t memorized yet.

I sat quietly by the window and opened a book.

Then,

Thump.

Something lightly hit my desk.

When I looked up, Lee Jian was standing there.

“…”

“…”

When our eyes met, she flinched slightly.

Then, pretending to be calm, she lifted her chin.

“Oh, you’re here.”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm… seeing you studying from the morning makes me think you’re really diligent, huh?”

“Just observing.”

“Hmm…”

She uncomfortably turned her neck, then suddenly tapped my desk with her finger.

“Um, about yesterday…”

“Hmm?”

She glanced around the classroom and then whispered in a low voice,

“Really, you haven’t told anyone, have you?”

I blinked.

“I said I wouldn’t talk.”

“….”

She carefully looked at me.

Then, she finally sighed and quietly muttered,

“…Thank goodness.”

Only after saying that did she ease her expression.

But then, as if something had just popped into her mind, she suddenly raised her finger and waved it in front of my eyes.

“But! If I ever catch you talking and spreading it around… I really won’t let it go unpunished, alright?”

She shook her small fists. They didn’t feel particularly threatening.

“I won’t.”

“Really?”

I nodded briefly.

Anyway, even if I wanted to tell someone, I didn’t have any friends to tell. My faint presence made me drift through this world.

At that, she looked at me with a still distrustful gaze before shaking her head in resignation.

“…Alright. If you say so, I’ll trust you.”

Her fingertip tapped my desk once more.

“…Alright, that’s it.”

With that, she acted as if nothing happened and turned around.

However, I didn’t miss the slightly flushed tips of her ears as she went back to her seat.

‘How does she always find me this way?’

Thud. Someone who had just sat on my desk noticed me and jumped in surprise.

“Ah, sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

Yeah, this was normal.

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