I am Smart

---

Late at night, in the narrow workshop. She visited as work was wrapping up. A young woman’s soft fingers that I had never experienced before.

– Swish, swish

“……”

Seeming uncomfortable standing, she sat next to Lee Seo-ah and began to pet him.

As usual, her sense of distance was strange. Our shoulders brushed slightly. The cool minty breath felt against my bare arm.

She appeared purer than anyone Lee Seo-ah had ever seen.

Even though her visits had become more frequent and she was petting his head, there probably wouldn’t be any romantic entanglements between them. After all, he had been burnt before, and he suppressed his feelings, reminding himself.

Yet, he felt a twinge of guilt for harboring different feelings toward someone so innocent.

‘…… But still, this much should be okay, right?’

Just gently petting her head wasn’t crossing any forbidden lines.

He wished this moment would last forever.

– Clatter

At that moment, the workshop door opened. Lee Seo-ah flinched slightly, his shoulders shaking.

But it was fine. It didn’t seem like a problematic situation.

…… But.

“Lee Seo-ah? Is that you?”

With big, bright eyes, she was shorter than her peers, with brown bobbed hair and a puffy outfit.

“…… Sister?”

Lee Seo-ah’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight of her.

They had already known each other from middle school.

A year ago, when Lee Seo-ah was in the second year of middle school and Lee Da-ram was in the third year.

Lee Da-ram had a lot of friends. To be precise, she had a lot of male friends. She was outgoing and loved games.

She often came downstairs to hang out with underclassmen and frequently chatted with the introverted Lee Seo-ah. They had become close enough that she would sometimes speak casually with him.

However, Lee Da-ram had stopped coming downstairs before long. For some reason, the boys didn’t mention her name anymore.

As a result, Lee Seo-ah naturally lost contact with her.

He didn’t know what had happened. Still, no one among the upperclassmen had the guts to go up and ask her what was going on.

And just like that, Lee Da-ram graduated. After that, he hadn’t known how she was doing.

‘So she was doing well.’

He felt relieved. He had worried about her occasionally.

It was a heartwarming reunion. Lee Seo-ah smiled with delight and began to speak.

“How have you been—”

“Lee Seo-ah. What are you doing?”

But what came back was a chilling voice.

“…… Huh?”

Lee Seo-ah replied, bewildered by the unexpected situation.

Lee Da-ram’s round eyes had turned a bit sharp.

“Are you working here?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Lee Seo-ah stuttered. He felt embarrassed to be found out about working in a doll workshop by someone his age.

“Did you call Si-hyun unni here?”

“Ah, no!?”

“……”

Lee Da-ram’s eyes narrowed. She looked incredulous.

“Sister, what are you doing here?”

“Petting the clerk’s head.”

“…… Why?”

“Because it’s soft.”

“……?”

That was an answer outside the realm of common sense. Lee Da-ram couldn’t wrap her head around it.

What kind of woman in her twenties would sit alone with a guy in a hidden place at night, simply because she thought his hair was soft and petted it?

“No, sister. He’s a boy, right? You pet boys’ hair like that?”

“Yeah. He’s a boy—”

Her lips, which were saying something, suddenly shut.

Then, averting her gaze, she said, “…… He’s a middle schooler.”

“No, seriously……!”

Lee Seo-ah fidgeted, feeling frustrated as he fidgeted his feet.

Then, that anger seemed to naturally transfer back to Lee Seo-ah. She glared at him again.

“…… Hey. Lee Seo-ah.”

“Huh? Huh!?”

“Are you just going to let her pet you? You should reject her!”

That was a baseless outburst. There aren’t many guys who would refuse when a pretty girl offers to pet them.

“W-Well, it’s not weird or anything. It’s just petting.”

Cold sweat broke out. Lee Seo-ah desperately tried to act cool, pretending it was an experience he had often.

Lee Da-ram shut her mouth. Perhaps she understood him well enough. Lee Seo-ah felt a secret satisfaction.

Lee Da-ram opened her mouth again.

“Then you really don’t think anything of it?”

“…… Uh. It’s just petting.”

Of course, that was a lie. But in the presence of the person involved, there were surely no middle school boys brave enough to tell the truth.

As he spoke, Lee Seo-ah shot a glance at Moon Si-hyun. Moon Si-hyun looked as if he couldn’t grasp what was happening.

“……”

Lee Da-ram kept shooting suspicious glances at Lee Seo-ah.

…… At that moment, Lee Da-ram noticed Lee Seo-ah’s posture.

He was hunched over, resting his elbows on his thighs while sitting.

It was definitely an uncomfortable position. Yet, he had never changed his posture until now.

“……”

Lee Da-ram’s gaze narrowed.

She didn’t know much about the male physique.

…… But, she did have a clumsy older brother.

“Hey. Lee Seo-ah.”

“Huh?”

“Stand up.”

“…… Why, why?”

“I’m telling you to stand up.”

“…… Why, though?”

But Lee Seo-ah couldn’t stand up. Naturally. Lee Da-ram’s expression grew more and more frustrated.

She stepped forward quickly and grabbed Lee Seo-ah’s wrists with both hands.

“Uh, uh!?”

Then, using all her strength, she tried to pull Lee Seo-ah up.

“Ugh…… Stand up……!!”

As her wrists were pulled, Lee Seo-ah began to rise.

“Wait, wait!!”

“Stand up, now!!”

“Wait, wait! Just a sec!! Just a little longer!!”

Lee Seo-ah cried out, desperately sitting up while bent over.

The one trying to lift him and the one stubbornly refusing to stand up……. and then, the one quietly sitting there, the culprit of the current incident.

It was only after Moon Si-hyun finally intervened that the commotion came to a halt.

*

“Haah……”

“Hu…… Huu……”

Lee Da-ram, who had used a bit too much energy, was breathing heavily. Lee Seo-ah was the same.

In the end, Lee Da-ram hadn’t been able to lift him. She turned to Moon Si-hyun.

She was far too comfortable with a guy.

However, besides those doubts and resentments, there was something she found very displeasing.

– Plop

Lee Da-ram sat on the sofa. Next to Moon Si-hyun. In that state, she leaned her arm against him.

Now, Moon Si-hyun found himself caught between Lee Seo-ah and Lee Da-ram.

Immediately, Moon Si-hyun’s expression turned stiff.

“……”

The feeling of resentment gradually morphed into disappointment.

He felt disappointed. Very disappointed. It began to feel extremely disappointing.

He didn’t want to voice it out loud. But this time, he couldn’t hold it in.

“…… Sister. Do you dislike me?”

Her voice was just slightly shaky.

“No? That’s impossible.”

Moon Si-hyun replied, slightly startled.

“But why do you dislike me when I’m close? You don’t mind being close to guys.”

Lee Da-ram spoke as if waiting for that moment.

It was a feeling that had accumulated up until now. It was clear that whenever she got closer, Moon Si-hyun became a bit uncomfortable.

She hadn’t seen her friend in a long time. She had hoped he wouldn’t feel distant from her.

“…… No. Um……”

Moon Si-hyun bit his lip. It seemed he was considering Lee Da-ram’s serious expression.

He kept wanting to say something but stopped himself.

Then, in a solemn voice, he spoke.

“I really don’t dislike you.”

“…… I don’t believe you.”

Lee Da-ram lowered her head sulkily.

“…… Huh.”

Moon Si-hyun let out a deep sigh.

Quietly, he placed his hand on Lee Da-ram’s head. Her eyes widened slightly.

– Swish, swish

He began to gently pet her. His touch was gentle. The sound of Lee Da-ram’s short hair rustled and swayed.

Moon Si-hyun’s ears turned crimson. Still, it didn’t seem like the touch felt bad, as the corners of his mouth slightly turned upward.

“……”

He took the opportunity to rest his hand on Lee Seo-ah’s head again. Lee Seo-ah flinched in surprise.

Then, Moon Si-hyun continued to pet both students for a while.

…… They felt soft in different ways.

Lee Da-ram closed her eyes at that warm touch. Lee Seo-ah did the same.

After a while,

“Hey, Lee Seo-ah. You need to back off a bit.”

Suddenly, causing ripples, Moon Si-hyun snatched his hand away from petting Lee Seo-ah’s head and placed it back on top of his own.

*

On the way home afterward, Lee Da-ram held me up and explained ‘women’s conduct’ for a few minutes.

The most memorable statement was, “Think of all men as wolves.”

The more I heard it, the hotter my face became. It felt strange being educated on such matters by a 17-year-old girl when I was 21.

I nodded appropriately at each statement and quickly returned home. By the way, I was surprised. To think Lee Da-ram and Lee Seo-ah knew each other. What a strange coincidence.

As I was about to take my clothes off to wash, I stared blankly below.

The curves of my chest and hips were clearly visible. My body had changed completely from before.

“……”

I have a good head on my shoulders. I was slowly but surely coming to terms with my body changes. Especially when asking for phone numbers at the restaurant, that realization hit me.

However, I thought Lee Da-ram’s assertions were a bit excessive. Not all men are wolves, meaning sexually starved individuals.

For sure, Lee Seo-ah was definitely not one of them. How much could a third-year middle schooler possibly know? He was so pure. I only learned about such…… sexual matters in detail when I became a high school student.

Compared to Lee Da-ram’s thoughts, the presence of the opposite sex in life isn’t that significant. I believe there are things that matter more than that.

So, others must feel similarly.

*

The next day, I watched YouTube with Hwayang laid across my legs. Today, I had no work and could play comfortably.

Could it be my influence? Lately, videos about fighters have been popping up on YouTube a lot.

Even my name frequently appeared. “Moon Si-hyun Fighter Fan-Made Video,” “Moon Si-hyun 1 vs 4 Scene,” “Fighter Life Game,” “4-person Team San-deng, Cactus Reactions,” and so on.

I was genuinely surprised the first time I saw it.

However, there were no analyses of my plays. I had hoped for a bit of praise for my strategic gameplay. But just from the comments, it seemed everyone was shocked by my combat skills.

While I was looking through the videos, one particular post had an unusually high number of replies.

―――

Whoa, who is this person?? I’ve never seen them before but they’re so good.

ㄴ High-Ability Person

ㄴ Dumb Bimbo

ㄴ Muscle Brain

ㄴ Beast Girl

―――

“……”

There were several nicknames that I had clearly seen on Pazzk.

I was a bit displeased. Already, an unfair framing would be placed on someone who didn’t know anything.

I hesitated for a moment, glanced around, and put my fingers on the keyboard.

―――

ㄴ This person seems to have a brain, right?

―――

I searched to see if there were any videos emphasizing the lectures from the plays I had done, but there were none like that.

Only simple gameplay videos had views of up to 90,000.

It didn’t sit well with me. Should I film and upload my own later? I thought as I refreshed the page to look for new videos.

“Uh?”

At that moment, I spotted a striking video.

[San-su’s Evaluation of Moon Si-hyun’s Gameplay]

It was a video that had reached 240,000 views.

I was always curious about others’ evaluations. That’s just how people are.

I clicked in as if entranced.

In the video, a man was watching my gameplay seriously with a serious expression.

[…… Dumb Bimbo, Beast Girl, High-Ability Person? What do those mean? Are those nicknames? Why??]

As he was reading the chat, he made a comment.

[No. What are you talking about? This person is really smart!]

“Uh?”

Suddenly, my heart raced. This was exactly what I wanted to hear. Could he possibly be someone who really knows about games?

…… Yes, this is it. I shut off the video and quickly put on my headset before starting the stream.