I am Smart

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Before the game started, the students gathered together on their respective fields.

The official reason was to warm up, but mostly it was just to chat. However, today’s chit-chat seemed particularly lengthy.

The reason was easy to figure out by following the direction of the students’ gazes.

There, standing out prominently on the field, was the only girl.

But among those gazes, one guy stood out with a rather peculiar expression. He soon opened his mouth.

“Hey, is this really okay?”

“What do you mean, hyung?”

“I mean, is it right to put me on the opposite side of her? Shouldn’t I be on the same team as her?”

He was a second-year high school student, the oldest here with everyone else being the same age as his younger siblings from middle school.

He loved soccer and had been close to this group since way back, even hanging out with them occasionally after graduation.

And he was meeting her for the first time.

“No, hyung. That noona is really good.”

One student next to him said.

“No, honestly, what can a girl really… how good can she be?”

“Seriously, she’s really good. If you’re on the same team as her, it’ll be a guaranteed win.”

“I’m not lying, hyung.”

Another younger student chimed in.

“Hmm…”

Given the extreme rarity of girls playing soccer, he thought they might be exaggerating, but the seriousness of his younger siblings’ expressions told him otherwise.

For a moment, the male student focused and scrutinized her from afar.

Since it was summer, she was wearing thin, slightly form-fitting, all-black workout attire.

“… Can’t really tell just by looking.”

While soccer isn’t as dependent on physique like basketball or baseball, that was only true for men who had at least a basic muscle structure.

Soccer is much rougher than it seems. You run at full speed and sometimes even engage in fierce shoulder battles. Thus, there is often a significant skill gap between men and women.

Her body was undoubtedly toned without any excess fat. However… what was not appropriate to say out loud, yet kept drawing his gaze downwards… was that, from an athletic perspective, she possessed very inefficient bodily curves.

She had womanly narrow, right-angled shoulders, but on the other hand, her wide hips made her thigh gap quite visible, and then there was her upper body… that.

Those things were undoubtedly far from the masculine strength and instead resembled an ideally aesthetic female form.

Her earlier questions and the fact that she played soccer with some beefed-up male students made her a source of various curious thoughts.

“If the skill gap is too wide, I’ll switch things up.”

The male student said.

Soon, the student acting as today’s referee shouted to begin the match.

The game had started.

The young male student dribbled the ball, launching an attack from this side.

“Hey hey hey!”

The guy running alongside him sped up and waved his hand. Responding to that, the student with the ball kicked it in the direction he was running.

– Thwack!

But someone cut into the passing lane and stole the ball.

It was her.

“Ah! No way! Where did you come from!?”

“Noona, nice! Over here!”

Then she passed the ball and quickly launched a counterattack.

“Wait… I think that noona has gotten better than before?”

“Hmm…”

Wasn’t just empty talk from the younger students; maybe his own judgments were clouded. Her soccer skills were indeed quite impressive. Even for the attacker, it was evident.

Playing as a midfielder, she frequently influenced both attack and defense.

Just like earlier when she stood to the side, intercepted a pass, and began the counterattack, she could dribble casually before quickly bypassing an opponent to make a sharp pass or capitalize on weaknesses in the defense to dribble and score.

It was certainly not “friendly soccer.” You could easily tell when that was the case. It was simple; she was just better at soccer than her younger classmates.

‘Is she a female selection player?’

Just a few minutes into the match, realizing that, the male student immediately put in his full effort.

Thus, the match continued to be tightly contested with two ace players.

As they entered the latter part of the first half, the score was 3:2.

She had scored 2 points while the male student secured 3.

That team’s ace was truly her.

Even though she was facing sixteen-year-olds who hadn’t yet fully developed, it was abnormal for a woman to easily outplay them.

‘But still.’

He didn’t particularly think they would lose. He knew they had more advantages.

She clearly had talent, but it didn’t seem like she had much soccer experience yet.

And the biggest factor, the difference in stamina and physique.

Perhaps due to a slight imbalance in team dynamics, she seemed to be running on her own, breathing heavily.

The male student predicted that as the game entered the second half, the gap in physical capability would widen further.

– Whoosh!

The net shook once again.

She had scored another goal.

Avoiding the goalkeeper, she grabbed the ball and sprinted back to the center.

The male student’s pupils trembled slightly.

Now the score was… 4:5.

They had 4 points.

With good eyesight and stamina, the male student sought a way to turn the game around while marking her tightly.

Sure, she had good athleticism, but there was a clear difference in natural strength. He managed to win a physical tussle for the ball and successfully orchestrate a counterattack.

This attack barely earned them a point.

He thought just then that the “victory plan,” marked on her, was about to be finalized.

…But then her playstyle changed swiftly.

As the male student focused on him, she immediately delivered clever passes to the left or right or even to the total opposite side.

They were too sharply executed to be ignored.

If he began to give her space, she would start dribbling.

And her dribbling was difficult for other students to halt.

“…”

Contrary to the male student’s expectations, she did well in a remarkably unpleasant way.

To elaborate, she wasn’t fighting fair; she only positioned herself where it was favorable.

And there was a more significant issue.

“… Hah, hah…”

The male student’s breathing began to become heavy.

Clearly, both he, an ace, and she had similar high levels of exertion.

…But.

‘…Why isn’t she getting tired?’

She was breathing heavily enough to be spotted from afar.

Yet oddly, her movements didn’t falter. She was merely gasping for air.

But the male student’s stamina dropped, and his performance steadily declined. The difference in energy was stark.

But it was strange. He’d played many soccer matches before. No way would he tire out this quickly.

Her evasive play, yet when the angle was right, certainly capitalizing on those opportunities made him wonder.

‘Is she deliberately trying to sap my stamina?’

It sparked suspicion.

She rushed toward him again with the ball.

“Damn…”

The male student cursed, gritting his teeth and running harder.

Just as a one-on-one chance to mark was about to arrive.

“…Ah!”

Moon Si-hyun lost the ball. Exhaustion caught up to him this time.

Still sprinting effortlessly, she created yet another scoring chance with her team’s forward.

Thus, the ace fell.

One point, two points, three points. Her ball shook the net again and again.

Just a few minutes remained in the second half.

Now everyone else was half-dead while sprinting, but she alone was running sprightly.

She scored much more easily than before.

The score continued to snowball, now at 4:8.

By the end, she had scored most of the goals all by herself.

Eventually, the referee’s shout of game over rang out, and those on her team cheered loudly, surrounding her and toasting to their victory.

Meanwhile, she wore a bright smile.

Then, she approached the group of specifically tiring male students— the defenders from the male student’s team.

They were sprawled out, nearly lifeless, drained of even more energy than the male student.

Moon Si-hyun helped them up and said,

“Not very lady-like, huh?”

“…”

Among the defenders were some who had offered her ‘lip service’ earlier.

Upon hearing her, they finally understood the words she’d wanted to hear.

They managed to crack dry lips.

“…Yeah… you’re not very lady-like…”

“…Hmph. Yeah.”

Hearing this, her smile finally became genuine.

As the heat of the match settled, the group of over twenty began to disperse.

Now, six students, including the male student and the girl, were walking down the street.

“Wow… you’re really talented. I don’t think I’m awful at soccer, but, where did you learn? And how do you train for stamina?”

“I do it through Fiore.”

“…Fiore? What’s that?”

But then the boys started whispering among themselves.

“Never mind. I’ll ask. Hey, noona?”

“Yes?”

“Uh, want to grab lunch together on the way?”

“Um… I’m sorry. I’m just not used to that.”

“Oh, okay. Nothing we can do then.”

It was a disappointing yet expected outcome. They exchanged fleeting words.

But suddenly, one male student raised his hand excitedly and said,

“Hey. Damn it, I don’t care. I’ll pay this time. I got my allowance.”

“Oh? What’s gotten into you?”

“Totally manly, for sure.”

“Great, I’ll enjoy it.”

– Thud.

But then, a big sound came from behind, as footsteps halted abruptly.

Turning around, they found Moon Si-hyun watching them.

“I’ll treat you.”

“…Huh?”

“I’ll pay for you all. Like a real man.”

They arrived at a tonkatsu restaurant.

Contrary to their initial plans to take her to a spaghetti place, they decided to go to this original spot since Moon Si-hyun said it was fine.

There, she prepared napkins and chopsticks and poured water for each of them.

The students were surprised and tried to stop her, insisting they would handle it, but she declined and set the whole table by herself.

All of them recalled a certain topic that she stubbornly brought up earlier, but… they swallowed it back.

There was a brief battle for the seating next to her, and now it was time to say goodbye.

“…Um, noona.”

They gathered their courage and, under the pretense of wanting to play again, asked for her number, but she declined politely.

Thus, the male students, including the males, stared blankly at Moon Si-hyun as she walked away.

They would… find themselves gazing at the school field’s gate for a while with no sense of time.

On the way back home, the pace felt much lighter.

That fierce competitiveness, the thrill of victory that I love.

Yeah. I’m definitely the same as I was before. It must have really been an illusion shared between Lee Da-ram and the audience.

Lee Da-ram knows my external traits, so she naturally saw my gestures as feminine.

And it’s sure that the audience thought I was feminine due to my voice and the shape of my body back then… that is, because of elements that stimulated both auditory and visual senses.

So I concluded. And it left me with a sense of relief.

Having a solid logic is satisfying. It’s been like that, whether in the past or now.

Which means, it serves as proof that my inner self hasn’t changed a bit.

With that comfortable mind, I went to bed and awakened to bright sunlight.

Golden rays of the sun seeped through the curtains, along with birds singing.

But what should have been a refreshing morning felt somewhat off.

My body, drenched in sweat, and an ominous sensation engulfed me.

“….”

I experienced this getting up and desperately trying to forget it multiple times.

But upon waking, the realization hit me.

“…Oh.”

That day was arriving.