NOVEL NEXT Main Male Lead Disqualified C3
Jung-hwan grabbed Hanbin by the shoulders and stopped him. Hanbin realized he had messed with the wrong person and decided he should get out of there quickly.
“Uh,Sorry.”
Hanbin pushed Jung-hwan’s hand away, awkwardly apologized, and ran off at full speed.
“…I didn’t mean to pick a fight.”
Jung-hwan hadn’t intended to scare Hanbin.
He just really wanted to hear Hanbin’s voice one more time.
‘His voice when he’s mad sounded familiar… Was it just my imagination?’
In truth, Jung-hwan had been having strange dreams for the past week. Dreams where he got tangled up with a girl he had never seen before. But it isn’t because he is going through puberty and having weird dreams. In reality, Jung-hwan isn’t that interested in girls.
Right before waking up, he would always hear a strange voice from somewhere.
[If not for his face, he’d totally be a villain. He’s not even a licensed medical professional, so why is it okay for him to treat himself? I don’t see any reason for her to turn “this rude jerk into mine”… Yeoju wake up! Please tell me he’s the sub, not the main one. I’m begging you.]
Jung-hwan had no idea who was speaking or where the voice was coming from, but it rang clearly in his ears, criticizing him word for word. He didn’t really understand what it meant, but it was annoying. Still, up to this point, he could just brush it off as a random dream.
The problem was the next day.
‘For some reason, every time I have that dream, my condition gets really bad.’
It had only happened twice, but it was strange to have consecutive dreams. Jung-hwan had never been sickly before, and feeling this unwell was bad for his physical training.
‘Come to think of it… My body suddenly felt fine when I ran into that guy.’
As Jung-hwan mulled it over, he muttered to himself while pedaling his bike.
“Maybe I should find out who he is.”
After a moment of thought, Jung-hwan shook his head.
He decided not to dwell on it too much. But exactly one week later, he came to regret that decision.
***
“Oh? There’s finally a reply.”
Hanbin checked his notifications and saw that his comment had received a response after a week.
Q: Only I can see a webtoon called
A:After reviewing our system, we found no errors or early releases of any webtoon. Additionally, the title you mentioned is not listed as an upcoming work.Thank you.
“…Was I just imagining things?”
Hanbin was confused to hear that the webtoon he had read didn’t even exist.
‘Did I just dream the whole thing?’
Thinking back, he realized he couldn’t remember anything after reading the webtoon. Maybe he had been so tired that he couldn’t tell the difference between dreams and reality.
‘But it felt way too real for that… and I just had the same dream again this week.’
Even though he felt unsettled, all the evidence pointed to it being just a dream. It has been three weeks now, and the repetition is starting to get frustrating.
“Hey, I heard you weren’t feeling well yesterday. Guess it couldn’t be helped.”
Hanbin heard a voice right next to him. He had been checking his phone next to the vending machine, so it must have been a couple of guys getting drinks.
“Well, even if you got in, that college isn’t really worth it, Maybe it’s for the best for you. You still have a lot of practical exams left…”
“I don’t need your pity. Just drop it.”
Jung-hwan let out a deep sigh.
“I feel like dying.”
But his expression looked more like he is about to kill someone than die himself.
‘Did he mess up an exam? Wait… He wasn’t feeling well yesterday too?’
Hanbin glanced at Jung-hwan from the corner of his eye, and just then, their gazes locked.
“Hey, you… Who are you?”
Jung-hwan recognized Hanbin’s face and started walking toward him.
“I-I’m just a… passerby.”
Panicked, Hanbin took a step back for each one Jung-hwan took forward—then immediately turned and ran away.
‘I do not want to deal with this guy.’
Looking back, he sees that Jung-hwan is still glaring at him. Hanbin quickened his pace, not wanting to get caught up in something.
“Why are you suddenly going after some random guy?”
Donghyuk slung an arm over Jung-hwan’s shoulder and asked. Jung-hwan scratched the back of his head.
“I just wanted to know his name.”
“If that’s what you meant, you should’ve said, ‘What’s your name?’ Instead, you said, ‘Who are you?’ That just sounds like you’re picking a fight.”
“…Does it?”
Jung-hwan hadn’t really thought about it that way, but now that he did, he understood why the guy ran away. He ran his hand through his hair as he replayed their past encounters in his mind.
‘Now that I think about it… My condition did improve every time I saw him.’
Some athletes had pregame superstitions they believed in. For Jung-hwan, this bizarre dream of his seemed to be affecting his physical condition.
‘If I had run into him before my exam, maybe I wouldn’t have messed up so badly.’
Of course, that’s just a ridiculous thought. Jung-hwan figured he must have taken his exam failure harder than he realized.
‘Things like this can’t be explained scientifically, right?’
And with that, Jung-hwan decided—he had to find that brown-haired kid.
***
“Hey, who are you looking for?”
On his way to school the next morning, Hanbin heard Hyunwoo’s voice and looked up. Through the classroom window, he saw someone standing at the teacher’s podium. Since they were wearing a uniform, it clearly wasn’t a teacher.
‘Huh?’
As he got a better look, Hanbin recognized the face. His instincts scream that this guy is looking for him, so he immediately ducked down.
Meanwhile, Jung-hwan is flipping through the attendance book, scanning the photos.
“Who are you looking for?”
“I only know his face. I don’t know his name.”
Hanbin hoped that his first-year ID photo would make it harder to recognize him. But unfortunately, he had taken a photo and submitted it to attach to his application earlier in the year.
“Found it.”
Hanbin stood out due to his distinctive brown hair and eyes. Jung-hwan stared at his photo for a long moment, then repeated the name to himself.
“Seong Hyunwoo, do you know where Song Hanbin sits?”
Since they had been in the same class last year, Hyunwoo answered without hesitation, pointing to an empty desk at the back.
“Over there.”
Seeing that Hanbin wasn’t in his seat, Jung-hwan said something to Hyunwoo before walking away.Hanbin felt that he would get caught if he kept peeking like this.So he decided to hide in the bathroom and only return right before class started.
“Song Hanbin, you’re a little late today.”
Hyunwoo greeted Hanbin as he entered the classroom, looking slightly pale.
“Oh, yeah… Just got caught up in something.”
Hanbin forced a laugh as he took his seat. As he hung his bag, Hyunwoo smirked and said,
“By the way, someone came looking for you earlier.”
Hanbin tensed.
“…Who?”
Although he already had a bad feeling, he asked anyway.
“Lee Jung-hwan.”
“Lee Jung-hwan?”
That name sounded strangely familiar. Then, memories of the webtoon from his dreams flashed through his mind.
‘Wait… That’s the same name as the webtoon’s male lead?’
It had to be a coincidence. But their faces are so similar and even their names are the same. Hanbin wondered if he had unconsciously remembered Jeong-hwan and had been dreaming about him.
“Did you not hear about him since you transferred last year? There’s this guy in the class next to ours who plays sports. You haven’t even seen him even during joint classes. Guess you’ve never crossed paths with him.”
Thinking that Hanbin genuinely didn’t know, Hyunwoo helpfully explained. Hanbin, just to be sure, asked Hyunwoo about Jung-hwan.
“Is he… good-looking?”
Hanbin had meant to ask about his physical features, but it came out sounding weird. Hyunwoo gave him a puzzled look.
“…I don’t know how I’m supposed to answer that question.”
Hyunwoo looked like he had suddenly become a matchmaking agent and wasn’t sure what to make of it. Realizing how his words must have sounded, Hanbin quickly waved his hands.
“No, no! I just meant, like, what does he look like? I was wondering if I knew him.”
“Hmm… Not as good-looking as me, but yeah, he’s pretty decent.”
Hyunwoo grinned, as if he had been joking the whole time.
“Anyway, that guy looked ready to beat you up. He told me to keep you from running away during the next break.”
Hanbin’s face went pale at Hyunwoo’s words. Sensing Hanbin’s nervousness, Hyunwoo asked,
“Did something happen between you two?”
“Well… Something did, but it wasn’t that serious.”
Thinking about it, Hanbin realized he is actually the one who deserves an apology. Now that he thinks about it, the knee that had been hit by the bicycle felt sore. Remembering Jung-hwan’s sharp glare from yesterday made him break into a cold sweat.
‘His personality doesn’t seem great… I should avoid getting involved with him.’
Hanbin planned to lay low until Jung-hwan forgot about him.
But as soon as the next break started, Jung-hwan was standing at the back door of his classroom.
‘Wait, what? Did he actually come to find me?’
Hanbin try to convince himself that it is just a coincidence and turns his head in the opposite direction.
But amidst the noisy classroom, the sound of steady footsteps echoed in Hanbin’s ears. Jung-hwan, having entered the classroom without permission, shamelessly sat down right next to Hanbin.
“Hey.”
Jung-hwan greeted Hanbin, meeting his eyes. Trying not to make the same mistake as before, he forced a smile—but it backfired.
‘He looks even scarier when he smiles!’
Jung-hwan’s mouth twitched as he tried to lift one corner into a smile. Hanbin, full of fear, quietly lowered his gaze.