NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23
After all the lectures were over, it should have been time to go exercise, but I headed to the café in front of the dormitory, leaving Eve and Tana behind.
Hayun was already sipping something from her mug. It seemed to be some kind of tea, but it was my first time seeing a student drink something other than what the older professors usually had.
“That’s a unique drink you have there?”
“Try it. It has a strangely deep flavor.”
“I actually like tea a lot.”
“Oh really?”
Thinking it was a common topic, Hayun smiled. When I lived in the forest, I often used herbs or leaves I found to brew tea because I had to be self-sufficient.
That memory came back to me, so I ordered tea instead of coffee and sat down in front of Hayun.
“So, do you have a plan?”
I wasn’t planning to lay out everything for her; I just wanted to help, so I thought I’d hear her out, but she seemed quite prepared.
“There’s a separate building inside the academy that people don’t often visit. There’s a big tree in front of it, and I’m going to confess there.”
“Oh, I’ve seen it.”
It was a gigantic tree that stood out prominently. If cherry blossoms bloomed, it would create quite a beautiful scene, but I heard it was just a regular tree.
“Yeah, they say that’s a confession spot.”
“Cough, a confession spot.”
Well, in an academy, I guess there would be one of those places, so I nodded but suddenly got curious.
“By the way, who told you about that?”
Knowing Hayun, I didn’t think she’d go looking for spots like that. She looked a bit shy as her eyes shifted away while she answered.
“In class. I heard the others talking about it. You know, the ones who hang out with Rin.”
“Oh, right. I know.”
Honestly, I didn’t know, but I nodded vaguely. What did those types of people matter?
Anyway, the location was decided.
“So, when will it be?”
“Three days later, at night. I want to do it when there aren’t many people around because the outfit I need to wear is quite flashy.”
“A flashy outfit?”
I was curious, so I pried a little, but Hayun shook her head.
“Yeah, it’s a bit much for wearing at the academy.”
It seemed she didn’t want to say more, but that left me without much to help with.
“Ares told me the type he likes last time, but is there anything else I should do?”
“Can’t you elaborate a little more? For example, didn’t Ares ever mention what kind of situation he wants to be confessed to? Last time, Elise said boys tell their best friends everything.”
“Well, there’s something similar.”
I scratched the back of my head and just said it. Ares didn’t have any particularly unique preferences, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.
“He mentioned he wants to confess while preparing candles and singing.”
“……”
Hayun stared at me blankly, possibly in shock. It wasn’t that out of the ordinary, but it seemed different from the image she had of Ares.
“That’s a bit surprising. I thought he wouldn’t be into singing or anything.”
“He’s surprisingly good at it.”
He’d won a silver medal in the town’s children’s song competition.
Rin got the gold, and I got the bronze.
Just to clarify, there were only the three of us participating.
While I was chatting about Ares, Tana and Eve came walking up, panting.
It seemed like they had been exercising. They were clearly saying how much they hated it just this morning. What changed?
“Eh? You two said you didn’t want to exercise.”
“Actually, we snacked too much after school, so it’s just our conscience…”
“Ugh, my stomach hurts.”
That was a classic move. It’s obvious it would be tough to run if they hadn’t even digested it.
“But you two, what are you doing?”
Tana looked puzzled at seeing me and Hayun together, so I smiled and answered.
“Consulting.”
“You?”
“Me.”
Seeing Tana look at me suspiciously while Eve seemed exhausted reminded me of how Eve looked when she was all dressed up.
After capturing their attention with beverages, I got straight to the point.
“Just like I did with Eve last time, help Hayun to get ready.”
“What? Why?”
“Uhh.”
I was wondering if I should say this, but Hayun glanced at me and sighed before speaking up.
“I’m going to confess to Ares.”
“What?!”
“Oh no.”
Tana shot up as if it was a reflex.
Thinking about it, Tana was also one of Ares’ fish in his pond. I had been so distracted that I forgot she hadn’t made it obvious recently.
But Tana glanced at Hayun and sat back down without saying much.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah, I’m done now.”
As Hayun said this with a self-deprecating smile, Tana let out a sigh and nodded.
“Let me know when you need anything.”
After that, we went back to discussing the confession operation.
Eve casually pulled a book from her bag, saying she didn’t care much, but we went into great detail.
At the end of the conversation, Tana told Hayun what she needed to prepare before taking Eve back into the dormitory.
Hayun was about to get up to say something, but I propped my chin and declared firmly.
“The most important thing is your smile.”
“……Huh?”
“He likes bright girls, you know? Practice smiling.”
“……Alright.”
Yeah, no matter how pretty you dress up, if you speak stiffly like a statue, it won’t reach his heart.
If you smile a bit and set the atmosphere differently from usual, it might create a chance.
‘But wait, what if she really wins him over?’
Thinking about it, that’s a valid concern.
What if she ends up winning when she’s trying to lose?
But I quickly shook my head. Knowing who Ares liked, it felt a bit bitter to think that no matter how hard I tried, the odds were against me.
*
“Hmph, hmm.”
Rin was humming to herself in her room, braiding her hair with a smile. She overheard the male students talking yesterday and picked up some new information.
‘A girl whose style is usually fixed suddenly changes it up, and it makes everyone all flustered, right?’
‘Ah, that’s so true. If they change their hairstyle or wear something different for the first time, it definitely catches your attention.’
‘There’s that girl in Class E who wears glasses and carries books. When she transformed, it was genuinely shocking.’
“Well, that makes sense.”
Though she’d done it a few times in her childhood, this was her first time braiding her hair at this age, and it turned out quite nicely.
After securing the ponytail with a hair tie, Rin noted that it might be better to wear something other than the uniform.
However, her clothing options were limited, and she didn’t have money to buy new outfits, so she settled for taking off her cardigan and just wearing a shirt as she checked her reflection in the mirror.
This was a different vibe from her usual loose hair. Rin nodded and headed outside to meet her friend Hare for a walk.
‘No one’s watching in the dorm.’
She wanted to hurry outside and show off.
It would be nice if the surveillance records showed Hare approaching her all flustered.
“Hare?”
She knocked but got no response.
The door wasn’t locked, so she peeked in to find Hare lost in thought, staring out the window.
“Hare?”
Curious about what was so engrossing, she called again. Hare seemed to snap back to reality and shook her head before smiling at Rin.
“What’s up? Are you going on a blind date or something? You look super pretty!”
Seeing Rin’s appearance, Hare excitedly commented, causing Rin’s face to flush as she stuttered that she was just in a good mood.
After a bit of preparation, she went down the stairs with Hare, feeling that the situation from earlier was slightly odd and decided to ask her.
“So, what were you looking at out the window just now?”
If she was looking down, it must have been toward the café, Rin mumbled, and Hare dismissed it as nothing and changed the subject.
Well, Rin didn’t think much of it and made it to the first floor.
It was a corner seat, not easily visible, but Rin couldn’t miss the sight of Daniel talking and laughing with Hayun from Class A.
“……Was that it?”
“Uh? Ah! Yeah……”
Hare’s excuse was dubious, but Rin didn’t have the time to dwell on it. Her expression turned icy, and her fist clenched. It felt like something was about to snap, but with superhuman patience, she turned away.
‘What the heck?’
As Rin walked quickly, she fell deep into thought.
What kind of situation was this?
Daniel was in love with her but wouldn’t approach her due to shyness and a unique condition. She wanted to sit next to him right away but held back because he obviously didn’t want that.
But.
But he was that close to another girl?
What’s up with that?
What the hell is this?
She had heard somewhere before.
People can easily approach someone they have no feelings for, but they struggle to talk to the women they like.
Yeah, she tried to rationalize it.
To understand…
To understand…?
……
……Why?
Why does she have to?
You don’t even understand me.
I’m just standing far away, waiting, yet you’re chatting away with another girl. You don’t understand how I feel.
So.
If we both like each other.
Can’t we just be together?
*
On the academy’s rooftop.
May, leaning against the railing, looked up and spat a mouthful of blood at the sunset slowly fading in front of her.
“Ugh.”
“Ow, that hurts.”
“Hey! You’re bleeding!”
The so-called delinquent student group that used to hang out with her lay all around her, and the sound of crying was annoying.
“Crazy bastards. How dare they attack us as soon as we arrive?”
May got beaten up today by the gang that came back with Fenil Leiros, who had just returned from suspension.
They brought their fourth-year gang collectively and took down May’s gang in one fell swoop.
The reason was obvious.
They came for revenge because they blamed her for their suspension.
‘Those jerks can’t even touch Daniel.’
So they came to vent their frustrations on her, establishing their hierarchy again. It seemed a bit overboard, but they probably felt confident doing it.
“Ugh.”
Slowly getting up, May dug through her pockets and pulled out a piece of candy, leaning against the railing.
In the past, she would have trembled in fear and worried about how to please the seniors, but now she had nothing but indifference.
‘Is it because I’ve truly felt fear?’
Since experiencing Daniel’s killing intent in the dean’s office, feeling something rougher and wilder than a human—like that of a magical beast—she had lost most of her fear.
As she peeled open the torn wrapper of the shattered candy and looked down, she spotted Daniel coming out of the café and heading toward the dormitory.
Hayun was next to him, and they appeared quite close.
“Ugh, I’m struggling here while you’re over there in a relationship?”
She couldn’t help but let out a snicker as she recalled their conversation.
‘Even the biggest delinquent, Fenil Leiros, is on suspension. You can absorb all the delinquent groups, can’t you?’
‘Huh? It seems like I could work hard and manage…’
‘The fifth years don’t care at all. Fourth years, with Fenil on suspension, are practically empty. I hear there are a few delinquent groups in the third year too…’
‘There are a few.’
‘If there’s fighting or power struggles, call me. I’ll handle it all and make sure they’re beneath your feet.’
She didn’t know what his purpose was in making her do all this, but she understood his intention.
“Are you going to capture both the light and the darkness?”
The light being the dean.
The dean, the highest authority in the academy, couldn’t even move against Daniel now.
Darkness being May herself.
Her goal was to unify the delinquents and place May at their head, but in reality, May was also caught up with Daniel.
She didn’t know what kind of scheme he had in mind to take over the academy like this, but it felt like he was putting all the dirty work on her.
Well, to be fair, she had thought a few times about wanting to dominate the delinquents at school, so it hadn’t been a hard offer to accept.
“May, what are we going to do now?”
“Looks like they’re going to keep pushing us.”
“Let’s just go apologize to Fenil-senpai. Maybe he’ll let us off the hook!”
As she caught sight of her friends who had finally come to their senses, May chuckled and threw a piece of the shattered candy into her mouth.
“What are we going to do? We can’t just take hits like this.”
While Daniel fought during the second exam and she only stayed back, he had called it a team play.
Then.
‘You do the romance, I’ll do the fighting. This could be a pretty sweet team play too, don’t you think?’
As the candy shards rolled around her mouth, they pricked sharply.
But it was quite sweet.