Chapter 3
Imperial High School was completely different from what I’d seen on screen. When they said it was the best, they weren’t lying—the sheer scale of the place was intimidating.
This could easily pass for a university campus. Oh right, there actually is a university in this world too. Imperial High School was an affiliated school of Imperial University, apparently. Talk about an impressive setup.
I let out an involuntary sigh as I approached the school gate. As soon as I walked through the wide-open entrance, I locked eyes with someone who looked like a security guard. He didn’t say anything, but his stare felt like a silent reproach for showing up so late.
I gave him an awkward smile, muttered a greeting, and strode past him with as much confidence as I could muster.
Problem is, now I have no idea where the second-year classrooms are. This building is massive. After getting inside, all I could see was… more building. Not even a sign indicating grade levels.
Given how quiet everything was, classes had clearly already started. Rather than wandering around and getting caught, it seemed smarter to wait until things got noisy again. Besides, walking into class at this point would be incredibly awkward. I’d have every pair of eyes on me, and I wasn’t some attention-seeker who wanted that kind of spotlight.
I glanced around and quietly made my way toward the field.
“I’ll just kill time here and head in when the bell rings.”
When I got back outside, I spotted dozens of students running in formation—probably a P.E. class. Not wanting to be noticed, I moved toward a corner where I’d be out of sight.
“Why are they doing P.E. first thing in the morning? Is this supposed to be morning jogging or something?”
I sat there absently, soaking up the sunshine while watching them run. Even from this distance, I could hear occasional bursts of chatter. The energy of youth, I guess.
Sure, these were the types who’d establish pecking orders and bully people, but this was still high school—they had energy to burn. My eyes naturally tracked the kids.
The running seemed to wrap up. Someone who looked like a teacher said something, and the lined-up students dispersed. Some plopped down in the bleachers, others wandered around aimlessly. One group started playing soccer, apparently committed to actually exercising.
“Oh, that looks fun.”
I couldn’t see very well from here, but it seemed like decent entertainment for the time I had left, so I watched the guys playing soccer. One of them caught my attention. I couldn’t make out his face clearly, but he had brown hair that looked particularly bright in the sunlight, and he was noticeably smaller than the others.
Maybe because of his smaller frame, he was incredibly quick. The way he controlled the ball and weaved past the other guys was extraordinary. When someone tried to slide tackle him, he dodged it effortlessly and kept pushing forward.
“Whoa! Yes! That’s it! Amazing!”
I clapped and shouted, getting a bit carried away by his skillful footwork. Before I knew it, I was completely absorbed in the game. I shifted position to get a better view as the brown-haired guy crossed the halfway line.
The moment came—he got past the defenders, closed in on the goal, and took the shot. The ball looked like it was going in, but it narrowly missed the goalpost.
“Ah, damn! What a shame! How did that not go in?! Come on!”
“I know, right? Really unfortunate.”
What the hell?! Startled by the sudden voice behind me, I steadied myself and whipped my head around. The first thing I saw was pink hair. Pink… hair?
I stared at the guy with my mouth hanging open.
Let’s skip the whole “what kind of high school student dyes their hair pink” lecture. This isn’t where I used to live, and honestly, even back in reality, you’d occasionally see this hair color on TV and stuff. But even though it wasn’t my first time seeing this color, having it right in front of my eyes felt deeply surreal.
Wait, even though he had pink hair in the anime, does he seriously have pink hair in real life too? As I froze at the sight of someone who was unmistakably one of the main characters, the guy smiled at me.
With slightly drooping, teardrop-shaped eyes, a round nose, and cherry-like lips—the cute pretty boy smiled beautifully enough to make anyone stop and stare. But I couldn’t smile back. I knew the madness hidden behind those pretty crescent moon eyes better than anyone.
When I stayed silent, the guy tilted his head as if asking what was wrong. Wow, he really does look like a normal pretty boy like this, but knowing what he’s actually like, all I feel are chills running down my spine.
“Are you sick?”
“N-no.”
“Then what is it? You look like you’ve seen something you shouldn’t have…”
His words made me feel unnecessarily guilty. I laughed it off with an exaggerated “hahaha,” as if to say “what are you even talking about?”
“But why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in class?”
And why are you here? Despite my internal retort, I spoke calmly with a composed expression.
“I was late.”
“Excuse me?”
“So I’m planning to go in during the next period break.”
At my explanation, the guy’s eyes widened briefly before he burst out laughing. Wondering what was so funny, I watched as he stopped laughing, smiled, and looked me up and down with rolling eyes. Then he lowered his gaze to something specific. Following his line of sight, I noticed the name tag on my chest.
“Yoon… Taeho. Hmm, second year.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Have we met somewhere before? You look familiar.”
Of course I look familiar—you probably saw me when I was with the protagonist. I awkwardly drawled out “I wonder…” He stared at me for a moment and tilted his head.
“Why have you been speaking so formally to me this whole time?”
“What?”
“Don’t you know who I am?”
I know. I know very well. I glanced at his name tag to confirm. Maeng Moa. He was definitely one of the main characters, one of the Four.
He was a first-year. So why is he questioning why I, a second-year, am speaking formally instead of casually? I swallowed hard as I noticed the hexagonal star on his chest.
He was in the highest tier of the High Class system. They say only six people can hold the highest rank, and right now, including him, there were exactly four. One had been expelled, and another never appeared until the end of the anime.
I couldn’t read the intentions behind a top predator like him asking that question. Was he messing with me? Either way, since I wasn’t sure if any response would be well-received, I decided honesty was the safest bet.
“I know you well.”
“And?”
Well…
“You’re High Class.”
Besides that, I was also just used to speaking formally to people I met for the first time regardless of age—a habit from my working days. Hearing my answer, Maeng Moa went “Ah” and let out a little laugh.
“What’s this? You’re kind of boring.”
“…”
I stared at him silently with a blank expression. As he looked me over again, he soon appeared to lose interest. Just as I was wondering whether to feel relieved or not…
“Watch out!”
Thud
“Ugh!”
Along with someone’s warning shout, a heavy impact slammed into my back. Luckily I was wearing my backpack, so it didn’t hurt too badly. Still, I staggered, one leg buckled, and I ended up sitting down hard. A soccer ball rolled past right next to me.
Wait, which asshole kicked the ball this way? As I looked up with a grimace from the pain, I suddenly saw Maeng Moa’s smiling face.
I guess he saw the ball coming? So why is he grinning like that instead of helping?
Sigh, what did I expect from that guy? Annoyed but resigned, I pushed myself up and dusted off my pants.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine…”
As I turned my head to see who’d kicked the ball and come running over, I suddenly understood what “breath-stopping” actually meant.
Fair skin, light brown hair, shorter than me. Despite having monolids and sanbaek-an eyes—where you can see the white below the iris—his eyes were the same brown as his hair, which made him look radiant instead of cold. His sharp nose bridge and slim jawline were as straight as if someone had meticulously carved them.
In short, his appearance was as if God had deliberately gathered all the best features in one place. I’d thought Maeng Moa was handsome, that his supposed younger brother was handsome, hell, even my own face was pretty damn good. But this guy was on a superhuman level. I immediately knew who he was.
Moon Seoheon. The protagonist—or more accurately, the protagonist-seme. Now I get it… why all the ukes went crazy for him. With looks like this, anyone would fall head over heels.
“Taeho, are you really okay?”
“Huh? Y-yeah.”
His unexpectedly slightly deep voice sent pleasant tingles through my ears. So this is Moon Seoheon. But why is he here?
While I was so flustered by the situation that I’d completely forgotten about the pain from being hit by the ball, Maeng Moa approached Moon Seoheon from behind.
“Oh? You two know each other, Seoheon hyung?”
Maeng Moa glanced at me briefly before fixing his gaze on Moon Seoheon. Moon Seoheon gave Maeng Moa—who was smiling innocently—a brief look before nodding.
“Yeah. He’s a friend.”
“Ah, I see.”
The way Maeng Moa looked at me then… fuck. It sent chills down my spine. I guess the reason he was smirking earlier was because Seoheon showed up. Catching on, I took a step back, trying to look as harmless as possible.
Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not interested in Moon Seoheon! I’m not jealous either!
“But why are you here so late? I waited for you this morning.”
“Ah, sorry. I overslept.”
Didn’t they say we’d had a fight? Faced with his unexpectedly friendly attitude, I decided to do my best to act normal to avoid any weird suspicions or misunderstandings.
“…Really?”
“Yeah.”
Moon Seoheon studied me for a moment before saying okay, that it was fine as long as I was alright, then jogged back toward the field. Watching his retreating figure, I barely suppressed a sigh.
“Hey.”
“Huh? Yes?”
“Talk to me casually from now on. Drop the formal speech too.”
After watching Moon Seoheon rejoin the soccer game, Maeng Moa turned toward me with a friendly expression.
Talk casually? No thanks. I don’t even want to talk to you at all. But I couldn’t say that, and besides, I didn’t know how he’d react if I declined with “it’s fine,” so I forced a small smile and nodded.
“…Okay. I mean, sure.”
“Great. I look forward to getting to know you.”
At his sudden handshake request, I reluctantly extended my hand. What is he even asking for? Is this a veiled threat to help him get closer to Moon Seoheon? I was on the verge of breaking into a cold sweat, but I hid it, laughed, and he laughed too.
He didn’t leave after that, instead devoting himself to watching Moon Seoheon. I had no choice but to sit beside him and watch as well.
Seeing Moon Seoheon running around out there, it looked like the guys doing P.E. from the morning were from our class. And the guy who’d been flying around like a professional player was Moon Seoheon.
That guy is insanely handsome and good at sports. Well, he was a scholarship student, after all. Based on what I’d seen in the anime, his physique had well-defined muscles without being excessive. He really does have it all. Absolutely everything.
Still, he was shorter than me. No wait, I guess I’m just tall. My height seemed to be at least 180 cm. That was pretty fortunate—you can build muscle, but you can’t build height.
Hold on, why did this body’s original owner ever feel jealous of that guy? You’re tall, you have a top-tier face, your family’s well-off. This is basically hitting the jackpot.
Sure, the ukes are also handsome with money and power, but they’re insane, and Moon Seoheon’s family situation is shown to be pretty rough. No matter how I look at it, becoming Yoon Taeho was incredibly lucky.
Well, I did meet one of the Four right off the bat, and I have no idea what’s going on with Moon Seoheon and me. But at least now I’ll be able to find my classroom.
That’s how I consoled myself.
