Chapter 13
Only after returning to my room and lying on my bed did I remember the letter Hyunjae had given me. As I slowly unfolded the paper, the hastily written handwriting caught my eye first. The style was familiar—Hyunjae had the same handwriting in every lifetime. I started reading the letter with a small smile. The content wasn’t anything special. Just casual greetings, unnecessary well-wishes, and a mention that he was secretly writing this at school. Then the sentence written in the last line:
“It’s hazy, but somehow I feel like you used to cry a lot.”
No I didn’t. You’re making me out to be some crybaby.
“…But I hope that wasn’t the case.”
After reading it to the end, I couldn’t put the letter down and found myself sniffling.
The petty gang of hormonal teenagers did nothing but loiter around looking for ways to cause trouble once they showed up at school. The easiest target in their eyes was usually Hyunjae, a judgment they could make because Yu Chanhee implicitly and openly showed his dislike for him. The gang’s leaders—Sujung, Yunjae, and Samhwan—were, as usual, sitting on Hyunjae’s desk today, messing with his belongings.
“Doesn’t Chanhee seem weird lately?”
Following Sujung’s comment, the other two poured out their agreement.
“Yeah. He doesn’t even eat with us anymore.”
“And I saw him talking a lot with Hyunjae.”
Sujung frowned and offered the best guess she could come up with.
“Did they become friends?”
“No way. Chanhee hates Hyunjae so much.”
Samhwan cut her off immediately. Although Chanhee never openly bullied him, he would poke at Hyunjae’s most painful weak spots and make his life miserable. To the point that if they were Hyunjae, they would absolutely hate Chanhee too. How could two people like that become friends? Even if Chanhee had somehow been hit on the head and reached out first, it made no sense that Hyunjae would accept so readily.
“Are we screwed if they become friends?”
“Come on, you’ve seen how proud Hyunjae is. Would he easily become friends just because Chanhee’s being a bit nice?”
Yunjae tilted his head, recalling past incidents. How Hyunjae would bristle when someone bullied him but immediately become docile when Chanhee intervened. If his impression wasn’t wrong, Hyunjae seemed like he would wag his tail at the slightest kindness from Chanhee.
“But still…”
At that moment, the classroom door opened. Chanhee and Hyunjae naturally entered side by side. Though they were all middle school students, these two gave off a different feeling than the others. More precisely, they exuded a sort of mature aura that came with caution and deep thinking. Could they have come to school together? As that thought occurred, the perceptive Sujung was the first to get off Hyunjae’s desk.
“Chanhee!”
Chanhee stared at them silently. He seemed lost in thought. Then, belatedly, he answered.
“Hello.”
The three simultaneously began speculating about what Chanhee might have been thinking when he greeted them.
To get straight to the point, I was just at a loss. After all, outwardly I was practically the ringleader bullying Hyunjae. And now the bully and his victim are quietly becoming friends and hanging out together? This would definitely create another rumor.
Honestly, I didn’t want to care about what these kids were saying. What mattered was Hyunjae, who would get hurt by it again. The current Hyunjae was just being kind to me, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask what he thought about my past actions. Just as my current relationship with Hyunjae was separate from my previous eight lives, the weight of the pain I’d caused might feel different to Hyunjae, even if I had been in an unavoidable situation.
In short, for the first time in a long while, I had the luxury to think about things beyond the essentials—like relationships between people, public image, and matters like that.
Hyunjae nonchalantly put his bag down on his desk and sat down. I stood still for a moment before slowly moving to my seat.
“Um… Chanhee.”
Kim Samhwan approached me hesitantly. I had a general idea of what he was going to ask, but since I hadn’t prepared an answer, I flinched slightly.
“Yes, Samhwan?”
“Well, you see…”
When Kim Samhwan scratched his face and couldn’t easily get to the point, I sighed deeply and cut off his question.
“It’s about Hyunjae, right?”
“…Have you two become friends?”
It was a childish question. But at the same time, a very direct one. I pondered before answering.
“Samhwan.”
I looked at him with the most brazen face I could muster, then stood up. All eyes in the classroom turned to me. It was only natural. Whenever I stepped forward, the classroom atmosphere always sank. I might have had presence among these kids, but I was by no means a good person.
“When was I ever on bad terms with Hyunjae?”
Not just Samhwan, but Kim Sujung and Ju Yunjae behind him—all looked at me with disbelief.
“You guys were the ones bullying him, not me.”
It was mean and nasty by anyone’s standards. Being the hypocrite that I am, I glanced at Hyunjae, feeling guilty.
<Character ‘Yu Hyunjae’ that you’ve intervened with increases his affection for you!>
<You can have a more intimate relationship with ‘Yu Hyunjae’!>
<You can enter ‘Yu Hyunjae’s’ hidden route.>
What a shameless guy. I couldn’t help but laugh at how he was increasing his affection level on the inside while maintaining an expressionless face.
And this unofficial declaration, as childish as it was, worked like a charm among the middle schoolers. Eventually, they even watched through the window as the previously only-rumored Yu Hyunjae and Yu Chanhee went to and from school together.
Ah, is this a web novel rather than a fantasy story? It also reminds me a bit of the Four Heavenly Kings vibe. Despite our complicated relationship, living together in the same house had already fueled plenty of rumors about us. The content of these rumors was practically a melodrama.
I didn’t want to pay attention to the cringeworthy rumors of these kids, but I did feel a bit better. After experiencing more than a few deaths, finally being able to get close to Hyunjae without any obstacles felt like I was already halfway there.
Above all, for whatever reason, the system also displayed only favorable messages to me.
<You have the talent of a capable Shielder! You’re fully qualified to be ‘Yu Hyunjae’s’ right-hand man!>
I extended my middle finger toward the empty air.
“Right-hand man? Are you saying I should be his lackey for life?”
<With a little more effort, you can become ‘Yu Hyunjae’s’ combat ‘partner’, keep it up!>
I didn’t respond further. But truthfully, I was putting effort into the specialized classes for my own future. Since the freedom level of this ‘game’ had increased, I thought I might finally see the ending of my real life. If so, I wanted to live without regrets, unlike my previous lives.
“What are you doing?”
At some point, Hyunjae was peeking his face through the door, looking at me. Him visiting my room like this meant he’d probably remembered something.
In reality, everything Hyunjae recalled, starting from the previous letter story, was complete nonsense. Things like we had sold tteokbokki together (how on earth at that young age?), we had lived by the sea (we were both city kids), we had promised to live together after graduation (I never made such a promise). These were all statements that strangely connected to reality yet didn’t match at all. So at some point, I began dismissing Hyunjae’s “I remembered” as mere chitchat.
“Come in.”
No sooner had I spoken than Hyunjae strode across my room and sat down beside me.
“Your uniform is already too small.”
I said, looking at Hyunjae’s slightly raised uniform pants.
“It seems like it hasn’t even been two months since we got new ones.”
“I know. I’ll tell Mom about it.”
Hyunjae smiled. Truly, it was always the same face.
“You know, when I look at you, you smile way too much for no reason.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. It’s stupid.”
“I don’t smile that much.”
Yeah, right.
“So what did you remember this time?”
At my question, Hyunjae suddenly put on a serious expression.
“This might sound ridiculous again.”
“You’re aware, at least.”
“I remembered you being very sick.”
“……”
“There was blood. And I was crying next to you.”
“…Ah.”
“This isn’t true either, right?”
I nodded, smiling. Hyunjae sighed with a relieved expression. Well, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant memory, so it might be better for him to think it was a lie. Preferably for the rest of his life.
