Chapter 4
It looked like the teacher was gathering the students as class time wound down. Break must be starting soon. While I might have appeared to be spacing out, in reality I was already exhausted from keeping tabs on both Moon Seoheon and Maeng Moa. As I let out a subtle sigh, I heard a voice from behind.
“Is it over?”
I sensed Maeng Moa standing up and glanced briefly at him. He turned his head toward me with a questioning look.
“…?”
“Aren’t you going?”
“Ah, I should… go.”
When Maeng Moa crossed the field to approach Moon Seoheon, I had no choice but to get up and follow. What the hell is happening? I’m going to stand out like crazy like this.
Sure enough, even from a distance, guys who recognized Maeng Moa started glancing in our direction. Soon the bell rang and break time started, but they began moving toward us very slowly. Don’t students usually rush back to their classrooms after P.E.?
“Seoheon hyung~”
When Maeng Moa called out to Moon Seoheon with a wave, the guys who’d been sneaking glances started openly staring at us. They must be moving slowly because of Maeng Moa. They even started whispering about me as I walked behind, keeping some distance from Maeng Moa, which made me want to curse.
“Good work, hyung.”
“Yeah.”
Moon Seoheon, sweaty from all that running, raised his hand to wipe his chin. Wow, seeing him in person rather than on screen was truly different.
“You’re sweating a lot. Aren’t you thirsty?”
“That’s why I’m heading to the school store.”
Moon Seoheon said this while looking at the guys gathered around him. Then Maeng Moa shot them a meaningful look, which made them start slinking away. As the protagonist-seme, it would be natural for everyone to crowd around him, but when a top predator approaches, people tend to scatter.
The guys who’d been surrounding Moon Seoheon told him they’d head back first and started leaving on their own. Yeah, I get it. You have to avoid that psycho to stay off his radar. Poor bastards. I was also planning to step aside and follow those guys, letting the two of them be together.
“Where are you going?”
“Huh?”
Moon Seoheon stopped me. Wondering if he was really talking to me, I looked at him with a confused expression. As he wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead and brushed his hair back, I found myself mesmerized. Wow, I really understand what it means to be spellbound now.
“I asked where you’re going.”
“Well… I need to get to the classroom.”
“Let’s go together.”
“Uh, okay.”
What’s going on? Why isn’t he going with Maeng Moa? Despite my internal confusion, I couldn’t show my reluctance, so I barely managed to keep my expression from going stiff and nodded. As I stood next to Moon Seoheon and glanced at Maeng Moa, he fortunately seemed unbothered. Well, he might be cursing up a storm on the inside.
Luckily, Maeng Moa spoke first.
“You’re going to get water, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
With Maeng Moa in the lead, the three of us headed to the school store. Ah, come to think of it, I must look pretty ridiculous walking around with my backpack still on. The students passing by were looking at me like I was weird.
Ugh, I’m not usually the type to be so self-conscious, but being with these guys makes me hyper-aware of my surroundings. The unfamiliarity of this place contributed to that too. Lost in these thoughts, Moon Seoheon suddenly touched the back of my head.
Startled, I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at him. Moon Seoheon stopped too, and so did Maeng Moa. I started walking again naturally, and Moon Seoheon and Maeng Moa resumed walking as well.
“You said you woke up late—your hair’s all messy. Did you rush out?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
Is it that bad? I was caught off guard when he suddenly touched it. Surprised by his unexpectedly friendly gesture, I smoothed down the back of my hair where Moon Seoheon had touched, trying not to make my behavior seem strange.
“By any chance, is this hyung the friend you come with every morning?”
“Yeah.”
“I see. I didn’t know.”
Maeng Moa looked at me for a moment before turning his head forward. Though it seemed like an innocent action, I internally swallowed hard, feeling somewhat intimidated.
Anyway, it seems my appearance really is a mess since I rushed out after just throwing on my clothes. I quickly scanned my outfit once more to check if anything else was off, then shifted my gaze to Moon Seoheon.
Despite being drenched in sweat from exercising, not only did he not smell bad, he actually smelled good, and that disheveled look only made him more attractive. The saying “it’s all about the face” wasn’t wrong.
So I kept my mouth shut and just listened to their meaningless small talk.
We soon arrived at the school store. Looking around, I saw it was basically a self-service convenience store. Entering the building with its floor-to-ceiling glass windows that gave full visibility from outside, I saw the counter and shelves fully stocked with food items and stationery.
Nice. This is really nice.
While I was looking around to see what they had, Moon Seoheon grabbed a bottle of water and asked me:
“Do you want something to drink too?”
“Ah, no.”
I wasn’t particularly thirsty and hadn’t thought about it. As I glanced at the water bottle he was holding and the price tag, it was 1,900 won. Wait, why is water so expensive? It’s just a 500ml bottle! Can’t he just drink from a fountain at school? Besides, Moon Seoheon probably doesn’t have much money.
With that thought, I unintentionally blurted out:
“You’re buying water? Isn’t that kind of a waste?”
Moon Seoheon looked at me expressionlessly without saying anything, while Maeng Moa made a face like my comment was completely random. As I looked back at them with a “what’s the problem” expression, Maeng Moa said:
“What else would we do but buy it? Where else are we supposed to get water?”
“Um… aren’t there water fountains or something?”
“Hahaha.”
Just as I was about to feel annoyed by Maeng Moa’s laughter, he said with an amused tone:
“Only Low Class students drink from fountains.”
Oh, I see. So what, Low Class students can’t even buy water here? That seems really unfair.
“Well, it looks like you didn’t know, but that makes sense for a hyung like you.”
Maeng Moa glanced at the badge on my uniform and continued:
“Since you’re already here, why don’t you buy something? Or should I buy it for you?”
Is this charity? No, no. I didn’t need to reveal my bitter thoughts. He was probably just saying it casually without any deeper meaning. Besides, from what I heard, it sounds like Low Class students can buy drinks if they want to.
I waved my hands saying no thanks, and looked at the badge on Moon Seoheon’s collar. Moon Seoheon had four stars. He was Middle Class, one tier above me, just like I’d seen in the anime.
Is he deliberately buying water because he’s Middle Class? I was thinking about how exhausting his life must be when Maeng Moa, who’d nodded at my refusal, took Moon Seoheon’s water and headed to the counter.
“You don’t need anything else?”
“No.”
Wait, is Maeng Moa paying? And Moon Seoheon seemed to accept it naturally. Oh, was there this aspect to their relationship? Well, maybe he’s gotten used to being taken care of by the main characters.
In any case, seeing things in person was different from just watching—it was pretty interesting to see aspects that weren’t covered in the anime. Like being able to examine the school store in detail.
Before leaving, I scanned the other items I hadn’t properly noticed earlier because I was shocked by the water price, and found something familiar. It was that carbonated drink inspired by pine needle tea that gives you a refreshing feeling all the way to your head. It was only 300 won.
“Wow.”
That’s dirt cheap. An exclamation escaped me unconsciously, and I immediately opened the refrigerator door where the drinks were displayed. Ignoring the guys who were about to leave and looking at me like they were wondering what I was doing, I grabbed a drink right away. Even though I wasn’t thirsty and had declined Maeng Moa’s offer earlier, at this price, I absolutely had to buy it.
I grabbed two bottles and headed to the counter. I’ll drink one now and save the other for later.
“…You’re drinking that?”
“Yeah.”
Moon Seoheon was looking at what I was holding with a somewhat displeased expression. I’d seen that kind of look in real life before so I could just brush it off, but Moon Seoheon should be different, right? People might have preferences when it comes to food, but that shouldn’t apply to him. Because he’s…
“Do Low Class students give each other punishments too?”
What is he talking about? Caught off guard by Maeng Moa’s serious question, I paused my thoughts and looked at him with a baffled expression. Then, deciding it wasn’t worth engaging, I quickly headed to the counter. Even buying two bottles was only 600 won—now this is what I call value.
In a good mood, I stuffed one drink in my bag and followed the guys out of the school store. But instead of walking ahead and chatting together like I expected, the two of them started walking side by side with me. To be precise, Moon Seoheon was in the middle, and we were flanking him on either side.
The expressions of the students watching us walk together like this were not normal.
No, there was no scene like this in the anime! They always hung out exclusively among themselves with no room for other guys to join. Yoon Taeho would occasionally appear and cling to Moon Seoheon, but would soon get glared at by the ukes and exit the scene.
I’m not sure which part of the story this is, but it’s definitely early on. I was still properly wearing three stars, and Maeng Moa’s attitude was positive.
Anyway, just because something doesn’t appear in the anime doesn’t guarantee it won’t happen in reality, so this was definitely an uncomfortable situation.
But more people were watching Moon Seoheon and Maeng Moa than me, and the gazes from bystanders showed jealousy, envy, or fear. Realizing I wasn’t the focus of attention, I felt somewhat relieved.
As long as I don’t do anything notably weird, things should keep going smoothly.
Following them, we soon reached the classroom area, and I understood why it had been so hard to find this place.
The large buildings on the obviously spacious campus were interconnected, making the facility layout pretty complex. Entering the main building didn’t immediately lead to classrooms; you had to go into another building inside to find them.
Jeez, by the time you go to the school store and back, wouldn’t break time be over?
The moment I saw the sign for Class 2-1 in front of me, I felt relieved to have finally reached the classroom and went inside. Noticing the atmosphere was unusually quiet for break time, I glanced around cautiously.
As I passed students whispering softly to each other, I spotted a distinctive figure sitting in a corner by the window.
The guy sitting there comfortably, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, had red hair.
“Whoa…”
An exclamation of amazement escaped my lips. Just then, the red-haired guy slowly opened his eyes and looked in my direction. More precisely, he was probably looking at Moon Seoheon.
“What the hell?”
The red-haired guy frowned and stood up from his seat.
“Moon Seoheon, P.E. ended forever ago and you’re only showing up now?!”
“We went to the school store.”
“You should have said… no, forget it. More importantly, Maeng Moa, you came all the way to the second-year classroom first thing in the morning? And why are you together?”
Still scowling, the guy stared intently at Moon Seoheon and Maeng Moa, demanding an answer. But Maeng Moa, seemingly unaffected, smiled brightly and said:
“Hyung, you come looking for me whenever you want too, don’t you? Whether I come or not is my choice. And I came with Seoheon hyung after watching his soccer game and waiting for P.E. to end, so we’re together. Right?”
Maeng Moa suddenly looked at me and asked. Extremely flustered, I managed to nod with a stiff expression.
“Who’s this guy?”
The red-haired guy looked at me like he was asking what the hell I was. Wow, seeing him up close, he really does have an aggressive look. Strong facial features with sharp lines. He was incredibly handsome, but gave off an unapproachable vibe. Well, the same could be said for the other guys too.
I wanted to shout that he didn’t need to know who I was, but I held back, trying to figure out what to say until I’d missed my chance. Then I saw the red-haired guy’s eyebrow twitch slightly. He was definitely the one with the most volatile temper among the Four.
Afraid I might get punched, I quickly said:
“I’m Moon Seoheon’s classmate and friend.”
If I’d said “Yoon Taeho,” he would definitely have snapped, “Who asked for your name?” I chose my words carefully to dial down his aggression and maybe even gain some goodwill.
“Ah, is that so?”
As if my prediction was correct, the red-haired guy softened his fierce expression somewhat.
That’s my cue to leave. I had nothing more to say to these guys anyway, so I gave a slight nod—not arrogant but not submissive either—and headed for a corner seat.
While I was trying to maintain a calm expression, I was a complete mess inside. Fuck. I don’t think it’s even been three hours since I woke up as Yoon Taeho in this world, and I’ve already nearly been marked by not just Pink but Red as well. Damn it, at this rate I’m going to end up meeting Blue and Yellow too.
