After leaving the cafeteria, the four of us gathered together. Jung Ha-Yeon and I sat next to each other, with Baek Shin-Hwa and Shin Chul-Min sitting across from us. We talked while we ate.
"Wow, it's been a while since I've been to school, so it's kind of fun. It's a shame we came here to find a monster; otherwise, we could have enjoyed it in peace."
At Shin Chul-Min's comment, Baek Shin-Hwa grumbled, her eyebrows drawn together, a slight hint of fatigue already showing on her face.
"Is that so? I was so busy keeping up with the students' tension that I don't even remember what I did."
She shook her head and sighed in frustration, muttering to herself that she wasn't sure she'd be able to find the monster here.
It was the same for Jung Ha-Yeon.
"I don't think I've gotten used to my classmates yet. It's the first day, so it can't be helped, but I can't keep up with the topics they're talking about," she sighed, thinking that she needed to get the students to talk so she could proceed with the monster investigation.
Then she turned to me.
"What about you, Ms. Hye-Rim? Do you think you'll do well?"
"Well, I'm kind of like you guys."
It's not easy to suddenly try to play a student again after having a social life as an adult. So far, I've just barely gotten by greeting my classmates.
I realized that everyone was going through the same thing. A student from my class saw me and greeted me.
"Hey, Hye-Yung~, enjoy your meal!"
A girl who I thought was particularly energetic waved back.
Her name was definitely Oh Min-Ah. I remembered her because she asked the most questions.
"Yes, Min-Ah! Have a nice lunch too~"
I greeted her with the same smile, and she smiled back.
The three heroes looked a little surprised to see me like that.
"What is it? Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
"...No, nothing. We just thought that Ms. Shin Hye-Rim is working really hard."
Jung Ha-Yeon and Shin Chul-Min were silent, and Baek Shin-Hwa spoke on their behalf, trying to be as euphemistic as possible.
If I translated that phrase, it'd be: 'Don't you think you're being a little too serious with the personality that you set?'
"I couldn't wait to catch the monster, so I put my pride and everything else aside."
I shrugged and responded.
It doesn't really matter; they'll just see me for a little bit and never again.
No matter what I do or what kind of personality I play, I don't care about my pride because I won't see them for long anyway. I don't have to walk on eggshells around them.
"I hear you. I should try a little harder, like Ms. Hye-Rim."
Perhaps inspired by my appearance, Jung Ha-Yeon seemed to make a resolution.
"By the way, I heard something earlier, and I'm guessing that's what's causing the monster's problems."
Baek Shin-Hwa opened her mouth with a serious expression again.
That was a bit unexpected. She had only been at the academy for a few hours and had already found a clue about the monster?
"I heard through the rumors this morning that Shin Hye-Rim's class teacher, Mr. Lee Jung-Seok, suddenly collapsed?"
"Oh, that?"
"Yes. There's no reason for an Awakened who was a hero to suddenly collapse for no reason. Could it be that there was a monster lurking in Ms. Shin Hye-Rim's class and attacking him while he was caught off-guard?"
Baek Shin-Hwa asked me, a witness in the class, if I had noticed anything.
Oh that. I suppose if she only heard that he collapsed, it would seem suspicious.
"That wasn't the monster. I don't know why, but Jung-Seok looked like he was in bad condition to begin with."
I explained in detail what had happened that morning. It seemed like he just suddenly felt unwell and collapsed for no reason.
Maybe he had a cold or something?
"Uh... Excuse me, Ms. Hye-Rim?"
After hearing my explanation, Baek Shin-Hwa made a dumbfounded face. Her lips were twitching, as if she wanted to say something.
What is it? Why is she looking at me like that?
"Why are you interrogating a teacher when you're supposed to be looking for a monster?"
"...What?"
My first day at the academy was fruitless. I did ask my classmates a few questions.
"Have you seen any of your friends acting strange lately?"
"What? No. Why?"
Even if the monster could copy their appearance, it couldn't copy their personality perfectly. I asked the students if any of their friends had suddenly started acting weird lately, and they all said no, they hadn't.
"I wonder if we can catch it this week."
The monster starts to move in earnest next week, according to the original storyline. While it's possible it will reveal itself, I wanted to catch it as soon as possible.
I was eager to get out of this academy, get rid of the uniform and wig, and return to my normal life.
"This is not what I should be doing at my age."
In the evening, I entered my assigned dormitory and immediately took off the wig. I had been wearing it all day, and I thought I was going crazy in frustration.
I untied my hair and went straight to bed, sighing with relief since no one was watching.
"That damn chief. That bastard is probably happily working because I'm not there."
The thought of the bastard who sent me here, smiling while working, made me angry. I will have my revenge.
I'll make sure to bring him a case worthy of a headache when I return after capturing the monster.
-Knock knock
As I was harboring my hatred, I heard a knock on the dormitory door. It was probably Baek Shin-Hwa or Jung Ha-Yeon.
But it could also be a dorm monitor or another student, so I put my wig back on and opened the door.
"Hello, Ms. Hye-Rim, may I come in?"
It was Jung Ha-Yeon. I didn't see Baek Shin-Hwa, so she must have come alone.
"I'd like for us to share any information from this afternoon."
"Ah, is that so? Please come in."
Jung Ha-Yeon came to share information, just like we did during lunch. I asked her about Baek Shin-Hwa.
"She's taking a shower right now, so that's why I came first."
Baek Shin-Hwa would come later, after she finished her shower.
"Well, if you'll excuse me."
Jung Ha-Yeon walked nervously into the dormitory room as if she were coming to my actual house.
"There's no place to sit together, so why don't we sit on the bed for now?"
There was only a single desk and a bed in the room—no table for a group of people—so it seemed like a good idea to just use the bed as a chair.
I took off my wig again and sat down on the end of the bed. But Jung Ha-Yeon just stood there, staring at me.
"Y-you want us to sit on the bed?"
"Yes. I don't have a chair right now, or shall we sit on the floor?"
I suggested this out of consideration, as it's more comfortable to sit on a soft bed than on the hard floor, but would she rather sit on the floor?
"...No, I was just saying."
It didn't seem that way, as Jung Ha-Yeon walked over and sat down next to me.
Up close, her face was a little flushed. I wondered if she had taken a shower before Baek Shin-Hwa took hers.
We sat next to each other and started discussing what we had found out. But, as usual, it was impossible to come up with anything solid in a day.
I didn't have much luck either.
"I'm worried. We don't know who the monster is disguised as or what it's trying to do."
"I know. If only we could catch it sooner."
We waited for Baek Shin-Hwa, discussing our next move, and it felt strange to be alone with Jung Ha-Yeon.
As we continued to talk, we ended up making small talk. I never imagined that I would have such a casual conversation with my favorite heroine.
When I think about it, this is probably the first time I've ever talked to Jung Ha-Yeon in such a relaxed atmosphere. Even when I first met her, I didn't see her in normal situations.
There's a lot I want to talk about because I'm so close to the main heroine, who I always cheered for while reading the manga.
Is it hard to be a hero?
What do you usually spend your time doing?
What are your favorite and least favorite foods?
I can think of a lot of questions I'd like to ask, such as these small things that don't come up in the original story.
Of course, what I was most interested in was her love life.
Since this is a love comedy, I'm curious to know how far Jung Ha-Yeon and Shin Chul-Min's relationship has progressed. I don't know how much time they spent together without me knowing.
However, there is something that worries me. I was worried before, and I'm worried today too. No matter how I look at it, it's hard to feel anything special about the way Jung Ha-Yeon looks at Shin Chul-Min.
...You don't mean to tell me that, unlike in the original manga, Jung Ha-Yeon has stopped liking Shin Chul-Min?
That's a problem. To think our main heroine can't even be a heroine! That's something that can't and shouldn't happen in my virtuous life.
That worried me, so I decided to probe Jung Ha-Yeon first.
"By the way, I've heard dozens of questions about relationships from students today, since they're at the age where they're supposed to be in a relationship. Have you ever been asked about it?"
"They've asked me about it, too, although I've never been in a relationship."
"Wow, really?"
I asked, feigning surprise.
"So you don't think you'd like to in the future?"
"What? What do you mean?"
"Well, I mean, I'm asking if you don't have a crush on anyone."
"C-crush?!"
At the word "crush," Jung Ha-Yeon reacted in surprise and blushed profusely.
Oh? Isn't this the reaction of someone who actually has a crush?
"I'm going to take a shower, Ms. Ha-Yeon; could you go to Ms. Hye-Rim's room first?"
Baek Shin-Hwa was surprised when Jung Ha-Yeon asked her to go to Shin Hye-Rim's room with her, to which Baek Shin-Hwa said she'd join later and jumped into the shower.
For some reason, Baek Shin-Hwa seemed to find Shin Hye-Rim difficult, so Jung Ha-Yeon went to Hye-Rim's room by herself.
To be honest, Jung Ha-Yeon was a little happy that Baek Shin-Hwa said she would come later. She wanted to stay alone with Hye-Rim for a while longer, though she was a little disappointed that she wouldn't be able to share a room with her.
Jung Ha-Yeon went to visit her alone, feeling strangely nervous, even though she was just entering a dormitory room.
She didn't feel this way when she was alone with Lee Mi-Na or Lee Yoon-Seo. Why was it that she couldn't speak properly when she met Hye-Rim?
It was probably because she longed for her so much.
That must have been why her heart felt like it was going to burst, even though they were just sitting next to each other on the bed. It must have been because of longing.
As they talked about their future plans, she couldn't help but feel happy. Just as she was thinking that she wanted this time to continue, Hye-Rim brought up something out of the blue.
"By the way, I've heard dozens of questions about relationships from students today, since they're at the age where they're supposed to be in a relationship. Have you ever been asked about it?"
Relationship talk. She'd heard that a lot too, but she had never been interested in relationships, so she hadn't dated anyone.
"They've asked me about it, too, although I've never been in a relationship."
But then Hye-Rim said something else that made her heart pound.
"So you don't think you'd like to in the future?"
"What? What do you mean?"
"Well, I mean, I'm asking if you don't have a crush on anyone."
"C-crush?!"
As soon as she heard that word, a face came to mind.
It wasn't a man. She didn't know why, but she saw a woman's face. When she heard the word "crush," she thought of a woman's face.
And it was none other than the person who was talking to her right now.
"N-no! I don't have a crush on anyone because I'm not interested in relationships."
She hastily denied Ms. Hye-Rim's words.
Yes, what she was feeling right now wasn't really a crush or anything like that. It was just the way she felt toward a benefactor she admired.
But Hye-Rim didn't believe her.
"Hmm~? Really? It seems to me that you have a crush on someone."
"...What do you mean? I said I didn't."
"Really? I see. If you say so, then it must be true."
However, Hye-Rim interrupted.
"But on second thought, I don't think so. It looks like you do have a crush on someone."
"......!"
What was she talking about? How could she speak with such conviction? Maybe, just maybe, she wondered.
Did Ms. Hye-Rim know what she was thinking?
"Do you want me to guess the name?"
"W-w-what?! What do you mean by..."
-sssk
Before Jung Ha-Yeon could comprehend what she said, Shin Hye-Rim leaned toward her. Her face stopped right next to Jung Ha-Yeon's ear.
"Someone you like. I think I know."
Her soft voice tickled Jung Ha-Yeon's ear as her warm breath brushed the nape of her neck. Hye-Rim's hair brushed against her arm.
Thump, thump, thump.
The sound of her heart pounded in her ears. No sound came out of her mouth. She wondered if she was even breathing.
She could only stay still, hoping that Shin Hye-Rim didn't know.
"The name is Shin..."
"......!"
'Shin'... It was over the moment the words came out. Was Hye-Rim really, really looking into her mind?
If so, with what face should she face Hye-Rim?
As she squeezed her eyes shut, clutching her chest, which was about to burst at any moment, Hye-Rim immediately pulled away from her.
"Fufufufu, I'm just kidding."
"...Uh, yes?"
"I'm just joking around with love stories like the rest of the students. If you say you don't have a crush, then you really don't."
Hye-Rim apologized, saying she was sorry for teasing her. Jung Ha-Yeon was able to calm down and relax again.
Oh, it was just a joke, thank God. She felt like a decade had passed.
......Wait, so how did Hye-Rim know the first letter of the person she was thinking of?
"By the way, if you ever meet someone you think you like, you can let me know."
"...What?"
"I'm tight-lipped, so I'll keep your secret."
Hye-Rim smiled brightly as she said that.
It was a beautiful smile, but was it because of her imagination? Jung Ha-Yeon thought she could see nine fox tails behind Hye-Rim's back.