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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“In-wook went out with me and got hurt trying to catch me when I almost fell.” Ye-na’s voice was as calm as could be.
“…Is that true?” Si-hwa looked at me rather than confronting Ye-na.
“Yeah.”
It was clear that this was a chance Ye-na had prepared to help me out of a bind.
I couldn’t miss the opportunity to avoid getting caught for causing a commotion.
Thank you, Ye-na.
Expressing my gratitude inwardly, I looked at Si-hwa again.
“Really? Where were you going around with a sick patient, Ms. Ye-na?”
It was a sharp point, typical of Si-hwa.
“Where else would a patient go besides the hospital?”
Ye-na lied smoothly without batting an eye.
The two seemed unwilling to yield even an inch to each other.
After staying silent for a moment, Si-hwa glared fiercely at Ye-na.
“…Ms. Ha Ye-na. You said you weren’t close with Choi In-wook. I’m pretty sure I heard that clearly at the MT.”
“Do you think the relationship between people is fixed, Ms. Si-hwa?”
At Ye-na’s words, the sound of Si-hwa’s teeth grinding could be heard.
Is this something to get so upset about?
Or did something happen between the two of them that I didn’t know about?
Ye-na didn’t stop there.
“Ah. There is a way to define relationships between people.”
“If you stamp ‘let’s get married’, from then on it’s a fixed family.”
Family.
The most rat poison-like word for the three of us right now.
Hanging her head low for a moment, Si-hwa spoke in that state.
“Ha… Okay… Let’s try it. This is it?”
Ye-na’s body visibly trembled at the sudden informal speech.
“Ha Ye-na. Do you think I’ll back down just because you’re acting like this?”
As expected of Yoo Si-hwa.
Her words lacked any filtering of her feelings.
Si-hwa expressed her emotions to Ye-na just as they were.
“Well said. Family. Let’s see who becomes family with Choi In-wook.”
The bell rang just in time, and Si-hwa brushed past Ye-na to return to her classroom.
Left behind, I expressed my gratitude to Ye-na.
“I’m sorry, Ye-na. For troubling you because of me.”
Although I never asked or ordered her to do anything, I felt strangely apologetic as if I had put her in a difficult position from the morning.
“No. Choi In-wook. You go in too. Class is starting.”
Ye-na’s expression wasn’t very good.
Although I was worried about her, I couldn’t linger any longer and entered our classroom.
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As soon as the homeroom teacher entered the classroom, he called out my name.
“Choi In-wook. Come with me for a moment.”
I first thought about whether I had done something wrong again, but nothing came to mind.
Could it be that he’s trying to stop my activities again, saying something about the student council?
Although we didn’t win, our pair was 1st place in our class.
I thought I had sufficiently proven myself with the finals being invalidated.
Planning to talk back firmly this time, I followed him.
However, he didn’t take me to the faculty office.
…No matter how much I think about it, I don’t seem to have any business here.
The homeroom teacher knocked.
“Principal. I brought student Choi In-wook.”
What reason would the principal have to look for me?
“Come in.”
The homeroom teacher opened the door and gestured for me to go in quickly.
It wasn’t that I had no acquaintance with the principal at all.
I had been the student council president in my previous life.
“Hello.”
I bowed my head and greeted the principal.
“Welcome, In-wook. Come, have a seat here.”
The principal had me sit in front of his desk and got up to pour water into the coffee pot.
“Do you like coffee?”
“Ah. Yes. I’ll drink it gratefully if you give it to me.”
Hmm… He’s not usually this friendly to students…
This attitude from the principal could generally be seen when he had a favor to ask of students.
“In-wook. There’s one thing I absolutely must ask of you, so I called you here today.”
As expected, my prediction was not off the mark.
However, I still had no idea what the content would be.
“Please tell me.”
“Do you happen to know what kind of relationship you have with Ms. Lee Ji-eun from Sehwa Hunter Academy?”
As soon as I heard the name Lee Ji-eun, I had a rough feeling of what this was about.
“We’re just acquaintances who know each other’s faces.”
“Is that so?”
The principal slowly pushed the mug in front of me and continued.
“You see… Ms. Ji-eun has contacted us saying she wants to transfer to our academy.”
“…Yes.”
I answered calmly, but inwardly I was dumbfounded.
No way.
Did she really bring it up right after going back, saying she would learn from me?
It was an impressive initiative.
Even if she came here, I had no intention of accepting her as my disciple.
I was struggling to take care of my own body right now, so there was no way I had the leisure to teach someone else.
However, at the principal’s next words, I wanted to smack my forehead.
“As you probably know, her value has skyrocketed due to the Mado Tool Workshop incident.”
I nodded silently.
“Of course, it’s no small blow for Sehwa Academy to lose their star player.”
“Nevertheless, I’m personally very satisfied that Ji-eun has said she will come to our academy.”
A pleased smile appeared on the principal’s lips.
“But you see. She has given us a single condition.”
…It’s me.
It was obvious.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for me to be here.
“In-wook. The request was to adjust it so that she can do all her activities within the academy together with you.”
“What if I refuse?”
“I explained the situation to you and asked for your understanding. In fact, there’s nothing that requires your permission.”
“If she asks to be assigned to the same class, we will do so, and if she asks to join the student council, we’ll make that possible too. Your permission is not necessary in that process, is it?”
He was right.
That was the authority of the academy administration.
When I frowned, the principal coaxed me in a tone as if placating a young child.
“I’m asking because I don’t know well, but do you dislike Ms. Ji-eun, In-wook?”
I couldn’t easily answer the principal’s question.
Do I dislike Ji-eun?
No. In the first place, we didn’t have the kind of relationship to discuss likes and dislikes.
We met only twice. It was too short a period to discuss preferences.
Even if we counted all the time we talked, it didn’t even reach 10 minutes.
“That’s not it, but…”
“Then isn’t it a good thing! I heard you also showed quite an impressive performance in the 1st-year pair finals. Who knows? You might end up sharing a future with a top-class hunter like Ji-eun.”
It was hard not to laugh at the principal’s words.
Nothing was more meaningless than talking about rank or skills in front of me.
There was no one who turned out decent among the guys who tried to change their fate by meeting a woman of higher rank than me.
“I understand for now.”
Still, I thought it was fortunate that he informed me in advance rather than Ji-eun suddenly appearing without any notice.
“Thank you. Ji-eun said she doesn’t know anyone here besides you, so she asked me to have you show her around the academy. What do you think? Is that okay too?”
…Ji-eun. You have someone you know, like Si-hyun or something.
But I couldn’t bluntly say, ‘That’s all lies. I don’t want to.’ in this situation.
Sighing deeply, I had no choice but to accept the principal’s words.
“I understand.”
“Thank you for understanding. You can go back to class now. Ji-eun will start attending from tomorrow, so keep that in mind.”
“Yes.”
I bowed to the principal again and left his office.
Ji-eun.
The one who should have died was making an unexpected landing in my second life.
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“Hello! I’m Lee Ji-eun, transferring here!”
The next morning.
As the principal had forewarned, Ji-eun came to our class wearing our academy’s uniform.
“Wow! Isn’t that the Lee Ji-eun from the news?”
“Awesome. Whoa. Why did she transfer to our academy?”
“Hey. But isn’t she really pretty?”
Indeed, Ji-eun, with her loose silver hair fluttering, was a possessor of striking beauty.
The reaction from our classmates was indescribably enthusiastic.
Everyone seemed to be in a welcoming mood towards her, who had saved hunter trainees from the Seolhwa Church.
Ha-rin, who was sitting next to me, looked at Ji-eun with disinterested eyes.
“The reason I transferred here from another academy is…”
“To meet Choi In-wook!”
Ji-eun winked in this direction.
As expected, I thought she would show excessive interest in me, but I didn’t expect her to reveal her purpose so blatantly as soon as she arrived.
“Whoa. No way. What’s with Choi In-wook?”
“You know each other?”
The guy in front of me in our class turned his head to look at me.
I already felt like I was getting dizzy.
But there was one more person who showed an intense reaction besides me.
Thud.
Ha-rin’s pencil case fell to the floor with a loud noise.
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