Chapter 1
This happened quite a long time ago.
...No, it happened when I was in the second year of middle school, so maybe it wasn't that long ago.
“You say you're seeing something strange?”
A doctor in a white coat asked me while neatly tapping away at the keyboard.
“...Yes.”
“Hmm... What exactly is it that you're seeing?”
“Well...”
“It's all right, so please tell me at ease.”
What I was struggling with was how to explain this.
After thinking briefly, I gathered my thoughts and cautiously opened my mouth.
“A doll that resembles the other person? Like a miniature character.”
“Mhm... I see...”
The doctor's reaction was impassive. Like a professional, they didn't show their emotions outwardly.
“Can you see one of those around me right now, too?”
I looked around the doctor.
Because they're always around the original person.
— “This is another peculiar symptom...”
I found it right away.
There was an SD character on the desk that looked exactly like the doctor, as though it had popped out of an animation.
The little guy was looking at the chart and muttering to himself.
“Yes, there is.”
“Hmm...”
“......”
I waited silently and unhurriedly for the doctor's judgment.
In fact, I wasn't curious whether I was sick. I was certain this wasn't an illness.
I had come to the hospital merely to make one final confirmation.
“Are there any other unusual symptoms besides that?”
“They talk.”
“They talk? Do they converse with the patient?”
“No, they mutter to themselves.”
It was the same just now, and it's the same now.
— “There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the brain... It's probably a stress-related issue.”
The mini-doctor was muttering while holding a small chart.
Immediately after the mini-doctor finished speaking.
“Hmm... According to the test results, there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with your brain.”
The doctor in front of me said the exact same thing at the same time.
My suspicion was gradually turning into certainty.
“It's most likely a temporary problem, so let's observe how things progress for a little longer.”
“...Yes, I understand.”
The consultation was over.
I rose from my seat.
Let's check just one more time.
Whether what I thought was correct.
“Doctor.”
They had been tapping at the keyboard, but quickly turned their gaze toward me at my voice.
“Oh, yes. Is there anything else you'd like to ask?”
“No, it's just... I was wondering if you'd eaten today.”
“Eaten?”
Their expression filled with bewilderment and confusion.
The mini-doctor sitting on the desk was the same.
The mini-doctor fiddled with their glasses before speaking.
— “Hmm? Why is he asking that? I got by with a cup of instant noodles.”
“I did eat cup noodles, but... do I smell?”
“No, it's nothing.”
I gave a slight bow, then slipped out of the examination room.
“Nurse Kim, could you call in the next patient?”
— “Ah~ I want to go home from work~”
This made it certain.
Listening to the voice leaking out through the door, I once again realized the situation I was in.
This wasn't a dream or a mental illness.
“......”
Summer of my second year of middle school.
I had apparently become able to read other people's thoughts.
***
Now in my second year of high school.
I haven't lived that long, but if there's one thing I've learned, it's that being able to read someone's mind doesn't dramatically change your life.
Even more so if you keep that fact a secret.
“What's the point of having this~? I still have to go to school~”
As long as I was living as a student in South Korea, I especially couldn't skip school.
“Good grief.”
Even as I sighed, I diligently packed my schoolbag.
That didn't mean I could skip school from the very first day of the new semester.
“I'm off.”
“Okay, have a good day, son~”
Mom said that while busily moving around as she got ready for work.
— “It's really hectic first thing in the morning. If I leave now, will I avoid traffic?”
Mom's ‘Mini-Me’—the little guys that voiced her true feelings. I came up with the name.—were also scurrying around.
I didn't bother her any further and hurried out the front door.
School was close by.
About fifteen minutes on foot?
Maybe because it was the first day of the new semester, there weren't even any teachers standing at the main gate.
— What class are you in?
— I'm in Class 3.
When I reached the shoe lockers on the first floor, I saw kids gathered by the window.
Dozens of them, not just one or two, were clustered around looking at something.
“Oh, right.”
I wondered what they were doing and, while looking around, remembered that class assignments came out today.
“Where...?”
I pushed my face into the crowd.
I searched for my name among the assignment sheets posted like a bulletin board.
Lee Seung-ho... Lee Seung-ho... Lee Seung-ho...
“Found it.”
Class 2-1. This year, I'm in Class 1.
“What about the other kids besides me...?”
I didn't stop there and kept moving my eyes along the list.
I was checking whether there was anyone I knew.
Each time I moved past a name, my expression gradually stiffened.
“......No way, is this for real?”
Somehow, there isn't a single person I'm close to in this class.
“Oh, Seung-ho, you're here?”
Just then, I saw two familiar faces walking up behind me.
They were guys who had been in my class last year.
There was a hint of amusement on each of their faces.
“What class are you in, Seung-ho? You're not in Class 1, are you?”
“......”
...These guys already know and are asking anyway.
“...What class are you guys in?”
I asked, barely maintaining my smile.
“We're in.”
“Class 4~”
They started teasing me with all their might, giving it their absolute best and using their whole bodies. They sure worked well together at times like this.
Their Mini-Me's also began rolling around on the floor, roaring with laughter.
— “What a sweet deal~”
— “Lee Seung-ho's face is killing me lol”
“......”
Seeing them like that made me twice as angry, so I couldn't take it anymore.
“......I'm going in first.”
“Hey, are you sulking?”
“I need to make friends besides you guys.”
I couldn't spend my second year without any friends like this.
I hurried to my class.
After wandering around the second floor, I found my class at the end of the hallway.
“...Phew.”
I stood in front of the back door and took a short, deep breath.
It was true that I was a little nervous because it was the new semester.
“......”
I steeled myself and carefully opened the back door.
Quietly enough not to draw attention.
“Kyaa—!”
“?!”
The moment I opened the door, a loud cry rang out. It was the distinctive cheer of female students.
“A-young~!”
“Oh! A-young is in our class too?”
When I turned around, I saw a female student following behind me into the classroom.
“...That startled me.”
I thought they were cheering for me.
For a moment, I got my hopes up, even though there was no way that could be true.
I sat in a reasonably empty seat. The back rows were already crowded, but fortunately I was at least able to sit by the window.
“...She's in our class too.”
Shin A-young. She's fairly famous. Her father is the famous actor Shin Jin-seop.
The genes hadn't skipped her; she was every bit as good-looking as a celebrity.
Features that drew everyone's attention at a glance.
Silky, swaying hair and long eyelashes.
She had the kind of face that obviously looked popular.
“A-young, you're in our class too? That's great~!”
“I was worried I wouldn't know anyone either, but what a relief~”
She was already mingling with the other kids.
They gathered in groups of three or four and chatted. A popular-kid group had formed in an instant.
“......Hmm.”
I looked around.
I searched for someone I could talk to.
— “Is this going to be my year? I'm in the same class as A-young again.”
Someone's Mini-Me was perched on my desk, loitering around.
“......”
...Who is this guy now?
Looking closely to see who he was, I realized he was one of the male students who had been hovering around Shin A-young.
His name tag said his name was Park Jin-su.
The guy soon approached the group Shin A-young was with.
“Hey, A-young.”
“Oh, Jin-su. We're in the same class again this year?”
“Ahem, yeah, I guess so.”
The two began chatting quite naturally.
— “Maybe this is my only chance. It's the beginning of the semester...”
His Mini-Me muttered that to itself.
Could this be...
Is it that?
“A-young. Do you have a moment later?”
“Hmm?”
“It'll really only take a moment.”
Oh...
I covered the corner of my mouth with my hand.
I was getting to watch an entertaining incident on the very first day of the new semester.
— “Fuck.”
At the same time, a Mini-Me with a familiar-looking face spat out a curse.
— “Crazy... He definitely looks like he's about to confess... Did I smile at him too much?”
“......?”
No matter how I looked at it, this was Shin A-young's Mini-Me.
The crude profanity was so different from her image that for a moment I thought I'd heard wrong.
— “Sigh... I screwed up... No, why the hell is this asshole starting shit with me on the first day of the new semester?”
Unlike her inner thoughts, the real her wore a faint, sweet smile.
She spoke in a gentle, lilting tone, as if slightly troubled.
“Um... I can't right now. Could we talk at lunchtime?”
“Uh, uh-huh... Sure, then I'll see you at lunch.”
Park Jin-su nodded with a vacant look and left.
He seemed to think he'd made a successful invitation, but...
Shin A-young's Mini-Me on the desk furrowed its brow sharply.
— “Ha... If it weren't for Dad. I'd just fucking—”
It was obvious her mood had been dragged through the dirt.
Was she suppressing her temper because she was afraid of tarnishing her famous actor father's name?
The kids around her, unaware of that, made a huge fuss.
“Ooh~ Shin A-young~”
“This is definitely that thing, you know, that thing.”
Shin A-young forced an awkward smile.
“Ahaha. No way~”
— “I know that, dumbass.”
...That's intense.
— “Anyway, whether it's this guy or that guy... Ha~ This fucking sucks. I wanna go home already~!”
Another thick curse rang out.
“......”
The first day of the new semester.
I had unintentionally learned the secret of the popular kid in our class.