Chapter 1
It had already been well over a year since I fell into the world of a dime-a-dozen academy NTR novel.
Was it on the day of the first-year entrance ceremony that I first opened my eyes in this body? Probably.
I was a burly male student with cheap-looking blond hair, tanned brown skin, and a sleazy appearance at first glance, despite my otherwise clean-cut looks.
In vulgar parlance, I was the very stereotype of the NTR genre: the so-called blonde, tanned bastard.
Even my name was Taeyang. My family name was Han, so I wasn't Geum Taeyang, but Han Taeyang.
In any case, I was a cookie-cutter villain in an NTR story, treating the theft of male characters' lovers as my life's goal.
It was simply that, from my perspective as someone who had suddenly ended up inhabiting this body, living that way didn't seem particularly healthy.
I didn't even try things like exploiting the heroines' weaknesses or kidnapping them.
The proof was that, instead of spending my first year persistently hitting on the heroines and laying the groundwork, I had behaved myself all year.
Though I had taken over the blonde, tanned bastard's body, I had no intention of actively stealing other people's girlfriends.
‘Why would I do that? There are more than enough ways to live an enjoyable life without going that far.’
It wasn't because I was some particularly morally rigorous person, or because I had a personality that completely despised anything unethical.
It was simply because I wasn't the sort to be so dopamine-addled that I enjoyed the truly vile things the body's original owner had done.
In any case, the blonde, tanned bastard—no, Han Taeyang—was a pretty exceptional guy in many respects even without going that far.
For starters, looks-wise, he was a handsome young man who, if he just mended his ways, could easily be called a dashing charmer…….
His talent was also quite exceptional, enough that upon becoming an adult, he had confidently enrolled in Cheongun (靑雲) Academy, an institution only the most elite Awakeners from across the country could attend.
In other words, he was the sort of character who could find a woman on the same wavelength whenever his libido started boiling over and enjoy a one-night fling without any trouble whatsoever.
To reiterate, I had no reason to unnecessarily steal the original story's main heroines.
……Well, that was what I thought, and in practice, I think I'd behaved quite well over the past year.
“I’m perfectly sane. Of course, I knew what I was saying would sound strange, and I came to you with that in mind, Han Taeyang. You, the worst-behaved student in this academy.”
“……”
Apparently, Lee Hyunseong, one of the protagonists in this world's original story, didn't see it that way.
If he was willing to call me the worst sort of classmate right to my face.
I awkwardly scratched my cheek, but didn't bother denying what Lee Hyunseong had said.
Given this body's past, I had indeed acted like a delinquent without straying too far from its established behavior.
‘Well, in this Cheongun Academy packed with elites, I was bound to stand out.’
That said, I hadn't bullied anyone or committed any particularly illegal acts.
I had merely acted obnoxious or rude toward the heroines from time to time, just to avoid leaving room for misunderstandings.
From Hyunseong's perspective, having watched me behave that way up close, it was understandable that he saw me as a delinquent.
In fact, I'd even tanked my grades at the academy so I could play the part of Han Taeyang.
Anyway.
“So……. unless I misheard you, are you asking me to have a good, messy romp with your girlfriend?”
Hyunseong's attitude was far too serious for me to pretend I hadn't heard him.
He genuinely seemed to want me to sleep with his girlfriend, Baek Seol-ah.
It was so absurd that I even wondered whether he'd really taken some kind of drug, but I asked again to make sure, and Hyunseong nodded.
“That’s exactly what I mean. Of course, I know it’s hard to understand. But all you have to do is give me an answer to my proposal, whether yes or no. It’s not that difficult, is it?”
“Hmm…….”
I half-listened to Hyunseong while looking at Baek Seol-ah standing beside him.
Unlike her boyfriend, she looked utterly humiliated by the situation.
I asked with the corner of my mouth slightly twisted.
“Hey, Baek Seolgi. You agree with what your boyfriend said, right? Like he said, all I have to do is answer yes or no?”
I spoke while naturally playing the role of the ‘mean delinquent male student’ I usually adopted when dealing with the heroines of this world.
At that, Baek Seol-ah—whom I'd called Baek Seolgi—blazed with anger and glared fiercely at me.
“I told you not to call me by that nickname, Han Taeyang. How many more times do I have to say it?”
“Just answer me. Did you agree or not?”
“……”
Someone else might have shrunk back under Baek Seol-ah's sharp glare and tone, but not me. I merely retorted without a hint of urgency.
Baek Seol-ah pressed her lips into a thin line for a moment, then her pale face flushed bright red.
Her tightly clenched fists trembled nonstop, making it obvious she hated the situation, but…….
“……Yeah, I agreed too. You got your answer, so can we be done now?”
“Oh…….”
Baek Seol-ah had ultimately gone beyond my expectations by answering yes.
When I opened my eyes wide in genuine surprise, she huffed and shot back.
“Then hurry up and answer, too. Hyunseong asked you. Are you doing it or not?”
I replied with a hollow laugh laced with utter disbelief.
“Are you asking me outright whether I’m going to fuck you or not?”
“Ugh……! S-Shut up! Don’t put it that way.”
“But I’m right. It doesn’t seem particularly inaccurate…….”
I brushed aside Baek Seol-ah's angry outburst, as she always got worked up at me like this, and, after pondering it carefully, turned back to Hyunseong.
He was still waiting for me to answer his proposal, his expression deadly serious.
The sight was... how should I put it? It was absolutely ridiculous.
A sneer naturally curled at the corner of my lips.
‘I’d gone out of my way all this time not to interfere with a couple that was perfectly happy together.’
In truth, do you have any idea how difficult it was to use reason to ignore the orders this body intermittently sent me to fulfill my role as the stereotypical blonde, tanned bastard in an NTR story?
Even as someone merely possessing this body, suppressing its instincts had been quite arduous.
And yet he was going to undo the entire year I'd struggled so hard to endure with this kind of NTR—no, NTS proposal.
Hyunseong would never know how utterly absurd and baffling this all felt to me at that moment.
I folded my arms arrogantly and stared piercingly at Hyunseong. Just as he flinched instinctively at the height difference between us and began to grimace, I shifted my gaze to the side at the appropriate moment.
“……W-What?”
“Hmm……”
Then, flinching as well, Baek Seol-ah gave me a contemptuous glare, clearly offended by my roving gaze, while I surveyed her from head to toe.
First, there was her snow-white hair, like freshly fallen snow, and beautiful golden eyes that looked as though jewels had been set into them.
She was slightly taller than other girls her age, and her shapely legs were particularly striking.
She had no excess fat, yet... her sensuous figure had all the allure of a woman's body, and every curve showed even through the academy uniform, making her the type people couldn't help looking at for all sorts of reasons.
In short, both her appearance and figure were top-tier—she was a stunning beauty.
Honestly, she was the very embodiment of a snow-white, innocent schoolgirl—the sort of girl whose boyfriend anyone would envy.
Had she read the meaning in my gaze?
Baek Seol-ah's complexion darkened, and she muttered with a genuinely disgusted expression.
“……You’re disgusting. You always have been, but you really are the absolute worst.”
“……”
Well.
Though, if I had my way, I'd rather she directed that kind of profanity at a guy like Hyunseong, who was trying to hand his girlfriend over to another man.
In fact, hearing that outright condemnation helped me make up my mind quickly.
Just as I quietly raised the corners of my lips, Baek Seol-ah flinched again.
I smiled at Hyunseong and gave him my final answer to his proposal.
“Then what, do I just take her right now? Your girlfriend, I mean.”
“……!”
It was an answer that made Hyunseong's eyes go wide and Baek Seol-ah recoil as she wrapped both arms around herself.
With the unpleasant smile she was sure to hate on my lips, I stepped forward.
Then I slowly extended an arm, draped it around Baek Seol-ah's shoulder, and looked back at Hyunseong.
“Stealing another man’s woman isn’t really my thing, though.”
“……Taeyang, you.”
“Still, if you beg that earnestly, I suppose I can enjoy it once.”
At that, Baek Seol-ah, who normally recoiled even from physical contact with me, went rigid.
Meanwhile, Hyunseong, who had handed his girlfriend over to me with his own hands, wore a bright, if complicated, expression.
“Th-Thank you. I suddenly showed up and asked you something strange, yet you accepted so readily.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m the one who should be thanking you—for giving me such a wonderful opportunity.”
Baek Seol-ah, who had suddenly found herself in my arms, bit her lip in silence and gripped her own wrist ‘tight’.
I cast her a meaningful sidelong glance, then deliberately whispered into her ear.
“Then shall we go? To get a room or something.”
“……”
Baek Seol-ah glared at me with an expression murderous enough to kill someone.
……The fact that I found myself wondering whether she could keep that expression even in bed was telling.
Despite all my talk of resisting my instincts, apparently there had been a reason I ended up inhabiting this body after all. I suppose I had one, too.