Chapter 51
As one might guess from her rare combination of green hair and green eyes among the Awakened, Ryu Chae-eun was, like Jeong Jaeha, a mage specializing in life magic.
More specifically, she was one of the few mages who primarily handled the plant branch, making her specialty a perfect match for Jeong Jaeha’s.
It was hardly surprising that the two of them had grown especially close at Cheongwoon Academy.
Though in the original, she was fated to be kidnapped by Han Taeyang and subjected to sexual conditioning.
‘That’s something that won’t happen now.’
Now that I had taken over Han Taeyang’s body, that unfortunate incident would no longer occur.
Just look at how Ryu Chae-eun was still enjoying a perfectly normal school life even after becoming a second-year student.
There would be no chance of her being kidnapped or imprisoned by some criminal thug, nor of her being treated as a broken-down sex slave.
And as a result, she would no longer be forced to break up with Jeong Jaeha, whom she had been dating happily.
In a sense, since she was the heroine who met the most miserable ending in the original, she was one of the cases that made me proudest of changing the original plot.
“First, don’t talk to me unnecessarily. Second, refrain from physical contact unless it’s absolutely necessary. Third, don’t come within three meters of me.”
“……”
“If you follow just these rules, I won’t unnecessarily interfere with you either, Taeyang oppa. You understand what I mean, right? Let’s both respect each other’s boundaries.”
Watching how Ryu Chae-eun treated me now, I sometimes regretted it a little.
Doing my best to keep her from meeting an unfortunate ending had been fine.
‘Maybe I should have frightened her a little.’
Had it been a mistake to act like an overly harmless thug in the process?
As a result, Ryu Chae-eun had formed a new relationship with me that felt quite different from the original.
The way she now cast me sidelong glances with an irritating smile curling around her lips was proof enough.
Whether it was Part 1 of the original, where she had simply despised Han Taeyang, or Part 2, where she had feared him and followed him around.
Compared to any point in the original, there was nothing familiar about this world now that it had become reality.
Sitting in the café where we had gathered to discuss the practical exam, I trembled as I clenched my fist.
‘Should I just punch her…….’
Whatever I was thinking, Ryu Chae-eun sat across from me with her legs crossed, merely taking a loud ‘slurp’ from her drink with a thoroughly relaxed expression.
Not a single reaction she might have shown in the original was anywhere to be seen.
For instance, she might have openly expressed deep disgust at sitting across from me like this, or perhaps she would have been too afraid to even meet my eyes and trembled uncontrollably.
Strictly speaking, the former was a little closer, but the emotion shining in Ryu Chae-eun’s pale green eyes now was closer to ‘disdain’ than ‘disgust.’
Ultimately, it was because I had spent an entire year completely going against the story built between the original Han Taeyang and Ryu Chae-eun.
It was a far cry from merely earning the other heroines’ dislike by constantly needling them.
When you got right down to it, it was all my fault, too.
The truth was, I had been a little scared.
“Phew.”
I forcibly ignored Ryu Chae-eun’s gaze as she continued to smile brightly and cheerfully as ever, bringing my coffee cup to my lips.
……Even in the original, Ryu Chae-eun had received unusually harsh treatment, and I felt sorry for her. More than anything, I wanted to make sure she wouldn’t suffer the same fate in this reality.
With that mindset, I had made a point of keeping my relationship with Ryu Chae-eun to the barest acquaintance.
Since the relationships connecting the original protagonists existed, I couldn’t avoid getting involved with her altogether.
In my own way, I had done my best not to interact with Ryu Chae-eun any more than necessary.
All while hoping that this heroine would go on to live the happy life she should have had, without my involvement.
However.
“Excuse me, Taeyang oppa-? Han Taeyang. Han Taeyang?”
Perhaps she found the fact that I avoided only her and even went out of my way to stay away from her refreshing.
In this world, Ryu Chae-eun had begun taking an interest in me of her own accord, in a truly bizarre way.
“Seriously, when someone’s talking to you, at least answer them. I asked whether you understood what I said. Huh?”
But I shouldn’t misunderstand this ‘interest.’ It was absolutely not a positive thing.
Ryu Chae-eun’s interest in me was, how should I put it? Needless to say, it certainly wasn’t romantic interest.
“……Didn’t you say I shouldn’t talk to you?”
“Oh, answering me is a separate matter. You need to have at least that much flexibility. Heehee.”
If anything, it was more like curiosity toward a zoo monkey that strangely avoided only her.
In any case, if I had to classify it, it was closer to negative interest than positive fascination.
At least, that was how it felt to me. I let out a deep sigh as fatigue washed over me despite barely having spoken with her.
Of course, whether I did that or not, Ryu Chae-eun giggled and stretched her long legs beneath the table, lightly tapping the tops of my feet.
“You said you’d refrain from physical contact, too.”
Even if I reluctantly tossed a response back at her out of frustration, it was a meaningless resistance.
Ryu Chae-eun wagged her index finger from side to side and went, “tsk-tsk.”
“That’s separate, too. It’s fine when I do it, but not when you do it, Taeyang oppa. Isn’t that obvious? You’re a womanizing lech who preys on female students, while I’m a poor girl who might end up as one of your victims.”
“……Ah, right.”
When I answered in a sour tone, she went a step further, wrapping both arms around herself with a mischievous expression and exaggerated gestures.
“Or what? Are you going to start making advances on me, too, like Seol-ah unnie or Ahyeon unnie?”
“……”
“Kyaa~ No, don’t. I have a boyfriend.”
The more I talked with her, the less good it did me. I was realizing that obvious truth all over again.
When were the other group members going to arrive? I gazed absently out the window and muttered inwardly.
‘Damn brat.’
At times like this, I sometimes—or, in truth, quite often—found myself suddenly coming back to reality.
Seeing the heroines from the original whom I had once liked living well did warm my heart.
But whenever I found myself suffering because of the butterfly effect caused by my own choices, I felt a little……
It made me angry, and I found myself regretting things a little, too.
At least where Ryu Chae-eun was concerned, it was hard to deny that I had made a mistake in defining our relationship.
If only I could properly teach this irritating little brat a lesson.
Just as my desire to give her that proper lesson began to take concrete shape.
Vrrr-
“……”
All of a sudden, the smartphone I had left in my pocket vibrated briefly. Wondering if it might be a message from Baek Seol-ah, who had been assigned to the same group this time, I discreetly took it out to check.
[Jeong Jaeha]
‘What.’
An unexpected sender had boldly displayed that name on my lock screen.
I reflexively glanced at the green-haired girl across from me, but the moment she blinked and asked, ‘Why?’, I focused on my phone screen again.
Whether Ryu Chae-eun’s expression grew noticeably pouty at that blatant disregard was none of my concern.
[Jeong Jaeha: Hey, Han Taeyang]
[Jeong Jaeha: I heard you ended up in the same group as our Chae-eun]
I furtively checked the full contents of the message I had received through the messenger app.
I didn’t have time to answer right away, since there was no telling when the group members from the other classes would arrive.
[Jeong Jaeha: I told you before, right?]
[Jeong Jaeha: I said I might have something to ask of you later, so I’d contact you when the time came……]
[Jeong Jaeha: It’s nothing else]
[Jeong Jaeha: I’m talking about that favor]
“……”
Even so, the timing of Jeong Jaeha’s message was oddly fortuitous, and its contents were rather suggestive.
I felt as though some premonition were about to strike me, and slightly raised my gaze.
“……What’s with that strange look?”
Under my direct gaze, Ryu Chae-eun unusually flinched and showed her discomfort toward me.
“No, nothing.”
Rather than typing a reply to Jeong Jaeha, I put my smartphone away and spoke.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“……That just makes me more curious. No, what is it?”
“I said it’s nothing.”
And just as Ryu Chae-eun twitched her eyebrows at my indifferent reply and tried to pry out the answer with the pushy attitude she always used toward me.
“Oh, looks like they’re here. Our group members.”
“……”
As luck would have it, the café door opened, and three students—a mix of men and women—walked in. Ryu Chae-eun, who had been about to continue speaking, clamped her mouth shut and turned to the side.
The other three members of Group 15 for this practical exam, excluding Ryu Chae-eun and me.
Among them, Baek Seol-ah happened to be looking around the café, and our eyes met squarely─.
“Here.”
“Ah.”
When I casually waved, she soon brought the other two over to the table.
Just before they arrived, Ryu Chae-eun narrowed her eyes in displeasure and softly muttered.
“……When it’s just the two of us later, just you wait, Taeyang oppa. You’re dead. Seriously.”
“……”
I met her eyes for a moment, then abruptly turned my head away to make it clear I was going to openly brush her off.
Perhaps even that had been an unexpected reaction, because a fair amount of bewilderment appeared on Ryu Chae-eun’s face.
‘Good grief.’
Why did she look so sulky just because I had brushed her off once?
I wondered if she was acting like this even after seeing how I had treated Baek Seol-ah and Seo Ahyeon last year.
Ideally, I wished she would realize that I had treated her specially all this time, but whatever.
If she didn’t, it probably wouldn’t matter either way.
Even if it was nothing more than a hunch……
Perhaps, before long, I might finally be given the chance to teach her the lesson I had been longing to give her.