Chapter 27

I pressed my throbbing head with my palm.

‘This damn unfair contract… I can’t even tear it up.’

In a low voice, I asked Yeon Jaehyun,

“Are you really okay with this? Doing all this just because of me… It must be annoying.”

—It’s fine.

“Ah, is that so.”

Yeah. Of course it’s fine for you.

In a way, this was also something the Association ordered him to do, so for a loyal corporate slave like Yeon Jaehyun, it probably wasn’t difficult at all.

Feeling all my motivation drain away, I wrapped up the call quickly.

“See you at school. I’ll take the photo tomorrow and send it this week.”

—Yeah. If possible, let’s take it somewhere with no people around.

“That would look even more suspicious, you bastard.”

After giving Yeon Jaehyun a refreshing curse for being stubborn until the end, I hung up.

Then I picked up my phone to reply to Sung Taewoo.

The text that came so suddenly late at night still felt absurd even after looking at it again.

[Taewoo: Still no photoㅠㅠ Are you breaking the contract, Miss Seyoon?]

“Crazy bastard….”

Why is he so obsessed with Yeon Jaehyun’s dating life? Does he like him or something?

‘Or… is he still suspicious? That it’s fake.’

[No. I will send it by tomorrow.]

After sending a very business-like reply, I slumped into the chair.

Most of the clauses sounded reasonable, but two of them were really damn weird.

‘It’s written in complicated language, but basically one says send a photo with Yeon Jaehyun once a week. And the other says we have to go on dates according to the plan he made… right?’

It was written very proudly on the first page that Yeon Jaehyun begged me to read.

And I hadn’t even pretended to read it.

‘I can’t believe I was this much of a useless idiot….’

Bzzzz.

“Huh?”

The phone I had just put down vibrated again.

[Taewoo: Alright^^ Please take good care of Jaehyun. It’s his first relationship, so he’ll probably be clumsy~ㅋㅋ]

My expression stiffened at the message whose intention I couldn’t understand.

So what?

Bzzzz.

Before I could even reply, another message came immediately.

[Taewoo: By the way, you read the last clause carefully too, right?]

“What?”

I had only read the first page carefully.

Realizing my lack of learning ability, I quickly flipped through the contract again.

[If “Party B” fails to faithfully fulfill their obligations or if the authenticity of the relationship is suspected, “Party A” may unilaterally terminate the contract and demand compensation.]

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Bzzzz.

[Taewoo: I’m very suspicious^^ Miss Seyoon, fighting!]

I stared blankly at the contract and the message screen, my mouth hanging open.

‘That Association President bastard….’

The girlfriend role I thought I could just pretend to do was much heavier than I expected.

Myeong A-jin wasn’t the problem…

Right now, I was Yeon Jaehyun’s fake heroine.

* * *

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh? Why?”

The next morning.

I suddenly apologized to Myeong A-jin, whom I ran into in front of the main building.

‘Sorry for stealing the heroine role even though I’m just an extra destined to die early… I’ll use it cleanly and return it.’

Ignoring A-jin’s confused look, I climbed the stairs.

Maybe my body was finally getting used to the fifth floor, because it felt slightly less exhausting these days.

“Huff… huff… Seyoon… I think I’m going to die….”

Apparently, A-jin wasn’t used to it yet.

Slide.

“Huh?”

“Good morning~”

As soon as we opened the door, we saw Jung Sumin sitting at my desk.

“Hi, Sumin~”

Unlike A-jin who greeted him brightly, I ignored him with a blank face.

“Move.”

As I placed my bag on the desk, Sumin looked up at me with a grin.

“Hey, hey. Kim Seyoon.”

“What. What do you want, bastard?”

He didn’t look like he would move easily.

Half giving up, I leaned against the wall by the window. A-jin peeked from beside me.

“Let’s go see the cherry blossoms tomorrow.”

“No.”

“Why not?!”

Sumin got angry like an elementary school kid who had just been banned from games.

“Why would I watch cherry blossoms alone with you? That’s disgusting. Get lost.”

“Ha….”

Sumin lowered his head and let out a deep sigh.

Ignoring him, I lightly smacked his head with my palm.

“If you’re done, move. I want to sit.”

Then Sumin frowned and pointed his thumb at Yeon Jaehyun, who had been sitting quietly.

“So going to check out an academy with him is fine, but watching cherry blossoms with me isn’t?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

It was a ridiculous comparison.

The innocent Yeon Jaehyun, who got dragged into this, carefully spoke.

“Sumin… Seyoon and I really aren’t anything.”

“I didn’t ask. Don’t state the obvious. You—ugh!”

“Why are you yelling at him?”

Unable to watch anymore, I kicked Sumin’s leg stretched under the desk without mercy.

The kick landed perfectly on his shin, and he groaned.

“Ah… why did you hit me….”

“Hurry up and go. The teacher’s coming.”

“Are you going? To see the cherry blossoms?”

“Ugh! Seriously!!”

When I shouted in irritation at his persistence, someone tapped my shoulder from behind.

It was Myeong A-jin.

“What.”

“Well… if you don’t want to go alone with Sumin, how about we all go together?”

“Hey, Kim Seyoon doesn’t hate me, she’s just—”

“Together? You want to go too?”

I cut Sumin off and asked.

A-jin nodded eagerly.

Then she added,

“Jaehyun too!”

The atmosphere suddenly became quiet.

All three of us turned to look at Yeon Jaehyun.

After a brief pause, he finally spoke.

“…Me?”

* * *

Why did Myeong A-jin suddenly do that?

I thought about it all through class, but couldn’t find a good answer.

Especially since she started showing interest right after I temporarily took Yeon Jaehyun’s heroine role, I even felt a faint sense of guilt.

“You’re not going, right?”

“No.”

As soon as lunchtime started, I ditched Sumin and A-jin and came to an unused science lab.

We needed to take a couple verification photo to send to the Association president.

I tapped a scratched beaker while asking Yeon Jaehyun again,

“But why did you say yes?”

“I just won’t show up that day.”

‘Wow….’

As expected, Yeon Jaehyun’s attitude was on another level.

If he had just said he couldn’t go from the beginning, he wouldn’t have gotten nagged by Sumin in the morning, and he wouldn’t get cursed tomorrow for canceling either.

Which meant none of that mattered to him.

“Then they probably won’t invite you again.”

“Yeah… That’s a great method. Genius.”

Even when I mocked him openly, Yeon Jaehyun stayed completely expressionless.

He worked so hard acting like a loser, but now he planned to do something a real loser would never dare do.

It made me realize the damage of forced education.

‘Sorry, but real losers usually can’t do that….’

But I was too lazy to kindly explain it.

‘In the original story, he got misunderstood even more because of that attitude anyway.’

That was just the fate of a hidden-strength overpowered protagonist.

Clicking my tongue internally, I took out my phone.

“Alright. Let’s take it quickly and leave.”

Yeon Jaehyun nodded and came to stand beside me.

“One, two, three.”

Click.

I checked the photo immediately.

The empty science lab. Me and Yeon Jaehyun standing side by side by the window, looking at the screen in a couple selfie…

“……”

“……”

‘Taewoo will complain 100%. No, 200%.’

Neither of us had any expression.

And you couldn’t even see Yeon Jaehyun’s face properly.

There was absolutely zero affection between us.

Even worse, the backlight made it look gloomy.

“This really won’t work.”

“Yeah.”

For once, Yeon Jaehyun immediately agreed.

“Try making a V sign or something.”

I adjusted the angle of the phone to avoid the backlight.

Yeon Jaehyun slowly raised his hand and made a V with his fingers.

Click.

“……”

“……”

We fell silent again after checking the second photo.

It looked so awkward that it could pass as if two separate photos were poorly edited together.

Especially Yeon Jaehyun’s V sign—it was the worst move possible.

“Ha… damn it. You read the contract, right? We have to send photos until Sung Taewoo likes them! If someone purposely wrote that clause, do you think he’ll approve this instantly?!”

“He won’t.”

If he didn’t like the photo, he might even accuse us of faking the relationship and demand compensation.

I absolutely couldn’t send something with a hundred possible complaints.

“Then do it properly.”

Yeon Jaehyun tilted his head slightly.

“Then you should smile too. I don’t think I’m the only problem.”

“I don’t smile much.”

“Why.”

“It makes me look weak.”

Yeon Jaehyun looked at me like I was an idiot.

At least that’s how it felt since I couldn’t see his face clearly.

“Whatever. Let’s take another one. At least put your arm around my shoulder.”

“……”

When I lifted the camera again, Yeon Jaehyun wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

The distance between us finally shrank.

Click.

“Hmm.”

The third photo barely passed.

The atmosphere was still strange, but it could be explained as the awkward innocence of a new student couple.

“Yeah… this should work.”

“Send it.”

With Yeon Jaehyun’s approval, I immediately sent the photo to Sung Taewoo.

Watching the screen beside me, Yeon Jaehyun asked,

“Taewoo?”

It was ridiculously short, but I understood what he meant.

Why did I save the Association president’s name like that?

“So if someone sees it, it’ll look like a friend.”

“Who would see it?”

“…Someone.”

‘The sociopath at home….’

I brushed it off and turned off the screen.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Since I hadn’t eaten breakfast, I was getting hungry, so I walked ahead quickly.

Click.

As I pulled the doorknob, I hesitated briefly.

‘Myeong A-jin’s behavior is bothering me… Should I ask Yeon Jaehyun if he wants to eat lunch together?’

Eating together with the four of us before hadn’t been bad.

Maybe it could also be a chance to get closer to him.

“Hey, are you going to the cafeteria—”

I stopped mid-step as I opened the door.

“….”

We hadn’t even fully left the science lab yet.

“Why.”

Yeon Jaehyun, who was right behind me, asked.

‘…Ah, shit.’

Instead of answering, I just stood there blankly.

Following my gaze, Yeon Jaehyun slowly looked up.

The First Science Lab, a place rarely used now.

Because it was in a remote corner, the hallway was usually empty.

And standing there in the shadowed corridor was a man I knew too well.

“I thought it was strange… Students aren’t supposed to enter that room.”

…The sociopath who lives at my house.