IUBDH 10

Chapter 10 …

No Romance, Even Though It’s a Dating Sim 

“Change your clothes later.”

“But…”

If you don’t change, your affection points are going to plummet.

Though I doubt that’ll actually happen.

At least, not today.

Ding, ding, ding—
The sound of consecutive chimes made my head spin.

[Affection with ‘Do Ye-hyun’ has increased by 5.]
[Affection with ‘Do Ye-hyun’ has increased by 7.]
[Affection with ‘Do Ye-hyun’ has increased by 4.]

“All that just for lending a few notebooks?”

I was ready to believe it was a miracle if I could get above -20.

I wiped my damp forehead and looked at Do Ye-hyun. His expression was as cold and indifferent as always.

But…

Do Ye-hyun | Affection: 5

“I couldn’t make the test questions. Something came up yesterday.”

“That’s fine! I mean, you’re helping me out on your own time anyway, so we can go over them whenever you’re free.”

I’m only pretending to care about studying!

I have zero actual motivation!

“Did you see the stuff I left on your desk?”

“Ah… yeah.”

“You didn’t move it yet, right? Do that first. We can do the mentoring later.”

“That’s not an option.”

I thought he’d agree since he hates wasting time, but instead—

Do Ye-hyun hesitated, then added quietly,

“I mean… the teacher trusted me with this.”

Since when did you take mentoring so seriously?

You used to just photocopy old exam questions and toss them over.

If I got something wrong, you’d sigh. If I didn’t know something, you’d look at me like I was hopeless.

So why are you suddenly—

“Let’s start from where you stopped understanding math.”

Why are you suddenly so diligent?

“Where I stopped understanding…?”

“Pouring water into a bottomless pot won’t work.”

“…”

“So we’ll go step by step.”

His tone was sharp, a little snappy, but the meaning behind it was oddly kind.

“So you’ll teach me at my level?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s going to take forever though, you know? Honestly, I’ve forgotten almost everything. I appreciate it, but this’ll take up so much of your time. Maybe it’s better if you just—”

“It’s fine.”

Do Ye-hyun had used that “it’s fine” countless times before.

If I offered him a snack — “It’s fine.”
If I asked if he was okay — “It’s fine.”

Usually, his “it’s fine” meant ‘mind your own business.’

But this time—

“I said I’d do it.”

If I were actually eighteen, that would’ve been touching.

Unfortunately, I was twenty-eight.

A one-on-one tutoring session with the top student in school was the last thing I wanted.

And I can’t even refuse!

Who knows how much worse things would get if I rejected him after he went out of his way to help.

‘I was nice to you, so why are you screwing me over?’

Wasn’t <Heartbeat♥ School Attack> supposed to be a dating sim?

Then why am I—

If Do Ye-hyun keeps acting like this—

“…I’ll do my best.”

—then I actually have to study!

“Okay. So, where do you start having trouble?”

“Honestly… I don’t even know where.”

I wished he’d just sigh in disgust and give up right now.

But instead, he picked up his mechanical pencil and neatly drew—

x, y, z.

Then said seriously,

“Now, these are called variables.”

I know that, genius.

The mentoring session went way over thirty minutes.

This guy, who always cuts things off the moment time’s up— what’s gotten into him?

I had no idea what changed in his attitude, but…

Well, whatever. Let’s just take the good with the good.

I had other things to do anyway.

“So, I thought it’d be a predictable story, but it actually had three twists, which made it interesting.”

“And then?”

“Hmm, I liked how the male lead was the supportive, kind type. That part where he sacrifices himself for the heroine at the end— that was touching.”

“Right?!”

The corners of Ma Hae-won’s foxlike eyes curved up gleefully.

His light brown eyes sparkled.

“Seriously, it’s so moving. Ugh, everyone in the country needs to read this…”

When I ran into Ma Hae-won again in the library, he was—

“Just… totally losing his mind.”

I couldn’t get a word in.

But somehow, his speech became suddenly fluent and lively.

“That scene’s great too, right? Around page 100 in volume six— where they almost confess to each other? I think that moment defines their entire future together.”

Wow, he really likes manga.

Still, was it something to get this happy about?

The affection points I’d gained from Ma Hae-won were now nearly at fifty.

“Why do you like it that much?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, why that much?”

“Of course I do! I found a kindred spirit!”

“You have other friends, don’t you?”

When I’d seen him before, he always had people hanging around him.

Don’t tell me not one of them reads manga with him…

Hae-won laughed brightly, like a cool summer breeze.

“Oh, come on, junior. You’re asking the obvious.”

“Huh?”

“Look at me. I’m handsome, right?”

Blink.

He cupped his face with both hands like a flower and repeated, teasingly,

“Handsome, right?”

“Yeah. But why?”

“When I tell people to read <A Rose at Noon Blooms Even in Winter>, no one believes me! Because I’m too good-looking!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“They think it’s all just a bit— a ‘concept.’”

“Ah…”

“I told them so many times to read it! But they thought I was joking! Like I have nothing better to do!”

“You… kind of look like you don’t.”

“Anyway! So I just stopped talking about it.”

He smirked, red lips curving upward.

So basically, he’s happy someone will read with him, huh?

A one-and-only connection — a classic manga trope.

If he just keeps it like this, things should go smoothly—

Thud.

A large paper bag landed on the library table.

I didn’t even have to ask what it was.

“New manga?”

“Yep! Read it over the weekend and tell me what you think. It’s a masterpiece, but hardly anyone knows about it.”

“Volume forty-seven… I’ll do my best.”

“I have something to say once you finish it.”

“Something to say?”

A confession?

No, that’s too soon.

So far, the only thing between us was a stack of manga books.

“What is it?”

“It’d ruin the fun if I told you now.”

He winked, and it was… flawless.

Does he practice that in front of a mirror?

“Hey, junior! Heading to lunch?”

Maybe because his affection was so high now,

Ma Hae-won started chatting comfortably even outside the library.

His lips curled into a friendly smile.

“You like chocolate milk? Here.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem! But doesn’t this remind you of when Yuri was struggling, and then Su-hyun—”

“Hey, Hae-won! What are you doing? We’re one short over here!”

“Oh, oh! Yeah, yeah, I’m coming!”

He waved cheerfully and ran off toward the field.

So that’s why he suddenly came up to me.

He just wanted to talk about his favorite character again…

I waved back and went to class.

Before fifth period, I planned to memorize the math formulas Do Ye-hyun had written down for me.

“Is this the right class?”

“Yeah, Lee Ju-ho said it was.”

“Ah, there she is.”

Well, that was the plan.

If only a group of girls hadn’t surrounded my desk like a pack of predators.

“Yeon San-ha?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

Thickly curled hair, cherry-red lips, sharp catlike eyes—

The girl in the center spoke with authority.

“So, you know Hae-won oppa?”

“Uh… yeah, I do.”

“What kind of relationship? Don’t tell me… you’re dating?”

“…”

“Hey, don’t sound so scary. You’re making her nervous.”

“What? San-ha, did we say anything mean?”

No, I wasn’t scared—

It’s just… this situation’s new.

It felt exactly like one of those manga plots.

The heroine who gets cornered by other girls because the school’s most popular guy shows interest in her…

But crying or defiantly fighting back didn’t seem like the right move here—

So how the hell am I supposed to react?

“So, are you seriously dating him or what?”

…I’m twenty-eight years old, for crying out loud.