NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 4
Chapter 4 – Tsundere
—–CROW—–
After some twists and turns, I returned to the classroom.
“You’re finally back. Do you have any idea how hard I worked taking notes?”
“…Sorry. I have nothing to say.”
Young-joo, sweating profusely as he diligently took notes, greeted(?) me, then gave me a puzzled look when he saw I was alone.
“Huh? Where’s your girlfriend?”
“Han Seo-ah went to the restroom… She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Darn. Not falling for it.”
I almost made a big mistake answering without thinking.
Young-joo was clearly upset that I’d made him take notes.
After making gestures expressing his disappointment, Young-joo finally asked how I was doing.
“So, how are you feeling? Are you okay?”
“…Yeah. I wasn’t really sick in the first place.”
“You weren’t sick?”
“I was perfectly fine?”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t be able to say that. I should’ve taken a picture.”
“…Was I that bad?”
Did I really look that serious?
But what could I do?
Anyone would react the same way if they saw strange sentences attached to their childhood friend.
Young-joo nodded as if confirming my suspicions.
“Yeah. I thought you saw a ghost or something.”
“…”
Not a ghost, but I did see something.
Something very vivid and noticeable.
“Well, anyway, if you’re okay, then you’re okay.”
“…Young-joo.”
“It’s not Young-joo, it’s Joo-young, how many times do I have to…”
“What if you suddenly started seeing the inner thoughts of your oldest friend?”
“…What kind of novel nonsense is that?”
Young-joo frowned as if he’d heard something absurd.
“Did you watch some anime or something? What’s with the sudden strange talk?”
“…Let’s just say it’s similar.”
“You’re actually acknowledging this?”
“That’s not important. What if you were in that situation?”
“…I’d have to think about that.”
As if to express that it wasn’t a topic he could answer immediately, Young-joo tilted his head slightly and began to ponder.
Well, it wasn’t an easy question to answer.
Even understanding the premise would be difficult without experiencing it firsthand.
As I was thinking this, Young-joo, finished with his contemplation, spoke.
“I thought about it for a moment, and no matter how I look at it, isn’t it just beneficial?”
“…Beneficial?”
“Yeah. If you know someone’s inner thoughts, you won’t drift apart because of misunderstandings.”
“…Is that so?”
Now that he mentioned it, it was a pretty plausible argument.
Assuming you knew the other person’s inner thoughts, at least you wouldn’t drift apart due to ridiculous misunderstandings.
“…Not bad.”
“Right? Don’t underestimate my years of otaku experience.”
Honestly, I didn’t have high expectations when I asked.
To think Young-joo could come up with such a brilliant idea.
“…You just had a very unpleasant thought, didn’t you?”
“No way. You must be mistaken.”
“…”
“Anyway, that’s what you think, right?”
“Yeah. No matter how I think about it, it seems like there are only benefits.”
“Are there any downsides?”
“…Suddenly? What kind of anime did you watch to make you think like this?”
“I’m just curious. What if the situation I mentioned actually happened in real life?”
“Yeah, yeah, another typical otaku delusion.”
“…”
I felt incredibly wronged by the word “otaku,” but I had no rebuttal.
Even I thought the words coming out of my mouth sounded like typical otaku delusions.
It was enough to make me jump out of my skin in frustration.
I couldn’t tell him that all of this was based on a true story.
As I was trying to soothe my frustrated feelings, Young-joo spoke again.
“…Well, if there’s a downside, it would be the bewilderment of experiencing something completely new.”
“Bewilderment?”
“If I were in that situation, I think I’d go crazy from the frustration.”
“…”
“If you tell people you’re suddenly seeing these things, no one will believe you. You should be grateful if they don’t think you’re crazy.”
“…I guess so.”
Fortunately(?), Young-joo seemed to have a similar reaction to experiencing such a situation firsthand.
See? I’m not the weird one.
How could anyone not be bewildered by such a ridiculous situation?
“So, what’s the reason for this sudden line of questioning?”
“…Just curious?”
“…Is that really it?”
“Yeah, really.”
“…”
Hearing my confident answer, Young-joo made a dumbfounded expression.
“…I suddenly feel like smoking.”
“You don’t smoke, Young-joo.”
“It’s a figure of speech. And it’s not Young-joo, it’s Joo-young, Joo-young.”
“Okay, Young-joo. I’m sorry.”
“…Even a guy like this has a girlfriend. Why can’t I…”
No, I’m telling you, Han Seo-ah is not my girlfriend.
Why does he keep insisting she is?
These words were about to burst out of my mouth, but…
I decided to stay quiet for Young-joo, who had diligently answered my random questions, despite grumbling.
How much time passed?
“Did you take good notes?”
“You’ve returned, Seo-ah noona.”
Han Seo-ah, who said she’d be back from the restroom quickly, returned a whole 30 minutes later.
“So, Young-joo, did you take good notes?”
“Of course, noona. I did my best to finish the notes for you.”
“Good job. As expected, you’re truly my dongsaeng.”
“By the way, noona. Your boyfriend kept interrupting my note-taking.”
“…Boyfriend?”
Han Seo-ah reacted as if she’d heard nonsense, just like Young-joo had earlier with my question.
Realizing that Han Seo-ah didn’t understand, Young-joo began to cross the point of no return.
“This person you took by the hand earlier, noona.”
“…Lee Si-woo?”
“Yes, noona. Your boyfriend kept interrupting my note-taking…”
Young-joo’s voice trailed off.
He couldn’t continue because an unbelievable chill was emanating from Han Seo-ah.
“Young-joo.”
“Yes, noona.”
“Didn’t this noona warn you earlier? About hinting that you wanted to die this morning?”
“…”
“Just hand over the notes.”
“…Yes, noona.”
The notebook, diligently filled by Young-joo while Han Seo-ah and I were gone, was handed over to her.
[Why is he saying that all of a sudden? Si-woo being my boyfriend.]
[Just imagining it makes me happy… but it’s so embarrassing.]
At the same time, the sentences that had been shaking me up all morning reappeared.
‘…So, that’s Han Seo-ah’s inner thoughts.’
If my guess was correct, those were Han Seo-ah’s true feelings.
Her true heart, visible only to me when she told a lie.
The thoughts she kept hidden deep inside.
The thought that just imagining me as her boyfriend made her happy, a completely different side from her usual boisterous self.
…My face felt hot, and my heart started pounding.
The first to notice my strange state was Young-joo, who was still cowering from Han Seo-ah’s chilling aura.
“Seo-ah noona, something’s wrong with Lee Si-woo.”
“Huh? Lee Si-woo?”
“Yes. His face suddenly turned bright red.”
“Really? Hey, Lee Si-woo. What’s wrong this time?”
Following Young-joo, Han Seo-ah noticed my strange state and asked, but…
“…It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
“What? Suddenly? I was about to be concerned.”
I couldn’t help but answer curtly.
Because I couldn’t tell her the real reason my face was red.
Not even if my life depended on it.
[Did Si-woo’s face turn red because he imagined me as his girlfriend too?]
[It’s probably not true, but I wish it were. That would mean Si-woo likes me too.]
Because I was embarrassed that I’d read her inner thoughts.
Because the fact that she liked me made my face flush.
Because the word “too” made my heart race.
I couldn’t easily reveal this to anyone, especially not to Han Seo-ah.
Even if I told her, she wouldn’t believe me.
Moreover, I was too embarrassed myself.
Embarrassed that my childhood friend, whom I’d spent almost my entire life with, actually liked me.
Embarrassed that I, who hadn’t seen her romantically because we’d been together for so long, now found her cute.
I was too embarrassed to reveal this to Han Seo-ah.
It felt like my secret crush, which I’d kept to myself, had been discovered by my older or younger sister.
The analogy wasn’t quite right, but that’s the level of embarrassment I felt.
Han Seo-ah, who had been staring at my still-flushed face, spoke again.
“Anyway, we’re going home together today.”
“…Today?”
“Yeah. My mom was angry that you didn’t come with me this morning.”
[Sorry for lying, Si-woo. My mom didn’t actually say anything.]
“…”
“Got it? I don’t want to get scolded again, so follow me when we leave.”
[But… what can I do? I want to go home with you.]
I knew tsunderes were a force to be reckoned with, but…
I never expected them to wield this much power.
—–CROW—–
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