Chapter 3: An Unfamiliar Friend

Men casually holding hands? A chill of disgust ran down my spine. I shook off Seo Yi-han’s hand and said curtly,

“How about we walk without the hand-holding?”

“Ah, sorry. You looked unwell.”

“…I’m fine. Let’s just go.”

He drooped like an abandoned puppy, his voice strangely pitiful. An unfamiliar pang of guilt stirred in me.

I reluctantly softened my tone and urged him on. Seo Yi-han brightened up again and grabbed me—this time by the hem of my shirt instead of my hand.

Dragged along, I glared at the cloth he held but held back from complaining, afraid he’d make that abandoned puppy face again.

When I said nothing, Seo Yi-han spoke in a voice tinged with laughter. “You were alone in the old school bathroom at this hour. Weren’t you scared?”

“Not really. What are you doing here?”

“I came to get something from the storage room. Ah, Soo-ah called.”

Yoon Soo-ah, the vice president. I recalled. While he talked on the phone, I walked silently, internalizing the setting.

“Yeah. It’s nothing. I ran into Jae-yoon, so we’re walking together. Huh? I don’t know. Let’s talk when we get there.”

From his responses, she was probably calling to ask why he was late. Her voice continued through the phone, but Seo Yi-han said what he needed and hung up.

Just before he did, she yelled, “If you hang up on me, you’re dead!” So I heard that loud and clear.

***

As Seo Yi-han, smiling cheerfully, dragged me in, and I entered the classroom with a pale face, everyone’s expressions hardened.

Yoon Soo-ah, a short-haired girl with a look that could never be described as pleasant, spoke first. Her sharp, hostile eyes glared at me as if I were an enemy.

“Lee Jae-yoon, why are you…”

“Exactly. What brings you here?”

Kim Ji-ho, a boy with a bowl cut and glasses, echoed her. He looked exactly like his illustration—utterly pathetic. Skinny and fragile, like a single hit would send him flying.

Then Han Bo-bae, a small girl, tried to stop them. “Come on, he’s here to help because he’s friends with Yi-han. We needed one more person anyway. Thanks for coming, Jae-yoon!”

“Uh-huh.”

That wasn’t the reason—I just woke up here. But seeing the cute girl from my phone screen speak so eagerly, I couldn’t bring myself to reject her. I answered vaguely and glanced at Seo Yi-han.

Friends? My history of friendship in school was… miserable. A friend from beyond the screen?

Even now, being called a shaman’s son invited finger-pointing. Despite trying to hide it, my mother was famous in the area, and she even had a shrine halfway up the mountain.

So I was known as the shaman’s son just by walking around.

In a small village with few people, that label spread fast. Naturally, no kids approached me. It was a relief when they didn’t tease me.

In elementary school, quite a few kids bullied me by insulting my mother. Because it was a small town where everyone knew each other.

But as I grew older, I realized I couldn’t let them push me around. So I fought back with my fists, and eventually no one dared to provoke me.

By middle school, I had grown tall, and my naturally fierce looks made school life pretty easy. Alone.

After a few fights, those who scorned me disappeared, but so did those who wanted to befriend me. Occasionally, girls would confess or try to talk to me, but I always refused.

When I moved to Seoul for university, there were fewer annoyances or hostility. But I had gotten used to being alone, so the only friend I made in college was Lee Ji-hoon.

And yet, ‘friends’? With that model student Seo Yi-han? Me? What nonsense is this?

***

I don’t know what’s going on, but apparently I’m recognized as Lee Jae-yoon from the same class.

And from the wide eyes and shocked expressions when they heard I came to school to help them at this hour, it seems I’ve been living pretty much the same as my original high school days.

Only Seo Yi-han showed no surprise, smiling cheerfully and saying, “Thanks, Jae-yoon.”

Yoon Soo-ah, looking incredulous, folded her arms and muttered, “What? Lee Jae-yoon, earlier when Yi-han asked you to wait, you ignored him and left.”

“Jae-yoon is a bit like that. The kind you pick up off the street.”

Seo Yi-han answered for me. I stared at him in disbelief. It wasn’t just me—Yoon Soo-ah, Kim Ji-ho, and Han Bo-bae were all staring at him too.

What is this lunatic saying? ‘Pick up off the street’? And was Seo Yi-han’s personality like this in the game?

He was the one who snapped out of terror first when the ghost appeared and took charge. He was practically the main character.

Particularly in scenes where he calmed down the troublesome Kim Ji-ho and the terrified Han Bo-bae, he seemed like a true protagonist: thoughtful, steady, quick to assess, and never abandoning the useless ones.

…Yes, as I remembered, he was definitely a steady character.

But this Seo Yi-han, with his silly grin, seemed far from ‘steady.’ Earlier he had that abandoned puppy look, and now he’s making pointless jokes.

Yoon Soo-ah, snapping out of it, scolded him in her usual cold tone. “You’re insane. And Bo-bae, they’re not friends. It’s just Seo Yi-han clinging to him.”

“We are friends. Why else would he come to school at this hour just to help me?”

Seo Yi-han put an arm around me, emphasizing ‘help me.’ Then he looked at me with pleading, bright eyes, seeking agreement. I avoided his gaze and stared at the floor, not answering.

For one, I couldn’t handle the consequences of saying I don’t know him—he’s just a character on my screen, and I just woke up in the old school bathroom.

Second, because his soft red-brown eyes had a strange power that stirred guilt. They weakened my resolve, made me soften my curses instead of snapping.

So I gave a vague answer like before. “Uh-huh.”

“See.” Seo Yi-han grinned, genuinely happy, and straightened his back proudly.

Yoon Soo-ah looked back and forth between us as if we were both crazy. But Seo Yi-han stood there unaffected, showing off his arm on my shoulder.

Kim Ji-ho, surprised that I didn’t deny it, pushed up his glasses and whined in a mosquito voice, “That’s unexpected… I knew the class president and Lee Jae-yoon have been in the same class since first year, but…”

Oh, so that was the setting.

Kim Ji-ho, like any extra, faithfully relayed the TMI of this world. I nodded and gestured with my chin. “Hey, tell me more about me.”

“Huh?”

Kim Ji-ho flinched and backed away. I just wanted to know the setting, but his trembling glasses made me feel annoyed.

“I, I wasn’t trying to pick a fight with you…”

He acted as if I were a bully about to shake him down. I was curious if he’d hand over his wallet if I took one step closer, but with Seo Yi-han still holding my shoulder, I couldn’t move.

Plus, Yoon Soo-ah and Han Bo-bae were nervously watching me.

Only Seo Yi-han lowered himself to my eye level, his eyes curving warmly. “Ji-ho doesn’t know. I’ll tell you.”

“No… Lee Jae-yoon seems like he was just trying to provoke Kim Ji-ho.” Yoon Soo-ah’s comment went in one ear and out the other as Seo Yi-han started listing what he knew about me.

“You transferred here last summer and we ended up in the same class. Right after transferring, you got into a big fight and got school community service. That’s when we walked around picking up trash together.

Oh, your birthday is May 10th, your favorite food is soft tofu, and your height was 178 in first year, but now you’ve grown 2 centimeters more…”

“That’s enough.”