Chapter 24: Cool (half right), Beauty (right), Crybaby (in denial) and the leader of the extra party who was passing by (not) joined.

What do you mean what should I do?

If it’s an unavoidable situation, you have to face it head-on.

“So, Ahra, did you come here alone around lunchtime?”

“Yeah. The weather was nice today, so I came to pick out some summer clothes and such.”

“Hmm……I see?”

A table on the 9th floor where the movie theater box office and snack bar are located.

There, Baek Ahra’s lies to cover for Yoon Sejeong were in full swing.

There was no option to not bring Baek Ahra here.

Even though Baek Ahra was disguised, it was to the level that anyone could easily notice it was Baek Ahra if they kept looking.

Since the three of them had seen the scene of the two of us, I couldn’t lie that she was a completely unrelated person.

Because if even one person realized it was Baek Ahra, it would be much more complicated.

Besides, I went down the escalator in reverse while being next to the three.

A plausible explanation was needed.

Therefore, what the two of us chose was to break through head-on.

While going up the escalator, I made up some lies to cover it up.

-Just say we met by chance.

Before going up the escalator, Baek Ahra calmed down and immediately laid out the contents to match the story.

-In the first place, I only heard from Sejeong that you guys were going to buy aprons together. I came to this shopping mall by chance while shopping separately, okay?

-Okay, let’s wipe the tears from your eyes. Here.

-…….

-Yeah, wipe the left corner too. Close your eyes slightly. Here, blow your nose too.

-……Sniff.

Honestly, I thought it was a clumsy lie, but I also thought it was a lie that could never be discovered.

Who would think that Baek Ahra, who was the disciplinary committee president, had followed us all the way here for stalking?

And how would anyone know that I knew about it?

Therefore, the word ‘coincidence’ that we were pushing forward became a magic word.

Baek Ahra ‘coincidentally’ visited this shopping mall, I ‘coincidentally’ saw Baek Ahra being hunted, and I went down and helped her.

“It’s amazing that something like that really happens in real life…….”

She looked surprised and a little suspicious, but after a while, Yoon Sejeong nodded.

At first, Yoon Sejeong had a confused expression, but she seemed to believe the lie.

That was a relief.

“It’s really a relief.”

“Huh?”

I was embarrassed that the word I was thinking about suddenly came out, and a reply popped out.

“If, at that time, Hayeon hadn’t turned around and seen the scene where Ahra was being hunted, it would have been dangerous.”

Ah, that story.

It was supposed to be a coincidence, but to be precise, I briefly checked where Baek Ahra was at that time.

Then I saw her being hunted, so I went down in reverse.

“Yeah. What would have happened if I hadn’t seen it?”

‘Something would have happened.’

Saying that, I recall the scene in the comic where Baek Ahra was similarly hunted.

At that time, Baek Ahra and Yoon Sejeong came out on the street together, and a man who was hunting forcibly grabbed Baek Ahra’s wrist as she was trying to refuse.

At that time, unlike now, Yoon Sejeong was right next to her, and Yoon Sejeong got angry and stepped in to help Baek Ahra.

No, to be precise, she tried to step in.

The situation ended without Yoon Sejeong even needing to step in.

-Ugh…….

Baek Ahra, immediately broke the joint of the person who grabbed her wrist and subdued him.

-It’s just that I can do it because I received self-defense classes well at home. Sejeong, if you learn, you can do this much too.

It’s the line Baek Ahra said after handing over the subdued opponent to a nearby police officer.

When I read the comic, I thought, ‘Yeah, well, if royalty can use superpowers, what’s the big deal about a young woman subduing a strong man by breaking his arm.’

I thought so, but the comic became reality.

If so, I have to assume that Baek Ahra next to me can do that much.

If I hadn’t intervened, she probably would have thought of subduing him in that way as one of the methods.

‘……Why didn’t she immediately punish him?’

She should have firmly rejected him by spitting out insults, or dealt with him by breaking his hand, as shown in the comic.

If she had, I wouldn’t have done the crazy thing of going down the escalator in reverse in such a hurry.

‘Hurry…….’

Seeing Baek Ahra in trouble, my body rushed out before my mind.

The reason why I spoke more harshly than usual to the person who was trying to hunt Baek Ahra might have stemmed from that impatience.

If so, why was I so impatient?

Out of a feeling of concern?

Perhaps, that might be the most accurate answer to represent my feelings.

But, it felt like there was a different feeling mixed in at that time to dismiss it as simple concern.

It felt like a drop of ink falling into clean water.

However, unlike the ink that is immediately noticeable, it was difficult to find that one drop that had already disappeared.

Even if I groped the fragments of my heart that remained after I acted, it was difficult to find the same shape of my heart as then.

……Would I be able to know if such a situation happened again?

“That blonde person, he grabbed her wrist forcibly without caring about the gazes of the people around him, it would have escalated into a bigger problem if he had done something wrong.”

While those thoughts continued, Yoon Sejeong and Baek Ahra’s conversation continued.

“It’s okay. I could have handled that much alone.”

“You could have handled it alone?”

“Yeah.”

Seeing that confidence, I wonder if I should have intervened, but if time went back, I think I would intervene again.

When you see this, you really couldn’t understand a person’s heart.

“……Even though you cried in Hayeon’s arms after being saved.”

“Th, that’s.”

‘She probably saw that too.’

Of course she would have seen it.

Baek Ahra had to take care of this herself.

If I add words, it will become strange.

“Isn’t that because you were so scared?”

“I hugged her because I was scared! It’s not like that……th…….”

“Th?”

“……No, it’s nothing.”

Baek Ahra mumbled as if she was going to say something, then closed her mouth and looked at me.

‘It’s no use glaring at me like that.’

If it’s not the truth, she has to accept those words.

And, isn’t it that embarrassing to cry while being hugged by me?

‘Hmm…….’

Come to think of it, it was a rather embarrassing thing.

If I had been hugged and cried like that, I probably wouldn’t have been able to meet her eyes.

Maybe, I would have gone straight home.

Thinking about it that way, Baek Ahra’s actions seemed like nothing more than a childish act.

Yeah, I’ll accept it all.

Because I’m kind.

“Here’s your popcorn.”

As Baek Ahra and I continued our subtle confrontation, Jia and Sohee, who had gone to the snack bar, returned.

I told them the same lie I told Yoon Sejeong.

The reaction was similar to Yoon Sejeong’s, but there was a difference in the attitude towards Baek Ahra.

To be precise, they seemed to focus on the fact that Baek Ahra cried.

-It’s understandable to be scared.

-The disciplinary committee president is also a human.

After that, they easily nodded to the question of whether Baek Ahra could hang out with us.

-If Hayeon doesn’t mind, I don’t mind either.

-Me too.

Both of them, are honestly too kind.

This is what I felt while dealing with these two for almost a week after my memories returned.

At this rate, it seemed like there wouldn’t have been any bullying of Yoon Sejeong even if I hadn’t gone to the academy on the first day after my memories returned.

Why on earth did they bully her so much in the original work?

‘……And, why did I think it would flow unconditionally according to the original work?’

“……What, why is the atmosphere between the two of you like this. Did you fight with Baek Ahra?”

At the sound of a voice, the sense of incongruity I felt somewhere disappeared in an instant.

The one who whispered to me right away was none other than Jia.

‘Does it look like that?’

Certainly, it might look like that to someone who wasn’t in the flow of the story.

“No? We didn’t fight?”

“But why are you looking at her like that?”

“Well, maybe she’s embarrassed?”

“Ah…….”

At the single word embarrassed, Jia nodded and sat down in her seat.

“Here, take one popcorn and cola each.”

There were 4 regular-sized popcorns on the table.

Also 5 regular colas.

And butter squid.

“Ah, the butter squid is mine.”

Sohee said, picking up a squid with a toothpick.

When I was a man, I could easily finish a large popcorn.

But, seeing the regular size in front of me, I was worried if I could even finish this.

Because I just ate lunch.

If I had known this would happen, I should have said I wouldn’t eat popcorn.

“I only ordered one regular-sized cola because the disciplinary committee president said she wouldn’t eat popcorn. Is that okay?”

“……Yeah. I’ll pay you back later.”

“Pay me back slowly. If you want, we can make a deal where you’ll overlook me during the morning crackdown instead of the cola price…….”

“That’s not possible.”

“I guess not…….”

Sohee tried to make a deal that wouldn’t work, but was immediately sunk.

Baek Ahra only breaks the principles as a disciplinary committee president when dealing with Yoon Sejeong, so it was unlikely that she would listen to Sohee’s words, let alone for the price of cola.

“……But, is it really okay for me to join like this?”

“What?”

“It seems like I’m interrupting the four of you having fun…….”

“It’s okay. The more people watching a movie together, the more fun it becomes. More than that, are you really okay with scary things?”

This was the last chance.

As someone who saw her being scared in the original work, I couldn’t help but ask Baek Ahra again.

When I looked at Baek Ahra intently, she avoided my eyes.

“I, I’m okay. I’m good at it. That kind of thing.”

Her pride.

“Hic, did it pass? Did it pass?”

“Yeah, yeah. It passed.”

“……It’s not over yet!”

The expectation, as expected, was not off.