I was momentarily taken aback but quickly regained my composure. I sternly warned Yoo Hee Na to keep her mouth shut and sent her back to the classroom.

Even if it killed me, I couldn’t let rumors spread about me liking Seon Woo Jin.

As I watched Yoo Hee Na’s retreating back, I muttered to myself.

“…That girl really doesn’t listen to others.”

Just like last time, and this time as well.

She had a natural talent for fabricating incidents.

[With this, you’ve also become friends with Hee Na! +_+]

The system that suddenly appeared was thoughtlessly rejoicing.

‘Friends with Yoo Hee Na.’

No matter how I thought about it, I had a bad feeling…

Considering that ‘Lee Ju Eun’ in the original work was also Yoo Hee Na’s friend, this was definitely a red flag.

Wait. Come to think of it, wasn’t I diligently following the original storyline?

‘……’

It was true.

‘…At this rate, will I really get beaten up by Seol Yu Hwa and end up hospitalized?’

I felt a sense of crisis.

Although the circumstances were a bit strange, wasn’t I ultimately following the original storyline step by step?

If so, I had no choice but to think about the ending of ‘Lee Ju Eun’ in the original work again.

‘Lee Ju Eun’ in the original was a friend of the villainess Yoo Hee Na and the person who framed the female lead as a thief according to Yoo Hee Na’s orders.

Yoo Hee Na, being from a wealthy family, carried a lot of expensive items. She put them in the female lead’s bag and then snitched that the female lead had stolen them.

However, the clever female lead exposed the scheme, and ‘Lee Ju Eun’ was eventually dealt with by the furious female lead.

‘Lee Ju Eun’, essentially an extra, only had one line when it was time for her to exit…

What did she say back then?

“I, I didn’t do it!”

That’s right. Lee Ju Eun’s last words were the typical lines of a villain.

When I first read that, I was dumbfounded.

‘What do you mean you didn’t do it? You’re the only one who would do such a thing.’

But now, my thoughts were a bit different.

What if Lee Ju Eun didn’t want to do it but was forced to? What if she was another victim caught up in Yoo Hee Na’s obsession?

‘…This is bad.’

Then it wouldn’t be resolved by me just staying put, would it?

This was a real crisis. What’s the point of taking care of someone else’s happy ending? I’m doomed for a bad ending.

‘Then there’s only one way.’

Let’s quickly bring Seol Yu Bin and Ji Seung Hyun together.

If Seol Yu Hwa doesn’t come, I won’t have to worry about this at all.

‘Alright, starting today, I’m Seol Yu Bin’s best friend.’

I clenched my fist and made a resolution.

[Ju Eun, fighting! 〉ㅁ〈]

With the system’s encouragement, I marched into the infirmary with dignity.

‘Is Seol Yu Bin inside?’

Unlike Lee Yeon Ho’s infirmary, this infirmary only had one bed.

If Seol Yu Bin didn’t go outside while I was chatting with Yoo Hee Na, she should be there.

‘Phew, I’m ready. Let’s go.’

After preparing myself mentally, I walked over to the bed.

I carefully drew the curtain.

“Excuse me… Are you awake?”

And then I saw her.

Seol Yu Bin, with reddened eyes, tearfully clinging to her cell phone.

“……”

“……”

I closed the curtain.

[This is the timeline separator]

‘…Why is she crying?’

On my way back to the classroom after leaving the infirmary, I was deep in thought with a serious expression.

‘Was the person on the other end Ji Seung Hyun after all?’

It was probably him. There weren’t many people Seol Yu Bin would react so emotionally to.

The image of Seol Yu Bin crying sorrowfully kept coming to mind.

‘Seeing her like that, I somehow… feel sorry for her.’

In fact, I didn’t have entirely positive feelings towards Seol Yu Bin.

In the original work, Seol Yu Bin was a foolish girl who resented and tried to harm her only sister because of a man.

But seeing someone actually crying in front of me, my heart couldn’t help but lean towards Seol Yu Bin.

‘Sigh. What did Ji Seung Hyun say to her?’

Of course, as the sub-male lead of the original work, he would have his charms… but is it necessary to be so hung up on him? There are plenty of men in the world.

‘Yu Bin. That’s all meaningless.’

As someone who was older, at least in essence if not in appearance, I sincerely felt sorry for Seol Yu Bin.

Just then, the class bell rang.

‘Eek. I need to hurry.’

I erased the thoughts about Seol Yu Bin from my mind and hastily headed to my classroom.

[This is the timeline separator]

The day ended without any gains after absentmindedly attending classes.

“Did you talk well?”

I instinctively returned to the second infirmary and found Sung Ji Chan there. I replied brightly.

“I failed.”

“Huh?”

Sung Ji Chan seemed to say something more, but I was already out of it and couldn’t hear him. I roughly gathered my things and trudged outside.

In the end, another day passed without any progress.

“Ha.”

It’s deflating.

I thought I worked hard today, but in the end, all I learned was that the relationship between Seol Yu Bin and Ji Seung Hyun was worse than I thought.

Can this even be considered a gain?

One thing I know for sure is that my path ahead won’t be smooth.

‘And maybe Seol Yu Bin will think strangely of me now.’

Why did I open the curtain without permission?

I should have asked first.

Who would like showing their crying face to others? I wouldn’t either.

I think I made a mistake. Should I apologize later?

“Sigh.”

I sighed again. Nothing is going smoothly.

‘I should just go home early today.’

[I’m going home, I’ll do my homework during lunch break tomorrow. Bye.]

I left a text to Seon Woo Jin and headed towards the school gate with my bag.

A reply came soon.

[OK, I already left.]

What, I would have wasted my time if I had gone to the infirmary.

“Excuse me.”

Just as I was about to pass the school gate while texting, someone stopped me.

“Yes?”

I turned my head and saw a male student in a uniform I had never seen before.

‘What is it?’

I quickly scanned the man.

A likable face with a beaming smile.

The only notable things were the dialect accent that somehow slipped into his way of speaking and the fact that he was quite handsome.

‘Is he a character from the original work?’

I had a prejudice that anyone who stood out to me in this world would be a character from the original work.

The man in front of me also had an uncommon appearance. He had a delinquent-like charm. Anyway, he didn’t have an ordinary appearance.

‘Then I can’t let my guard down.’

After raising my guard, I carefully opened my mouth.

“Why did you call me?”

Then the man spoke.

“Do you happen to know where Sung Ji Chan is?”

What? Sung Ji Chan’s name comes up here?

‘He must really be someone from the original work.’

I firmly concluded in my mind that the man was a character from the original work. The ordinary extras in this neighborhood wouldn’t casually call the name of the delinquent boss like that.

But who from another school appeared in the original work?

‘I didn’t know there was talk about other schools since they were always fighting with Hae Sung High School people.’

I tried to think more, but no one came to mind.

‘Well, I guess the school names weren’t properly mentioned in the original work.’

In the first place, there was no concept of ‘proper’ in this trashy novel.

I thought it wasn’t a big deal and let it go.

‘But what’s this person’s relationship with Sung Ji Chan?’

I examined the man once more.

Is he Sung Ji Chan’s friend?

Judging from the delinquent vibe that couldn’t be hidden even in his neat attire, he seemed qualified enough to be friends with the delinquent boss.

I cautiously asked back.

“…Why do you ask?”

“Ah, so you know Ji Chan.”

The man smiled brightly and spoke even more amiably.

“I finally met Ji Chan’s friend. I was supposed to meet Ji Chan today, but I don’t know where he is. Do you happen to know where Sung Ji Chan is right now?”

From the way he spoke, he seemed to be a friend after all.

Then what business would Sung Ji Chan have with a friend from another school? Middle school alumni?

‘Or is it an… alliance or something?’

Come to think of it, there was something like that in the novel.

An alliance literally meant a relationship formed between close schools.

Delinquents often fought together or took revenge on behalf of their allied schools.

There was something similar in the original work… but I’m not sure.

‘Well, I guess it’s okay to tell him if he’s a friend.’

I told him Sung Ji Chan’s location without much thought.

“If he hasn’t gone home yet, he’s probably in the second infirmary.”

He’s always there when we meet.

I just came from there, so he probably didn’t go anywhere in the meantime.

But why is he really there? Doesn’t he go home? Just go already.

“Ah, the infirmary? Thank you.”

The man bowed to me in gratitude. Hmm, a friend with good manners. Too good to be Sung Ji Chan’s friend.

Oh, wait.

‘It might be hard for him to find the way to the second infirmary.’

My concern wasn’t unfounded. The second infirmary was a place where extras strangely didn’t come.

It was as if everyone knew of its existence in their heads but couldn’t recognize it.

My guess was that the place was deeply related to the original work, so there was some kind of treatment to prevent extras from freely entering.

For that reason, if that man asked other people about the location of the infirmary, there was a high chance he would come up empty.

‘Should I show him the way?’

A needless sense of meddling was triggered.

‘No. If he’s Sung Ji Chan’s friend, it means another event like in the novel has occurred, and I don’t need to get involved.’

I had already been through a lot today and didn’t want to expend any more mental energy. I finally came to a conclusion.

‘Yeah, let’s just go. He’ll figure it out.’

I’m sorry. I have to go first because I’m busy… I smiled awkwardly and gauged his reaction.

Can I go now?

That’s when it happened.

“The infirmary, huh. Let’s go.”

The man gestured to someone beyond the school gate.

In response to his gesture, a group of dark men swarmed into the school.

“Thank you so much. Then I’ll get going.”

The man smiled and bid me farewell.

It was a somewhat bright smile despite his delinquent aura. But I couldn’t react to that farewell.

‘What the, who are those guys?’

I gaped at the men who had suddenly multiplied.

Surprisingly, they were all wearing Hae Sung High School uniforms.