The next day.

“Did you hear about that?”

As soon as I arrived at school, Yoo Hee Na, who had arrived earlier, asked me.

Normally, I would have arrived sooner, but after staying up late last night pondering until dawn, I barely managed to avoid being late. Putting down my bag, I said,

“Hear about what?”

“It’s really amazing.”

Yoo Hee Na gestured for me to come closer. As I leaned in and brought my ear near, she whispered softly,

“Seon Woo Jin just got confessed to earlier.”

“What?”

I asked back, genuinely surprised.

“Confessed to?”

Yoo Hee Na nodded.

“I saw it myself.”

Unable to gauge how to react, I stood there with my mouth gaping open in shock.

“Does that even make sense?”

Well, it’s not that it doesn’t make sense, but still.

I was baffled as it was a situation I had never even imagined before. All sorts of words randomly popped up in my mind and then disappeared.

After barely sorting out my thoughts, what came out was this,

“You’re saying the fan club just stood by and watched?”

Yoo Hee Na shrugged.

“They’ll probably mobilize now.”

Thinking about the notorious fan club of the Three Greats, I suddenly felt pity for the girl who confessed. But well, if she had the guts to directly confess to one of the Three Greats, she must have been prepared, right?

‘But still, a confession…’

If Yoo Hee Na saw it, it must have essentially been a public confession. To think that such a “youthful” event would unfold at this school.

No, perhaps this is more of an “insane” incident?

To me, who was feeling confused, Yoo Hee Na said,

“Ever since the soccer match yesterday, Seon Woo Jin has become super popular. The girls went crazy.”

What on earth happened?

I had no idea since I didn’t watch the soccer match. He must have had an incredible performance. To be honest, I couldn’t imagine it… but seeing this commotion, he must have been quite impressive.

‘Well, if you only look at his exterior, he seems fine.’

It was only natural for a handsome guy to shine at a big event like the sports festival.

Usually, whether intentionally or not, Seon Woo Jin tried to minimize his presence as much as possible. But yesterday, he was openly showing off, so it seemed to have made a proper impression on people.

Yoo Hee Na asked me with sparkling eyes,

“So, aren’t you curious about what happened?”

What’s with that burdensome gaze?

I took a slight step back and answered,

“Should I be curious?”

“Of course! It’s a confession, a confession!”

Seeing her get excited over this, she’s definitely a high school girl. I spoke without hesitation,

“He probably rejected her.”

“What, how can you be so sure?”

“It’s Seon Woo Jin we’re talking about.”

If the subject of the confession had been Sung Ji Chan, I might have pondered a bit, but since it was Seon Woo Jin, I didn’t have to think twice.

Yawning, I slumped over my desk.

“Wake me up when the teacher comes.”

I could hear Yoo Hee Na grumbling, seeming displeased that I wasn’t properly engaging with her, but I pretended not to hear and drifted off to sleep.

In that short time, I had a dream.

The setting of the dream was the school. I naturally headed towards the empty lot behind the school, where a group of students had gathered.

In the middle of the students were Seon Woo Jin and an unknown girl. The moment I saw them, I instantly realized what scene this was.

A confession.

I could see the shy face of the girl. With flushed cheeks, she began to speak.

From my position, I couldn’t see the expression of Seon Woo Jin as he received the confession. Somehow, I felt anxious.

Could it be that he would accept the confession?

At that moment, Seon Woo Jin turned around and looked at me.

The moment our eyes met…

“Lee Ju Eun.”

A low-pitched voice echoed in my ears.

I snapped awake.

“Gasp!”

Waking up from sleep, I hastily sat up. As soon as I saw the face of the person sitting next to me, I screamed,

“Ah! You startled me!”

Sitting next to me was not Yoo Hee Na but Seon Woo Jin. Flinching, I asked,

“Wh-what, what, what is it? Why are you here?”

Seon Woo Jin calmly said,

“Am I not allowed to come?”

Of course you’re not, dude. You scared the hell out of me… No, that’s not it.

“No, I just woke up from a nap… What’s the matter all of a sudden?”

Awkwardly smiling, I averted my gaze. Seon Woo Jin stared at my face intently for a moment before opening his mouth,

“Why did you just leave yesterday?”

I was startled.

‘I can’t believe he came to ask me directly.’

Some time ago, to be precise, ever since I was kidnapped by Haesung High School students, Seon Woo Jin had been walking home with me. It was because we didn’t know when such an incident might happen again.

However, yesterday, I went home alone without waiting for Seon Woo Jin. There were several reasons, but in the end, it was because I felt awkward seeing his face.

Desperately wracking my brain, I tried to come up with an excuse.

“Well, yesterday, I got hurt and was tired, so I just wanted to go home quickly. Sorry.”

Despite my desperate excuse, Seon Woo Jin remained silent. He simply tapped his finger on the desk and gazed at me.

‘Why is he looking at me like that?’

It was burdensome.

Unable to meet his eyes, I kept looking elsewhere, praying for this moment to pass quickly.

Seon Woo Jin’s response was brief.

“Ah, I see.”

And an awkward silence fell between us for a moment.

No, maybe I was the only one feeling awkward. After all, I was the only one conscious of the other person right now.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

I bit down hard on my lower lip.

The one who broke the silence first in that situation was Seon Woo Jin.

“Then today…”

“Hey! About that!”

I hurriedly interrupted Seon Woo Jin and spoke,

“I think from now on, you don’t need to walk me home anymore.”

Seon Woo Jin slightly frowned, seeming displeased.

But it couldn’t be helped. I quickly continued,

“You have to take the bus to get to my house, and it’s tiring for you. Your house is near the school. Now that the Haesung High School guys have calmed down, I think I’ll be fine going alone. So let’s go separately from now on.”

In fact, this was something I wanted to say even if it wasn’t for yesterday’s incident.

Seon Woo Jin’s studio was near the school, while the neighborhood I lived in required taking a bus.

Until now, Seon Woo Jin had repeatedly gone through the hassle of accompanying me all the way to my neighborhood and then returning to the vicinity of the school.

I was scared that the Haesung High School guys might attack again, so I reluctantly accepted his kindness, but I couldn’t keep going like this forever.

‘Now that I think about it, this is no ordinary level of dedication.’

There were such clear signs, so why did I pretend not to notice?

I felt even more guilty for no reason.

Instead of answering, Seon Woo Jin just stared at me intently. I anxiously waited for his response.

“Okay.”

Finally, that was the answer that came out of Seon Woo Jin’s mouth.

“Then I’ll get going.”

“Ah, yeah. Take care.”

Seon Woo Jin got up from his seat and left the classroom. I watched his back as he walked away and let out a sigh.

And so, I started keeping my distance from Seon Woo Jin.

“Lee Ju Eun.”

Yoo Hee Na whispered in my ear,

“Did you fight with Seon Woo Jin?”

Day 3 of keeping my distance from Seon Woo Jin.

Everyone in the neighborhood found out that I was avoiding Seon Woo Jin.

“No, why would we fight?”

I tried to hide my flustered state and said,

“Why are you suddenly asking that?”

Yoo Hee Na folded her arms and looked me up and down.

“When two people who always stick together start going separately, of course people will think you fought. If you didn’t fight, then what’s going on with you two?”

Did I really stick that close to Seon Woo Jin…?

It hadn’t even been a few days since I started keeping my distance, but seeing everyone notice made me feel a sense of reality. Yoo Hee Na spoke with a frustrated look,

“I don’t know what it is, but if you two fought, can’t you just make up quickly? Honestly, it’s uncomfortable for me being caught in the middle.”

You really don’t know how to beat around the bush, do you?

Seeing Yoo Hee Na’s innocent expression, I unknowingly let out a sigh. I tried to act nonchalant and said,

“We really didn’t fight.”

“Then what is it?”

Hmm… Just a one-sided distancing?

Saying it out loud made it even weirder.

I guess it was too unnatural after all. I should have slowly distanced myself over time.

But this was the best I could do. After realizing Seon Woo Jin’s feelings, I didn’t know how to treat him, and I didn’t want to give him any false hope.

Still, I wanted to do it without being too obvious.

“If you didn’t fight, are you just avoiding him on your own? You’ve been really weird lately.”

Seems like I’ve already failed.

Pretending not to hear Yoo Hee Na’s words, I slumped over my desk.

“I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up when the teacher comes.”

“Napping again?”

Honestly, I wasn’t sleepy right now, but this time it was just an excuse to avoid the conversation.

‘I guess I need a plan.’

I pondered while lying on my desk.

But I couldn’t come up with any brilliant ideas. It was a problem with no answer from the start.

In the end, the day passed without reaching any conclusion.

‘Life is tough…’

Why did this ordeal suddenly come up?

I felt like giving up on everything, so I tried hard to pull myself together. Yeah, let’s not think about other things. Just focus on returning to my original world.

I opened the system window and checked the location of Jin Hae Yul, which I received as a quest reward. It was a city about a 2-hour ride away by public transportation.

‘It’s a bit much to skip school, so let’s go on the weekend.’

After meeting Jin Hae Yul, things will be settled one way or another. Then I won’t have to be so confused like this.

‘It seems like the end is finally in sight.’

Dreaming of a hopeful future, I left the classroom. There was a sense of unease in a corner of my heart, but I ignored it.

‘Come to think of it, has Sung Ji Chan still not regained his memory?’

No matter how well I treat him, they probably won’t acknowledge a happy ending with the male lead still having amnesia.

For me to reach the ending I had in mind, Sung Ji Chan should also start regaining his memory soon. That way, we can cleanly settle the matters of the past.

‘Alright, then let’s set the goal of resolving Sung Ji Chan’s memory loss before going to find Jin Hae Yul.’

I clenched my fists and made up my mind.