Chapter 9.

  The Ten Conditions for Becoming the Male Lead (3)

“Seriously, Moon Yerim really knows how to get herself into trouble. You called the driver and told him to bring a lawyer?”

I had expected to get lectured, but I hadn’t anticipated being nagged for almost an entire hour after dinner.

Even while scolding me, Mom had peeled a kiwi for me to eat. I speared a piece with my fork and leaned back against the sofa. I thought she would take the hint and stop, but Dad picked up right where she left off.

“What else was I supposed to do? My friend and I were about to be falsely accused!”

“You should’ve called your father first. Do you know how shocked I was when the lawyer contacted me? And how did you even know Attorney Kim?”

Well… I knew him because Attorney Kim made a brief appearance in the later chapters of the web novel.

He was just a minor character, so I’d taken a shot in the dark and called him without thinking twice.

I’d even come up with a backup plan in case that didn’t work: I would ask our driver to pretend to be a lawyer. But I’d never dreamed that Attorney Kim was actually my father’s company lawyer. Anyway, I’d caused quite a big incident, so the smartest thing to do was apologize.

“Still, as long as everything worked out, that’s what matters. Your homeroom teacher said you should become a lawyer.”

“What do you mean, a lawyer…?”

“Where did she get that bold attitude from? Did she take after you, honey?”

“Hey, it certainly wasn’t me.”

“Am I imagining things, or are you two trying to pass the blame to each other?”

At my question, Mom and Dad looked at each other before suddenly bursting into laughter.

The atmosphere seemed to have lightened, so I joined in, laughing along with them. Dad took my fork and speared a piece of bread for me.

“We have just one daughter, and we raised her to be so capable. Isn’t that right, honey?”

I smiled at my father as he fed me a bite of bread and at my mother, who watched us with a fond expression.

My parents had died when I was young, and I’d never really imagined what it would have been like to share moments like these with them. But now, I couldn’t help thinking that Yerim was truly lucky.

“Since I’m in a good mood, I’ll drive you to school tomorrow. You can ride with me.”

“Really?”

“Of course! My daughter has to go to school, after all.”

For the time being, I was Yerim. I felt a little sorry for her, but I wanted to enjoy this feeling a little… longer before returning to my own life.

Of course, I had to stick around long enough to see our Eunho become the male lead!

The next morning, I arrived at school in my father’s car instead of the driver’s.

Once I reached the classroom early, I carefully studied Semin’s seat and Dogyeom’s seat.

I’d had a lot of complicated things to deal with lately, so I hadn’t been able to pay much attention to those two. Now that everything had been sorted out, my only focus should be the Bae Eunho Male Lead Project.

Besides, I’d gotten a little ahead of myself and assumed that Eunho and I had become closer because of what happened yesterday. Of course, that might not have been the case for him.

Pointing at Han Dogyeom’s seat with my finger, I muttered under my breath.

“Han Dogyeom, just wait a little longer. Once Eunho starts showing his gentle side… you’re finished.”

“Were you looking for me?”

“Ah! You scared me!”

When I turned around, Dogyeom was standing there with his backpack on, looking at me.

My heart started racing as if I’d done something wrong, even though I hadn’t.

Or had I? Wasn’t trying to change the ending technically a crime?

Dogyeom casually walked past me and sat down in his seat.

“W-Why are you here…?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s a weekday, so I came to school.”

“Right… Haha.”

“Oh, by the way, thanks for that day.”

“For what?”

“The day I transferred. You took me to the teachers’ office, remember? Am I thanking you too late?”

If you hadn’t been there, I might not have found the teachers’ office or even made it to the classroom.

As Dogyeom continued speaking, I felt a strange sense of guilt.

No, that’s not it! If I hadn’t been there, Semin would have found you, just like in the web novel. The two of you would have become friends a little sooner…

So, it really was wrong to mess with Dogyeom’s story.

“I’m the class president, so it was only natural. Anyway, have you made any friends yet?”

“Not yet… But there is someone I’d like to get closer to.”

I knew it!

My guilt lasted only a moment. Just as I thought, I shouldn’t feel sorry. No matter how guilty I felt, he was a naturally gifted male lead. He would find his way to Semin sooner or later!

But the most powerful person in this entire world was me, the one who knew the whole story. That meant Eunho and I had a slight advantage.

“Who? Semin?”

“How did you know?”

“Uh… It was pretty obvious.”

At my blunt answer, Dogyeom’s ears turned slightly red.

So even male leads got embarrassed. That was pretty cute.

It wasn’t that I disliked Dogyeom. I just had a very clear favorite and second favorite.

“Hm… But…”

When I trailed off, Dogyeom stood up, looking curious. Then he took a step toward me.

I made him wait for a moment before speaking.

“Semin feels uncomfortable when someone gets too close to her too quickly.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. So take it as slowly as possible. Very, very slowly. Got it?”

“…You’re a really good person. Thanks.”

Dogyeom’s face brightened now that he had a plan.

I almost started feeling guilty again, but when I saw the determined expression on his face, he looked so much like a male lead that I became uneasy.

No matter what happened, I couldn’t let my guard down. If I did, our Eunho would end up as the second male lead!

“By the way, why didn’t you come to third period yesterday?”

“Huh? Oh… Something came up.”

“Was it because of Bae Eunho?”

“You know Bae Eunho?”

“Not really. I’ve seen him on the rooftop a few times. He was sleeping up there. He seemed pretty carefree.”

“On the rooftop?”

“Yeah. Oh, I’ve heard rumors about him, too. Apparently, he once broke the door to the judo club.”

“What? He broke the judo club’s door?”

At my question, Dogyeom scratched his head and added that he’d only heard it from someone else.

The judo club door? The rooftop? These were all things I’d never heard about before.

Besides, I was certain that their first meeting had gone like this.

“What the hell? Did I tell you that?”

“So if you have something to say, say it through me. Can’t you see she’s scared?”

I remembered that Eunho and Semin had first met in the cafeteria. Later, when Eunho came looking for her in the classroom, Dogyeom had seen him for the first time.

Dogyeom had disliked the way Eunho approached Semin as if he were threatening her, while Eunho had found Dogyeom irritating for standing in his way.

But now, both Dogyeom and Eunho’s first impressions and first meeting seemed to have changed.

Was something changing?

No, that couldn’t be right. Even if I tried to change things, the story would eventually find a way to bring Semin and Dogyeom together, just as it had in the original web novel.

Changing the story wasn’t something a mere extra could do.

Unless it was Eunho.

“But there’s no way Eunho knows what’s going on and is acting accordingly…”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Oh, nothing.”

While we were talking, students began filing into the classroom one by one.

I sat down, continuing to think about Eunho and Dogyeom’s first meeting.

“Wait a minute… Our Eunho came to school today, right?”

If he’d been hurt by what happened yesterday and decided not to come to school…

My heart would break!

Fortunately, my worries were short-lived.

The classroom door swung open with a loud bang.

The other students, myself included, instinctively turned toward the noise. Dogyeom did the same.

“What? It’s Bae Eunho!”

“Why is Bae Eunho here?”

“Why would he come to school this early?”

Just as the students whispered among themselves, the person who had opened the door was Eunho.

He moved his cast-covered arm and strode toward us with his long legs.

Was he looking for Semin?

I couldn’t let her see him acting like some delinquent…!

I turned around, relieved to find that Semin hadn’t arrived at school yet.

“Hey. Moon Yerim.”

But I never would have imagined that Eunho was looking for me instead of Semin.

Eunho sat down in the empty seat opposite mine and stared at me silently.

There was no reason for me to look away, so I met his gaze.

A suffocating silence settled between us.

Eunho somehow looked even more handsome today than he had yesterday.

No wonder he was my favorite.

If only he would tone down that delinquent-like attitude of his…

“Anyway, I thought about it yesterday, and this whole situation feels pretty unfair.”

“What does?”

What on earth was unfair?

I’d cleared his name and even made the others apologize!

Eunho raised his cast-covered arm.

“My arm.”

“…Huh?”

“You’ve been keeping me on edge lately, and now I’ve even gotten injured. Then there was that whole mess yesterday, too.”

“…”

“So you’re going to pay me back.”

“P-Pay you back for what?”

“Why are you asking when you already know? You have to pay my hospital bills. My arm’s a complete mess because of you.”

“Why are you asking when you already know? You have to pay for my dry cleaning. My uniform’s a complete mess because of you.”

This was crazy.

Something had gone terribly, terribly wrong!

I covered my mouth with my hand and shook my head.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.

The sequence of events had changed, and the entire story and its progression had been turned upside down.

What I wanted to change was…

“Hi, Semin!”

The classroom door opened.

Semin, dressed neatly in her school uniform, quietly looked back and forth between Eunho and me in the otherwise silent classroom.

Dogyeom, who was sitting near the door, greeted her in his gentle voice.

“Let’s get along from now on, Moon Yerim.”

Eunho flashed me an evil smile.

Where had it all… gone wrong?