Chapter 39
Originally, the seat next to Seo Do-gyeom had been empty, but now it was occupied by a mysterious female student. And then there was Seo Do-gyeom, who had always been indifferent to everyone and built walls around himself, yet he was getting along well with this person.
Not only that, but she was a woman he showed affection toward.
‘It’s like I’ve become the villainess or something.’
From Ye Eun-seol’s perspective, it was understandably bewildering. Baek I-hae wasn’t exactly unfazed by it either.
“First, calm down. It’s not like I wanted to end up in Baek I-hae’s body either.”
-What do you mean by that?
“I mean I’m in a special situation just like you. It seems like we have the same goal, so how about we cooperate? Then I’ll tell you what you’re curious about.”
-……What makes you think I can trust you?
Baek I-hae tilted her head.
“If you don’t want to believe me, then don’t. Now that I know your goal and identity, I have nothing to lose. You’re the only one who’s frustrated.”
She was about to add that if he had no intention of negotiating, she’d end the call.
That’s when Ye Eun-seol’s voice urgently called out Baek I-hae’s name. It seemed her bluff had worked perfectly.
The corners of Baek I-hae’s mouth twitched. She almost let out a laugh, which would have given away her ploy. Inwardly, she let out a sigh of relief.
-I’ll cooperate! I will, so…… don’t hang up. I absolutely can’t repeat the same mistakes from the past.
Unlike Baek I-hae’s lighthearted attitude, Ye Eun-seol’s voice was utterly serious and desperate.
Ye Eun-seol, who remembered the bad ending. Ye Eun-seol, who had memories of being killed by Seo Do-gyeom.
“Sorry, I took the joke too far.”
For him, it must be a future he never wanted to experience again.
Baek I-hae readily admitted her prank had gone overboard and apologized. Then, there was silence on the other end of the line.
He might have been thrown off by her apology. Baek I-hae sighed and continued.
“As a token of my apology, I’ll start by explaining myself…… I saw the scenario where you, as a woman, end up with Seo Do-gyeom as a game.”
For a moment, she worried if the player might interfere with revealing this information, but there was no such restriction.
“Do you know what a dating simulation game is? It’s a game where you, as the protagonist, pursue various male characters, including Seo Do-gyeom.”
-A game? So that’s why you asked about that last time.
Ye Eun-seol muttered softly. Contrary to her concern that he might interrupt midway calling it nonsense, he remained quiet.
With the listener showing such enthusiasm, it was only natural that Baek I-hae felt excited about explaining.
More precisely, she felt a sense of liberation in sharing a situation she couldn’t tell anyone else about.
‘Is it really just about achieving a happy ending? There’s no interference at all.’
While preventing answers that could influence the plot. The player didn’t stop Baek I-hae from sharing information with Ye Eun-seol, the main character.
She stared at the blank space in front of her, where no status window appeared, and spoke.
“In the game I saw, there was no such character as Baek I-hae. I was suddenly pulled into the game and possessed Baek I-hae’s body. I don’t know why, but I’ve been continuously entangled with the family, including Seo Do-gyeom.”
-That’s strange. In the past, Ye Eun-seol was involved with Seo Do-gyeom, but never with the family.
He added that he only knew his father had been murdered and his younger brother had gone astray and lived separately.
At the same time, Ye Eun-seol seemed genuinely confused by her mention that Seo I-heum was still alive.
From his standpoint, with so many things changed, it was understandable.
“Ah, but the uncle being alive is probably because of me? I knew he was going to be betrayed, so I prepared in advance, and it worked out well.”
-Is that allowed?
“Seems like it?”
Thanks to that, she’d been targeted by Chai Ryeong and Baek Yeong and ended up kidnapped, but she kept her mouth shut about that.
It was all in the past anyway, and she couldn’t be bothered to explain every detail.
-So, what are you supposed to do from now on?
“My goal is to return to my original world. To do that, I have to connect the female protagonist with the male protagonist.”
-By male protagonist, you mean Seo Do-gyeom. And the female protagonist is surely……?
Ye Eun-seol swallowed the rest of his words.
It seemed he didn’t want to utter that, even as a joke. But what could she do? Baek I-hae replied calmly.
“Probably referring to you? The goal is to see a normal happy ending……”
-Are you crazy?! I’m a man!
My ears are ringing.
Baek I-hae slightly pulled the phone away and pursed her lips.
“But originally, the one Seo Do-gyeom was obsessed with and liked was you.”
-That was the past Ye Eun-seol! The female Ye Eun-seol! Now I’m a man, and I have absolutely no intention of getting along with Seo Do-gyeom! Not even in death!
“Don’t worry, unlike the previous bad ending, this time I’ll cooperate so we can see a happy ending.”
-What kind of nonsense are you spouting!
Ye Eun-seol huffed in anger before catching his breath. It seemed all his previous acts of feigning nonchalance and composure had been just that—an act.
His inability to easily suppress his anger and fully revealing his emotions must be his true personality. After a long silence, Ye Eun-seol responded.
-So, in that game, my past was a bad ending, huh.
“……Probably. You were killed by Seo Do-gyeom, right?”
-Yeah, fuck.
Whoa.
Baek I-hae picked at her ear at the sweet profanity ringing in it.
“Don’t swear. Wait, no, if I were you, I’d be swearing too.”
-You don’t know. The guy next to you right now is Seo Do-gyeom before he gets obsessed with someone. Do you have any idea how much of a psycho that bastard becomes once he grows up and obsesses over someone under the guise of love?
No, I don’t. And I don’t want to know, nor will I ever have to.
Baek I-hae merely speculated that she might be in the position of Seo Do-gyeom’s first love. It felt unsettling that he would later come to like someone else, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be the object of his obsession.
After all, she’d experienced indirectly through the game just how severe his obsession could be.
-That bastard is insane.
Baek I-hae flinched at the voice uttering those words with utter seriousness. Then, a thought suddenly occurred to her.
Surely, the reason Ye Eun-seol had become a man wasn’t to seek revenge on Seo Do-gyeom, right?
“If you have no intention of getting involved with Seo Do-gyeom, then what’s your goal? Just to avoid getting entangled with him? ……It couldn’t be revenge, could it?”
-I’d love to get revenge. But the current Seo Do-gyeom isn’t the one who killed me. I can at least distinguish that much.
She let out a small sigh of relief at the added words, even though they carried a note of irritation.
But if Ye Eun-seol showed this much aversion to Seo Do-gyeom, achieving her goal seemed difficult.
She let out a groan as if troubled. Whether aware of her dilemma or not, Ye Eun-seol spoke.
-You probably already know, but I’ll say it anyway. Since the change starts from the point of death, I’ll compare it to reincarnation.
“Yeah.”
-In my previous life, I had the same name, but the only difference was the gender—I was a woman. The family and everything else were the same. I transferred schools just like in my previous life and met Seo Do-gyeom.
Tsk, a very faint tongue-clicking sound came through.
-I was curious about the guy. He was always isolated from others, alone, so it felt intriguing and I even pitied him. Though I later realized he wasn’t worth it.
His evaluation of Seo Do-gyeom was quite scathing. Since it was the first time she’d heard someone around him make such an assessment, Baek I-hae felt a refreshing novelty and listened in silence.
-I don’t know why he developed feelings for me. Borrowing your words, maybe it was the fate between protagonists in the game. But for me, it was reality.
In the process leading to the bad ending, it seemed Ye Eun-seol hadn’t felt any love for Seo Do-gyeom.
Even as he explained, there was no trace of longing or sadness in his voice.
-Whether he’s rich or handsome, I couldn’t care less. In the end, I was killed, and for some reason, I started over in a man’s body, but the anxiety is still the same.
“Because you’re afraid Seo Do-gyeom might like you as if it were destiny?”
-Don’t say that out loud; just think it to yourself. It makes my stomach churn.
What a ruthless guy.
Baek I-hae was about to say it again but decided to hold back this time.
-Anyway, my goal is to not get involved with Seo Do-gyeom. And to place another woman by his side, just in case.
“Wow, you’re really awful. You’ve been through that yourself, and you’re trying to put some other girl in as a substitute?”
Muttering in disgust about what would happen if that girl ended up in the same situation, Baek I-hae caused the other side to fall silent.
In the unnaturally profound quiet, Baek I-hae pressed her lips tightly shut.
It suddenly reminded her of Ye Eun-seol’s earlier behavior, checking what kind of relationship she and Seo Do-gyeom had.
“……You weren’t thinking of me as that substitute, were you?”
-Well, seeing how he treats you, it might be okay……?
“Hey, you bastard!”
Baek I-hae clutched the back of her neck at the shameless response. Now she realized that the “substitute” she’d faintly heard mentioned last time meant this.
‘At the time, I thought I’d misheard and just let it go! This guy is just like Seo Do-gyeom!’
If Ye Eun-seol had heard that thought, he would have sternly asked how she could think such a harsh curse.
