Chapter 9. Ten Conditions for Becoming the Male Lead (3)

“Anyway, you really have to give it to Mun Yerim. Whenever she causes trouble, she really goes all out. Did you seriously call the driver and tell him to bring a lawyer?”

I had prepared myself for a lecture, but I hadn’t expected Mom to hound me for nearly an hour after dinner.

Even while lecturing me, Mom peeled a kiwi for me to eat. I stuck a piece of kiwi onto my fork and leaned back against the sofa.

I thought that was a clear enough sign that she should stop, but Dad took over where Mom left off.

“So what else was I supposed to do? My friend and I were about to get falsely accused of something.”

“You should have called Dad first. Do you have any idea how shocked I was when the lawyer called me? And how did you even know Attorney Kim?”

Well… Attorney Kim made a brief appearance later in the webnovel, so I knew about him.

Since he was an extra, I’d just blurted out his name without thinking.

If that didn’t work, I had even come up with a backup plan where I would ask the driver to pretend to be a lawyer.

But in my wildest dreams, I hadn’t imagined that Attorney Kim was actually my father’s company’s lawyer.

Either way, since the trouble I’d caused was pretty serious, I figured the best thing to do was apologize.

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

“What lawyer….”

“Who did she get that spirit from? You, honey?”

“Hey, it wasn’t me.”

“I feel like you’re both trying to pass the blame to each other right now. Am I imagining things?”

At my question, Mom and Dad looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

The atmosphere seemed to have loosened up, so I laughed along with them.

Dad took my fork and speared a piece of bread with it.

“We raised our only daughter pretty well, didn’t we, honey?”

I smiled back at my father as he fed me a bite of bread and my mother watched us fondly.

My parents had died when I was young, so I’d never really imagined what it would have been like to share moments like this with them.

But now I found myself thinking that Yerim must have been very happy.

“Since I’m feeling generous, Dad will drive you to school tomorrow. Come ride with me.”

“Really?”

“Of course. My daughter is going to school, after all.”

For the time being, I was Mun Yerim.

It felt a little unfair to the real Yerim, but I wanted to enjoy this feeling for a little longer before eventually returning.

Of course, I had to stay long enough to see our Eunho become the male lead.

*

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

I got to the classroom early and stared intently at Semin’s seat and Dokyeom’s seat.

I’d been too preoccupied with everything that had happened lately to pay much attention to the two of them.

Now that everything had been sorted out, the only thing I needed to focus on was the Bae Eunho Male Lead Project.

On top of that, I’d already gotten a little ahead of myself, thinking that I’d become somewhat closer to Eunho because of what happened yesterday.

Of course, Eunho might not have felt the same way.

I pointed at Han Dokyeom’s seat with my finger and muttered,

“Han Dokyeom, wait just a little longer. Once Eunho becomes kinder… you’re finished.”

“Were you looking for me?”

“Ah! You scared me!”

I turned around.

Dokyeom was standing there with his backpack on, looking at me.

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

Or had I?

Maybe trying to change the ending was a crime.

Dokyeom naturally walked past me and sat down in his seat.

“Why are you… here?”

“Why? It’s a weekday, so I came to school.”

“Right… haha.”

“Oh, and thanks for that day.”

“When?”

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

If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even have been able to find the teachers’ office, let alone my classroom.

I felt an inexplicable sense of guilt at Dokyeom’s words.

No, it’s fine. If I hadn’t been there, Semin would have found you just like in the webnovel, and the two of you probably would have become friends a little sooner….

Yep.

It really did feel like I was committing a crime against Dokyeom.

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

“Ah, not yet…. But there is someone I want to become friends with.”

I knew it.

My guilt lasted only a moment.

I shouldn’t feel sorry.

Even if I felt guilty, this guy was a natural-born male lead. He would approach Semin on his own!

But the greatest advantage in this world was me, the person who knew the entire story.

Which meant that Eunho and I had the upper hand.

“Who? Semin?”

“How did you know?”

“Uh… it was pretty obvious.”

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

So even the male lead could get embarrassed.

It was rather cute.

Of course, I clearly had a favorite and a second favorite, but I did like Dokyeom, too.

“Hmm… but….”

I deliberately hesitated.

Dokyeom stood up from his seat with a curious expression and took a step toward me.

I dragged out the moment before finally speaking.

“Semin feels uncomfortable when people approach her too quickly.”

“Really?”

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

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

Dokyeom’s face brightened now that he’d found a way to approach her.

I almost felt guilty again.

But seeing the determined look on Dokyeom’s face made him look so much like the male lead that I started to feel uneasy.

No matter what happened, I couldn’t let my guard down.

If I let my guard down, our Eunho would end up as the second male lead.

“But why didn’t you come to third period yesterday?”

“Huh? Ah… something came up.”

“Was it because of Bae Eunho?”

“You know Bae Eunho?”

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

“On the rooftop?”

“Yeah. Oh, I heard the rumors, too. That he once broke the judo club’s door.”

“What? The judo club’s door?”

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

The judo club’s door?

The rooftop?

I’d never heard any of this before.

Besides, the first time those two met was definitely….

[“What do you want? Did I say you could talk to me?”

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

As far as I remembered, Semin and Eunho first met in the cafeteria, and I saw Eunho for the first time when he came looking for her in the classroom.

Dokyeom had been displeased by Eunho approaching Semin as though he were threatening her, while Eunho had been irritated by Dokyeom getting in his way.

But now, Dokyeom and Eunho’s first impressions and even their first meeting had changed.

Could something be changing?

No, that’s impossible.

Even if I tried to change things, wouldn’t they eventually end up meeting the same way Semin and Dokyeom had in the original story?

An extra couldn’t change something like that.

Well, unless it was Eunho.

“But there’s no way Eunho could know what’s happening and act accordingly….”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Ah, nothing.”

While we’d been talking, the other students began filling the classroom one by one.

I sat down and continued thinking about Dokyeom and Eunho’s first meeting.

“Wait a second… our Eunho came to school today, right?”

If what happened yesterday had hurt him so badly that he decided not to come to school….

My heart would break.

But my worries lasted only a moment.

The classroom door opened with a rough noise.

The students, including me, naturally turned toward the sound.

Dokyeom did the same.

“What? It’s Bae Eunho.”

“Why is Bae Eunho here?”

“Why did he come to school at this hour?”

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

Moving his arm encased in a cast, Eunho strode toward us with his long legs.

Could he be looking for Semin?

I couldn’t let him show Semin this delinquent-like side of himself….

I turned around.

Thankfully, Semin hadn’t arrived at school yet.

“Hey. Mun Yerim.”

But in my wildest dreams, I hadn’t expected that the person Eunho was looking for would be me, not Semin.

Eunho sat in the empty seat across from me and stared at me silently.

I had no reason to avoid his eyes, so I stared right back.

A suffocating silence followed.

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

Of course he did.

He was my favorite, after all.

If only he could lose that delinquent-like aura….

“I thought about it yesterday, and I feel a little wronged about all this.”

“What do you mean?”

What exactly was he feeling wronged about?

I’d cleared his name and even made those parents apologize!

Eunho raised his cast-covered arm.

“My arm.”

“…Huh?”

“I’ve been completely overwhelmed because of you lately, and now I even got hurt. And then there was that whole mess yesterday.”

“……”

“So pay me back.”

“W-What?”

“You’re asking because you don’t know? You need to pay my hospital bill. My arm got messed up because of you.”

[“You’re asking because you don’t know? You need to pay for the dry cleaning. You ruined my uniform.”]

This is insane.

Something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

I covered my mouth and shook my head.

This wasn’t the scene I wanted.

The order of events had changed.

The content had completely changed.

The entire plot had changed.

What I wanted to change was….

“Hi, Semin.”

The classroom door opened.

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

Dokyeom, who was standing near the door, spoke in his gentle voice.

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

Eunho gave me an ominous smile.

Where… did everything start going wrong?