IYBML 05

Chapter 05

Why This Man Has to Be the Male Lead (2)

“I’ll make you the male lead.”

“Male… what?”

“The male lead!”

Eunho stared at me blankly before furrowing his brows. Then he carefully removed my hands from his shoulders.

One step backward. Two steps. When it became three, Eunho stretched out his hand, keeping his distance as if telling me not to come any closer.

“You’re completely nuts.”

“Huh? Me?”

“Don’t come near me. And don’t pretend you know me. What was your name…? Moon Yerim?”

Eunho’s eyes quickly went to my name tag. I hurriedly tried to cover it, but it was pointless. Eunho shook his head.

“Moon Yerim, I don’t know what version of me you liked, but I’m living a life where I can’t be the protagonist anymore. You saw it this morning. The banner came down.”

I naturally looked toward the school gate that Eunho was pointing at. His banner, which had been hanging there until this morning, had disappeared completely, replaced by a huge banner bearing the name of a student who had won a different competition.

“So don’t grab a falling stock. Go find someone else.”

Eunho left behind that cool-sounding line before turning around, his tracksuit fluttering behind him.

What a joke. Since when did you know anything about stocks?

I shouted loudly at Eunho’s retreating back.

“Eunho! Life is all about long-term investing, okay? Long. Term. Investment! Just you wait. I’ll definitely make you the protagonist!”

I almost added that he should have seen the stocks I had held onto and made a profit from through long-term investment, but I stopped myself.

Eunho, already embarrassed by my shouting, was running far away.

And it wasn’t just Eunho. The students leaving school were murmuring as they looked back and forth between him and me.

I waved my hand without caring and told him I’d see him at school tomorrow.

As expected, there was no response, but I wasn’t disappointed.

It was always difficult to get noticed by your favorite in the first place.

*

If I wanted to turn Eunho into a male-lead candidate, becoming close to him had to come first.

I needed to become friends with Eunho before I could introduce him to Semin or do anything else.

From that day on, I visited Eunho’s classroom every single day, trying to get closer to him.

Unlike my efforts, Eunho continued avoiding me.

The cafeteria, library, classroom, rooftop…

There wasn’t a single place where we could possibly run into each other.

It really drove home the fact that Eunho had been an athlete.

After three days passed without any results, I gradually began to grow anxious.

Eunho needed to make an effort before Dogyeom and Semin became any closer….

At the same time, I was worried because Eunho, who was going through his rebellious phase, wasn’t coming to school much.

My mother ladled more soup into my bowl as I ate and said,

“Last time, your father couldn’t come pick you up because of work, but he said he’ll definitely come today. So take the driver’s car to your academy, okay?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“You seem to have gotten your appetite back. You haven’t been eating much lately.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. Was there something stressing you out? If something’s wrong, tell Mom.”

My chest tightened at my mother’s calm advice.

My parents had passed away when I was young, so it had been a long time since I’d heard such warm words from a mother.

Suppressing the sudden rush of emotion, I ate the side dishes my mother had put on my plate.

“Mom, then….”

“Hmm?”

“If there’s someone I want to become friends with, what should I do?”

*

‘Koreans get their strength from food. Try asking him to have a meal with you.’

Following my mother’s advice, I decided to at least have a meal with him today.

Since he was still young, I thought maybe he would understand if I explained things properly.

But Eunho’s seat was empty.

When I asked the other students in his class, they said he had left as soon as the bell rang.

How ridiculous.

Fine, keep avoiding me like that.

Did he think I would give up?

“I’ll stick even closer to you instead! Just you wait. I’ll be very affectionate and….”

“Yerim, what are you talking about by yourself?”

“Waaah!”

Startled by the unfamiliar voice, I spun around.

Behind me, a man in a suit was standing beside a sedan, smiling at me.

“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen something you weren’t supposed to.”

“Wh-Who….”

“Huh? Are you upset because I haven’t been able to come pick you up lately? What can I do? Uncle isn’t very powerful, you know.”

Uncle? He hadn’t been able to pick me up?

I carefully went over the context of our conversation, then remembered everything from the moment I first transmigrated until today.

‘You were always complaining that you didn’t want to take public transportation. You’ve forgotten everything, haven’t you? Completely forgotten. Wait at the back gate after you’re done. The driver will come.’

‘Last time, your father couldn’t come pick you up because of work, but he said he’ll definitely come today. So take the driver’s car to your academy, okay?’

Ah!

That day, he ultimately couldn’t come pick me up, so I went by myself.

But I hadn’t been disappointed.

If the driver had come, I wouldn’t have been able to talk to Eunho.

I bowed my head toward the driver.

With a friendly smile, the driver opened the rear door for me.

I looked at the students passing by outside the window.

I’d go to the academy, sit through a few classes, then go home and make a plan for how to turn Eunho into the male lead.

“Huh?”

It happened as the car was passing through an intersection.

Between a convenience store and an alley, a familiar sports shirt and naturally wavy hair caught my eye.

Bae Eunho?

I pressed my face close to the window and looked at the bespectacled boy standing beside Eunho.

Judging by his school uniform, he went to our school too….

“Ah, why does this feel so familiar…?”

[‘That’s Bae Eunho, right? The guy who quit judo and supposedly became a delinquent….’

‘Yeah. I heard he beat the crap out of a boy at our school last time and almost got forcibly transferred.’

‘The boy with glasses?’

‘Yeah. The class president of Class 8!’]

I remembered.

Those were the words the students at school had whispered when Eunho quit sports and began wandering around aimlessly!

Judging by the timing, the bespectacled boy Eunho was taking into the alley right now really was the Class 8 president from the rumors.

“I’ve arrived. I’ll come back at ten.”

“Thank you!”

I immediately got out of the car and ran through the back entrance of the academy.

Then I started running toward the intersection where Eunho had been.

If Eunho hit that kid and rumors spread, Semin would definitely hear about it, and she would become afraid of Eunho.

No.

I wanted their first meeting to at least be a good one!

“You crazy bastard!”

Just as I entered the mouth of the alley, an unfamiliar voice rang out loudly.

A boy wearing a different school uniform was swinging his fist at someone.

I stopped running and hid myself.

Soon, kicks came from the opposite direction as well.

I cautiously poked my head out and narrowed my eyes to get a better look at the person on the other side.

The person fighting back from the opposite side was, unsurprisingly, Eunho.

I wanted nothing more than to grab Eunho right away and stop him, but when I saw something in the other boy’s hand, I changed my mind.

That’s… a wooden club.

That guy had really crossed the line.

Using a weapon? What a coward.

The answer to dealing with cowards was the police.

Eager to demonstrate what a model citizen I was, I hurriedly took out my phone.

“Uh, uhhhhh!”

Before the ringing even finished, I slipped on the cans behind me and fell flat on the ground.

And to make matters worse, I took down dozens of boxes stacked up like a tower along with me.

“What the hell are you?”

I reached out to find the phone that had fallen onto the ground.

One of the boys on the other side spotted the screen displaying 112 and let out a hollow laugh.

“Hey, that bitch called the cops on us?”

Ah.

I was screwed.

Seriously.

I awkwardly raised my head a little, and Eunho and the bespectacled boy were staring at me.

“…You really followed me all the way here?”

“No, I thought you were… beating him up….”

“What? What do you take me for…? Hey, you tell her. Did I hit you?”

“N-No! Eunho saved me. They were trying to take my money.”

“What?!”

Then did that rumor turn out to be completely false too?

Author, you should have included a scene correcting the misunderstanding in the novel!

I sprang to my feet and looked at the Class 8 president hiding behind Eunho.

He was completely fine, without a single bruise.

“So it really was true….”

“Do you think I’m some gangster? That I just go around beating people?”

“No, I—!”

“You bastards…! Are you looking down on us right now? And who the hell are you to butt in?”

The boys on the other side, having lost control of the situation, seemed angry at being ignored and pushed me from behind.

I lost my balance from their sudden action and staggered.

Eunho quickly caught my arm.

“Get out with him for now. I’ll take care of this.”

“You can’t fight! I already called the police. You’re coming out with us too.”

If Eunho got mixed up with these guys, things would definitely get worse.

I grabbed both the Class 8 president’s hand and Eunho’s at the same time and tried to lead them out of the alley.

But then one of the boys raised the wooden club in his hand.

“You little bitch!”

This is how I’m going to die after only a few days of being transmigrated here.

Just as I thought that and squeezed my eyes shut, I felt nothing hit my body.

I carefully opened my eyes.

The wooden club that had been threatening me moments ago had fallen to the ground in two pieces.

I turned my gaze toward Eunho.

“Where do you think you’re touching her? How many times do I have to tell you? I’m your opponent.”

Eunho said it as he swept his hair back.

Semin.

No, Author.

Even after thinking about it again, I still couldn’t believe our Eunho wasn’t the male lead.

Eunho had everything it took to be the perfect male protagonist!