Conspiracy
The midterm exam period began tomorrow.
With the exam only a day away, we had to turn over a new leaf and study after spending the previous night drinking and celebrating Min Arin’s release.
This was no time to sleep.
[You have to get up! Get up, quick! Yong Haerang! You’re the pride of Joseon! Get up, hurry!]
“Ah….”
“….”
Regardless of gender, we had all gotten drunk and slept in the same room, and Yong Haerang’s alarm was enough to wake us.
When we rose groggily from the floor, the hotel suite in the magical capital had become a pigsty.
The liquor bottles lined up against the wall, the ones rolling around on the floor, the caps from soju bottles with their tails torn off, the half-eaten snacks, and the bomb drinks that Go Eunbi and Nam Yuri had concocted in their drunken rampage….
The traces of the drinking party were vividly visible everywhere.
The book Min Arin had spread out on the table, supposedly to study while drinking, was covered in cookie crumbs.
It was a complete disaster.
As we slowly recalled the previous day, we found that we ourselves were in no better shape.
Some had swollen faces, while others, like me, had hair resembling a magpie’s nest. Every single one of us looked utterly exhausted.
“Gyeonwoo, you’ve got sleep in your eyes….”
“Huh….”
Yeon Haneul, who had slept facing me, rubbed her eyes and pointed it out.
I wiped away the gunk from my eyes as she instructed, then looked around.
I was thirsty.
“Water….”
“…Sit down. I’ll get it.”
“Okay, thanks.”
It seemed Yeon Haneul was thirsty as well.
I stopped her when she tried to get up and decided to fetch water from the refrigerator myself.
As I did so, I checked on everyone else.
“What the hell? When did the screen break?”
“You must not remember. Haerang pressed down hard when the fingerprint recognition wasn’t working, and the screen broke. It turned out he’d mistaken it for Sagon’s phone.”
“Come to think of it, I think that happened. I’m sorry. It was my fault. I’ll pay for the repairs.”
Park Sagon groaned as he examined his smartphone’s shattered screen.
Lisa covered her mouth and yawned.
Yong Haerang bowed his head apologetically.
“Yaaawn…. Arin, what happened to your face?”
“Hm? What about my face… What is this!? Who did this to me!?”
“Arin-Arin! Don’t you remember? Hanbyeol and Dubyeol and I drew it on your face to celebrate your release yesterday!”
“That’s right. Don’t you remember asking us to make it look dignified while we were at it?”
Go Eunbi casually loosened up and stretched.
Min Arin checked the scribbles on her face with a hand mirror and was startled.
Nam Yuri proudly took out a permanent marker and explained what had happened the previous day.
Kang Hanbyeol nodded in agreement.
“Huh? Eundong, why are you wearing my clothes?”
“Then aren’t the clothes you’re wearing Dongdong’s?”
“Why did we switch clothes…?”
The triplets wore awkward expressions as they realized they had exchanged clothes.
Apparently, even their underwear had been switched.
‘Everyone really was drunk….’
Since we needed to prepare for the midterms, we should have moderated our drinking. Instead, we had lost all restraint and gone astray.
Perhaps it was the exam-period boost, but the alcohol seemed to go down much more easily than usual.
I took out some water from the refrigerator and smiled bitterly.
‘But when did she get up onto the bed?’
Meanwhile, Cha Eunseol was still sleeping soundly.
“Snore….”
I could vividly imagine Cha Eunseol, drunk out of her mind, throwing herself onto the bed so she could sleep comfortably even in that state.
I passed by her as she slept while hugging a pillow, then handed the water to Yeon Haneul.
“Here, Haneul.”
“No, you drink first. I’m fine.”
“I can drink afterward, so you go ahead.”
“Then… okay. I’ll drink it well.”
Yeon Haneul accepted the bottle after roughly smoothing down her hair.
I quenched my own thirst after she finished drinking, then passed water around to the others.
Some of them grew tired of waiting and fetched bottles from the refrigerator themselves.
Once everyone had more or less come to their senses, I asked for their opinions.
“How about ordering some hot gukbap through room service? It’ll help with the hangover and fill our stomachs. Who wants some?”
“Me! Me! Me!”
Not a single person objected.
Everyone raised their hands or called out to make their presence known.
“…Me. I want gukbap too. I want bone hangover soup.”
Cha Eunseol, who had woken up at some point, added her opinion.
She wiped the drool pooled at her mouth with the back of her hand, her green eyes sparkling.
Eunseol, wipe the sleep from your eyes too….
* * *
“I’m going back to my room to study on my own from now on, so don’t call me. I’ll take care of both lunch and dinner myself.”
Min Arin said this after finishing every last drop of her gomtang and crunching on the final piece of kkakdugi.
She seemed determined to make up for as much of the time she had lost studying while confined in the disciplinary ward as possible.
Respecting her wishes, our friends readily agreed to let her go.
However, I had something I wanted to ask her.
“Ah, then what should I do? There were a few things from the morning classes I wanted to ask you about….”
The Geumgang Academy’s academic assessment consisted of written and practical exams based on what was taught in the morning classes, as well as exams for the afternoon classes.
I had intended to ask Min Arin for help with the written exam.
At that, she stopped dead just as she was about to leave the room.
“T-Then, do you want to study together in my room?”
“….”
“I’m not exactly inviting you or anything… I’m just saying I’ll let you into my room as a special favor if you really want to. No, that’s not it… Just… come if you want.”
Min Arin couldn’t properly meet my eyes as she twirled a strand of red hair around her finger.
Watching her ramble, I fell into thought.
The written and practical exams for the morning classes were much more important than those for the afternoon classes.
The afternoon classes awarded credits according to the courses selected, whereas the morning classes were divided only into written and practical exams.
For example, one of the afternoon classes, Base Defense, was worth two credits.
Under the overall grading system, if an A+ was converted to 4.5 points, then even receiving an A+ in Base Defense would earn only ‘2 credits × A+ (4.5 points) = 9 points.’
By contrast, the written and practical exams were worth five and ten credits, respectively.
Receiving an A+ on the two exams would result in 22.5 and 45 points.
That was why we needed to place slightly more weight on the morning classes.
‘In that case, studying for the morning exams with Arin would….’
Just as I was beginning to lean toward the idea, Yeon Haneul, who had been beside me, suddenly cut in.
“No, Gyeonwoo. Don’t get in Arin’s way and prevent her from studying for no reason. Study with me instead.”
“I wouldn’t exactly be in her way….”
“She probably couldn’t prepare for the exams while she was confined in the disciplinary ward. You should give her time to study, at least today, with only one day left. What if her grades drop?”
“…Guh…!”
Min Arin’s face twisted.
Yeon Haneul continued with a bright smile.
“And besides, the entire first year is taking the same exam. Is there any need for people in the same class to study together? Wouldn’t it be better for everyone to study together and share information?”
“Hmm…. You’re right.”
“Yeah, so stay here.”
Yeon Haneul’s attitude seemed a little forceful.
Taking note of her subtle pressure, I nodded.
Then I spoke to Min Arin, who was standing by the entrance.
“Sorry. I think I was being short-sighted. You need time to settle down and study too, so I can’t get in your way. I’ll stay here and study with the others.”
“…Hmph! Fine, do whatever you want.”
Min Arin pursed her lips.
She turned sharply and was about to head straight to her room.
Then, through the narrowing gap of the closing door, she poked her head out.
“Still… if there’s anything you don’t understand, well… send me a message or something. If I have time while studying, I’ll specially reply to you.”
“No, Arin. Don’t worry about it. If Gyeonwoo doesn’t know something, I can just teach him.”
“Yeon Haneul….”
“Study hard―.”
“….”
The door closed on Min Arin, who seemed to be grinding her teeth in frustration.
I turned toward Yeon Haneul, who had treated her so coldly.
“Why?”
“…It’s nothing.”
Yeon Haneul tilted her head as if she had no idea what had happened.
Her silent expression clearly told me not to ask, so I kept my mouth shut.
I had thought the same thing while drinking yesterday.
‘Those two still don’t seem to get along….’
Min Arin’s attitude toward me had grown gentler than before, so it was clear that her personality had changed after the incident involving the Thornvine Spire.
It could be said that she had come to genuinely regard us as friends and open her heart to us.
Even so, Min Arin and Yeon Haneul still seemed to have a long way to go before becoming close.
* * *
Simply studying for the exams to get good grades felt like too weak a reward.
It offered no motivation.
After practicing magic with Yeon Haneul in a private room, I decided to take a break and broached the subject.
“Studying all the time is getting boring. How about we make a bet?”
“A bet? What kind of bet?”
Unlike me, who was exhausted from using magic repeatedly, Yeon Haneul, whose mana exceeded 80, showed no signs of fatigue.
She sat beside me as I reclined halfway against the bed, hugging her knees and blinking.
Looking up at her red eyes, I voiced the idea that had occurred to me.
“How about whoever gets the lower score on the midterms buys the meal?”
“A meal? That’s the bet? We’ve already been taking turns buying meals.”
“Not just our usual level of food. Whoever loses has to treat the other to something expensive. How about a salad bar?”
“A salad bar? Going to one after so long wouldn’t be bad. I haven’t been to one since coming to the academy city.”
“Let’s include steak too. We’re practically adults now, so we can drink alcohol freely. We could have beer or wine.”
“We’re not really adults, just legal minors. But sure, sounds good. I’m looking forward to it.”
Yeon Haneul rested her cheek on her knees and responded favorably to my proposal.
Then she giggled and asked,
“But doesn’t that favor me?”
“What does?”
“Betting on our midterm scores. Do you think you can score better than me?”
Yeon Haneul had never lost first place throughout middle school and had even entered the academy as the top student. She was brimming with confidence and looked smug.
Her feelings were plainly expressed through her rabbit ears, which stood perkily upright.
I found her adorable, but at the same time, I wanted to tease her and wipe that smug look off her face, so I slowly moved my hand.
My hand crawled across the floor like a snake and finally grasped her round tail.
Her eyes went wide.
“Eek! How can you touch me all of a sudden?”
“I wanted to check whether your tail was still there. You shouldn’t have teased me, then.”
“My tail is perfectly fine, okay? Geez, stop touching it now.”
“I’ll let go after I touch it a little longer.”
“Ugh….”
I carefully stroked and kneaded her tail, stimulating Yeon Haneul’s senses.
Since it was an area packed with nerves, she reacted sensitively, her body twitching again and again.
She even wiggled her toes as she held back the sounds trying to escape her.
“D-Don’t….”
Her voice trembled.
At the same time, Yeon Haneul moved her hand to take mine away.
However, she merely felt around for my hand without actively removing it.
‘That’s a signal for me to keep going.’
I took it as Yeon Haneul’s indirect permission and touched her tail a little more boldly this time.
Grasping the end of her curled tail, I stretched it out.
The tail that had overflowed between my fingers grew thin and wide, losing its volume.
I played with it as it repeatedly curled up and flattened out beneath my touch.
“D-Don’t keep doing that…. It’s embarrassing….”
“It doesn’t hurt, does it?”
“It doesn’t hurt, but… stop, stoop…. What if the others see us….”
“They’re outside the room, so what does it matter? The door’s closed too.”
“Still….”
Yeon Haneul quietly leaned against me.
I supported her so she wouldn’t fall over and gently rubbed the skin buried beneath her white-and-blue fur.
“Getting back to the bet.”
“Y-Yeah….”
“If we bet on our overall scores, I’d obviously have no choice but to lose. So how about we bet on the score for a specific class instead of our overall grades?”
“Yeah…. A specific class? Which… one…?”
“The Dice Game.”
“The Dice Game?”
I answered Yeon Haneul’s question as her trembling red eyes wavered.
Then I added,
“The Dice Game isn’t a class where studying guarantees a good score.”
“Yeah…. That’s true.”
“It’s a class where luck plays a much bigger role. Wouldn’t that make things more or less even?”
“Hmm…. Okay, fine.”
By then, Yeon Haneul no longer resisted my touch.
She no longer forcibly held back the sounds that unconsciously escaped her, either.
Satisfied by the sight of the previously triumphant Yeon Haneul rendered utterly helpless, I was about to withdraw my hand.
I had recharged myself by touching her tail, so I intended to return to studying.
That was when it happened.
“Haneul! Gyeonwoo! I was talking with the others, and after our exams, we’re all going to Heartland….”
“….”
Go Eunbi suddenly flung open the door and entered.
She stopped short when she saw us, then slowly backed away.
“S-Sorry…. I guess I interrupted you. No wonder I was wondering why you’d closed the door…. Don’t mind me and enjoy yourselves!”
“….”
Go Eunbi hurriedly shut the door and left.
A moment later, she opened it again and poked only her head inside, asking as though she were being considerate.
“Want me to lock the door?”
“….”
“No, I’ll lock it for you before I go.”
Click.
Go Eunbi locked the door without even waiting for our answer and left.
“Ah….”
Yeon Haneul, who had been caught in such a disheveled state by Go Eunbi, seemed to come to her senses.
She smacked my hand away from her tail.
The tremors running through her body traveled through our touching shoulders.
Apparently… she was angry.
“…Haneul?”
“I told you…. What if someone saw us….”
Yeon Haneul blamed me in a low, flat voice.
I tried to placate her as she took out her device.
But I was in such a hurry that I couldn’t think of anything appropriate to say.
“Um, uh… Haneul? Wait a second…. Since Eunbi locked the door anyway… should we do it one more time?”
“Is that all you ever think about? Device, on.”
…But you enjoyed it too.
It was obvious she would only get angrier if I said that, so I swallowed my words and tried to calm her down.
Fortunately, I didn’t get hit by a sledgehammer….
I Became the Mid-Boss’s Childhood Friend