I blinked slowly at the sudden warmth of another person’s touch.
“Are you okay?”
Startled by the unexpected visitor, I hesitated before lifting my head to look at the boy who had stopped me.
It was Lee Soo-hyeon.
He looked down at me with an expression I could not quite read. Perhaps because of the conversation we had earlier, the strange smile he usually wore was gone.
“…I’m fine.”
Lee Soo-hyeon’s lips parted as if he were about to say something, but in the end, he only withdrew his hand. After hesitating a moment longer, he finally spoke.
“Have you had lunch yet?”
The question caught me off guard.
After everything that had happened with Yoo Si-eon that morning, and considering what I had almost done just now, I had been prepared for an interrogation. Instead, I was left completely bewildered. I stared blankly at Lee Soo-hyeon for a moment before shaking my head.
“Get up. Let’s go buy some bread from the snack bar.”
“…What?”
“You need to eat. Don’t tell me you were planning to skip another meal. You look like a skeleton.”
Lee Soo-hyeon reached out to help me up. Guided by his grip, I awkwardly rose to my feet, still unsure what was happening.
“You want to eat with me?”
“Yeah.”
“That doesn’t make any sense…”
Wait.
“Didn’t Yoo Si-eon tell you? About this morning…”
“He didn’t say anything, but I know.”
For a moment, Lee Soo-hyeon’s gaze turned cold. The look vanished just as quickly.
“The whole school is talking about you. How could I not know?”
“Then why…?”
Even without my finishing the sentence, Lee Soo-hyeon understood what I meant. His brows furrowed slightly, as if he were searching for the right words. After a brief pause, he finally muttered,
“…Because I feel sorry for you.”
Sorry?
His gaze shifted away from mine for a moment.
“Yeah. I just feel sorry for you.”
I could not accept those words.
Since when was Lee Soo-hyeon the type to be full of justice or compassion? At least, the Lee Soo-hyeon I knew was not like that. He never hesitated to turn his back on someone who had lost his favor.
So why was he acting differently toward me?
‘There has to be another reason.’
But I did not want to think about it any further. Digging into his motives would only lead to more unnecessary pain, and I did not have the strength to endure that right now.
A Side Quest has appeared!
A loud fanfare pierced my ears.
Side Quest: Have lunch with Lee Soo-hyeon. (0/1)
You’re not thinking of passing up this opportunity, are you?
It seemed I did not have the option to refuse. I lowered my gaze, clenching my hands into fists.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
Suppressing the faint unease stirring inside me, I lifted my head and met Lee Soo-hyeon’s gaze with a neutral expression.
*****
Lee Soo-hyeon drew a quiet breath and clenched his teeth.
‘Yeah. It’s because of that look.’
His gaze fixed on Min Yu-un, who stood in front of him.
Yu-un was strange.
He had changed so much recently. He was the one who had suddenly apologized and asked to be friends. But before that? Yu-un had been despicable, almost hateful. And yet Lee Soo-hyeon had never openly shown his contempt.
It was undeniable that this was still the same selfish, loathsome Min Yu-un.
So why did he feel different now?
Even in this moment, his behavior was striking.
The hesitation in his expression. The restless fingers that fidgeted whenever he was upset. The way his gaze dropped to the floor in resignation.
Those habits were all too familiar.
Lee Soo-hyeon could not possibly forget them, even though they belonged to a past he had buried long ago. Min Yu-un resembled that person so closely that it was hard to dismiss it as mere coincidence.
‘There’s no way I can ignore it.’
“Alright.”
Lee Soo-hyeon quickly shook off his wandering thoughts. His gaze fell to Min Yu-un’s lips as they moved, but before he could respond, Min Yu-un had already stepped past him.
“What are you doing? Aren’t we going?”
Min Yu-un had regained his composure, his gaze indifferent once more. He walked ahead without hesitation, pushed open the classroom door, and stepped into the hallway.
Lee Soo-hyeon could not tear his eyes away.
Too many memories were stirring inside him. He squeezed his eyes shut and buried the past deep in his heart. When he opened them again, Min Yu-un was already far ahead.
Snapping back to reality, Lee Soo-hyeon hurried after him.
*****
Side Quest: Have lunch with Lee Soo-hyeon. (1/1)
You’re not thinking of passing up this opportunity, are you?
Congratulations! You have completed the Side Quest!
As soon as the notification window disappeared, I made an excuse about needing the bathroom and slipped away. Fortunately, Lee Soo-hyeon did not try to stop me.
I still did not know what his motive was, but for now, that was a relief.
Once I confirmed he had turned the corner of the corridor, I changed course. Instead of going to the bathroom, I headed outside the building.
Soon, I reached a small garden beside the sports field. I looked up at the bright blue sky, then crouched down near the neatly maintained lawn.
The grass was full of clovers.
Three-leaf clovers.
They symbolized happiness, didn’t they?
Somehow, that felt like a message that had nothing to do with me.
“Hey, Min Yu-un.”
I called out in a dry voice.
[What.]
Judging by the edge in his tone, he was still annoyed that I had eaten lunch with Lee Soo-hyeon. I hesitated for a moment. Would he even answer if I asked?
But thinking about it alone would not get me anywhere.
“These quests… how many of them are there?”
Maybe I was getting greedy.
The distrust I had been suppressing began to creep back in.
Apologizing. Making friends. And now, trying to draw a positive emotion out of Han Tae-ryeong.
Anyone would start to have doubts at this point.
The system claimed I would be freed once I completed all the quests, but could I really trust that? Did these quests even have an end? Why couldn’t I find peace even after death?
The questions spiraled endlessly.
[One thing’s for sure.]
Unlike his usual sarcastic tone, Min Yu-un’s voice grew serious, just like it had on the first day I heard him.
[If you finish all the quests, you can die. That’s the end.]
I lowered my head and rested my cheek against my knee. The fabric pressed against my face, tilting my view of the world.
Nothing looked any different from when I was alive.
The nearby bushes. The trash can in the corner. Even the sound of footsteps approaching this way.
‘Wait. Footsteps?’
I blinked and lifted my head in a daze.
Across the space between us, Han Tae-ryeong frowned the moment our eyes met.
He had warned me never to show my face in front of him again. Apparently, he intended to pretend I did not exist. He looked away and kept walking, passing me as he headed down the opposite path.
I watched him leave, then abruptly stood.
“Han Tae-ryeong.”
His name slipped out before I could stop it, purely on impulse.
A few steps away, Han Tae-ryeong halted. Slowly, he turned, his icy gaze landing on me.
‘What… What should I do?’
I had called out to him without thinking, and now I could not come up with anything to say.
I had only stopped him because he was the target of my next quest. Knowing his personality, if I hesitated even slightly, he would swear at me and leave. I could not let this rare opportunity slip through my fingers. Approaching him on purpose would be much harder than using this chance encounter.
Quest 3: Draw a positive emotion out of Han Tae-ryeong.
★ TIP: A sweet little tip for the socially awkward you! ★
If you’re not sure what to say, why not talk about something you like?
I glanced at the system window again.
‘Something I like…’
Did I even have anything like that?
While I hesitated, my gaze fell on the clovers covering the garden. I had no more time to waste.
“There are… three-leaf clovers here.”
I pointed at the clovers in the flower bed with my index finger.
Han Tae-ryeong’s expression twisted slightly.
I understood his reaction. After he had warned me not to show my face again, here I was, calling him over just to show him some clovers. No wonder he was annoyed.
I had thought the sight of the clovers, innocent and harmless as they were, might lighten his mood.
Judging by his expression, that plan had completely backfired.
Somehow, I felt guilty. Not just for myself, but for dragging the innocent clovers into this mess.
“…Never mind.”
I dropped my gaze and sat back down, gently brushing my fingers over the leaves.
Each leaf carried a faint trace of life and energy, something bright and vivid, unlike me. The quest was important, but my exhausted mind could only focus on the clovers.
As I carefully stroked the leaves, trying to suppress the heaviness sinking through my chest, footsteps approached and stopped beside me.
A long shadow fell over me, blocking the sunlight.
I raised my head.
“What’s so special about clovers?”
With both hands tucked into his pockets, Han Tae-ryeong looked down at me.
His posture, like his attitude, was full of arrogance.