I'm a C-Class, but All the S-Classes Are Obsessed with Me - Chapter 20
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 20
But that expression didn’t last long.
“Wow… thank you.”
The moment the warm energy faded, my hand returned to its pristine state as if nothing had happened.
Marveling at it, I clenched my fist and then opened it.
Not a trace of pain, not a scar in sight. More than that, whether it was just my imagination or not, my entire body felt lighter.
[ The Guardian of Taewon remarks that it’s no mere imagination, studying the other Awakener’s hand with particular interest. ]
Embarrassing as it is to admit, this was my first time receiving a Heal from a Healer. I’d never once gone out to clear Field Rifts and Gates.
Except for that day I formed a contract with the Guardian.
[ The Guardian of Taewon notes that now would be the perfect moment for a misunderstanding, popping a salty-sweet dessert into his mouth with eyes glinting with amusement. ]
Right, maybe I should have just dodged it outright.
Receiving an S-rank Heal for a mere scratch like that was about as difficult as winning the lottery.
So I’d been waiting patiently, but Seo Do-hyeok still hadn’t released my wrist.
“Is there something else?”
When I finally broke the silence, his hand flinched slightly.
It was strange that I hadn’t noticed sooner—the way his gaze had moved slowly, methodically, as if checking something.
Soon after, Seo Do-hyeok relaxed his grip and let go.
“Be careful.”
After a long while, his lips opened. Not his usual crisp, understated command tone, but a plain, simple statement.
“Careful about what?”
“Don’t get hurt.”
He added it curtly, then moved past me without hesitation.
My head felt oddly hazy.
I stood still, watching his figure recede into the distance.
‘Maybe I should’ve just ignored it and run.’
The faint warmth lingering in my hand felt strangely irritating.
‘Damn it…’
Whatever. I’d figure it out somehow.
I brushed aside the bangs that had been pricking my eyes, irritable, and turned my steps back toward the Dormitory.
‘How many people did I have to deal with today?’
The thought alone made me sigh. I probably had dark circles so deep from exhaustion they’d settled in all the way down to my chin.
I wasn’t going to look in a mirror and get a shock, was I?
[ The Guardian of Taewon assures me I haven’t aged that badly, taking a long sip of hot water. ]
Which was basically just confirming that my complexion looked terrible right now.
‘First, I’ll go wash up quick and collapse.’
Forget the ramen and all that.
I walked along half-dazed, staring at my feet, and before I knew it I was already inside the Dormitory. I pushed open the door to the room, and just like yesterday, the lights were on, and Hye-rin greeted me from her prone position on the bed.
“You’re back?”
“Yeah.”
Exhausted, I answered briefly and headed straight for the wardrobe. I’d need to go out again in a bit, but I couldn’t keep wearing clothes covered in dust and dirt.
Besides, the shared Laundry Room had shorter operating hours than other facilities, so I had to move quickly.
I was in the middle of mapping out the most efficient route in my head.
“Class B finished ages ago. Why’d you take so long?”
Hye-rin’s matter-of-fact voice reached me. I opened my mouth as I bustled around.
“Oh, I had to help with cleanup afterward.”
“I was starving to death.”
Turning around at the rustling sound, Hye-rin was now lying flat on her back, watching me.
If only things hadn’t dragged on with all that earlier business, I’d have already finished eating ramen and had it digested by now.
“Should I just grab dinner now instead of making ramen?”
“They’re serving Squid Soup tonight.”
“…What else is there?”
At my lukewarm question, Hye-rin picked up her phone. It didn’t take long before her drawling voice filled the space.
“Tastes like garbage.”
That one word settled the matter completely.
It wasn’t just me, apparently—Hye-rin suddenly got up from the bed and came toward me with a suggestion.
“Let’s raid the convenience store. My treat.”
“Oh? What’s the occasion?”
“In exchange, you’re buying the coffee. Deal?”
Hye-rin grinned playfully and gently grabbed my wrist.
As always, nothing in this world came free, and she sure knew how to drive a bargain.
There was no reason to refuse, though.
After that, we stopped by the Laundry Room first, then slipped out through the Academy Gate. As we waited for the signal at the Crosswalk to cross to the place directly opposite, Hye-rin’s clear voice cut through the ambient noise.
“By the way, noona.”
“Hmm?”
“Did you clean up alone?”
“Well… someone did help me. Why?”
Scenes from the past—not even a few hours ago—flooded my mind.
I didn’t want to think about it, but my memory kept dragging those moments back to the surface, uninvited and unwelcome.
Fortunately, Hye-rin didn’t press me about who it was. She just gave a small shake of her head, her pink-tinted hair catching the light.
“The Class B instructor has a reputation for being foul-tempered.”
What? There’s gossip about that?
As someone who’d experienced it firsthand, I’d say the rumor was pretty close to the truth.
It had been nearly three weeks since I enrolled at Raon, and the instructor still shot me looks during class and made snide comments without fail.
‘Ugh, my head suddenly…’
My hand drifted up to my temple of its own accord. And without fail, every time that happened, Baek Seon-woo would pick an ambiguous fight with me over it.
Just then, the signal changed, and we slipped into the flow of pedestrians crossing the street.
Hye-rin linked her arm through mine with practiced ease and continued talking.
“So I figured maybe the instructor had it out for you specifically. I mean, nobody else would’ve helped, right?”
“It was a different instructor today, not the regular one.”
“Then that makes it worse—”
“Besides, I got help three times, so don’t worry about it.”
I brushed it off carelessly. Yet despite my words, an awkward silence settled between us.
The moment we reached the end of the Crosswalk, Hye-rin’s pace faltered. I turned to her with a puzzled expression.
“What’s wrong? Did you forget something?”
“No, that’s not it…”
Hye-rin’s lips moved soundlessly for a moment, then she seemed to come to a decision—her grip on my arm tightened.
“Noona.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you really okay? Seriously?”
A faint crease appeared between her smooth brows.
There she goes again. If she keeps frowning like that, she’ll get wrinkles.
Despite Hye-rin’s concern, I brushed it aside the way I always did. Honestly, there had been annoying moments, but nothing I couldn’t bear, and truthfully, I was fine.
“I’m so fine that it’s practically a problem, don’t you think?”
I tried to lighten the mood with a playful jab, but Hye-rin’s stern expression showed no sign of softening.
‘Maybe I should’ve just stayed at the Dormitory.’
The heavy silence spreading from us seemed to reach outward—people passing by kept glancing over their shoulders at us.
“That’s exactly your problem. Why are you always so unbothered?”
“What on earth—”
“Aren’t you even angry?!”
Hye-rin suddenly wrenched her arm away from mine and raised her voice. Because of it, I made direct eye contact with the people behind her who were waiting at the Crosswalk signal.
I was genuinely untroubled and okay, but I couldn’t figure out for the life of me what the actual problem was.
Besides, there was no way we were hitting up the Convenience Store in this atmosphere.
I racked my brain for a decent excuse but came up empty. All I could do was take the sharp sting of her gaze head-on.
“You know people have been spouting garbage behind your back calling you a C-rank.”
“Hye-rin.”
Did she really have to bring this up here of all places?
If this were Baek Seon-woo, he’d probably weasel his way out of it smoothly enough.
Even as that thought crossed my mind, Hye-rin’s eyes were faintly flushed red, as if she felt even more wronged than I did.
“Honestly, I’m frustrated with you.”
“…”
“Because you just sit there like an idiot, they come straight to me and curse you out.”
I was at a loss for words.
I hadn’t known about that.
Hye-rin and I were in different classes, and even if I was weak when it came to gossip, I wasn’t completely ignorant about rumors concerning myself.
It was just that it wouldn’t benefit me to engage with any of it—most of it was absurd fabrication anyway.
But I never realized that my indifference would splash back onto Hye-rin like that.
“…I’m sorry.”
In the end, those three words were all I could muster.
At that, Hye-rin bit her lip hard, and her eyes grew even redder, threatening to spill over at any moment.
“Look at you, making your little sister cry.”
“You can tell just by looking—it’s clearly your fault.”
The whispers of passersby stung like needles against my skin.
Just then, a stranger’s hands appeared out of nowhere, grasping both mine and Hye-rin’s.
“Oh my, pretty girls like you shouldn’t be quarreling on the street.”
I turned my head in surprise to find an elderly woman with silver hair combed neatly back, speaking slowly with a gentle smile.
“Friends shouldn’t carry on like this. You’re only hurting each other’s feelings.”
“…….”
“When you’re young, you do these things to grow closer. One meal together, and it all blows over—I don’t see why you’re making such a fuss.”
“Ma’am, we’re not—”
“Now, now. Make up quickly.”
The grandmother didn’t give me a chance to protest. She pulled our hands together and forced us to clasp them, then patted the back of my hand a couple of times with satisfaction.
“The thing about people is, the closer you are, the more careful you have to be. If you’re not, you end up like this old woman—regretting it your whole life.”
With those words, she patted the back of my hand once more and slowly moved away, leaning on her cane.
“……What was that?”
I stood there stunned by how quickly it had all happened, watching the direction the grandmother had gone before turning my gaze to Hye-rin.
“That wasn’t some kind of con, was it……?”
The words tumbled out without thinking, and Hye-rin let out a small laugh, then sniffled softly.
“She just seemed like a good person.”
I nodded in agreement with her conclusion. Thanks to that stranger’s interruption, the heavy air between Hye-rin and me had lifted a little.
“Come on, let’s go in, Hye-rin.”
“Hm?”
“We need to grab something.”
I tilted my chin toward the convenience store right in front of us and offered a light smile.
Fortunately, Hye-rin didn’t bring up that subject again.
As I stepped into the convenience store, I made a quiet promise to myself: I’d take Hye-rin to a proper restaurant sometime and buy her a real meal.
I had no idea that such a simple promise would shatter the peace of my ordinary days.
C-rank, Yet All S-rank Awakeners Are Obsessed with Me
Episode 20
Author
| Seo Yu-yeon
Published
| March 6, 2026
Publisher
| TaleSyx Co., Ltd.
Illustration
| Chogeuk
Title Design
| Mallang Kongtteok
Website
| https://talesyx.com/
Email
| [email protected]
© Seo Yu-yeon, 2026
This publication is issued by TaleSyx under contract with the copyright holder and is protected under copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction and distribution in any form or by any means without written permission from TaleSyx is prohibited.
UCI
| G720:N+A277-20260212008.0020
List Price
: 100 KRW
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————