SOS! I’m Being Forced to Be a Villain - Chapter 55

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 55

My eyes rolled slowly.

If I returned to the classroom right now, I would probably be tormented by Seo Jung-hoo and Kwon Tae-min again. There was no way they would have left in this short time, nor would they retreat even if I went back and made a fuss telling them to get lost.

I didn’t want to encounter them as much as possible. I had clearly realized last weekend that it was better to avoid creating any contact points with them if at all possible.

So this might be a good opportunity for me.

“Where should I move it to?”

“Huh, what?”

“The box. You said you needed someone to move it for you.”

Without waiting any longer, I bent my knees. I lifted up the box that was about half the size of my torso. I hesitated for a moment at the weight that wasn’t exactly light, but that was only briefly. I quickly regained my balance and straightened my body.

“…If you’re willing to move it, I’d be grateful. Just take it to the Art Room.”

The Art Room. That place wasn’t too far from either the faculty office or the classroom. But it wasn’t in a direction where I might accidentally run into Seo Jung-hoo and Kwon Tae-min, who would come looking for me when I didn’t return quickly. It was on a different floor.

“Yes. The Art Room.”

“Just put it on top of the drawer at the back when you get there. I’d be even more grateful if you could tear off the tape and open the box.”

I nodded as if I understood and finally turned my back. My steps into the hallway were light and cheerful for the first time in a while.

‘Are you watching my desperate efforts to somehow escape from those two, you System bastard?’

Even though I knew my inner shout wouldn’t reach anyone, I didn’t stop being sarcastic.

* * *

The Art Room where classes hadn’t started yet was quiet. I entered the space filled with a cool chill and turned on the lights. Then I headed to the back of the classroom as the homeroom teacher had mentioned.

I placed the box on top of a drawer that came up to my waist. I rubbed my arms that had gone numb from carrying something quite heavy up the stairs.

‘I need to hold out here until morning assembly ends.’

There was an additional 5-minute break between morning assembly and the start of first period. I planned to stubbornly hold out until then and return to the classroom once the class start bell rang.

Since the homeroom teacher was the one who asked me to run this errand, they wouldn’t bother looking for me even if I didn’t attend morning assembly. Even the math teacher in charge of first period wouldn’t scold me too harshly if I said I was a bit late because I was doing something the homeroom teacher asked me to do.

‘Besides, I’m currently being treated as a student with a weak constitution.’

I glanced around briefly. After checking the clock hanging high on the wall, I rummaged through the drawer to find a box cutter.

As befitting a knife frequently used in the Art Room, I could see that the blade was extremely dull. While there were separate tools for cutting styrofoam or foam board, there weren’t many of them, so box cutters were mostly used. So it was inevitable that a blade that was probably several years old would be inadequate.

‘Still, it should be sharper than a pork cutlet knife.’

It was a useless memory that suddenly came to mind. Just an ordinary memory of the first time I ate together with Seo Jung-hoo and Kwon Tae-min after being dragged along by them.

I didn’t want to think about it anymore. Sighing, I irritably pulled out the blade. A threatening scraping sound echoed through the silent space.

Soon I cut the tape on the box. Or rather, I tried to cut it.

“…Damn, why is this happening.”

How could even a mere tool not be on my side?

The blade was so dull that the tape wrapped tightly around the box simply wouldn’t cut. It was the same no matter how many times I tried.

Even when I applied more force thinking it wasn’t enough, or when I pulled the blade all the way out, the result didn’t change. Instead, I had to stop because the thin blade bent as if it would break at any moment.

Muttering savage curses, I glared at the dull blade with fierce eyes.

“Now even inanimate objects are acting up, damn it.”

It seemed better to use a different box cutter. Surely not all the knives in the Art Room were in this condition.

Swallowing a sigh, I was about to push the blade I had fully extended back in.

Bang! A sharp crash suddenly echoed. I could tell it was the sound caused by the Art Room door being roughly thrown open behind me.

But unlike my head which quickly grasped the situation, my body couldn’t just react calmly and move on.

I was so startled by the crash that I trembled and dropped the box cutter. The tool, with its blade still extended, floated in the air for a moment before falling downward.

On the opposite side, a sharp pain spread across my left wrist in an instant.

“…Ugh.”

I grimaced and let out a reflexive groan.

I had no time to worry about the box cutter that had fallen to the floor and was rolling around with a clatter. A long wound had formed on my pale, slender wrist that had been exposed because I had rolled up my sleeves to wrestle with the box. The amount of blood droplets that sprouted increased gradually and finally began dripping down.

A cold pain stabbed at my wrist. Even though it was just a single line of a wound. I clenched my fist at the unbearable sensation, then quickly relaxed when I saw more blood seeping out.

“…Blood.”

My lips trembled.

I had countless and varied experiences of being hit, more than I could count on both hands. But that didn’t mean I had much experience seeing blood.

I was used to the dull pain of being struck, and I had seen bruises and handprints left as traces to the point of being sick of them. But blood…

‘…What’s so scary about blood?’

Even back when I couldn’t cook at all, I often cut my fingers.

What am I being afraid of now all of a sudden?

This wasn’t the time for this. I needed to stop the bleeding first. Apply medicine as usual, put on a bandage, and then it would be quickly resolved without anyone’s help.

“I wondered why you weren’t coming back no matter how long I waited.”

I whipped my head around at the muttering I heard right beside me. Seo Jung-hoo and Kwon Tae-min, who had approached without me noticing, were looking down at me with calm, undisturbed faces.

Seo Jung-hoo’s eyes, which had been staring at me intently for a moment, moved. It was obvious what was at the end of that gaze.

I wanted to hide it. I thought I needed to hide it to protect myself.

I urgently reached out to pull down my sleeve to cover the wound. But before I could even try, my wrist was quickly caught as it moved through the air.

“Don’t touch it. You might make the wound worse if you do it wrong.”

What reached my ears next was Kwon Tae-min’s quiet voice. Noticing my body trembling excessively, he loosened his grip. But that was all – the hand holding my wrist remained firmly in place with no sign of letting go.

It was the same even when I tried to shake my arm free.

“…Let go. Why are you suddenly appearing again and acting up!”

I struggled with all my might. Meanwhile, Seo Jung-hoo, who had crouched down, picked up the box cutter.

“Baek-hwa… Yu Baek-hwa. Acting up, you say.”

Seo Jung-hoo let out a small hollow laugh, then twisted his lips up in a bitter smile. The distorted expression, far from softening the atmosphere as the dictionary definition of ‘smile’ would suggest, made it even more chilling.

After fiddling with the box cutter a few times, he retracted the blade. The blood-stained blade disappeared into the handle. However, red blood was still visible through the gap.

Soon Seo Jung-hoo stood up.

“I think I know well enough without having to check, but I’ll ask just in case.”

“…”

“What were you doing. With a knife.”

I stopped struggling and moved my lips.

What was I doing with a knife?

“I, I was trying to open the box! It’s an errand for the teacher!”

I was so flustered that I couldn’t help but stutter. Perhaps because of that, the atmosphere felt like I was being interrogated, so I even pointed my finger up at the box on the drawer. The very same box I had been struggling so hard with just to cut a piece of tape.

Seo Jung-hoo’s gaze followed the tip of my finger. Kwon Tae-min’s grip holding me was still there, but I could feel that he too was examining the box that had become the root of all evil.

I nervously glanced at Seo Jung-hoo while gauging the situation.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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