SOS! I’m Being Forced to Be a Villain - Chapter 68

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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 68

When it came to swearing, I had been rambling on day after day, and I had insulted Seo Jung-hoo and Kwon Tae-min recklessly or charged at them without reason just as much. I had no idea what more I was supposed to do here.

Still, seeing how the System hadn’t done anything particular to me so far, it must have been quite pleased with my half-hearted efforts. As long as I didn’t go against the System’s judgment, that was enough, regardless of the results.

So I had no intention of walking around the schoolyard with those two, laughing and chatting.

As soon as Seo Jung-hoo opened the infirmary door, I shook off his weak grip that had been leading me. Then I ran straight toward the direction where the staircase was.

I knew I would be caught by those two before long. So this was a kind of show – both to emphasize my will to return to the classroom immediately since I had no interest in the schoolyard, and to show the System my efforts.

When I turned the corner, I could see the staircase leading to the upper floor. I heard familiar voices following behind me as I climbed two steps at once.

“Yu Baek-hwa!”

Then I was startled by a sharp shout that pierced my eardrums and stopped right there.

I turned my head with a sour expression. Seo Jung-hoo, who had somehow followed me right to the bottom of the staircase, looked me over with hurried eyes and then rubbed his face with a troubled expression.

“…You don’t have to go to the schoolyard, you can just go back to the classroom. So let’s go together, slowly.”

I blinked with a sour expression.

“You don’t even eat properly, and running around like that with your body – don’t you know how dangerous that is? Especially if you accidentally tumble down the staircase…”

Seo Jung-hoo’s condition seemed a bit strange. I was too stunned to react, when Kwon Tae-min appeared behind Seo Jung-hoo belatedly.

Kwon Tae-min didn’t say anything particular. But judging by his expression, he seemed just as surprised as Seo Jung-hoo.

I looked back and forth between the two with bewildered eyes. I had naturally thought they would follow me, but I had no idea they would show such a reaction.

Because of that, I unconsciously took a step forward.

If this had been the flat ground of a classroom or hallway, there would have been no problem. But unfortunately, where I was standing now was a staircase.

My body, having stepped wrong into empty air, tilted forward. I reached out belatedly to grab the railing, but my hand couldn’t reach it.

I heard the sound of someone quietly gasping right in front of me. Soon Seo Jung-hoo, who had hurriedly stretched out his arms, caught me.

It was truly fortunate that Seo Jung-hoo was standing right below the staircase, and that I had only climbed two steps. Otherwise, this frail body would have rolled and tumbled, potentially causing a major accident.

…No. A major accident had already happened.

‘Crazy.’

Shit…

It was fine up to the point where my body helplessly collapsed into Seo Jung-hoo’s embrace. Seo Jung-hoo’s embrace, larger than mine, served as a warm and soft cushion, allowing me to avoid pain.

But this wasn’t right.

Coming to my senses a beat late, I pulled away my lips that had been pressed against Seo Jung-hoo’s cheek and turned my head.

I was screwed. That was the only thought I had.

No system window with warning text appeared. Of course not. I hadn’t tried to reveal any hidden truths or secrets of the world.

I had simply, as a mere villain, accidentally pressed my lips to the main character’s cheek, even if it was an accident.

And that was tantamount to touching the System’s reverse scale, sure to draw its wrath.

I could be certain. Even without any particular evidence or basis, my instincts were constantly warning me, flashing red lights.

I could feel Seo Jung-hoo’s heart beating rapidly beyond the chest pressed against mine. His chest rose and fell ceaselessly. But that wasn’t something I needed to worry about.

My heart was pounding several times stronger than Seo Jung-hoo’s. The irregularly racing heart seemed to compress my lungs and stomach entirely, causing nausea I could never get used to to surge up to my throat.

Endless fear and anxiety overwhelmed me.

The bruises on my arms hadn’t even completely disappeared yet, and again…

I pushed Seo Jung-hoo away and escaped from his embrace as if fleeing. Covering my mouth and breathing roughly, I swayed dangerously before being caught by Seo Jung-hoo again.

“Are you okay? Should we go to the infirmary?”

“Come over here first. What if you fall backward and hit your head on the staircase?”

The two voices mixed together and echoed.

“Get yourself together… This won’t do. Kwon Tae-min, carry him to the infirmary. I’ll go find the school nurse.”

“Shouldn’t we go to the hospital?”

“Then let’s go to the faculty office first…”

The voices gradually became blurry and faded into muffled sounds. I tried to blink my trembling eyelids, then collapsed powerlessly like a robot with a dead battery.

* * *

If you make a mistake, you must be punished. That was the creed of those who were my parents in my childhood.

So I was beaten quite often. Mainly on my palms or calves, and the tools varied each time.

I must have done something wrong to receive that kind of discipline. I must have been a child who couldn’t understand with words alone. Many people would think that way. And I, who was still young and ignorant at the time, also considered myself such a child.

Looking back now that I’ve grown up, I couldn’t exactly remember what my ‘mistakes’ were back then, or why my parents had to raise their hands against me. But vague impressions remained. Even with my young heart, I felt somewhat bewildered, wronged, and tears burst forth first in situations I couldn’t understand.

However, such distrust and doubts were quickly forgotten.

“Baek-hwa, you’re very weak, so we’re helping you become stronger by punishing you.”

Looking at my swollen palms or calves, my parents would say such things to me. They didn’t hug me tenderly or tend to my wounds or bring me medicine, but that one sentence that seemed to be ‘for my sake’ was more than enough.

Then as I grew older and felt discomfort, made bad friends and broadened my world, and my longing and expectations for family completely turned into resentment. From that point on, I built walls against them and protected myself.

My parents no longer spouted such ridiculous nonsense to me who had learned to rebel. But that didn’t mean the frequency of beatings decreased.

I couldn’t figure out what they wanted from me. Whether it was a healthy body, a strong mind, talent to do everything well like my brother, or grades that most parents commonly desire.

So I ran away. I desperately avoided them and lived like strangers.

We were strangers to begin with anyway. I had never once been their family. These were people I had no lingering attachment to. So it was natural that I had no expectations either.

Thanks to my much improved physical condition compared to childhood, I no longer needed to go to the hospital, so even the minimal occasions to face my parents were gone. I occasionally exchanged words with my brother who approached me first, but after growing up and realizing how deceptive my brother was, I never spoke to him in a kind tone.

Then my parents died. It happened when I was 16 years old.

The cause of death was a traffic accident. They said the two were riding together in a car when it overturned in an accident, killing them both.

The funeral home, which I experienced for the first time in my life, was cool and, contrary to expectations, subtly warm. I felt warmth there. This place was much better than the hospital room where the harsh smell of medicine stung my nose, better than on my bed in my room where I would dry heave from accumulated stress.

I felt relieved.

I wasn’t sad, so no tears came.

Wearing an ill-fitting black suit, I crouched in a corner of the funeral home and dozed off. Contrary to how I couldn’t fall asleep for days and nights, drowsiness came over me there just by blinking my eyes briefly.

Seeing me like that, people coming and going from the funeral home whispered among themselves.

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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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