I Don’t Want to be a Villainess

“Hey, Sara.”

As always, I was in the Student Council Room, preparing to go home while ignoring all the complaints from students. Then Son Ah-reum decided to strike up a conversation with me.

“Yeah?”

It wasn’t unusual for Son Ah-reum to call out to me. The problem was that whenever she did, it usually led to less than pleasant situations. Casual chats were fine, but work-related ones? No thanks. I was in this situation because of her anyway.

“Finals are coming up.”

“Uh, yeah… that’s true?”

I shot a skeptical glance at Son Ah-reum. Was she bringing up something exam-related? Did the Student Council have some duty for finals? If there was, I had zero interest in participating. I’d just grab a committee member and skip town.

“How’s your studying going?”

“Uh…”

To be honest, it wasn’t going ‘exceptionally’ well. That said, I wasn’t planning on failing outright, but it was hard to focus. I figured with money in hand, there was no need to study. Even if I inherited a company, I had no intention of managing it. Sara probably wouldn’t want to handle it either.

Of course not.

Yeah. Sara had a much stronger slacker tendency than I did. If given the choice, she’d likely prefer to snooze on her bed all day, living in a dream while occasionally poking her fingers around.

…Aren’t you being a bit harsh?

So, it’s not wrong?

No, I mean, it’s not like it’s wrong, but don’t you think your tone is a bit sharp lately?

Well, I was kinda aware of that.

The more I talked with Sara, the more I opened up, making arguing with her a normal part of my day. Surprisingly, it was quite enjoyable. I felt significantly closer to her than when we barely knew each other or just understood bits and pieces of one another.

…Hmph.

See? Even Sara thinks so!

Strangely enough, when we talked without looking at each other, our bickering felt like a friendly duel. That mischievous attitude of hers was strangely cute.

Of course, these days she was much taller than me, which was a little intimidating.

“Sara?”

Oh. Unfortunately, whenever I snapped back to reality, it felt like our train of thought was still connected. I didn’t feel like time sped up or slowed down like when dreaming. It was more like Sara’s invisible presence was at my side.

It meant I couldn’t have a conversation with anyone else at the same time as I talked with Sara.

“Yeah?”

“How’s your studying going? Is it going well?”

Son Ah-reum asked me again.

“Oh, uh…”

I glanced at Ha Neul, who was busy clearing papers off my desk. She was acting like she was in slow motion while trying to stay focused on our conversation. When our eyes met, she fumbled a bit and resumed working.

Well, that’s that.

Honestly, I couldn’t say that I was the smartest, and I wasn’t able to recall everything I’d just slacked off on during the first semester. If I remembered the class as a whole, I’d consider it a huge achievement.

But I still had an excellent teacher.

Ha Neul might look unassuming, but she was actually among the top students in the entire school.

I thought there might have been some drop in rankings because I slacked off, but Ha Neul clung stubbornly to her spot at the top, refusing to fall. She wasn’t disappointed just because she wasn’t ranked first… Well, if she were only two places lower and was this upset, I’d feel especially awkward.

Lately, Ha Neul had been closely monitoring me. During classes, she’d show me her notes… and she’d put pressure on me to memorize them.

If I couldn’t memorize them properly, she’d even follow me home, persistently tutoring me. Her enthusiasm was probably greater than that of all the teachers at Hwayoung High School combined.

So, while I couldn’t say I was doing incredibly well, I could claim to be getting by.

“I’m doing my best… sort of.”

But I wasn’t the type to study voluntarily, so I couldn’t honestly say I was working super hard. To soften that a bit, I added, “I’m doing my best… in my own way.”

Effort?

Of course, Sara, who was closest to me, knew better than anyone that I wasn’t putting in much effort at all.

Ah, then you do it.

My apologies.

“……”

I was taken aback by how quickly that came out.

“Oh, I see…”

Son Ah-reum pouted at my answer. Her stupid hair drooped down.

…Why?

If this were the usual Son Ah-reum, she’d prefer me to say I was studying hard. The diligent model student wouldn’t just let me lounge around without putting in the work. If she heard I was ‘doing my best,’ I’d expect her to nod approvingly and say, “I see.”

But looking at her attitude, it felt like she wanted me not to be working hard.

Could it be that she gets enjoyment from berating others? No, she didn’t seem like that bad of a person.

“Then I guess this isn’t needed…”

Son Ah-reum let out a sigh while looking down at the notebook she was holding close to her chest.

“…What’s that?”

It seemed polite to ask, so I cautiously inquired about the notebook.

“Oh, this is my class notes. Since I’m a scholarship student, I feel like there’s no shame in showing my notes to others.”

“Oh, really?”

But… did that mean she wanted to show me her notes?

I understood all too well how important taking notes was for a student; I had felt that during both high school and college.

In high school, there weren’t many kids who were that uptight about it. In college, though, it was rare for anyone to show off their notes. Sure, they might share assignments, but their exam notes were a big no-no.

I guess they’ve been evaluated on a comparative basis. If I showed my notes and someone scored better, they’d be furious.

Then again, taking good notes wasn’t easy either. If you put in the effort to focus and write diligently throughout class, it made sense that you wouldn’t want lazy classmates asking for your notes.

“Um…”

Son Ah-reum hesitated in front of me, looking torn.

Seems like she wanted to share her notes but had no real justification to do so.

“Uh, could you show me just a little bit?”

Was that an okay question?

But thankfully, my worry was completely unwarranted. As soon as Son Ah-reum heard my words, her face flushed, and she quickly handed over the notebook.

Can I really look at this?

I was the one who had barely kept my eyes open in class and had been dozing off, occasionally poked by Ha Neul. Now I was getting a free pass to someone else’s painstakingly gathered efforts!

Even though I hadn’t asked first, I felt a pang of guilt as I opened Son Ah-reum’s handed notebook.

…And it was truly impressive.

I had almost forgotten that Son Ah-reum, with her incompetent hair and shy demeanor, was a scholarship student and a lead committee member.

This notebook was a compilation of English lessons. Notes from class were crammed in there neatly.

Son Ah-reum’s straightforward personality was reflected in her notes, and each character was written with care. It looked like she had written each letter with consideration.

There were even tips printed on bookmarks carefully interspersed throughout, highlighting all the dedication that went into making this notebook!

Of course, I had also seen Ha Neul’s notes. They were definitely the notes of a top student. They were well organized and easy to read, hard to forget.

But this notebook… it was something else.

It was more than just ‘effort.’

This notebook belonged to someone who actually enjoyed learning.

It was a notebook of a person who relished attending classes; creating this was akin to crossing into the hobby realm.

I looked up at Son Ah-reum.

Now that I thought about it, why had she come to this school?

Ha Neul admired this school. It was a school so fancy it felt like it belonged in a manga, and she reshaped herself to fit in here.

But what about Son Ah-reum?

…Maybe she simply liked studying.

The teachers here had horrible personalities, but outside, they were fairly famous instructors.

Assuming she didn’t doodle during class, what they had to teach was definitely worth listening to.

Perhaps Son Ah-reum had come to this school to study.

…If that’s the case, then out of everyone I’ve met, she’s the most noteworthy person I’ve seen.

I looked up at the blushing Son Ah-reum and made that assumption.

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