# Chapter 7
## Escape Attempt
My memory was completely blank. Somehow I must have taken care of myself enough to crawl back home. When I woke up, I was in the house where the novel’s Gu Haejin lived. I remember mixing somaek and downing several glasses, but everything after that was cut off as if with scissors. I think I might have met someone and talked, but fuck, I can’t recall anything. Nothing… serious happened, right?
Fortunately, the next day was a weekend, so I spent nearly half the day lying in bed after waking up, suffering from a considerable hangover. Gu Haejin is terribly weak with alcohol. Aren’t protagonist types usually good at drinking alcohol like it’s nothing? Why is he like this? Could this be what they call gap moe?
“Pfft!”
Ah, cringe. I laughed out loud without even realizing it.
Then I quickly shut my mouth as the classroom atmosphere suddenly became eerily quiet, like an ebb tide. Ah, this is uncomfortable. Sitting in the window seat at the very back—the seating arrangement is so predictable—I watched my classmates flinch at my every move, thinking that people in this world really live exhausting lives.
If there’s one thing I like about being here, it’s that Gu Haejin isn’t in the same class as his trio—Ion, Hanseo, and Amin. That means during class time at least, I can filter out all that nonsense about apex, Devil, and rankings. But there was a hidden obstacle: the entire class.
They’re so quiet that I can hear everything they say, yet they still insist on whispering. According to them, they feel tremendous pride (why?) and awe (fuck) that “Gu Haejin, the apex of Devil, ranked second in the national Iljinhoe” is in their class.
For example, if I express amazement at a textbook I’m seeing for the first time in six years since graduating:
“Oh my! The apex is impressed!”
“I wonder what surprised him. I’m curious.”
Or if I unconsciously yawn during morning self-study because I’m sleepy:
“Wow. So adorable. Indeed, he’s beautiful no matter what he does.”
“The apex is sleepy, yet this school is crazy enough to force morning self-study!”
“…As expected of the Thousand-Year Prince.”
Wow. The reactions. So hot!
We shouldn’t forget that Shinju High School, where I attend, is an all-boys school. So all of them are black-haired guys. Ugh. I never thought I’d live to be praised by men! I seriously want to blow them all up.
Yet strangely, I felt somewhat bitter seeing these guys who, whether out of timidity or whatever, never actually spoke to me. Even my desk was the only one without a partner, leaving me all alone. Fuck, it’s so depressing.
When I was in high school, I had several friends who would joke around, eat tteokbokki, and go to PC rooms together… But now, I only have guys like the trio who have hot reactions but don’t approach me, or if they do, they just spout creepy gang talk. How can there be no decent guys? I wiped away tears that weren’t even there.
“Class is starting. Everyone turn to page 102.”
The bell signaling the start of class had rung, and the teacher entered. First period was math. Calculus, even. Wow. How long has it been since I’ve done calculus? Actually, it’s my weakest subject and section, but right now I was incredibly glad to see it. Come to think of it, who would have thought I’d be attending high school again at this age?
I hadn’t given up on escaping from the damn Iljinhoe, which was the first step to living as an ordinary Gu Haejin.
Of course, on the first day, I had the courage to announce that I was quitting as apex at that crazy assembly, but in such an unpredictable novel world, it seems that suddenly quitting was impossible. Rather than succeeding, I had gloriously failed while boosting the gang members’ morale, so I decided to change my strategy a bit.
The new plan was to gradually and subtly distance myself. Out of sight, out of mind… I’m not sure if that’s the right saying to use here, but whatever. None of that matters! To become an ordinary Gu Haejin, I first need to distance myself from the gang. Since fighting is the main daily activity of gang members, I should now focus on studying. Since I’ve done it before, I should be able to do it better. (Actually, no.) Then maybe I can even aim for the regular college entrance exam!
I looked at the pristine, clean math textbook that showed no trace of having been used in class and smiled triumphantly. From now on, I’ll fill you with all kinds of notes and problem-solving traces! Mwahaha.
…But I failed because there was no pencil case or anything at all.
Shit. I didn’t expect much, but as a student, shouldn’t you at least have one basic pen? Come to think of it, I came to school empty-handed today too. I was the problem. Damn… Feeling utterly deflated, I covered my face with my hands.
Wait a minute.
To become an ordinary student, studying is important of course, but isn’t making normal, decent friends who aren’t gang members the priority? Either rise through connections or just cross the line and go to juvenile detention. Anyway, the influence of human relationships is enormous. Let me try to borrow a pen and pretend to be friendly. A model student would be better if possible.
Since I was a pitiful human without even a desk partner, I had no choice but to tap the back of the guy sitting in front of me, whose back of the head looked calm. The guy in front, knowing it was me, turned around trembling as if he’d seen a ghost. I smiled brightly at this guy whose name I didn’t even know.
“Hey, you know.”
“G-G-G-Gu Haejin?!”
My expression subtly wrinkled. As expected, his surprised voice was quite loud. Instantly, the entire class turned their heads and focused on me. Ugh… embarrassing. Feeling awkward, I pretended not to notice and turned my head toward the window. They did look back to the front, but… those bastards were definitely keeping their ears open. I sighed deeply and then gestured with my finger for the guy in front to be quiet.
“W-what is it…”
This guy was asking with a small voice, being cautious. Glancing at the nameplate on his uniform, his name was “Kim Changsu.” He had an ordinary and gentle appearance with black hair and horn-rimmed glasses.
“Ah. Um, can I borrow a pen?”
“Huh?”
“I was going to take notes, but I don’t have a pen. I don’t have a desk partner either, so you’re the only one I can ask. Haha…”
Changsu was silent at my laughter. Sniff. Was it too sudden to act friendly? Well, judging by how startled and trembling he was, I could immediately tell how intimidated he was by me. Plus, since Gu Haejin has that certain… position as apex, it’s obvious he’s scared of me. This is why image is important. Look at Changsu’s frozen face! No chance of becoming friends.
“Oh, it’s okay if you don’t have one~ I’ll just get through today without it!”
“……?!”
“Did I disrupt the class because of me? I’m sorry.”
I scratched my cheek out of habit and smiled awkwardly. It’s tough trying to befriend someone who’s actually much younger than me. I’m getting old… While I was internally blaming myself, strangely, Changsu’s face began to flush. Huh?
“No, no! I-I’ll lend you! Here, this! H-here it is!”
Changsu frantically pulled out pens from his pencil case and thrust them into my hands. As if that wasn’t enough, he placed his entire pencil case on my desk. Hey, I just need one black pen? I received them blankly with an “Uh, okay,” while Changsu nodded vigorously, saying I should use anything as if it were mine. Well, thanks…
“Hey, Kim Changsu!! Who said you could talk during class?!”
“S-sorry!”
“Get out!”
…You got caught. Since the excited boy’s voice was loud enough to echo throughout the classroom, Changsu had to be kicked out to the hallway by the math teacher. I looked regretfully at his writing tools scattered all over my desk.
But wait, we were both talking, so why was only Changsu kicked out?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
