# Chapter 4
“Haejjuni, why are you looking at me with such a scary face?”
“…”
My mood dropped below rock bottom as I watched this male high school student making an extremely cute, bubbly expression while going “poo-poo!” at me. Seeing my rigid face, he even started whimpering like a teary-eyed puppy—it was quite a spectacle.
‘Don’t feed him.’
To maintain distance, you shouldn’t give or attract attention. Reminding myself of this principle, I walked past him down the hallway.
“Jjuni! Why are you ignoring Sihu’s words?”
Fatigue rushed over me at the voice trailing behind me. It seemed I’d have to buy workbooks another day and go home early today.
“Jjuni?”
What should I have for dinner? Would Seong Haemin cook for me?
“Can’t you hear Sihu’s voooice?”
After thinking carefully, I suddenly realized I hadn’t opened the refrigerator at home since coming to this world. I hardly left my room because I was in denial about reality. I recognized that I had been living each day more irresponsibly than I remembered, and reflected on this as I pulled myself together.
Yes, since I might continue living here, I should live properly. Since this is my place to live, I should properly check out the house too. I wonder if Seong Haemin is home by now?
“Haejjuna?”
I ignored the dog barking sounds around me while deeply contemplating my future. As long as the dog didn’t bite me, that was my plan.
“Jjuuun! If yooou… keep ignoring me like that, I’ll give you a kiiiiss!”
“What?”
“Ah! Finally a response! Hehe.”
“…”
He must be crazy.
I tried to stay silent, but failed. But this was because the opponent was too strong. This person was an insane creative lunatic who would make his own food if none was given.
“Hmm? Does Jjuni want to receive Sihu’s kiss?”
“No.”
“Aaah, I see! ‘Kiss’ is the magic word that makes Haejjuni talk! Got it, I’ll remember that for future reference!”
Seeing his kiss talk made my mood drop even further. The worse my expression became, the brighter his grew.
‘This bastard… does he hate me?’
“Don’t worry! Sihu is on Jjuni’s side! On Mini’s side! Kyaaa~! We’re on the same side!”
“…”
I couldn’t respond to his seemingly deranged reaction. It was astonishing. Earlier I thought my ears were mistaken, but this person was referring to himself in the third person as “Sihu.” It was truly remarkable in some sense.
Min Sihu was one of the Four Kings in the novel. As the character responsible for the (>0<) emoticon among the four, he was truly a dual personality. (Variations included (>_<), (>ㅂ/ kyaa), (>3< puu-puu), and so on.) He would always go “kya-kya-kyu-kyu,” but when problems arose, he would suddenly transform and show his most serious side—I couldn’t understand it, but apparently that was his charm point.
Anyway, the Min Sihu in the novel would sometimes ease tensions between people with this kind of aegyo. I couldn’t understand at all why such aegyo would ease tension…
Min Sihu proudly thrust out his chest.
“Jjuni, don’t worry! Sihu will safely escort you home.”
“I… can go by myself.”
I firmly refused, but this guy who was rattling off words like a machine gun had absolutely no interest in what I was saying.
“Hmm? No way~ No way~ Jjuni doesn’t know how dangerous the world is these days! Kyaa! Oh my, I saw fallen leaves on the street getting torn by people stepping on them just recently! Kyaaak! It was the most cruel scene I’ve seen lately!”
“…”
Why is he really like this…
Consistently maintaining a (>ㅁ<) expression, Min Sihu continued spewing nonsense. It was so all over the place that I couldn’t follow. I remembered this was called “4D quirky (…)” in internet novels. I felt dizzy as well.
“Jjuni, Jjuni.”
“What.”
“Why are you so lifeless? Hmm? Whyyyy! Whyyyy! Why, I askkkk~!!”
Go away!
I almost felt a surge of energy for a moment, but I couldn’t say that. Although Min Sihu seemed easy to deal with, as a school bully, he was a character who could fight as formidably as the other Four Kings. I couldn’t believe that the person in front of me was someone who went around brutally beating people.
Anyway, whether he was a bully or not, it was clear he wasn’t normal. I once again firmly resolved never to get involved with them.
“Uh-huh.”
“Whaaaat. You don’t want to answer meee?”
“…”
“Or do you want to get energy! from Sihuuu~?!”
“No!”
“Wow! Finally answered with strength!”
‘I really hate this…’
Min Sihu smiled broadly with his cute, handsome face. I realized that appearance isn’t everything when it comes to determining a person’s impression. Even if someone is actually handsome, they become repulsive when they act like this. I moved my feet quickly. Min Sihu, seemingly tireless, followed me closely.
“Why is Jjuni Jjuni? Why is Sihu Sihu? Hmm… such a difficult world♬.”
“…”
Why am I facing such an ordeal?
“Jjuni, what are you going to eat for dinner? Hmm! Sihu is! Hmm… what should I eat? Hehe!”
“…”
“Ah! I want Dongkasu! Kyaa! Do-do-do-dong Dongkasu~ Kyaa!”
I feel like I’m going to lose my mind.
On the way home, no matter how much I tried to ignore him, Min Sihu, with his indomitable will, stuck to my side like goldfish poop and kept talking. Whether he knew I had decided not to answer or not, he rambled on perfectly well by himself, worse than a persistent merchant following tourists like a slave hunter. I felt the blood draining from my face.
“Jjuni? Are you listening to Sihu?”
“…”
“Aah! We’ve arrived at Jjuni’s house already! We’ve arriiiived!”
“Uh…”
“Kyaa! I heard Jjuni’s voice! Sihu is thrilled! My heart is pounding! Ohhh~ Kya!”
What’s with this concept act?
I was even more dazed because he was a perfectly handsome kid acting like this. Even idols would get criticized for this behavior.
Still, now that we’d arrived at my house, Min Sihu would probably leave, and I could finally catch my breath. Freedom at last. I glanced up at the apartment building. Although it was my home, it still felt unfamiliar.
“Jjuni, Sihu is! Mini’s bestest friend! So Sihu is a good friend to Jjuni too♡.”
“Uh, yeah.”
Is hearing hearts attached to speech a passive ability?
Eager to get into the house, I nodded half-heartedly to Min Sihu. I thought this would make him leave. But his next words snapped me to attention.
“Then can Sihu visit Jjuni’s house? Is that okay? Kyaa, as expected, Jjuni is so kind♡.”
“What?”
Goosebumps rose at this thunderbolt statement. I barely managed to turn my creaky neck like a wooden puppet, and saw Min Sihu placing a finger on his lips and tilting his head.
I was speechless. No, breathless. I just gaped like a fish lacking oxygen.
“Th…”
“Ahaha! Jjuni looks like a bungeo fish! Bung-bung-eo!”
“…”
“Hmph, Jjuni doesn’t want Sihu to come over? Then… instead of Jjuni’s house, let’s visit Mini’s house! Kyaa!”
Seong Haemin’s house is Seong Haejun’s house! Are you kidding me?
I barely suppressed the rage that made me want to grab him by the collar and shake him. This guy was beyond my level of control. I quickly acknowledged my limitations. I might be able to stop myself, but I couldn’t stop him. If I tried to send him away, I might get my neck twisted instead.
The real tragedy was that I couldn’t even win against him physically. In the novel, the Four Kings could easily win even in absurd fights like 100 versus 4. It was clear that ordinary me would be sent straight to the hospital with just one punch from Min Sihu.
My head throbbed. Ignoring this guy who was like a malignant tumor, I answered with a deep sigh.
“Do whatever you want…”
“Wow! Jjuni gave permission!”
Min Sihu hopped around like a rabbit, smiling brightly. Trying to act cute and innocent with his handsome face, but this guy was even taller than me…
‘Life is really shitty.’
***
“Jjun, why aren’t you opening the door?”
“…”
“Jjuniiii! You don’t want to open the door for Sihu?”
Min Sihu kept whining beside me. As if it wasn’t disconcerting enough that I didn’t know the door lock password to my own house, having another person noisily chattering beside me made my head throb twice as much.
It was my mistake. When I left, I walked out without thinking, forgetting that I would need to enter the password to get back in. As I stared at the door lock in confusion for quite some time, he made whimpering sounds like a dog beside me.
“Hmph, hmph, Jjuni, are you thinking about how to chase Sihu away right now? Sihu knows everything! There’s nothing I don’t know!”
After hearing Min Sihu’s words, I changed my thinking accordingly. Yes, rather than having a meaningless staring contest with the door lock, it would be much more productive to drive this guy away from my side. Instead of glaring at the door lock and imagining a password I had no way of knowing, I contemplated how to send Min Sihu away. To be precise, I was thinking about how to make Min Sihu leave me alone peacefully.
“Hmm? Jjun?”
“…”
“What are you doing?”
Thinking about how to send you away without any problems.
As I continued to not answer, Min Sihu suddenly thrust his face close to mine. Startled by his sudden approach, I pressed my body against the front door. It was a distance so close I could feel the heat on my cheeks.
“Jjuna.”
“Uh, huh?”
I got goosebumps at the sound of breathing right next to me. Until just a moment ago, he had been acting like the biggest pushover in the world, but now a breath with absolutely no trace of humor was brushing against my ear. Along with a refreshing mint scent, his long eyelashes blinked as if they would pierce my cheek.
“Why aren’t you opening the door, Haejun?”
Min Sihu’s voice, coming from right beside me, suddenly dropped dramatically, as if sinking into water.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
