Prologue
Jaeyoon had grown accustomed to the noise from the next room. Letting it in one ear and out the other, he naturally took out his phone and AirPods. After turning the volume up as high as possible, he tried to calm his rising anger by imagining cute animals in his mind.
It had been a month since he’d become 18 again. More agonizing than the thought of having to repeat the grueling college entrance exams and military service was…
“Doha, I love you!”
“Yeonwoo, I sincerely love you too.”
…Damn it!
Just as the music cut out, voices from the next room reached his ears, and Jaeyoon bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut.
‘Can’t you just go to sleep, guys? How can you whisper sweet nothings to each other every night without getting tired…?’
Jaeyoon had been reborn. No, to be precise, he had possessed someone else’s body. That alone was complicated enough, but of all things, the body he possessed belonged to a passing villain in a BL simulation game.
A BL game… Having never played such a game in his life, Jaeyoon initially thought he was dreaming. He wanted to believe it was just his unconscious mind playing out the content of the game his friend had been developing.
But after spending several days in the game, Jaeyoon soon realized that these vivid sensations were not a dream…
Despite the sudden possession and the unbelievable situation, Jaeyoon tried his best to stay calm.
He didn’t know why he had possessed someone else’s body, but if possession was possible, then there was a chance he could return someday. In that case, it wasn’t a big problem even if it was a BL game. Whether the original owner of this body was a villain or not, it didn’t matter as long as Jaeyoon himself didn’t become one.
But the world wasn’t so forgiving, and the BL game world where everyone seemed to be gay was even less so.
Of all the rooms he could have been assigned, why did it have to be next to the protagonist’s?
Every night, the romance options would visit the protagonist’s room, whispering sweet words of affection, flirting, or engaging in petty lovers’ quarrels until dawn. And their epic romance played out in excruciating detail for Jaeyoon to hear.
‘Is this how Shin-chan’s family felt having those annoying couples as neighbors…?’
For Jaeyoon, who couldn’t care less about other people’s private lives, the love stories between the protagonist and his romance options that traveled through the thin dormitory walls every night were the definition of TMI.
“…Looks like I won’t be sleeping tonight either…”
Thanks to the cringe-worthy conversations audible from next door, Jaeyoon’s nerves were on edge every night, and tonight would be another sleepless one.
***
“Jaeyoon, hello? Did you sleep well?”
‘I’m not okay because of you guys.’
Jaeyoon barely swallowed the words that were about to escape his mouth and smiled instead.
“Yeah. Did you sleep well too?”
“Huh? Oh, y-yeah!”
As the protagonist answered with a blush on his face, Jaeyoon mentally pictured cute animals again to summon his patience.
Kim Yeonwoo, the protagonist of the BL game that Jaeyoon had possessed.
According to his developer friend, Yeonwoo was a character whose main trait was being “ordinary” like most game protagonists. He was kind-hearted, sensitive, and had an annoying habit of constantly meddling in other people’s business.
He might not be a bad friend, but as everyone knew, he was the protagonist of a BL game. There was nothing good about having him nearby.
Jaeyoon was already suffering enough just by being in the room next to his. If he didn’t want to endure any more hardship during his possession, the best strategy would be to thoroughly avoid Kim Yeonwoo.
“Enjoy your meal.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah…”
Leaving behind Yeonwoo, who looked like he had more to say, Jaeyoon quickly walked down the stairs. Things would get annoying if Yeonwoo asked to eat together.
‘Now, where should I go today~?’
Jaeyoon seriously contemplated between the school store and the cafeteria, ultimately choosing the store since there was a lower chance of running into the romance options there.
Students were already crowded in front of the store, purchasing bread, snacks, and other food items.
Jaeyoon naturally slipped between the students like flowing water, instantly reaching the front of the line. He quickly scanned the bread that had arrived today, grabbed the last chocolate shell bread and a banana milk, handed money to the store lady, and then slipped out from among the students as smoothly as he had entered.
‘I should find a quiet place to eat…’
“Impressive technique. Coming out of there without even a hair out of place.”
“Gah!”
“Your reaction to me is still as rude as ever.”
‘Well, of course…’
Startled by the sudden comment, Jaeyoon quickly composed his expression and awkwardly smiled. Today’s location choice had been a failure.
“Planning to eat just bread and milk? That doesn’t seem nutritious enough.”
“…What brings the student council president to the school store…?”
Han Doyoon, the student council president. He was one of the romance options in the BL simulation game and consistently ranked at the top in fan popularity polls. Not only that, but he was also one of the two characters for whom Jaeyoon’s developer friend had invested blood, sweat, and tears to create an ending. In other words, he was a character beloved by the developer.
As a result, his appearance was unnecessarily magnificent. His handsome face was a given, and from his tall stature to his muscular physique…
Jaeyoon first saw him through the profile illustrations that would be used in the game. While Jaeyoon was busy reviewing contracts, his friend had thrust the illustrations at him.
Even to Jaeyoon, who had zero interest in BL games, Doyoon’s appearance stood out distinctly. Unlike other characters, only Han Doyoon’s face remained clearly etched in his memory…
That’s why when Jaeyoon saw him in person after possessing the game character, he was seized with the urge to take a photo and replace the profile illustration immediately. He had looked good in the illustration, but Han Doyoon in the flesh was a cheat character that surpassed that.
‘I don’t care about other people’s looks, but this guy really stands out unnecessarily.’
“Yeonwoo said he wanted to eat the chocolate shell bread, which is popular at the store.”
“So you came to buy it for him?”
“Among other things? I was also curious about why it’s so popular. But…”
Han Doyoon’s gaze shifted to the chocolate shell bread Jaeyoon was holding. In response, Jaeyoon’s eyebrows slightly furrowed.
“It’s mine.”
“I know. I’m not going to take it, so don’t get so defensive.”
‘You know what? I’m actually much older than you.’
Jaeyoon blew his bangs with a puff of air and once again imagined cute small animals in his mind. Dogs, cats, hamsters…
Feeling his anger gradually subside, Jaeyoon handed the chocolate shell bread to Han Doyoon as if throwing a fastball.
“Huh…?”
As Han Doyoon received the chocolate shell bread in surprise, Jaeyoon sighed softly and stuck a straw into his banana milk. Then, feeling like he wanted to drink an ice-cold beer instead, he took a sip of the banana milk.
“I thought you weren’t giving it to me?”
“Am I not giving it because I expect some annoying retaliation later?”
“You see me as that petty of a person?”
‘Yes.’
When Jaeyoon didn’t answer and just quietly drank his banana milk while staring, Han Doyoon let out a small laugh. He held the chocolate shell bread in one hand and waved the other, expressing his thanks.
“Look forward to my repayment next time.”
“No thanks. I don’t need that, so at night…”
“At night…?”
“…It’s nothing. Well then…”
He had almost said not to make noise flirting until dawn. Jaeyoon thought it was truly fortunate that his mouth was occupied with banana milk.
Looking at the school store where everything edible seemed to be gone, Jaeyoon decided to just have banana milk for breakfast.
As he was about to turn around, mentally searching for a place where he wouldn’t get entangled with game characters, a large hand grabbed his shoulder.
Startled, Jaeyoon looked up with rabbit eyes, and a faint smile formed on Han Doyoon’s lips. Doyoon leaned down and whispered in Jaeyoon’s ear in a low voice.
“You must be having a hard time listening to love stories every night.”
“Pfft!”
Banana milk sprayed out like a fountain. Seeing Jaeyoon’s reaction, Han Doyoon laughed cheerfully and left, waving the chocolate shell bread.
Staring blankly at Han Doyoon’s retreating back, Jaeyoon soon raised one corner of his mouth and let out a hollow laugh.
“…Heh! So he knows all about my nightly suffering… Ha…!”
‘I’m the senior. I’m the senior. I’m an adult who’s much older than those kids!’
Feeling his anger boiling up, Jaeyoon gritted his teeth. To maintain his composure as much as possible, he closed his eyes tightly and imagined a golden hamster rapidly stuffing sunflower seeds into its cheek pouches for storage. He felt much better.
‘It’s okay, I just unluckily ran into him today, but I won’t meet him again.’
…Or so he wanted to believe…
***
“Damn it…”
A word that he would never have uttered if he were in his right mind escaped Jaeyoon’s lips. But he was so shocked that he didn’t even register what he had just said.
Jaeyoon checked with trembling eyes who was lying beneath him. When his eyes met red ones, he immediately squeezed his eyes shut.
‘This is a dream… Please, it has to be a dream…’
But Jaeyoon’s wish didn’t come true. The other person’s amused voice reached his ears.
“I said I’d repay you, but I didn’t know you wanted something like this.”
‘Damn it!’
For a brief moment, Jaeyoon sincerely considered biting his tongue and ending it all.
‘Why the hell is he here?’
Jaeyoon forced his heavy eyelids open. A magnificent face came into view. It had only been six hours since they’d met in front of the school store that morning.
It was a face he never wanted to see again during his possession if possible, but today he’d already encountered him twice. And the second time was in the worst possible state…
Jaeyoon carefully got up from on top of Han Doyoon. As Jaeyoon moved away, Doyoon leisurely rose and dusted off the grass from his uniform.
“I’m sorry…”
As Jaeyoon apologized with an expression that said he wanted to die, Han Doyoon quietly observed him, then slid his gaze to the second-floor infirmary from which Jaeyoon had jumped down.
It wasn’t terribly high, but it wasn’t a height from which one should recklessly jump either.
From the infirmary window where Jaeyoon had jumped, a pure white curtain had come out and was fluttering in the wind.
Han Doyoon’s red eyes turned back to Jaeyoon. Jaeyoon bit his lip hard. Looking at him with a smile at the corner of his mouth, Han Doyoon said in a voice full of amusement:
“Let’s go to the student council room for now.”
‘…Damn it!’
Jaeyoon, whose day had been unlucky from the morning, finally swallowed his tears inwardly at meeting Han Doyoon again.
‘How did it come to this…?’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
