Was it because of the strength in my clenched fist?

Or was it because of the cold glare?

Soo-chan, who had his tail between his legs, admitted his mistake.

“…I was wrong.”

Soo-chan’s sudden change in attitude.

The teachers looked flustered, but perhaps it was thanks to their experience as educators.

They handled it naturally.

“It’s good that you regret your actions. But since there are injured kids, we need to contact their parents. We’ll do our best to resolve this in the best way possible.”

“Th-that’s right! Good job, Soo-chan! Gyeoul is a scary kid! You shouldn’t mess with her.”

Of course, Ttokttaki was muttering beside me.

The chaotic classroom was somewhat sorted out.

The injured kids went to the nurse’s office. The teachers went to the faculty room.

“Hayan, you should go to the nurse’s office too.”

“Huh? I’m fine though…”

“Just go, I’ll come with you.”

“Jeong Gyeoul! Me too! I have a nosebleed!”

“Just stuff some tissue up your nose, kid.”

A guy whining over a nosebleed.

If it were Jeong-min or the other kids who got hurt, it might be different.

But the fact that our Hayan got hurt is not something we can just let slide.

Even though Soo-chan has his tail between his legs now, who knows when he might get cocky again and cause more trouble.

When the teachers’ attention fades away.

I’ll have to teach him a lesson.

Class started, and I lay on my desk as usual.

Maybe because I’m in the far left corner at the back, Ttokttaki doesn’t bother me much.

Of course, it’s not respectful to the teacher who’s teaching diligently in front…

But what can I do?

Even though the textbooks are quite different from my time, it’s still just that.

What second graders learn is pretty much the same.

Various shapes, addition, subtraction, multiplication tables.

Just looking at the numbers, I can do mental math, so how can it not be boring?

‘Only a crazy person would enjoy studying.’

That doesn’t mean I don’t participate in class at all.

“Let’s open our math workbook to page 12.”

“Yes!”

I opened the book with a bored expression.

I glanced at it, wrote down the answers, and flipped to the next page. Before I knew it, I was on page 24.

If I solve too much at once, I’ll have nothing to do next time.

Let’s stop here for today.

I lay back on my desk, and Hayan, sitting next to me, spoke in a shaky voice.

“…Gyeoul, are you a genius?”

“You saw me do this last year too, why are you surprised now?”

“But first grade was easy…”

Hayan, who always gets perfect scores, kept admiring me with a look of respect.

Getting praised for solving elementary math isn’t exciting at all.

Hehe—

I don’t know why the corner of my mouth is curling up.

It’s not good at all.

Really.

***

The opportunity to straighten out Soo-chan came sooner than expected.

I was on my way to eat lunch with Jeong-min and Hayan.

“Hey, Jeong Gyeoul! Come out with me!”

“…Alright.”

This time, Soo-chan gathered all his gang and called me out.

The only time I feel alive is when I’m lying at the back of the class, devoid of motivation or energy.

Calling me out during lunchtime.

You picked the wrong time, Soo-chan.

“Hayan, Jeong-min, go ahead and eat first. And sorry, but can you serve my lunch too?”

“Sure! I’ll serve it and wait for you.”

Today’s lunch is pasta.

I made the annoying request to have the noodles and sauce served separately.

But angelic Hayan smiled brightly and agreed to my request.

So, I won’t miss lunch.

I can go and come back without worry.

I followed Soo-chan to the recycling area behind the school.

‘But this… feels oddly familiar.’

It was a scene where Soo-chan’s gang would gather, and a fight was inevitable.

But Hayan and Jeong-min didn’t seem to care at all.

They didn’t even tell me to be careful.

This feels like something I should remember…

Ah.

I remember now.

It’s like when the Demon King went to defeat villains or monsters, and Eun-chae and Kang-woo had that same vibe.

The Demon King would always come back no matter what.

They waited in the car, chatting and playing around.

‘Could it be that to them, I’m… Jeong Ha-yul?’

I’m not that scary, violent, brutal, cruel, or evil!

I got depressed for no reason.

“Come at me quickly. I need to eat lunch to shake off this mood.”

“Stop acting tough! There are eight of us!”

“Yeah! Even you can’t beat eight of us!”

Thwack—

“Ahhh!”

I flicked the closest guy’s forehead and charged forward.

I flicked the foreheads of the two guys who were staring blankly at their fallen friend.

Thwack, thwack—

“Ahhh!”

“What, what are you doing! Don’t overreact to a flick!”

In an instant, I took down three guys, and I could see the remaining five’s eyes wavering.

I successfully intimidated them.

If all eight had charged at me from the start, it would have been a bit tough to handle without using magic.

But since they’re just kids, they didn’t gang up on me from the start, which is good.

“I, I was against it!”

“Me too! I said we shouldn’t do it!”

“Then you two can step aside, if you don’t want to get hurt.”

“Okay!”

The two who surrendered went to stand by their fallen friends, leaving the battlefield.

Now, only three remained.

“You traitors! Where are you going? Come back!”

“Soo-chan, what do we do now?”

“…If we all attack at once, even Jeong Gyeoul will have a hard time. Let’s go together!”

“Okay!”

They charged at me, as if trying to save lunchtime.

But…

The two who ran faster than Soo-chan ran past me.

“…What are you doing?”

“We, we’re retreating as part of the plan!”

“Hey! We can win if we all attack together!”

Ignoring Soo-chan, they went and sat down with their friends.

Now, I was left to face Soo-chan one-on-one in front of six spectators.

“Soo-chan… It’s all good, but you shouldn’t have messed with Hayan.”

“What are you talking about! When did I mess with Hayan!”

“You don’t know? Then you’ll have to get hit until you remember.”

“You’re ugly but strong!”

This is the first time I’ve been called ugly since I possessed this body.

It was a fresh shock.

“Hey, that’s not true. Honestly, Jeong Gyeoul is the prettiest in our school.”

“Right, Soo-chan, no matter how much you want to be the top, don’t lie like that…”

“Shut up!”

The spectators threw in their comments at Soo-chan’s nonsense.

Angry that his gang was siding with me, Soo-chan stomped towards me.

“Yah!”

His body tilted to the side, and he kicked towards my face.

‘A side kick?’

I thought he’d just swing his arms wildly and charge at me.

But Soo-chan’s leg moved in a clean trajectory.

However, with just a year of Taekwondo, he can’t beat me.

I leaned diagonally to dodge, then raised my left hand and struck his calf firmly.

Thud—

“Ugh! That’s cheap!”

…?

What are you talking about, you crazy guy.

I mounted Soo-chan and pressed his arms down with my knees.

“Get off me, you pig!”

Soo-chan struggled hard to get out of the mount position, but it was useless.

I raised my finger towards his forehead.

“What, what are you doing! That’s cheating!”

“There’s no cheating in a fight, kid.”

Thwack—

“At least let me go!”

Thwack—

“And then we can fight fair.”

Thwack—

“And square…”

Thwack—

“I, I was wrong!”

I flicked his forehead once for every word, and Soo-chan surrendered after just four flicks.

I let go of the hand I was aiming, and the spot where I flicked was red and swollen.

Not that I was going to go easy on him.

“This is for Hayan.”

Thwack—

“Ugh… It really hurts! Please stop! I was wrong!”

After the extra flick, Soo-chan teared up and shook his head.

“Will you behave now?”

“Yes! I’ll do better from now on, boss!”

“Don’t call me boss, kid.”

Thwack—

“Ugh! You said you wouldn’t hit me!”

“When did I say that? You’re funny.”

“Stop hitting me… I’m really dying…”

Thwack—

“Nobody dies from a flick, man.”

Well, maybe Jeong Ha-yul could do it once.

But that’s only possible for Jeong Ha-yul.

At least my flicks won’t kill you, so relax.

“You did well not to attack…”

“At this rate, even Soo-chan’s brother wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“His brother is really good at fighting, they say he can jump off walls and punch.”

“Wow, really? That’s cool, but why can’t Soo-chan fight like that?”

“I don’t know either.”

I glanced back and saw the spectators having an interesting conversation.

“Do you have a brother?”

“Huh? Yeah, my brother is in fifth grade!”

Soo-chan suddenly got cocky when his brother was mentioned.

Thwack—

“Your brother is in fifth grade, so why are you causing trouble?”

“Stop hitting me… I won’t tell my brother…”

“Were you planning to?”

“N-no! I never did!”

Thwack—

“Whether you tell him or not, don’t mess with Hayan from now on. Got it?”

“Got it! I won’t mess with Hayan!”

Thwack—

“Why are you hitting me again! I said I won’t mess with her!”

“Just because I don’t like your face.”

“…”

“Do better from now on. If I catch you again, you’re really dead.”

“Okay…”

In the end, I let Soo-chan go after ten flicks.

If things had gone as planned, I would have kept flicking him until lunchtime was over.

Today’s lunch is Bolognese pasta.

It’s my favorite menu.

Our nutritionist is famous enough to have been on TV a few times.

Thanks to her, the quality and taste are even better than delivery food.

I can’t miss such precious lunch just because of Soo-chan.

I headed to the cafeteria where Hayan was waiting.

“…Hayan, you mixed the noodles and sauce?”

“Yeah! I mixed them so it’s easier to eat!”

“…Good job.”

The rice section had noodles.

The soup section had sauce.

I only asked for them to be served separately…

Hayan’s angelic heart… ruined my precious lunch.

“Gyeoul! Why are you crying all of a sudden?”

“I’m not crying… It’s sweat.”

I picked up my fork and inhaled the tear-soaked pasta.

‘At least it still tastes good…’