The bear was truly a standout with his striking appearance. If Kim Jaeyoung attracted attention for being more beautiful and handsome than a celebrity, the bear drew eyes with a physique so large and a face so menacing that it was hard to believe he was just a high school student. In casual clothes, he looked tough enough to be mistaken for a gangster.
“I see.”
Kim Jaeyoung nodded. Despite his usual smiling face, I had the impression he was somehow upset. But why? I tightened my arm around his neck and redirected his gaze. Kim Jaeyoung’s body obediently followed my lead.
The basketball game was divided into two sets of 20 minutes each, and the winner would be determined by the cumulative score. Each class had ten players selected, so we would play with five players per set. I would play in the first set, and Kim Jaeyoung would play in the second set. I entrusted my bag to Kim Jaeyoung and headed to the center of the basketball court.
“Let’s do our best.”
“Oh, sure.”
Following the P.E. teacher’s instructions, we shook hands with the opposing team. The bear on the other team extended his large hand, as big as a pot lid. I grasped his hand and smiled broadly.
“Ready, start!”
After blowing the whistle, the P.E. teacher left towards the soccer team. The match, driven by the pointless pride of the 2nd and 3rd graders, was intense from the outset. Except for me, of course. Like the others, I had also played basketball or soccer during lunch breaks in the past, but that was about two years ago. Since then, I had become known for causing trouble and hadn’t touched a ball since. But…
‘[Special dexterity] …Is this for real?’
Each time I dribbled, the ball seemed to stick to and wrap around my hand. Wondering what to do about it, I immediately shot the ball. Despite the considerable distance, it curved through the air and went through the hoop perfectly. It was a flawless 3-point shot.
‘This shouldn’t be possible…’
I felt confident that I could perform flashy moves worthy of the NBA if I set my mind to it. Damn! The classmates who usually found me intimidating hesitated to raise their hands for a high-five, then panicked and quickly left after seeing my fierce expression.
I didn’t want to reveal my “ability” in any way. With Kim Jaeyoung, well, eventually they would find out over time… But to the other survivors, until they awakened, I needed to be an ordinary person like them. That way, I’ll have fewer chances of being pushed into the spotlight, and my odds of survival will go up.
So I started to behave a bit cunningly. I would grab and pull the clothes of the opposing team members trying to take a jump shot, shoulder-check to steal the ball, pretend to pass and throw it at the opposing team’s heads, and so on. It was obvious to everyone that I was playing dirty, but no one tried to stop me. Everyone knew that if they crossed me, school life would become difficult for them.
“Oh, really! Are you kidding me?”
Finally, when I tripped and brought down Bear, a second-year student saw Bear’s knee get badly scraped, dropped the ball to the ground, and walked over to me.
“Who plays the game like this? If you’re going to act like this, I’m not playing basketball anymore!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Apologize.”
“I told you it was a mistake.”
“Even if it was a mistake, you still need to take responsibility for what you’ve done!”
Wow, he’s quite righteous, like a character from a boy’s comic book. All the imagery I wanted from Bear was coming from this little guy, Lee Hyunwoo. But this kid isn’t a survivor.
“Well… I’ll apologize, so just take one punch.”
I deliberately raised my fist towards Lee Hyunwoo. Still, Lee Hyunwoo didn’t bat an eye. Wow, what a cool posture, not even flinching at violence. I looked at him with eyes full of regret. He’s so much like Cha Yoo-hyeok’s taste. His personality must be clearly a line.
“Senior, please stop.”
Finally, the brown bear stepped forward. The bear grabbed my wrist with its strong hand. It was a tight grip, but it had no effect on my awakened body. Nonetheless, I stopped moving, as if restrained by the bear’s strength.
“What if I don’t stop?”
“I’m not going to stand still.”
“I can make you never play sports again, you punk, Just hit me.”
Despite deliberately provoking him, the brown bear didn’t move easily. He simply tightened his grip on my hand.
A kind and righteous, but slow and cautious, Bear. He lacks what it takes to be the leader of the survivor group. I felt that Lee Hyunwoo, who is more proactive than Bear, is more suited for the leadership position among the survivors.
‘Can I save him?’
If I can save him, should I try to save Lee Hyunwoo? If so, how should I go about saving him? Thoughts raced through my mind, which usually doesn’t get much use.
Bleep!
“What are you doing over there?”
The physical education teacher, who just now noticed the trouble among the students, approached while blowing the whistle. I pushed away Bear’s hand that was holding me and raised both arms in surrender. I completely changed my attitude from mocking just a moment ago and offered them an apology.
“Okay, I understand. I’m sorry.”
“……?”
Suddenly? The person who seemed about to throw a punch at any moment suddenly changed their attitude, leaving question marks floating on the faces of the students who had been watching. Everyone from the bench also gathered around, except Kim Jaeyoung, who remained seated alone on the bench. Despite the person they liked being in a fight with others, Kim Jaeyoung seemed remarkably indifferent.
“I couldn’t control myself because I’m not good at basketball. I’m sorry.”
“Huh? Oh… okay.”
I apologized again to the second-year students.
“Now that 20 minutes have passed, shall we start the second set? Let’s switch then. As a gesture of apology… right. You. I’ll give you a bandage. I have disinfectant in my bag.”
I led the injured brown bear to the bench. Despite Lee Hyunwoo still not trusting me, he firmly held onto the bear, but the bear nodded as if it was okay. Once at the bench, I seated the brown bear next to Kim Jaeyoung. The bear awkwardly greeted Kim Jaeyoung, who didn’t even look in their direction and spoke to me instead.
“Did you reconcile?”
“Yeah. I have disinfectant in my bag to apply.”
“Mm.”
Kim Jaeyoung handed me the bag, stood up, and casually stretched. When his short gym clothes rode up, exposing his bare skin, bear hastily looked away. Well, anyone would feel embarrassed seeing that sight. Kim Jaeyoung had a pure and pretty face… and a nice body too. Could there be anyone else with such a fair and soft-looking body? Furthermore, he had firm muscles… thick thighs… It’s strange even for another man to look at him. I threw my upper garment off towards Kim Jaeyoung, who was about to rush off to play the game.
“Are you trying to get an exposure certificate? Put this on.”
Kim Jaeyoung didn’t seem bothered at all as he immediately changed into the sweaty clothes I handed him. The gym uniform top of the class president was uncomfortably tight on me too. I’ll have to change back into my own clothes when class ends and return to the classroom
As Kim Jaeyoung stepped onto the basketball court, he gestured towards me, appearing to convey to the gym teacher that we had reconciled. The gym teacher nodded solemnly and blew the whistle to start the second set. Lee Hyunwoo, sitting on the opposite bench, was glaring at us as if monitoring, but I pretended not to notice and took out a small first aid kit from my bag.
“Do you always carry a first aid kit in your bag, senior?”
“Yeah. My role model is Florence Nightingale.”
“Oh… I see.”
I took out antiseptic from the first aid kit and sprayed it on Bear’s wound, then covered it with gauze and secured it with adhesive tape. Even though it was my first time, the [Special Dexterity] skill seemed to apply here too, as I moved skillfully as if I had done it dozens of times before. Ha, having such a sweet skill, why did I only use it like that? Hit, break, kill, torment… Oh well, let’s not dwell on it.
“What’s your name?”
“Yes. My name is Kang Deokho.”
“Earlier, that guy was Lee Hyunwoo, right? Are you close with him?”
“Yes. We went to elementary, middle, and high school together, so we’re close. But why do you ask…?”
Bear, Kang Deokho, eyed me suspiciously. As I pondered how to dispel his suspicions and get him to join in rescuing Lee Hyunwoo, I pulled out a small box from my bag and handed it to Bear. Taking the box, Bear looked at it with curiosity, and I nodded, gesturing for him to open it.
“Is this… a smoke bomb?”
“Exactly, it’s a signal flare. It produces smoke as well.”
Inside the box were six distress signal flares, purchased in bulk from the internet with the purpose of momentarily escaping the monster’s sight. Whether these could save Lee Hyunwoo was uncertain, and I had no justification for actions beyond this. Sighing, would anyone believe such a clumsy lie? With a determined expression, I approached him closely and whispered into his ear.
“He’s haunted by a ghost.”
“…What?”
“Big… big… I have this, um, strange ability… I can see a ghost behind Lee Hyunwoo.”
Damn it… My face is getting redder and re dder. What the heck. It’s the crappiest of the crappy lies.
