My childhood friends are so cool.
Lee Sea thought.
Thanks to our families being close, we'd been hanging out with Jiu since we were little kids. He was incredibly handsome with a lively personality, always looking out for shy me and helping me fit in with the other friends.
And then there was Ijin, whom we met after starting elementary school—a beautiful boy of a completely different style from Jiu.
If Jiu was a refreshing, upbeat kid full of energy that suited his age, Ijin, young as he was, already gave off a calm, mature vibe.
He seemed indifferent toward me, but somehow he'd take care of all sorts of things with overflowing consideration, without me even noticing.
On top of that, Seo Ijin was a versatile all-rounder who could do anything.
He always looked like everything was a hassle, but he'd ace every test with perfect scores, had killer reflexes for sports, loved drawing in his free time, and belted out songs like a pro at karaoke.
Anyone hearing that would say no such person exists, but to Sea, Ijin looked just like the protagonist from a storybook.
That's why it was routine for us: childish Jiu would cause some trouble, and mature Jin would clean it up.
That day was no different.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
It was a day just like any other.
Today, as always, the protagonist Yoon Jiu was bursting with energy that ignored the heat or cold—it was exhausting just keeping up with him.
The childhood friend heroine Lee Sea, weak to the heat, preferred sitting by my side watching me draw instead of tagging along with Jiu. Just your typical daily routine.
...By the way, my actual desk mate was another girl. Sea hadn't stolen her spot or anything; she'd just stepped away to chat with her group.
We finished classes and were walking home together—Yoon Jiu, Lee Sea, and me—when an unusual sight in the corner of the playground on our usual route turned that ordinary day into something special.
"Huh? Over there..."
Lee Sea was the first to notice something off.
"Oh no, looks like someone's getting bullied."
Two burly guys had a kid our age cornered.
It didn't look heartwarming, not even as an empty compliment.
Sea stomped her feet anxiously.
At her words, I checked it out and thought, Ah, today's the day, clenching my fist.
But the protagonist and apostle of justice, Yoon Jiu, had already charged ahead.
"Jiu!?"
The startled Sea called after him, but she didn't have the guts to follow.
Of course not.
"Stay behind me."
I pulled Sea behind me and ran after Jiu.
"Ah, okay."
The two guys spotted the rushing Jiu and turned toward us. They were built like tanks but had baby faces.
"What the hell, middle school punks?"
One of them eyed Jiu's uniform and spoke up.
Extras playing the delinquent villain role—obvious from their thuggish looks.
They were the bully students from the original story.
They seemed annoyed by Jiu yelling at them and were starting to get violent, so I couldn't just stand there watching anymore. I stepped forward.
"Jiu."
"Huh?"
"Stick with Sea."
Jiu turned back, his face pale with fear.
"Uh, y-yeah..."
Protagonist or not, the guy was just a middle schooler.
It's normal to get scared in a situation like this.
...Truth be told, even I was a bit tense about getting into a scrap.
I trusted this high-performance body of mine, but what if I stepped up and got my ass handed to me embarrassingly?
Still, I had enough confidence in myself to step in.
"Hey, guys, what's with cornering this kid?"
"What'd you say? Piss off if you don't wanna get beat."
I tried talking it out nicely, but of course, that went nowhere.
"Nah, not happening. Should I call the cops?"
"This punk's got some balls."
The guy with an unlit cig dangling from his mouth swaggered over to smack my head. I casually dodged, and his face stiffened.
"Dodged it? Ha, don't dodge if you don't wanna get beat till you drop."
I grabbed his outstretched arm, yanked it, and tripped him with my leg.
He wasn't expecting it—probably thought his arm was getting ripped off from the force.
"You little—ugh!?"
I pinned Villain Extra A's arm behind his back as he face-planted. Villain Extra B froze for a second.
"Ow, my arm! Let—let go! What the fuck kind of strength is this?"
A thrashed around trying to escape me, but it was hard for him to muster power in that position, and when I tested it, I was stronger anyway.
"Call the cops? Or wanna just leave?"
I put more pressure on his twisted arm, bending it in a direction it really shouldn't go.
"Aaaagh! Fuck, stop!"
"You bastard!"
B, who'd been staring blankly, charged at me. I'd let go of A to crouch, so I quickly dodged back.
B leaped over his stumbling friend and swung wildly at me.
Why's it so easy to see?
Maybe because of his wide stance, but his movements were crystal clear.
I twisted my waist to evade the swing and countered with a short jab to his gut.
I aimed low to avoid solar plexus damage—didn't want any serious aftereffects.
"Guhk!"
The recoil from his own momentum sent B staggering back retching, right into A who was grabbing his arm and rising. They tangled and crashed down together.
"Good enough. Let's bounce."
No point dragging it out—we were outta there.
They probably wouldn't bother reporting this to the cops.
That's when I spotted the kid from behind the bullies, wide-eyed, watching the fight.
I'd been replaying the original story in my head to not forget it, especially this early episode, so I remembered clearly: this kid was supposed to run off while Jiu got beat.
But she wasn't running now. Because I won?
Now that I looked, she was a pretty girl about our age.
Her ponytail and that fresh cuteness typical of her age... Man, critiquing a middle schooler's looks like this felt kinda creepy.
Anyway, up close, she was as attractive as Sea.
This was a romcom world, after all—even the extras were above average looking. Like me, for example.
But her? She had lead heroine-level looks.
The bully villains were ugly enough to fit their role, though.
"You too. Come on, let's go."
I grabbed the dazed kid's hand. With Yoon Jiu and Lee Sea glued behind me, staring, we four bolted from the playground.
I felt the three of them panting hard, so I stopped and checked back—no pursuit. We caught our breath.
Oh, right, still holding her hand.
I let go naturally, and her face flushed as she clasped her hands neatly at her chest.
She must've been that out of breath.
Sigh, Jiu. You don't have to treat girls delicately, but your stamina's this bad?
For a guy sprinting out to play soccer every lunch, he was surprisingly frail.
Maybe work out together later.
Once we'd steadied our breathing, we exchanged names with the girl the bullies had grabbed. Her name was Lee Soyun.
Lee Soyun...? Lee Soyun! Just as I thought. This kid was a heroine too.
I'd suspected from her improbably pretty face earlier, and yep.
In the original, they'd laid tons of foreshadowing about some secret tying Soyun to Jiu. Must've been this incident.
Makes sense. Scary as it was, ditching while the guy who saved you got beat? Hard to confess that easily.
But she'd end up liking Jiu for stepping up.
This time, Jiu went first like in the original, so probably not much change.
Soyun went to a different middle school from Dawn Middle. Same age as us.
"Um, th-thank you. I... I'll repay you somehow later."
"Sure, but say it to him, not me."
I nodded toward Jiu.
"Huh? Uh, I didn't really do anything..."
"If you hadn't gone, I wouldn't have either."
Jiu looked kinda down, which bugged me.
No way his personality changed from not even getting hit. Maybe the original story's forced progression?
In the end, we swapped contacts with Soyun, and she left.
"Jin, you were so cool. Like a total prince!"
Sea gazed at me with sparkling eyes.
"Wh-what about me?"
"You were cool too, Jiu!"
I averted my eyes from Sea's beaming smile at me—it was overwhelming.
Still, I'd cleared another episode smoothly. Couldn't help but smirk a little.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Oppa~"
Your brother's right there.
"Don't cling. It's hot."
"Aww, Oppa, you're so cold. But that's your charm. Hehe~"
This kid clinging to me in this sweltering heat? Yoon Jiu's little sister, Yoon Jia.
She didn't show up much in the original parts I'd read, but as his one-year-younger sis, she'd probably enter as a first-year when the second-year arcs started and appear more.
"Jia's fonder of Jin than me..."
"Hmph, our Jin Oppa acts more like a real big bro than Yoon Jiu~"
"Hey! Yoon Jia! Wanna die?"
The protagonist siblings bickered. Sign of a good relationship.
Thankfully, Jiu's personality hadn't changed much.
Watching them made me feel like I'd accomplished something—not a bad vibe.
Yoon Jiu and Jia tussling looked like the perfect handsome pair.
Jia had fully inherited the protagonist family's genes: a lively cat-like beauty.
...Even in this slightly off romcom world, no incest, right? Jia's probably not a heroine.
"Guys!"
Clack-clack.
Another one dashed up to our group.
"Soyun~"
"Hey, Lee Soyun!"
"You made it."
"Hi, Unnie!"
Since that day we saved her, we'd hung out with Soyun now and then, hitting the city streets. She'd gotten close to our group.
We even studied together at each other's houses sometimes.
Come to think of it, the first study session...
Soyun's mom saw me and Jiu, her eyes went wide, dragged Soyun into her room, and later the kid came out beet red. Wonder what they talked about.
Today's meetup was a graduation party.
Jiu's dad was treating us since we were his friends—invited the whole crew.
Fancy Chinese place. First time trying a Chinese course meal—mind-blowing flavors.
Eggplant's meant to be fried, huh.
"We'll be high schoolers soon."
"Yeah."
Time flew.
We former kids were proper teens now.
Protagonist Yoon Jiu's annoying face had annoying-ified into peak harem protag handsomeness.
Childhood friend heroine Lee Sea had bloomed from chubby cutie to a pure beauty making guys on the street do double-takes.
And Lee Soyun, who should've met us in high school, had fully flowered into a puppy-cute girl.
Feeling the mood, I raised my glass.
"Cheers!"
"J-Jin?"
Sea stared at me in surprise.
Things felt more like the original, getting me hyped—maybe too hyped—so I shouted cheers with my cola.
"Pfft-ha! Ijin's all quiet usually, but he's got these quirky sides."
Jiu laughed and clinked glasses quick, and the others soon giggled along, joining in.
...Jiu's parents watching us warmly from the next table over made me a bit embarrassed.
Still, the real start was now. Couldn't help but look forward to whatever lay ahead.