Even though Lara was calling me from behind, I dashed forward without replying to her.
I still donât have any plans of getting close to Sibel!
Itâs just... itâs just...
I received so many presents!
Itâs only natural for me to thank him!
Thatâs all.
So I left the dormitory and ran around the academy for a long time.
However, I wouldnât be able to find Sibel by just aimlessly wandering around.
So then what should I do? Itâs the festival period, so Iâm sure he wonât be in the classroomâŚ
âOh, look whoâs here?â
Huh? I think Iâve heard this voice a lot somewhereâŚ
ââŚHailey?â
When I turned around and checked who it was, I got goosebumps by this wonderful coincidence. I was just trying to find Sibel but I met the Sisamo⌠sigh, should I be glad about this or not?
âWell, well, well⌠Isnât this Marilyn Launer, whoâs been associated with my idol for a while, but it turns out to be just a misunderstanding, and whoâs close to my second favoriteâs sister?"
Is it because this reality is based on a novel? Why did she introduce me with all that unnecessary information out loud?
Itâs like in a crazy drama where the main character would answer the phone and said, âWhat? My sister got splashed with cold water from that slut at a cafe and when she got admitted to a hospital, it was discovered that she has cancer?!â and just telling everyone everything.
âGood to see you, Hailey.â
âThe heck? Why are you so friendly all of a sudden?â
Although Sibelâs current whereabouts are not known, no one in the academy knows his every move better than the Sisamo.
âDo you know whereâs Sibel?â
âAnd why do you ask?â
As I had guessed, Hailey became wary when I asked for Sibelâs location. But didnât I thought of an excuse just in case?
âLaraâs our vice president, right? They have a meeting with Sibel regarding their duties as class officers, but Lara has something to do and she canât find him anywhere.â
âIs that soâŚ?â
âYeah, thatâs why Iâm looking for Sibel instead of Lara.â
âYou canât!â
Contrary to my expectation, Hailey was unexpectedly determined even if itâs for the sake of her second favoriteâs younger sister (Lariensa).
âNo matter how much my second favoriteâs sister needs this informationâŚÂ I wonât! Reveal! Sibelâs location! To anyone! Easily!â
Sigh⌠Should I give up for now and find him later�
âTherefore! Whatever you say or do, I will never ever tell you that Sibel entered the haunted house 15 minutes ago!â
ââŚHuh?â
âYou will never know that Sibel helped a girl who fell at the entrance of the haunted house and then went inside with a dazzling smile!â
Youâre telling it to me now though?
âHoho. Youâre curious, right? About why Sibel went inside the haunted houseâŚâ
Hailey, I didnât expect it⌠but your mouth is as light as cotton candy, isnât it?
âYes, thatâs right! Iâm sooooo curious! But now that I know, Iâll leave now. Byeee~â
âWhat? You already know? Hey!â
I donât think Hailey even remembers what she just said.
You werenât going to tell me where Sibel is, so Iâm not going to tell you either!
Alright, letâs go to the haunted house!
Coincidentally, the haunted house was also not far away and now Iâm at the entrance of the haunted house.
I was about to enter when someone blocked my way inside. Had it not been for the gatekeeper to block me, I would have already been sprinting down that dark hallway.
âPlease pay the entrance fee.â
âEntrance fee? Thereâs an entrance fee?!â
Itâs the school festival. What do you mean entrance fee? Other stalls donât ask for it though?
âThe haunted house is specially crafted, so we charge a small entrance fee.â
Ah, what should I do? I didnât bring any money because I was in a hurry.
If I go back to the dorm, surely Sibel would have already left after I came back.
At that moment, I remembered what Natalie said beforeâŚ
âI borrowed a book called <How to be Good at Dating> and there I read that when a man sees a girl acting cutely (aegyo), they would be completely captivated by her charms and fall prey to her whims.â
Natalie was a master of theory without practical experience. What if I do it and Iâm the only one who gets embarrassed?
I slowly raised my head and looked at the gatekeeper.
The person in front of me was smiling menacingly, implying that I should go away if I donât have any money.
Inhale⌠ExhaleâŚÂ I canât help it. I donât have any choice now but to show you my super duper cute act!
âMarini ish sho upshet (You know, I was so upset).â
ââŚâŚâ
âWhen you ashkedt Marini fhor money, I wash really, really, reaallly upshet! I wash sho shad! Shad! (When you asked me for money, I was really, really, reaalllyy upset! I was so sad! Sad!)â
ââŚâŚâ
âHmm~? Hmmm~!â
ââŚâŚâ
How is it? Cute, right? Youâre going crazy now, arenât you?
When Lara saw this cute act, she covered her mouth and even cried because of cuteness overload!
âŚAlthough I was beaten up by my other friends because of it, let's just skip that.
âI heard you⌠y-you can go inâŚâ
Ohh? For real?
When I looked up at the gatekeeper with my eyes raised, I could see him turning away, covering his red face.
Hey, Mr. Gatekeeper! Why is your face turning red?
Anyway, anything free is good! Even if I have to suffer, Iâll spend my whole life accepting free stuff.
âWahh~ yayy! Youâre the besht! The bwesht, the best!!! (Wahh~ yayy! Youâre the best! The best, the best!!!)â
Finally, I winked and sent hearts toward the gatekeeper whose whole face was already red and then entered the haunted house.
Once I came in, the haunted house was much spookier than I thought.
Well, theyâre all dressed up as various monsters and paranormal creaturesâŚ
âHihihihihihi.
âWAAAAHHH!â
Itâs a ghost! Itâs laughing! No, no, no, no! Go away!
Then someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind.
I thought a staff member came to pick me up after hearing my scream⌠but no, it was a zombie!
âAHHHHHH! SAVE ME!!!â
Thatâs how the chase with the zombies began.
Why the hell did Sibel go inside the haunted house?!
And what person would pay so much attention to the quality of the haunted house during the festival?!
When I looked back, the zombie who was chasing me blew up to five.
âUwahahaha!
I thought I could hear a dreary sound somewhere, and then suddenly, a bloody ghost popped out of my sight!
âLara! Emily! Natalie! Violet!â
Mom, save me! I think Iâm going to die!
When I looked back again, not only zombies but also a bunch of bloody ghosts were now chasing me. What kind of haunted house would have so many staff dressed up like this!
It was so dark that I ran without knowing where I was going, that I barely managed to open a door that was in front of me and went inside to get away from those chasing ghosts and zombies.
âHuff, huffâŚâ
The room was a lot darker than where I was before, so I couldnât see anything in front of me. It wasnât until I managed to get used to the dark that I realized that this was a dressing room.
âIâm just gonna take a breath and then Iâll go outâŚâ
Now all I wanted was to leave this haunted house quickly, whether Iâll find Sibel or not.
Taking a closer look at the costumes, it was not as scary as I thought. Why the heck did I run around screaming like that then?
Having the courage, I took a step and looked around the dressing room a bit more.
Tap!
But then, someone grabbed my ankle.
ââŚâŚâ
Feeling the cool air, I slowly lowered my head little by little, and when I finally saw itâŚ
Thereâs another zombie near my feet!
âAHHHHHHHHH! I donât like haunted houses anymore! Let me goooo!!!â
The courage that I had before was blown away in just a second. I lost my mind and beat up the zombie.
âUh, ughâŚâ
It was only after the zombie groaned that I came back to my senses.
I was horrified! The fact that this zombie is actually not a zombie but a human being!
âOh my godâŚâ
W-what if his ribs are broken?
âA-are you alright?â
I bent down on my knees and tried to examine his wounds. However, that person struck my hand coldly.
How coldâŚ
âDo you want me to take you to the clinic?â
âNo.â
âOh, you donât want to? Is it because itâs hard to walk? Should I call someone then?â
âNo.â
âYou also donât want to call someone⌠Then, should I carry you on my back?â
âNo.â
âSo you just donât like going to the clinic? If you donât mind, can I turn on the light so that I can examine your wound?â
âNo.â
You donât like this! You donât like that! Then what do you want me to do?!
Are you taking revenge on me by doing this because I hit you earlier?
Otherwise, you canât just repeatedly say ânoâ. Unless youâre Sio OwensâŚ
âŚWait a minute. Sio Owens?
âExcuse meâŚâ
âNo.â
âWhat do you mean by that?â
âNo.â
ââŚHello?â
âNo.â
âHalf fried, half seasoned, with lots of radish.â
âNo.â
I just said whatever random as a test, but I canât believe he still said ânoâ.
This zombie is undeniably Sio Owens!
âDo you really say ânoâ to everything?â
âNo.â
âDo you not say anything else? If you file a complaint against me later, at least make it pass through the Disciplinary Committee first!â
ââŚâŚâ
âOkay. Youâre the one who kept saying ânoâ, so Iâm leaving.â
Just like that, I turned my back on Sio Owens without regret.
ââŚUgh.â
If Sio Owens hadnât groaned a little behind me, I would have already walked away through the door.
You said you didnât want to go to the clinic! Then you shouldnât act sick!
âOh, come on!â
Still, I was the one who hurt him, so I have to take responsibility!
I tried to help him even if I didnât want to. Of course, Sio refused and pushed me with all his strength.
ââŚNo.â
âYou donât want help and you donât also want to be carried.â
âNo.â
âThen I canât help it. I have to call someone else.â
âN-âŚâ
âEven if you don't like it, Iâll call someone. In particular, thereâs a boy named Sibel who Iâm close to.â
ââŚâŚâ
Sioâs shoulders slightly trembled by the mere mention of Sibelâs name. It seems that heâs afraid of Sibel just like in the original story.
âShould I go out and get Sibel, or will you take my help?â
Sio, who was biting his lips, soon reached out to me.
It was an inevitable âYesâ from intimidation.
ďź ďź ďź
Sio Owens! âWho is he?â you askâŚ
He is the son of the chairman of the board and is a distant relative of Sibel.
His self-esteem is very low due to Sibelâs constant bullying. In the course of the story, he eventually falls in love with Lariensa but he instead helps Sibel as a wingman for Lariensa to fall for her.
Although heâs one of the characters who I told Lara to avoid, he wasnât really that bad of a guy.
âOh my god! Sio, how did you get hurt like this?!â
The professor, who was in charge of the infirmary, made a fuss as he examined Sioâs body.
It was true that Sioâs body is covered in bruises because of me, butâŚ
Professor? I donât think you had the same reaction when Emily fell and came here with her nose bleeding thoughâŚ?
Is it because heâs the chairmanâs son? Just because heâs the son of a powerful man?!
âTell me, Sio. Who hurt you?â
ââŚin the haunted house.â
âSomeone hit you in the haunted house?!â
Hey! You always say âNo, noâ before, but now you open your mouth when you tell on me?!
âProfessor, I found him there!â
âAnd you areâŚ?â
âIâm Marilyn Launer! I found him collapsed and rolling inside the haunted house!â
Sio knitted his brows, disgruntled. But I donât really care, so I just blatantly lied to the professor.
âI think he hit the walls here and there while running away and got bruises along the way.â
âBut how did he get bruised on his ribs and stomach?â
âHaha⌠Sio must have been really scared.â
âI was worried that Sio would not have any friends, but I didnât know he already had a friend like Marilyn here. Iâll go get the medicine, so can you take care of Sio for the meantime?â
âOf course, Iâll properly take care of him.â
I was the one who hurt him, so how can I not take care of him? Hahaha! Donât worry, professor, just slowly take your time!
After the professor went out to get the medicine, Sio stood up and walked towards the bed, intending to lie down for a bit. Of course, I tried to help him butâŚ
âNo.â
I was rejected as expected.
âAre you just going to say the same exact thing for the entire day?â
Originally, he wouldnât even reply to others, so compared to what others thought of him, he already talked a lot to me.
And it seems that is the case. How many times have I heard him say ânoâ just today?
âGet out.â
âYou donât speak more than two words, do you?â
ââŚâŚâ
âDonât stare at me like that. Iâll leave as soon as the professor comes back.â
Itâs at this moment that I realized that Lariensa was really amazing. How could one approach someone and be kind to him when all he just did was say ânoâ?
âYouâŚâ
âHave you thought of anything else to say to me?â
ââŚYouâre close with Sibel?â
Sio kept saying no to this and that, so I just said that to threaten him to come with me.