Chapter 39: Please stop

“Ah, I’m exhausted.”

A karaoke night with the extroverts.

‘Should I be grateful that I managed to escape from there?’

I closed the door behind me as I arrived home and let out a deep sigh.

The loud noises were still ringing in my ears.

‘Is my singing really that bad…?’

They had teased me endlessly about my Thunder Tiger Singing Technique, and I was honestly a bit shaken.

Out of habit, I opened my wardrobe and grabbed a tracksuit.

Even though I felt drained from karaoke, I figured working out would help clear my mind.

If my body was tired, I’d sleep better, and unnecessary thoughts would disappear.

***

The same road I passed every day.

Under the dark night sky, the streetlights cast their glow onto the path.

The gym was a ten-minute walk away.

Walking at a leisurely pace, I emptied my mind as I moved forward.

Before I knew it, I had arrived at the gym.

“Dohyun!”

I turned my head.

Jinyoung.

Dressed in workout gear, holding a sports drink in one hand.

As soon as he spotted me, he approached.

“Did you make up with Seo Yuna?”

This bastard.

Lately, he never missed an opportunity to tease me like this.

A friend’s mild misfortune is another friend’s happiness.

That’s just how guys’ friendships work.

With a tired look, I replied.

“Yeah, we made up today.”

Jinyoung took a sip of his drink and looked at me with a curious expression.

“Ah… already?”

“What kind of reaction is that?”

He looked obviously disappointed.

I stared at him, baffled.

“You look like you’re upset about it.”

Jinyoung smirked and nodded shamelessly.

“Of course~! You and Seo Yuna’s fight had great entertainment value.”

‘What, was this some kind of drama finale for him?’

He continued.

“Anyway, if you made up, that’s good. But.”

With a knowing smile, he placed a hand on my shoulder.

“When are you two going to start dating?”

…?

I looked at him, dumbfounded.

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean, come on. It’s obvious Seo Yuna likes you. And even though you act grumpy, you don’t really keep your distance from her.”

I was about to respond, but no solid argument came to mind.

‘Not keeping my distance…’

Unconsciously, I mulled over those words.

To begin with—

‘I could keep my distance if I wanted to.’

As long as my approval rating with her didn’t drop to zero, it wouldn’t matter.

But.

‘Why did I not want to keep a cold war going with Seo Yuna?’

‘Hmm…’

After our fight, school had felt a bit dull.

Her signature way of blurting things out—

Without that, things felt unexpectedly quiet.

‘Had I just gotten used to spending time with her? Or did I actually dislike the idea of losing that?’

“Hey.”

Jinyoung’s voice snapped me back to reality.

He was staring at me.

“Why are you thinking so hard about this?”

“…Nothing.”

‘Is this even something I need to overthink?’

The more I delved into my thoughts, the more complicated it became.

There was no need to overanalyze.

I could just keep things as they were.

I glanced at Jinyoung and asked.

“Why do you care so much about other people’s business?”

Jinyoung chuckled.

“Just because. Your personality is such a mess that I feel obligated to give you some advice.”

I let out a dry laugh.

“I’ll handle it, so mind your own business.”

Even as I said that, there was a lingering sense of unease.

With a quiet sigh, I stepped into the gym.

***

Thud. Thud.

My gloved fists struck the mat.

Sweat trickled down my forehead.

The more I moved, the clearer my mind felt.

It was as if my tangled thoughts were slowly unraveling.

And then—

“Hey, what the hell is this?!”

A loud voice echoed through the gym.

‘…Why was he causing a commotion again?’

I kept hitting the sandbag, answering flatly.

“What now.”

“Is this you?!”

Jinyoung shoved his phone in front of me.

On the screen—

A school gossip page.

[Hanbit Academy Newspaper Club: The Academy’s Hidden Hero, Episode 1.]

[Anonymous1]: LMAO is the newspaper club crazy?

[Anonymous2]: Wait, this actually happened?

[Anonymous3]: Isn’t this Kim Dohyun?

[Anonymous4]: This is hilarious. When’s Episode 2 coming out?

Just from the title, I felt a bad premonition.

With a sense of unease, I clicked the post.

And—

The first panel.

A classroom.

A black-haired boy looking out the window.

Below it, the text:

‘He was a quiet student.’

I muttered internally.

‘What the hell…’

The next scene.

Some thugs making crude remarks.

The heroine, looking disgusted, turns to leave.

“That’s enough.”

A black-haired boy suddenly appears.

The protagonist in the drawing was… me.

A punch flies.

One hit, and the thug is on the floor.

“-We won’t mess around anymore…”

…The dialogue was way too cringeworthy.

The next panel.

A dark hideout filled with thugs.

The protagonist standing before them.

“-I came to end you all.”

And—

A single-handed beatdown.

The final panel.

“-Gang cleanup complete.”

The words were written in bold.

…This was seriously childish.

I stared blankly at the phone and spoke.

“Which lunatic….”

“Pffft!”

Jinyoung burst out laughing, clutching his stomach and rolling on the gym floor.

The Hanbit Academy Newspaper Club.

‘I had absolutely no connection to them, so why had they done this?’

“This is a bit much.”

“Hey, did you see the reaction? It totally blew up.”

“Blew up? What are you talking about?”

“The views.”

I turned my eyes to the screen.

Views: 1000.

With about 10,000 students at the academy, this meant that roughly 10% had already seen the article.

Before the view count increased any further, I had to take down this cringeworthy comic.

Jinyoung chuckled and said, “Honestly, it’s pretty entertaining. People love this kind of stuff.”

I quietly stared at the screen.

The gossip forum was already flooded with related posts.

[Anonymous12]: LMAO, is this for real?

[Anonymous7]: Wait, isn’t this just a novel?

[Anonymous3]: The protagonist’s dialogue is so cringe, but it’s kinda fun lol

This was seriously too much.

Not only had they exaggerated everything, but they’d rewritten my words with the dramatic flair of a middle schooler going through a phase.

“Hey, but listen.”

Jinyoung snickered as he spoke.

“If you leave this alone, they’re probably going to keep making more.”

‘…What?’

“Students love this. If the newspaper club sees the views skyrocketing, wouldn’t they just keep publishing new episodes?”

“Ah.”

Now that I thought about it, if I didn’t stop this, they could release Episode 2, 3, or even an entire Season 2.

I had to put an end to it.

***

The next day.

As soon as I arrived at the academy, I felt the weight of countless stares.

Students were sneaking glances at me, whispering among themselves.

Some were even talking about it openly as I passed through the hallway.

“Did you see that comic the newspaper club posted yesterday?”

“So good. But the protagonist’s lines were so cringey.”

I did my best to ignore them and headed straight to my classroom.

As soon as I sat down—

“Kim Dohyun~!!”

A familiar voice.

“You’re super popular this morning, huh?”

Seo Yuna sat in front of me with a grin.

Next to her, Choi Dabin smirked as well.

They were definitely here to tease me.

I responded indifferently.

“…What.”

“Wow~ The protagonist in that comic—the one who took down all those thugs and stormed their hideout—kinda looks like you, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I see the resemblance.”

“Your eyes, too.”

“No, they don’t.”

I answered bluntly, but they weren’t planning to stop.

“Honestly, wasn’t it a little fun? It kind of has a webtoon vibe.”

“The protagonist looks like you, and even his attitude is kinda similar. The way he talks, for example~?”

Embarrassed, I rubbed my face with my hands.

I mean, come on…

‘Saying I had the same vibe as some overdramatic protagonist suffering from a teenage angst phase?’

‘I wasn’t that bad, right?’

Seo Yuna smirked and asked, “You saw the comic on the gossip page, didn’t you?”

I shook my head firmly.

“Nope.”

‘If I admitted to reading it, they’d never let me live it down.’

So, I lied.

As soon as I said that, their eyes widened.

“Huh?”

“What?”

I responded indifferently.

“I never installed the gossip app on my phone in the first place.”

At that moment, their reactions changed oddly.

Seo Yuna and Dabin exchanged looks.

“That’s more shocking, actually.”

“Right?”

‘Why were they reacting like this?’

‘It wasn’t mandatory to check that forum.’

‘I wasn’t the type to care about other people’s drama, and gossip communities were just a waste of time.’

“So, Kim Dohyun, this is your first time seeing it?”

Seo Yuna held up her phone screen to my face.

‘Damn it, if I see that cringe-fest again, I might actually take psychological damage.’

I turned my head away.

“Not interested.”

Pressing my fingers to my temple, I thought to myself—

‘The newspaper club bastards… I won’t let them get away with this.’

***

Time seemed to crawl by that day.

‘Morning classes?’

No way I could focus.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

‘Who gave the newspaper club permission to use my face like that?’

Tapping my fingers on the desk, I started organizing my plan.

Things to do right now:

1. As soon as club activity time starts, head straight to the newspaper club.
2. Confront them.
3. Make them take the post down.
4. If they refuse…? Break some teeth.

That last part was a joke.

But seriously—if I went in person and made it clear that I wanted it gone, would they really keep publishing?

“What are you thinking about?”

Seo Yuna whispered from the seat next to mine.

“Just spacing out.”

“Your expression is way more intense than usual, though?”

I sighed and answered, “If I leave this alone, they’re going to keep making new episodes. Then more students will talk about it, and it’ll get even worse.”

“True.”

“So, I have to go deal with it directly.”

She smiled, intrigued.

“Hmm~ But do you think the newspaper club will take it down just because you ask? It got a lot of views. And let’s be honest, it’s pretty entertaining.”

“What’s entertaining about it? It’s just childish.”

At that moment, the lunch bell rang.

Finally.

Club activity time wasn’t far away now.

The moment lunch ended, I was heading straight to the newspaper club.

‘But seriously… how did those bastards even know that I took down Choi Gihoon’s gang?’

I had no idea.

I’d just have to ask them directly.