I have rarely ever liked school.
Even in my past life, I didn’t have many friends.
If I had to compare, I technically had more friends back then than I do now, but in the end, I was just as unpopular with the other kids at school.
I had to wake up early in the morning and sit through classes I had no interest in.
If relationships got even slightly twisted, I’d have to deal with nasty kids who would regularly torment me.
The teachers had no real enthusiasm for teaching.
Well, to be honest, I understood that since I used to be an adult too.
Whether it’s teaching students or working a part-time job at a convenience store, work is work, and sometimes you just don’t want to do it.
But still, couldn’t they at least try to understand what it was like for us—to be stuck in the same space with people who clearly didn’t want to be there, forced to sit together for at least 50 minutes at a time?
Tap.
Something flew from behind and hit my head.
It wasn’t a strong hit.
It was probably just a small piece of an eraser or something like that.
Whoever threw it wasn’t someone I was particularly close with.
In the first place, aside from Hayoon, there was no one in this class I could call a friend.
How did my class placement end up so badly?
Every single classmate was from “the other side of the street.”
It’s been five years since the Galactic Federation established itself in this world.
It’s not exactly a long time, but in that short period, the Federation had changed much of Earth.
Naturally, there were people trying to align themselves with it.
And most of those people were the wealthy ones—because only those with long enough connections could reach that far.
High school students aren’t old enough to fully understand all of this.
But they do get influenced by their parents.
“Get along with this person.”
“Avoid that person.”
Kids raised by parents who say things like that categorize their peers accordingly.
Hayoon, who comes from a wealthy family affiliated with the Galactic Federation, is someone you should “get along with.”
Someone like me, with nothing to my name, is someone you don’t need to bother with.
If they thought about it for even a second, they’d realize that bullying someone close to Hayoon isn’t the smartest idea.
But people who think they’re all that rarely think that far ahead.
Tap.
The fact that I stayed silent and didn’t react probably played a role too.
I once took a moment to wonder why they were doing this.
But in the end, it’s probably because someone like me—who has nothing—was too close to Hayoon.
No matter how much they tried to get closer to her, Hayoon always maintained a subtle distance, treating everyone equally.
But with me, she acted more familiar.
I wasn’t sure if they were jealous of that or if they saw me as an obstacle, but one thing was certain—I was the source of their negative emotions.
They couldn’t outright harass me, but they still found small ways to make things difficult.
Not that they would stop even if I distanced myself from Hayoon.
I made eye contact with the teacher at the front of the class.
They had clearly seen what was happening but chose to look away.
Well, of course. Supporting a student with no parents was riskier than just ignoring the situation.
Students with parents could have their families come to school and make a fuss.
And if those parents were the type who “thought highly of themselves,” who knew what kind of trouble they’d cause for a teacher?
So yeah.
That’s just how it was.
Tap.
I didn’t even bother brushing the eraser dust off my head.
Reacting would only make the bullying worse.
I didn’t tell Hayoon about it either.
There wasn’t a logical reason, but I didn’t want help with something like this.
Honestly, I couldn’t even explain it well myself.
Maybe it was my own pride getting in the way.
Either way, since I didn’t react at all, they must have gotten bored, and the eraser dust eventually stopped flying my way.
I focused on my notes without glancing back even once.
I made eye contact with the teacher again.
They looked away.
Or… was I imagining it?
I wasn’t sure.
For the rest of the class, our eyes didn’t meet again.
I always ate lunch with Hayoon.
Even in my past life, I didn’t have many friends, but I at least had enough acquaintances to rotate lunch groups now and then.
But after transferring to this school, there was no one besides Hayoon to eat with.
The kids from “the other side” wouldn’t approach me.
And the kids on my side wouldn’t go out of their way to approach Hayoon.
There was a strange tension between the two groups, and unfortunately, I was stuck right in the middle with Hayoon.
And as luck would have it, both groups seemed to see me as someone who was just “clinging” to her.
Sure, Hayoon often bought me things, but I had never asked her to.
I bought her things sometimes too.
Of course, in terms of sheer monetary value, I received way more than I gave.
We grabbed our lunch trays and sat in a quiet corner of the cafeteria as usual.
Normally, it was just the two of us.
Neither of us ever thought to invite anyone else.
But today was a little different.
“Hey, Hayoon.”
A stranger’s voice called out to her.
At the start of every school year, there were always people like this—those who tried to get close to Hayoon just because they were in the same class.
They didn’t even bother greeting me, the person sitting right across from her.
Honestly, I was amazed every time.
Who wouldn’t find it rude to ignore their friend like that?
Or maybe people like them had their own unspoken rules.
“Ah… hi.”
Hayoon responded hesitantly as the student casually placed their tray down beside her.
Her voice was barely more than a mumble.
That meant she didn’t like it.
Hayoon was extremely shy and hid her emotions in front of people she wasn’t close to.
The fact that her voice had gotten quieter meant she was suppressing her feelings even more.
I ate my meal leisurely, indifferent to whether the other kids sat down or not.
Glancing at me, the girl sitting next to Hayoon brought her group over, and they all sat around us.
It was obvious they wanted me to move, but I ignored their stares.
“We’ve never really talked before, have we?”
Hayoon glanced at me.
She looked uncomfortable.
Even though she never spoke about the kids who bullied me, she was at least aware of the situation.
The others didn’t realize it because she couldn’t tell them to leave outright, but I knew that her discomfort stemmed from being conscious of me.
Sensing that Hayoon was looking at me, the girl also turned her gaze toward me.
I could almost see the calculations running through her head.
She didn’t like me. If she thought long-term, she’d want to cut me off eventually—because I wasn’t useful.
But she must have realized that ignoring me too much right now would backfire.
Or maybe she should have figured it out from the start.
If it were just the two of us eating together, she should have noticed.
There were always other girls (and sometimes even boys) trying to get close to Hayoon, yet she had come to the cafeteria with only me.
“Hi.”
After finishing her mental calculations, she greeted me in a friendly voice.
I stared at her.
I think I know where she sits in the classroom—behind me.
I wasn’t sure if she was the one who threw eraser shavings at me, but she was definitely in a position where she could see it happening.
I also remembered the quiet laughter from behind me.
“Hi.”
That was all I said before focusing on my meal again.
Seeing me act like that, Hayoon cautiously resumed eating with her chopsticks.
“Well, since we’re in the same class now, I thought it’d be nice if we got along.”
“Oh, um… I see.”
I carefully observed Hayoon’s tray, which had more vegetables than meat.
Luckily, she was still eating, albeit slowly.
Her food was gradually disappearing.
The same couldn’t be said for the other kids.
They were more focused on talking than eating, which was expected.
I slowed my chopsticks to match Hayoon’s eating pace.
“Um… This is a bit embarrassing to say, but I actually looked into it a little. Hayoon, we live in the same neighborhood.”
“Huh?”
Hearing her words, I nearly scoffed.
I barely managed to hold it in, preventing a disaster where food would have shot out of my nose.
“To be honest, I’ve been a fan for a long time.”
That kind of approach would only backfire on Hayoon.
At first glance, she seemed like the type of person anyone could easily befriend because she was kind to everyone.
But in reality, she had strict, even harsh, standards—though she didn’t seem to realize it herself.
For Hayoon, a friend was someone who treated her normally, whether she was a magical girl or not.
Naturally, after becoming a magical girl, very few people met that standard.
A friend wouldn’t ask another friend for an autograph.
After all, there’s no reason to—because they’re friends.
They might get one for an acquaintance, but that’s different.
A friend also wouldn’t show off by introducing her to others just because she was a magical girl.
They wouldn’t bring up her parents unless she mentioned them first.
The moment someone calls themselves a “fan,” a thick, invisible wall is built between them and Hayoon.
“Oh… I see.”
I felt like the light in Hayoon’s eyes dimmed slightly.
Of course, the lighting in the room hadn’t changed, so it was just my imagination.
Still, the girl, oblivious as she was, didn’t seem to realize that her words had failed to impress Hayoon.
“Ever since I heard we went to the same school, I really wanted to be in the same class.”
She kept stepping on landmines.
It was obvious she was used to being put on a pedestal, just like others did with her.
It felt like something straight out of a comic.
Then again, this world was based on a webtoon, so I suppose it made sense.
This wasn’t going anywhere.
Hayoon looked extremely uncomfortable.
I shoveled the remaining food into my mouth, chewing furiously before swallowing it all down.
Then I abruptly stood up.
“Hayoon, are you done eating?”
“Huh?”
Startled by my sudden movement, Hayoon looked up at me before breaking into a wide smile and standing up as well.
“Yeah!”
Of course, she hadn’t been able to finish her meal since she’d been too busy picking at her food while talking.
“Wait, huh?”
The girl—whatever her name was, not that it mattered—stared at me and Hayoon in confusion.
“Bye. That was a nice conversation. It’s great to be in the same class. Let’s get along from now on.”
I rattled off the words quickly, then turned on my heel and walked away.
The three kids left sitting there didn’t seem to understand what had just happened.
They probably had no clue why someone like Hayoon had suddenly stood up to follow me or why she was smiling so brightly even though she hadn’t finished eating.
They’d never understand.
Not in a million years.
After dropping off my tray, I grabbed Hayoon’s wrist and pulled her along.
“Let’s go to the snack shop.”
Since she didn’t get to finish her meal, I had to make sure she ate something.
Unlike me, who had stuffed everything down in one go, Hayoon hadn’t had the chance.
“…Are you hungry?”
Surprisingly, she asked me that instead.
“We’re at the age where we need to eat a lot.”
That was all I said before buying two sausage buns at the shop, shoving one into Hayoon’s hands.
Every school year, there were always people who tried to get close to Hayoon because of her background.
And they all had one thing in common—they were annoyingly persistent.
But their persistence didn’t just manifest in how they talked to Hayoon.
They couldn’t outright ask her why she wasn’t responding properly.
Her background made that impossible, but more importantly, saying something like that would make them feel pathetic.
So instead, their frustration usually got redirected toward someone they saw as easier to pick on—me, the person near Hayoon who seemed more approachable.
Throughout the entire afternoon, I could feel a sticky, unpleasant gaze on the back of my head.
I wondered if I was just imagining it, but every time I nearly forgot about it, an eraser shaving would fly in my direction, confirming my suspicions.
And then—
Thud.
A sharp pain shot through the back of my head, making me flinch.
This time, I couldn’t ignore it.
“Ah, sorry.”
The kid who had talked to me during lunch earlier, sitting diagonally from me, raised a hand slightly.
“Could you pick up my eraser?”
I looked down and saw an eraser on the floor.
It was torn here and there.
What a shame.
I picked it up and put it in my pencil case.
It was a new eraser, but it had already been torn up.
That was pitiful.
It would be much happier living properly as an eraser inside my pencil case.
“Hey.”
The voice dropped slightly.
But they didn’t outright raise their voice.
I guess they were still somewhat mindful of the teacher.
Besides, Hayoon was sitting near me.
That kid ended up staying quiet until the end of class, perhaps because Hayoon kept glancing in this direction.
I expected them to come and pick a fight after class, but with Hayoon by my side, they didn’t even try.
So, they think I’m easy to mess with.
I thought for a moment about what to do with them.
“Are you heading straight home today?”
Maybe because it was the day after the first day of school, Hayoon asked with a hint of disappointment as we stood at the bus stop.
“Next time.”
I answered.
“I have something to do today.”
“I see.”
Hayoon was someone who trusted my words easily.
We were going to see each other here again tomorrow morning anyway, so they weren’t too disappointed.
We waved goodbye to each other.
I watched Hayoon walk toward their house for a moment, then turned and walked in the opposite direction.
I wasn’t going straight home.
I walked in a direction slightly different from the way to my house.
There were people following me.
From their personalities, they didn’t seem like the type to take the bus, yet they had boarded it.
I had been keeping an eye out just in case, and sure enough, they were following me.
Was the eraser really that important to them?
No, it wasn’t about the eraser.
It was about me.
They wanted to get rid of the irritation I caused them as soon as possible.
Hayoon was a bit oblivious to things like this.
They could sense malice easily, but because of that, they couldn’t imagine it going further.
They couldn’t fathom the existence of bullying that was far more barbaric than what they had experienced
themselves.
“Hey.”
I heard a voice, lower and sharper this time, as if they had finally realized we had been going in circles.
“What?”
I turned around and replied.
“The eraser.”
“You seem to have plenty of money, just buy a new one.”
When I said that, the girl let out a scoff.
Hmm, was she a fighter?
I tilted my head slightly.
Not really.
You know those people with incredibly thin legs?
The kind that makes you think they might break if they hit something the wrong way?
Her legs were like that.
Honestly, was there even a need to fight?
If I just ran, she’d probably collapse from exhaustion before catching me.
Then, I could stomp on her all I wanted.
Yeah.
Maybe because they had numbers on their side, they weren’t even considering the possibility of losing.
They must have bullied quite a few kids before me.
Who was their target last year?
But you know what?
I wasn’t planning on going down so easily.
At school, I just pretended not to notice.
I didn’t want Hayoon to have to help me with something like this.
Telling the teacher wouldn’t help, and I didn’t have anyone else who could.
So the only solution was to handle it myself.
I studied the physical build of the three of them carefully and formed a strategy.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“Do I look like an easy target?”
“Yeah.”
I answered lightly and nodded.
I did look like an easy target.
Very much so.
So much that if I hit them the wrong way, they might actually break.
Maybe it was because I answered too confidently.
A hint of confusion flickered across their face.
They probably hadn’t encountered anyone who responded like this before.
Then again, that was only natural.
Unless the kid they were bullying was someone who regularly fought magical girls, no one would talk like this.
“So, what are you going to do? Want to throw the first punch? I’ll even let you make the first move.”
Not that I intended to get hit.
I took a step forward, and they flinched.
“Or should I go first?”
“Are you out of your mind?”
“I’m perfectly sane.”
Of course, I was.
Since middle school, until now.
How many people had I met who didn’t like me being around Hayoon?
Every time, I had never just let it slide.
They always tried to bully me, and I always went absolutely berserk in response.
The kids from my middle school didn’t mess with me anymore.
It was also why barely anyone dared to interrupt when Hayoon and I ate together in the cafeteria.
I had been fighting long before Hayoon ever had to.
No matter what, I wasn’t going to lose to a regular person.