The Main Character Killed The Villain

#034

“F-class.”

The examiner spoke carefully after a brief pause.

Unlike last time when it was unmeasurable, seeing the result confirmed as F-class again made me think, “As expected.” There was no way something incredibly good would happen in my life.

“Let’s check the matching rate too.”

Hyun Dowoon said to the examiner, slightly furrowing his brow.

‘I’m tired.’

Shin Haejun’s expression of surprise, and Kim Sehyun’s face that seemed to say “I knew it.” Even though it was expected, my body suddenly felt like a wet cotton ball. But it couldn’t be helped since it was already decided. In fact, it was more unusual to form a pair without even checking the matching rate.

Once again, the machine whirred, and the sound of results being printed filled the silent examination room.

“The matching rate is… 1.9%?”

The examiner muttered blankly, as if seeing such a low figure for the first time.

So we’re a 1.9% pair.

Hyun Dowoon snatched the test results with a puzzled face and scrutinized them. I sighed and got up from the machine. Then, exhausted, I slumped back into the chair.

“Do you accept the results?”

Kim Sehyun’s eyes, as he approached me and brought his face close, seemed somewhat pleased. Shouldn’t he avoid making such an expression if he claims to be a friend? It’s also annoying that he’s speaking so quietly to avoid others hearing.

‘Lee Jaeha, just how much of a pushover were you….’

Having been constantly walking on eggshells, even such a subtle signal was enough to reveal Kim Sehyun’s base intentions. Unfortunately, it seems Lee Jaeha was oblivious to this and considered him a friend….

“There’s nothing to accept or not. I’ve told you I have no attachment to being a guide anyway.”

When I answered firmly, Kim Sehyun stared into my eyes for a moment before turning away. Then he approached Shin Haejun, clenching his fist, and said,

“Haejun, please apologize to me.”

As he said this, a tear rolled down Kim Sehyun’s cheek. Even to my eyes, who had come to dislike Kim Sehyun for his despicable behavior, he looked pitiful.

“Because you didn’t trust me… I had to endure the humiliation of re-verification. If you really thought of me as your pair guide, you wouldn’t have pushed me to this.”

Kim Sehyun spoke calmly with a red-tipped nose. Shin Haejun seemed a bit surprised by Kim Sehyun’s sudden approach.

However, Shin Haejun just crossed his arms and looked down at Kim Sehyun without saying anything. He didn’t seem particularly interested even though Kim Sehyun was rebelling against him.

“Apologize to me.”

“Why should I?”

Shin Haejun replied indifferently.

“What do you mean, why?”

“Lee Jaeha was re-verified too, wasn’t he? You said you wanted re-verification. Is it okay to make your friend endure humiliation? I ordered the re-verification because I thought you were okay with it since you suggested it?”

At Shin Haejun’s words, Kim Sehyun’s face turned pale. He had seemed like a whining child, but Shin Haejun’s thinking was somewhat logical.

Come to think of it, if he really felt it was so humiliating, shouldn’t he have not asked me to do it too? He could have outright declared the end of our friendship….

‘He was trying hard to act nice.’

Since his character setting said so, he probably couldn’t outright declare the end of our friendship as he was acting according to his set personality.

I’m not sure how the re-verification incident is being depicted in the story, but I was secretly satisfied, knowing that readers would surely be calling it a “hot potato” situation.

‘It’s not important that I turned out to be F-class.’

From the readers’ perspective, Shin Haejun’s sharp retort to Kim Sehyun would be more infuriating. Would it matter that someone who was originally F-class turned out to be F-class again? They’d probably be more upset about the main characters fighting.

As Kim Sehyun trembled, unable to respond to Shin Haejun’s words, Hyun Dowoon approached me.

“Jaeha, let’s talk privately for a moment.”

I nodded at Hyun Dowoon’s words. Now that things had turned out this way, it seemed necessary to talk and sort things out.

“What? What do you two have to talk about alone!”

“As I said before, please stop paying attention to my guide.”

Shin Haejun quickly tried to grab my arm, but Hyun Dowoon gently pulled me away while speaking coldly.

I hesitated for a moment but followed Hyun Dowoon out of the examination room. Although I could feel Shin Haejun’s dissatisfied gaze, I felt I definitely needed to have a conversation with Hyun Dowoon.

Hyun Dowoon led me into the center director’s office and seated me on the sofa.

“Would you like some coffee?”

“No, I’m fine.”

The coffee machine he said he prepared for me…. I’m not sure. I didn’t want to drink it now.

“You must have had a hard time with the re-verification.”

“I just sat there and it was over. It wasn’t much.”

“…I was sure you weren’t F-class. Are you perhaps disappointed?”

I was going to answer casually, but somehow my response came out abruptly, as if drawing a line. Hyun Dowoon carefully asked while closely observing my expression. He seemed to think I was in a bad mood.

“That’s what I want to ask you. Are you disappointed?”

“No, you’re still my pair guide. I believe in your abilities regardless of your grade.”

Hyun Dowoon spoke to me in his usual kind tone. For some reason, I blinked a few times to hold back tears before blurting out,

“It’s going to get noisy again. Because the grade that would help solve the case didn’t come out.”

In the end, I’ll remain the brazen guide who became the center director’s pair through some kind of corruption. In fact, who could pressure Hyun Dowoon into becoming a pair guide through corruption, but people aren’t particularly interested in the truth anyway.

“Didn’t you take the re-verification with a clear conscience? I’ll announce once again that I chose you. Eventually, everyone will believe it.”

“Will they?”

Hyun Dowoon’s words about believing in my abilities. And the thought that eventually people will know the truth. Previously, I would have fully trusted Hyun Dowoon. But this time, I doubted whether Hyun Dowoon’s thoughts were sincere.

Could it be that he actually believed I wasn’t F-class when he formed the pair, and now he’s flustered because the results turned out like this?

Is it really true that he formed the pair believing in me regardless of my grade?

Even I wondered if it was the right choice for me, an F-class, to be Hyun Dowoon’s guide. Isn’t it too naive to think that people will understand the truth?

‘Is it the right choice to form a pair like this?’

I was already in a situation where I was being heavily criticized in the Awakened community.

Before I appeared, before he formed a pair with me, Hyun Dowoon had built a solid reputation as a perfect S-class Esper and an excellent Awakened Center director. That reputation was shaken for the first time because of the incident involving me.

Many of Hyun Dowoon’s fans lamented why he chose an F-class guide, causing all this, and made me their scapegoat.

Now they’ll bombard me, saying how dare we form a pair with a 1.9% matching rate.

‘If it were before, this situation wouldn’t have mattered at all.’

It might have been a little painful, but I could have endured it with strong trust in Hyun Dowoon.

‘Now I’m afraid to build trust with Hyun Dowoon again.’

Because he was the first person to treat me with respect, because I had never seen someone who wanted me for myself, I fell for him unconditionally. Because he was so devoted, I believed that no matter what happened, Hyun Dowoon would always be on my side.

But that belief was eventually shattered.

Regardless of Hyun Dowoon’s true feelings, I became afraid of developing feelings for him.

“About the matching rate…”

I whispered, looking quietly at the table. As if knowing what I was about to say, Hyun Dowoon quickly responded.

“The 1.9% is not a problem at all. I’m very satisfied with your guiding, and to be honest, it’s hard to believe it’s 1.9%.”

“But machines are more accurate than human feelings, aren’t they?”

Although Hyun Dowoon said he was satisfied, honestly, the 1.9% figure was so shockingly low that it was hard to believe his words. Not only am I F-class, but the matching rate is also the lowest. If the matching rate were high, one might think it’s because of that, but this seemed so extreme that Hyun Dowoon’s subjective feeling seemed strange.

“Why is it so extreme…? 99.9% with Shin Haejun, and 1.9% with you, Director. Haha…”

Somehow, a hollow laugh escaped me. As I laughed dejectedly, Hyun Dowoon got up from his seat and sat next to me. Soon, with a cool scent, Hyun Dowoon lightly embraced me. Typically, with words of permission like “Excuse me.”

“You’re disheartened.”

Hyun Dowoon whispered softly in my ear.

Am I disheartened?

‘I think so.’

I thought I didn’t care about being F-class, but when I received the tremendous figure of 1.9%, it felt like holding the worst report card. I didn’t care about the mockery from Kim Sehyun or the world. It’s just that my heart was hurt.

Because I realized anew that I’m in a pitiful situation where it’s difficult to blend in normally with people, both in reality and in the novel.

“I guess so. I seem to be a bit upset.”

I muttered, blinking blankly. Then Hyun Dowoon hugged me tightly.

“It really doesn’t matter at all. I hope you’re not upset.”

“I’m not sure. There’s no chance of only good things happening… It was already foreseen when planning the re-verification.”

I don’t know what you were thinking when you requested the re-verification.

I gently pushed Hyun Dowoon’s chest to escape his embrace.

“I want to rest for now. I need to go home.”

“Jaeha.”

Hyun Dowoon seemed to want to say something to me, but I lost the will for any further conversation. I couldn’t even remember why I had thought to have a conversation in the first place.

There was only one thought in my head.

‘Is it true that Hyun Dowoon really thinks I’m okay like this?’

***

Hyun Dowoon tried to take me home, but he failed because he was caught by reporters. I didn’t want to be photographed by reporters looking miserable, so I hunched down and left through the back door, which made me feel even more dejected.

Maybe it was because of stress. My body shivered slightly as if I was coming down with a cold. As I was trembling and heading towards the subway station, suddenly I heard a honking sound from beside me. When I turned my head, Shin Haejun was sitting in the driver’s seat of a car, lowering the window and smiling refreshingly.

“I’ll take you home, let’s go.”

Why do you always appear at times like this…