I Became the Childhood Friend Who Commits Sui**de

---

Hmm?

I turned around due to some inexplicable sense of discomfort, but there was nothing particularly noticeable.

The scenery of the academy streets was just as usual.

“What’s wrong?”

Shin Juhyun asked, tilting his head.

“Oh, I think I might have been mistaken.”

It definitely felt like someone was following me.

Well, it’s probably just my imagination.

“Oh, we’ve already arrived at the dorm.”

In the midst of our conversation, we had reached our destination.

“Be careful going in. Thanks for your help today.”

“What? It wasn’t really a difficult task.”

In fact, it’s more like I should be the one thanking him.

I wasn’t exactly sure what to say about what happened at the church, but I felt it had been undeniably helpful.

I waved my hand to say goodbye.

Another thing to be grateful for.

Indeed, friends should date extras with no substantial role in the plot.

I realized that Shin Juhyun, whom I hadn’t even known existed until this morning, turned out to be quite a nice guy.

Humming a tune, I entered the dorm.

Today, I felt particularly good.

Could it be because the pain had completely disappeared?

It felt like the sticky fatigue that always clung to my body had vanished.

Somehow, I felt I heard a familiar voice behind me, but it was probably just my imagination.

*

“Hana.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you happen to be in any clubs?”

As soon as I entered the room, Sophie asked this question.

Clubs?

Why was she asking that all of a sudden?

For a moment, I thought of that filthy and uncomfortable science lab.

And even more disgusting and irritating was the science teacher.

I frowned immediately, causing Sophie to flinch and say,

“…I-I’m sorry. If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not because of that. I suddenly remembered some bad memories.”

Recently, she had been bright and friendly, but it seemed like Sophie was naturally a shy child.

In fact, it seems she has no one else to talk to in class besides me.

Because of that, I tend to try to be nice to her consciously.

It’s a bit sad to watch, really, and I feel a sense of sympathy.

“No, not really.”

Anyway, to answer, there’s nothing.

The science inquiry club? It was just a makeshift measure to avoid Kim Shinwoo.

Thanks to the ridiculous appearance of Han Si-hyun, it was on the verge of becoming an official club.

“That’s good. Then how about joining a club?”

“…All of a sudden? What kind of club?”

“Um. I haven’t decided yet.”

That was quite a ridiculous answer.

Since she suggested it confidently, I thought there must be something.

“Are you trying to create a new one?”

“Yeah! As long as we meet the conditions, we can set it up anytime! What do you think?”

“What do I think…?”

Is there really a need to join a club?

After all, I’m going to die next Wednesday.

But eventually, I concluded it might actually be alright unexpectedly.

Most importantly, I wouldn’t have to go to that darn science inquiry club.

I genuinely didn’t want to spend even a second with that guy.

Didn’t Han Si-hyun say he’d join there too?

Spending club time with those two? No thank you.

I’d much rather be with nice Sophie instead.

“Okay. I’ll join.”

“Really? That’s great! Now we just need one more member!”

“…So it’s just the two of us?”

That was pretty obvious when I thought about it.

Considering we’re basically each other’s only friend.

“We can set it up with three members and a supervising teacher.”

“That’s fine for the members, but is there any teacher we can ask?”

It’s still the beginning of the semester, but most clubs already exist or have been formed.

This means it’s quite challenging to find a teacher to take on supervising duties.

“Do you have any teachers you’re close with? I saw that first-year science teacher the other day…”

“No. That person is absolutely out of the question.”

“Um…? Still, it might be worth asking…”

“Nope.”

The atmosphere grew awkward due to her overly firm rejection.

I cleared my throat and added an explanation.

“That person already supervises a club. That’s why it won’t work.”

“Oh, I see! I almost misunderstood!”

No, it’s probably not a misunderstanding.

I’d say she was spot on.

“Since we’ll have to ask about members and supervising teachers directly at school later, we should decide what kind of club to create first, right?”

“Let’s do that! Hana, what kind of club do you think would be good?”

“…Well, I haven’t really thought about it.”

After all, club activities would last at most three days.

No, if we exclude Wednesday, that would be two days.

So it might be better to create a club where we can have fun without any worries.

Something that has nothing to do with classes or battles at all.

“What’s your reason for wanting to create a club?”

“Um. Just…? Because I want to hang out together?”

Fortunately, it seemed Sophie had a similar thought.

“How about a board game club?”

“Oh. That sounds good! Or a manga club?”

Anything would be fine, but I wonder if there’ll be a teacher to supervise.

Purely hobby clubs don’t usually have a good reputation.

“Then let’s get the club application form from the teacher tomorrow and set it up right away!”

“Yeah.”

“Hehe. I’m excited, right?”

“Yeah.”

We continued our heated discussion about the club we would form the next day until night fell.

When we went to bed, we huddled together on the narrow single bed.

We had clearly agreed I would set up the bunk bed for them the very next day, yet I hadn’t done it yet.

“…Hehe. Mmm. Hana… I really like you…”

Sophie murmured in her sleep while hugging me tightly.

I chuckled softly and closed my eyes.

…This academy life might not be so bad after all.

*

Early the next morning, we headed to the staff room together.

The homeroom teacher easily handed over the application form without saying much.

At first, I thought she was simply uninterested in the students.

But surprisingly, this way isn’t bad at all.

Though she seemed a bit blunt, it felt a little different from being cold.

Back in class, we looked over the list of clubs.

“The manga club already exists…”

“That can’t work.”

Unfortunately, you can’t apply for overlapping clubs.

Even if the names are different, practically similar ones are usually rejected.

Like merging a soccer club with a futsal club.

“There are animation, webcomic, and web novel clubs already, too…”

“Why are there so many?”

What a bunch of slackers those academy kids are.

How boring must it be for them to create clubs like that?

“Still, there’s no board game club suggested by Hana. Shall we go for that?”

“I’m okay with it.”

“Then let’s do it!”

Now that we’ve settled on the club activities, it’s time to find members.

There was a brief discussion about this yesterday.

Specifically, to exclude Kim Shinwoo.

Thanks to Sophie’s consideration to help me keep my distance from him.

The problem is that if I exclude him, there’s really no one else I’m close to in class.

However, it might be surprisingly easy to solve.

“What about Juhyun?”

“…Juhyun? Are you close with him?”

“Not that close, but I just ran into him yesterday. He’s a nice guy.”

“Um… He’s okay, but…”

Sophie seemed to think quite a bit since he was such an unexpected choice.

“Yeah. Since Hana picked, I trust you. Hehe.”

“…You can say if you don’t like him.”

“No, I think Juhyun would be fine.”

Anyway, Shin Juhyun was selected as a candidate.

The scout was none other than me. Since I suggested it, it’s a natural outcome.

I braced myself and stood up from my seat.

All eyes turned to me. Except nothing happened since it was break time and no one was paying attention to me.

Oh, except for one person.

I locked eyes with Kim Shinwoo.

Why is he staring at me so intensely?

Moreover, his expression seemed slightly dark for some reason.

Is something wrong?

Oh, is it possible that his relationship with Han Si-hyun isn’t going well?

The fact that they are dating still feels unbelievable.

But given that the original story is ruined, it’s not entirely unexpected.

I shifted my gaze away from Kim Shinwoo and walked over to Shin Juhyun.

“Hey, Juhyun.”

“…Yeah?”

“Oh, hi? Did you get home okay yesterday?”

“Yeah. But what’s up?”

Juhyun asked with a somewhat hesitant expression.

Why does he keep glancing back like that?

When I looked behind me, no one else was paying attention besides Kim Shinwoo.

He’s probably looking at me with a proud feeling since Hana, someone who’s been isolated her whole life, is approaching a friend first.

“Are you interested in joining a club?”

“A club? What kind of club?”

“…It’s a board game club that Sophie and I are starting. …What do you think?”

I felt embarrassed.

I unconsciously fidgeted and squirmed.

I heard someone grinding their teeth behind me, and whoever it was seemed pretty annoyed.

Juhyun gave a sheepish smile and said, “Sorry. I already joined another club.”

“Oh… I guess that can’t be helped.”

“Thanks for the offer.”

“But what club are you in?”

“It’s a Bible discussion club.”

“Aha.”

That’s such a Juhyun kind of club.

In the end, I returned to my seat without any results.

“That was a failure.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. Let’s just find another member!”

“But now we don’t really have anyone else to suggest.”

At those words, Sophie pointed and laughed.

“Look over there.”

“…Huh?”

As soon as I turned my glance, I ended up making exact eye contact.

“I honestly thought you’d suggest from over there first. You two are really close, aren’t you?”

Close? Nope.

That’s a misconception.

I quickly turned my gaze away, but it was already too late.

That guy stood up and approached me.

“Hey. Dyed dog. Why are you looking at me with such a desperate look?”

Nope.

Not desperate at all!