I Don’t Want to be a Villainess

Bright red eyes, as if crafted from rubies. Skin as white as someone who’s never seen sunlight. And fine hair, surely nurtured with great care.

Put together, she looked like a cold beauty—

“Uh, I’m sorry.”

The expression of the one who answered looked too timid and pathetic in many ways.

In fact, Shin So-hee, who had just been flustered at that moment, couldn’t think of what to say when she saw the face.

Based on the pale face, it was clear this was unintentional. How she ended up falling from the sky was a mystery, but somehow, Shin So-hee was squatting below, and it didn’t seem like the other party intended to shove their groin into her face.

Yet, it was hard to just say, “Oh, is that so?” and drop the matter.

She didn’t know what exactly was so pressing, but anyway, it felt pressing.

“Is saying sorry all you got?!”

Shin So-hee shouted after briefly rolling her eyes. It was a word that jumped out without passing through her brain, but it was also not entirely insincere—every time she looked directly at the other party, the image from earlier kept vividly flooding her mind, making it hard to concentrate.

She was sure she would think about this tonight. Shin So-hee was convinced. Things like when her friend hugged her from behind or the feeling of her chest accidentally touching So-hee’s arm would cross her mind once at midnight or right after waking up in the morning. But having someone openly present their underwear like this, the shock was just too strong to forget.

In fact, even when asking if saying sorry was enough, Shin So-hee didn’t really know what else to do. She just thought she had to do something about the situation.

“Wait—!”

Fortunately—no, was it fortunate? Just as Shin So-hee and the other party were at a loss for words, an additional cute girl fell from the sky.

“What’s up with you suddenly grabbing Sara by the collar?!”

What? Is this real? Am I having a bizarre dream because I’ve been thinking too much lately?

But it felt too real for a dream. Well, it’s obvious that it feels real since it is a dream, but still, it’s weird to feel the sounds of cars passing by, the weight of the girl being dragged beside her, and the somewhat chilly March wind. Up until now, when her friends appeared in her dreams, it didn’t feel this vivid.

The second girl who fell approached Shin So-hee quickly, shaking her hand vigorously. In that moment, So-hee thought it was better to let go. It was either that or risk falling into an awkward silence while facing each other.

Of course, avoiding that awkward silence didn’t mean she could avoid the next awkward situation.

The second girl, who was called Sara, hid the first girl behind her and glared at Shin So-hee with all her might.

To be honest, she felt a bit bad for the girl glaring, but her eyes looked too kind to be scary.

“And you are?”

“Me?”

At Shin So-hee’s question, the girl seemed momentarily confused and fell silent. It seemed she didn’t know how to explain that she also fell from up there.

“I’m a friend of Sara!”

“Are you talking about that Sara hiding behind you?”

When So-hee asked like that, the girl nodded.

“Yes! I’m the friend of the girl you were bothering just a second ago! You shouldn’t grab the collar of someone you just met for no reason—”

The girl, who had been speaking confidently, suddenly realized something. She turned slightly to look back and asked, “You’re meeting for the first time, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Right! You shouldn’t grab the collar of someone you just met! That’s just rude!”

“Rude… huh.”

Shin So-hee slapped her forehead, dumbfounded.

“So you’re saying all of this is my fault? The girl behind you has nothing to do with this?”

“Yeah! You can tell just by looking!”

It was quite an absurd statement. No matter how much they were friends, this girl had just fallen moments ago. She couldn’t have seen how things unfolded.

“Hey, are you okay?”

A male voice came from above. All the kids, including Shin So-hee, looked up simultaneously.

“I-I’m okay!”

The girl called Sara shouted like that.

“What do you mean you’re okay?”

“No, that’s not—”

“Yeah, just ask her.”

Shin So-hee scratched the back of her head and said, “Hey, you, Sara? Why don’t you explain what just happened? The culprit should explain.”

“Uh, that’s….”

Just as Sara was about to answer, bang.

A sound echoed, and this time a blonde girl fell down. This wasn’t dyed hair; it was perfectly golden blonde all the way down to the roots. Though her hair was tied up in pigtails, she still had a face that would suit any hairstyle.

Among the three girls, she had the biggest chest.

What on earth is going on today? What kind of insane event is this?

As a child, when all the other kids were watching magical girl shows or cartoons filled with pink, she had seen these kinds of situations in boy’s stories a few times. She hadn’t exactly enjoyed those shows lately, though.

A girl falling from the sky, or getting caught up in some fight only to discover the protagonist has hidden powers…

…She hadn’t thought something like that would happen to her. It was obvious there must be some realistic reason mixed in. This was reality after all.

“Are there any more girls about to fall?”

Shin So-hee looked up, but the only thing visible in the sky was a tree branch peeking over the wall.

“Really, nothing?”

From over there came another voice.

“Nothing for real!”

Sara shouted again, this time in a clearer voice.

“Really? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure!”

“I’m leaving!”

“Go on, then!”

“So rude.”

“Rude….”

Sara puffed up, showing a sulky expression toward the wall, and then eventually closed her mouth as if she had nothing to say.

“Well, it’s true you’re rude. Thinking about shoving your underwear in a stranger’s face.”

“Oh, no, that’s!”

At Shin So-hee’s bombshell, Sara froze, unable to respond. …Honestly, her reaction was kinda funny.

“…Sara?”

The second girl who fell just now turned around, shocked.

“What’s going on right now?”

The last girl still couldn’t grasp the situation.

Hah.

What a mess.

Shin So-hee scratched her head again.

“Okay.”

After calming down a bit and having a conversation, she was finally able to get the gist of what had happened.

“So, you were trying to avoid the enforcers and thought of ‘walking to school’.”

Sara nodded.

“But you should never go out the front gate.”

Sara nodded again.

“So you got a recommendation to use the wall from a senior who had attended school a year earlier?”

“….”

Sara nodded slightly, head down.

“And you just happened to fall where I was squatting, and you ended up wrapping your skirt around my head?”

It seemed like it was too embarrassing for her to hear it said so objectively, as Sara couldn’t bring herself to look up.

After hearing the full explanation, Shin So-hee slapped her forehead.

What an absurd situation straight out of a romance comic.

The girl in the greenhouse yearns to see the world and sneaks out, unaware of its dangers, only to get rescued by the protagonist.

Of course, here, rather than the protagonist, Shin So-hee was the naive girl who meets the villain first.

“Hah…”

Shin So-hee let out a deep sigh. Then she looked at the heroic-looking girl who had been busy saving the naive character.

“Um, I’m sorry…”

That justice-filled brown-haired girl was named Yoo Ha-neul.

So she’s the protagonist, huh?

Taking the role of saving the weak girl or princess from the first villain they meet.

Well, it might be cool since she fell from the sky.

Shin So-hee sighed again.

Really, what’s with the protagonist title? This is just boring reality. When she saw Shin So-hee sigh again, Yoo Ha-neul and Sara looked even more embarrassed.

And the last girl who jumped in, influenced by the attitude of the other two girls, also wore an apologetic expression.

“….”

The three girls stood in a line by the wall, their heads bowed, while Shin So-hee looked at them, wearing a sour expression, drawing glances from passersby.

It looked unmistakably like a delinquent trying to extort money.

Not even discreetly, just out in the open targeting three apparent rich kids.

Shin So-hee scratched the back of her head again, sighing deeply.

“Well, fine. If it’s just a coincidence, I don’t need to be angry.”

Knowing that staying here longer would only be detrimental to herself, she saw no reason to drag out the time.

“Let’s just pretend this never happened and not see each other again. You don’t need to know my name.”

“Uh, um…”

Yoo Ha-neul, with her overflowing sense of justice, was clearly hesitant to call out to Shin So-hee, but she frowned and waved her hand, “Don’t say anything. I said it was nothing?”

Honestly, she was a bit hopeful. It was fine if three cute girls came looking for her, especially since Sara was truly pretty. She thought she had never seen anyone so beautiful in her life.

But stories usually have main and supporting characters. With so many characters surrounding that atmosphere, she had no reason to interfere and mess it up. Shin So-hee, who had many friends at her school, knew that especially if she squeezed into a clique of rich kids, it would only get more awkward.

…She felt like her delusions were getting a little overboard. Seriously, maybe she should seek some counseling, and as Shin So-hee turned to leave,

“Then I’ll go? And you… uh, what was it?”

Shin So-hee glanced toward Sara.

“Good luck on your walk. I’m leaving? When we meet again, we’re strangers, okay?”

Just as she was about to leave—

“Hey, hey!”

Suddenly, Sara yelled toward Shin So-hee.

“What?”

Shin So-hee frowned and turned back. Seeing the red eyes staring straight at her surprised her a bit.

“You asked if saying sorry was enough, right?”

“What?”

Feeling her frustration slipping away through a mysterious crack, Shin So-hee replied.

“Did you not hear what I said? I said let’s forget about it.”

While she thought she would definitely remember this night, it was a bit odd to just pass it off as nothing.

“It’s just that saying sorry doesn’t feel enough!”

But Sara rushed to say that without listening to Shin So-hee.

“…….”

Seeing her unable to continue made Shin So-hee tilt her head.

“…So?”

“Um….”

The confident expression she had moments ago vanished, leaving Sara with a somewhat vacant look as she spoke nervously.

“Why don’t we, uh… have a meal…?”

“…Huh?”

That was the moment Shin So-hee’s ordinary life was completely flipped upside down.

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