I Don’t Want to be a Villainess

A few days passed.

And within those days, not much changed.

The majority of the students still ignored me, and while the teachers were more restless seeing my reactions, they didn’t treat me much differently than before.

I knew the reason.

I had noticeably reduced the frequency of my outbursts on campus.

I would often confidently step out during class and report to Team Leader Han Garam, while Sohee was still attending class with her desk placed in a strange spot instead of the usual one. Ha Neul would take my front seat during breaks and teach me study material.

Aside from this small nuisance, I was definitely behaving more quietly. At least I wasn’t engaging in PDA in the classroom, splashing water on the teacher, or disrupting the lessons.

The teachers were relieved on one hand, but still had anxious looks when they saw me, and this was for a good reason.

The anxiety stemmed from the fact that they had taken so many bribes from me while I did nothing in return. And yet, they were also relieved that I hadn’t openly harmed them.

…In fact, this might be shocking if the people involved heard it, but I didn’t feel it was a huge waste to think that the hundreds of millions spent had helped Sohee enroll in this school and occupy the seat next to me. After all, dragging the bribery out would only tire me out too.

I decided to be satisfied with the fact that I had established some definite allies within the school and that the teachers couldn’t just ignore me anymore.

Anyway, at the moment, my life hadn’t changed ‘drastically.’

But that didn’t mean nothing had changed ‘at all.’

First of all—

“I’ve been thinking.”

Right, the girl with blue hair sitting at our usual round table in the cafeteria.

Son Ah-reum had joined our side.

…Hmm, saying ‘joined our side’ sounds a bit off, doesn’t it? After all, we weren’t gathered here to identify whose side we were on.

To put it more simply, it would be correct to say that we had ‘become friends.’

Anyway, on the second day after that diligent Lead Committee Member had shed tears in front of me, she suddenly spoke up during lunch as if she had recalled something.

“Exercising violence or leading bullying on campus is a clear violation of school rules, right?”

That would be correct, wouldn’t it?

I lived through my teenage years without even realizing there was such a thing as ‘school rules’ at the school I attended. Not because I was such a good person that I didn’t need rules, but rather because the existence of ‘school rules’ felt incredibly faint.

Yeah, of course, it would be a violation to hit someone on campus. No one’s going to create rules saying hitting someone is allowed just to hold a Battle Royale. Clearly, there are rules against leading bullying as well, since this is still a school, even if they are rich kids.

As I nodded silently, Son Ah-reum spoke while picking at a piece of meat with her fork.

“And campus bullying can’t just be treated as a simple demerit.”

Now that I think about it, even back when I was in school, there were occasions where banners about focused crackdowns on school violence were hung up in front of the school. I’ve never actually seen them enforce anything, though.

“So?”

Sohee asked impatiently.

“Then what should we do?”

“We need to hold a Disciplinary Committee meeting.”

“……”

At those words, the four of us, myself included, exchanged glances. Every single one of us was filled with skepticism.

And rightly so, because last time, I had deliberately followed Son Ah-reum only to be completely ignored.

The student council president herself had treated me like I didn’t exist.

While I had grown somewhat accustomed to that treatment, it didn’t mean it was enjoyable. The way Ye Sara was treated had also stemmed from this kind of treatment, and personally, I wasn’t happy with it either.

“Oh, this time the story is a bit different.”

As if she knew what we were all thinking, Son Ah-reum said that.

“I’m not saying we’re aiming to give you demerits, I’m talking about giving them to other students.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

I retorted.

In a school that ignores anything related to me, even if we tried to give demerits to others for bullying me, wouldn’t they just say ‘that never happened’ and brush it off?

“Of course, that’s how it’d be.”

Son Ah-reum nodded.

“If someone claims they bullied you, that’s obviously how it would go.”

When she mentioned ‘you’, she was obviously referring to me.

“Who else would it be?”

In response to my question, Son Ah-reum slightly turned her head to look at Sohee who was sitting beside her.

By the way, even after getting comfortable talking with us, Son Ah-reum had repeated several times asking Sohee to please button up her shirt, but Sohee had steadfastly clung to her style. It was slowly warming up, but considering that she had been like that before the weather got mild, it seemed she wasn’t much affected by the cold.

…Or maybe she was just really frustrated.

“Me?”

Sohee asked, pointing at herself with her finger.

“Yeah.”

“Have I ever been bullied?”

Good point. It wouldn’t be surprising if she had bullied someone else. Sohee had picked fights with several people after that. She had nearly grabbed the collar of a student who bumped into her on the street without saying a word… almost, but didn’t quite do it; there was also the time she openly pouted when a teacher didn’t call her name during attendance.

Those actions were textbook examples of someone who doesn’t listen to anyone. She didn’t seem to care much about it, though.

Even during all this, it was surprising that there were still kids who ignored Sohee despite her tears.

Though, considering the rumors circulating, it might be far luckier to get a few hits from a bully. As for Sohee, regardless, she would never act like that.

“Aren’t you being unreasonable? I don’t remember feeling that bullied.”

Well, if it was Sohee, who hardly cares about others’ gazes, she probably wouldn’t mind students ignoring her. Bullying is typically recognized as such when the victim feels bullied. She wouldn’t give a fart about it anyway.

“Exactly, that’s the blind spot.”

Yet, Son Ah-reum shook her head in denial of what Sohee said.

“Whether someone feels bullied or not isn’t up to the perpetrator to decide, it’s determined by the victim.”

“……”

At those words, we fell into a moment of thought. Son Ah-reum allowed us to mull it over.

The first to break the silence was Ha Neul.

“But if we think that way, what if others just ignore it?”

Ha Neul was one of those who had been directly ignored. To claim this ‘ignoring’ as bullying, testimony and some sort of evidence would be needed, after all. And all of that is not as easily obtained as one might think.

I had thought about filming something like a video…but even if I filmed ‘the other party not reacting’, I couldn’t say for sure whether people would care.

Moreover, the incidents I caused would make it seem like the roles of victim and perpetrator were reversed from the perspective of those who didn’t know, and right in front of me was an example of that in Son Ah-reum.

“So it means she’s the victim, then.”

Son Ah-reum pointed at Sohee.

“……Ah.”

Upon hearing this, Sua exclaimed as if she’d realized something.

“What do you mean?”

Sohee asked, glancing at Sua.

“……I know it’s a bit awkward to ask this outright, but…”

Son Ah-reum took a big breath.

“You spent a lot of money entering this school, right?”

“Well, that’s true.”

Sohee acknowledged it so casually that Son Ah-reum raised her hand to her forehead.

“Aren’t you admitting it too easily?”

“If you’ve heard it to this extent, there’s no way I could hide it. Plus, I already spilled everything on my first day at this school.”

So that’s why the teachers were flustered every time they saw Sohee or me.

Ah.

I kind of understood what Son Ah-reum was getting at.

“But why does that matter?”

“Because you spent that kind of money, they can’t just ignore you like that. From what I’ve heard…”

You’ve spent over a billion won.

For ordinary folks, that amount could be considered a fortune. That’s even including the real estate value of the house you bought.

“Ah ha.”

Only then did Sohee mutter that and fell into thought for a moment.

Then she smiled wickedly.

“What? You’re smarter than I thought?”

“What do you mean ‘smarter than you thought’…?”

Looking at Son Ah-reum, who seemed hurt by her words, I silently apologized in my heart.

Sorry, I was kind of thinking that way too.

I had thought perhaps she was a bit thoughtless when I saw her follow behind. Especially when I saw her trying to hide her body to sneak out.

…Then again, she was also an external student who came in on a scholarship. Her brain works well enough, but that means she’s good at studying on Ha Neul’s level.

In fact, there’s a reason we hadn’t thought of this method so far.

There hadn’t been anyone significantly related to us within the school to openly stand up for us. Even the presumed targets assumed to be our prey, the student council president, had treated me like I was a non-existent person right before her eyes.

Yet, now we were being told this plan by none other than the Lead Committee Member.

An individual who could directly assign demerits and submit disciplinary requests to the teachers.

“What, what is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”

When we all stared at Son Ah-reum again, she seemed a bit flustered and asked back.

“No, it’s just that it sounds pretty plausible.”

When I said that, she coughed a bit awkwardly, wearing an embarrassed expression.

“……But, the bribes and all this are normally supposed to be addressed…”

“Hmm.”

Sohee rested her chin on her hand, looking playfully at Son Ah-reum as she spoke.

“So it means you’ll let it slide since we’re friends? Isn’t that too corrupt for a righteous Lead Committee Member?”

“……”

As Sohee smiled brightly at her, Son Ah-reum glared back at her, but it didn’t seem very intimidating. Perhaps it was because her face naturally looked cute.

“I-I’m only looking to deal with the evil right in front of me first!”

“Isn’t the evil right in front of us you?”

Sohee said, seemingly about to burst into laughter at any moment, and in that moment, Son Ah-reum looked at me with panic again.

…She’s going to cry again.

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