Just Because I Have Narrow Eyes Doesn’t Make Me a Villain!

TN: Thank James Baily for the chapter.

Also, I messed up the ordering of the chapters. There will likely be spoilers in the comments, so beware of the older ones.

“…Ah, did you sleep well?”

“Yeah.”

“Since there’s no particular schedule today, how about we all relax together…”

“Sorry. I’ll be busy. I need to train.”

“Ah, yes…”

Training, huh?

I thought Siwoo and his friends might need some rest after going through a lot yesterday.

Because I thought they would be tired from experiencing a large-scale battle for the first time, even if they were the protagonist’s party.

…Moreover, after talking with Amelia’s father, he seemed to be in a bad mood.

So I asked Ha-Yul to prepare some snacks, but suddenly, he talked about training.

I naturally thought there would be no schedule at all.

I was a bit flustered but decided to invite Siwoo again.

“There are lots of delicious snacks prepared. Wouldn’t it be a waste if you don’t come?”

“That’s a shame. But sorry. Today is a bit… Let’s do it next time.”

“… That’s too bad.”

Seeing Siwoo politely refusing even after I invite him more, I can only assume he has no intention of participating in the afterparty.

I wanted to be with Siwoo.

It wasn’t for any other reason, but it felt a bit much to tempt him to hang out when he said he wanted to train himself.

It’s not like tempting a friend who’s studying hard for an exam to go to a PC bang.

Siwoo is the protagonist, you know.

There was no need to force it if he said he would work hard.

“…Then, please work hard.”

“Have fun.”

“…”

But I can’t help feeling disappointed.

Of course it’s nice to spend time with Amelia or Dorothy, but…

It would have been much more enjoyable if Siwoo was there.

I absentmindedly stroked my bracelet again.

I felt a bit lonely, but stroking the simple bracelet made me feel a little better.

… It’s been about two weeks since then.

The frontline dormitory has become familiar, and a normal day consisted of defeating the occasional Grade 3 monster.

Today, I was eating with Amelia and Dorothy, just the three of us.

…No, it’s a bit different from a meal.

Right.

We were eating snacks along with alcohol.

Bang!

“Isn’t this too much?!”

“Calm down, Arte. The table’s going to break.”

“I am calm!”

“You’re totally angry…”

Angry, what a misunderstanding.

I’m perfectly fine.

Not at all. I’m not angry.

“…Dorothy. What the hell is her boyfriend doing?”

“If Arte hears that, she’ll deny it.”

“She probably won’t hear it anyway. Look. She started drinking before we even got here and is already half-passed out.”

My head was throbbing, so I was spacing out for a moment, but at some point, Amelia’s hand was waving in front of my eyes.

Ugh, my head hurts.

Get that away.

“I’m still fine…!”

“Yeah, sure. You look fine… How about you, Dorothy? Siwoo calls for you sometimes.”

“It’s a headache. Do you know how sharp Arte’s glare is? At first, I really thought she was going to tear me apart.”

“Just looking at that, they seem like a couple who’s done everything. Everyone thinks that way.”

…I can’t hear what they’re saying very well.

The room is spinning.

My heart started pounding, and my face had long been burning as if on fire.

Feeling too hot, I touched my cheek with my hand, but the heat was instantly transferred, so I hurriedly rubbed my face against the glass.

Ah, it’s cool.

“Gulp, gulp… Phew! There was nothing strange going on like Arte thinks. It was just part of training.”

“Really?”

“It seems that after using my ability, he gets some kind of… Conviction? Something like that, he said.”

“What’s that? I’ve never experienced anything like that.”

“It’s news to me too. Either Siwoo is a genius, or his enhanced Intuition told him that. One of the two.”

“…Hmm. Interesting.”

I stared blankly at the droplets forming on the glass.

Ah, this is more fun than I thought.

I laughed as I watched the droplets fall and occasionally touched them with my hand.

[Ugh… Re-Reader-nim. Please stop, my heart…]

Perhaps because the pounding heart was supplying blood much faster than usual…

It feels like I can pinpoint the exact location of my heart.

Feeling good, I downed another glass.

Watching me like that, Amelia muttered something.

“Anyway, that guy totally shows that he has no dating experience. He can’t even comfort his sulky girlfriend, and today he’s training again?”

“St-Still… It’s for Arte’s sake…”

“There’s a limit to that too. At first, I thought this guy also learned how to attract her. But this is the result.”

“…”

[Read-nim… Ple-Please stop drinking…]

Hmph.

I don’t need to listen to the Author’s words.

According to the Author, I’m a reader!!!

Readers don’t listen to the Author! From today, I will become a toxic reader!

[Aaagh…! St-Stop! Really stop! I feel weird…!]

***

*Amelia’s POV

“Even though they’re so close, I guess he can’t see that she’s obviously sulking.”

“…That part is a bit true.”

“In the end, he didn’t even notice until it got to this point and is just drinking the supplied alcohol.”

Looking at Arte, who was now half-asleep, I clicked my tongue.

She’s really lonely and wants to spend time with Siwoo.

But he is diligently training. He doesn’t spend time with her.

So without saying anything…

It exploded like this.

Even so, that guy is still devoting himself to training.

He probably doesn’t even know this happened.

“I can’t even date, and here I am taking care of these guys…”

“Ahaha…”

“Sigh, is this my karma?”

I definitely thought it would go smoothly.

Maybe they’ll realize each other’s feelings here. I had that thought.

Far from realizing each other’s feelings, they seem to have drifted apart a bit, which made me furious.

These frustrating two.

Why don’t they just kiss each other once? And do… you know.

Things you can’t show others…

Wouldn’t that be good?

Even though I’ve never dated, I feel Arte could make him fall for her if she pushed a little more.

That frustrating guy.

I chewed out that handsome guy who wasn’t here.

“Ugh… Sniff… Why, why… It’s my fault…”

“…Damn it.”

Feeling like my insides were burning, I downed a drink out of frustration.

Although I want to give Yu Siwoo a piece of my mind after seeing Arte like this…

What bothers me is that it’s for Arte’s sake.

He made some kind of resolution on his own and is devoting himself to training like that, but…

Well, it was obvious.

Because I was there too when that guy made a resolution.

Maybe he thought something like, “I’m weak, but I’ll become strong. I’ll become strong and protect Arte!”

It’s all good. It’s all good, but…

He’s so focused on the future that he can’t see the present.

“…Ah, then how about this?”

“What is it?”

“If Siwoo didn’t notice that Arte is lonely…”

***

*Siwoo’s POV

“Phew…”

Like every other day, I dragged my exhausted body and headed to the dormitory.

It’s so tiring that I feel like I’ll collapse from the continuous forced marches, but I know better than anyone that I won’t collapse.

My Intuition told me how much I needed to train to the extreme to achieve peak efficiency.

“It’s a shame Dorothy isn’t here.”

When she’s here, the training efficiency increases drastically.

In exchange for strengthening me, the burden on my body accumulates.

…In other words, it’s no different from muscles increasing in an instant.

By getting used to the temporarily enhanced abilities through Dorothy’s ability, I felt the growth rate gradually speeding up.

“… Didn’t Arte say she wanted to spend time together?”

Well, there was no chance of that now.

If it’s this late at night, she’ll already be asleep.

Siwoo, who had returned to the dormitory, gently opened the door so as not to wake Arte.

“Ugh, this is…”

Then, the scent of alcohol spread in the dormitory.

…She drank.

There were a few bottles of alcohol included in the supplies, so she must have had that.

It’s good that she cleaned it up neatly, but at least she should have ventilated…

“?!”

“Ehehe, you’re here…”

Squish.

Perhaps because his body was exhausted from the continuous training…

By the time Siwoo’s Intuition reacted, it was already too late.

It was impossible to avoid the being emitting the scent of alcohol, hugging Siwoo without any time to dodge.

“Arte, wait… Wait a minute. You’re drunk…”

“I was lonely…”

As I was about to push Arte away with a flushed face, reminded of the memory of being back-hugged by her at the academy…

I hesitated for a moment upon hearing Arte’s whining voice.

“Every day, you don’t even talk to me… You’re always just saying you’re busy…”

“That’s…”

I just wanted to protect you.

I just wanted to help you.

I wanted to say those words, but I couldn’t.

Because it was an excuse.

Because I realized that I had left Arte alone to the point where she would cling to me, saying she was lonely.

“Hehe. But it’s okay. I’ll forgive you.”

“…”

“In the end, you’ll stay by my side…”

Inhale, exhale.

Upon hearing the sound of shallow breaths, I tried to carry Arte to the bed.

…I would have done so if it weren’t for her tightly gripping hands, even though she was clearly falling asleep.

… We’ll have to sleep together.

I sighed and spoke to the empty air.

“You guys should sleep too. I won’t do anything strange.”

There was no sound.

But I could guess that they ran away in surprise.

Did those girls really think they wouldn’t be caught?

Just how much are they interested in my relationship with Arte in the first place?

“… I’m sorry, Arte. For not paying much attention to you.”

I headed to the bed with Arte, who was sleeping with a flushed face.

In the past, I would have stayed up all night out of awkwardness.

I’ve gotten quite used to this now.

“…”

I pondered momentarily, then put my arm around Arte’s waist and closed my eyes.

This much luxury should be fine.

Amidst the scent of alcohol, I could smell the scent of the person I loved.