I’m Not Doing This With A Friend

To sleep, but my heart began to tremble.

Then, when the presence reached my face, I swallowed my saliva without realizing it.

Stop.

The person approaching me didn’t move as if he had seen me swallowing. Fjord tried to regain his composure by singing the national anthem of the Lagras Empire in his head.

Pretending to be sleeping as soundly as possible.

In all the years I’ve been wearing a mask, this was the first time I tried my best to act like this.

A small sigh was heard from the presence. Fortunately, he seemed to have been fooled by my acting.

The figure seemed relieved and got closer to me. Slowly, little by little.

It was when we got so close that we could hear the other person breathing.

The presence had no intention of stopping.

‘uh? Uh…?’

Expected, Fjord’s mind turned completely white.

If I had to choose the right time to surprise Lien, now would have been the best time.

He was so embarrassed that he missed the timing. Soon, I felt a cold touch on my face.

At the same time, I felt like I was drawing something. It was a very clever move.

Ah….

The tension I had been exerting on my body suddenly relaxed. What was he expecting?

I belatedly felt embarrassed when I realized that Lien had just come to scribble on my face.

Even as Fior was screaming internally, Lien’s hands were busy moving.

I was so excited that the feeling could be conveyed through the tip of the pen.

Only after a little more time had passed did Lien get away from Fjord. A giggling sound escapes as if he is satisfied with his work.

As Fjord listened to her laugh, he didn’t know whether he was relieved or disappointed.

That’s right, there was no way Lien would give skin to someone who was just a friend.

It had to be that way, and it had to be that way in the future. The plot of friends liking the same girl is boring.

Yes?

 

* * *

The academy was currently in a state of excitement due to the upcoming academic festival.

It is an academic festival, but since it is held at the beginning of the semester, there are no academic results to show, so it is just a festival to eat and enjoy.

 

The booths at the academic festival were operated by clubs, but the problem was….

“What are we going to do this time?”

In response to my question, Fjord raised his hand and expressed his opinion.

“How about the arena?”

“Arena?”

Oh. I hope what I just heard was wrong.

Fjord couldn’t see my stern expression and started explaining.

“I am the one whose main skill is the sword, Carsion is the one who is mainly the magician, and you, Lien, are the referee.”

“…So?”

“If you win, you get double your initial bet. How is it?”

“Dismissed.”

“Without even thinking about it?”

Boo. Fjord exaggeratedly lowered his thumb to express his dissatisfaction.

“Is there anyone who does that? Besides, if the other person really wins, what are you going to do with the money?”

Fjord responded with a triumphant look, as if he had thought of everything.

“I guess Carsion, who has a lot of money, will take care of that.” You were just going to pass the blame on…?

“There is no need to hear any more. Dismissed.”

 

I sighed deeply.

Other clubs usually did things related to their own club.

For example, Jane’s clothing design department said they were planning to exhibit and sell the clothes they made….

I heard that Mogo-dong has an experience harassing mosquitoes.

However, our club had no other purpose, so we had no idea what the theme should be.

“What should I do to be able to suck honey properly?”

As I sighed, Carsion, who had been watching our conversation the whole time, spoke for the first time.

“Lien. In fact, maybe we thought it was too difficult?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Let’s just go by the name of our club.” According to the club name?

Pig-dong.

Fjord Torture Club….

I looked at him in surprise.

“Let’s publicly torture Fjord?”

Carsion smiled brightly and nodded.

“Huh. Wouldn’t it be possible to make a pretty good deal on the price of the admission ticket? It wouldn’t be a bad idea to open a spanking experience like Mogodong.”

 

I didn’t think anything worse than Fjord’s opinion would come out, but Carsion was even worse than Fjord.

Fjord jumped up, grabbed Carsion by the collar, and shook him.

“Is that something you should say in front of the parties involved?”

Carsion yawned leisurely, fluttering as Fjord shook him, as if he didn’t even bother blocking.

I said regretfully, not paying any attention to their fight.

“Maybe they should have abolished the club and created a new one.”

“A trick like that because of an academic festival that only lasts one day?” Because the academic festival was held at the beginning of the semester, participation was not mandatory for first-year students like other grades.

Even people who are new to the club.

Since we were not freshmen and we had not changed clubs, we had to participate in the academic festival compulsorily this time.

The good news is that it doesn’t matter what you do.

In other words, it meant that there was no need to necessarily do club- related things like I listed earlier.

To put it bluntly, it doesn’t matter if the swordsman club wears frilly maid uniforms and runs a tea shop.

…And. Now that I think about it, this is really a hit product, right?

I was thinking about making an anonymous suggestion to the swordsmanship club.

“Leen, what are you thinking like that?”

Carsion looked at me intently with innocent-looking eyes.

 

I shook my head, feeling some guilt in those eyes.

“I didn’t think anything of it.”

“…I felt like I was thinking something very unpleasant.”

He made a puzzled face and chewed one side of his lip. Is that what a man’s instinct is?

I clapped my hands to evoke the atmosphere that was turning into an interrogation room.

“That’s not important, right now the priority is to decide what our club will do.”

“I have a good idea, Lien.”

“Dismissed.”

As soon as he said he had a good idea, he shouted it out and his shoulders slumped.

Ah. I thought a strange opinion would come out again, so I stopped without realizing it.

“It was just a joke, so relax your expression. So what is it?”

Carsion, who quickly restored his shoulder to its original state, smiled.

“Lien, you just want to fill your time with activities without doing much and not getting criticized, right?”

Oh ….

Although he said it out loud, hearing it come out of someone else’s mouth made it seem very gang-like.

“Okay…Ji.”

As I stuttered my admission, Carsion grinned and continued.

“How about a haunted house?”

“Haunted house? But it takes a lot of work to decorate the club room spookily, and our club room isn’t big enough to do that.”

The size of the club room was determined by the number of club members.

Since we were 3 people, which barely met the minimum number of people, we were assigned the smallest room.

Well, I’m still satisfied because it’s big enough for the three of us. It’s not big enough for a haunted house….

This time, I was about to call for dismissal and say that we should think of another plan.

Carsion smiled leisurely, as if he knew he would say that.

“There’s no law that says you have to decorate the club room.”

“Then?”

“I just decorate the outside of the club room to look a little more fancy,

and when people enter the inside, I cast an illusion spell.”

“Oh?”

It was an unexpectedly good idea.

“But will that illusion magic really work?”

“Do you want to experience it?”

He raised his hand as if he was about to cast a spell.

“Huh. Please.”

 

Carsion was rather embarrassed and bit his hand, as if he didn’t know that he would ask for it without hesitation.

“Aren’t you scared?”

“I think I’ve said this before, but I’m more afraid of people than ghosts.” Then Carsion’s expression noticeably darkened.

“…Did something happen in the past?”

I chuckled and ruffled Carsion’s pink hair.

“Now, think about it. It was clearly a private room, but I felt someone’s presence, so I carefully checked under the bed. Which do you think would be scarier then, a ghost or a person?”

“Knock them both off… Wouldn’t it be okay to attack?”

Uh. Hmm. Was the question wrong?

“What if the person on your side is a person who fanatically likes you?”

Carsion’s brow furrowed at those words. It looks like he’s in a bad mood for sneaking under my bed.

“Well, something like that.”

I think he furrowed his eyebrows in a slightly different way than I did. Come to think of it….

That girl who was said to be madly in love with Carsion doesn’t exist as much as I thought.

Did you lose your will to fight after seeing Carsion chasing me?

When I saw her in the training hall, it seemed like a possibility since she didn’t even look towards Carsion.

 

But….

A kid who took a year off from school just to attend the same grade wouldn’t give up that easily.

Or maybe it’s not just silence, there’s something I haven’t heard yet. “Fjord, do you know ‘Sera’?”

“The kid who dropped out a while ago?”

“Drop out?”

I opened my eyes wide at the unexpected news. Why…?

It wasn’t enough that you were in the same grade as Carsion, you were in

the same class, but you gave up on this?

This easy?

As I was pondering over the doubt, Fjor waved his hand as if it was no big deal.

“I know what you’re thinking, Lien, but don’t pay any attention to it.”

“Aren’t you strange?”

Fjord, who is familiar with rumors, would definitely know why she took a leave of absence from school.

“Our academy has a long grace period for dropping out. Probably more than a month?”

“What does this have to do with the grace period?” Fjord explained with a chuckle.

 

“You’re just making a joke to get attention. If you leave me alone, I will automatically withdraw and come back.”

“How can you be sure of that?”

“Similar things have happened a few times. It’s either me or Carsion.”

“Okay…?”

I slowly tilted my head and thanked him for the information.

However, I couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling in a corner of my heart.