ICYM Ch 10

Episode 10

“…Looks like it got angry.”

“Is it because of the word we said just now?”

“The dog?”

Dogs understand human speech far better than people think. When I said that, Kendrick looked at me like he couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah.”

The dog, showing clear signs of displeasure, suddenly turned around and darted through the fence.

“Whoa?”

Kendrick was the first to snap out of it as we both stared blankly at the spot where the dog had vanished. Seeing my downcast face, Kendrick suddenly stood up.

“It ran away.”

“Should we go look for it?”

“No, it might end up disliking us even more.”

Though the night air was a bit chilly, it was still early autumn. Occasionally, foxes could be seen around the neighborhood, but they rarely came into the residential area, so it shouldn’t be too dangerous.

“Just in case, I’ll check around to see if it’s nearby before heading back.”

“…Oh, okay.”

At Kendrick’s suggestion that I head back first, I trudged toward the dormitory while he disappeared in the direction the dog had gone.

When I opened the dormitory door and stepped inside, Sunbae was standing in the office near the entrance. Just then, Sunbae finished talking with the dorm supervisor and came over to me with a warm smile.

“Just getting back now?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you go into town?”

“No, I had to buy new uniform pants.”

I awkwardly smiled as I held up the bag with the school logo printed on it.

Sunbae had warned me to be careful around Kendrick, so there was no reason to mention I’d been with him.

“Why the new pants? Didn’t you just get your uniform not long ago?”

“I accidentally tore them, so I had to get a new pair.”

“Oh yeah? I wondered why you weren’t in your room.”

“You came by my room?”

“Yeah, I was going to help you study before dinner. You’ve got a quiz coming up, right?”

“Oh, right.”

“You forgot?”

“No, I remembered.”

At my answer, Sunbae said blandly, “Sure you did,” and started walking down the hallway ahead of me.

“It’s almost dinner time, so I’ll help you study in the lounge.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Before we exited the hallway, the sound of a door opening was heard. Even though I knew there was a high chance it was Kendrick coming in, I glanced back.

My eyes met Kendrick’s. His gaze, which had briefly landed on me, soon shifted to Sunbae in front of me.

Worried that Sunbae might turn around, I quickened my pace and walked closely behind him.

* * *

I stared blankly at Sunbae sitting in front of me, diligently explaining something. He didn’t seem to notice I was watching him, completely focused on the problem as he explained it step-by-step.

“So that’s how you get this answer.”

“…Yeah.”

Sunbae said he didn’t like his ginger-colored hair, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the way it glowed red in the sunset pouring through the window.

It’d be nice if he could help me after dinner too.

I tried asking, but he turned me down, saying he had plans after dinner. It was probably a promise he’d made to that potato squad.

I felt disappointed but didn’t show it.

I thought I’d adapted well. But it had only been a month since I transmigrated. Keeping up with schoolwork was exhausting, and the sudden change in my secondary gender was still confusing at times.   

The me who used to be an Alpha, the me who was now an Omega, and the me who was pretending to be a Beta.

That dissonance sometimes made me feel like I was wearing clothes that didn’t quite fit.

If I weren’t a recessive Omega, it would’ve been even worse.

Still, I believed choosing to live alone had been the right decision.

Even if it was my own choice, there were times when the loneliness hit harder than expected.

“Are you sure you understood everything?”

That’s why Sunbae’s kindness and help, offered not out of obligation but out of goodwill, meant so much to me.

“Yeah.”

So, I did feel a little regret.

Since we’re in different years, even if the room assignments change next semester, we probably wouldn’t end up on the same floor.

He already had his own circle of friends.

I don’t get why he follows that useless potato squad around, though.

Sunbae cared more about that potato group than he did about me.

If I wanted to separate him from them, the only option was for me to become someone more special.

Even if it’s clumsy, isn’t it fine as long as I get what I want?

Sometimes, it feels like the people around me understand me better than I understand myself.

I didn’t think I’d admit it so soon.

But I had no choice but to accept it. My childhood friend had been right.

* * *

29 points.

I rubbed my eyes for no real reason, then checked the test paper again.

But with 20/20 vision, there was no way I could’ve misread a number right in front of me.

Which meant it really was 29 points.

Wondering if it had been graded wrong, I listened with laser focus as the teacher went over the answers, not missing a single word, but nothing changed.

…29 points…?

To be honest, I hadn’t expected a high score.

I’ve never been the academic type. After graduating high school, I only worked part-time jobs to save up for retaking the college entrance exam.

They say people who were already good at studying keep doing well, and I was hopeless at it even before I possessed this body, so there was no way I’d suddenly become a genius overnight.

If something as miraculous as transmigration happened, couldn’t it at least come with a bonus feature like improved intelligence?

Still, after all that effort Sunbae put into tutoring me, this was the score I got?

It was such a devastating result that even the passing thought of maybe getting closer to him evaporated instantly.

I was just about to spiral into self-loathing when the teacher dropped a bomb that shook me up even more.

“Since the new school year just started, I made this quiz really easy. So don’t get cocky just because you did well.”

“Yesss.”

As the teacher spoke, I felt sweat trickle down from the bridge of my nose.

Really easy questions?

How high did everyone else score that no one seemed even mildly annoyed by the teacher’s comment?

I glanced around for no real reason and suddenly stopped when my eyes landed on one spot.

Kendrick Bardi.

All day, my attention had been on Kendrick Bardi.

The reason I messed up this quiz was at least partly because of Kendrick Bardi.

After running into Kendrick on Monday and Tuesday, he was the only one who went to the garden on Wednesday and Thursday.

Even if it was just a short quiz, it was my first test since transmigrating, so it felt important.

That said, it’s not like I didn’t see Kendrick at all.

I hadn’t realized it before, but once I started paying attention, I noticed how similar Kendrick’s weekly routine was to mine.

It made sense. We were in the same year, lived in the same dorm, and took the same classes. Naturally, we’d cross paths a lot.

I did feel a sense of familiarity with Kendrick in that corner of the garden, but it wasn’t to the extent of disrupting my everyday life.

Still, if he ever acknowledged me in front of other people, it’d attract attention, and the last thing I wanted was to be the subject of gossip.

At the same time, blatantly ignoring him when we met didn’t seem right either, so for the past three days, I did everything I could to avoid running into Kendrick Bardi.

If I thought I might run into him, I would take a different hallway.

When school let out, I’d deliberately delay my return by about ten minutes just to avoid him.

Trying not to think about him only made me think of him more, like a paradox. And the moment I told myself to avoid him, that’s when Kendrick started standing out even more to me.

And so, I unintentionally learned a few things about him.

One of those things was that three out of our four classes overlapped.

He’s so tall that even someone like me, who doesn’t pay attention to my surroundings, noticed we were in the same classes, but I didn’t know we shared three.

I thought he stood out just because of his size, but the overlapping classes probably contributed to how noticeable he was too.

The second thing was that, contrary to the disturbing rumors, he actually seemed like a model student. Regardless of how well he did academically, I’d never once heard him say he hadn’t done his homework or seen him get scolded by a teacher.

That was a stark contrast to some members of the potato squad, whose attitudes often got them glares from teachers.

But what surprised me the most was that Kendrick Bardi had a friend.

With his bold looks and shiny blond hair, he had the kind of presence that made it impossible to think he wasn’t an Alpha, even if he kept his pheromones in check.

I don’t know his name, though.

Watching Kendrick led me to realize that his friend also shared two classes with me.

Despite looking like they wouldn’t have anything in common to talk about, they were surprisingly close. They always sat next to each other in those shared classes.

If I’d noticed that earlier, I would’ve stopped purposely showing up late to class.

For days, I’d been failing to secure a front seat because I deliberately arrived late just to avoid sitting near him. Now, resting my chin on my hand, I stared at the two of them sitting ahead of me.

What’s he thinking, really?

I’d been mulling it over for days, but I still couldn’t figure out what was going on in Kendrick’s head.

* * *

Contrary to my worries, Kendrick didn’t even try to act friendly. He didn’t so much as acknowledge me.

He’s close enough that he could turn around and say hi right now if he wanted to.

At first, I thought it was because I’d been avoiding him too well and hadn’t given him the chance. But that wasn’t it.

No matter how hard I tried to dodge him, we were in the same year with this many overlapping classes, so eventually, there were bound to be moments when we’d run into each other.

It happened yesterday after one of our shared classes ended. I’d left in a hurry but had to return to the classroom after realizing I’d forgotten my pencil case.

“Whoa, you scared me.”

As soon as I opened the door, my heart nearly stopped. I thought there was another door inside for a second.

Kendrick, who had been about to open the door from the other side, looked just as surprised and froze mid-step.

It was a situation where I couldn’t possibly pretend not to see him. I glanced briefly into the classroom and saw a few students still lingering inside.

Should I just say hi quickly? Maybe give a small nod? What should I do?

Everyone knows we live in the same dorm, so a casual greeting should be okay, right?

As I hesitated, caught up in that split-second decision, Kendrick looked down at me, then walked right past without a word.

As if there were no one there at all.

“…Huh?”

It was unmistakably a snub.