Why us? Why me?! I'm not mentally prepared! Why are we going second?!

A shaking hand tugged at my tie, only to let go a moment later after realizing that that might make me appear even more nervous. I eventually set it down on the podium, alongside my other hand.

Who am I kidding? I know why! Nothing good comes out of interacting with main characters!

I glared at the laptop in front of me, speedily finding my way to the presentation and checking that it appeared on the wall behind me. After seeing that everything worked, my eyes landed on Bai Yul and I sent him a nod.

He didn't send one back. Instead, all I got was an undecipherable stare, followed by a quick smile and a wink, the man turning to face the front immediately after.

What?

I couldn't ruminate long, shakily straightening my shoulders and refocusing. Bai Yul embraced his machine-gun nature, starting off with a booming, unhesitating introduction. His hands danced along with his words, fast motions underlining his explanations.

After getting the cueing look, I rapidly clicked to the next slide. Our presentation seamlessly continued like this, my mind eventually calming, my breaths becoming a little longer. My heart didn't even speed up that fast when I looked at the expansive audience.

It's fine, you're doing fine. Nobody's paying attention to you. Look, that kid's almost falling asleep. Must be nice.

Countless minutes had passed, and the seemingly successful nature of it all almost compelled me to lean against the podium. I curbed the unprofessional urge, but it was a strong indication that I had relaxed. A small grin uncontrollably etched itself onto my face, and it barely faltered when Freyda shot off a quippy question, Bai Yul lightly answering.

I clicked the arrow key, moving towards the next slide; I couldn't help leaning in when I saw it.

Weird - I didn't make this slide. What is this? It doesn't really fit.

Bai Yul had scarcely spoken a couple of sentences about the mystery slide when Freyda fired another question, her eyes narrowing.

I myself looked at the guy in curiosity.

"Actually," Bai Yul swerved to face me, fixing his glasses with a smile, "I think my partner should have the chance to answer."

...What?

"What?" I whispered, my unconscious word magnified by the mic on my lapel. Suddenly hearing your hoarse voice echo around the room really sends nerves into overdrive, and mine were no different. My lips parted as I stared at the smiling bastard; my heart beat once, twice, thrice - its drumming filled my ears, but my brain was absolutely empty. "Uh...well-," I stuttered out, tugging on my tie as I glanced at a squinty-eyed Freyda and the goggling audience.

What the hell! How would I know about something I didn't research!

My thoughts raced, my eyes jerking and inadvertently landing on a flash of red. The girl had a panic-stricken look, biting her lip and desperately doing something with her arms. I recognized the motion: it was the same one I had done earlier, Elinka flexing her bicep and pointing to it. But...

My mouth parted, then wordlessly closed.

Was I missing confidence, or a strong will?

I defeatedly looked towards Bai Yul.

Or was I just missing invincible plot armor?

His lips pursed, a sigh escaping him as he touched his forehead and looked down. The tiny smirk only I could see betrayed his feigned disappointment. He raised his head, sending a closed-mouth smile towards Freyda.

"It's alright, I can answer."

His detailed response forced me to wince as my gaze stayed glued to a corner of the podium. I'm sure my cheeks were burning; my whole head felt warm.

The class's polite clapping snapped me out, prompting me to dazedly remove my microphone and tend to the presentation before me.

The laptop was suddenly snapped shut.

Bai Yul's crescent eyes and wide smile assaulted my vision. His cheery voice was just loud enough for me to hear.

"Yuriy updates all of his social media fast, but you're not in a single picture. It took a while to work around our mutual hatred, but I still managed to check, double-check, and triple-check your relationship through multiple methods. And you know what I found out?" He leaned in, his happy tone lowering. "You're not friends. You don't even know each other!" He paused, "But you casually threatened my goals." The man moved back, his brows rising, his lids lowering, his lips quirking up to form a matter-of-fact expression. "Although, I don't expect much from people like you. Now we're even."

I wordlessly watched him spread his arms as he backed away, giving me a little bow before spinning around and heading up the aisles towards his seat. His blue tie swung wildly, showing off its flower pattern.

Freyda had apparently already called up the next pair, their approach finally prompting my frozen figure into action. I unplugged the laptop and quickly grabbed it, my head down as I hastily returned to my row. None of the main characters were given a glance when I finally sat down, shoving my computer into my briefcase and raising my palms to my eyes, covering them.

"Wasn't...wasn't your partner supposed to be the only one talking?" Elinka tentatively whispered.

The next presentation had begun, the two students' voices echoing through the hall.

"Shion-"

"Let's celebrate," I interrupted, raising my head. After hearing no response, I turned to face the girl's convoluted expression. "For finishing the presentations, like you said yesterday. Let's celebrate."

***

"Miss, another bottle here please!" I waved my empty one at the store's owner, a lady in her 50s. My gaze returned to Elinka, pushing a plate of dumplings closer to her. "Why aren't you eating these?"

"I can't, there's shrimp," She distractedly answered, her eyes trained on the approaching bottle. "That-, that'll be your third. Will you still be able to bike back?" The redhead sitting across for me furrowed her brows in concern.

Shrimp? Why didn't she say anything when we ordered the dish?

"Are you allergic-? Thanks," I nodded at the owner, opening the bottle right after she passed it to me. I blinked a couple of times, trying to remember what we were talking about before the interruption. "Right, yeah, I'll be fine. It would be strange if I couldn't bike back after three bottles of beer. I'm eating well, too, so I'm still pretty sober." I widened my eyes and stuck a spoonful of rice into my mouth in emphasis.

Elinka hummed in doubt, giving me a look as she shook her fork at me twice in warning. Her attention then returned on her own meal, and she didn't see me still in surprise at the action.

Is that something a sweet angelic heroine does? Was she like this in the game?

"Shion," Elinka prodded at her noodles, her voice unexpectedly quiet, "Are you upset?"

"Upset?"

"Because of the presentation today." Her green eyes met mine.

I looked away in thought, scratching the label on the cold bottle of beer. "I guess I am, but not completely because of the presentation. I got a bad score on my Bio quiz too - a really bad score. The year just started and my grade in that class is already scraping the floor."

She chuckled, and so did I. The girl allowed me to continue after a silent halt.

"I've had time to think about it, and I've decided that I'm more embarrassed than anything. You know," I ardently glanced at her while popping the bottlecap off, "I was confident in my powerpoint, and I really did want to present well. I really did want to answer that stupid question, too."

"It was a very good powerpoint." The protagonist smiled, then raised her thin brows in question. "Do you get anxious over public speaking?"

"Most people do, don't they? But it's not even that." My eyes narrowed. "I've presented in front of a class before, and I've presented well. That slide wasn't mine. My partner swindled me." My lips quirked up, only to falter a moment later, unable to hold the cynicism driving them. "Sometimes confidence isn't enough. A strong will isn't enough."

The girl seemed to be at a loss for words. A myriad of expressions crossed her countenance, but most were too fast for me to catch. Her mouth parted, then shut. Then, her fist smacked the table - it was a weak hit, but the action shocked me nonetheless.

"Well, Freyda knows that you were only responsible for the powerpoint, right?! In the email she asked for pairs splitting work like that to notify her in advance. She'll definitely know about what he did!"

Hey, isn't the protagonist supposed to be a gentle angel? What is this?

"Well, yes," I said distractedly, "But it doesn't really matter. Freyda might've known, but everyone else in that lecture hall didn't. All they saw was someone they wouldn't want on their team. And-," I pointedly cut her off, "Don't try to tell me that someone who only creates the powerpoint can become a team leader. I don't even want that responsibility."

The heroine didn't say anything right away; her hand eventually slid off the table, followed by a listless, low response. We ate quietly for a bit.

But what class will I take with my failure-driven free period? I'll have to choose by next Monday...

"You shouldn't worry!" The redhead spoke, dragging me out of my thoughts, "If I get on a team, I'll force them to take you in too!"

Take me in? We're not even good enough friends for random favors like that.

"But..." I swallowed my ensuing words.

"Yes?" The protagonist questioned.

I watched her carefully, and a thin, twisting thought carefully curling through my mind.

If I use her, I won't have to worry about choosing a future just yet.

The awaiting silence sat heavily between us. I took in Elinka's twinkling features, her expectant grin.

I answered after a small sigh.

A/N: How'd Shion answer? :pepethink: