The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter: 5

Time just flowed by, and I felt anxious and pressured.

No matter how much I told him to shut up, I couldn’t stop him from talking non-stop. I saw Park Ha-eun dragging Oh Seung-hyun away from me.

And I also saw a small object flying through the air from a distance.

“Gasp!”

A voice, filled with panic, rang out from the person who threw the small object.

The small object hit the craft box above Park Ha-eun, and with a sharp shattering sound, glass broke into pieces and fell.

At that moment, everything stopped.

Did I breathe? I might have stopped.

I clenched my teeth and ran, watching Park Ha-eun and Oh Seung-hyun looking up in shock, and the glittering glass shards falling from the air.

I didn’t know what I was thinking as I ran.

When I came to my senses, I was pushing Oh Seung-hyun away and embracing Park Ha-eun’s face with my hand.

As soon as I felt the soft sensation in my palm, everything that had been stopped started moving again with a bursting sound.

“What the… Wow.”

“Shouldn’t we call a teacher?”

“That must hurt. Wow….”

Suddenly, my ears, which had been filled with silence, became clear as if I had emerged from underwater, capturing the surrounding sounds.

Still caught in the moment when everything stopped, I quietly breathed and felt something trembling in my arms.

“Yeon-jae, what happened? What’s going on?”

“Hold on.”

I stopped Park Ha-eun, who was trembling but trying to move my hand to understand the situation.

I couldn’t be sure it was over yet.

Behind Oh Seung-hyun, who was still sitting awkwardly on the floor in shock, I saw the homeroom teacher running over with a fierce expression.

The teacher, who ran over without knowing what was happening, gasped when she saw my hand bleeding profusely.

The sound that I thought was something bursting was probably the glass shards embedding in my hand.

It was only after we moved to the infirmary inside the museum that I removed my hand from Park Ha-eun’s face.

As soon as Park Ha-eun saw my hand, she burst into tears.

Well, the glass had embedded quite deeply, and there was a lot of blood.

To someone not used to blood, it must have been a horrifying sight.

The only fortunate thing was that aside from the back of my hand, there were almost no other injuries.

The craft box wasn’t that big in the first place, and both Park Ha-eun and I were wearing long sleeves and long pants, which helped.

“Are you okay? No, you can’t be okay…. I’m sorry. Because of me….”

Even though my hand was now wrapped in bandages and the blood wasn’t visible, Park Ha-eun continued to cry.

I looked up at her, watching her fingers twitch, unable to bring herself to hold my hand.

Her cheeks were clear and unblemished, although a bit flushed from crying.

“…Haha.”

“…? Why are you laughing…?”

At the sound of my laughter, which came out involuntarily, Park Ha-eun looked at me with wide, reddened eyes.

Even though I tried to hold it back, a silly laugh kept coming out.

I had changed it, my fate.

That damned misfortune.

“I’m really glad. Haha.”

“…You’re saying you’re glad at a time like this?!”

Park Ha-eun lightly hit my back with a flushed face.

Hmm, her hand was a bit harsher than I thought.

When I pretended to be in pain, touching my slightly stinging back, Park Ha-eun mumbled not to fake it while soothing the area she hit.

Her cheeks turned red, probably from getting worked up at my shamelessness.

* * *

Park Ha-eun glanced at Lee Yeon-jae.

The corners of his mouth were slightly upturned in a faint smile.

‘…He really is handsome.’

Lee Yeon-jae was a famous figure in the school, known by everyone.

The first reason for his fame was his face, the second was his face, and lastly, it was his face.

I still couldn’t forget the first time I saw Lee Yeon-jae.

It was at the elementary school entrance ceremony.

‘Who’s that?’

‘Is he a child actor?’

Even in an auditorium filled with nearly a thousand people, he captivated everyone’s attention. There was no need for further explanation.

While all the kids who had just left kindergarten were noisily chattering, he sat quietly like a noble crane, which was very impressive.

Everyone stared at Lee Yeon-jae. He, however, kept his eyes fixed on the book he was holding.

I was envious when a close friend of mine ended up in the same class as Lee Yeon-jae.

But the envy didn’t last even a month.

And for a good reason, the thing that made Lee Yeon-jae as famous as his looks was his misfortune.

On the first day of first grade, Lee Yeon-jae was silently reading a book, not caring that all the kids were watching him.

There was a firm sense of ‘stay away’ in his indifferent demeanor, yet there were kids who still bravely tried to talk to him.

The problem was that the kids who lingered around him started getting hurt every other day.

‘If you stay near Lee Yeon-jae, you’ll become unfortunate.’

It didn’t take long for the kids’ ridiculous whispers to turn into something more believable.

On the days when Lee Yeon-jae was on milk duty, all the milk cartons mysteriously burst open, and the chalk broke every time he tried to write an answer on the board.

Because he always got hurt no matter what he did, the teachers called on him less and less.

Despite the frequent accidents that left him bleeding and his skin scraped, Lee Yeon-jae always maintained a serene expression.

Some kids were genuinely scared of him because of that expression, finding it even more unsettling.

The rumors that had been circulating for years were enough to make Park Ha-eun anxious.

She had been nervous about being in the same class as Lee Yeon-jae when they started fifth grade, but in truth, there hadn’t been any major problems in the past six months.

However, the fact that they were paired together for a field trip still made her uneasy.

She went to school feeling a bit complicated, and when Lee Yeon-jae stood next to her, she couldn’t even look at him properly.

When Lee Yeon-jae said, “Ha-eun,” the shock she felt was indescribable.

Hearing his voice up close, it was lower than she expected, and his calm gaze was unlike any other boy her age.

Despite his stoic expression, his tone was gentle.

Even the desperate look in his eyes whenever he moved closer to her seemed affectionate.

It was so absurd that she couldn’t help but momentarily think, “Does he like me?”

So when she saw Lee Yeon-jae, wrapped in bandages, smiling and saying he was glad she wasn’t hurt, it was almost impossible not to blush.

‘It’s the first time I’ve seen him smile….’

The sight of his normally stiff facial muscles softening and his long eyelashes trembling was incredibly striking.

His black pupils, which her friends always said were scary, now looked softer than any shade of brown.

Feeling awkward, Park Ha-eun apologized again.

“Does it hurt a lot? I’m really sorry because of me.”

“It’s not because of you that I got hurt. Don’t say that. And I’m really okay. I’ve been hurt worse than this.”

His softly comforting tone was kind.

The unnecessary kindness in his voice made her face heat up, so she hurriedly changed the subject.

“Aren’t you thirsty? I’ll get you a drink. Is there anything you want?”

“I’m fine with anything. Just get what you want.”

“…Okay.”

Park Ha-eun managed to tear her gaze away from his kind smile.

‘Why does he keep smiling like that… It’s unsettling.’

Was he always this kind? If someone who looked like him was also this kind, he should be arrested or something.

Despite her grumbling inwardly, her honest eyes steadily stayed on Lee Yeon-jae.

Barely managing to move her feet away, Park Ha-eun left the infirmary and ran into an unexpected intruder.

“What is it?”

“…Why are you reacting like that?”

Oh Seung-hyun’s face came into her view.

Great, just after seeing something nice.

As Oh Seung-hyun hesitated awkwardly, Park Ha-eun frowned in frustration.

“What is it? Just say it.”

“Uh, um… I’m sorry.”

“…? Why are you apologizing?”

What Oh Seung-hyun said next was shocking.

He explained that the baseball thrown by one of his minions wasn’t supposed to hit the glass craft case. It was meant to just scare Lee Yeon-jae, but the kid who threw it misjudged the strength, according to the nonsense coming out of Oh Seung-hyun’s mouth.

“So you ordered it? Why?”

“Do I need to spell it out? I like y―”

“Shut up for a second. Let’s talk somewhere else.”

Ignoring Oh Seung-hyun’s slightly blushing face, Park Ha-eun moved to another spot.

“Oh Seung-hyun, you don’t have to explain why you did it. I’m not curious.”

“…”

“Did you apologize to Yeon-jae?”

“Yeon-jae… ha, why would I?”

Oh Seung-hyun’s response was so brazen that it made him seem almost angry.

Laughing incredulously, Park Ha-eun mocked him.

“Why would I~? Wow, seriously. Someone got hurt because of you, and that’s what you have to say?”

“I told you. I didn’t mean to hurt him. And it’s his fault that things got out of hand.”

“What nonsense.”

“I mean it! I know it wasn’t right, but honestly, if it wasn’t for him, it wouldn’t have blown up like this. You’ve heard about the weird stuff happening around him, right?”

Clearly frustrated and angry, Oh Seung-hyun was breathing heavily.

He was the perfect example of someone getting angry despite being in the wrong.

“Fine, let’s say that’s true. Then what about when you stole Yeon-jae’s textbooks a few days ago? Is that because of him too?”

“What? I would never―”

“I know. You didn’t do it yourself. You had your friends do it, just like this time.”

“…”

“ You acting like this is the worst. Don’t talk to me from now on.”

Leaving Oh Seung-hyun speechless, Park Ha-eun walked away.

She headed towards the vending machine she had seen earlier, but heard a weak voice behind her.

“…Still, don’t stay by his side. I’ve seen a lot in the four years I’ve been in the same class as him.”

It was the same nonsense that wasn’t worth responding to.

* * *

Park Ha-eun received an apology from the homeroom teacher in front of the vending machine.

The teacher, who had been sensitive since the car accident three weeks ago, said she thought accidents wouldn’t happen if Lee Yeon-jae was with someone, and she was sorry for involving her unnecessarily.

It was a tone that could only come from someone who was sure that Lee Yeon-jae was the cause of the trouble.

There were many things she wanted to say, but since the person she was talking to was a teacher, Park Ha-eun held back and simply said, “It wasn’t because of Yeon-jae. If it weren’t for him, I would have gotten hurt.”

The homeroom teacher, looking embarrassed, replied with an awkward “Really?” and left.

“She could’ve at least gotten me a drink, geez.”

“Ha, he saved me, but why is everyone reacting like this?”

While Lee Yeon-jae remained calm, she was the one feeling upset for him.

Lee Yeon-jae was kind but indifferent. Even to the rude words and looks directed at him.

Even when Oh Seung-hyun had said his nonsense before the accident, Lee Yeon-jae had only given him his usual calm gaze.

“It wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Oh Seung-hyun in the first place…”

Now the other kids would spread rumors saying, “Lee Yeon-jae did it again.”

Wait a minute…

‘Is this how all the rumors about him started?’