Correcting the Villainess of the Academy - Chapter 114

Chapter 114

Doubt (5)

Thi s w a s c o p ie d fr o m ki n g m t l .o r g
The black-haired female student disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“Why is she here…?”

Yeon Minha muttered to herself, her face filled with confusion.

Black hair, golden particles that flashed in her eyes, and the faint scent of unique particles lingering in the hallway.

Yeon Minha had little trouble guessing the identity of the student.

However, even if she set aside her resentment toward Baek Seoyeon, she couldn’t fathom a reason why she would be near the classroom at this time.

The way she quickly left the scene, like someone who had just committed a crime, only deepened the suspicion.

It was not the kind of behavior one would usually associate with Baek Seoyeon.

“…”

But Yeon Minha quickly pushed those thoughts out of her mind.

She didn’t have the luxury of worrying about Baek Seoyeon right now.

She needed to clean up his locker, which those vulgar girls had undoubtedly dirtied. And there were only a few minutes left before the lecture ended.

With determined steps, she headed for the row of lockers in the hallway behind the classroom.

“What… is this?”

Upon reaching the lockers, Yeon Minha frowned in displeasure.

The hallway behind the classroom was already in shambles.

Lockers were either left unlocked or their doors were wide open.

Some might not have been locked from the start.

All the lockers had one thing in common—they belonged to male students.

Many of them were empty, giving off a somewhat pitiful and lonely vibe, but lockers filled with candy weren’t hard to find either.

Yeon Minha swiftly passed by those and stopped in front of a locker with a familiar name tag.

The lock, which should have been firmly in place, was shattered on the floor, and the door was hanging loosely on its broken hinges.

“Sigh.”

She let out a short sigh of discontent as she glanced at the locker.

Then she grabbed the locker door and flung it open with a sharp, irritated motion.

She intended to burn all the filthy things inside before he arrived.

Leaving no trace behind.

“Huh…?”

But Yeon Minha’s expression quickly turned puzzled.

What she saw was something completely different from what she’d expected, a chaotic and unrefined scene.

His locker had already been hit by a storm.

Candy smashed into crumbs, almost reduced to dust.

Notes torn to shreds beyond recognition.

It was as if someone had beaten her to the punch, leaving behind a scene filled with anger and sorrow.

And as Yeon Minha stood there in stunned silence, she noticed something.

‘This is…’

In the center of the locker was a small box, clearly made from luxurious material.

It was the only item that remained intact after the storm.

Without thinking, Yeon Minha reached out and grabbed it.

There were no clues as to who the owner might be.

Yet, for some reason, its neatness only irritated her further.

Soon, Yeon Minha found herself cautiously opening the lid of the cardboard box.

-Click.

“…”

Inside, the box was filled with candies and cookies.

Neat, charming, and in every way superior to the treats she had made.

They were clearly homemade with care, even thoughtfully portioned.

Before she could even process her curiosity, a familiar yet unsettling scent permeated her nose.

It was sweet, but distinctly different from the smell of sugar and cookies.

Yeon Minha had arrived on the scene too quickly, catching the scent before it had a chance to dissipate.

“What… What is this…?”

Before she knew it, she was trembling, her fists clenched tightly.

Yeon Minha knew all too well who the owner of that scent was.

So it wasn’t hard for her to figure out the meaning behind it.

“Why… Why…? Why would she…?”

Yeon Minha bit her lip hard.

Her mind was so overwhelmed that even anger was difficult to muster.

“Why… Why…!!”

-Ding dong~

Before she could take any action,

the bell signaling the end of the lecture echoed through the hallway.

***

Lee Hyun’s expectation that the Festival of the Falling Star would pass without much fuss was proven wrong from the very first period.

As he opened the locker he used for his practical classes, a cascade of crinkling items tumbled out.

“Wow… I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone receive this much…”

A familiar voice sounded beside Lee Hyun, who stood there, unsure of what to do.

It was a male student with a friendly demeanor, one of the few people Lee Hyun could call a friend at the Cradle—Ryu Seunghun, Ryu Sehwa’s younger brother.

“Not that you’re doing too badly yourself…”

Though not as much as Lee Hyun, Seunghun’s locker was also filled with a fair amount of candy and treats.

However, Seunghun shook his head with a slightly regretful smile.

“They’re all useless to me…”

He scooped up the candy and dumped it into the trash can beside him.

“If Yeowool finds out, I might be in big trouble. I’d better get rid of it all before then…”

As he cleaned out his locker and packed his belongings, Seunghun offered Lee Hyun some advice.

“You should be careful too. Especially with candy from unknown sources—it’s better not to eat it.”

“Why?”

“You never know what weird stuff might be inside.”

Taking his words to heart, Lee Hyun started sifting through the pile of candy, picking out about three or four pieces and crushing them in his hands.

He then carefully unwrapped each one to inspect the contents.

One was fine.

Another had a pungent alcoholic scent, filled with a strange liquid that made his body feel warm.

The last one… contained a strand of knotted hair.

“…”

He felt a shiver run down his spine.

A strange kind of fear, unlike anything he’d ever felt while facing demons.

Without hesitation, Lee Hyun gathered up all the candy and dumped it into the trash can next to him.

The once-empty trash can quickly filled to the brim.

“Wow… What a waste…”

Seunghun muttered as he glanced at the overflowing trash can.

***

Th is w a s c o p ie d f r o m ki n g mt l .o r g
“Hyun~ Take this!”
T his w as c op i e d f r o m ki ng m t l . o r g

“And this.”

“A-And this too…”

During the break after the first lecture,

three female students approached him as he sat in a corner of the classroom.

One had bleached hair and a dangerously short skirt, another had a scar on her right arm and a stern expression, and the last one had brown eyes and a timid look.

Three packages were placed on Lee Hyun’s desk with a thud.

“What’s this?”

“What do you think? It’s obviously candy.”

Sera responded to his question as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Were we really the first?”

Lee Hyun recalled the unidentified toxic substances that had filled his locker earlier.

He didn’t want to count those.

When he nodded, Sera’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

“Really? That’s unexpected… I thought you’d have gotten a lot already…”

“We made these together. They might look a bit weird, but they should be edible.”

Yeoreum spoke in a flat voice.

Peeking out from the top of one of the packages was a slightly crumpled and squashed animal-shaped candy.

“But don’t get the wrong idea, alright? We’re only giving this to you because we’re good friends. Let’s keep getting along in the future. Hehe.”

Sera added with a playful tone.

She then shot a teasing glance at the brown-eyed girl standing beside her.

“Though, one of us might have a different reason.”

“W-What are you talking about… Didn’t I tell you to stop joking like that…”

Yena glared at Sera, her face filled with embarrassment.

But the bleached-haired girl ignored her and turned her attention back to Lee Hyun.

“Yena’s might taste a bit different. She was talking while making it, and a few drops of her saliva might’ve gotten in. Maybe it’s even sweeter now…”

“N-No, it didn’t…! And that’s only because you were tickling me…!”

Yena shouted, her face flushed with indignation.

She swung her fists weakly at Sera, who dodged them easily, laughing all the while.

Eventually, Yena gave up and looked at Lee Hyun with a pitiful expression.

Her face was red, and there were small tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

“W-What should I do… Are you upset…?”

But Lee Hyun shook his head.

Yena’s face brightened instantly.

Meanwhile, Sera clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

“Serious case, serious case…”

“I-I told you to stop…!”

“Ouch! Hyun, enjoy the candy~”

The squabbling girls eventually drifted out of the classroom.

Their laughter echoed like a fading melody.

Lee Hyun unwrapped the package Yena had given him.

It was filled with little bluebird-shaped candies.
T hi s wa s c o p i e d fro m k i n g m t l . o r g

***

Although it seemed like just a brief commotion, Lee Hyun found himself repeating the process of dumping candy from his locker every time he changed classrooms.

Some students even directly handed him candy.

Most of them were people who had followed him to the South and owed him their lives.

T h i s w as cop i e d f r o m k i n gmtl . o r g
Since he knew who had given them, there was no reason to refuse.

“Here. Take this. You know me, right?”

A female student handed him a single candy with a casual gesture.

Th i s w a s co pi ed f r o m k i ngm tl . o r g
It was clear that she wasn’t trying to win his favor but simply wanted to establish a connection.

Her face looked familiar, but he couldn’t recall her name.

“I’m Haewon. We went to the South together.”

Sensing his hesitation, she spoke nonchalantly.

“I heard you’re dueling with Yeseo soon? I’ll be rooting for you. Yeseo’s my friend, but I still owe you my life…”

“Th-Thanks.”

“No problem. If you need my help later, just come find me. I’ll help with whatever I can.”

The girl named Haewon waved her hand casually and quickly left.

After passing through a few more classrooms, the bell signaling the end of the Magic Mathematics lecture echoed through the hallway.

Lee Hyun slowly made his way to his locker.

The thought of finding his locker filled with candy again made him shudder.
T his w a s c o p i ed f r om k i ng mtl . o r g

But what he saw this time was entirely unexpected.

“Sunbae?”

“…Eek.”

At his call, Yeon Minha whipped around.

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh… W-Well…”
T his wa s co p i e d fr o m k in g mt l . o rg

Lee Hyun immediately noticed that something was off about Yeon Minha.

She couldn’t meet his gaze, and her pupils darted around nervously.

Her hands were clasped behind her back, completely hidden.

Beside her, the locker door was hanging open.
T h i s w a s co p i e d fr o m k i n g m t l . o rg

It was in the worst condition he had seen today.

The lock, which should have been secured, was completely shattered, and the hinges had been broken.

Several pieces of candy lay scattered in front of his locker.

He bent down to inspect the inside.

“…”

Thi s w as c o p i e d f ro m k i ngmt l . o rg
The locker was a mess of torn wrappers, shredded notes, and candy dust.

It looked like a battlefield.

After a moment of hesitation, he asked Yeon Minha.

“Did you… do this, Sunbae?”

“N-No, I didn’t… I didn’t do anything…”

Yeon Minha shook her head vehemently before he could even finish his sentence.

She had to ignore the guilty pangs in her conscience.

After all, she had come with the intention of doing something similar.

“I see.”

Though he found it odd, Lee Hyun nodded as if accepting her answer.

“But why are you hiding your hands behind your back…”

“What… What makes you think I’m hiding something? I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make such strange accusations…”

Feeling the pressure, Yeon Minha started babbling, spilling out words that he hadn’t even asked for.

As Lee Hyun stepped closer, she backed away, widening the distance between them.

Eventually, she turned completely around, keeping her arms behind her.

“I-I just remembered something I need to do… I’ll see you at the banquet…”

“Sunbae? Wait…”

Before he could finish, Yeon Minha vanished like the wind.

“…”

Lee Hyun stood there, dumbfounded for a moment.

Then he turned his gaze back to his ruined locker.

There was nothing left intact.

The only thing that lingered was the faint scent of sweet sugar.

End of Chapter