2nd Lead Syndrome

8 | just this once, i'll take his place

Day three.

As I arrived at class early after track practice, I stumbled upon a revelation about Jimin that left me intrigued. Despite my initial assumption of her indifference toward Junwoo's confession, a fleeting glimpse of her sulky expression at her desk made me reconsider everything.

Since our classmates went to change into their P.E. uniforms, we were the only ones in the classroom. Unlike the others, Jimin confidently showed up to school already in her P.E. uniform. Well, nothing looks bad on her anyway.

I was lucky that I chose to sit behind her. This way, I can watch her interact with the main characters whenever and for as long as I want.

Being an observer is the best!

Oh, speaking of that... I have to mention that these weird floating percentages of numbers suddenly appeared over everyone's heads the instant I woke up. I'm not sure what it was at first but got an idea of what it was all about once the Imaginari app notified me.

I didn't bring the tablet today since I forgot to charge it last night, but the notification alerted me like this...

~ Alert! ~
The Author of this world has fulfilled the requirements to earn a special ability called the "Happiness Meter"! This is a gift from the original owner of this tablet as a good luck at finding your exit to this world!

I've earned a special ability called the "Happiness Meter." The name says it all. Now, when I want to activate it, a percentage of numbers float above everyone's heads, revealing their happiness levels. Because of this sole ability, now, I was really sure that I had to make Jimin happy.

That means... I have to prevent her from falling completely in love with Junwoo to spare her from that heartbreak! And... I must ensure she doesn't get into an accident that would make her miss the most important violin competition in this world.

"That accident..."

I couldn't help but mumble to myself as I blinked back to reality and noticed Jimin, who had lightly slammed her desk and appeared slightly mad. In the story, it was around this time when Aeri and Junwoo finished changing into their uniforms, likely playing around the track field by now. Conveniently, our classroom windows offered a view of that field.

She's good at hiding it and replacing it with other emotions like yesterday, but...

Jealous.

Jimin is jealous.

Sigh.

This scenario was never shown in the original webtoon. So, I guess it would be fine to interact with her right now—her happiness meter is in danger too...

[ 0% ]

I'm still not sure how the happiness meter works since it was only this morning since I got it, but I am certain Jimin is not happy at whatever she was watching beyond that window.

Therefore, after a long moment of thought, I huffed and reluctantly stood up. Taking a deep breath, I looked around to make sure no one was around to avoid attention and approached Jimin.

"Hey."

I called out to her. And when Jimin turned away to look at me, something weird happened.

[ 5% ]

I tried blinking a few times, but her happiness meter went unchanged.

Am I seeing things...?

...

Ahh, whatever! I need her to get out of here if I don't want that meter to stay at 0%.

Looking at me with her usual poker face but with interested eyes, Jimin stared at me and rested a chin on her palm. "Hmm, Kim Minjeong? It's unusual for you to approach me unless you need to talk to me about something."