Extra?
So... I realized this about two weeks ago.
"Hey! Lee Ju-yeong!! Are you crazy?"
"Liking someone isn't a cri... Ah, ah, it hurts!!"
That was roughly when I realized this world was inside a romantic comedy webtoon.
It's been quite a while since the first day of the semester, from the moment I met that bowl cut.
"Please, grow up a little."
"Saying such childhood friend-like things when you're a guy..."
"Just die."
Should I say I got a feeling right at first sight? I felt a sense of déjà vu somewhere.
A goofy, good-natured smile hanging on a reasonably handsome face.
Up to here, there's nothing particularly strange.
The problem was next: a face with perfect left-right symmetry as if measured by a ruler, and outfits that changed every day.
No, wait, a face is that symmetrical?
His outfit changes every single day?
A first-year middle schooler?
Looking closely, his style was good too.
A first-year middle schooler.
The bowl cut, that is, Lee Ju-yeong, was unusual in a way that seemed ordinary from the start.
Still, up to this point, it was something I could overlook, thinking, "I guess reincarnation made my imagination richer."
But seeing the girl who walked in right after him, I had no choice but to realize.
A beauty with a cold impression and a short bob cut.
A face perfectly symmetrical, suspiciously good style, and an aura that rivaled a high schooler, as if her secondary sexual characteristics had already finished developing.
And Lee Ju-yeong, who was staring intently at such a girl.
I started to have suspicions close to certainty around this point, and only today could I confirm the delusion-like suspicion I had harbored.
"That's a revolutionary romance."
That this life, which I considered my second round, was actually a world inside a romantic comedy webtoon.
Why, you ask?
Because a public confession is happening in real-time right now.
If they're spoon-feeding it to this extent, I should have noticed by now.
Though it took me two weeks, given that my memories are over ten years old, it couldn't be helped.
It wasn't easy to admit that my second life was inside a webtoon, either.
I was in denial for a bit.
Still, isn't two weeks pretty fast?
Even this might be because I spent most of my infancy in this life recalling my past life.
Thinking back to that time is just terrible, but since it turned out like this, I can consider it time well spent.
Thinking that, I opened my eyes.
Everyone went out into the hallway, looking around the empty classroom for a moment before nodding.
Looking back after accepting this fact, most of my questions fit into place.
It was a bit satisfying, as if fitting the last puzzle piece.
The pleasure of knotted questions unraveling at once.
No wonder there were quite a few pretty and handsome humans in the class; this was the reason.
Me, a first-year middle schooler, thought that and turned my head again.
The protagonist, who had confessed grandly and been rejected grandly, was coming back, so I didn't particularly want to run into him.
Instead, I picked up my turned-off phone and reflected my face.
Slightly sharp eyes and round horn-rimmed glasses hiding them.
Ordinary bangs coming down to the eyebrows and a face that was reasonably passable.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!! It hurts!!!"
"You need to hurt a little."
"Ju-yeong, it might be a bit much to say this when we've just met, but are you perhaps a retard?"
It was a face suitable for sitting diagonally behind the protagonist.
Around this point, I accepted that I was an extra.
Because the webtoon was close to 1200 chapters at the time of completion, I couldn't finish it all, and since it's a memory from a past life, it might not be accurate, but at least this face wasn't in my memory.
No wonder life felt boring... Is this just a side effect of the second round?
Anyway, I, my body seemed to be an extra.
The fortunate thing was that perhaps because it was a position that appeared on screen fairly often, my facial symmetry was perfect.
That's something, at least.
Come to think of it, I recognized other people's facial symmetry right away, but I only just checked my own face.
And even if this body was originally a supporting character or a main character, it didn't matter anymore.
Because I am me.
I knew my personality was lacking to be a supporting or main character.
Still, thanks to that, I got a somewhat handsome face.
"No, Ye-rin might like it, ah!! I said it hurts!!!"
Moreover, listening in now, the identities of that trio were quickly identified too.
"Bullshit, bullshit. Lee Ju-yeong, a confession is a confirmation. Not a challenge."
This high-toned, toxic way of speaking is Choi Jae-rim.
"I didn't think I'd agree with him, but I concur. That is rude. A public execution."
A solid tone and sharp content; it's Ahn Woo-jin.
They are in charge of the small and annoying kid, and the big and handsome kid, respectively.
The protagonist?
"Huuuhhh... But you guys act like you know everything when you're single too. What were you going to do if she accepted?"
He's somewhere in between.
It was a truly stable lineup.
I lay my head on the desk with the noise ringing from behind as background music.
Let's stop right here.
I learned an interesting fact.
I should just live quietly as I always have.
Actually, I don't even want to become a main character.
Something like that is impossible.
Because I don't shine that much, nor do I want to shine.
Thinking that, I closed my eyes.
Like that, 3 years passed, and my daily life didn't change much.
"Jae-hyun, going to the snack bar?"
"Not going."
"Jae-hyun says he's going too!!"
"..."
Ugh, I said I'm not going?
When I came to my senses, it had turned out like this.
This would be the perfect expression.
After school, it was the conclusion reached after agonizing at Lee Ju-yeong's house.
I just stayed quiet, but it ended up like this.
Just for the sole reason that I was in the back seat.
It's really unfair.
staring blankly ahead, Choi Jae-rim and Ahn Woo-jin were roasting Lee Ju-yeong.
Seeing that the screen is gray, he must have died again.
"That retard is doing it again."
"At this point, it's a talent."
"Shuuuut uuuup... It's originally a hard game!!"
The protagonist was a storm-like existence, and I was too close to the point where the storm's stirring began.
"Jae-hyun!! Clear this for me!!"
Yeah, like right now.
I didn't particularly refuse this kind of proposal from Lee Ju-yeong.
Refusing just because he's the protagonist is a bit funny.
"See that? I told you I'd call him within an hour. Hurry up and hand over 5000 won."
"Lee Ju-yeong, you son of a bitch... Jae-hyun, please, can't you just ignore him this time? I really hate seeing him gloat."
"Choi Jae-rim, shut up! Jae-hyun, seriously, just clear a little bit more, this..."
"That's the tutorial, you bastard! Just try to clear it!"
Accepting them one by one like that, somehow I ended up mixed in with the protagonist's group.
Thinking about it, it was true.
Maybe it was inevitable.
I am a bit tall.
That means I stand out anyway, but coincidentally, I was sitting behind the sociable protagonist, and coincidentally, the protagonist's friend was in the seat next to me.
So naturally, we got involved at the beginning of the semester, and since I didn't particularly push them away...
I retracted calling myself an extra.
At this point, I seem to be a supporting character.
Rather, the original me who lived as an extra under these conditions was admirable.
Or not?
Is it possible to live as an extra under these conditions?
What on earth do you have to do... Ah, I don't know.
Actually, since the middle school days in the webtoon passed by quickly, I might have simply forgotten.
It was 3 years explaining what kind of person Lee Ju-yeong is and how he is connected to the people around him, so in the webtoon, it wouldn't have been even 3 chapters worth.
Or maybe he was just a person who didn't exist.
Seeing how things turned out now when I just stayed still, this seems to be the answer.
Anyway, I think I'm about a supporting character.
Exactly a supporting character with no screen time.
A supporting character close to an extra.
Since there's nothing really to call influence.
The real supporting characters are the two over there.
I nodded and reached out my hand.
"Give it here."
"As expected, it's Jae-hyun!!"
"Ugh, Jae-hyun, you bastard, because you're like this, that bastard's habit doesn't get any better!"
"I agree with that. Because you handle everything, his habit of buying games he can't even play doesn't improve. Maybe that's why his dating life is also infinite retries like a game..."
"Shutupshutupshutupshutup."
Is my current position about a supporting character who is taciturn and occasionally delivers a line in the background?
You know that type, tall and plain-faced but always caught in the background.
I'm exactly that.
Usually, it would be perfect if I was strong too, but that wasn't it.
Was it around the second year of middle school?
I went to the gym for the first time in my past and present lives combined, met some muscle monster, and got thoroughly thrashed.
After that, I vowed not to act cocky about being strong.
Should I say it's fitting for an ambiguous supporting character? It felt a bit like that.
No, that's that, but why is Lee Ju-yeong's infinite confession my fault?
"The way I see it, that's also Kim Jae-hyun's fault."
"I acknowledge that."
"That's just him being weird; even if I wasn't there, it would have been the same."
"What do you mean by that, Jae-hyun-Jae-hyun-ah. Does that mean I'm failing to grasp the situation and keep hitting on her?"
I didn't say it like that.
"Similar."
Since it was mostly correct, I answered roughly and took the pad.
"Cutting ties? Hyun-Tube."
"Psychopath? Hyun-Tube."
"Bullshit? Ju-Tube."
First off, that infinite confession alone was something that happened in the original history.
It was definitely something that would happen even without me, but I didn't add any more words.
"No, lately the feeling is getting good, I'm telling you? The intensity of the rejection is gradually decreasing!!"
"Bullshit, bullshit."
"Isn't she just tired?"
I didn't want to get stuck in between them when they started tangling and fighting in earnest, and this game looked fun.
First of all, since we don't have a PlayStation at home, I couldn't enjoy this picture quality.
It just so happened to be a game I was considering buying, so this worked out well.
Let's consider it a taste test.
.
.
.
"J-hyun...!"
Then from here, like this...
"Jae-hyun!!"
When I came to my senses, I saw a flashy face.
Brown hair and a flashily handsome face, it was Ahn Woo-jin.
"It's already 7 o'clock. We should get going."
"Ah... Already?"
I was quite immersed.
Quite, reasonably very immersed.
It was just about the timing when the early part ends...
"Where are Lee Ju-yeong and Choi Jae-rim?"
"They went out to buy snacks just now."
"What snacks?"
"Hmm... I'll tell you on the way. You said you have to go early today."
It was true.
I put down the pad without a word and slung my bag over my shoulder.
Ahn Woo-jin was also seen packing his bag after organizing, just like me.
"I'm planning to head out too. My younger sibling might be waiting."
Like that, Ahn Woo-jin and I came out of the apartment.
Since neither of us was talkative, Ahn Woo-jin opened his mouth while we were walking quietly.
"You're quite unexpected."
"What is."
"I didn't know you liked games that much."
Certainly, it was.
To think 3 hours vanished so quickly.
Unlike LoL or PUBG which I had played until now, this game was really fun.
When I nodded, Ahn Woo-jin continued.
"It's also the first time I've seen you talk so much."
What is this about?
"You didn't know? You were chattering about something the whole time you were playing. You answered right away when we asked, too."
"Me?"
"You."
Tracing back my memory, it was really so.
I unconsciously said this and that while immersed in the game.
No... what is it?
In my memory, I was opening my mouth without even realizing it.
Enjoying the game excitedly enough to feel awkward myself...
It was like a character in a webtoon.
As I was scratching my head in embarrassment at the memory that surfaced, Ahn Woo-jin smirked and said.
"Actually, them buying snacks was also an excuse to go out so they could properly watch you play games."
"Why watch someone else play a game?"
"I didn't understand it either, but it was quite fun."
"Have you tried that game?"
"No? But basically, it's a simulation game with a story, so it felt like watching a movie. I think you could stream or something."
"What stream."
Streaming for a boring human like me.
The joke was excessive.
Letting Ahn Woo-jin's chatter from the side flow by, I recalled the game.
The game name was... King the Com, was it?
The game was fun.
I should try it when I get home.