I Think I'm Inside A Shoujo Manga

Chapter 20 | Doubt

"Yasu, you're cliche too."

I paused before letting out a sound out of confusion.

"Huh?" I whipped my head back and made eye-contact with class rep, "What do you mean by that?"

He waved his hands and dismissed me, making me very much curious about what he's actually thinking.

"Nevermind," He averted his gaze to his notebook, "You wouldn't accept it anyway."

"What?"

He stopped talking by then, which irked me. For him to cut his sentence, does he know just how annoying it is?

I clicked my tongue and promptly glared at him before retracting my gaze.

"Yasu, you're cliche too."

I bit my lips in annoyance, what did he meant by that?

"Don't hold it against me," Class rep suddenly started a conversation I thought had already ended, "Maybe when you become a bit more open-minded, perhaps I can say what I think you're so curious about."

I rolled my eyes, "Who are you to judge my character?"

He pondered before shrugging, "I don't have an excuse."

I laughed bitterly.

This guy is truly...

I don't even know how to describe him.

"Oh right," He snapped his finger, "You wanted to know what's making Momo prevent you from entering her house, right?"

I gave him a deadpanned look. 

How does he nonchalantly changes the topic like it's a part of his routine?

He propped his hands on the desk and put his palm under his chin, "Since she's allegedly a heroine, there are a lot of possibilities."

I ignored the word alleged and asked, "As in?"

"Maybe there's something she's hiding, as in, a person."

I froze and raise my face in confusion and disbelief.

"Don't believe me? That's fine, it's just a possibility." He provoked, "I know she lives alone. Her mother is constantly overseas, what other possibility than someone living in her house?"

I shook my head in disagreement, "The dude that dragged her earlier," I tried recalling his name on his nametag but I couldn't remember and instead call him by his nickname, "Mr. Male Lead, there's no way he could be it."

He leaned on his chair but I couldn't read what he's thinking at all.

Just then, a smile was plastered on his face.

It irked me somehow, it's like he knows everything.

"Have I ever said it was Mr. Male Lead?"

"What?" I retorted, almost immediately. "Class rep, who else would it be other than our good ol' Mr. Male Lead?"

He shrugs, "I don't know. I wonder who, I'm not her mom."

"Damn you-" I clenched my jaw and massage my temples in attempt to calm myself down. "Is it that hard to not leave anything in a cliffhanger?"

"I believe that's a bit impossible."

I glowered at him, to which he just snickered.

"Alright, alright." He lifted his hands on the air, an annoying smirk sitting still on his face. "I think it's Mr. Male Lead. But I'd bet on her childhood friend too."

I hummed before pointing at him with suspicion, "How did you know she had a childhood friend?"

"I don't." He shrugs again, an annoying smirk on his face. "It seems like my guess was correct. After all, heroines always have a childhood friend, right?"

I hate that I'm unable to say anything back.

All his claims are solid, also extremely valid with the typical flow of a shoujo manga.

I found myself slumping in my chair, defeated with this powerful mortal.

Weakly, I glared at him. "Are you sure you're not invested in this genre?"

"The thing is," He paused and looked at my face, before stifling a laugh that did not escaped my eyes. "You kinda have to accept the fact that you don't think twice about this whole thing. Unlike you, rather than being invested, I'm just using my brain correctly."

There again with his annoying smirk.

"Hey, I'm the one who figured out this is a shoujo manga." I retorted, "If I didn't have enough braincells, I wouldn't have drawn that conclusion."

He hummed, "Are you sure that this is truly a shoujo manga?"

I froze and glared daggers at him, "Can you stop making me doubt everything I am so sure of?"

"I could say that to you," He propped his hand on his chin and gave another one of his Cheshire cat smile. "Can you stop being so sure of everything? Your conviction is pissing me off, you know?"

I glowered, my brows nearly knitting with each other.

"That's none of your business, my opinion is mine to hold."

He shrugged and agreed, "You got a point."

A vein appeared as I curled my fist in attempt to not tackle this man.

"But," He glanced briefly around the classroom, "If you're so convinced that this is simply a shoujo manga, and that you're the heroine's friend, then may I get an explanation as to why everything is set on stone, like a book?"

My eyes widened in shock, confused but not exactly.

Class rep scoffed at my face, "Come on, as much as you'd like to think this is a shoujo manga, doesn't it feel that Momo is playing along with everything a bit too smoothly?"

I pursed my lips, remembering how she had always go on with the flow. She didn't question anything and simply went along.

"Isn't that how a shoujo works?"

"Hah," He shook his head in disappointment, "Do you really read Shoujos? Have you seen how intricate their personalities are? Their struggles are? Their trust?" He shot more, making me doubt a lot about Momo. "Yasu, if you've looked closely, there's intent behind her every move. She's not naive, not like you."

I was about to refute his statement but he didn't give me a chance.

"Heroines can lie, they can pretend. They're not transparent, that role falls to someone else."

It felt as if he directed that role to me.

He rolled his sleeves and gave a situation, "The facts I'm giving you is referring to the shoujos I've read, but Momo is much more complicated than that. She's a real breathing human."

I huffed, "I know that."

"Then what's stopping you from treating her like a normal person?" He sighed, "Everything that has happened to her, it's almost like you say it happened because she's the alleged protagonist, the heroine."

I bit my lower-lip and promptly glared at him, in which surprisingly, he glared back.

"You're acting like you're her mom," He sneered again, "and you know what's the similarity between you and a mother?"

I didn't answer, but my face probably provided the answer.

He took a glance and rolled his eyes.

"Both pretends to know everything, when in fact, you don't even scratch the surface."

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