- The author wrote it while he was a little out of his mind.
- Even the author doesn't know what he's writing.
- The author doesn't even know why he wrote it.
- It's a bunch of clichés.
- Please read it lightly... It's a mess of a piece of writing with little to no plausibility...
- I intentionally left the part where the heroine's original name appears blank. Readers can just insert their own names and read on...
-TRIGGER WARNING! This story is based on an internet novel popular in the early 2010s, so it may contain scenes reminiscent of school violence.
How to Survive as an Extra
:One day, I became an extra in a novel.
W. Geuppeum
"Want to eat?"
The other person stared at me with an expression that suggested nothing could be more absurd. I smiled and dangled the jelly bag I was holding. No one reached inside the torn bag, though. Instead of willingly reaching into the bag, the other person blinked repeatedly, as if to ask if I was telling the truth. Then he asked,
“…Are you talking to me?”
His tone was full of the conviction that it couldn't be true. However, since I had truly offered him the jelly, I had no reason not to nod, so I nodded vigorously. Then, he burst out laughing. "Why?" At my innocent retort, he couldn't hide his bewildered look and let out a slur. "This is delicious..." For some reason, I suddenly felt a pang of irritation at the kid who didn't even look at the jelly. That was why I put my hand in the untouched jelly bag and picked the most delicious one.
"Try it, it's delicious-,"
To just shove jelly into that kid's mouth. Uh, so,
“…What the hell are you doing?!”
In Kwon Yeon-hee's mouth.
I'm saying this out of concern, but I certainly don't mean to harass you. Even though Kwon Yeon-hee has a history of trying to kill me, I shrugged.
"Are you worried about being poisoned? Don't worry, I wouldn't do something like that. Even if you didn't."
"……."
“But isn’t it delicious?”
“…Why has it been like this since yesterday?”
Kwon Yeon-hee, who was chewing and swallowing the jelly with a pale face, asked. With nothing to say, she just mumbled whatever came to mind. At my question, “…what’s wrong with being friends?” Kwon Yeon-hee truly looked speechless. It didn’t take long for her expression to change into one of exasperation. “Hmm, maybe I said the wrong thing? When you’re angry, something sweet is good,” she said, and a hand grabbed the back of my neck as I was about to rummage through the jelly bag. If it hadn’t been for that hand grabbing me by the neck, Kwon Yeon-hee would have probably been chewing the jelly with a look of anger on her face again.
Anyway, all I could do was drag myself along helplessly. Except for the last time I put a peach-flavored, sweet and sour candy in Kwon Yeon-hee's hand.
📘 📗 📕
It wasn't just Kwon Yeon-hee who had that infuriated expression. This time, it was Park Jimin! He was looking down at me with the exact same expression Kwon Yeon-hee had made. His lips were moving, but the words seemed too absurd to come out. So, Park Jimin grabbed the back of my neck and only after we reached the far end of the hallway was he able to utter a coherent sentence.
“What the hell are you trying to do…, no, why are you suddenly raising a child there?!”
I opened my mouth, lamenting that the bribes I offered to become friendly with them were seen as such.
"If you breed, you can offer some jelly to your friend."
“…You and Kwon Yeon-hee are friends? It would be more plausible to say that a cat and a mouse are friends.”
"Is that all?"
“There was no reason to be close to you in the first place, so why are you acting like that? Kwon Yeon-hee did something to you, and she confessed to you everything she did that day, right? Well, it didn’t seem like she had any intention of hiding it in the first place.”
Since I had told both Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook everything about the day I met Kwon Yeon-hee, it wasn't that surprising that Park Jimin was talking about that day. He recited every word Kwon Yeon-hee had said in perfect detail. Because of that, I had a hard time trying to stop Park Jimin, who was going wild and demanding to catch and kill Kwon Yeon-hee right away, and Jeon Jungkook, who was quietly plotting to destroy Kwon Yeon-hee and her family. Maybe it's because they lived as children of an influential family in the novel, but the kids seemed to have no qualms about destroying anyone. Otherwise, how could all solutions end up destroying Kwon Yeon-hee?
"No?"
"what?"
"Why is there no reason to become friends?"
"I don't know if it's overflowing," Park Jimin frowned at my words. I chuckled at his expression, which seemed to have no idea what he meant. A reason to become friends with Kwon Yeonhee? Just one was enough.
"Kwon Yeon-hee is a writer."
“…What is that?”
"You're a writer, right?"
The fact that I'm the author of this novel is enough to justify my being a writer.
"He's someone who can revise the novel at will, so how can you say there's no reason to become friendly with him?"
Strictly speaking, in this world, writers were practically gods. Even Kwon Yeon-hee's words echoed this sentiment. The character "Kim Yeon-ju" likely came into existence for that very reason. She was the only being who could lead this world, do whatever she pleased, do whatever she pleased. I enjoyed watching Park Jimin gape in astonishment. Just seeing her instantly understand the reason was proof of Kwon Yeon-hee's influence on us. I slowly walked to class, chewing on my jelly.
To be honest, there were complex reasons beyond Kwon Yeon-hee's position as a writer, but I had no intention of explaining them to Park Jimin in detail. I knew that if I gave a nostalgic excuse like "it reminded me of the old days," he'd just treat me like a fool, saying I was being a jerk.
“Then you came up with a plan that doesn’t even make sense…”
Anyway, for these various reasons, I prevented Kim Seok-jin, Park Jimin, and Jeon Jung-kook from harboring unnecessary hostility toward Kwon Yeon-hee and seeking revenge for everything she'd done to me. What fool would turn a novelist into an enemy of its author? So, I began to think about it the other way around.
If you don't want to turn them into enemies, why not make them your allies?
… Of course, the three other Bing-ui members, excluding me, protested vehemently, but I was carrying out my pledge to become close to Kwon Yeon-hee. I named it, "Operation Friend-Eat." I hope you'll overlook my childish naming sense. It's because whenever I see Kwon Yeon-hee, a dark memory from when I was seventeen comes flooding back.
"But still, is the method you just came up with breeding?"
"I told you, it's not breeding. Don't you know that the normal way to become friendly is to give them food?"
“…That’s probably the case with normal kids. Do you think it’s possible for you and Kwon Yeon-hee to become best friends with just one Mychu?”
Despite the three people's fierce opposition, I steadily carried out my plan. Starting yesterday. Which meant today wasn't the first time I offered something to Kwon Yeon-hee, asking, "Want some?" Starting with the chocolate milk, which received a cold glare and was thrown in the trash, and even the jelly I forced myself into her mouth today.
"Are you listening to me? I told you it's Kwon Yeon-hee!? If our friendship was swayed by food alone, would I have hated you so much in the first place?"
"I guess this is a friendship that will be determined by food."
“…Anyway, I think it would be much better if we just found a solution among ourselves rather than wasting time on a plan that won’t work.”
"No, will it work?"
"This is edible?"
“…Well, I guess it looks a little different to you?”
It might seem like I'm obsessed with a plan that seems impossible, but unless I'm really an idiot, I don't put effort into things that converge to zero in probability. So, I saw it in my eyes. I was holding on to possibility in the glimpses of 'XX High School Kwon Yeon-hee' that I occasionally saw in Kwon Yeon-hee. For example, the way her eyes trembled slightly at the chocolate milk I offered her on the first day, the way she chose to chew and swallow the jelly that I forced her into instead of spitting it out, and the way she stared intently at the peach-flavored sweet and sour candy I put in her hand. That's right, because everything I offered her until now was the snacks we often ate when we were seventeen.
If Kwon Yeon-hee had reacted indifferently, uninspired, to everything I offered, I might have quickly abandoned this plan and set out to find another solution. But that wasn't the case. Since I saw a small opening, I figured, "Let's make sure everyone gets a good outcome." Of course, Park Jimin, unaware of the situation, still looked puzzled. But so what.
“…I still don’t understand what’s going on in your head. I think I’ll feel better if I grab you and look into it.”
"It's something I can start to understand now." I giggled again at Park Jimin's words and stuffed his mouth with jelly. Park Jimin, who was quietly eating the jelly, spoke.
"I'm just saying this just in case, if you see even the slightest hint of danger…"
"I'll take care of it right away. I can promise you that much-"
Park Jimin chuckled as he saw me extending my pinky. We went through a series of childish actions, including locking our pinkies, making a promise, stamping, copying, and finally, coating, and we entered the classroom together.
"……."
And then I met Kim Seokjin's eyes-,
"……."
I avoided the eye contact.
“…I have one more question.”
"……."
“You fought with Kim Seokjin again, no, what happened…?”
…We didn’t fight… Park Jimin tilted his head as he watched me trail off. Then what? With a pouty expression on his face, he grabbed a handful of jelly. Then he stuffed it into Park Jimin’s mouth. Park Jimin, who had been suddenly struck by trouble, expressed his bewilderment with his entire face. In an attempt to avoid Park Jimin’s whining and evade his questions, I ran towards Lee Yujin, who was waving at me from my seat, and Kim Yeojoo, who had been safely discharged from the hospital. Yeonju! Do you want to go see a movie this weekend?! I smiled brightly at them as they welcomed me.
It wasn't a lie. We didn't fight. Even though things were a lot more awkward than before, people can't grow this distant over a simple fight. So, we didn't fight.
The confession was withdrawn. That was it.
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If you ask me what I did to deserve my confession being retracted, I'll tell you that I didn't do anything. Seriously. I'm not even using this metaphorically, I didn't do anything! Damn it! If only I had acted indifferently when Kim Seokjin said he liked me, or embarrassed him afterward, or reacted negatively, and as a result, my confession had been retracted, then at least it wouldn't have been so unfair. No, if that was the case, I would have welcomed it! But that wasn't it. The reason Kim Seokjin retracted his confession wasn't because of me. No, was it because of me?
Yeah, if I think about it differently, maybe it's because I haven't done anything. It was absurd that I was racking my brain with these thoughts, but when I recalled what happened the day before yesterday, my mind automatically filled with those events. It wasn't just because I'd experienced something I'd only experienced once in my life—a "withdrawal of confession." In fact, that was the biggest reason. I slowly retraced the events of that day, one by one. So...
I just patted Kim Seok-jin's back as he was sobbing and crying.
Then Kim Seokjin said he liked me.
and,
‘…I just kept patting Kim Seokjin on the back.’
No matter how much I thought about it, there seemed to be no reason for Kim Seok-jin to take back his confession, even to the point of his face turning pale when he saw what I had said. After that, Kim Seok-jin jumped up in a ridiculous manner, his face pale but his ears burning bright red, and I fell on my butt because I couldn't even find my balance, but he, who had been fidgeting, carefully helped me up. Yes, that's right... What Kim Seok-jin said after that wasn't something like saying he liked me, and it certainly wasn't an explanation for his previous confession.
"Sorry, that was a slip of the tongue."
"……."
"Just pretend it never happened."
After hearing my confession, he immediately told me to pretend it never happened. What should I do now? No matter how many times I thought about it, it was still absurd. … What? I frowned and asked back, and Kim Seokjin, seeing me, must have felt something that made his face turn even paler, but he just kept repeating that he was sorry. He hadn’t expected an answer, and he certainly didn’t intend to embarrass me by saying it so impulsively. Seeing Kim Seokjin blurting out these words in a trembling voice, how should I have reacted…! I was embarrassed and bewildered, but then Kim Seokjin, who seemed to think that telling me he liked me was so wrong that his face turned pale, made me-,
“…Are you angry?”
My pride was crumbling down. Damn it!
Still, since the time we'd known each other couldn't be said to have been short, I didn't think that Kim Seokjin had made a stupid mistake by confessing to me, whom he didn't really like. Rather, the trust that had developed between Kim Seokjin, me, and the four possessed people in that short time was thick enough that I could have just let it go, thinking that there must be another reason that I didn't know about. But withdrawing a confession was a different story. I gritted my teeth and went home, where I lay face down on the bed and screamed. Eww! Even when my mom slapped my back, saying it was noisy, I couldn't stop groaning.
I'm annoyed because I blushed so much when you said you liked me!!
If you asked me, "Do you like Kim Seokjin?", I would say no, but that doesn't mean I completely dislike him. To those who think, "What kind of trashy statement is this?" and grab a rock in their hands, I want to tell them to calm down, because it's not like that. It's definitely not something that's a waste to give to someone else, and it's definitely not something I would want to keep! In other words, I wasn't sure. Even if Kim Seokjin hadn't asked me to pretend the confession never happened, I wouldn't have blurted out to him, "Okay! I like you too! Then let's date!" right then and there, but I did like him enough to say something like, "At least give me time to think about it." But still, still! Still! The sight of him canceling the confession was so infuriating! The moment I heard him say we should pretend it never happened, I just wanted to slap Kim Seokjin in the face, saying, "You son of a piece of trash!!"
…Anyway, that’s how it happened. It would be unreasonable to expect us to continue on as close as we used to after a series of awkward confessions, but the seemingly endless river of awkwardness between Seokjin Kim and me was born because the words we exchanged weren’t just a series of awkward confessions, but something close to a major incident called a “withdrawal of the confession.”
Yes, since I've already confessed, let me be a little more honest. I absolutely couldn't look kindly on Kim Seokjin, the person whose pride was completely crushed. Since he was the one who asked me to forget it, he probably thought it would be better to show his composure than to act awkwardly right away. But I wasn't. I wasn't. From the very next day on, I had no choice but to completely ignore Kim Seokjin. If it was petty revenge, it was revenge, and more precisely, by taking the time to distance myself from Kim Seokjin—
I needed time to recover my crushed pride.
I avoided Kim Seokjin, making excuses that were too good to be true. Constantly ignored, Kim Seokjin must have become reluctant to talk to me, whether I was angry or depressed. It had only been three days since we started being so awkward, and in just three days, our relationship had become incredibly awkward. Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook, unaware of the reason Kim Seokjin and I were dating, simply assumed we fought because I met Kwon Yeonhee alone. This was because Kim Seokjin had reacted extremely sensitively to me moving around alone before. Anyway, I agree that pride is something that is completely unnecessary in life, but this time, I will refute that. At least in this situation, my true intention was to take care of my pride a little.
'But I guess I can't live like this my whole life.'
So, just give me a little time to recover my crushed pride, even if it's just a little. Let's just be awkward for a little while. Kim Seokjin apologized inwardly, using reasons he'd never understood. I felt incredibly selfish, but I couldn't help it. It would be better than acting awkward and maintaining our relationship, only to be caught and teased to death by Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook. And I didn't want to leave my crushed pride as it was. Anyway, I planned to vent my frustrations on Kim Seokjin for a while. The reason it came to this was probably because I had feelings for him. When the time came, I'd clear up the misunderstanding and have a sincere conversation with Kim Seokjin. That's what I thought. I thought...
… It's definitely not my fault that it all turned out to be a futile effort. Absolutely not!
“…Ugh, my head….”
… No, maybe it's my fault…? Yes, I guess it's my fault. It seems like it was my fault for completely forgetting that this novel, crafted by Kwon Yeon-hee, which I was possessed by, was far, far, far more childish and absurd than I had anticipated.
The extremely pungent, musty air that stung my nose, my arms and legs tied tightly together, and the pitch-black cloth that was so clumsily draped over me, obscuring my vision… Yes, after reading countless novels for ten years and two months of my life, something that would be difficult to ignore has happened to me again.
“…Again? Really?”
I think I've been kidnapped again! Damn it.
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