So, in the diagonal back seat on the right of the Academy heroine…
I woke up again in the back seat of the Academy protagonist.
When my friends asked if I remembered my name, I had no choice but to answer like this.
“Evande….”
“…What? It ends like this?”
Shouldn’t they show what happens next to the protagonist…!
Since it was early morning, I couldn’t shout out what I wanted to say, so I suppressed it internally.
Is it because it seemed like there had to be a backstory but the novel didn’t show it that I felt a sense of regret at the ending?
When I came to my senses, I found myself hovering my thumb over the comment input button, with just the word [Evande…] written in the comments, like the last words the protagonist had spoken.
“…No.”
However, while I was about to post that comment, I hesitated a moment and pulled my thumb away from the button.
I then erased the comment I initially intended to post and wrote a new one.
[I enjoyed it. I hope the protagonist and friends live happily after all their struggles.]
With that, my comment appeared in the comment section, and just a few seconds later, I received a reply to my comment.
[I’m sure that will happen, thanks to you. Thank you very much.]
“…What’s with the gratitude? I just enjoyed reading it.”
Muttering that today’s authors really are sensitive, I chuckled and pressed the back button.
Then, I saw the cover and the title [Diagonal Back Seat of the Academy Heroine].
Even when I looked at it again, I couldn’t help but think, ‘…Hmm, was it originally such a strange title?’ but still, after reading it all, it left quite an impression.
I was so immersed that I felt like I became the protagonist while reading it.
Truly hoping the protagonist and their friends would live happily moving forward was why I left that comment.
Anyway, having received confirmation from the author, I felt a bit more at ease and realized it was time for me to sleep, so I put my phone down.
Just like how characters in the novel have their lives, I had my own life too.
“…Good night.”
Muttering that to my parents who were smiling in the family photo next to my phone, I fell into a deep sleep for tomorrow’s work.
The next day, even though I stayed up late reading the novel, I somehow woke up early in the morning, fried some bean sprouts I had bought yesterday, prepared a decent breakfast, and went to the company earlier than usual.
Naturally, I thought the office would be empty, but for some reason, there was someone already there ahead of me.
“Oh, Senior. What brings you here earlier than usual today?”
It was the junior who always referred to me as ‘Senior’ without fail.
“Just woke up early. What are you doing here so early?”
“Oh, just some paperwork I need to handle.”
“Really? You’re diligent.”
“(…And if I come early, I can at least share a moment alone with my senior before others come in.)”
“Huh? What did you just say?”
“Nothing special.”
There’s a reason this kid insists on calling me ‘Senior.’ He’s my junior at this company, but also from university.
It’s a rather interesting connection that he followed me to the same job after we both graduated from the same university.
By the way, when I was job hunting after college, he suggested this company as a good place to check out, saying it had a fine reputation.
From that perspective, it’s not entirely surprising that we ended up working at the same place.
…Well, back then, who would have known what our company would turn into?
“So, what paperwork are you handling? Need some help?”
“Ah, it’s okay. It’s not something you should see.”
“Not something I should see? I outrank you here!”
“Just… some peculiar stuff. Anyway, I don’t need your help, so you just do your work?”
“Well, I don’t really have anything urgent to do right now. I wrapped up most urgent tasks a while ago. …I really have nothing to do, so should I just clean up?”
“Again? Come on! Just let the newbies handle that! They can’t do anything else anyway, so all they have to do is make coffee or clean during work hours!”
When it comes to office cleaning, it usually gives the impression that a cleaning company handles that.
In fact, our company used to have a cleaning service to do the cleaning.
But that’s not the case anymore.
“Forget it. I’m doing it because I want to. A clean office is nice. After all, they say to treat the company like it’s yours.”
“Oh you, the model employee has arrived.”
From the outside, our company may look small, but it’s actually an affiliate of a well-known large corporation that anyone would recognize if mentioned.
To be precise, it used to be an affiliate.
In fact, once upon a time, given that it was a subsidiary of a big corporation, our office building was quite large and nice.
But for some unknown reason, around the time this junior joined, the parent company suddenly decided to create a new company and wiped our company off the map.
They took away the building, the equipment, and the workforce we were using for this new company, leaving us with just a small department that included just me and this junior.
And suddenly, we became employees of a tiny company that had to deal with a much smaller office and older equipment, as well as do the cleaning ourselves.
If our salaries hadn’t stayed the same, a mass resignation wouldn’t have been surprising at all.
Despite everything, we all managed to adapt and are doing well at this point.
In fact, due to having gone through such struggles together, the staff has grown closer.
Except for one person who constantly takes their stress out on their juniors.
If only Manager Han didn’t exist, the workplace stress level would probably drop by at least 50%…
While I was cleaning and grilling my superior internally, I heard my junior shake his head and mumble something.
“Ugh, go ahead. Who would stop our senior who’s cleaning like he owns the place? (…Well, I guess thinking like that isn’t bad since half of it is going to be true soon anyway.)”
“…Huh? What did you just say?”
“Nothing, nothing special.”
“…You know, that’s really a bad habit. It just makes people curious for no reason.”
This junior has a habit of mumbling to himself sometimes without anyone hearing him.
If he did it in such a way that no one could hear, it would be fine, but when you catch some of what he says, it honestly makes you curious and on edge.
But this kid loves to get people on edge and then never tells them what he said, which is really annoying.
If I were to rate how annoying he is, I’d say he’s on par with the author of [Diagonal Back Seat of the Academy Heroine], who ended the story without revealing any backstory.
Ah, now I’m curious again just thinking about it.
Should I have pressured him to reveal that backstory in the comments?
While I was mulling over this, my junior asked me with an oddly pleased expression.
“Hmm, Senior. Am I bothering you?”
“Hey, how can I not be bothered when you say that?”
“…Hehe.”
“…Why are you laughing?”
“It’s nothing. By the way, Senior, what are you having for lunch today? Korean food? Chinese food?”
In the midst of our conversation, my junior brought up lunch.
Since we usually eat together often, he assumed it would be the case today too, but sadly I had a prior engagement.
“Ah, sorry. Let’s eat separately today. I have a prior commitment.”
“…Prior commitment? With who? It’s not with Yu-jeong or Shin Dae-ri, is it?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s not from the company. It’s Sung-Hyun. He happens to be nearby today, so we decided to have lunch together.”
“Oh, you’re having lunch with him? Then I can join too.”
The senior he mentioned, Ji Sung-Hyun, is a long-time friend of mine.
How is it possible? We’ve gone through elementary, middle, high school, and even university together, and because we’re both from the same university, this junior also knows him.
So I thought maybe I could take my junior along for lunch with Sung-Hyun, but unfortunately, that wouldn’t work out.
Sung-Hyun, who’s married, is someone who tends to keep a close watch on his wife.
“That’s right. I even asked if I could bring you, but that guy said absolutely not. He doesn’t want to give his wife any reason to misunderstand. He said he doesn’t like being in situations where there are other women, unless his wife is there. Even though it’s not just the two of us meeting, but you and me too. He’s really going overboard, don’t you think?”
“…True. I don’t know if it’s really about his wife or not. Well, let’s put lunch aside for now. How about dinner? Are you free?”
“Ah, well… I also have plans for dinner with Sung-Hyun. He said he’ll wait for me until I get off work since he’s free from the afternoon.”
“(…Hah, that guy’s no help at all.)”
“…By the way, you didn’t say anything bad about me or Sung-Hyun, did you?”
“…Hmph, isn’t it okay to say some bad things? You two are leaving me out and going off together like traitors.”
“Hey, I haven’t seen Sung-Hyun in a while, so cut me some slack. I’ll gladly hang out with you next time you want to.”
“Really? That means you’re promising you won’t refuse when I ask to hang out next time? You know I don’t forget stuff like this, right? I still remember that I promised to take you out for a meal when I visited you in the hospital.”
“Your memory is good… Alright, I promise.”
“Aha, even Ji Sung-Hyun can be useful sometimes.”
As I was talking with my junior while cleaning, I suddenly heard voices outside as it was time for work.
…Hmm, amid the shouts of profanity, it seems Manager Han has arrived.
I guess he’s busy scolding some poor soul.
Hearing that, I sighed and said to my frowning junior,
“…Hey, relax your expression. What kind of trouble are you expecting from Manager Han when you’re glaring like that?”
“…Let him say whatever. I won’t have to see his face much longer anyway.”
“…Huh? What do you mean by that?”
“It’s nothing.”
The way the junior said that with a ferocious look really caught my attention, but then Manager Han barged into the office, preventing me from asking further.
…More importantly, who knew this kid could make such a scary expression?
Last time, when I was drunk and left him in a motel alone, I found it scary the next day too, but it seems he wasn’t really angry back then…
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