I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

“Ryu-chan, why did you build up your muscles so much?”
A completely unexpected question.

“Huh? My muscles?”
“Yeah. Honestly, I’ve been curious about it for a while now.”
Rika said that as she looked over at my body beside her.

To her, it must have seemed strange why I was so obsessed with working out.
“Well…”
I opened my mouth to answer, but then hesitated.

The truth was, I originally started training so I could handle whatever this unpredictable romcom world threw at me.
A ruthless romcom setting where anything could happen at any time.
As an ordinary person, I figured the only way I could survive was to make my body as prepared as possible.

And in a way, that prediction turned out to be right.
If I hadn’t built up my strength, I couldn’t even imagine what would’ve happened during Golden Week.
Sasha’s father, Ivan, was practically the embodiment of unreasonable violence.

But of course, I couldn’t explain any of that to Rika, so after a brief pause, I offered a half-truth instead.
“Back in the day, I used to be really weak, and people looked down on me for being Korean. So when I got into high school, I started training so nobody could treat me like that anymore.”
It wasn’t a total lie.

In the faded memories of Kim Yu-seong, he was what people would call “that gloomy kid.”
As a second-generation Korean-Japanese, he was mocked behind his back and subtly ostracized even within his own class.
The original Kim Yu-seong, who was shy and introverted, withdrew further and further into the world inside his screen.

To be honest, the past Kim Yu-seong and I were completely different people.
Those memories exist only as knowledge to me, so all I could think was, “Ah, so that’s how it was.”
But if I had known the real Kim Yu-seong back then, I probably would’ve told him, “Let’s start working out together.”
To help him face the prejudice that had chained him down since childhood.

Rika listened quietly and then looked genuinely apologetic.
“I didn’t know… I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. It’s all in the past. And now, I just really enjoy working out for its own sake, so don’t get the wrong idea.”

“…Got it.”
She nodded calmly, then turned her gaze back toward the sea.
And just like that, the awkward atmosphere grew even more awkward.

At this rate, I felt like dinner might not settle right.
As we continued walking quietly along the dark beach, we realized we’d wandered too far—there were no more buildings in sight.
We’d walked too far without even realizing it.
So we decided to turn back.

But as we were retracing our steps—
“Ow!”
Rika, walking ahead, suddenly yelped.

“You okay?!”
Startled, I rushed toward her. She was crouching, her face twisted in pain.
“My foot caught in a dip in the ground. I must’ve twisted my ankle.”

I looked down where she was sitting.
It was hard to see in the dark, but sure enough, there was a shallow hole in the sand where she had stepped.
“What now? We’ve still got a ways to go before we get back to the inn.”

I sighed lightly.
“Well, I’ll carry you, obviously.”
I crouched down in front of her and offered my back.

“Hop on.”
But Rika waved her hands in a flustered panic.
“It’s fine, Ryu-chan! If I rest a bit, I’ll be okay!”

“Even if it starts to feel better, walking on it might strain your muscles. It’s better to just get on.”
When I insisted and offered my back again, she hesitated for a moment before slowly climbing on.
I felt the soft weight of her body on my back, but I did my best to ignore it. Wrapping my arms under her thighs, I slowly stood up.

Rika asked from behind me,
“Are you okay, Ryu-chan? I’m not too heavy?”
Instead of answering directly, I gave her the classic line for this kind of situation.

“You’re light as a feather.”
At that, she blushed slightly and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“…You’re mean.”

Hearing her childish pout, I couldn’t help but chuckle a little.
***
Swoooosh—!

The sound of waves crashing against the rocks rang in my ears.
A quiet shoreline.
With Rika on my back, her twisted ankle pressed gently against me, I silently walked toward the inn.

Maybe she’d given up trying to resist, because she clung to me completely and spoke softly.
“Ryu-chan… you know, I feel like we actually don’t know that much about each other.”
“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we’re always together at school, right? But even though we’re always around each other, we don’t know anything deep or personal. Doesn’t that seem weird?”
Yeah… If Rika were the same gender as me, we could probably be called inseparable buddies. But because we were opposite genders, we’d never really shared anything deeply personal.
Maybe we were both afraid it would make the other uncomfortable… or maybe it was just too awkward.

But even if you spent a year with someone, it wouldn’t be strange to never go that deep.
Still, Rika must have wanted something more than just surface-level friendship.
Maybe she wanted to share worries, solve problems together, laugh together.

Was that what made someone a real friend?
Honestly, I wasn’t sure how to define it anymore.
“What do you want to know about me?”

When I asked that, Rika paused for a moment before asking,
“What’s your favorite food?”
“…Chili shrimp.”

I liked shrimp dishes the most when it came to Chinese cuisine.
Rika tugged at my shirt collar and kept going.
“Favorite song?”

“‘White Fall in Love’ by Sanada Nobuyuki.”
“Favorite person?”
—Stop.

I came to an immediate halt.
I didn’t know why she asked something like that so suddenly.
But with her on my back, I couldn’t see her expression.

She spoke again, her voice light.
“Hehe, just kidding.”
“……”

I already knew her feelings, so I also knew that it wasn’t a joke.
But I was quietly relieved that she had pulled back.
If she’d confessed right now, I would’ve had to turn her down… just like I did with Minato.

Then Rika gently tightened her arms around my neck and asked,
“Did your heart skip a beat, even a little?”
I nodded honestly.

“Yeah. It did.”
“…Then that’s good.”
She buried her face into my shoulder.

And just like that, we didn’t exchange another word until we reached the inn.
***
When we arrived, Rika slipped off my back, saying she could walk on her own now.

I had planned to carry her all the way to the girls’ room, but she stubbornly refused.
Right before going back inside, she handed me the cardigan and said thanks for letting her wear it.
I held the cardigan, still warm with her body heat, and waved to her.

Rika smiled brightly and ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) waved back, saying, “Goodnight, Ryu-chan,” before disappearing down the hallway.
Only after she was completely out of sight did I lower my hand.
“……”

Now that I was alone, I felt a strange sense of emptiness.
That just showed how much of a presence Rika had in my life.
I glanced at the wall clock—it was already pointing to 3 a.m.

I decided it was time to head back to the room.
After walking for that long, my body had just the right amount of fatigue.
I’d probably sleep like a rock until morning.

***
After the late-night walk, I woke up again at around 8 a.m.
Compared to my usual routine at home, that was way late—but hey, we were on a trip. No need to stick rigidly to schedule.

We slowly gathered in the inn’s dining area for a light breakfast.
Crispy toast, eggs, sausage, and a cup of coffee.
It was a Western-style breakfast that didn’t really match the traditional vibe of the inn, but it still hit the spot.

After finishing up, we headed straight to the beach to enjoy the rest of our time.
This time, instead of doing our own things, we all gathered to play suikawari—watermelon splitting.
“Beach suikawari.”

A summer classic.
We’d already prepared a nice, ripe watermelon, so all we needed was a bat.
But since we didn’t have one, I went for the next best thing.

I changed the rules and just cracked it open myself.
The result—
CRACK!

I showed everyone how I could split a watermelon with nothing but raw grip strength.
“Amazing!”
Ryuji watched with genuine awe.

“What kind of monstrous grip is that even…”
The class rep, looking dumbfounded, pushed her glasses up her nose—only to realize she was wearing contacts and awkwardly lowered her hand again.
Then I held out a piece of the juicy red watermelon and said,

“Being amazed is fine and all, but come on—eat first, be shocked later.”
With that, the others swarmed in and tore into the watermelon together.