Transmigrated as the Side Top used as an Emotional Trash Can

The first meeting between the protagonists of the original novel wasn’t particularly intense, and the main bottom was always prickly. The main top was also overbearing enough to suffocate people.

I could understand the hatred, but I couldn’t understand the love. There was no reason for them to like each other.

“Guys, when do you start liking someone?”

“What the fuck are you talking about all of a sudden.”

Kim Jihwan snapped reflexively. Undeterred, I stubbornly kept asking so I could satisfy my curiosity.

“Noo- there were these people who hated each other, but then at some point they were in love like they couldn’t live without each other, and I just don’t really get it.”

For example, you two. How did you end up liking each other? As one of the readers, I’m really curious about that.

“Is there some standard for when you start liking someone?”

Kim Jihwan still reacted indifferently to my question, but Cha Gwonhyeok thought for a moment before answering.

“When I’m accepted.”

Kim Jihwan and I reacted to Cha Gwonhyeok’s answer one after another.

“That’s too broad, though?”

I wondered about the scope and definition of ‘being accepted.’ And Kim Jihwan.

“You’re not a little kid.”

He just cursed at him outright. No, he was talking about his ideal type. That’s harsh. If you think about it, he’s talking about you.

Cha Gwonhyeok looked slightly awkward at both our reactions, took a sip of coffee, and said.

“I don’t really know. I don’t think there’s a decisive moment. I think you just realize it at some point.”

As expected of a character from a BL novel. So he slowly gets drawn in, and by the time he notices, he’s already fallen. It’s not an incident that turns into love, but the time they spend together.

“What about you, Jihwan?”

Kim Jihwan leaned comfortably against the backrest and admired the test paper with the satisfying score he had gotten as he answered.

“Mom and Dad.”

“…Right.”

At least by Korean sensibilities, if I argued with that answer in this situation, I’d be an unfilial bastard.

“What about you, Hanrim?”

“Huh? Me?”

I was about to ask Kim Jihwan another question, but I missed my chance.

Let’s see, the question was ‘what makes you start liking someone,’ right? For me….

“I have to fall in love at first sight.”

Kim Jihwan, the first and last love of the original ‘Baek Hanrim.’

If it were a love that began of his own free will, it would be romantic. But from the position of someone being forced into it, it was pure horror.

“So you only get one chance?”

“I’m very loyal.”

“You’re not a fucking dog.”

No matter how many times I thought about it, it felt strange. Blind love that was never reciprocated. A device meant to prove the love of the main characters.

“What can I do if I was born this way-.”

That was the role of the side top in this novel.

“Just because you were born that way, does that mean you have to live that way?”

The side top in this novel had very little narration. He had settings and love, but his complicated inner psychology was never revealed. I thought there were a lot of settings attached to him, but maybe he had actually been an empty shell.

“It’s nice to live your whole life loving just one person.”

Do you love Kim Jihwan?

Wow, look at that timing.

“Uh, guys. I’m going to the restroom for a bit.”

I calmly responded to the warning sign of the suddenly appearing minigame. I excused myself to go to the restroom, then quickly left the building through the café’s back door. I tried to get as far away from Cha Gwonhyeok and Kim Jihwan as possible.

I couldn’t let them get dragged into this.

“And if worst comes to worst, I’ll have to die. They’d freak out if they saw that.”

Just then, I spotted a bridge over the Han River at the end of my line of sight. Right, somewhere like that would be wide and open enough to move around comfortably.

Listening to the ominous Ddoong-ddang, ddoong-ddang-♪ sound, I got on a public bicycle.

Clatter-.

The chain caught on the gears and moved briskly.

As I rode toward the bridge over the Han River with the winter wind brushing against my cheeks, today’s game appeared.

Heart-Pounding Minigame!
(o?∀?)o

A reward will be granted upon success! Would you like to participate?

Sure! / No

“Sure.”

Jangsanbeom in the Forest Game!
(*σ>∀<)σ

Escape from the Jangsanbeom’s forest without being deceived!

You will die if you make eye contact with the Jangsanbeom!

For an instant, everything around me flashed white.

And when I opened my eyes again, the bridge over the Han River where I had been riding had transformed into a dense forest.

Screeech-.

“Wow, I got kidnapped again.”

I hurriedly hit the brakes and stopped. The forest was foggy, so if I carelessly rode the bicycle, I felt like I would crash into a tree.

“Is this even Korea?”

The trees in the forest weren’t the kind you could easily see on the mountain behind your neighborhood. Broadleaf trees stretched endlessly toward the sky, and the ground was thickly covered with fallen leaves. The weather was chilly, closer to autumn.

Chirp- Chirp-.

I was about to take off my padded jacket when I flinched in surprise. When I looked up at the sky, a bird was flying around.

That scared me. I thought it was the Jangsanbeom.

“So there are living things other than the Jangsanbeom.”

Thinking about it, all I knew about the ‘Jangsanbeom’ was that it was a Korean monster that mimicked sounds. This is way too little information. My phone doesn’t work either, so I can’t even search it….

“Ah, wow- there are beetles too.”

When I carefully looked around, there were beetles on the tree trunks and squirrels scampering across the branches. I guess I didn’t need to immediately go on guard just because I heard insects.

“I’m glad it’s a monster and not a ghost. As long as it’s not a ghost, I can more or less deal with it.”

It was baseless confidence, but the forest was cool and pleasant in just the right way, so I didn’t feel anxious. On top of that, the fragrant phytoncides almost seemed to comfort me for everything I had been through, which I liked.

Step, step.

Then I heard someone walking behind me. Wondering if there were people here too, I turned around.

You have died.

Would you like to restart?

Yes / No

(T/N: There’s an urban legend or creepypasta about the Jangsanbeom that depicts it as a white-haired ghost or as a tiger-like cryptid inhabiting Mt. Jang in Busan. It induces hallucinations and mimics human voices, and is also capable of possessing human bodies.)