Chapter 127: How a Genius Loves (2)
Arimura Noa continued to occupy the left side of Kim Si-woo.
Unlike Lee Hae-soo, who wasn’t talkative, Arimura Noa kept chatting nonstop, causing Kim Si-woo’s head to keep turning toward her. As that happened, the same unpleasant feeling Lee Hae-soo had felt that morning in front of the hotel room slowly crept back up.
‘So the unnies were right after all.’
Lee Hae-soo recalled the words of the female actors she had met during the Siwoo Film MT.
They had told her to be careful around Arimura Noa when she went to Japan and to keep a close eye on her.
Now, she finally understood why.
‘This woman… she likes Writer Kim Si-woo too, doesn’t she?’
Meanwhile, Kim Si-woo was bothered by Lee Hae-soo, who had been unusually quiet since they left the hotel.
The bright, sunny expression she usually wore was gone, replaced by a face full of worry.
Normally, Lee Hae-soo wasn’t very good at hiding her emotions.
Unable to stand it any longer, Kim Si-woo leaned over and whispered to her.
“Hae-soo-ssi, is something wrong? You don’t look good…”
Startled by his concerned whisper, Lee Hae-soo flinched.
“No, it’s nothing. I just have something on my mind for a moment…”
Hearing her reply, Kim Si-woo told her she could talk to him anytime and then turned his attention back toward the cinema.
They arrived in front of a massive building.
“How is it?”
Arimura Noa pointed to the huge poster hanging at the cinema.
“It looks great. So that’s why you kept it a secret from me?”
“Of course. I wanted to surprise you.”
“Wow…”
Lee Hae-soo let out an exclamation of admiration as she gazed at the enormous poster.
On it were Kirishima Sumire, Arimura Noa, and Honda Daisuke, beautifully arranged together.
“Alright, let’s go in. What would you like for popcorn and drinks?”
“I’ll have cheese and onion popcorn with cider.”
“I’ll take caramel popcorn and cola.”
“Got it.”
After they each told her their preferences, Arimura Noa went to the counter and ordered fluently in Japanese.
A short while later, she returned and handed the popcorn and drinks to Kim Si-woo and Lee Hae-soo.
But strangely, Arimura Noa wasn’t holding anything herself.
“Uh… Noa-ssi, aren’t you getting anything?”
“Ah! I’m going to share Writer-nim’s.”
“Ah!”
At Arimura Noa’s reply, Lee Hae-soo felt like she had fallen one step further behind again.
‘Idiot… blinded by sweet caramel popcorn and missed the chance to hold Writer-nim’s hand… Wait, is Noa-ssi a genius?’
Watching Arimura Noa execute ideas she hadn’t even thought of, Lee Hae-soo reflected on herself.
‘No. I’m not going to lose in terms of brains. From now on, I have to prepare for every situation.’
As the group entered the theater, they relied on the dim lights to find their assigned seats.
The seats were perfectly located in the center toward the back.
The screen was fully visible, and the sound was excellent.
Arimura Noa sat to Kim Si-woo’s right, while Lee Hae-soo sat to his left.
The odd thing was that there was no one else around them.
“Um… is it usually this empty?”
“No, I thought noise from other people might make it hard to focus, so I had the other guests moved to different screenings.”
At Arimura Noa’s words, Kim Si-woo made an awkward face.
“So… you rented out the entire theater?”
“Well… yeah?”
Overwhelmed by Arimura Noa’s grand scale, Lee Hae-soo felt completely deflated.
‘She’s that beautiful, has tons of money, is bold, thoughtful… I’m just a clumsy dirt-poor klutz. There’s a huge gap between us… Writer-nim probably prefers someone like her, right?’
As Lee Hae-soo’s anxious thoughts swirled, soft background music played, and the movie officially began.
***
“How a Genius Loves.”
Hot sunlight and the sound of cicadas.
I met her during a scorching summer.
I… Honda Daisuke, age 7.
I fell in love.
Arimura Noa, whom I met at kindergarten, was a very willful child.
She hit anyone she didn’t like without hesitation, and she preferred toy cars over playing house.
Most of the bad nicknames—demon, devil—belonged to Arimura Noa.
Yet, unlike my timid self, her boldness felt attractive, and I voluntarily became her lackey.
“Noa, can I play with you too?”
“Daisuke, then will you be my minion? If you do, I’ll play with you.”
“Yes! Okay. I’ll be your minion.”
That was the beginning.
The moment my life started to go downhill.
From then on, it was literally a life of being her lackey.
When we entered elementary school, I started carrying her bag, doing her cleaning duties for her, buying her snacks, and even bringing her lunchbox.
In fifth grade, I heard for the first time that Arimura Noa had a boy she liked, and I cried endlessly.
But soon after, when I learned that boy was a famous idol, I wiped away my tears and continued my life as her lackey.
One day, while we were watching her favorite idol perform on TV together, I asked something that had been on my mind.
“Noa.”
“What? Minion.”
“Do you really like that idol?”
“Isn’t it obvious? He sings well, dances well, and especially, his face is totally my type.”
“Really? I don’t know… He doesn’t seem that handsome… And I don’t think he sings or dances all that great either.”
“What!!!”
Thwack.
The moment I realistically evaluated the idol she liked, Arimura Noa’s fist flew at me mercilessly.
“Then what about you! Can you sing well? Are you handsome? Can you dance?”
“Ugh… Ah… Probably? If that guy’s an idol, I feel like I could do it too?”
“You?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Puhahahaha!”
At my words, Arimura Noa burst out laughing.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because it’s hilarious! If you actually become an idol, I’ll grant you one wish—anything you want.”
“Really?”
The word “wish” suddenly ignited my motivation.
“Yeah, for real. Have you ever seen me lie?”
“Uh…”
“Ahaha…”
Arimura Noa scratched her head awkwardly.
“Then I’ll even write you a written promise.”
“Okay.”
[Written Promise: If Honda Daisuke becomes an idol, Arimura Noa will grant him one wish.]
We even stamped our fingerprints on the promise.
After that, I ran home and told my mother I wanted to become an idol. She happily agreed and enrolled me in a music academy right away.
Singing, dancing, instruments—I didn’t waste a single day.
Of course, because of that, the only time I could spend with Arimura Noa was at school.
I felt a little sad about it, but Arimura Noa didn’t seem to mind and acted the same as always.
Time passed, and we graduated elementary school and became middle schoolers.
To attend the same middle school as Arimura Noa, I deliberately applied to a lower-tier school.
I gave up on a prestigious private middle school and entered an ordinary public one near our house.
“Hey, isn’t it great to go to the same school as this big sister?”
“Yeah.”
Whether she knew I had applied down or not, Arimura Noa wrapped her arm around my neck and teased me playfully, but I liked even that.
The academy told me there was nothing more they could teach me in singing, instruments, or dance.
They literally called me a genius.
I wasn’t bad at studying either—there was nothing I couldn’t do.
In truth, I had known since I was young that I was a genius.
I was different from others.
When I did things others couldn’t, people’s reactions fell into three categories:
Envy… and jealousy and disgust.
Any of them was tremendous stress for the timid me.
That’s why I hid my differences and tried not to stand out.
But for the first time, I was grateful for this talent.
Because now I had a way to win over the girl I liked… or so I thought.
At least until I entered high school.
In my third year of middle school, I debuted as an idol.
Of course, balancing school and activities was tough, but thinking of my promise with Arimura Noa kept me going.
I planned to become more popular than the idol she used to like back then, then show her the written promise and confess.
My popularity rose quickly.
Taking off my glasses revealed a strikingly handsome face, and with my innate vocal talent and flawless dance lines, I had more than enough to captivate the public.
On top of that, the “nerdy guy” character.
By the time my fan club numbers and album sales surpassed that idol, I had already entered high school.
Now a high school student and a popular idol, I tucked the cherished written promise into my pocket and approached Arimura Noa.
“Um… Noa.”
“Yeah?”
“I have something to say…”
“Kyaaaah!”
Ignoring my attempt to pull out the childhood promise and confess my feelings, Arimura Noa screamed while staring out the window.
“Ken!!!”
She was shouting at the baseball club captain, a senior named “Ken.”
‘No way…’
A bad feeling washed over me, and I quickly turned her head toward me.
In that moment, Arimura Noa’s face looked exactly like it did back in fifth grade when she first saw that idol.
“Noa. Don’t tell me… you like that senior?”
“Huh… How did you know? No, seriously, why are baseball guys so sexy? This won’t do. I have to write him a love letter tomorrow.”
“Ah…”
In that instant, I couldn’t bring myself to say I liked her.
I was afraid my confession might make things awkward for her…
“Anyway, you said you had something to tell me earlier? What was it?”
“Ah… it’s nothing.”
I brushed it off and began preparing for the next step.
I’m a genius.
I can do this too.
The baseball player Arimura liked.
‘Even if I can’t be her first boyfriend… I’ll make sure I’m her last.’
After that day, I spoke with my agency CEO and shifted my focus from idol activities to sports.
I joined the baseball club and adapted quickly. It didn’t take long to become the ace pitcher.
The only sport I had ever enjoyed since childhood was catch.
Back then, afraid of people’s stares, I only did solo exercises.
Until Arimura Noa asked me to play catch…
My talent for baseball was enormous too.
My natural shoulder strength and fingertip control made me the best pitcher, and years of childhood catch helped me adapt quickly.
Thanks to that, our school baseball team won nationals, and I was selected for the youth national team, even winning an international tournament.
From popular idol to baseball star.
My fame soared endlessly.
But the one person who mattered—Arimura Noa—showed no interest at all.
Instead, when friends asked her to introduce me, she turned around and asked if I could introduce her to any girls.
Every time I refused, I looked at Arimura Noa with loving eyes, but she didn’t give me even 1 percent of her attention.
When we reached our third year of high school, Arimura Noa began preparing for university entrance exams, and I prepared alongside her.
The reason I didn’t join a professional team was simple: Arimura Noa’s ideal type had changed—she no longer liked baseball players.
After much pursuit, she started dating the baseball senior she had once crushed on.
But she complained that he trained every day after joining a pro team, leaving no time to meet, and they eventually broke up not long ago.
‘I’ll confess on graduation day.’
Hearing that she had broken up, I decided it was time to put an end to my long one-sided love and made a plan.
‘First, I’ll help her study so we can both get into the same university. Confessing before even getting into college feels too boastful… Her mood needs to be good for her to accept.’
Time passed quickly.
After the National Center Test for University Admissions (Japan’s college entrance exam) ended, winter of our 20th year arrived. Having been accepted to the same university as Arimura Noa, I confessed on graduation day.
“Noa. I’ve liked you since we were little.”
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TL Note:
This novel is now translated and finished at Chapter 176
If you’d like to continue right away, the remaining 49 chapters are available on My Patreon Premium tier, along with extra chapters from my other 5 ongoing translated novels.
There’s also a Plus tier with 48 advance chapters, updated at 7 chapters per week.
Link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/Vritratls
For this novel specifically, check the collection under “Genius Writer”
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