When I looked at him with a skeptical face, Victor snorted and said:

“Don’t you know what you look like?”

Only then did I lower my gaze to look at my appearance. The white shirt I was wearing under my shirt was clinging to my body, becoming translucent.

By the way, did that guy just call me a naive nerd?

As I glared at him surreptitiously, Victor thrust the shirt right in front of my face.

“You’re not going to show your body to the whole world, are you?”

“……”

“What, too grateful? Feel like crying because I’m being too gentlemanly?”

“What are you talking about?”

I looked at Victor with a displeased face, but there was nothing wrong with what he said.

I took off the checkered shirt I had been wearing over my short-sleeved shirt, wrung it out, then put on Victor’s navy shirt and buttoned it up to my neck.

“Thanks, I’ll be going then.”

“Wait a minute. Where do you think you’re going?”

At that moment, Thompson and his group, who had been hesitating at the far end of the pool, approached.

Ah, I had forgotten about them.

Victor raised an eyebrow at the sight of Thompson, who was clearly furious.

“What?”

“That girl, she’s an awakened one. Didn’t you see her stuff a banana peel in my mouth? Are you just going to let her go, McQueen?”

Thompson seemed to be reliving my misdeed again, his face turning red with anger.

Thompson appeared to hold quite a grudge against me.

For someone like that, didn’t he first grab my body without permission and throw me into the pool?

I didn’t hold back and pulled out the toy revolver I had stuffed in my pocket.

It was a gun I had picked up from the first floor of the mansion, just in case.

Even though it was just a toy, Thompson and his group let out a frightened ‘eek’ and stepped back a few paces, seemingly aware that I was an awakened one.

“Move aside. Unless you want a hole in your head.”

I made an empty threat.

Victor then stepped between us, pretending to mediate with a “Whoa, whoa.”

“A rich young master T getting shot case, interesting, but I don’t want to be involved in this incident. Is Thompson going to be in the new season of CSI?”

“Hey, don’t say such creepy things!!”

Thompson was horrified. Victor, however, continued to joke with an intrigued look on his face.

“But Thompson, this girl, she’s an awakened one just like you said. And apparently, she’s an incredibly powerful one at that. That toy gun might soon become a real bullet and revolver. Aren’t you scared?”

“D-don’t lie. Who do you think would be scared?”

“What? You think I’m lying?”

Victor asked, opening his eyes wide.

As Victor took a step forward, a shadow fell over Thompson’s face. It was due to his intimidatingly tall height and broad shoulders.

Moreover, his wet shirt clung to him, clearly revealing the muscles and contours of his body.

“If I were you, I’d quietly step aside and not mess with an awakened one whose powers you don’t know. That would be much wiser. You should preserve your life, right?”

Victor warned Thompson with a look of annoyance, glancing at him.

Meanwhile, I watched the scene with a puzzled expression.

‘… Is he taking my side now?’

I thought he was Thompson’s close friend since he was at the pool, but it didn’t seem to be the case.

However, Thompson’s stubbornness was not to be underestimated.

After hesitating for a moment, Thompson, seemingly unable to back down, gritted his teeth.

“Ugh, I still absolutely can’t let her go. Stop talking and hand over that damned girl, McQueen!”

And with Thompson’s irritable shout, a bright alarm sound rang in my ears, and a blue window suddenly appeared.

Ding!

‘Suddenly, a status window…?’

I was startled and quickly scanned the window.

[~Possessed by a High Teen Drama~] [‘The Possessed’ can assist in the awakening quest of an S-class awakened one.

‘The Possessed’ receives a new quest instead of an awakening quest.] [Proxy Awakening Quest for the Possessed: Complete 30 seconds of skinship with ‘Victor McQueen’ at the home party.

The quest will be completed when you finish the skinship mission with ‘Victor McQueen’ at the home party.] [Do you accept the quest?

Yes or No.]

And along with the quest window I was reading, a new screen appeared.

[Accumulated skinship time: 25 seconds.]

My eyes widened at the sight of this.

Along with the words ‘Accumulated skinship time’, a pink gauge was almost full.

I wondered why the skinship was accumulated, but it seemed to include Victor holding me and carrying me out of the pool.

‘What? Then if I just fill 5 more seconds, Victor McQueen’s S-class skill will awaken?’

The moment that thought crossed my mind, my heart started beating rapidly.

I had no desire to suffer at the hands of American bullies at some rich young master’s home party.

Moreover, a hidden S-class awakened one had also rolled in.

This was an opportunity.

‘Alright, Haknakgwe. I’ll live up to my nickname.’

After finishing my thoughts, I casually approached Victor from behind and placed my hand on his arm. Victor, who was in the middle of bantering with Thompson, flinched at the unfamiliar touch and turned around.

“What are you doing?”

Victor immediately removed his arm from my hand. Then he narrowed his eyes and looked at me as if wondering what I was up to.

… Even if that’s the case, what’s with that expression when a girl grabs his arm?

I felt a surge of anger for a moment, but I lowered my eyebrows pitifully while holding onto the shirt that was much larger than my size.

“Well, you know. It’s scary. A senior keeps saying things to me… Even though I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m so scared, so can I hide behind you for a bit?”

“You were talking back to me just fine earlier, but now you’re saying you’re scared of that sardine? You expect me to believe that?”

“What, sardine?! Are you talking about me?!”

Thompson asked, feeling offended.

I, who was in the middle of acting pitiful with all my might, quickly lowered my voice and nudged Victor.

“Why do you keep provoking Thompson? Just leave him alone!”

“Can’t help it. Provoking others, that’s just my personality. And getting angry easily is Thompson’s personality.”

Victor said this and chuckled as if something was funny.

He really was the type who wouldn’t back down from anything.

And I, like Thompson, got upset and grabbed Victor’s finger.

“Anyway, when a girl says she’s scared, you should listen! I’m telling you I’m scared because of Thompson!”

For someone pretending to be scared and trembling, my voice was as loud as a general’s.

Victor was startled by my lion’s roar and opened his eyes wide, then scratched his forehead with his other hand.

“Alright, I got it. I understand. Such a small thing with such a loud voice.”

“Small…?”

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Victor seemed to heave a sigh, then twisted his wrist to free his hand that was only held by the fingers, and then grabbed my hand again firmly.

My hand immediately disappeared into his large, warm hand.

At the same time, a gauge bar appeared between me and Victor.

The gauge bar slowly started to fill up.

[Accumulated skinship time: 26 seconds.]

‘It’s working.’

The corners of my mouth curved into a faint smile as I checked the gauge. The gauge bar was functioning normally.

Victor asked.

“So, glasses, what should we do about this? It doesn’t seem like Thompson will let us go easily.”

Victor looked down at me with a nonchalant face and jerked his chin towards where Thompson was.

Thompson’s face was red from Victor’s continued provocation.

“You’ll be buried along with that girl, McQueen!”

Thompson gritted his teeth. Victor burst into laughter at the sight.

[Accumulated skinship time: 27 seconds.]

I watched this scene and then spoke.

“If it’s a way to escape, I have something in mind.”

“Hmm? What are you thinking…”

As I grinned, Victor raised his eyebrows as if he couldn’t quite trust me.

I led the reluctant Victor to the edge of the rooftop.

Looking down beyond the cream-colored marble sculptures of the mansion, I could see a wide lawn, a lion statue, and a fountain.

“Let’s jump down.”

“What?”

The corner of Victor’s mouth twitched. I stared at the momentary disturbance that passed over his smug face.

“Are you serious? This is the third floor, but it has high ceilings. It’s at least as high as five floors.”

“I’m serious. We can’t get through the rooftop door with Thompson there, right? So you need to hold me and jump down.”

I’m not really in the mood to joke. I’m not social enough to play joke games with someone I’m not even close to.

“……”

As I steadily met Victor’s gaze, a smile returned to McQueen’s face, which had been looking dumbfounded.

“Do you really want me to hold you and jump down?”

McQueen maintained a relaxed expression despite my outrageous request.

He even raised the corner of his mouth as if it was amusing.

I nodded firmly.

“Yes, I want that.”

“……”

“You can do it.”

I gripped Victor’s hand tightly.

[Accumulated skinship time: 28 seconds.]

The gauge bar filled up with just a small gap. By now, Thompson had called the mansion guards, and men in suits were rushing in.

I looked at McQueen, hiding my anxious appearance.

McQueen seemed to look back and forth between me and the guards, then wrapped his arm around my waist and lifted me up.

“Ah!”

My field of vision suddenly rose, and my eyes met with Victor’s.

I was surprised and hugged his neck.

He smirked and said:

“Looks like a completely crazy girl has rolled in here?”