HE/HEROINE AND MY VILLAINESS

            (NORTH, EAST, WEST, SOUTH, WHICH WAY IF YOU PRE-COUNT)

The moon shines brightly, as do the designated designs along the street in all places, where people crowded to enjoy the feast of springs and Koi fish festival, some create a sound of cracker bombs to the sky, while children run on the streets with their friends holding a sparkler stick.

As the night progresses, two young women appear on the side of the red bridge with two cherry blossom branches hanging to the side, providing them with protection from other people.

"Yerre! Hey, hurry up, we're going to be late for the festival," Alda called out to her best friend, who is shy and self-conscious. She was nervous because it was her first time wearing a dress. Yerre has lost confidence because she appears fatter in her dress.

"Um... Alda, are you sure it's okay? I," Yerre fidgeted, but Alda stopped her from speaking any further.

"It's fine, don't mind them... in my eyes, you're perfect and cute, so come on! Let's have fun catching goldfish today at the festival. Don't think too much, have fun, and if you feel uncomfortable, hold on to me. I will hug you so you can feel better." Alda long replied to Yerre, who blushed, nodded, and smiled at her.

"All right, let us go!" exclaimed Alda.

Yerre becomes agitated and excited to go to the festival as they hold hands, stride, and talk nonstop about a variety of topics on their way to the koi fish festival.

"There! There! Catch it, catch it!" Yerre bawled, engrossed in the game of catching goldfish on a bobble net, while Alda finds it difficult to concentrate on catching goldfish due to her yelling. Her loud voice, 'catch it, catch it!' startled her. '

"OK, okay, I'll do it, but please keep quiet for me, Yerre..." Alda pleaded.

Yerre covered her mouth with both hands, blushing, and just realizing what she'd been doing all this time, Alda noticed, and she laughed at her, blushing and with an embarrassed reaction.

'How cute,' Alda thought to herself, with admiration for her.

She stood up and approached her, stroking her hair, disarranging it, and mocking her best friend's hair. Yerre couldn't help but be annoyed by what Alda had done to her hair. She sulked and pouted as she jerked her hand away.

"Stop messing with my hair and finish the game, hemp!" Yerre said as she turned her back on Alda. Alda was taken aback by her reaction and burst out laughing.

"BAHAHAHAHA. OK, okay," Alda said,

"Just watch and be quiet."

Yerre turns to face her, then smiles and nods like a five-year-old child certain that Alda will win after catching goldfish.

Alda resumed his game play.

She finally caught two chubby and lovely goldfish after many hours of hard work.

"Here, Yerre, make sure you take good care of them, okay?" Alda said to her as she handed her a plastic bag containing two goldfish to her best friend.

Yerre couldn't help but smile and turn to her best friend with joy, making Alda felt relieved and satisfied to see Yerre overjoyed about winning the game of catching first into a bubble net.

*Children laughing and playing*

*People selling and busy street*

"Miss, Vendia?" cries a young woman with an innocent face and frail features.

"Yes," she says, her gaze fixed on the two young girls playing in the street.

"What's wrong? Are you tired? Should we go home now? I'll call our coachman to bring us home right away," a young woman expresses concern for her.

"Mary, have you tried playing the game of catching a goldfish inside the bubble net?" Yerre inquires of the young lady beside her, when five children pass through them, obscuring the clarity of her words.

Mary looked at her, puzzled and baffled. She couldn't hear what she was saying because five children ran by, shouting and laughing as they ran with their friends.

"Yes, miss? Bubble net? What's that?" she asks, irritated by the children who passed through them a minute ago. With a piercing glare written all over her eyes, she turned her back and looked through the path where all the children had gone.

'Eish! Because of all of you brats I had no idea what Miss had told me about now, esh! 'Mary pondered. Yerre looks at Mary's expression for a moment, reading what's going through her mind before smiling at her.

She was aware that Mary had missed her words because of the children who ran through them loudly with their friends. When Yerre saw Mary's irritated expression, she couldn't help but chuckle, drawing Mary's attention back to her.

Mary looked at her with a dissatisfied expression and embarrassed eyes, scratching the left side of her neck with her left hand, still irritated.

"It's okay, it was nothing, forget what I just said earlier," she replied, making Mary feel frustrated and guilty for not understanding Yerre's words just now. She gave her Miss a sneaky look under her right eye, and Yerre could sense her intentions.

"Mary, don't think too much about what I said earlier; it was truly nothing, okay?" she said with a genuine smile to the young lady beside her.

"Are you sure?" Mary inquired about her response, still irritated at her lack of attention to their Miss words.

"Yes, I am, don't worry," she smiles, taking Mary's worries away. Mary's frustration had finally subsided, and she was filled with relief. She regained her cheerfulness and was in the mood to enjoy their stroll around town once more.

"Miss, please let me know if you are tired, okay?"

"Yes, Mary, thank you, and I'm sorry for my lapse in concentration a minute ago," she apologizes.

"It's fine, Miss; I understand," Mary responded once more, her voice brimming with excitement.

"Thank you very much," Yerre said, smiling.

'I almost lost control of my words, haah...' Yerre thought, casting a glance at Mary, who was now staring at the stall full of jewelry and other women's accessories.

Then, out of nowhere, a pang of guilt pierces Yerre's heart, catching her off guard and causing her to sigh deeply, feeling complex.

"Haah... It's difficult to keep everything inside when these people are so kind and caring beside me," Yerre said, looking up at the clear blue sky and feeling the warm wind caress her face, making her long curly hair swing like a thin white blanket along the wind that passed through their path.

Mary felt a sudden shift in the atmosphere behind her, so she returned her gaze to their Miss and saw her smiling, but her smile seemed sad, which interfered with her excitement.

"Miss?" She exclaims, shocked. Yerre averted her gaze from Mary, pointing her left index finger to the stole that sold strawberries, completely unaware of Mary's expression and ignoring the emotion she felt inside her heart.

"Mary, let's go over there and get some, all right?" She said, smiling, but Mary could feel something off her smile deep down her heart, but she couldn't figure out what it was, which made her anxious and concerned.

'No. I have to keep my head down, no matter how nice and caring they are to me. I still couldn't tell them the truth about myself or this body. I need to find Alda first before I explain everything to them. I couldn't face these challenges on my own. I need Alda.' Yerre thought, her gaze fixed on the street, which was bustling with hardworking people as they made their way closer to the crowd.

My name is Yerre, and I am a seventeen-year-old high school student. I died with my best friend on the day of an eclipse, and this is where I ended up. My soul became trapped inside Vendia's body, the fictional character from the manhwa that my best friend and I enjoy reading.

It's been almost a week since I arrived here. The situation initially perplexed me, but I eventually processed it calmly. Allow me to transport you all back to the moment I awoke as Vendia.

*Gasp*

*Inhale*

*Exhale*

"A, Alda..." I mumble as my heavy eyelids lift and tears stream down my cheeks.

"Y-young miss?" I heard a man's voice calling out for someone, but I couldn't make out what he was saying.

"Hurry! Call Lord Marthen and Madam Rose. Tell them the young miss is awake, hurry!" A man's anxious voice instructs, ordering someone to hurry as I blink my eyes for clear visions and sit up on the bed with a sore and exhausted feeling all over my body.

When I turned to my left and looked in the nearby mirror beside the bed, I saw a completely different but familiar face staring back at me. I exhale a sigh of disbelief and surprise.

"This..."

With trembling hands, I touch my strangely colored hair and continue to look at myself in the mirror, terrified.

"Sky blue, violet long curly hair, green eyes a-and rosy red lips, p-pale white skin? T-this is not me!" I mumble and stutter as I describe my facial features in the mirror while caressing my face with trembling hands.

I couldn't finish my sentence because someone barged in with a hasty and anxious expression on both of their faces.

'Who? 'I gasp, terrified and distracted, staring at them with a bad feeling.

"My baby," the elderly but lovely woman said, sitting beside me and caressing my cheek.

"My daughter. Oh, thank God, you're awake," the elder but sturdy man in front of me said, a few tears slipping down his cheeks.

'These two people are familiar...' I thought, sensing some familiarity as I looked at them, alarmed, as I recalled my old memories. Until I noticed some fragrance and began to connect the dots one by one.

Lord Marthen and Madam Rose? But what brings them here? Isn't that Vendia's mother and father? They’re the Marquis!

*Gasp*

'No... It's not possible... This can't be happening, no,' I shivered in fear and lost wonder, my gaze darting through every corner of the room and back to those strange people inside the room with lingering thoughts.

'Wait a second. What happened to Alda? 'I look for her in my thoughts, overthinking things.

We die together, and since I'm here, she must be here as well, YES! Yes, but I don't believe it's feasible. However, according to popular belief, when two people die together, fate will always bind them together.

Until they are reincarnated, which is not the case right now. We die together, but because I've transmigrated inside a book, Alda can't be here with me right now.

To be continued.