After spending the morning sorting through the plot in my head and chatting with Barael, it was suddenly lunchtime.

As usual, I bolted straight to the cafeteria.

I got my food quickly, found a seat at the farthest, loneliest corner, and quietly began savoring my meal.

That is—until someone placed a tray across from me and took a seat, completely uninvited.

“Hey. Mind if I join you?”

He asked as if being polite, but sat down without waiting for an answer.

Excuse me? When did we get close enough to drop honorifics?

I was about to casually reply, “Do what you want,” and looked up—

But the first thing that caught my eye was… the food.

Or rather, the lack thereof.

Just tiny scoops, like bird feed. Not even enough for a toddler.

As someone who was once Korean, I couldn’t let this pass.

If any Korean mom saw this, she’d be swinging a rice ladle at him.

“What is this—?”

But the moment I actually looked at his face, I froze again.

“Ba…rael?”

“Barael? Who’s that?”

He tilted his head, confused.

Wait.

He looked like Barael—eerily so.

Same sleepy eyes, same lazy aura.

But the eye color was different: emerald green instead of silver.

Still, for a moment, I really thought Barael had walked into the cafeteria.

And then I realized—I was staring.

“It’s okay. You can look all you want~”

“T-That’s not why I was staring. Sorry.”

Ugh. That was embarrassing.

Well, since we just met, I should at least ask his name.

“…Excuse me, but what’s your name?”

He looked at me with a playful smirk.

“Cael. Cael Regnart.”

Regnart…? Where have I heard that before?

Right. That’s the surname of Xion Edvein’s best friend—the original male lead’s loyal companion.

“And you must be Aria Seren. The famous one, right?”

Ah. So he already knew who I was.

That explains the casual tone from the start—he knew we were the same age.

…Wait. Was this like last time, where some random guy came to pick a fight while I was eating?

But Cael, apparently intuitive, grinned and waved off my unspoken suspicion.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to start trouble. Keep eating~”

So I did. I focused on my meal, but noticed he hadn’t touched his tray once.

Instead, he just watched me eat.

Every time I glanced at him, he’d say,

“Don’t mind me. Just keep going.”

Well, I’m not particularly shy about eating in front of others.

As long as the food’s good, who cares who’s watching?

The real issue was that Cael brought food like a prop—and hadn’t touched it.

“…Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Ah, I don’t really have an appetite today. Watching you eat is enough for me~”

“Then why did you even grab food?”

“You need a reason to sit down, right? This was the safest excuse I could come up with.”

He said it with a straight face.

I paused, knife mid-air.

…Wow. Bolder than I thought.

I gave him a cold look.

He chuckled.

“Don’t look at me like that. I was just joking.”

Then he leaned in and whispered:

“Truth is, if I showed up with an empty tray, my hot-headed best friend would’ve scolded me to death.”

And right on cue, someone approached and placed a hand on Cael’s shoulder.

“Talking about me, Cael?”

The voice was calm—not angry, just mildly curious.

Cael flinched dramatically.

“Wahh! You scared me!”

“You’re not scared. You knew I was coming.”

Xion spoke in that same even tone.

Cael sighed in defeat and muttered,

“Tch. Knew you wouldn’t fall for it.”

I turned my gaze toward the newcomer.

And the moment I saw him—

I knew.

Neatly dressed in his uniform, upright posture, composed demeanor, and a quiet dignity that made it clear:

He was someone who always stood at the center.

He didn’t need to speak to command presence.

He looked exactly like what a main character should look like.

Just like I remembered.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Xion Edvein.”

And with that—the original male lead had entered the stage.