I’m Just a Background Character, But I Used to Be a Delinquent, So Why Are the Girls Falling for Me?!

I woke with a sharp gasp, cold air filling my lungs too fast. The silk sheets were twisted around my legs, heavy and uncomfortable, but my chest was rising and falling like I had been running. My breath came out shaky, almost trembling.

“What… was I dreaming about?” I whispered to myself.

But nothing came. The memory was foggy, slipping away no matter how hard I tried to grab onto it. All I knew was that something felt wrong.

Then it happened.

My room, which was supposed to be dark, suddenly changed. In an instant, everything around me turned white bright, overwhelming, almost blinding. It wasn’t the soft glow of a lamp or moonlight. It was a harsh, clean brightness that swallowed up every shadow.

And before I could even react, I was no longer in my room.

I stood in an unfamiliar place,

“Where… am I?” The thought barely formed in my mind.

I looked around, trying to understand the place I had suddenly appeared in. My breathing turned uneven again the moment I realized what I was seeing this wasn’t the manor. This wasn’t Callen’s world.

Then my eyes caught something ahead.

There, on the sidewalk, sitting casually like it was just another normal day… was me.

My old self.

He was just there, resting at the edge of the pavement. The same clothes. The same tired posture. The same expression I used to wear.

Seeing him seeing myself sent a shock through my chest. It didn’t feel like looking at a memory anymore. It felt real, like I could walk up to him and tap his shoulder.

My breath hitched.

“That’s… me,” I whispered, the words trembling at the edge of my lips.

After those words came out of my mouth he looked straight at me.

His eyes widened, like he recognized something impossible. Like he saw a ghost. Like he saw me.

My heart dropped to my stomach.

“How…?” I whispered, frozen in place.

Before I could move, I heard someone shout in the distance

“Hey! Old hag, get out of the road!”

The voice echoed sharply to my ears, and my body tensed. I knew that shout. I remembered that exact moment.

Slowly, almost afraid to confirm it, I turned my head …..

And there it was.

The scene that ended my first life.

Across the busy, multi-lane highway, an old lady with white hair was struggling. She had dropped a bag, and the traffic was thick and moving too fast. She looked small and confused, stepping hesitantly into the danger zone.

The truck speeding toward her…

Then I looked in my direction….

The other me saw her. The casual relaxation instantly evaporated. I felt the familiar, terrible surge of adrenaline, the kind that overrides all logic.

Everything was happening exactly the same way it did that day.

My chest tightened painfully.

My breath hitched again.

I watched, frozen in this strange, dream-like observation, as the old me started running. Running toward the middle lane.

And that was when I screamed, a silent, internal yell that tore at my consciousness

“DON’T GO! YOU IDIOT, DON’T GO! Stay put! The truck! You can’t make it!”

I knew the outcome. I had lived it or died it, a thousand times in this recurring memory. I watched the old me reach the old lady, shove her clear of the speeding truck, and then…

The roar of the engine was deafening. The blinding flash of the truck’s headlights filled the entire world.

I jolted awake again, gasping for air.

Then the pain hit me

harder than before.

Not a memory.

Not a dream.

Real.

A sharp, crushing force exploded inside my chest, spreading through my whole body. My ribs felt like they were breaking again. My vision shook, the room turning into a blur of red and white.

I grabbed my head with both hands as the pain tore through my skull.

“It hurts! Stop, please stop!” I shouted, my voice cracking.

My knees hit the floor.

I curled forward, shaking, my fingers digging into my scalp. It felt like something was squeezing my bones from the inside, crushing me inch by inch.

“Please, someone! make this stop…! I don’t want to feel this again!” I begged, choking on the words as another wave of pain shot through my legs the same pain from the moment the truck hit me.

My whole body trembled.

I felt helpless, broken, terrified.

And the worst part was knowing exactly why this pain felt so familiar.

I screamed, clutching my head, begging the pain to stop. The crushing weight, the burning in my chest, the blinding red and white… it wouldn’t end.

And then…

I hear a voice.

“Young master?”

My eyes snapped open. I was gasping, heart pounding, still lying on my bed. The silk sheets were twisted around me, my chest heaving.

It had been a dream. A nightmare… but so vivid, so real, it felt like I had lived it all over again. I could still feel the pain in my ribs, the shaking in my legs, the terror in my mind.

“May I come in, young master?” Giles asked

“Yes,” I said, trying to steady my breathing.

The door opened, and Giles stepped inside. His eyes studied me carefully.

“Are you okay, young master?” he asked.

I rubbed my face with one hand, letting out a shaky breath.

“Yeah… it’s just a nightmare,” I said finally, my voice soft but firm.I looked at him, letting him know it was nothing serious.

“Giles,” My voice is crisper and perhaps sharper than usual, still carrying the edge of my earlier panic. “What do you need?”

Giles seemed momentarily thrown by my directness. He cleared his throat. “It’s not my need, My Lord. It’s the Duke’s. He had a specific inquiry this morning. He demanded I submit a report regarding your and Young Master Inzo’s sword training schedule for this week.”

I frowned, the tension in my shoulders increasing. “My progress? Giles, I still haven’t meet the Trainor , but I only practice lightly to maintain coordination, as the physician advised. You know this. Tell my father that.”

“i understand young master. But the Duke was very firm about the report. He specifically mentioned your new trainer, Vara.”

Vara?. It didn’t belong in the household staff summerroster in my mind.

“Vara? Who is Vara, Giles? I.” I demanded, struggling to keep the sharp surprise out of my voice.

To be continued….