Everyone thinks Jimmy Hudson, my college roommate, is the typical brutally honest and socially clueless guy who just has zero filter sometimes.

A friend and I meet up to go boxing and practice our hooks, but he calls it a hookup when texting the group chat about it. He even nonchalantly says he won't be deleting his message.

When I meet my boxing buddy, he says I'm meeting my hookup buddy. He even has the nerve to say, "It's just a joke. Don't be overly sensitive and read so much into it."

Thanks to a few more of his dirty tricks, my reputation is ruined, and the entire class ostracizes me.

But Jimmy doesn't stop there. He slips sleeping pills into my drink, which leads me to miss an exam. Later, he claims it was just a careless mistake and blames it on his scatterbrained tendencies.

Eventually, he dumps crushed cherry pits into my water bottle, which ends up poisoning me to death.

This all happened because our campus belle, whom he has a crush on, helped me with my luggage on our first day on campus.

All of a sudden, my eyes open again. I've returned to the first day of my freshman year at college.

This time, I'm going to let Jimmy get a taste of what it's like to have his life ruined with a helping of some social cluelessness of my own.

"Whoa! You alright, Alex?"

When I heard that familiar tone—and Jimmy Hudson's look of feigned concern appeared before my eyes—I suddenly realized I had been reborn. I'd gone back to the very first day of my freshman year in college.

In my previous life, this was the day Jimmy had "accidentally" spilled scalding coffee on me. He proceeded to "kindly" help me check my phone, only to "inadvertently" send one of my intimate photos to the class group chat.

Then, instead of pressing "Delete for everyone", he pressed "Delete for me". So, I couldn't remove the message from the chat.

As a result, on the very first day of the semester, I became the laughingstock in class.

Jolting upright, I reached for the phone on the desk—but Jimmy was quicker. He grabbed it and unlocked it in one smooth motion. "I'll help you check to see if there's any damage!"

The next second, he yelped in alarm and looked at me with a wide-eyed expression. "Oh, shoot! I think I accidentally sent one of your photos!"

I snatched the phone back from him in a frenzy.

The situation in the group chat was the same as it'd been in my previous life. He'd deleted the photo on this end, which meant the photo couldn't even be removed from the group chat anymore.

"Huh?"

"Is this some kind of special surprise for the first day of college?"

"Who sends an intimate photo of himself out of nowhere?"

"Hey, man. Are you just trolling or are you seriously trying to show off your muscles?"

"I've got a tip for you. You can delete messages on WhatsApp, you know."

"I guess there really are freaks like him."

I froze in place, watching as the mocking messages appeared one after the other in the class group chat, before weakly slumping back into my chair.

Jimmy's eyes flashed with smug delight, but he acted like the typical straightshooter who didn't know much about social cues. "So sorry about that, man. I was too careless. I didn't even realize I'd send the photo…"

Connor Lewis, one of our other roommates, stuck his head out from his bunk bed and glanced at us. "I'm sure Alex won't be so petty and make a big deal out of something this small, right?"

Jimmy chimed in breezily, "Exactly. You won't hold this against me, right, Alex?"

I looked at the two of them, who were echoing each other, and abruptly chuckled. "That's great to hear!"

Both of them eyed me in confusion. "What do you mean?"

I simply raised the phone and looked at them with an unbothered expression as I calmly replied, "Well, this is Connor's phone. I was worried you two might end up fighting over this."

As it was, this time around, the phone I'd reached for was the phone Connor was charging on the desk. It was the same model as mine.

Therefore, the intimate photo that Jimmy hastily uploaded and deleted belonged to Connor!

Jimmy and Connor both turned pale, their eyes widening in shock. Cursing loudly, Connor jumped off his bed.

Meanwhile, I turned to Jimmy with a clueless yet frank expression of my own, asking, "What's with you two? I guess it's my fault for being a little slow on the uptake. I can't even figure out what's going on."

Jimmy was so furious that he almost popped a vein, while Connor stood to the side with a scowl.

In my previous life, our classmates started calling me a deluded showoff who thought too highly of himself. They even started rumors about my so-called messy private life.

Apart from Jimmy's "unintentional" setups, all that happened in no small part thanks to Connor deliberately fanning the flames.

He would approach me in private to "tease" me with the "dumb comments" that Jimmy made, which were so blatantly riddled with inconsistencies. Then, he would record my anxious rebuttal and maliciously edit my response before spreading the videos around.

That cemented my reputation for getting triggered by the truth and reacting aggressively to it.

Connor was also the one who took a screenshot of Jimmy's "hookup" comment and added a suggestive emoticon before posting it on the college forum. He even captioned it with, "As expected of a ladies' man. Much respect, bro."

That resulted in the entire campus sending a barrage of insults and criticisms my way.

Even after I drank the water that Jimmy had added crushed cherry pits to and was poisoned to death, Connor helped my murderer out. He spread the story that I'd taken my own life after having an emotional breakdown over missing the exam.

As I recalled everything that had happened in my previous life, I couldn't help but clench my fists tightly. Nevertheless, I maintained a clueless expression.

"Why aren't you guys saying anything?" I asked. "You two are friends, right? I'm sure you won't be so petty as to get upset over something as small as this, yeah?"

Jimmy and Connor marched out of the room, slamming the door behind them.

I smirked and sat back down.

Was Jimmy the only one who knew how to act like a tactless, brutally honest guy? I could easily play the same game.

…

That weekend, I went to the campus convenience store with Jimmy. When I saw Regina Johnson, the campus belle, in her staff uniform, I realized what Jimmy was up to.

True enough, after spotting Regina, Jimmy started stumbling toward her. He acted as if he wasn't looking where he was going. However, she abruptly veered into another aisle.

Unable to stop in time, Jimmy collided headfirst into one of the display shelves, sending rows of condiment bottles crashing onto the floor. He'd created a huge mess, drawing the attention of everyone else in the convenience store.

Jimmy also realized he'd caused a spectacle. His eyes flashed with panic. Then, when he spotted me, he reenacted the same scene that I remembered from my previous life. He stuck his hand out toward me, as if I were his lifeline, and waved as hard as he could.

"Don't go, Alex!"

The passersby started eyeing me suspiciously, as if I'd been the one responsible for this.

In my previous life, as a result of Jimmy's reputation for being brutally honest, everyone believed him without much fuss. Even though I'd done my best to defend myself, I was forced to compensate the store with a month's worth of my allowance.

This time, just as I was about to show everyone the video I'd recorded earlier, Regina suddenly appeared. She looked at me in surprise and came over.

But instead of scolding me, she asked in a gentle voice filled with concern, "Are you hurt?"

Meeting her calm, kind eyes, I quickly made myself look flustered and moved. "Thanks for your concern. It's my fault for not seeing that—"

Before I could finish speaking, Jimmy latched onto the idea of being the one showered with Regina's concern. He hurriedly pushed me aside, snapping, "What are you talking about, Alex? I'm the one who crashed into the shelves by accident!"

He turned to Regina, his face red as he scratched his head sheepishly and said, "It's nice to meet you. My name is Jimmy Hudson. Thanks for checking on me. I'm not hurt. I'd love to get to know you better. Can I have your number?"

However, a staff member of the convenience store, whose badge made it clear he was the manager, appeared beside us. With a grim expression, he said, "Please come with me to discuss the appropriate compensation for the damages."

Jimmy froze, his smile stiffening as well.

…

That night, I returned to the dorm with a stack of exam passes for my classmates.

Jimmy marched up to me and questioned me heatedly, "Alex! What did Regina say to you when she followed you out? Where did you two go after that?"

Startled, I thought back to what happened earlier this afternoon. While the store manager held Alex back to demand compensation for the damages, I turned and walked right out of the store.

However, Regina came after me. "Hey, wait!"

After a pause, she said tactfully, "I think you need to watch out for that friend of yours. Also, can I… have your number?"

Stiffening ever so slightly, I thanked her for her warning before politely declining her request and leaving.

To be honest, it felt a little strange to me. Regina and I didn't even know each other. Even in my previous life, I'd only seen her from a distance a few times.

All I knew was that she was the campus belle who studied a different major. Everyone idolized her. She was completely unlike me, who was ostracized by everyone and wandered the hallways alone, always separate from the crowd.

I only remembered that she'd helped me with my luggage on my first day when Jimmy brought it up just before I died.

Snapping back to the present, I brushed Jimmy off with a wave of my hand. Then, with the bashful look of a guy who didn't have much experience with women, I said, "She didn't say much to me."

Jimmy's expression darkened. It was clear he didn't believe me. "You're refusing to tell me?"

"Why would I do that?" I scratched my head and parroted his usual explanation to him. "You know me, man. I'm just your average socially clueless guy. How should I know what the ladies think?"

Jimmy rolled his eyes before snapping, "Fine! Let's drop it. By the way, I got you an iced caramel latte. Drink up."

One look was all I needed to know that he was up to no good again. Still, I pretended to be delighted. "You serious? Thanks, Jimmy."

As he watched intently, I stuck the straw into the cup.

However, just when it seemed as though I was about to take a sip, I grabbed Connor, who had just come out of the shower.

"So sorry about what happened the other day, Connor," I said. "Jimmy bought this iced caramel latte for me, but here, you can have it instead. Consider it an apology from me, okay?"

After seeing how sincere my gaze was, Connor accepted the cup with an exasperated expression.

Panicked, Jimmy hastily tried to stop us. "No, don't! That's—"

I cut him off with a puzzled expression. "What's wrong? It's fine. I don't like sweet stuff all that much anyway."

Jimmy didn't know what to say. He hemmed and hawed, but all he could do was watch as Connor took a big gulp of the iced caramel latte.

Ten minutes later, Connor doubled over and rushed to the bathroom with a pained expression.

It was as I'd suspected. The drink had indeed been tampered with.

While I was snickering on the inside, I made myself seem worried. "What's wrong with Connor? Should we take him to the campus clinic?"

Jimmy looked both furious and on edge. He clearly wanted to say something, but was afraid to do it.

Suddenly, his eyes flickered. He stabbed a straw into his own drink and insistently handed it to me. "You can have mine. I haven't touched it."

"Huh?" I tried to refuse him. "I wouldn't want to take your drink."

"It's fine. Drink up! Otherwise, it means you don't consider me your friend."

"But—Oh, no!"

In the scuffle, Jimmy's grip loosened. The iced caramel latte spilled across the deck, soaking the stack of exam passes I'd brought back.

"Crap!"

Not bothering to argue with Jimmy, I swiftly tried to wipe off the latte from the exam passes, but it was too late.

In my previous life, he had used this exact method to destroy the entire class' exam passes before pinning all the blame on me.

As a result, everyone accused me, the class representative, of not being able to do my duties properly. They said it was my fault they couldn't take the exam the next day and directed all sorts of resentful complaints at me.

Looking at the now-ruined exam pass on top, I fell silent.

However, Jimmy simply frowned, seemingly in exasperation. Trying to twist things around, he exclaimed, "Hey! Why didn't you hold the cup properly? Look what you've done! You've ruined the exam passes!"

As he lashed out at me, he eagerly relayed this situation to the class group chat, making sure to embellish the story as much as possible.

Everyone was in an uproar.

"What the heck? Are you kidding me?"

"The exam's tomorrow, and he pulls this stunt today?"

Relishing in everyone's reaction, Jimmy shot me a gloating look before happily fanning the flames.

"It's true, but don't blame Alex for what happened. It's normal for a clumsy, clueless guy like him to be a little careless when it comes to such things."

Just like in my previous life, everyone began attacking me relentlessly.

"I said from the start that Alex should never have been made the class rep! Look what happened now!"

"I wouldn't have voted for him if Jimmy hadn't backed him up so strongly."

"I can't believe this is happening. I'm going to report this to the student affairs office!"

"Stop hiding like a coward and show yourself, Alex! How are you going to resolve this matter?"

"How can it even be resolved? It's already 11:00 pm. It's too late to get a replacement for the exam passes. The college's administration staff went home ages ago!"

"If we can't sit for the exam tomorrow, I'm going to make sure this goes on your record, Alex! I'm going to report you to the dean and see to it that disciplinary action is taken against you!"

Jimmy could barely suppress the elated grin on his face when he saw how angry everyone was. I lowered my head and wordlessly typed out my response.

"It was indeed my fault. Sorry, everyone. I can't even defend myself."

However, no one was willing to accept my apology. They continued to chew me out, and some even started cursing at me.

"What's the use of giving us this bullshit now?"

"You piece of trash!"

Jimmy chimed in, texting the group chat, "They're right. It's too late for apologies. What are you going to do now, Alex?"

I glumly responded to his text, "You're right, Jimmy. It's too late for me to say anything to you."

Startled, Jimmy jerked his head up and looked at me. "What do you mean?"

Looking up, I met his widened eyes and sighed. "I forgot to tell you that only one exam pass got ruined. The rest of the papers were just scrap paper. And… it just so happens that the exam pass that was ruined by the spilled latte… belongs to you."