WTFUDLS 112

Chapter 112

“Why?” Jiu asked, holding the album in her hands.

“Why would you even look at something like a graduation album?” Noeul replied.

“Why not? Hansol said it’s fine. You already looked at it. I’m curious too.”

“Ugh… I’m not going to show it.”

“It’s not yours—it’s Hansol’s,” Jiu said, sounding incredulous.

“Still, if we start showing everything, it feels like I’d have to show mine too.”

“Why don’t you want to show yours? You showed me your ID photo last time.”

“Yeah. And I didn’t feel great about it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Everyone looked cute and pretty, and I was the only one who… the only one who looked fucking awful.”

“Huh? No way.” Jiu’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.

She set the album down on the desk and sat next to Noeul. Thinking Noeul had been hurt, she grabbed Noeul’s arm and shook it lightly.

“You don’t look awful. You’re charming. You’ve got character, and you’re cute.”

Noeul had only wanted an excuse not to look at the album—she hadn’t meant to make Jiu worry—so she replied playfully.

“I know that. I do. But anyway, you two are going to mess around like, ‘Wow, Hansol’s so pretty,’ ‘No, you’re prettier,’ ‘No, you’re prettier,’ right? And then I’ll feel extremely left out. So let’s not look.”

“…Okay. Then let’s not,” Jiu said, sounding a little unsatisfied.

“Good. Instead, let’s play Da Vinci Code.” Noeul thought she should quickly divert Jiu’s attention.

“Do you have Da Vinci Code?”

“Isn’t that one over there?” Noeul pointed to one side of Hansol’s desk.

There was a Da Vinci Code board game.

“Oh, you’re right. Hansol, can we play that?” Jiu asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Hansol said.

“Oh, that game’s fun.” Jiu picked up the box and came down to sit on the floor. “Wow, it’s been forever since I last played this.”

The three of them played three rounds in a row.
To keep the mood light, Noeul reacted dramatically, as if she were completely immersed in the game. If the game got boring, Jiu might start thinking about the album again—about wanting to see it, being curious.

“Oh, so the Joker was there.” Noeul smacked her forehead with a genuinely regretful look.

“Dummy, dummy. Why didn’t you think the Joker could be there?” Jiu laughed.

“I didn’t think you’d have both of them.”

“It’s unlikely, but it’s possible.”

When they finished a round, Hansol brought strawberries from the kitchen.

“Strawberries are already out?” Jiu’s eyes went wide.

“Yeah. My mom bought them.”

“Are you sure it’s okay to give us something this precious?” Jiu said, already reaching for one.

“They’re precious, so I’m giving them to you. If you want more, tell me. There’s more.”

Noeul reached for a strawberry too and looked at Hansol to say thank you.

For a moment, Noeul and Hansol’s eyes met. It felt as if Hansol had just been saying that while looking at Noeul. Noeul averted her gaze as if it were a coincidence and said,

“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”

Jiu and Noeul walked down the alley in front of Hansol’s house.

“We’re taking the subway, right?” Noeul asked.

“Yeah,” Jiu replied.

“Let’s head to the station.”

“Okay.”

They came out of the alley and walked along the main road.

Jiu didn’t say anything. She wasn’t in a great mood.

— Why would you look at something like a graduation album?

She kept thinking about what Noeul had said. She couldn’t quite put her finger on why, but it bothered her. Because of that feeling, she couldn’t fully focus even while playing games or laughing and chatting. It was like one corner of her chest stayed damp and heavy.

Why did she feel like this? Was it because Noeul had sounded like she was scolding her? Honestly, it hadn’t really been scolding. Was Jiu just feeling guilty on her own? Guilty for being a girlfriend and not even thinking that Noeul might get hurt by looking at graduation albums? Because she wanted to be a considerate, good girlfriend, but felt like she hadn’t been? …Maybe that was it.

Hmm… hmm….

Was that really it?

Jiu kept replaying the earlier situation—Noeul’s reaction, expression, tone of voice.

Something about Noeul’s reaction felt… unnatural. Like she’d said it on purpose for some reason. And it felt like Jiu was the only one who didn’t know that reason….

Well… maybe not. Maybe Jiu was just being overly sensitive because she worried so much about Noeul and Hansol. Maybe just being at Hansol’s place with Hansol was enough to put her in a bad mood. She’d acted cool about going over, but her true feelings hadn’t really been that way.

— Why would you look at something like a graduation album?

Jiu stuck her lips out in a pout.

No matter the reason, why say that in front of Hansol? In front of others—at least in front of Hansol—she wanted to look like a loved girlfriend. She wanted it to seem like Noeul was completely wrapped around her finger, like anything Jiu wanted to do would be allowed.

Her pride was hurt. Of course, Noeul hadn’t really done anything wrong. She could say something like that. If anything, Jiu was the one expecting too much. She knew that—but still… still, couldn’t Noeul have saved her some face in front of Hansol? Just in front of Hansol….

“…I’ll look at the graduation album next time we come over to Hansol’s,” Jiu blurted out.

“Next time? Why? I’ll feel left out,” Noeul said with an exaggeratedly sad expression.

“Next time when I come alone. When it’s just Hansol and me. I’ll look then. I want to see it too. Why are you the only one who gets to?” There was a bit of anger mixed into Jiu’s voice.

“You’re coming without me?”

“Yeah.”

“Why? Let’s all come together.”

“Why? Sometimes I might want to hang out with just her.”

Jiu said it on purpose—she wanted to hurt Noeul’s feelings a little. I don’t always want to hang out with you. How does that feel? Doesn’t it suck?

Noeul hadn’t really done anything wrong, so Jiu couldn’t openly accuse her of anything. But still, Noeul had said that, and Jiu had felt hurt. She wanted Noeul to know that. And she wanted Noeul to comfort her and apologize.

At the same time, Jiu didn’t understand herself. She had never blamed anyone or wanted an apology for something that wasn’t their fault before. So why did she feel so childish and irrational when it came to Noeul?

She couldn’t understand it—but the feeling didn’t fade either.

Noeul lightly tapped Jiu’s arm.

“Why would you hang out with just Hansol? You should hang out with me.”

“…Sometimes girls want that kind of thing,” Jiu said, her voice softening quite a bit.

So you want to hang out with just me right now?
That one line was enough to ease Jiu’s heart a little.

Was she just that quick to sulk and just as quick to recover? Or had her emotions started swinging uncontrollably with every word Noeul said?

Jiu didn’t want to be like that. No matter how much she liked Noeul, she didn’t want her mood to swing wildly because of someone else. She wanted to keep her emotional balance herself—

“Want some ice cream? You like eating ice cream when it’s cold,” Noeul said.

The corners of Jiu’s lips started to creep upward. She twitched her mouth, then said,

“…Shall we?”

“Ugh, it’s fucking cold,” Hansol shivered as she came into the café.

She walked over to the round table where Jiu and Noeul were sitting. Muttering “Fuck, winter, fuck,” she sat down. The three of them ended up sitting evenly spaced around the circular table.

“Is it that cold outside?” Jiu asked.

“Totally. It’ll be cold until February. How are we supposed to survive?” Hansol said.

“Seriously….”

As she spoke, Jiu subtly lifted her chair and scooted closer to Noeul. Noeul glanced at her. Jiu casually peered at Noeul’s laptop. A document file had just been opened, something Noeul had only just started writing.

“Why?” Noeul alternated her gaze between Jiu and the laptop.

“Huh? Oh, nothing. I was just wondering what you were doing.”

“I haven’t really done anything yet.”

“Mmm. I see.”

Jiu glanced at Hansol. Hansol was pulling something out of her bag. It was hard to tell whether she noticed Jiu sitting closer to Noeul or not.

“Look at me,” Jiu said to Noeul.

Noeul looked at her with a why? expression. Jiu cupped Noeul’s cheek in her hand and gently pulled her closer, then rubbed around Noeul’s eyes.

“I thought something was on your face… maybe not. It’s not coming off very well.” Jiu rubbed at her face diligently before letting go. “Must be freckles.”

Only Jiu could do things like this to Noeul. No matter how close Hansol and Noeul were, touching Noeul’s face so comfortably was something only a girlfriend—only Jiu—could do.

Noeul blinked, looking confused, then tilted her head slightly and went back to her laptop.

Hansol, seemingly uninterested in what Jiu and Noeul were doing, focused on her own laptop.

Jiu picked up a piece of bagel from the table and spread cream cheese on it.

“Mmm, the cream cheese here is really good. Hansol, you should try some,” Jiu said.

“Really?”

Hansol picked up a piece of bagel and spread cream cheese on it. Jiu did the same, then brought it to Noeul’s mouth.

“Ah,” Jiu said, telling her to open up.

“…Uh.” Noeul looked back and forth between Jiu and the bagel.

She ended up biting into it.

“Good, right?” Jiu asked.

“Mm… yeah.” Noeul chewed, looking a bit flustered.

This time, there was no way Hansol hadn’t seen it. Jiu looked at Hansol. Hansol was eating her own bagel.