Chapter 24
I pretended not to hear Mom’s ridiculous comment and opened the fridge. There was an expensive-looking bottle of orange juice inside.
As I reached out to take it, Mister added,
“Juice? You need to eat a proper breakfast. How about Uncle makes something special to celebrate Se-yeon waking up early—”
“Honey. You’ll be late for work.”
Mom instantly shut him down and dragged the overly energetic man—who clearly didn’t want to go to work—toward the front door.
I bowed politely at the back of the Chairman’s head as he moved away under her affectionate touch.
“Have a safe trip.”
The two of them looked so happy from behind.
Suddenly, I thought of my late dad. He mostly worked from home, so I didn’t really have memories of seeing him off to work.
‘…Why won’t this open?’
Maybe I had no strength in the morning.
The bottle cap was being stubborn. My grip strength wasn’t weak, so this was a rare situation—maybe once a year.
‘I usually finish things in one shot.’
I frowned and put more strength into it, but it didn’t budge.
“Give it to me.”
“…No.”
Before I knew it, Seo-jin hyung had come close and held out his hand. It looked like he was offering to open it.
‘At least I have my pride.’
I quickly turned my back and grabbed the cap with all my strength.
Yesterday’s embarrassing memory was more than enough.
My hands trembled, and the tight cap made my skin sting as it rubbed, but I had no intention of giving up.
“!”
A large hand suddenly covered mine where I was holding the bottle.
Seo-jin hyung’s big shadow fell over me from behind.
A low voice spoke right next to my ear.
“You’ll hurt your hand.”
“Are you cra—”
While I was flustered, he naturally took the bottle from me and opened it.
It came off easily, like he hadn’t even used much strength.
Before I could fully process my defeat, the now-open bottle was placed back into my hands.
“Want a straw?”
He asked calmly after stepping back.
Instead of answering, I glared at the air and chugged the orange juice in one go. It was so cold that my head throbbed.
* * *
The innocent Seo-jin hyung.
Yeon Jae-hyun, now firmly tied to me with the secretary contract.
Two worries that had been weighing on me disappeared in a single day.
There were still more steps I needed to take, but at least half the problem was solved.
But then a new problem appeared.
“Ah, f***! I seriously just lied out of anger!!!”
“……”
“H-hey… can’t I just go now?”
“Shut up. Sit down.”
“Jae-hyung! If you’re not eating that bread, can I have it?”
“Huh? Uh… sure….”
It was complete chaos.
A few hours earlier.
Even though I hadn’t slept at all, I went to school in the best condition I’d ever had.
Without thinking much, I talked to Jung Soo-min.
I only wanted to tell him that even if I had to act like a zoo monkey today, I was definitely going to eat the lobster in the cafeteria.
But Soo-min completely ignored me and happily chatted with the classmates he usually said were annoying.
As a result, I became an invisible ghost in the cafeteria, blinking blankly.
I thought it would happen once or twice and end there.
But it lasted the entire morning.
‘What?’
I was dumbfounded, but I could guess the reason.
It must be because of yesterday.
So the moment lunch break started, I gathered the people involved and went to the stairs near the rooftop. We stopped by the school store to buy some food.
And then began the explanation time.
I’m not dating Yeon Jae-hyun. I just lied out of anger because you guys were being too annoying. I only visited his academy and then went straight home. That’s it.
It was a reasonable explanation.
In fact, Myung Ah-jin nodded within one second, saying she figured as much.
‘But then why!!’
Jung Soo-min still said nothing.
“Hey, are you going to stop talking to me forever?”
“……”
When our eyes met, he quickly turned his head away again.
“Don’t act all cold after eating four of my breads! Are you crazy?!”
Seeing the plastic bags piled on the floor made me even angrier.
I sighed and looked down at the clearly sulking Jung Soo-min.
Fine. Lying to your best friend out of anger—sure, that’s something to be mad about.
Calling without explaining and nagging him? Yeah, that was a bit rude too.
But it wasn’t something to be this angry over.
If Soo-min lied about getting a girlfriend, I would’ve just laughed it off. I’d probably even recommend some nice girls to him.
‘But he’s my friend. How can he be so narrow-minded?’
I was starting to get irritated too.
“…Sigh.”
But I was in a very good mood today, so I decided to endure it.
Jung Soo-min was lucky.
Since he wouldn’t listen to me, I nudged Yeon Jae-hyun, who was sitting quietly, with my foot.
“Hey, Yeon Jae-hyun. Say it.”
“…Say what?”
“That yesterday, the only thing we did was visit your academy! Tell him we’re nothing.”
“Oh….”
Finally understanding, Yeon Jae-hyun spoke timidly.
“Yeah. Soo-min… Se-yeon and I are nothing….”
“So what. F*** off.”
“Hey!!”
Jung Soo-min glared at Yeon Jae-hyun fiercely.
‘Seriously….’
I almost exploded but forced myself to stay patient.
“Anyway, you heard him, right? Yeon Jae-hyun is definitely not closer to me than you. Boyfriend? We’re not even friends.”
“…Hmph.”
‘Wow, I really want to kill him.’
Now that I thought about it, he might be doing this on purpose.
Since I kept tolerating him, he was probably enjoying pushing it further.
My sealed fist trembled, but merciful me decided to let it go just for today.
“Alright. I won’t lie to you anymore. I won’t secretly make a boyfriend either. Come on. Promise.”
I crouched in front of him and held out my pinky.
Only then did Jung Soo-min look at me.
“…What you said before was true, right?”
“What?”
“What you said when I asked if you’d date Yeon Jae-hyun.”
“……?”
I couldn’t remember.
I rolled my eyes, digging through my memory. Did I say something like that?
As the silence grew longer, Jung Soo-min buried his face in his knees.
“Forget it.”
“…Ah! Yeah, I remember! It’s true.”
“What did you say?”
“That I never even thought about it.”
As soon as I answered urgently, Myung Ah-jin, who was stealing Yeon Jae-hyun’s bread, shouted,
“Se-yeon, that’s too much! He’s right next to you!”
She couldn’t even get his name right but had the nerve to complain.
“I’m fine.”
“Jae-hyung is so nice…. By the way, can I have that yogurt too?”
“I was drinking that.”
“I’m fine with that!”
Now I realized she was just defending him to get more food.
Ignoring their ridiculous skit, I shook my pinky at Jung Soo-min.
“This is my last bit of patience.”
“Tch.”
Maybe he realized I had endured enough, because he finally hooked his pinky with mine.
“Okay, done. Let me eat now… seriously.”
Finally sitting down properly, I reached out to feel the cold floor with my fingers.
I was looking for the tuna-mayo triangle kimbap I bought from the store instead of lobster.
‘Strange. I’m sure I put it around here….’
I looked down carefully, but my lunch was nowhere to be seen.
“…W-was that triangle kimbap yours, Se-yeon?”
Myung Ah-jin stared at me, pale.
“Don’t tell me….”
“Waaah! I’m sorry! I thought it was Jae-hyung’s, so I ate it!!”
She confessed tearfully while drinking yogurt.
Next to her, Yeon Jae-hyun muttered,
“I never gave permission….”
* * *
After that noisy day, the next day came.
I decided to resume Seo-jin hyung’s treatment, which had been paused for about three weeks.
The packages I ordered a few days ago had finally arrived.
I opened the boxes and busily carried their contents into my room. I also grabbed some snacks from the kitchen.
The only thing left was calling Seo-jin hyung, who was studying in the room next door.
Knock, knock.
Standing in front of his room still made me nervous.
I swallowed dryly while staring at my toes.
‘It’s fine. He hasn’t killed anyone yet, so what could possibly be inside?’
Of course, I couldn’t stop being afraid of him completely.
If I could, I would’ve assassinated him already.
I still didn’t know what he was thinking. He wanted to be a criminal. He acted like a psycho.
‘But….’
I could be less afraid than before.
And right now, that was enough to give me courage.
Click.
“It’s Se-yeon.”
Looking up at him as he opened the door, I said bluntly,
“Let’s play.”
“Okay. Come in.”
“Not here! Come to my room.”
I quickly turned and headed to my room.
Soon, Seo-jin hyung followed.
He looked down at the colorful boxes spread across the floor and muttered,
“…Board games?”
“Yeah. Sit.”
After making a subtle expression, he obediently sat where I pointed.
I sat down across from him.
“You said we’d play. This is board games?”
He was smiling—the kind of smile he wore three seconds before flipping someone’s world upside down.
“We’re going to play. First person to win three times gets their wish granted by the loser.”
I ignored his tone and delivered my prepared line.
When it came to treatment, I had to hold the initiative.
