Chapter 29
The hand that had slowly moved down from my waist to my skirt came back up and tapped my school jacket and shoulders.
“Ugh, ah… stop it! There’s nothing!!”
My body trembled, but I barely held back the urge to push his hand away.
When his fingertips lightly brushed my stomach, I just squeezed my eyes shut. It tickled, and it felt damn awful.
Anyway, it felt disgusting. What is this, an airport security check?
‘Just because I took 30,000 won, he’s treating me like a criminal.’
I wanted to kill him, but if I lowered my arms even for a moment, who knew what kind of fault he’d find again.
So I just endured it until Seo Jinhyung took his hands off first. Fortunately, the time of patience wasn’t long.
“Yeah. Nothing.”
“Have you been fooled your whole life?”
“I’ll make it five minutes. Keep them up a little longer.”
“It hasn’t passed yet?”
It felt like a long time had already passed, but since I couldn’t check the time, it was frustrating.
My arms were starting to go numb for real.
“Five minutes starting now.”
“Damn… that’s not what you said!”
“Then you should’ve held them properly from the start.”
Seo Jinhyung gestured toward my straightened arms.
‘I was holding them pretty seriously from the start….’
It felt unfair.
Now I had to keep my arms up like I was being tortured for five more minutes.
Seo Jinhyung sat back down on the chair I had been sitting in and asked teasingly,
“Is it hard?”
“You think it’s comfortable?”
“Don’t secretly do bad things from now on.”
“……”
I tightly shut my mouth.
To follow the contract terms, there would probably be many situations where I had to be alone with Yeon Jaehyun. I would try to be careful, but I couldn’t guarantee Seo Jinhyung wouldn’t catch us together again.
Whenever that happened, I had planned to escape the situation using the bully–loser dynamic between us.
So I couldn’t answer easily.
“No answer… Are you not tired enough yet?”
“Ah, fine!”
I don’t know. If I get caught again, I’ll just think of something then.
Right now, escaping this situation was the priority.
As I answered hurriedly, Seo Jinhyung smiled with satisfaction.
* * *
“Ah… damn, muscle pain.”
Late weekend morning.
The stiffness I felt the moment I opened my eyes made my face frown automatically.
“Ugh, Seo Jinhyung….”
I glared at the wall connected to the room next door while getting out of bed. Though the owner of that room probably wasn’t even inside.
‘One day I’ll get my revenge.’
Grinding my teeth, I got ready to go out.
The destination was the lake where the cherry blossoms were said to be in full bloom. We agreed to meet at 1 p.m., so if I left now, the timing would be perfect.
But it was 12:58 p.m.
No one was at the meeting spot.
“Why is no one here? They said they’d wait in front of this café….”
Did I arrive first?
‘These bastards…’
It was incredibly annoying. They were the ones who told me to come.
I was typing a long message full of curses in the group chat to rush them when a low voice spoke above my head.
“Um… excuse me.”
“Why are you lat— …what?”
I looked up irritably and saw a stranger standing there.
I had assumed it was Jung Sumin, so I closed my mouth in confusion.
“I’ve honestly never done something like this before, but you’re really my type. If it’s not too rude… could you maybe give me your number?”
“Huh? Me?”
When I asked back awkwardly, the man nodded.
“Wow, what a man!”
“They look good together!”
A group that seemed to be his friends were whistling and making a scene from a short distance away.
Seeing his embarrassed smile made a murderous urge rise inside me.
‘Why am I getting angry when he says he likes me?’
Was it because of those hype men ruining the mood?
I unconsciously looked him over.
He wasn’t particularly ugly, but I didn’t really want to date him either. Just average.
Thanks to the three-combo of Jung Sumin, Seo Jinhyung, and Yeon Jaehyun, my standards had risen so much that I might never get married.
So I gave the man in front of me a cold evaluation.
“No thanks.”
When I rejected him bluntly, his eyes widened.
“Then maybe… do you have social media? I really don’t do this to just anyone—”
“Ah, I said no. Seriously.”
My patience snapped instantly, and when I replied irritably, his expression stiffened slightly.
“Come on, if it’s uncomfortable, then I’ll give you my number instead.”
Was he crazy?
I didn’t even want to deal with him anymore.
Just as I turned my head with an obvious frown, I spotted Jung Sumin walking over with Myung Ajin in the distance.
Without hesitation, I pointed at Jung Sumin and said,
“That’s my boyfriend, so please just go.”
The man’s gaze followed my finger toward Jung Sumin. Then it returned to me.
“That’s ridiculous… Even if you don’t like me, you shouldn’t lie like that.”
“Ha….”
I simply sighed and shut my mouth.
If I were alone, I would’ve beaten this crazy pickup guy and chased him away by force.
But right now, I didn’t have to go through that trouble.
Because Jung Sumin would handle it.
“What’s going on?”
Just as expected, the moment our eyes met, Jung Sumin ran over and started automatic hunting mode.
Taking advantage of the moment, I checked the time on my phone.
1:02 p.m.
Jung Sumin and Myung Ajin were exactly two minutes late.
“Ah, it’s true…! I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had a boyfriend… I’m really sorry!”
The man’s spirit completely deflated after hearing just those two words. He bowed almost to his waist while apologizing, then hurried back to his friends.
When I said no earlier, he didn’t even pretend to listen.
What a ridiculous situation.
‘Feels dirty.’
Unlike me, Jung Sumin looked at me with a very pleased expression.
“You… said I’m your boyfriend?!”
“Damn it. He wouldn’t leave. More importantly, why are you late? You’re two minutes late. Want to die?”
“Hey. Is that how you talk to your boyfriend?”
“Get down and do push-ups.”
Only then did Jung Sumin shut up.
But the annoying smile on his face never disappeared. He looked insane.
“Seyeon!”
Myung Ajin, who had fallen behind Jung Sumin’s fast pace, finally ran over.
It wasn’t even that far, but she was already panting.
I’d noticed this before, but her stamina was terrible.
“Why are you late?”
“We’re not! We arrived twenty minutes earlier…”
While catching her breath, Myung Ajin dug through her bag and held out her card wallet.
“On the way… I lost my wallet, so Sumin and I were looking for it together… sorry!”
“I’ll let it slide once.”
“Thank you…! But wait, what? Did someone ask for your number, Seyeon?”
I nodded casually, and she jumped around excitedly.
“Wow! It’s my first time seeing someone get asked for their number! As expected, Seyeon is pretty and popular!”
“…Well, I’m not exactly unpopular.”
Pretty. Popular.
Both were words I had never heard in my life before, but they didn’t feel bad.
While I was proudly answering, I suddenly remembered the strange reaction the pickup guy had when I pointed to Jung Sumin as my boyfriend.
‘He looked like he was thinking: what nonsense is that?’
It felt like he was looking at someone with delusions.
Suddenly it started bothering me a lot.
I pulled out my card and handed it to Jung Sumin.
“Hey, Jung Sumin. Go buy drinks inside. Three of them, including Myung Ajin’s.”
“What do you want to drink?”
Jung Sumin completely ignored my card and asked.
Why does he refuse to acknowledge that I’m rich now?
He literally saw the huge new house with his own eyes.
“Chocolate latte.”
Of course, there was no reason to refuse when he was offering to buy. Myung Ajin also quickly shouted,
“Iced Americano!”
“Wait here.”
Ding.
As soon as Jung Sumin entered the café behind us, I urgently grabbed both of Myung Ajin’s arms.
“Hey, Myung Ajin.”
“Ah! Seyeon, what’s wrong?”
“If I said Jung Sumin and I were dating… would he be a waste for me?”
As I asked with a serious face, her round features became serious too.
“More than a waste, I think.”
“Want to die?”
“Aaah! Seyeon, that hurts!”
Myung Ajin was asking for a beating.
Or maybe she was just the type who couldn’t lie.
‘Am I really that bad…?’
Hearing her answer, which was honest to the point of transparency, I felt a slight sense of self-disgust.
I released her arms as she whined for me to let go and sighed gloomily.
Through the large window, I could see Jung Sumin ordering drinks.
The female part-time worker taking the order kept secretly glancing at him.
Was he really that handsome?
Since I had known him since childhood, I couldn’t judge properly.
Of course, I had eyes too, so I knew he was better-looking than average. But I didn’t know if it was enough for me to be treated like some lowly servant next to him.
Seeing my gloomy expression, Myung Ajin nervously tried to comfort me.
“I was joking…! Seyeon is pretty! Someone just asked for your number!”
“But he didn’t believe me when I said Jung Sumin was my boyfriend.”
“Uh… well…”
Myung Ajin awkwardly glanced between Jung Sumin inside the café and me.
Then she started giving the clumsiest comfort imaginable.
“That guy is weird! Seyeon is pretty. You’re slim, and your skin is white… um… ah! You’re cool! And anyway, people care more about personality than looks! Seyeon’s personality is… um… so, your personality is…?”
She looked like she was struggling because she couldn’t say something she didn’t mean.
“Stop right there.”
“Okay!”
Myung Ajin answered brightly and linked her arm with mine.
“Anyway, it’s not that Seyeon is lacking at all. It’s just that Sumin is way, way too handsome, so people think like that!”
“People? Who else says that?”
“……”
The puppy-like girl lowered her head and went quiet.
I suddenly felt like I had learned information I didn’t want to know.
Ding.
Just then, Jung Sumin came out with the drinks and looked at us, sensing the miserable atmosphere.
“Did you two fight?”
