WTFUDLS 119

WTFUDLS

Chapter 119

“Hmm?”

Noeul stared blankly at Jiwoo, holding the printout in her hand. Jiwoo spoke.

“Don’t go.”

“Uh… it looks like this is kind of urgent… I’ll just quickly deliver this. Shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes.”

“Don’t go.”

“…No…”

Noeul opened her mouth slightly.

“It’s not like Hansol will die if he doesn’t get it.”

“…He won’t die, but…”

“Then don’t go.” Jiwoo made a pouty, kindergarten-kid face. “I said don’t go.”

It was pure stubbornness. Just because Noeul went to deliver the printout to Hansol, it wouldn’t kill Jiwoo, right? So, delivering it should have been fine.

Putting aside this childish argument—Noeul wasn’t abandoning Jiwoo to go play with Hansol. Going now didn’t mean she liked Hansol more than Jiwoo. She was simply delivering the printout. But if she went, later on, Noeul might not be able to get Hansol’s help when she needed it. Their relationship could worsen.

Did Jiwoo know that his actions could lead to such outcomes? Even knowing it, was he trying to stop Noeul simply because she was his girlfriend, without giving a proper explanation? Was that really okay?

…Noeul thought she understood why Jiwoo was being so stubborn.

Jiwoo was insecure. Recently, their relationship hadn’t been going well. Jiwoo had said negative things about Noeul in front of others (whether sincerely or not), which had made her uncomfortable. She had also been caught pretending to like things she didn’t actually like.

Even though Jiwoo and Noeul liked each other, and even though they wanted to impress one another, they weren’t honest with each other. They weren’t comfortable around each other either. These past few days had only confirmed that.

So when Noeul said she was going to Hansol, Jiwoo panicked. He wanted to exercise the biggest right he had—as a girlfriend. The right to tell her not to go, without needing a valid reason.

Jiwoo grabbed Noeul’s arm and poured out his words.

“Don’t go to Hansol. Don’t get close to him. Don’t be the first person he thinks of in an emergency. Don’t be friends. Stay strangers. Keep it distant. Stay awkward. Don’t even casually curse at each other! Be super uncomfortable around each other!”

Jiwoo shook Noeul’s arm back and forth, tears welling in his eyes. Noeul sat back down and said:

“Okay. I won’t go. Okay.”

Noeul thought to herself: I must be crazy. To go out drinking with Hansol while having Jiwoo, who liked her so much, waiting…

She had known Jiwoo liked her, but she hadn’t realized it was this intense. There had been many signs, but she couldn’t fully feel it. The idea that someone as perfect as Jiwoo could like someone as flawed and clumsy as her still… didn’t fully register. Twenty years of ingrained thinking don’t change overnight.

Even when bad habits were corrected, it was only temporary—they reverted back. Noeul’s thoughts kept returning: Jiwoo must be mistaken, he doesn’t really like me, he could leave me anytime. She unknowingly kept her distance.

But Jiwoo truly, really, really liked Noeul—enough to stop her so desperately.

Noeul felt guilty. If she had been a normal guy without insecurities, someone who seemed worthy of Jiwoo’s affection, she could have easily accepted his feelings. But she couldn’t. She doubted everything—whether the feast in front of her really belonged to her, whether it was spoiled, or even if someone had poisoned it.

While she kept her distance, doubted, and withheld her heart, Jiwoo grew more anxious. Noeul felt sorry for him. If they weren’t dating, he wouldn’t have to worry like this.

She feared the day Jiwoo might think: Why am I going through this emotional stress dating someone like him? That couldn’t happen. Dating her shouldn’t feel this difficult.

Noeul called Hyeonsu.

“Hey, where are you? …You have Crisis Management class, right? …Yeah, then stop by the front gate at Serendipity for a moment. …No, it’s fine if you’re two minutes late. …Hansol has the printout, but I can’t go give it. …Uh-huh. …Okay, got it. …Yeah, thanks. Bye.”

Noeul hung up and looked at Jiwoo, who was still frowning.

“I asked Hyeonsu to deliver it. I’m not going.”

“……”

Noeul patted Jiwoo’s shoulder.

“Sorry. I was going to leave it behind.”

“…Just go.”

“…Why?”

“Just go give it to Hansol.”

“No. I absolutely won’t go.”

“……” Jiwoo frowned even more.

“It’s fine if Hyeonsu gives it. No need for me to go.”

“…Hiiing.”

Jiwoo buried his face in the table. Noeul went beside him, wrapping her arms around him. He mumbled, still face-down.

“I don’t want to be like this either.”

“…I know. Sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry.”

“……”

Suddenly, Jiwoo lifted his head.

“I’m okay now.”

“…Okay?”

“Yeah. I’m not jealous anymore.”

“…Mm-hmm.”

Not satisfied with Noeul’s response, Jiwoo turned sharply toward her.

“Got it? I’m not jealous at all. I won’t be.”

“Okay, I got it. …You’re not jealous.”

Jiwoo looked resolute.

“Hi.”

Hansol entered the fruit store and greeted them.

“Oh, you’re here?”

Jiwoo acknowledged her. At the same time, he watched Noeul carefully. Last time, he had stopped her from giving the printout to Hansol for some ridiculous reason. Now, greeting Hansol calmly might seem shameless.

Noeul glanced at Hansol without really greeting her and stared at her phone. Hansol sat in a corner of the sofa.

“Did you guys check out that gyukatsu place I told you about?” Hansol asked.

Noeul kept her eyes on her phone and didn’t answer. Jiwoo answered instead.

“Ah, not yet.”

Hansol glanced at Noeul but shrugged and said to Jiwoo:

“They’re only open until the end of this year.”

“Really? We should go soon.”

“Yeah. Their Tamago Tendon is really good.” Hansol lightly poked Noeul. “Hey, you said you wanted to try Tamago Tendon.”

Noeul didn’t look at Hansol.

“Ah, okay. I’ll give it a try.”

Hansol looked at her like: Why is she so indifferent? Jiwoo felt uncomfortable, sensing that Noeul was keeping her distance because of him.

“When are you going to go over the Crisis Management exam material?” Hansol asked Noeul.

“Oh, that… Hyeonsu doesn’t want to attend?”

“…Did you suddenly change your mind? You didn’t want anyone to take advantage of exam day before.”

“Well… I thought just going over it with you would be unfair.”

“When did you start thinking about fairness…” Hansol realized he said something wrong and added, “It’s up to you if you want to teach us…”

“Let’s gather everyone who wants to go over it and meet during free time or after class for a short session.” Noeul said.

“…Okay.”

For a moment, Hansol’s face showed slight disappointment. It was understandable—he probably thought he had a special bond with Noeul, unlike others like Hyeonsu.

Jiwoo liked that Hansol felt left out. He also liked that Noeul treated everyone else the same. But it was uncomfortable too. It made him feel like a manipulative boyfriend controlling his girlfriend to keep friends away.

If Noeul had kept Hansol distant on her own, fine—but now it was because of Jiwoo. That wasn’t acceptable.

Jiwoo hated that Noeul thought he had childish emotions like jealousy. Jealousy was for someone less capable envying someone better. Jiwoo wasn’t that type of person.

Why did Jiwoo act like that yesterday? Noeul wasn’t going on a 2-day trip with Hansol. She just wanted to deliver a printout. Why did he stop her? He wasn’t a child begging for toys in a department store.

Jiwoo wanted to delete that moment from memory.

Don’t go to Hansol. Don’t get close. Don’t be the first person he thinks of.

Ugh… so embarrassing…

He felt like he’d added a black mark on Noeul’s image of him. Even when he spoke poorly about her behind her back… Why did he keep piling up bad impressions, even though he was trying to do well?

He needed to recover his image. From now on, no more jealousy. He was a completely cool person. No jealousy. Since Noeul only liked him, he didn’t care about anyone else. Men dislike clingy or possessive women. Jiwoo wasn’t like that.

Jiwoo wasn’t jealous of Hansol….

“Are you guys free now?” Jiwoo asked suddenly.

“Yeah.” Hansol answered.

Noeul looked at him, wondering why. Jiwoo said:

“Then shall the three of us go to the escape room?”

“Oh, you said before it looked fun.”

“Yeah. What do you think?”

“Hmm… sure.” Hansol agreed readily.

Jiwoo waited for Noeul’s response. She thought for a moment and said:

“I think I need to stop by the library.”

“Library?” Jiwoo asked.

“Yeah. You guys can go on your own.”