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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Firm Rejection
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Jeju Island's night was quieter and more serene than expected.
Due to the sparse streetlights, the dimly lit base of the mountain felt even more so.
Still, the air was definitely clearer than in Seoul. Thanks to that, quite a few stars were visible.
A-jin wore an innocent expression, like a child seeing stars for the first time in her life.
"Alright. We'll pair up boys and girls, two each."
At Kyung-hee's command, A-jin stopped stargazing and lowered her head.
Following the plan from Kyung-hee and Jin Mi, Cho-hee's homeroom teacher, the two classes had gathered at the base of a small mountain near the dorms for dare training.
"Just because you're paired boy-girl doesn't mean you can mess around up there. Line up quickly! Hey! Pay attention!"
Jin Mi shouted, glaring at the kids disapprovingly.
The more her sharp tone continued, the narrower her already slanted eyes became.
Jin Mi's hysterics were so infamous that no one was unaware of them.
Some kids had even secretly scoped out older, unmarried uncles to calm her down.
Despite her irritation, the kids grumbled but had no choice except to follow her instructions.
"What era is this? Who even does dare training anymore?"
"Right? If you wanted to do this so bad, you should've just done it yourself, teacher."
"There'll be ghosts up there. Take pictures of all three, and you'll get a prize. Special prize if you snap a pic with a ghost. Sounds fun, right?"
Thirty years ago, retreats always included dare training.
Thanks to that, Jin Mi reminisced excitedly about the time she first held a boy's hand.
But the kids were indifferent.
They were more intrigued by her sudden mood swings.
At that, Jin Mi narrowed her eyes again and yelled.
"No response?"
"Yes......"
And so the dare training began.
Pairs from the front headed up the mountain one by one.
Kids in the middle secretly swapped places or fell back, and unexpectedly, good fortune came to Cho-hee.
She was paired with Jun-woo.
It felt like even the heavens were cheering her on—her heart soared.
This time, she'd do it right.
"Hi."
Cho-hee greeted him with a gentle smile, softly brushing back her long hair.
Her glossy locks shone even brighter in the moonlight.
"Yeah."
"Ever done anything like this?"
"Nope."
"Afraid of ghosts?"
"Nope."
His responses were curt, but Cho-hee pressed on undeterred.
"You two, what's up?"
"Hey, check out those leggings. So embarrassing. She wore them on purpose for the boys, right?"
"Flirting with our Jun-woo."
"She's the worst."
Whispers from the girls behind drifted over.
She knew they were talking about her, but Cho-hee didn't care.
No, she was actually enjoying it.
'You can't even talk to Park Jun-woo, but just standing here with him, we look like the perfect couple.'
She was mocking them inwardly.
Despite her persistent questions, his gaze stayed fixed in one spot.
With a sidelong glance, he looked at A-jin, a few rows back.
A-jin was paired with Ho-jin.
'Will she hold her breath again and turn yellow-faced?'
He recalled her from the bus last time, holding her breath next to Ho-jin.
"Next up, Jun-woo and Cho-hee. Come back safe, top of the school."
It was his turn.
Jin Mi gave Jun-woo an especially warm look as she signaled their start.
It would've been fun to see her surprised face.
Regretting not being paired with A-jin, Jun-woo headed up the mountain.
Being a small hill, the course wasn't long.
The moonlight was bright, so it wasn't as dark as expected, but the dare training vibe made the bluish light feel eerie.
Cho-hee offered her trembling hand to Jun-woo.
"I'm so scared. Can I hold on?"
"......"
Jun-woo gave no real reply to her plea.
Taking it as silent permission, Cho-hee hooked her arm through his and pressed her body close.
Jun-woo frowned at the unfamiliar sensation.
Regardless of interest, a girl's chest was touching his body.
Embarrassed and uncomfortable, he tried to pull his arm free, but her frightened eyes pleaded desperately.
"Back off a little."
He couldn't be too harsh, so he created some space instead.
Even at that slight distance, they walked the set course, still close.
"If I hurt your feelings with what I did to Jong-min, I'm sorry."
"......"
"I just like you so much that I couldn't think of anything else. I didn't have the spare thought to consider others' feelings. Because you don't like me."
"......"
"Do you hate me that much?"
He didn't answer.
Tilting her head to catch his eye, eyebrows raised as if begging him to look at her, she gazed at his expressionless face, wondering what he was thinking.
Then he spoke.
"I don't hate you."
"Huh?"
I don't hate you.
What did that mean?
It could mean many things, but for now, she was happy.
She focused on the "don't."
His ambiguous single phrase made her happier than all the "I love you"s and "I like you"s from countless guys.
"I just don't like you."
But that joy didn't last.
Again, she fixated on the "don't."
Not liking nor hating her—he was indifferent.
Suddenly, tears burst from Cho-hee.
Hurt boiled in her gut and rose, turning to tears.
She'd never truly been rejected before, nor would she be.
She'd gotten everything she wanted. Except her dad......
But here he was, rejecting her firmly time and again. She resented him so much.
"Why am I not good enough? How could I not be good enough?"
She'd faked tears plenty of times in front of guys, pretending remorse to make amends. Outside of that, she rarely cried.
But now, even holding back, the tears wouldn't stop.
She felt endlessly upset, tears streaming nonstop.
At that sight, he let out a long sigh.
Had he made another girl cry......
He'd never intended to make anyone cry.
Seeing A-jin's angry, teary face sometimes made him want to tease her more, but he'd never deliberately made a girl cry.
Faced with this familiar situation again, Jun-woo looked troubled and bored.
With nothing he could do, he just waited for Cho-hee to stop crying when—
"Kyaaak!"
A zombie jumped out.
"Aaah!!"
Cho-hee screamed, terrified at the zombie face shoved right in hers, and toppled backward.
"You okay?"
Jun-woo reached out to help the fallen Cho-hee up.
She grabbed his hand to stand but collapsed back down.
"Ah!! I can't get up."
"Why? Hurt?"
"I think I twisted my ankle. It hurts so much."
"Hold on to me and stand slowly."
"I really can't. It hurts too much."
Jun-woo grew frustrated with the increasingly tangled situation.
"Let me check."
He carefully touched her ankle.
It didn't seem broken, but she probably couldn't walk.
Cho-hee whimpered in pain.
"Ah...... It hurts."
They still had a long way down the mountain.
Limping, she might not make it by tonight.
After a moment's thought, he offered his back.
"Get on."
"Huh?"
"I said get on."
"Yeah. We gotta go down."
For a moment, her mind blanked in shock.
But fearing he'd change his mind, Cho-hee quickly snapped to and hurriedly climbed onto his broad back.
She resented the zombie that twisted her ankle, but now she was grateful for the piggyback ride.
His body heat was warm and cozy.
Cho-hee wished time would freeze like this.
Dry leaves crunched underfoot, silence flowing between them.
Then Jun-woo broke it.
"I think rejections should be clear. I don't want to give false hope when I won't accept. You might feel hurt now, but I see this as the polite way."
Jun-woo's iron wall was legendary. No matter pleading desperately with tears and snot, hovering daily, or showering gifts—his attitude never changed.
Firm rejection. No loopholes. Perfectly denying even hope.
Having received countless confessions, even he had been hurt.
The rejectee's pain goes without saying, but the rejector wasn't unscathed.
He'd never asked to be liked or hoped for confessions, yet after each, he became the world's biggest jerk.
"How can you be so sure? That you won't like me? You never know with people."
"I know."
"Is there someone you like?"
"......"
'No way, there really is?'
A chill crept over her skin unpleasantly.
"No. There isn't."
'No, there is someone you like.'
His tone, his demeanor—every nerve in her sharpened sensitively.
"Give me a chance anyway."
She clung stubbornly, refusing to give up.
"Waak!!!"
Then, a maiden ghost in a white shroud, long wig dangling, appeared dramatically.
"Kyaa!!"
Cho-hee screamed again in fright and buried her face in Jun-woo's back.
He staggered from the motion.
Already tough, now a ghost made it worse.
Jun-woo glared irritably at the maiden ghost.
"Ah, seriously!"
It was Jong-min.
Sweat-soaked, hair plastered to his face, he stared at them in bewilderment.
"What're you two doing?"
"......"
"Why's Cho-hee on your back......"
Unaware of the situation, Jong-min misunderstood them.
Like they'd betrayed him, he looked shocked, eyes flicking between them.
His eyes blazed, demanding an explanation.
Hearing the story, Jong-min softened and worried for Cho-hee.
"I see. Must've hurt bad, Cho-hee."
"I'm fine."
"I'll carry you down now."
"What?"
Jong-min offered his back, urging her to switch.
Cho-hee shook her head, unwilling to leave Jun-woo's.
"You've walked far already. Downhill's tough—get on me."
"Ah, no. You have to do ghost duty. More kids coming up."
"Yeah? Then you do ghost."
Jong-min plopped the wig on Jun-woo's head and scooped Cho-hee up in his arms.
"What're you doing?"
Jun-woo panicked at the long hair blocking his vision and yanked off the wig.
"Just scare the kids when they come. We'll head down first."
Jong-min left the wig and carried Cho-hee off.
Left alone, Jun-woo stared at the wig in disbelief, while Cho-hee gazed longingly at him like a dragged ox, then glared at oblivious Jong-min.
And in that time, thoroughly spooked A-jin was climbing up the mountain.
