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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Are You Jealous?
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I had decided to cheer for Cho-hee.
No, I should have cheered for her.
She was my closest friend, after all.
So why did I feel this emptiness?
I felt disappointed and hurt toward Jun-woo.
But who was that girl?
Kim Ji-yeon's sudden appearance had even left A-jin baffled, watching closely.
When he said he had someone he liked, the hurt from seeing the video had eased a bit.
Still, he wouldn't say it was her, right?
With everything so unresolved right now, he surely wouldn't say that.
Their eyes met, and she panicked, quickly looking away.
“Are you dating that person?”
Kim Ji-yeon asked.
She was thinking, We're not dating.
But he answered.
“Yeah.”
Her heart sank.
He got a girlfriend in the meantime?
How long had it been since he said he liked me?
* * *
“Cho-hee, are you dating Park Jun-woo?”
It felt like she'd heard this question more than a hundred times since morning.
Cho-hee just responded to her friends' questions with a light laugh.
She neither denied nor confirmed it, so it wasn't a lie.
But she knew her smile was answer enough.
The boys looked disappointed, while the girls shot her jealous, envious glances.
These were the looks she'd hoped for.
She sat there haughtily, savoring them.
Then came unexpected news.
“No way! Park Jun-woo has a girlfriend. Just got a text from a friend.”
‘A girlfriend?’
Cho-hee perked up at her friend's words about the text.
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Kim Ji-yeon, right? She came and asked him. If he was dating her.”
Her friend nodded toward Cho-hee as she spoke.
“And?”
“He said he likes someone else. They're dating.”
The kids' voices grew quieter.
Soon, mocking stares poured onto Cho-hee.
“What? She got the wrong idea all by herself?”
“Looks like it. Must be super embarrassing.”
The kids snickered about her.
The classroom buzzed with exciting gossip, full of energy.
Only Cho-hee sat in the middle, clenching her fist in rage.
‘When did I ever say we were dating? They assumed on their own. Fine, mock me all you want.’
She didn't care what they thought.
They could laugh at her as much as they wanted.
But Jun-woo having a girlfriend? That was not okay.
Already dating Kang A-jin?
Cho-hee misunderstood that the girlfriend was A-jin.
Anger surged up.
Blood began to bead on her bitten lip.
* * *
A-jin ran into Jun-woo in the hallway.
She tried to dodge right, but he blocked her by stepping left.
She tried left next.
He blocked her by stepping right.
She snapped at him, annoyed at the childish game.
“What are you doing?”
Her irritation carried her hurt feelings toward him.
“You seem to be misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding?”
“I was just helping Han Cho-hee out of a tough spot.”
“I know. I'm grateful for that.”
She said she was grateful, but her face showed no sign of it.
Her snippy tone avoided his eyes completely.
Her blank-canvas face revealed every emotion she felt right now.
What a transparent face.
“Are you mad?”
At his question, A-jin let out a disbelieving scoff.
Even on her usually gentle face, a sharp expression emerged.
He shouldn't, but Jun-woo found her expression amusing and endearing.
It felt like she was jealous, and that made him happy.
“Me? Why would I be mad?”
‘I'd only be mad if there was reason to be, right?’
A-jin turned her head away, insisting absolutely not.
Her jealousy was so cute he nearly burst out laughing.
But laughing now would just rile her up more.
Jun-woo barely held back his smile.
“Yeah? Good then. Makes sense—you don't have feelings for me, so no reason to be mad.”
“Right. No feelings at all, so why get mad?”
A-jin nodded vigorously, claiming she knew her own heart.
Even her jealousy was adorable.
In the end, he let out a small chuckle.
At the laugh, A-jin demanded an explanation, annoyed.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Are you jealous?”
“What? Jealous?”
Her voice rose at his question.
She acted shocked, calling it absurd, but it was an emotion only she didn't realize.
She was definitely jealous.
“Yeah. Jealous. You got upset seeing me hug another girl.”
“No, I'm not.”
“Feels like you are.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Absolutely yes.”
“Are you playing word games right now?”
She got fed up with him.
“No.”
“It's not because you hugged Cho-hee.”
“Then what?”
“How soon after confessing to me do you start dating someone else? Though I guess for a handsome guy like you, everything's easy.”
“That was the reason?”
It exceeded his expectations.
Her feelings showing more than expected made him feel great.
“Anyway, who you date is none of my business. Have fun!”
A-jin glared at him, eyes narrowed to slits.
Her look screamed she found him infuriating.
Her narrowed eyes, her pouted lips—everything was lovable. He wanted to pinch her chubby cheeks and stretch them.
“Yeah. Thanks. I'll do my best.”
Since he'd troubled her heart, he planned to tease a bit more.
Jun-woo nodded gratefully.
Her eyes drooped sadly.
She seemed to hope he'd say no, that it was another misunderstanding.
She shoved his shoulder and stormed into the classroom.
“Did I tease her too much?”
He worried it might backfire, but he thought this was the only way to make her obsess over him more.
* * *
On the late walk home, the bus was empty.
Jun-woo boarded and reached for his back pocket to pull out his wallet.
But it wasn't there.
Maybe in his bag? He took it off and searched.
“Oh, right.”
He suddenly remembered giving money to Jong-min at lunch and stashing it in his desk drawer.
‘Damn it! Choi Jong-min.’
“Sorry. I'll get off.”
He apologized to the driver and tried to exit, but a urgent voice called out as someone boarded.
“Wait, pleeease! Thank you.”
It was A-jin.
She tapped her transit card and asked Jun-woo.
“Getting off?”
“Forgot my wallet.”
“School gate's locked.”
“Student, you getting off?”
The driver asked Jun-woo as they chatted by the door.
“Oh, yeah.”
He answered the driver and headed for the front door.
A-jin grabbed him.
“Mister, one more tap please.”
She tapped her card again and went to the back.
Thanks to her, Jun-woo stayed on and followed to the back.
She took the second-to-last seat, and he sat next to her, removing his bag.
A-jin eyed him—why sit next to me?
Jun-woo eyed back—why not?
A-jin eyed—nothing wrong with it—and turned to the window.
“Thanks.”
“Huh?”
“Bus fare. I'll pay you back tomorrow.”
“It's not much. But now I have to go get my wallet—did I pay for nothing?”
“It's in the drawer. Grab it tomorrow.”
After his reply, their conversation paused.
A-jin stared out the window at the rushing buildings.
Then she noticed her reflection.
Her hair was quite messy at the ends.
A-jin finger-combed it into place.
Then she glanced back at him in the reflection.
His gaze was on her.
His look toward her felt affectionate.
Lately, experiencing love for the first time, Jun-woo was learning a lot.
Everything was new.
Caring about someone else, letting someone else sway his emotions—it was all firsts.
Someone else being more important than himself was new too.
He'd rejoice and grieve, feel hurt and frustrated over trivial things.
Sometimes it bruised his pride.
Unlike problems with set answers, she had none.
That's why she was hard.
His steady graph of life shook like an earthquake.
He could finally empathize, just a little, with the girls who'd liked him before, whose feelings he'd never understood.
She turned to him.
Her eyes asked why he was staring.
He answered.
“Movie on Saturday.”
“What?”
“Let's watch a movie.”
Her expression turned indifferent.
“Why? Not watching with your girlfriend?”
Ah... she's still misunderstanding.
Time to clear it up.
“I don't have a girlfriend.”
Her eyes widened at his words.
They seemed to ask, ‘But you said you did?’
“That time...”
“She was being annoying, so...”
“Then why lie to me too?”
“'Cause I liked seeing you jealous.”
She puffed her lips.
“I told you, not jealous.”
“Yeah, sure, not jealous.”
“It's not ‘sure,’ it really isn't.”
“Okay, got it. But you really don't care?”
“Nothing to care about.”
She couldn't lie well, yet kept lying.
He wanted to see more of her jealous self, but pushing might really upset her, so he stopped.
“Yeah. Too bad. Since you don't care at all, let's watch a movie.”
“Why does it turn into...”
“You can find the theater on your own, right?”
“Am I an idiot?”
“Oh, you're not an idiot. Was gonna pick you up if you couldn't find it.”
“I can go alone.”
Her pride pricked, she got prickly.
Her cuteness brought a pleased smile to his lips.
And so, she unwittingly accepted his date.
* * *
She was to meet Jun-woo in front of the theater.
After getting ready, as she headed out, her phone rang—Cho-hee.
She felt a pang of guilt and hesitated before answering.
“Hey, Cho-hee.”
—A-jin. What're you up to? Heading to your place.
“Oh... sorry. I have to go to Grandma's.”
—Okay, got it.
Her first lie to Cho-hee.
It slipped out reflexively without thinking.
Why did I lie?
Her heart felt uneasy.
I shouldn't do this to Cho-hee.
Guilt washed over her.
But she cared about him too.
She couldn't be sure, but her feelings for him were real enough.
“I guess... I have to turn her down.”
Dragging her stuffy heart, she stepped outside.
She tried to put her phone from her hand into her crossbag.
Distracted, she slipped it between her bag and clothes instead.
The phone dropped straight to the ground.
She picked it up fast, but the screen was already cracked badly.
“No... no way.”
She could see the screen, but touch didn't work.
She had time before the meetup, but no spare for repairs.
