DI Ch 99

As soon as Lee Na-eun finished her confession, a loud noise rang out before I could react. It was nothing else, but the box in the student rep’s hand fell to the floor.

“You crazy, I told you not to drop it!”

“Ah! What the, Jin Do-kyung!”

Kim Young-ji and Lee Na-eun shouted at the same time. Lee Na-eun became thoughtful and swept up the rolling belongings. I thought I should help him, but I was too shocked because I didn’t expect to suddenly receive a confession. Woo Ji-min clicked his tongue and packed his bag.

“I thought someone from the second year would come out first. Your classmates are the fastest. They were all timing it, and she made the first move. It’s the time of youth.”

“What?”

“You don’t even flinch when girls look at you like that, but your reaction is refreshing?”

Woo Ji-min shrugged his shoulders as if there was nothing to worry about.

“Weren’t you aware that there were girls trying to make a move on you at drinking parties? Honestly, you seemed so busy drinking, or no, that’s not it. Was it that you weren’t interested in girls?”

I left him mumbling, then grabbed the terrace railing and leaned down slightly. The confession was directed at me, but the impact seemed to be greater on the other side.

“Lee Na-eun.”

“Yeah?”

I looked at Lee Na-eun, who turned away with a bright and shy embarrassed expression. At the same time, I felt Woo Ji-min getting up from his seat behind me. First, I have to go eat something.

“Sorry. I have a lover.”

Lee Na-eun’s smiling face slowly disappeared. Strangely enough, Kim Young-ji and the student rep also had the same reaction. I blinked my eyes in confusion at the cold response, but then turned my head away, wondering if it would work. There was Woo Ji-min with squinting eyes as if to tell me that I’m good at such things.

“No, it’s not like that…”

I shook my head hurriedly, scared that a ridiculous misunderstanding might arise… An idea occurred to me on how to take down Kang Moo-hyun.

***

“No, that’s not it.”

Woo Ji-min lowered his chopsticks onto the dining table and rubbed his forehead. After gently shaking his head, he took a slow breath and spoke.

“I too would like him to disappear from my life if possible. But I don’t want to go as far as to solve the problem by opening my hands to others.”

Strange. Honestly, I expected him to agree and enthusiastically support my idea when he heard it. I thought it was really horrible that Kang Moo-hyun always hovered around people and manipulated people behind their backs… It’s a simple strategy to pretend to be dating. Why reject it? If I thought about it carefully, I might understand him, but my confused mind couldn’t come up with a proper answer.

“Surely, Sunbae, you’re not attached to him, right?”

As I asked with a drowsy voice, his expression changed abruptly, like a wild beast. The atmosphere turned cold to the point where it felt refreshing as if my hazy head had cleared up. He closed his lips as if he would curse, but then Woo Ji-min calmly continued speaking.

“… I’m thankful that you believe what that bastard Kang Moo-hyun did to me. But this is my business. I’ll handle it on my own, so just eat your meal.”

He pushed side dishes in front of me, telling me that I needed to eat well to take medicine. Ironically, I think he was the one who should eat well.

I chewed the dried yellow corvina flesh in my mouth, which smells delicious, and thought for a moment. Maybe it was still bearable because it was only the first part?

Well, he couldn’t predict that his future life would take a major turn because of Kang Moo-hyun. Or was he worried that the rumor would spread further and become a scandal?

“And you have a lover. Even if a person with a lover helps, it’s not something to do.”

Instead of stubbornly refusing, Woo Ji-min draws a vague line by arguing otherwise. I was a little embarrassed, so I scratched the back of my neck and nodded.

“Of course, I will say it separately. I’m just pretending to get rid of a stalker, or rather a strange person, who is attached to a senior I know. Probably if I explain it well… they will understand?”

“Yeah, they probably won’t.”

At his words, I stopped scooping up a spoonful of rice and pursed my lips. I had lost my appetite and couldn’t move my hands. I rubbed my tired eyes and parted my lips with difficulty.

“I will try to convince them. If I explained it well, they might understand… at least consider it.”

Not saying it would prick my conscience, but saying it would surely be rejected. I couldn’t make a decision. He was too possessive…

More than that, I was a little worried about whether this method would work on Kang Moo-hyun. It’s a matter of course not to show any more interest when your crush gets a lover.

It would have been normal to give up if possible, so I hoped this method would work, but I was uneasy because he was so stubborn. I wondered if there was a ghost attached to him with some kind of madness in his ancestors or if he was a bit strange…

I couldn’t anticipate his reaction well. Last semester, there was no noticeable reaction when I sat next to him or ate together, probably because he didn’t find it annoying.

Should I at least graze the back of my hand in front of me? I will have to think about different situations and make other plans. With a dazed head, I finally gathered my thoughts and quenched my thirst. I continued to feel sleepy, so even though I drank a lot of cold water, I was still dizzy and had to bite my tongue to come to my senses.

“I don’t know. He is such a wall-to-wall person that he lives with his ears closed. Because of that, I suffered for almost two years. No matter what I do, it doesn’t work? Anyway, I’m a bit skeptical. If more strange rumors spread, I think it will be a pain in the ass. I’m used to it, but you’re not in good health, how can you handle it so easily?”

“Sunbae. I have nothing to lose.”

“…”

Woo Ji-min looked at me like I was crazy, then calmly took a sip of cold water. I felt like yawning along with the throbbing of his throat, but I managed to hold it back.

“Can’t you try it once?”

In response to my persistent, non-demanding request, he raised both hands, and he crossed his arms, and slowly backed away.

“I’ll think about it once you get permission from your lover.”

…Even if it’s just pretending to be a fake lover, if the other person actually has a real lover, it’s not respectful. I understood his reluctance, but he seemed to be overly cautious, making me confused again. No, actually, I could be sure of it.

I guess he really met Tae Seong-je.

Normally, well, normally there might be such a case, but if, for example, I had to pretend to be dating Woo Ji-min, who has a girlfriend… I felt it would be quite complicated and awkward. Well, it was understandable because the other person was a man who liked women.

However, Woo Ji-min just expressed his disapproval by telling me to come after permission. It seemed like he pretended not to know but was aware that the person I was meeting was a man. In my confused mind, the image of Tae Seong-je and Woo Ji-min smiling affectionately was drawn and dispersed in an instant in my confused mind.

“Are you okay? Your complexion… Do you feel like you might faint? Do you want to lie down?”

“No, it’s not… Just a moment, I’m a bit dizzy.”

Tae Seong-je knows that I don’t have many acquaintances. He must have known that he couldn’t stay by my side when classes started. Since he mentioned seeing my phone, it would be understandable if he met me to ask for a favor from the person who contacts me most often at school. The reason was probably because he was worried about me.

Now, the novel’s development doesn’t have to be exactly the same. I wasn’t scared that they met quickly. Above all, the two have no connection. Because Tae Seong-je has no intention of revenge. But when… He was always by my side, so when did he find the time to meet with him?

Woo Ji-min, who was sitting across from me, came next to me, patted my shoulder, and said.

“Well, I’ll just sit next to you, so if you’re not feeling well, let me know, okay?”

“…”

I nodded and buried my face in my hands, using the excuse of dizziness as an excuse. I repeatedly inhaled and exhaled, releasing the breath I took. I dug my nails into my face and scratched my forehead slowly. It caused a slight pain, but my head didn’t clear up.

What if Tae Seong-je liked Woo Ji-min? What if Tae Seong-je wants to meet him again using me as an excuse? What if Tae Seong-je asks me not to meet him again? What would he say if I asked him why? What should I say if I tell him the truth and he asks if I’m jealous of the person he asked to look after me because he’s worried about me…

I couldn’t open my mouth because his dry hands were so warm as he worried about me without knowing anything about the situation. I lowered both my hands and looked down at his hands. Woo Ji-min’s thin and long hands were smaller than mine, but they were rough with hard calluses and had many small wounds that were close to scratches.

Tae Seong-je immediately came to mind, as did Seo Seung-won’s hands, which I would believe he grew up without hardship and even played the piano. His hand is now also mine. The only scar that remained was a callus on the finger that held the pen.

Why does Tae Seong-je love me?

We don’t have anything in common, we don’t communicate well, and I’m just being a nuisance, why does he… Why does he love me so much? Even if he has plenty of time, why would he try to heal the illness of a lover he met only six months ago? Is it pity? Just with that, the affectionate gaze, which seemed too good to be true weighed on my heart.

What does he see in me that makes him pour his time, sincerity, and heart into me?

“Seung… -won…”

“Ah yes?”

“Are you very sleepy?”

It looks like I dozed off again. I quickly shook my head and rubbed my eyes. Stop getting sleepy. Just stop…

“Hey. You’ll get hurt. Did something get in your eye? Why are you rubbing it so hard?”

Despite the fact that he had most likely heard the story, he gently wiped the area around my eyes while looking puzzled. His hands were cold. Yet the person is warm.

Woo Ji-min cooled my body temperature, which had become lukewarm. But suddenly he flinched and screamed.

“Ah, it surprised me! What the heck?!”

I turned around to see what was going on. Someone stood tall across the window, staring at us. I slightly furrowed my brow with a blank expression. The backlight made it difficult to see clearly, and the silhouette, which was slightly taller than Woo Ji-min, was unfamiliar.

“Huh, just leaving? What’s wrong with that bastard Jin Do-kyung? Staring like that and just leaving? Crazy bastard. Didn’t even look like that, but that guy is a real lunatic.”

Who is Jin Do-kyung? Probably someone he knew. I turned my head again to see him, but I couldn’t see him as he had already left.

“I saw the shadow and looked like it was doing something. Ah, I thought it was that bastard Kang Moo-hyun.”

He must have been very surprised to the point of clutching his chest and swearing in a rough voice.  It must have been a headache just thinking about dealing with Kang Moo-hyun, so I patted his shoulder in sympathy, thinking that he was in a lot of trouble because of all these men. I felt bad for being jealous of someone so innocent and quiet.