Chapter 106
Ryu Eun-seok’s behavior was walking a fine line. It was a bit much to say about someone who was supposedly just a close classmate. It felt like he might blurt out that the two of us were dating at any moment.
“What do you mean, consent? Are you Hong Sang-hee’s guardian or something?”
“I’m not her guardian.”
Ryu Eun-seok’s gaze shifted toward me.
“But we’re close enough that I’d deliberately match my schedule with hers.”
“…You two matched your schedules?”
Joo Seung-jae looked back and forth between me and Ryu Eun-seok. At that moment, I sincerely wanted to run out of the classroom.
“Yeah. Why else would a second-year student deliberately take a third-year class?”
Ryu Eun-seok answered with a casual shrug. Meanwhile, Shim Chan-mi stared at me with wide eyes, as though she’d only just discovered the existence of Hong Sang-hee.
“I’m taking this class so I can do the group project with Sang-hee.”
“Why? Are you trying to ride Hong Sang-hee’s bus too?”
Joo Seung-jae let out a loud scoff. It was funny hearing that from the person who wanted to ride my bus more than anyone else.
“You’re one to talk.”
Ryu Eun-seok’s reply was sharp enough to sting the nose.
He’d always hidden a dab of wasabi beneath that pretty smile, but only people as perceptive as I was ever noticed it. It was the filling concealed inside—something he almost never showed so openly.
Even when Park Tae-hyun had treated him like a penniless nobody at the end-of-semester gathering, hadn’t he just laughed it off?
“Hey, Eun-seok. You’ve gotten pretty prickly over break, huh?”
The corners of Joo Seung-jae’s mouth trembled. He seemed to be trying to smile, but it wasn’t working.
“I heard you got into it with Do-wan at the sports festival. You think even your seniors are easy to mess with now?”
“As if. I was just joking, hyung.”
Unlike Joo Seung-jae, Ryu Eun-seok was skilled at smiling.
“I’m one of the passengers who wants to ride Sang-hee’s bus too.”
The way his eyes curved into crescents made it hard to believe those barbed words had come out of his mouth only moments ago. Even Joo Seung-jae, who’d been the target of them, was standing there with his mouth half open, looking as though he’d already forgotten what had just been said.
“Sang-hee, you’re eating at the cafeteria, right? Let’s go.”
Slipping his backpack over one shoulder, Ryu Eun-seok jerked his chin toward the door. Joo Seung-jae’s gaze landed on the key ring dangling from his backpack.
I’d already told him we weren’t going to eat together, but Ryu Eun-seok deliberately backed me into a situation where I couldn’t refuse. With everyone watching, how could I coldly tell him no? Right now, indulging him was a different matter. I just didn’t want to embarrass him in front of everyone.
I awkwardly got to my feet while covering the key ring hanging behind my back with my hand. I knew I looked strange, but I couldn’t help it. Anyone who saw it would think it was a matching couple item, and my face burned with embarrassment.
The smile on Ryu Eun-seok’s lips vanished the moment we stepped out of the classroom. His displeasure was so obvious that I couldn’t bring myself to speak to him. He looked even more upset than he had when he first walked into class.
But I was the one put in an awkward position because he’d interfered like that. He’d almost broken the promise we’d made between ourselves. If Joo Seung-jae had caught on, our secret agreement would have been as good as broken.
I silently put up with him joking around with Shim Chan-mi. If anyone had the right to be angry, shouldn’t it have been me? But Ryu Eun-seok beat me to it, leaving me with no chance to say a word.
We crossed the hallway without speaking. Even while I stood in front of the kiosk choosing my meal, Ryu Eun-seok stayed behind me in silence. When I selected the set meal, he casually changed the number of meal tickets to two and simply tapped his own card to pay.
The longer Ryu Eun-seok kept his mouth shut, the worse I felt. It had only been two days since we’d agreed not to fight anymore and to get along, yet here we were, sulking in silence again. It was suffocating.
After picking up my tray, I headed for the row of tables by the window. I felt like I’d get indigestion if I had to sit facing Ryu Eun-seok while we ate. I even put my backpack on the seat beside me on purpose so he wouldn’t sit there.
But Ryu Eun-seok swept my backpack aside and took the seat next to me. Our two bags, each hanging with the same key ring, ended up resting together on the empty chair.
“Why do you keep breaking our promise?”
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