Chapter 107
“So I’m just supposed to sit there and keep watching guys like Joo Seung-jae wedge themselves between us?”
Ryu Eun-seok’s voice was so cold that I even hesitated to pick up my spoon. There was a world of difference between vaguely assuming he was angry and actually hearing that flat, chilled tone.
With my shoulders slumped, I quietly scooped up some soup. His sour mood was beginning to infect me. And that was completely different from simply feeling down on my own.
The good thing about having no friends was that there was zero chance of someone else’s actions affecting my mood.
My emotions belonged to me alone, safely protected behind an impenetrable fortress. Every now and then, if someone like Kim Do-wan came along and splattered filth all over it, I could just go cry quietly beneath the acacia tree and pull myself back together.
But when the person glaring because of me wasn’t just a friend but my boyfriend, what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t apologize because I honestly had no idea what I’d done wrong, and I wasn’t smooth enough to laugh it off and lighten the mood.
“…Damn.”
The quiet curse from beside me made the back of my neck stiffen.
When I cautiously glanced over, Ryu Eun-seok was staring at his phone with his jaw clenched.
“What’s wrong?”
“I keep getting these weird DMs.”
With an irritated motion, Ryu Eun-seok flipped his phone face down. Then, a beat later, he noticed me looking at him and forced his expression to soften as he met my eyes.
“I’m not angry at you.”
The sharp edge disappeared from his voice as well.
“I’m just frustrated with myself.”
It was his way of saying we should stop having a conversation that was only draining the both of us. It was what I wanted too, so I didn’t press the issue any further.
But I couldn’t completely relax.
We would probably end up fighting over the same thing again. At its core, this conflict existed because he and I came from fundamentally different worlds. This ceasefire was nothing more than a temporary fix.
I had a feeling that someday the gap between us would grow so wide that our habitual reconciliations would no longer work.
For someone like me, who wasn’t used to getting close to people—or fighting with them—it was a terrifying future to imagine.
Before our afternoon class, we stopped by the café as usual. I ordered my regular iced Americano and was waiting in front of the pickup counter when someone poked me in the shoulder.
When I turned around, I saw Song Hyuk-jun and Lee Dong-ha.
“Noona, hello. Hyung, long time no see.”
There were also several younger female students whose names I didn’t know. Among them stood Kwon Ga-ram, wearing a sullen expression.
Ryu Eun-seok exchanged cheerful greetings with the student representative and asked how he’d been doing.
But my gaze drifted awkwardly toward past Lee Dong-ha, who was forcing the corners of his mouth into a smile, and landed on Kwon Ga-ram, who was biting her lower lip.
The expressions on their faces looked as if they’d stumbled upon something they shouldn’t have seen and were forcing themselves to keep quiet. It was as though something had clearly upset them, but this wasn’t the right time to show it, so they were swallowing it down.
“Sang-hee, your coffee.”
Ryu Eun-seok held out my takeaway cup with the straw already inserted.
In the crowded café, it wasn’t easy to keep a proper distance from Ryu Eun-seok while staying conscious of everyone else’s eyes.
“See you later.”
Even then, Lee Dong-ha barely bothered to say goodbye and didn’t say a single word to me. Kwon Ga-ram, who normally smiled sweetly at the sight of Ryu Eun-seok, simply stepped back into a corner with all the color drained from her face.
“What’s with them?”
I whispered the question to Ryu Eun-seok. Holding the door open for me, he raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean?”
“Their expressions were weird.”
“Were they? I didn’t notice.”
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Ryu Eun-seok started walking toward the Business Building.
I caught hold of the strap of his backpack.
“Don’t you have a general education class in the Humanities Building?”
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