Chapter 114
“No way…”
“Come on, all of a sudden? There’s been no talk about that.”
“I heard he’s been hanging out with a female senior lately.”
I quickly threw the wet tissue in the trash and turned away. Fearing someone might call out “Excuse me” from behind, I hurried my steps. My heart shrank as if I had done something wrong. I couldn’t even breathe properly until I was completely out of the business building.
Going up to the dormitory, I opened an app I hadn’t accessed in a while. Moving my trembling fingertips, I desperately wished that what the freshmen had been chattering about was just pointless gossip. That it was only an overactive imagination born from excessive curiosity about Ryu Eun-seok.
Tapping on Ryu Eun-seok’s profile, a mouthwatering photo of a burger immediately appeared. At a glance, the combination of juicy meat patties and fresh vegetables was all that caught the eye.
But squinting and focusing, I saw a slender finger caught near the upper edge of the photo.
The focus was blurry, but anyone could tell it was a woman’s.
I wondered how anyone could notice such a small detail, but then sparks of resentment flew toward Ryu Eun-seok for posting a photo like this in the first place. Couldn’t he have cropped it? What was so special about a burger that he had to record it on Instagram?
I was about to message Ryu Eun-seok to take the photo down. But before that, my phone buzzed briefly. The moment I saw the name on the screen, it felt as if all the blood in my body had drained to my feet.
[Yang Soo-bin: Unnie!]
At the cutesy greeting, I swallowed dryly. I only checked the preview, being careful not to accidentally tap the message.
[Yang Soo-bin: Are your classes over? Can we meet for a bit?]
Why on earth did she want to meet me? Perhaps because of what I’d heard in the bathroom earlier, a bad feeling crept closer.
[Yang Soo-bin: I’ll come to the business building!!]
Ah, I want to run away. I want to pretend I never saw it forever. Why had I given this person my contact information back then? I should have refused. It would have been fine to just get cursed out once for being unpleasant.
As I held out without reading the message, Yang Soo-bin eventually called. The phone vibrating in my hand in a steady rhythm was driving me out of my mind.
I couldn’t ignore the call. Even if I pretended to be busy and didn’t answer, I intuitively knew Yang Soo-bin would keep trying.
I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed the answer button. My voice, tight with tension and worry, leaked out quietly.
“Hello.”
—Unnie, it’s me, Soo-bin. Do you have any classes left?
“No, I’m done…”
With other juniors, casual speech came easily, but strangely, I couldn’t find my confidence in front of Yang Soo-bin. Where had the courage to slide my tray next to Ryu Eun-seok while she watched come from, and where had it gone?
—Then let’s meet in front of the business building. I’ll be there soon.
Without waiting for my answer, Yang Soo-bin hung up. Walking back down the hill to the one-sided appointment, I felt like a dog being dragged by its leash. It felt as if I had ten sandbags tied to each ankle.
The place we agreed to meet was the wisteria bench behind the business building. The place where she had cried pitifully over her birthday, and where Ryu Eun-seok had probably consoled her.
Yang Soo-bin was pretty even from a distance. She had natural good looks and the sense to match them.
I was honestly curious. Didn’t Ryu Eun-seok also think she was pretty? With her feelings for him so obvious, didn’t he ever feel like dating her?
For no reason, I took off my glasses and wiped them on the hem of my shirt. Should I have kept the lenses in? Even Song Hyuk-jun had said I looked better that way.
I hated how I kept comparing my appearance in front of Yang Soo-bin. Whether I wore thick glasses or dressed comfortably, none of it had ever affected who I was.
But ever since I met Ryu Eun-seok—more precisely, ever since I started caring about his feelings—I had been showering multiple times a day, enduring the discomfort of lenses, and rummaging through the cosmetics my mom had bought me.
Even while making myself uncomfortable with superficial adornments, I didn’t want to fall behind in Ryu Eun-seok’s eyes.
To be more honest, because Ryu Eun-seok was handsome, I was binding myself to the idea that I had to be on a similar level to date him. I had naturally placed myself below him and put Ryu Eun-seok above me.
Had my self-esteem always been this low?
Yang Soo-bin reached the wisteria bench.
“Unnie, did you have a good vacation?”
As she greeted me familiarly, her gaze moved from my shirt to my fingertips, then to my bag—specifically, to the keyring dangling from the zipper.
The purpose of her calling me here was revealed by the direction of her eyes.
“Why did you want to meet?”
Without beating around the bush, I asked the question I had rehearsed in my mind. Yang Soo-bin laughed brightly and tapped my arm.
“Unnie, you’re so impatient.”
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