Chapter 9

I passed by Choi Ahyeon’s group and came to the cafeteria with Yena.

If we’ve come this far… maybe we’ll actually naturally have a meal together, just the two of us.

And my prediction flowed as smoothly as water, without any surprises.

We naturally stood in line, received our trays, and sat facing each other.

“Hey, but isn’t that a bit much?”

If there was a surprise, this would be it.

As I sat down and picked up my chopsticks.

Yena suddenly said that.

“Ah… yeah, I guess so.”

Given the flow, she seemed to be talking about what happened with Choi Ahyeon’s group earlier.

I just answered that much for now.

So she did hear and see them giggling and whispering quietly.

“Aren’t they genuinely crazy?”

She was straightforward about it.

Saying the things I should be saying, cleanly on my behalf.

“Well, true. They are especially bad.”

Yeah, the atmosphere seems to be settling down more and more, but they’re still reacting particularly strangely.

Maybe it’s because the source is over there. Anyway.

“Are you okay…?”

Yena suddenly changed the mood and asked in a voice full of concern.

She was speaking so bluntly and boisterously just a moment ago, but suddenly.

It felt like a bit of an overreaction, considering we’re not at a point where we need to be that worried.

“I’m not… exactly okay. But now… it’s gradually quieting down.”

“Really?”

“Yeah… It’s been about three days now. I think it’ll start getting buried soon.”

Yeah, by now, I didn’t feel as withdrawn as I did on the first day.

I had also closed my SNS in advance to block out anything that could gnaw at my mental state.

Still, there were people who whispered and glanced at me from time to time…

But knowing that it was just an “oh, that’s her” kind of feeling, I decided not to pay it much mind anymore.

Yeonju, who was in my group, had that exact vibe.

And Yena in front of me… she was looking at me with the right eyes from the start.

I figured there were surely more people like Yena beyond my line of sight.

And there were probably people who didn’t even care at all.

Yeah, maybe I was just being overly scared because of a few particularly odd ones.

Ah… well, saying that, the first day really was bad, but I’ll just choose to think that way now.

It was better for my mental health.

“Well… if you’ve chosen to let it pass quietly, I don’t mind. Hmm…”

Yena said that, appearing to mull something over in her head.

Her face looked like she was recalling the past.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it too much. Rumors like that… they flare up fast but get forgotten just as quickly.”

After pondering for a while, Yena finally spoke.

With a hint of wistfulness, as if she was about to share some experience.

Anyway, honestly, I felt a bit comforted by those words.

Should I call it touching?

Here I am… receiving these words from someone I met for the first time today, and being moved by them.

But on the flip side… she’s seeing me for the first time just like I’m seeing her, so how can she say all this for me?

“Yeah, thanks.”

“And also, people don’t really care as much as you think. They just go, ‘oh, I see’ and move on. But… that’s also the problem, you know? They take falsehoods at face value. They don’t even bother to think about what the actual truth is. They just get swept up in the public opinion.”

“Ah… yeah, that’s true.”

With that, she waved her chopsticks around as if giving a speech. She was probably doing it because she felt sorry for me.

It was a bit flustering, but everything she said was right.

“And then what?! Even if the truth comes out later? Nobody cares about that either. They’re real bastards.”

Hm…?

While I was attentively listening to Yena’s speech.

I suddenly heard something that made me question what I just heard.

B, Bastards…?

“Have you… been through something similar…”

Upon hearing that, the question naturally slipped out of my mouth.

She had been speaking as if it were her own story all along.

And that “bastards” at the end… it sounded like her true feelings had slipped out.

“Ah! Ah… anyway! Adults are like that too, so why wouldn’t kids be? If anything, it’s worse.”

But Yena didn’t seem to want to reveal more about that part, so she redirected the conversation that way.

“Yeah… true.”

“Right, so don’t worry about it too much. That’s all I wanted to say.”

And with that, Yena seemed to have said everything she wanted to say.

“Thanks.”

Honestly, I felt a bit dazed.

And through that conversation, I learned she was a kind person… but.

I became even less sure of what kind of person she exactly was. It’s like I can’t pin her down at all.

Why was she so curt earlier when talking about the performance evaluation?

And why is the same person now speaking to me like this, as if it were her own problem?

#

“Did you eat with her?”

“Yeah, it just happened.”

“How was it?”

“What do you mean, how was it.”

Why are you asking like I just came back from a blind date?

Anyway…

“Hey, have you ever actually talked to her?”

I asked Junyong that.

Since he spoke about her as if he knew her when he pointed at the group member earlier.

“Ha Yena?”

“Yeah.”

“No? I’ve never really had a conversation with her.”

Damn.

But back then, he clearly spoke as if he knew something.

Sigh, she’s so peculiar that I was going to ask if she’s always like that. Guess I can’t.

“I see. Alright.”

“Why? You… seem interested. You bastard, acting like you weren’t.”

“It’s not that. Just.”

“Yo–o”

“I said no.”

“Choi Ahyeon vs Ha Yena.”

“Are you insane…?”

“Wow… so you can’t answer, huh. But whose loss is this anyway?”

This bastard… he’s definitely a master at twisting things.

If I hadn’t been close with Junyong when that incident happened…

I probably would’ve had twice the hard time.

Thank God he’s on my side. If he were the enemy… ugh. Terrifying, really.

“Oh, right. What are you doing after school today?”

“Going… home.”

“If you’ve got nothing to do, come with me.”

Junyong proposed an after-school date.

Well… sure. It’s not like I had anything to do anyway.

“Where are we going though?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got something to do today.”

I wondered why he was bringing me along for his errands, but I said okay anyway.

.

.

.

-Buzzzz.

Phone vibration.

It started from the group chat.

[I’m fine with anything, but if I had to pick, number 3]

It was a text from Yena.

Seeing that, I was inwardly pleased.

Glad that my rushing over there had some effect, I guess.

Speaking of number 3…

It’s an old idol song.

So Yena likes this kind of stuff.

I brought it because I thought remixing an old one might be nice.

[Yeah, I like it too. But it seems a bit hard! Would it be okay if we did it without the dance?]

Yeonju’s reply followed.

She was all grumbly earlier, but now that Yena joined, she’s accepting it.

Good.

[Ah, then should I try arranging it with a bit of a ballad feel? Or an acoustic version is possible too]

And I introduced what I could do as well.

Yeah, I wasn’t gifted at singing itself… but I had decent knowledge in this area.

[Oh! Nice. So you’ll make a separate MR, right?]

Yeonju’s quick reply.

But in the meantime, Yena must have left the room… The number 1 started showing up again.

[If using a speaker is allowed, I think we could make a separate MR and do it that way. If not, let’s do an acoustic version and I’ll play the guitar myself]

When you do producing and engineering… you end up learning how to handle a few instruments here and there.

Piano and guitar, at least.

And I’m a proper arts high school student too.

[Seriously? You know a surprising amount of stuff]

I was continuing the conversation with Yeonju like that.

The number 1 disappeared again, then.

[Agreed]

Yena left that reply.

I was staring at my phone, chatting away enthusiastically in the group chat.

Then, at that precise moment when my thumb touched the back button…

Choi Ahyeon’s text appeared at the top of my screen, covering the back button.

And just like that… I transitioned from the group chat to my conversation with Choi Ahyeon.

[Sorry about earlier. You were really mad, right? I talked to the others properly again. Told them not to do that… Anyway, sorry for making you hear things like that because of me]

Choi Ahyeon’s long text.

After reading it… I just left the chat room.

I didn’t really have anything to say.

And saying thank you or good job to that would just be ridiculous.

[Ah.. and do you want to walk home together today?]

But the follow-up text seemed like something I should respond to.

[No, I have plans]

[Okay..]

Ahyeon didn’t send anything else after that.

Well, I wasn’t lying either.

It was true that I had plans with Junyong.

And besides, walking home together like that wasn’t exactly a common thing for us anyway.

And… even if I didn’t have those plans, I had no intention of walking home with Choi Ahyeon with nothing else to do.

#

“So… what do you have to do that we came all the way here for.”

“Me? Gacha.”

“What the… ugh.”

A sigh escapes on its own.

Rode the bus all the way here… came together…

And he’s saying he wants to do some anime character gacha…

“Wait for me. If I pull something good, I’ll show you too.”

“No… it’s fine. Just pull something good while you’re at it.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll go look around for a bit.”

With that, I wandered around outside since I was here anyway. To sightsee.

It’s kind of fascinating.

Judging by the look of things… Junyong’s little venture wasn’t going to end quickly.

Wow, this area is definitely hip, huh.

I’d only seen it through media, never actually been here.

The way people dress, all the similar shops around. Subculture, I guess… Anyway.

There’s also a ton of stuff that fits the hip-hop genre.

That person over there… his outfit looks like an actual character.

Then one person’s outfit caught my eye. Wearing something like that in this big shopping district.

It had a cosplay… kind of feel. Also a bit of that menhera, dangerous-type vibe.

But… as she got closer, that silhouette felt oddly familiar.

“Ha Yena…?”