Chapter 397: Surprise Attack
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 397: Surprise Attack
A satisfied smile spreads across my face as I watch the conversation unfolding in the group chat.
Final exams were just around the corner.
While the students of Gahyeon University were busy in the usual sense, we were busy for a slightly different reason.
Since I was heading off to the military soon, the girls had decided to help me fulfill my bucket list.
She’s really something else.
Ye-rin’s presence is overwhelming, even though she’s just repeating the same thing over and over.
“Excuse me?”
A voice called out to me.
Looking up from my phone, I saw Choi Jin-ah staring at me with a pouting expression.
“Ah, sorry. I was talking to the girls and got a bit too focused on that.”
“I told you to wait five minutes, but I’ve been waiting for twenty.”
“You should have said something.”
“You were grinning like an idiot while texting. I didn't want to interrupt.”
She always acts all demure around others, but she’s surprisingly casual with me.
Right now, Choi Jin-ah and I were at a cafe on campus.
We had a one-hour gap between lectures, and she had suddenly approached me, saying she had something to talk about.
“So, where were we? Was it the part where you tried Nak-gop-sae for the first time and demolished three servings on the spot?”
“I never said a word about Nak-gop-sae.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Then what were we talking about?
“I was telling you about the fight I had with my parents. About how I’m living freely now, without being swayed by them.”
“Right, right. That’s what it was.”
“……You really weren't listening, were you?”
Choi Jin-ah seemed to think this was something she needed to report to me because of our relationship.
Honestly, I wasn't that interested.
Why would I need to know the details of her family affairs?
“Right, so you said you made up? That’s good.”
“No. I said we fought.”
“Yeah, well, you usually have to fight before you can make up.”
“No, that’s not—”
Jin-ah hesitated, looking frustrated as she tried to find the words. I took the opportunity to take a long sip of my coffee.
“Actually, you’re right.”
She nodded as if she understood, a slight smile playing on her lips.
“I think we fought so that we could eventually make up.”
“See? Exactly.”
I thought the conversation was over, but Jin-ah glanced at me tentatively before adding, “So, because of that, I moved out of my parents' house.”
“I don’t have any room at my place.”
“……Do you really think I’m some kind of parasite? I got my own place.”
With her background, she could probably just glance at a few real estate listings and buy whatever she liked.
“But it’s a bit lonely inside. I’m going furniture shopping today. Do you want to come along?”
“Me? No thanks.”
“Senior Ju-hee and Yun-ji are coming too.”
“So you’re telling me to get lost?”
“…….”
Jin-ah didn't seem to have a comeback for that and just sipped her coffee.
She was drinking something loaded with Oreo crumbles. It looked like a one-way ticket to diabetes.
Actually, this was a good opportunity.
“Since I listened to your worries, Jin-ah, you should listen to mine.”
“You listened to my worries? Didn't you just forget everything I said?”
“Just listen.”
“The nerve of this guy…….”
Since there was still some time before the next lecture, I decided to share a concern I’d been having lately.
“Do you think friendship between a man and a woman is impossible?”
“That’s incredibly random.”
Random or not, I was serious.
“I used to think it was possible, you know? But lately, it feels like it’s not.”
After taking another sip of her coffee, Choi Jin-ah tilted her head and asked, “Why? Did someone else confess their love to you?”
“……You could say it’s something like that.”
I had recently heard Senior Ju-hee’s declaration of resolve, after all.
“Hmm, I think being just friends is definitely possible.”
Jin-ah tilted her head, wondering if that was really such a big concern.
She didn't seem to be overthinking it, but her straightforward answer actually made me feel a bit more at ease.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I get calls from plenty of guys I went to school with. I don’t talk to them with romantic feelings in mind.”
“Hmm?”
But shouldn't we look into that a bit more?
“Are they actually your friends?”
“We were classmates.”
“Does being classmates make you friends? Aren't you only friends if you contact each other often and hang out?”
At my words, Choi Jin-ah fell silent for a moment, thinking it over before nodding in agreement.
“You’re right. They aren't friends.”
“Right? At most, someone like Bong-geun could be considered a friend, right?”
“Bong-geun…… James.”
Jin-ah went back into deep thought.
Then, she clicked her tongue and shook her head.
“I suppose James could be considered a friend. We do talk on the phone occasionally. But do I see him in a romantic light? Absolutely not. James isn't my type at all, to begin with. And our calls are usually about business, not personal stuff.”
“Should we ask Bong-geun?”
“…….”
Jin-ah didn't answer, but she seemed curious.
After a few rings, Bong-geun picked up.
— Hello.
“Hey, Bong-geun. What do you think of Jin-ah?”
— ……Choi Jin-ah?
“Yeah, the violinist, Choi Jin-ah.”
— Maybe an ornamental fish being raised by Chairman Choi Gil-seop?
Jin-ah’s face immediately crumpled. She looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Since it was on speakerphone, she tried to retort immediately, but I held her back and refined my question.
“No, not like that. I mean, could you see her as a woman? In a romantic way?”
— Someone like Choi Jin-ah is excellent. Chairman Choi wants to hand the company over to his son, so if you marry Choi Jin-ah, you’d inherit all of that.
“Is this the only kind of answer I can get from this guy?”
“That’s just the kind of person James is.”
— Was Choi Jin-ah right there with you?
“Yeah. Not that stuff. I mean, how do you feel about her emotionally?”
— ……Why would I look at Choi Jin-ah emotionally? I’m not interested.
“Pfft.”
I couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Jin-ah, sitting across from me, shouted in disbelief.
“I’m not interested either! You are totally not my type! Even your name is tacky!”
— Fuck?! Apologize to all the Jameses out there.
“Sorry, Bong-geun!”
With that, Jin-ah snatched my phone and hung up.
I was clutching my stomach, laughing at the whole situation.
“Ah, that was hilarious. Anyway, it looks like you two definitely aren't each other's types.”
“Whew, that just put me in a bad mood.”
Watching elementary school classmates bicker was quite a spectacle.
This was more than enough entertainment to kill time.
“Anyway, you see? Friendship between a man and a woman is perfectly possible. So don’t go creating weird distances with the women around you for no reason.”
“Ah, right. Come to think of it, there are quite a few women around me who are just friends.”
For example, Jung Min-ji, who was a high school classmate of Choi I-seo and Oh Yun-ji.
Lee Eun-woo, who was still active on the Bamboo Forest as Anonymous 90.
Bae Ji-hye, who was broadcasting under the name Popo.
There were others who were classmates of Seo Ye-rin and Yoo Ah-rin.
And.
‘There’s Choi Jin-ah, too.’
Thinking about it, the woman right in front of me was just a friend to me.
It was ridiculous that the answer was right before my eyes and I hadn't seen it.
“Thanks. You’re right, friendship between men and women is obviously possible when you think about it.”
I stood up from my seat.
“I have my next lecture soon, so I should get going.”
“Are you really not going to help me shop?”
“Senior Ju-hee and Yun-ji are going to be there. How could I go? I’d be beaten to death by I-seo and Ah-rin.”
“Hmph.”
Jin-ah stood up with a look of disappointment.
As we stepped out of the cafe, she shivered in the chilly air and pulled her collar tight.
“Oh, by the way.”
Jin-ah said as she wrapped her scarf around her neck.
“I actually like you, Woo-jin.”
“Ah, yeah.”
The lecture hall was a bit far, so I’d have to run a bit—wait, what the fuck?!
“Huh?”
I froze in my tracks and turned to look at Jin-ah, wondering if I’d heard her correctly. She was readjusting her scarf, which she’d put on crookedly.
“Huh? What is it?”
“No, just now. Didn't you say you liked me?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right.”
“……Did you already forget the conversation we just had?”
“About whether friendship is possible between a man and a woman?”
“Then why the fuck are you suddenly negating the entire basis of our thirty-minute conversation?!”
“Well, I told you a long time ago.”
“Told me what?”
“That you were my first love.”
“…….”
“…….”
We stared at each other blankly.
Just as a cold gust of wind swept past, I finally spoke.
“In elementary school?”
“Yes, in elementary school.”
“What does being a first love in elementary school have to do with anything? We’re college students now.”
Jin-ah countered with a puzzled look.
“I never said it was over.”
“…….”
“Wait. Did I?”
Muttering that her memory was a bit fuzzy, Jin-ah pulled her beret down over her head.
She shoved her hands into her coat pockets and walked right past me.
“Anyway, see you later. I got a place near Gahyeon University, so we’ll be seeing each other often.”
“You’re just going to leave after saying that? Are you crazy? You rebel against your parents once and now you’ve just lost it?!”
At my shout asking if she had no shame, Jin-ah replied with a smirk.
“It’s not like I’m going to die just because I live like this.”
“What?”
“I learned it from watching you. That there’s no big problem with living confidently. It’s not like the world is going to end just because I confessed.”
Watching her back, I strode toward her.
Thwack!
I gave her a light smack on the back of the head.
“Ouch!?”
Startled, Jin-ah whipped her head around to look at me.
Her face, which I hadn't noticed before, was flushed red, betraying her embarrassment.
“In that case,” I declared to her.
“I shall kill you.”
I immediately put Jin-ah into the chokehold I’d learned from Senior Ju-hee.