Chapter 85: Good Person
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 85: Good Person
Bottom-feeder.
Slave No. 1.
Black Skirt Black Panties.
And now, having added the title of "Human Slaughterer" to her collection, Yoo Ah-rin was sitting across from me, eating gukbap.
Perhaps because it was the weekend, the restaurant was crowded despite the late hour. People were everywhere, tilting their glasses and chatting noisily about this and that.
In the middle of all that commotion, the two of us were focused solely on our soup.
I hadn't expected much, but it was surprisingly delicious. I was eating with a fair amount of satisfaction when I noticed Yoo Ah-rin stealing glances at me.
Thinking she had something to say, I set my spoon down.
A heavy silence passed between us as our eyes met.
It was as if we were indulging in each other's thoughts, cautiously and very slowly tracing the true intent hidden within our gaze. And then...
"Do you know what I want to say?"
As if we were on the same wavelength, Yoo Ah-rin also put down her spoon and asked while staring intently at me.
Just as I was about to cautiously open my mouth, thinking she was going to bring up the incident with Pyo Jin-ho...
"Why are you eating all the kkakdugi by yourself?"
Yoo Ah-rin scowled deeply, gesturing with her chin toward the empty radish kimchi bowl.
"I thought you didn't eat kkakdugi."
"If you're shoveling one in with every single bite, aren't you basically eating kkakdugi with a side of gukbap at that point?"
"...This place has great kkakdugi. I wonder if they make it themselves."
Feeling awkward, I stood up and went to the self-service bar to refill the bowl. Only then did Yoo Ah-rin nod with satisfaction as she began to eat the radish.
"Yeah, this is definitely a kkakdugi hotspot."
We continued eating to the sound of rhythmic crunching. I had worried that a 24-hour joint might lack quality, but it seemed my fears were unfounded.
"Should we order soju?"
Yoo Ah-rin asked casually.
It was so sudden that I had to ask back, wondering if there was any real need to drink.
"Why? Do you want to?"
I wondered why she was bringing up soju all of a sudden, but Yoo Ah-rin wore a complicated expression before brushing her hair back and nodding.
"Yeah. Honestly, I really feel like a drink."
"Well, I guess it would be weirder to be perfectly fine after nearly killing a man."
Come to think of it, she had basically committed verbal homicide. A shot of soju seemed appropriate.
"That..."
Ah-rin opened her mouth to argue that she hadn't killed him, but then she fell silent. Even upon second thought, it seemed she couldn't deny that she had utterly destroyed Pyo Jin-ho.
"It's only because you set the stage for me. Honestly, you acted like that on purpose so I'd have the chance to reject him, didn't you?"
"If I hadn't, that guy wouldn't have given up on you, right? If I had just said I was your boyfriend, he probably would've tracked me down later."
To tell me to break up with her.
Then I would have suddenly become a guy who had to break up with someone he wasn't even dating.
"That's..."
Again, Ah-rin couldn't deny it.
"Sigh, order it if you want. If drinking soju makes you feel better, then it's a good thing."
"Actually, I already felt better earlier."
"..."
Well, yeah.
It would be stranger if she didn't feel better after venting like that.
Yoo Ah-rin smiled brightly as she downed the soju that arrived shortly after. She poured a glass for me, but from then on, she kept drinking one after another by herself.
"Aren't you going a bit too fast?"
"You don't really want to drink anyway. I just gave you a glass to set the mood."
She was surprisingly quick on the uptake. Since I wasn't particularly in the mood for alcohol, I just sat there blankly watching her gulp it down.
"Ah, thiz is nice."
Since she had been racing through the bottle, her tongue was already starting to trip. She looked at me with hazy eyes.
"I said, it's nice."
"Sure, I bet you feel great now that you've got some alcohol in you."
When I gave her a half-hearted response to her bid for attention, she clicked her tongue and shook her head.
"I mean it's nice to have time to vent. I'm not in my right mind because of the booze, and you're here to just listen and let it slide no matter what I say."
"..."
"When Chan-woo dumped me... do you know why he did it?"
I knew.
Because she had said it all earlier when she rejected the confession.
But since she looked like she really wanted to talk about it, I shook my head.
Yoo Ah-rin grinned as if she had been waiting for that.
"It was because Senior Jin-ho liked me. Isn't that hilarious? He liked me too, but he backed off just because another senior liked me."
That wasn't "backing off."
That was running away because he was scared.
But I didn't feel like blindly criticizing Chan-woo. At that age, seniors can be truly terrifying.
Chan-woo had probably regretted that moment countless times.
"And do you know what that senior did next? He started spreading rumors that Jeong Chan-woo and Ye-rin were the perfect couple. Eventually, people were even saying they were dating."
Yoo Ah-rin and Seo Ye-rin were friends.
If rumors started spreading that Seo Ye-rin was dating the guy Yoo Ah-rin had confessed to, the atmosphere was bound to turn ugly.
I wasn't sure if Pyo Jin-ho had thought that far ahead. He probably just did it because he wanted to get rid of his strongest rival.
Staring down at her glass full of soju, Yoo Ah-rin gave a bitter smile.
I couldn't tell if she was reminiscing about the past or if she found her current self pathetic.
I wasn't sure which it was, but...
"I was jealous."
I began to vaguely understand the bizarre behavior Yoo Ah-rin had shown until now.
"Thinking rationally, it was obviously a false rumor. But back then, I lost my mind. Without even realizing it, I was jealous that my childhood friends, Chan-woo and Ye-rin, were dating."
"..."
"Ah, I'm so pathetic, Yoo Ah-rin. How can you be such a dumbass?"
Taking another long swig, Yoo Ah-rin shook her head and muttered to herself.
"It was so easy. All I had to do was tell him to get lost. Why was I so scared back then that I spent all my time walking on eggshells?"
"You know how it is when you're a student."
Many people only realize they have more options than they thought once they enter university and become adults.
In reality, we were just kids transitioning into adulthood.
Our bodies had grown, but our hearts were still half-baked, not yet fully shed of our student selves.
So, I suppose we're all learning things one by one during this period.
"I guess this is how you become an adult, bit by bit."
Just like how you realize the bully who tormented you in school is actually a nobody once you grow up.
Yoo Ah-rin and Jeong Chan-woo had simply realized that the man named Pyo Jin-ho wasn't actually as big of a deal as they had thought.
That was all there was to it.
"...You can start over."
When I said that, Yoo Ah-rin stared at me blankly. Then, with a subtle smile, she asked.
"Start what?"
"Just, everything."
It was too early to give up.
Especially when it came to a beautiful love nurtured since childhood as friends.
Hearing my words, Yoo Ah-rin let out a deep sigh and grumbled.
"Now I'm starting to feel jealous of Ye-rin again."
"What's there to be jealous of?"
When I replied as if it were nothing, Yoo Ah-rin chuckled and refilled her glass.
"Hey, do you remember the day we first met at the PC Bang?"
"Of course I do."
Thanks to that, I ended up writing a movie script and drinking with Senior Ju-hee.
And I had dropped the two of them off at Choi I-seo's house.
"I wasn't drunk back then."
"Huh?"
"I was acting. I was pretending to be drunk to test you."
"...Why test me?"
I had already heard from Choi I-seo that Yoo Ah-rin had sobered up quickly and gone home.
At the time, I just thought that was that, but was there another reason?
"I wanted to know what kind of guy you were. Ye-rin had been low-key interested in you since back then."
"..."
"So I wanted to know. What kind of guy caught Ye-rin's eye?"
"Why?"
"Because I was jealous."
Was it because of the alcohol?
Was it because the dawn had come?
Or was it because it was me?
Starting from a while ago, Yoo Ah-rin had been pouring out her inner thoughts with a sense of relief.
Even the... rather dark parts.
"I hoped you were a bad guy. I didn't want anything bad to happen to Ye-rin, but I just... I hoped you'd be a jerk."
"..."
"That was as far as it went. Just, enough for her to have a slightly painful crush and then get over it? If it looked like a naive girl was going to fall head over heels, I would've tried to stop her somehow."
"I know it might sound a bit biased, but Seo Ye-rin was actually just an innocent victim in all this."
I wondered if she'd think I was taking Ye-rin's side.
But since it was something that needed to be clarified, I mentioned it, and Yoo Ah-rin nodded in agreement.
"I know. That's why I'm saying I'm a total bitch. But what can I do? Chan-woo was taken from me, and some creep was hitting on me every single day. I guess I became an adult without being in my right mind, either."
I didn't want to say anything more to Yoo Ah-rin while she was reflecting on her actions.
That wouldn't be my place; it would be Seo Ye-rin's choice once she found out everything.
What I had to do now...
"So, what was the verdict?"
Was to listen to her story with a playful smile to lighten the mood.
Yoo Ah-rin stared at me for a moment before letting out a short laugh.
"Ye-rin has a good eye for people."
"..."
"You're a good guy."
Yoo Ah-rin lowered her head slightly, avoiding my eyes.
"Woo-jin, you're a good guy."
Seeing her look embarrassed made me relax without realizing it.
"Well, thank you."
It wasn't that I was happy to be acknowledged; I was happy that she felt comfortable enough to reveal those inner thoughts to me.
"Ahhh."
She let out a bitter groan, awkwardly hiding the slight moisture in her eyes.
"Why?"
As if being stubborn, Yoo Ah-rin looked sorrowful.
"Why do you have to be a good person?"
As if that, in itself, was the problem.