Why You, Me
A quiet night, the starlight pouring through the window gap like fine rain.
“Haaah.”
Jin Soyeon let out a long sigh as she lay in bed, gazing quietly at the window outside.
Even though it was already late, sleep wouldn’t come.
She didn’t know why, but Yu Seol-hyeon’s words from earlier had lodged themselves like sharp thorns in her mind and refused to budge.
A few fragments of their private conversation at the academy still lingered quietly in her thoughts.
— Think about it. You see that pretty face, hanging out with the guys from the opposite sex and playing around together. How would a boyfriend feel about that?
Yu Seol-hyeon had tossed out that nonsense without knowing anything about Jin Soyeon and Jin Jin-hyeok’s relationship.
After all, if Jin Soyeon got along well with her friends, why would Jin-hyeok be troubled by it?
Jin Soyeon and Jin Jin-hyeok were just fake lovers.
Of course, it might have annoyed her that other boys felt jealous because of her fake boyfriend role, but that wasn’t because she was hanging out with other boys.
If Jin-hyeok were bothered by it, that would mean he liked her romantically, right?
Hmm……
Did Jin Jin-hyeok actually like her romantically?
Ahahaha, ha.
Yeah, right. Of course.
It was such nonsense.
They had known each other since childhood, over ten years now.
They had played together since they were kids.
To be honest, they were almost like family.
Back when he still had a sibling, he might have been exactly like this.
They had seen every side of each other—good and bad.
But as a romantic partner?
That was impossible. Of course it was.
“……That Seol-hyeon doesn’t know anything and just blurts out nonsense.”
Jin Soyeon pouted, muttering to herself.
She could dismiss Yu Seol-hyeon’s words as nothing but hot air, because she already knew Jin-hyeok didn’t see her romantically.
No matter how much she thought about it, there was no way Jin-hyeok would ever think of her as a romantic partner.
If he had really liked her, even if it was fake, he wouldn’t have broken up so easily like that, right?
Even if fake, the partner you like……
— I thought you broke up because you were tired of dating someone with so many opposite-sex friends.
A thought flashed through her mind.
— A boyfriend with a lot of female friends must be pretty tough in many ways.
“……”
A boyfriend with a lot of female friends……
It was true that if you were truly dating, it would be tough.
No matter who the friends were, you wouldn’t want to watch your partner hanging out with someone else.
But still.
What if, just this once, Jin-hyeok secretly liked her?
Then she would have been the one causing him trouble all this time.
Because she had requested the fake boyfriend arrangement.
Ever since then, Jin-hyeok had……
“……I’m going crazy with these weird thoughts.”
Jin Soyeon suddenly sat up in bed, shook her head vigorously, and let out a tired laugh.
It was the worst.
Not only did she ask the person she liked to be her fake boyfriend, but she had also been showing him her hanging out with other guys all along.
Especially to Jin-hyeok, who was like a brother to her.
More than that.
“This is so annoying.”
What if she had been the one on the receiving end?
She would have accepted the fake boyfriend request.
It wasn’t great, but if it was fake, she could still date him.
But if the person she liked kept hanging out with other guys?
Even if fake, there was someone in a real relationship?
And she had to keep agreeing to these absurd requests?
“Ah…… maybe I wouldn’t have been able to hold back.”
Jin Soyeon had never really liked anyone before, but if she had and the other person did something like that, she would have complained for years.
But Jin-hyeok had quietly endured for years……
‘No, no.’
What stupid thoughts am I having now?
Of course he doesn’t like me romantically.
There’s no way.
That wasn’t enough to calm her down.
But the word “if” kept sticking stubbornly in her head like bubble gum that wouldn’t come off.
The more she tried not to think about it, the more it clung.
Like sinking into an inescapable swamp.
‘Even if it’s impossible, what if Jin-hyeok’s reason for breaking up was really because of that……’
The sudden breakup announcement.
He had been avoiding her lately, saying he was busy.
Jin-hyeok had started hanging out with Yu Seol-hyeon more subtly.
“……”
One moment it was a fleeting star in her mind, then countless messy thoughts scrambled her brain.
These “what if” thoughts were quietly giving her all sorts of possibilities.
Nasty possibilities.
‘Why do I keep thinking these useless thoughts? Haa, seriously. I should just sleep. Sleep, and tomorrow I’ll go to the academy……’
BAM!
A dull thud echoed through her ear in the middle of nowhere.
It sounded like a heavy object had dropped in the yard.
Jin Soyeon reflexively stood up from the bed and hurried to the window to look outside.
But because it was dark, her view was poor.
She bit her lower lip.
Was it again?
Jin Soyeon picked up the training steel pipe from the room and opened the window, landing in the yard.
Even though it was two stories high, she was a hero aspirant.
Jumping down and landing from that height was easier than eating rice.
Once she landed in the yard, she turned her head sharply to find the source of the sound.
As expected, right where she expected.
In a slightly distant part of the yard, there lay a fairly large rock.
A piece of white paper like thin cloth was attached to the rock.
When she got closer and looked closely, sure enough, the words “Jin Soyeon you slut” were crudely written across it.
“You’re doing it again……”
Jin Soyeon’s expression twisted as she quickly opened the door and stepped outside, but the residential road was deserted.
Whoever threw the stone with the obscene words into the yard had fled the scene immediately.
“Haaah. Seriously.”
Jin Soyeon let out a deep sigh and locked the door tightly.
This had happened recently too, and now it was happening again.
“I’m tired.”
Someone was clearly jealous of her.
Not some immature kids either, but how could someone so old do such things?
Jin Soyeon had experienced something similar in the past.
Whenever she hung out too closely with popular boys, jealous girls would bully her in various ways.
They would put trash in her desk, spread rumors, spray water in the bathroom, stick weird things on her, and more.
Just like before, she had endured it as usual, but thanks to Jin-hyeok and her mom, the matter had been resolved without much fuss.
Still, because of her friendly personality, her beauty, and the boys she got along with, these incidents had happened occasionally.
But it had been quiet since she started dating Jin-hyeok……
Even though it was called South Korea’s best hero academy, it was still just a place where people lived.
‘I should report it to the police, but it probably won’t do any good, right?’
She had tried reporting it once before, but since there was no real harm, all they could charge were property damage and minor offenses.
Now there were no CCTV cameras either, so she couldn’t even identify who did it.
Probably one of the academy students.
Who the hell is it?
‘Thank goodness Mom’s on a business trip.’
Jin Soyeon tore off the paper note stuck to the rock and read its contents in silence.
“Jin Soyeon you slut.” It was a blatantly vulgar insult.
‘……Was it one of the girls who likes Si-woo? Lee Si-woo?’
Lee Si-woo had plenty of girls who liked him.
But she didn’t blame him.
The real culprit was the person who did this.
She didn’t need to avoid him or get upset over it.
She didn’t want to.
It looked like she was willingly submitting to someone who did this nonsense.
What kind of hero aspirant would do what a criminal wanted?
‘Still, calling me that is too much.’
Thinking about it, rumors about her had been circulating in her class lately.
That she had dumped Jin-hyeok just to date Si-woo.
“Haa. Annoying.”
Because Jin Soyeon had a rebellious streak, she hadn’t flinched at the rumors and had acted normally, but it did bother her a little.
‘Whenever anything happens, they drag each other in and spread weird rumors. They’re just supposed to be friends. Why turn it into male or female?’
Jin Soyeon furrowed her brows slightly and tore the paper into pieces.
Because of the complicated situation between Jin-hyeok and Yu Seol-hyeon lately, she didn’t need any extra stress.
***
The next day at the academy.
“……He’s still tailing Si-woo, huh?”
“Yeah, I heard that rumor. Did you hear it?”
“What rumor?”
“That girl……”
“Whoa, really? No way. She’s so full of herself just because her face is pretty.”
Murmurs spread like that.
Unpleasant rumors about Jin Soyeon continued to swell.
Many female students kept glancing at her secretly and muttering.
“……”
Jin Soyeon frowned.
These rumors were getting more and more exaggerated lately.
‘Is it Yu Seol-hyeon and her group spreading these all over?’
Of course it was.
It had to be that woman’s doing.
Thinking about it, I wonder if Yu Seol-hyeon was actually serious about liking Jin-hyeok or not.
Ah, and was the rock thrower really Yu Seol-hyeon, maybe using her group members?
‘……If that’s the case, I can’t entrust Jin-hyeok to that kind of person.’
What if, by some miracle, Jin-hyeok ended up dating Yu Seol-hyeon?
Other girls were fine, but not Yu Seol-hyeon.
She couldn’t let him hang out with that wicked woman.
If he did, Jin-hyeok would definitely suffer.
Yeah, he would.
Certainly, for sure.