You're the Bad One (2)
“You say we’re nothing to each other, so what’s with the ‘without even knowing him’?”
Sowon wore that sly, snake-in-the-grass look of hers, eyes gleaming as if she’d just snagged me. I was immensely relieved I hadn’t let any real panic show on my face.
I’d bristled for a second, but I quickly reeled my cool back in and thought it through. How should I handle this?
Obviously, the cleanest way would be to hit back with pure honesty. Don’t you dare talk about Junhyuk like that. Who the hell are you to trash him so casually?
But that wasn’t the heart of this argument, and it would only burn emotional fuel for nothing. Sowon would just fire back with something like “What does it matter what I say?” and then we’d be rolling around in the mud, nothing more, nothing less.
I hated to admit it, but the pedigree of a prosecutor father and a lawyer mother—the pure gold-spoon lineage of verbal combat—was finally showing its true worth inside my head.
Don’t answer with feelings. Dig into the real core of the dispute.
“Do you really think you can only know someone if you’re a certain kind of ‘something’ to them?”
I deliberately widened my eyes into a fierce glare and threw the question back at her in a low voice.
“That’s just dodging the question.”
“Not even close. I’m simply pointing out that your premise is already wrong.”
“So you’re admitting you two know each other pretty well, then?”
Sowon clearly had no intention of backing down either; she kept latching onto every word. In moments like this, the most effective move was to crush it with a clean, hard fact.
“I never said he ‘has’ that vulgar taste you’re imagining, and saying he doesn’t somehow becomes proof that we’re ‘close’? How does that even work?”
“Vulgar? Did you just finish talking?”
“I wasn’t even talking about you. I was just describing the taste itself—why are you getting so worked up? Oh, wait. Is that your kink and you’re feeling ashamed?”
“Miss Philin.”
“I should’ve known the second you randomly brought up the horned headband. My bad.”
This wasn’t the flow she’d expected. Sowon’s eyes wavered slightly under the mix of anger and fluster. She was starting to lose her composure.
You could tell who was winning just by looking at Serena’s face as she spectated from the side. The gaze she fixed on me was full of pure awe. The atmosphere wasn’t bad at all.
I’d seized the momentum. No way I was letting go now—I decided to press harder. I’d felt it last time too: she put on all the airs of a haughty fox, but the moment you actually clashed with her, her emotions were completely transparent. A total amateur.
In short, the type who’s quick on the uptake but terrible at actual fights.
Time to drive the nail in.
“And while we’re on the subject, I’d appreciate it if you realized that what you said earlier was also pretty rude to me.”
“What…?”
“‘Something already happened between you two, right?’ Are you saying I slept with him the day before yesterday?”
“Wait, Miss Philin! Lower your voice. That kind of vulgar language—”
“Weren’t those your own words? ‘Did you have sex?’ I don’t get why you’re panicking so hard.”
I’d deliberately used the blunt word, and I’d raised my voice just a little. People started glancing our way, and Sowon began to look genuinely cornered.
As the class representative, she valued her dignity. She’d probably only wanted to dig into my relationship with Junhyuk and issue a mild warning. She definitely hadn’t wanted the whole cafeteria staring at an explicit topic like this.
“Lim Sowon. Asking directly is still way better than whispering behind someone’s back, of course.”
“Miss Philin, I just… I wanted to settle this matter clearly.”
“Even so, grilling me about whether we slept together is going too far, don’t you think? Try putting yourself in another girl’s shoes for once.”
…Strictly speaking, we had slept in the same space. Just at different times, that’s all.
Her aggressive edge had softened a little compared to earlier, but she still hadn’t dropped the suspicious look as she asked,
“Then why did both of you skip class without permission yesterday?”
“No idea. I was just home with a hangover. Whether he showed up or not, I wouldn’t know.”
Sowon hummed, arms crossed, making no effort to hide her discomfort.
I knew perfectly well why she still wasn’t satisfied.
“Anyway, so the two of you really are nothing to each other?”
“…….”
“I just need that confirmation.”
When you really thought about it, it was kind of funny that Sowon—who wasn’t even dating him—kept fretting over this. I could have dug in with “What right do you even have to keep making this an issue?” but that would only poke a sleeping bear.
“Well, of course…”
We’re nothing.
Saying that would have ended everything, and the entire argument up to now had basically been a buildup to make her accept those words.
So why wouldn’t my mouth open?
“Miss Philin?”
“Hey, Philin.”
“…Ah, yeah. Right, of course. Of course we’re nothing. And we won’t be anything in the future either.”
For some reason I hesitated for a second before answering.
Sowon, who’d caught that brief pause, scanned me with doubtful eyes, but—
“Well then, I won’t keep my guard up around you anymore, Miss Philin.”
Since I’d at least admitted it, she seemed willing to let it go.
“…Yeah. Let’s drop this annoying, exhausting talk and just eat the tteokbokki.”
I said that as I scooped some onto my small plate. I’d forgotten to turn the heat down, so the bottom had stuck a little. I deliberately played the generous friend and offered Sowon the fried egg.
“Don’t try to paper over everything with something like that.”
“Please. It just means I want us to get along.”
I put on an exaggerated look of exhaustion and shoved the fried egg toward her. Sowon made a show of looking displeased, but she clearly couldn’t resist the egg; she finally surrendered and held out her plate.
“…Hmph. I’d like you to know I didn’t lose.”
“I don’t think I won either. Just stop being so sensitive about everything.”
That part was genuine. There was nothing good about arguing with her. If I were rolling in money, I could just ditch this annoying, dangerous raid team tomorrow, but while I could maybe afford delivery four times a week, I sadly didn’t have the kind of wealth that could keep paying Junhyuk’s scholarship.
Plus, if that happened, I’d probably get grilled by this body’s parents—who already seemed like they’d be a prickly relationship. I had zero interest in that kind of exhausting plotline.
So if the people around me were going to be happy, this team had to stay together. And to minimize the guilt I felt inside it, the team needed the best possible results.
Which meant I couldn’t create unnecessary trouble with Lim Sowon.
“Hey. Because of all this pointless talk with you, the bottom of this is completely burnt.”
“It’s just nicely stuck. Anyone who actually knows how to eat it deliberately makes it that way.”
“Ah… is that so?”
Yeah, you’re so great, you little— I silently cursed her out and struggled to peel off the scorched glass noodles.
That was when it happened.
“Miss Philin. If you two really are nothing to each other…”
“Ugh, that again? Just drop it already…”
“Then please help me get closer to Junhyuk from the sidelines.”
The moment those words left her mouth—
Tuk.
The stuck noodles snapped free from the bottom of the pan, flinging a few drops of sauce.
They splattered right onto my school blouse.
“Oh my.”
I froze. Sowon froze. Serena froze—each for completely different reasons.
Me, who had to answer.
Sowon, waiting to hear what I’d say.
And Serena, wondering whether she should step in and stop this.
Serena checked my expression, but the timing was too awkward for her to stick her nose in. If she cut in right now and tried to wrap things up, it would only look more suspicious—like we’d been caught plotting something.
I had to handle this myself.
“…Fine. If you need anything, just tell me.”
“I can trust that, right?”
“Whether you trust it or not is up to you.”
My tone was sharp, but Sowon already looked like she’d achieved her goal. She smiled contentedly, split the fried egg in half, and popped one piece into her mouth, chewing happily.
“Then I’ll be asking you for favors now and then, Miss Philin.”
I nodded with a reluctant face.
That single line she’d thrown at me right at the end—after dominating the entire argument and just as she was about to leave the table—
It felt exactly like the tteokbokki sauce that had splattered onto my pure white blouse the moment I’d let my guard down thinking the meal was over.
Not filthy enough to be a disaster, but something that would keep nagging at me until I got home and changed clothes.
Unbearably unpleasant. And sticky.