Date Course Rehearsal (3)
The place my eyes were directed was Lee Yu-ri and Gong Yeong-bae, talking with genuine passion. The moment she saw them, Choi Su-yeon's heart sank like a stone. We were too far away to catch a single word, but it was obvious they were deep in conversation. And not just any talk—this was lively, animated, the kind that made the rest of the world disappear.
Choi Su-yeon's fists clenched so hard her nails threatened to break skin, her hands shaking. 'When I texted him, his replies were always so dry... What the hell? With Yu-ri he's suddenly Mr. Enthusiastic? This is just... too cruel...'
How hard had she fought for Gong Yeong-bae's heart? Whenever she was with him she'd stripped away the gyaru delinquent mask and shown her real self. She'd thrown herself at him relentlessly, trying to bridge the impossible gap of more than ten years of childhood friendship with Lee Yu-ri. She'd trained like a demon because she was terrified of being compared to Jeong Eun-ji's body. She'd scoured every possible date spot he might like—trendy cafés, hidden alleys, famous restaurants. There wasn't a single piece of information she hadn't hunted down.
Yet every time his reply came, she could never tell what he really thought of her. Still, she'd kept pushing her presence forward, hoping that one day he'd finally turn around and see her. They'd even gone to cafés together a few times. But he had never shown the kind of active, engaged energy he was pouring into his conversation with Lee Yu-ri right now. It always felt like the bare minimum, like he was just maintaining the connection out of obligation. That attitude had hurt. It had left her secretly bitter. Yet she'd kept trying, telling herself that someday she could push both Lee Yu-ri and Jeong Eun-ji aside and claim the spot next to him.
'So in the end... this is what he really feels?'
She hadn't seen him with Yu-ri much these past few weeks and thought her chance had finally come. Had she sent too many messages and made him feel pressured? Or had she simply never been his type? Had Gong Yeong-bae only ever had eyes for Lee Yu-ri from the very beginning?
'No matter how hard I struggled... it was always only Yu-ri who mattered...?'
Choi Su-yeon barely swallowed the sob rising in her throat, biting down hard on her lip before forcing her gaze away. That's when she noticed me right beside her, wearing what must have been an equally miserable expression.
'Ah... that's right...'
It had been obvious I liked Lee Yu-ri. So was I feeling the exact same sting of defeat right now?
"Let's get out of here for now."
"......Okay."
Seeing my dark face, Choi Su-yeon seemed to feel a sense of shared pain. We headed together to the empty rooftop, blocked the access door, and without a word between us dropped heavily to the floor, backs against the wall.
Choi Su-yeon tried to act like it didn't bother her and spoke first, offering comfort.
"Seong-jin sunbae, I'm sorry. It really looks like Yu-ri sunbae is more interested in Yeong-bae sunbae than in you."
"Yeah. I even quit smoking and cleaned up my delinquent act to look good. Guess it was all pointless effort?"
My light sigh seemed to hit her the same way. She pulled her knees to her chest, buried her face against them, and answered.
"It wasn't... pointless. I only knew about you from rumors before, sunbae... but I think the person you are now is way better than anything those rumors said."
"Haha. Thanks for the kind words."
"Cheering up a heartbroken sunbae is part of a junior's job."
"You're a lot kinder than I expected. I heard you were in the same department among the second-years, but you're surprisingly gentle. That idiot Gong Yeong-bae really should've noticed that side of you."
"What are you—! I've worked so hard to become a girl who's not lacking in any—wait, huh?"
She had been excitedly venting because someone finally understood her situation, but something in my words made her freeze.
"S-Seong-jin sunbae...? What do you mean by that? Why are you suddenly bringing up Yeong-bae sunbae?"
"Why wouldn't I? You like Gong Yeong-bae, don't you?"
"!!!!!"
"Look at your face. Every single part-time shift, whenever you got bored you'd casually slip in questions about him. You think I'm stupid? I noticed every time."
Choi Su-yeon shot to her feet in panic, eyes wide, voice trembling.
"N-no, how did you even—wait, that's not it! I really didn't show anything..."
"You tried pretty hard to hide it. But I've got sharp eyes. You might fool everyone else, but not me."
"Th-that... uh... ah..."
Her mouth opened and closed as she searched for an excuse, but eventually she gave up and sank back down, leaning against the rooftop door.
"Sigh... I never heard you were that quick to catch on, sunbae... Yeah. I did have feelings for Yeong-bae sunbae. But after seeing him with Yu-ri sunbae in the cafeteria... it feels like everything I did was pointless. Like he never needed to notice me at all."
"Then I'll just give your own words right back to you. I don't know everything about what kind of person you are, but... about Jeong Ji-ah... uh... sorry for insulting your friend. You're way more attractive than her."
"That's a cheap shot, saying that to a girl who just got rejected."
"Is it okay when it's a guy who got rejected?"
We stared at each other. An unnameable atmosphere settled between us. Then I burst out laughing first.
"Puhaha!"
"Why are you laughing?"
"Our situation is hilarious. The girl we each liked and the guy she liked were happily meeting up together, and we had no idea. So here we are on the rooftop, licking each other's wounds."
"True. We do look ridiculous. And Seong-jin sunbae... you're really not what I expected."
"How so?"
"I heard all the rumors. That if you wanted a girl, you didn't care if she already had a boyfriend. But seeing you now, you seem surprisingly pure-hearted."
"If this was the old me, those rumors wouldn't have been completely wrong."
"Wow... what trash..."
Our emotional distance had shrunk dramatically. Choi Su-yeon freely insulted me without hesitation. She had no idea that someone calling me that to my face would have been unthinkable just a month ago.
"I told you. I'm trying not to live like that anymore. That's why I'm up here on this rooftop commiserating with you, isn't it?"
"Why am I commiserating?"
Choi Su-yeon grumbled while gazing up at the enviably blue sky alongside me.
Another short silence fell. Once again, I broke it first.
"Hey, Choi Su-yeon."
"Yes?"
"That date course rehearsal you agreed to help me with is completely useless now, right?"
"Ah, yeah... I guess it is. Sorry, sunbae."
"So since it's already come to this..."
I looked straight into her eyes. She met my dark gaze without turning away.
"Want to skip afternoon classes together? Two rejected people blowing off steam—sound good?"
After lunch, during fifth period.
The teacher in charge walked into the third-year Class 3 and tilted his head at the two empty desks.
"What are those two empty seats? Who's missing?"
"The front row is Lee Yu-ri's seat. She said she wasn't feeling well during lunch and went home early."
"The window seat in the back is Han Seong-jin's... No idea where he went."
"What? So they're just straight-up skipping? What the f... Fine. We'll start class anyway."
Choi Su-yeon accepted my suggestion surprisingly quickly. Seeing the guy she liked pouring all his attention on another girl had clearly shaken her up. So the two of us who had ditched afternoon classes didn't head to the famous date course that required a subway ride. Instead we went to the area around Jinsu Station, the subway stop right by the school.
The streets around Jinsu Station were packed with entertainment spots—PC bangs, escape room cafés, PlayStation rooms, DVD bangs. There was even an old-school arcade, which was rare these days. Street vendors sold every kind of snack imaginable, and dessert cafés and snack bars lined the sidewalks.
The me who was only pretending to be heartbroken from rejection... and Choi Su-yeon who was genuinely heartbroken... walked together through the streets of Jinsu Station, wandering from place to place.
"Whoa! Senior, are you seriously not going easy on a weak, helpless girl like me?!"
"You said you were confident at air hockey, so I went all out...?"
We played air hockey at the arcade, or
"Wow, the fish are so beautiful. Why have I never been to a place like this before?"
We strolled through the underground shops selling ornamental fish, or
"Hasn't it only been a little while since lunch? You're eating again already?"
"You don't understand at all! Women have a completely separate stomach just for dessert!"
We stuffed ourselves with sweets at dessert cafés.
We did everything the word "skipping class" was meant to describe, roaming every corner of Jinsu Station. There was no fixed route, no destination. We simply went wherever our feet carried us and stopped at whatever caught our eye.
Having wasted the entire afternoon like proper delinquents, we finally sat down on a bench along a nearby walking path right around the time academy classes would be ending. I leaned back against the seat.
"In the end we never did any of that planned date course rehearsal you talked about. The location wasn't even famous—just the subway station near the academy."
"Still, I enjoyed walking around with you like this."
My words made Choi Su-yeon freeze mid-stretch. Then she gave me a sly eye-smile and poked my side with her elbow.
"What? What is this? Are you already trying to flirt with a fellow rejected girl just because you got dumped? Isn't your recovery a little too fast?"
"Did it sound like that? I just felt like doing something, and I figured you might be feeling the same way."
"Hmm~ Senior, do you read minds or something?"
"If I could, I wouldn't have ended up like this today. I wish I had mind-reading powers."
"Pfft. Yeah, I guess so."
"Anyway, thanks for going along with my selfish idea to skip class together."
Our eyes met in the air once more. Choi Su-yeon fiddled with her signature side ponytail and looked away.
"What? That's embarrassing. And 'going along with it'... it's not exactly like that."
"Oh? So you chose to do it willingly? Does that mean we're a lot closer now?"
At my teasing, Choi Su-yeon stared at me again before letting out a small laugh.
"Senior, you're really strange after all."