Friend
Her smile was so beautiful that even Jaehyeon, and Cheolyong too, found themselves staring blankly for a moment.
Beyond the two of them, men and women at other tables who had been stealing glances at Chaeyeon were also captivated by her smile.
"But seriously, you're really pretty. You."
"Thanks. Ah...! But I'm Jihoon's girl, so that kind of talk won't work on me."
Chaeyeon shot back playfully at Cheolyong's comment.
Cheolyong laughed heartily.
"No matter what, I'm not the kind of tactless person who'd hit on a friend's girl. Rather than making an enemy, I'd rather stay close for a long time."
"That's true. You're smarter than I thought. You know?"
He wasn't stupid enough to ditch a wealthy friend he'd known for a long time just because their personalities didn't click over some girl.
More than anything.
"Besides, there's someone I like."
"Oh...? Really?"
Since they say watching losers fight and hearing about other people's love lives are the most entertaining things in the world, we couldn't help but show interest.
The fact that this guy with his fierce, intimidating face and huge build that didn't look his age was actually a pure-hearted romantic — that was bound to pique our interest.
"Who is it? Is she in our class?"
I probed a little, wondering if it might be one of my women.
At Chaeyeon's sharp question, he shook his head without a moment's hesitation.
So not our class. Meaning not one of my women.
Good.
I didn't want things to get awkward between us like with Jaehyeon, who'd fallen for one of my girls despite me going out of my way to make friends.
"Then your class?"
"Not my class either."
"Hmm... Is she at least in our grade?"
Even with the relentless questions, he didn't seem bothered and just kept shaking his head.
"Different school?"
"Same school."
"Then she's a senior..."
Chaeyeon fell into thought.
She racked her brain trying to think of any senior that Cheolyong might like, but no suitable candidate came to mind, and her pondering seemed endless.
Even she, who was sociable enough to quickly befriend not just first-years but second and third-years too, didn't seem to have a clue.
And that made sense — there was no one among the second or third-year girls pretty enough to catch his eye over my women's beauty.
"Who is it?"
When I couldn't hold back my curiosity and asked directly, Cheolyong didn't seem to want to hide it.
"Shin Eunah. The student council president."
He answered purely, without hesitation.
"Oh... The student council president?"
Chaeyeon was impressed.
That was because the student council president she'd seen at the entrance ceremony had looks that were, well... pretty bad.
She was excessively overweight with a bloated body, her face was covered in acne and various blemishes that made it look dirty, and to top it all off, she wore glasses.
In other words, her appearance was a collection of the worst possible conditions.
She couldn't be called pretty, and she couldn't be called average either.
Only one word came to mind.
Ugly.
"Why her, exactly?"
She was genuinely curious.
Why on earth would he come to like someone like that?
"I don't know what you guys might think, but to me, she's like a savior."
Cheolyong slowly began to explain how he came to like Shin Eunah, the student council president.
One year ago.
Back then, Cheolyong said he was being subtly ostracized because of his aged, fierce-looking face and enormous physique that didn't suit a student.
Well, 'ostracized' — the kids in his class were so scared of him they wouldn't even talk to him.
The problem was that Cheolyong, having given up hope from the ongoing reactions of the other kids, stopped talking to them too, gradually becoming more timid and ending up alone.
But then, in a way, he met a girl in a similar situation to his own in a rundown vacant lot.
That girl was two years older than Cheolyong, but their situations were somewhat similar.
Cheolyong — because kids were afraid of him.
Her — because she was fat and too ugly, ending up alone.
The only difference was that unlike Cheolyong, who had completely given up on getting close to people, she — Shin Eunah — hadn't given up.
She constantly worked hard to gain recognition from the other kids despite her appearance, and eventually showed passionate determination by running for student council president.
As if hard work and courage don't betray you, she even managed to win the presidency.
"That's when it started. When the student council president started looking beautiful to me."
The mere fact that she hadn't given up despite the difficult path, had charged forward, and ultimately achieved what she wanted was enough to capture Cheolyong's heart.
"And I tried to follow her example. As soon as I entered school, I made an effort to get close to my classmates."
That was why he had approached Jaehyeon and me and struck up a conversation.
"But I've only got you two. Haha. Well, it's just the beginning."
In about a month, the only people he could call friends were me and Jaehyeon.
I wasn't sure about myself, but Jaehyeon didn't seem to accept him as a friend. Anyway, Cheolyong was taking steps forward in his own way.
It was a story you'd see in some coming-of-age webtoon, and for some reason, I felt proud and found it beautiful.
Not just me — Chaeyeon was nodding too, looking at Cheolyong as if seeing him in a new light.
But... but still.
The student council president he'd come to like — Shin Eunah — was a woman I absolutely couldn't give up, even for Cheolyong, who would become a precious friend.
That was because she was like Nayoung and Heera noona — a beautiful flower that hadn't yet bloomed.
She was hiding incredible beauty that, with my touch, could be elevated to at least Heera noona's level, if not Nayoung's.
No, she didn't even know this herself, so it wasn't exactly hiding.
Anyway, to win her heart and transform her ugly appearance into something absurdly beautiful — that was why I, ranked among the top students in the country, had deliberately enrolled in this mediocre school.
I gave Cheolyong a bitter smile.
You could accuse me — couldn't I give at least one to a friend? Why try to get another woman when I already had so many? I wouldn't blame you.
But in the first place, Shin Eunah had said in a future interview that she'd never had a boyfriend even once until she turned 30, so essentially, Cheolyong's love was doomed from the start.
More than anything, I absolutely had to secure Shin Eunah.
Because someday I'd have to inherit my father's company, and for that, I needed Shin Eunah.
She was an incredibly capable woman who, at a very young age — not even in her thirties — and as a woman, had rapidly risen to an executive position at a major corporation, developing the company she worked for to succeed not just domestically but internationally.
And more than anything, office wear really suited her.
"So I'm thinking of joining the student council."
"......"
I was also planning to join the student council to get close to Shin Eunah.
She'd already served as student council president for a year and would have to step down, but if she wanted, she could serve as vice president for the remaining year.
And of course, Shin Eunah would take the vice president role.
"Is that so."
"It's not easy to get in just because you want to, but I have to try."
Cheolyong, who believed it was better to regret doing something than regret not doing it, looked at me and continued.
"How about you join the student council too? Let's do it together."
"Me too?"
"It's a bit lonely on my own, you know."
He didn't have confidence in getting close to the people in the student council, so he was trying to drag me in too.
Since I was planning to go anyway.
"Sure, why not."
"Oh...! Thanks!"
Thanks for what? I should be the one apologizing.
Even if it was a love that could never come true, he'd still feel like it was taken from him by me.
"Don't mention it."
Feeling sorry, I wrapped a ssam for Cheolyong.
Cheolyong beamed brightly and accepted the ssam I'd wrapped for him.
With his mouth, even.
*
Time passed, and it was late Friday afternoon.
Without even thinking about changing clothes as soon as school ended, I was out on a busy street with Eunbi.
Today was my date with Eunbi.
Tomorrow was Saturday, so I had a feeling I wouldn't be going home tonight.
No, I wouldn't let her go home. Even if Eunbi said she wanted to go, I wouldn't let her.
Anyway, on our first date, Eunbi had been flustered by the very idea of dating and followed my lead, but now her shyness had faded to some degree, and she acted naturally like any ordinary couple you'd see around.
"Where are we going?"
She even asked what we were doing today and where we were going, showing how much she'd developed. It was endearing.
"Good question. Where should we go?"
I stroked Eunbi's hair as we walked aimlessly down the street.
"Hmm..."
Eunbi fell into thought too, as if nothing particular came to mind.
Rather than going to the usual places like the movies or noraebang, she seemed to want to spend some sweet time somewhere a bit different.
"How about we just walk together today?"
"That's not a bad idea."
Going somewhere was fine too, but sometimes dating like this — just walking aimlessly — seemed nice too.
So we held hands, walked down the street, chatted about this and that, and grabbed some snacks here and there.
By the time the sun had completely set and the streetlights were gradually flickering on, we had a simple meal.
Once we were reasonably full, we left the restaurant and started walking again to help digest the food.
"A board game cafe? Looks like it just opened?"
While walking down a street we frequented, we happened to spot a board game cafe.
Unlike other places we'd been to before, it was really big.
What stood out was that there were no open rooms.
Usually, board game cafes popping up like mushrooms these days either just had tables out in the open to efficiently use the narrow space, or were just starting to have room-style setups.
But this newly opened place did have rooms — they were just two-story formats for efficient space usage.
They were smaller as a result, but the price was much cheaper.
"Eunbi. Want to go check it out?"
"Do you want to play board games?"
"I feel like going today, for some reason."
Since it was cheap and I'd gone there really often with friends before my return, a wave of nostalgia hit me.
"Hmm... Room-style... okay... got it...!"
For some reason, Eunbi nodded with a determined look on her face.
I had no idea what she was thinking to make that expression.