Shin Eunah
She made her way to the bathroom, dragging her stiff body along.
Even in that spare moment, she stretched her arms up high to make good use of the time as she walked.
And just as she arrived in front of the restroom.
Voices she recognized tickled Shin Eunah's ears in real time.
The voices of girls she occasionally talked to since they were in the same class, even if they weren't close—their tones were strangely sharp, and her steps came to an unavoidable halt.
Then came the vicious words.
"Shin Eunah. That bitch still thinks she's pretty, huh."
"I know. Soeun and Sangwoo only hung out with her out of pity, but she acts like she's all that. It's disgusting."
"She still acts like that? Whoa, creepy!"
She didn't expect a deep friendship that would continue into next year, but since they were in the same class for an unavoidable year, she thought it would be nice if things went beyond that. Still, she gathered the courage to bridge the distance, hoping to be brief friends for that year.
When she finally found the reward for her efforts and could freely engage in light conversation, she thought they had become friends. But that was only Shin Eunah's thought.
The gossip about Shin Eunah continued to pour out to their friend, who was in a different class but presumably hung out with them until the second year.
That she was trying to seduce Han Sangwoo with that ugly face of hers.
Like she actually thought she could seduce him.
That one of them would have a much better chance at seducing him.
At first, they insulted her by linking her to Han Sangwoo and mocking her, but soon it devolved into light personal attacks.
But as the conversation continued, their slowly burning dialogue gradually crossed the line.
"No wonder her parents abandoned her and ran away with a face like that."
"For real lol. I'd be terrified and run away too."
"She should be grateful they even raised her in the first place."
"That orphan bitch should be grateful they abandoned her later rather than sooner."
"Exactly."
Her tightly clenched fists trembled.
She was furious, but equally felt a sense of emptiness.
Despite her looks and family circumstances, she never gave up and lived her life diligently.
She prided herself on living so hard that even others would see it that way.
But she, who had been crawling beneath them, suddenly rose up and reached the top for some reason.
Of course, this bred jealousy.
A group formed that insulted Shin Eunah out of jealousy.
The problem was that these groups were unexpectedly numerous.
Even though she had never harmed anyone, the number of people gossiping about her behind her back grew exponentially.
Still, she ignored whatever she heard, blocked her ears, and went her own way, eventually rising to the position of student council president.
But as she overheard the unending gossip about her, as if denying all her efforts, tears welled up in her eyes.
She knew. No matter how hard she tried, those kinds of girls would never disappear.
Even though more people looked favorably upon Shin Eunah, who had run forward without giving up despite being blocked by the solid wall of her circumstances, than those who insulted her, she couldn't feel good because of just a few.
Because even if a hundred people were friendly, if one was negative, that single negative person inevitably stuck in her memory more than the friendly ones.
What… what did I do so wrong…?
She had only lowered herself and approached them, thinking of herself as a lower-class human because of her unusually ugly appearance.
And she carried out her given tasks with a devotion that bordered on obsession.
She proved herself with her abilities alone, not by her looks or family background, and rose to the position of student council president.
But was this the wrong thing to do?
It wasn't like she sat at her desk studying while others played, driven solely by a desire to climb high and build a career.
"Hnngh...!" She bit her lower lip.
Her lip stung, and she felt a liquid pass over her lip and drip down her chin.
She asked herself if all her actions so far had meant anything.
Judging by the fact that she had gained recognition from many people and even made friends, which anyone could have, it probably wasn't meaningless. But she couldn't bring herself to answer and remained silent.
An answer she couldn't give even to herself.
As if to provide that answer.
"Noona!" Lee Jihoon, who should have been in the student council room, approached, calling out to her.
She didn't want to show him. Strangely, she absolutely didn't want him to see her weak, tearful state.
She forced her expression under control, lifting her glasses slightly and wiping her tears with her sleeve.
But even as she wiped, the tears wouldn't stop.
Because as much as she wiped, they kept flowing.
"Huh? What…?" Shin Eunah was quite flustered because she had never lost control of her emotions like this.
The sight of her crying uncontrollably, as if her body wasn't her own, felt very alien even to herself.
As she busily wiped away the endlessly flowing tears.
Lee Jihoon approached and suddenly pulled her into his arms.
"...!"
The embrace of a man, the first she had ever experienced, was wide.
It was more than enough to cover Shin Eunah's body, which was quite large for a woman since she put on weight from everything she ate even though she didn't eat much.
Above all, his embrace felt incredibly warm.
A desire to stay like this, held in his arms, quietly bloomed within her.
But she couldn't.
"Let… go of me…" She struggled to break free from his embrace, but once again her body wouldn't obey.
Even though she thought she should push him away quickly, her body didn't follow her commands; instead, it started to burrow deeper into his arms.
She didn't want to cause him harm.
Because he was the only junior who had helped her with a pure heart, without any ulterior motive.
Shin Eunah opened her mouth with difficulty.
"What if someone sees us… It'll only have a negative impact on you…"
She thought that just being associated with herself, who had lived honestly and diligently, would cause him harm. Her heart ached as if a spike had been driven into it.
"And… your girlfriend will get angry."
"It's okay."
"'It's okay'? Nayoung will see… Ah…"
Shin Eunah's movements stiffened, and she let out a gasp.
When she felt the rough texture of his hand gently caressing her face, she laughed bitterly.
"I see…"
He probably just felt pity for such a pathetic woman; there was no way he thought of her romantically.
It was pathetic that she had only realized this now.
"I'm not sure what you're thinking, but it's not like that."
Had he read her mind? Jihoon denied it, but it didn't change the outcome.
"For now… let go…"
It was lunchtime. A lot of students were passing through the hallway.
All of them were whispering about the two of them.
Each whisper felt like mockery.
"I don't want to."
"Why…?"
She couldn't understand.
Shin Eunah could never get used to the stares and whispers no matter how hard she tried. But Jihoon didn't care and refused to let her go.
Maybe it was because he hadn't experienced it yet. If so, she needed to make him realize it quickly.
Just then.
"Huh? Eunah?"
"What are you two… doing?"
The girls who had been gossiping about Shin Eunah so loudly that it could be heard outside the bathroom came out.
And they saw her in Lee Jihoon's arms.
A smile spread across their momentarily flustered faces.
"Are you two dating? To the point of showing affection where everyone can see."
They snickered and said.
It was a statement that wouldn't be strange even if Lee Jihoon, who had a girlfriend as incredibly beautiful as Nayoung, got angry.
He calmly opened his mouth.
"We're not dating, but the affection… hmm. Maybe it is that."
"..."
He didn't seem to mind being linked with her as a girlfriend, even though she was not just ugly but hideous, dirty, and even repulsive. Shin Eunah, still in his arms, stared at him blankly.
"Still, a noona like Eunah isn't bad. Unlike the other noonas who gossip behind her back out of inferiority complex even though she hasn't done anything to them."
"What…?"
At the assessment that they were inferior to Shin Eunah, one of them burst with anger, veins showing on her forehead.
"You, you heard us?" Another girl, her face turning pale at the thought of being caught gossiping, looked around nervously.
"I was just listening… it wasn't me." The remaining one tried to escape, claiming she wasn't involved.
"Noona, don't mind them, let's go back."
Jihoon pulled Shin Eunah away from his embrace.
Then he put his arm around her shoulder and forced her to walk.
"You're doing well." He said it as if to comfort her.
"You're doing well, so just ignore it. As long as you're human, you're bound to be bitten. Whether it's you, me, or Nayoung."
No matter how harmlessly one lives, there will always be people who dislike you.
That's human society.
"So you just need to keep doing what you've always been doing."
It was truly one of the most pointless gestures.
"Thank you…" She clutched her pounding heart.
"It's nothing."
"It might be nothing to you, but it was a great strength to me. And."
She stopped walking and looked him straight in the eyes.
"As you said, it seems very difficult for a person to live alone."
It might seem a bit ugly.
Still.
"What I said before. Is it still valid?"
She felt that carving a path together might not be so bad after all, compared to carving it alone in solitude.