Chapter 14
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Boiling Point
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"Ow, my leg hurts. You put some real feeling into that tackle, didn't you, Juwon!"
"What? I just cleanly took the ball. You got hit because you were stupidly standing there."
Among the eight heading out the school gate, the noisiest as always were Park Geon and Juwon, walking along while reeking of sweat.
Behind them, Chaerin and Dasom chatted about the movie they'd seen today.
The four at the very back matched their strides a bit awkwardly.
Even amid all that, Hyunsu stuck close to Iseol's side, desperately trying to keep the movie conversation going.
"Iseol, that movie ending was so sad."
"..."
"Oh, right, you left midway. During break later, I'll summarize just the ending for you."
Despite Hyunsu's persistent advances, Iseol just nodded vaguely and kept staring ahead as she walked.
Siwoo walked in that uncomfortable atmosphere, holding his breath.
Han Jiyoon, walking beside him while playing a mobile game, didn't seem to care at all as she nudged him.
"Hey, Nam Siwoo."
"Yeah?"
"You went to the reading club, right? Fun?"
Jiyoon asked indifferently without taking her eyes off the screen.
"Uh... just reading books and writing. It was quiet and nice."
"Really? Ah, maybe I should've gone there too. The film club is too noisy; I can't focus on my game."
Siwoo, who'd been tense, couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at Jiyoon's random complaint.
Thanks to Jiyoon casually striking up a conversation, the awkward air felt a little lighter.
"Hah, reading, my ass. It's just for total losers who go there to sleep."
Seeing Siwoo laugh while talking to Jiyoon, Hyunsu twitched his eyebrows and sneered loudly.
Only then did Jiyoon pause her game and look at Hyunsu.
"Im Hyunsu, why are you picking a fight out of nowhere? It's annoying to hear."
"Picking a fight? It's just facts. You know the type who go to reading club. They got nothing better to do, so they go chill with the AC and nap."
Siwoo's expression hardened again at Hyunsu's sharp words.
At that moment, Iseol, walking beside him, frowned and glared at Hyunsu.
"Im Hyunsu. We're all heading to eat happily together right now, so can't you keep it positive?"
Hyunsu clamped his mouth shut at Iseol's icy remark, but he shot Siwoo another resentful glance, looking hurt in his pride.
The rundown snack bar in front of the school, famous as a hidden gem, was packed when the eight of them piled in.
"Auntie! Two large instant tteokbokki here!"
"Fritters and sundae too, please!"
Park Geon ordered familiarly, and Dasom added to it, eyes sparkling in front of the fritter display.
While the two coordinated the order with the auntie, a subtle battle of glances unfolded among those who'd entered first as they pushed two tables together.
It was Hyunsu naturally trying to claim the seat next to Iseol versus Iseol's ironclad defense against it.
"Ugh, it's cramped. Move over there."
Iseol tossed her bag onto the chair to block Hyunsu's approach.
"Come on, Iseol. Sit with me. I'll grab stuff from far away for you."
"No thanks. I'm sitting with Dasom."
"Oh!"
Iseol firmly pulled Dasom to her side, leaving Hyunsu to smack his lips and settle for the opposite seat.
'Of all people...'
But the real problem was that Siwoo ended up right next to Hyunsu, feeling like he was sitting on pins and needles.
Hyunsu grumbled nonstop in dissatisfaction even as he set the chopsticks.
"Ugh, seriously. It's not even that cramped. Hey, Nam Loser. Water."
Hyunsu nodded toward the water pitcher at the table's end.
A natural errand boy demand.
As Siwoo flinched and reached for it, Juwon's hand shot in and snatched the pitcher first.
"Hey, do you guys have no hands or legs? Thirsty ones pour their own."
Juwon ignored Hyunsu, filled his own cup, and tossed the pitcher to Park Geon beside him.
"..."
Nothing was going Hyunsu's way.
Unable to hold back his anger, he gripped the wooden chopsticks so hard they nearly snapped.
Unaware or uncaring of the tense vibe, Jiyoon set down her phone and drawled lazily from beside him.
"Ah, I'm starving. Hey, Nam Siwoo. Radish kimchi."
Siwoo pushed the radish kimchi dish over at Jiyoon's casual request, and Hyunsu let out a hollow laugh as he muttered.
"So demanding... What a king you are. Ignores some, obeys others."
Like the bubbling red tteokbokki broth boiling over, the table's atmosphere heated up viciously.
"Im Hyunsu. What did you just... Ugh, whatever."
Jiyoon glared at Hyunsu's pathetic muttering, sighed as if words were pointless, and picked up her phone again.
Amid that suffocating war of nerves, Siwoo swallowed tears inside and aimlessly stirred the tteokbokki with his ladle.
And it was Dasom who melted that mood.
"Wow~ Fritters are out! Smells amazing~ These kimchi fritters are insane!"
Dasom gazed at the freshly fried fritters with an ecstatic expression, drool practically forming.
At her pure hunger, even Iseol, who'd been on edge all day, softened her face.
She pulled out a tissue and handed it to Dasom.
"You're drooling. Wipe up."
"Oh, huh? Nooo~ I'm just so hungry!"
Starting with Dasom's embarrassed laugh, they all began eating noisily, chatting away.
After finishing their boisterous meal, they emerged from the snack bar with satisfied looks.
The sun had already fully set outside.
Only streetlamp lights glowed at regular intervals along the street, blanketed in pitch darkness.
"Ah, ate so much I'm gonna burst."
"Hey, Park Geon. You stole my sundae at the end, didn't you? Wanna die?"
"Fair revenge for that tackle, punk."
With the giggling, bickering pair in the lead, they walked the night street rowdily.
The street with sporadic streetlamps had a certain charm, but amid that peaceful scene, only around Iseol hung heavy with discomfort.
"Iseol, hold up. Hear me out?"
Hyunsu persistently stuck to Iseol's side, hindering her steps.
When she tried linking arms with Dasom, he'd wedge between them, or outright block her path to make her stop.
"Move. Can't see ahead."
Iseol tried to sidestep with an irritated tone, but Hyunsu didn't yield and reached for her arm again.
"No, let's watch a movie this weekend? I already booked tickets."
"I said no. Deaf? Go or cancel, whatever."
"Come on, stop playing hard to get. You know the group's pushing us together, right? Don't ruin the vibe."
Hyunsu spoke loudly enough for the surrounding friends to hear, feigning hurt.
A sleazy tactic to pressure her by treating it as a done deal.
At that instant, Iseol, who'd been silently enduring, halted abruptly.
"..."
As she stopped, Siwoo and Jiyoon behind her, and even Juwon and Park Geon ahead, all paused curiously and turned back.
In the chilling silence where not even wind whispered, only Hyunsu's voice hung awkwardly.
"Huh? Iseol, you changed your mind and wanna—"
"Hey, Im Hyunsu."
Iseol looked straight up at him.
Bathed in the streetlamp's backlight, her expression was chillingly sunken, unlike any before.
"Do you really have zero tact, or are you pretending to be a moron?"
"Huh...?"
"I've been politely beating around the bush calling you a friend, and you think I'm a joke? That you can handle me however? I clearly said no. No movie. How many times do I have to repeat myself for you to get it?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but it stabbed at Hyunsu like a dagger.
His face paled as he rolled his eyes, forcing an awkward smile to defuse the situation.
"Ah, no... Iseol. Kids are watching; why get serious? I was just joking."
"Joking? You call this a joke?"
Iseol scoffed in disbelief and stepped toward him instead.
Hyunsu instinctively backed away under her momentum.
"I said no, but you creepily follow me around, give off this gross vibe like we're dating in front of everyone, book tickets I don't want... This is a joke?"
"H-Hey... That's too harsh. After all I've done for you..."
"Done for me? When?"
Iseol's cold gaze raked Hyunsu up and down, lingered briefly on Siwoo behind him, then snapped back.
"It wasn't doing me favors; you were just clinging to feed your pathetic conquest lust and ego. And."
Iseol took a breath, then drove the nail in word by word.
"Don't get it twisted. I hang out with you because of Juwon and Geon. Nothing more, nothing less, so don't get cocky. It's disgusting."
"...!"
Under the streetlamp, Hyunsu's face flushed beet red, ready to explode.
A brutal public execution right in the middle of the street, all friends watching.
"And Park Geon. You."
Iseol turned to Park Geon, who stood gaping beyond Hyunsu.
"One more time you cluelessly pair me with someone like this and stir up this shitty atmosphere, I won't hang with you anymore either. Got it?"
"Uh, uh? Y-Yeah... Got it."
Even the burly Park Geon stammered, intimidated.
"Let's go."
Iseol brushed past Hyunsu without a backward glance.
Frozen Dasom and Chaerin glanced around and hurriedly followed.
Juwon scratched his head awkwardly, patted Hyunsu's shoulder as he passed.
"You should've known better... I'm heading out."
One by one they left, and finally Siwoo and Jiyoon passed by Hyunsu.
Siwoo kept his head down, avoiding Hyunsu's eyes, but he could feel it.
The trembling fist and the murderous glare aimed at him.
"..."
Feeling a chill down his spine, Siwoo hurried toward the group like fleeing.
Hyunsu's lone shadow, left behind, twisted under the streetlamp light.