The Prospective Saintess, Seong Hayan (3)
Seong Hayan had been in a good mood since yesterday.
Now I can stay with Woobin all the time.
Middle school and high school had been co-ed, sure — but they'd always ended up in different classes, so they'd never been able to sit through a lesson together. University was different.
Same university as Woobin. Same department. Same year. Same class.
The thought that she could spend every hour from morning until night with Kim Woobin made her so, so happy.
Orientation day had been the absolute best. They'd gone to campus together, sat through lectures together, eaten lunch together, had dinner together, and then gone home together.
Throughout every lecture, Seong Hayan's gaze had been locked on Kim Woobin. The professor's voice had reached her ears, but it had gone in one and out the other. It had been such a happy, satisfying day. The thought that days like this would just keep coming filled her with joy.
And then, on the second day — today — a problem had arisen.
A guy named Jung Hoyoung, sly-eyed, with a pretty-boy face like some old-fashioned gigolo, had wedged himself right between her and Kim Woobin.
Ever since Jung Hoyoung had shown up, every precious moment she was supposed to share with Kim Woobin had been stolen from her. He'd sat through the same lectures. He'd hung around during every break. He'd even eaten lunch with them.
And now this.
I can't believe he's eating dinner with us too.
It was so absurd she didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and a worried thought crept in — what if this just kept happening?
And he has absolutely zero social awareness.
Kim Woobin had always been like that, so she could give him a pass. But she never would have guessed Jung Hoyoung would be this oblivious. She'd been broadcasting how much she disliked him, and he hadn't picked up on it at all.
"We had dinner here yesterday. It was really good."
Kim Woobin had brought Jung Hoyoung to the same barbecue restaurant where he and Seong Hayan had eaten last night.
I wanted this place to be just for me and Woobin.
It felt like something precious of hers was being soiled.
"We had meat yesterday, though. Won't you get sick of it? Want to go somewhere else?"
"Nah, it's fine. They've got a lot of different cuts here. We just order something different from yesterday."
Kim Woobin waved the suggestion off.
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah. Come on, sit down."
Jung Hoyoung, Seong Hayan, and Kim Woobin sat down at the table in that order.
"We'll order over here!"
Kim Woobin eagerly put in an order for meat. A moment later, the meat hit the grill with a loud sizzle.
"Soju okay? Or beer?"
"Soju's good. First round as soju-beer, though?"
"Sounds good."
They mixed the drinks, clinked glasses, and knocked them back.
"Hoyoung, did I ever tell you about that one time?"
Once the alcohol hit, Kim Woobin got even chattier. That part was fine. She didn't mind it. A flushed, rambling Kim Woobin was incredibly cute, after all.
But the real problem?
Why the hell are they treating me like I don't even exist?
Kim Woobin was only talking to Jung Hoyoung. The two of them were having a conversation entirely between themselves. Seong Hayan had been thoroughly left out.
This had never happened before, so she was more than a little thrown. After graduating high school and becoming an adult, she'd gone out drinking with their old classmates a few times. Kim Woobin had always talked to her at those gatherings. And if she started talking to the others? He was the one who got left out. Especially with the guys — they'd completely ignore Kim Woobin and talk only to her. But Seong Hayan had always made sure to look after him.
And yet.
You idiot. You moron.
Kim Woobin wasn't looking after her at all. On top of that, Jung Hoyoung was so absorbed in his conversation with Kim Woobin that he hadn't said a single word to her either. This was a first.
Why? Because guys were always desperate to talk to Seong Hayan and couldn't wait to ignore Kim Woobin.
It's not like it's a bad thing for Woobin to make a guy friend.
But Kim Woobin's behavior — acting like he'd completely forgotten she existed — still stung. Seong Hayan had same-sex friends of her own. But Kim Woobin had always come first.
And yet.
It doesn't seem like it's the same for him.
Jung Hoyoung was someone they'd met yesterday. Today was the first time they'd even had a proper conversation. She, on the other hand, was the childhood friend he'd built more than ten years of friendship with. And yet the difference in how Kim Woobin treated Jung Hoyoung versus her was painfully stark. He was treating the childhood friend of over a decade like she didn't exist, while acting like Jung Hoyoung — a guy he'd just made friends with today — was his oldest, closest buddy.
A sudden flash of anger surged up through her.
"I'm going home."
She stood up as she said it. She thought Kim Woobin would stop her. Or that he'd stand up and say they should go home together. The two of them had lived next door since they were kids, and they'd always walked to and from school together. That hadn't changed at university. When they'd looked for rooms, they'd found places right next to each other.
And yet.
"Huh? Okay. Get home safe."
Kim Woobin's face was flushed red, and he waved her off like it was nothing.
"I'm actually leaving."
"Yeah. See you."
Kim Woobin smiled brightly, and Seong Hayan — fury rising all the way to the top of her head — walked straight out of the restaurant.
Come after me. Come after me. Come after me.
Seong Hayan called to Kim Woobin in her heart.
"Hayan."
A voice called her name from behind. But unfortunately, the owner of that voice was—
"Sorry. I got so caught up talking to Woobin I didn't pay any attention to you. Are you really upset? Come on, don't be mad. Let's go back in."
It wasn't Kim Woobin. It was Jung Hoyoung.
"Forget it. I'm leaving."
"At least let me hail you a cab."
Jung Hoyoung stepped out toward the street as he said it.
Seong Hayan turned her head and looked back at Kim Woobin inside the restaurant. Even left alone, he looked perfectly happy — gulping down his drink and chewing away at the meat like it was the best night of his life. It was as if he'd already erased her from his mind.
"I got you a cab. Take this one. And just in case, I memorized the plate number."
"I'm a D-class hunter, you know."
Even as a healer, she was still a hunter — stronger than any ordinary person.
"That's true, but. You're a girl. You still have to be careful."
"Th-thanks."
Seong Hayan answered in a shy, awkward voice. And in her heart, she thought—
If only Woobin had been the one to say that.
"Get home safe, then. And starting tomorrow, I'll pay a little more attention."
Meaning he planned to insert himself between her and Kim Woobin tomorrow, too.
For a second the words surged up her throat — Stay away from Woobin! — but she swallowed them.
This is good for Woobin, too.
Aside from her, Kim Woobin didn't have any close friends. Jung Hoyoung seemed to get along with him just fine.
And he never looked down on Woobin or treated him like he was nothing.
If Jung Hoyoung had been a girl, Seong Hayan would have grabbed her by the hair and fought her if that's what it took to pry her off Kim Woobin. No — she never would have left the two of them alone in the first place. But Jung Hoyoung was a guy, and unlike their middle and high school classmates, he seemed to genuinely want to be friends with Kim Woobin. So she couldn't bring herself to say anything.
Just because she felt a little lonely. Just because she wasn't getting any attention. She couldn't steal Kim Woobin's chance to make a real guy friend. Even if it cost her. Even if it made her feel terrible. What came first for Seong Hayan was always… whether or not it would help Kim Woobin. And as far as she could tell right now, a guy friend like Jung Hoyoung was good for him.
"Okay. I'll go first. Have fun with Woobin."
And that was why Seong Hayan couldn't bring herself to treat Jung Hoyoung coldly.
This bastard really has zero social awareness.
If he'd been in Seong Hayan's place, the secondhand frustration alone would have killed him.
But then.
Doesn't hurt me any.
Listening to Kim Woobin's endless, boring chatter — and even playing along with it — was a bit of a chore. But thanks to that…
"Hahaha! Hoyoung! I really like you! You're the first friend I've ever had who doesn't look down on me and actually listens to what I have to say!"
In a single day, Jung Hoyoung had become Kim Woobin's best friend.
I wonder.
Jung Hoyoung looked at the brightly smiling Kim Woobin and let the corner of his mouth curl up.
Will he still be able to smile at me like that after I've fucked Seong Hayan?
This idiot might actually pull it off. If Jung Hoyoung told him he was going out with Seong Hayan, he'd probably clutch his burning gut, terrified that his childhood friendship with Seong Hayan would fall apart — terrified that his brand-new friendship with Jung Hoyoung would break. And out of fear that the two people closest to him might turn their backs on him, he might even overdo it — congratulating them, saying they looked good together, that he was happy for them.
I'll have to see what kind of face he makes. What kind of words come out of his mouth.
Besides, if he wanted a smooth harem going forward, Jung Hoyoung needed to become an official campus couple with Seong Hayan within Korea University's hunter department.
Not that we'll actually be a happy campus couple. It'll be a Master and slave arrangement — her dragged along because I've got dirt on her and she has no other choice.
But how would anyone else know that?