Attractive, You Say?
Getting close with Kim Hyewon's friends happened in the blink of an eye.
First, Han Sohyeon. She had a mischievous streak and absolutely no filter.
Poke poke—
"Rumor going around that you're a chaebol heir. Is it true?"
"...People are saying that?"
"Oh? The way you're dodging—don't tell me it's actually real? If it is, could you buy me one big, fancy Together tee?"
She might actually be the easiest one to warm up to. When a hardcore extrovert has that much playfulness, all it takes is cracking the door open a little and she'll carry the whole conversation herself.
Next came the comparatively quiet Han Areum.
"Sohyeon, you shouldn't ask for things like that. You're putting Seojun on the spot."
How should I put it... she was one of those genuinely kind people whose warmth never seemed to run out for anyone.
"I'm putting you on the spot, Seojun?"
Yes. Yes, you are.
"Aw, come on."
"See? He's uncomfortable. Hyewon, you should rein Sohyeon in too."
Which was probably why I felt like I'd lose all my energy around Han Sohyeon alone—but Han Areum kept her firmly in check. Was she the safety valve of this trio?
Kim Hyewon, liable to bolt in any direction at any moment. Han Sohyeon, pure noise. And Han Areum, the one who absorbed it all and held them together.
Somehow I felt like I'd glimpsed the true nature of the three of them. To survive this party, was befriending Han Areum the essential move?
"Ahem."
Han Sohyeon cleared her throat.
"So from now on, Baek Seojun, you're eating lunch with us, right?"
"Does it really work like that?"
"Of course it does! Like Areum said—if you're Hyewon's friend, you're our friend. No reason for you to eat off on your own. Right, Hyewon?"
Han Areum turned to look at Kim Hyewon.
But.
"......"
"......?"
Kim Hyewon was puffing out her cheeks like something had badly displeased her.
"Hyewon?"
"Mm."
"So we can eat with Baek Seojun from now on too, right?"
"...Yeah."
Kim Hyewon answered grudgingly. Watching this, Han Sohyeon quietly sidled over and jabbed me in the ribs.
"...Are you actually dating Hyewon or what?"
"...No."
"Then why is she acting like that?"
"...I have no idea."
Believe me, I'd like to know too. She's been off ever since she showed up at my place yesterday and climbed onto my lap.
Stranger still, even Han Sohyeon and Han Areum—supposedly her best friends—had no clue why she was behaving this way.
"Maybe she's on her period..."
...I pretended not to hear Han Sohyeon muttering beside me.
Anyway.
"Guys, we should probably head back in soon?"
Han Areum announced that lunch period was winding down.
"Huh? Already? I still have a ton of questions!"
Han Sohyeon clearly couldn't let it go, whining that she didn't want to go back to the classroom. Han Areum just smiled and soothed her.
"Ask Seojun your questions next time. Let's head in."
"Ugh, I don't wanna study... I'm an aspiring model. Can't I just skip the studying?"
"No. Even models have to study."
"Hnngh..."
Muttering something about how models shouldn't need to study, Han Sohyeon was dragged off by Han Areum.
So she's an aspiring model.
I'd learned about Han Sohyeon's dream without meaning to. Also, apparently, that academics weren't her strong suit.
It really suits the image, though.
If ever a saying was true, it was that birds of a feather flock together—Kim Hyewon's friends were all remarkably beautiful in their own right. Han Sohyeon especially was the tallest of the group, with proportions that were practically model by default.
As I watched the girls walk away, Kim Hyewon gave my sleeve a small tug.
"Baek Seojun. Let's head back too."
"Oh—yeah."
And so, on the walk back to the classroom.
"...Sorry."
She offered an apology out of nowhere.
"Hm? For what?"
"My friends."
"Oh... Sohyeon and Areum?"
A pause.
"...Yeah."
Granted, it had been a flustering experience. They'd ambushed me and interrogated me half to death.
Starting from whether I was dating Lee Chaeeun, moving on to whether I was dating Kim Hyewon, whether I'd switched loyalties, whether I'd hypnotized the girl or something. And then, out of nowhere—where did they even hear that?—whether I was actually a chaebol heir.
Still, it wasn't anything worth apologizing over. Exhausting as it was, I hadn't minded one bit.
"Nah, it's fine. Areum seems really kind, and Sohyeon's a bit of a tease, but she seemed sweet. I liked them."
Truthfully, all that playfulness probably made her fun to be around.
"...Really?"
"Yeah. Besides, she seems like she'd be a blast to hang out with. She jokes around, sure, but I don't think she'd ever cross the line."
I praised her friends as much as I reasonably could, so Kim Hyewon wouldn't feel bad about it. I wasn't inventing anything—just stating honest truths—so I figured it was safe.
Then.
"...Baek Seojun. Do you like girls like Sohyeon?"
Somehow she'd read it out of that, and fired back a question completely out of left field.
One that was distinctly uncomfortable to answer, at that.
"...Where's this coming from?"
"Doesn't matter. I won't tell anyone. Just tell me."
"Hmm..."
I had no idea why she'd suddenly ask that. But I also knew asking why would get me nowhere. Even in the short time I'd known her, I'd gotten a decent read on Kim Hyewon's my-way-or-the-highway tendencies.
"Strictly attractive or not? Yeah, she's attractive."
"...Is that so?"
Worried she might take it the wrong way, I hurried to add a caveat.
"But that's not me saying Sohyeon's my ideal type or anything."
"Then what is it?"
"Just that she's charming, as a person."
That was what I meant, more or less.
Setting aside ideal types and all that—the simple fact that a person themselves is beautiful to look at. The kind of likable person that, if I had to put a number on it, all hundred out of a hundred people would like.
"...I see."
"That's all it is."
"Then what's your ideal type?"
"You're asking about mine?"
"Yeah."
I wondered why she was suddenly curious about that too, but I answered anyway.
"Nothing set in stone. As long as someone's charming, that's enough for me."
"Charming?"
"Yeah. You know how some people just make you feel things—like you want to protect them when you're together, or they put you at ease, or they're fun to be around, or your heart starts racing."
"Hmm."
Kim Hyewon wore an expression I couldn't read at all.
"No physical ideal type?"
"Mm... physical ideal type, huh."
Honestly, I was still human, and still a man.
It took someone being reasonably good-looking for feelings like attraction or affection to sprout in the first place. Looks were a person's first impression—a minimal entry ticket.
So if I had a preference, yes, I liked pretty girls.
"Pretty is enough?"
"Yeah. Even prettiness carries a different charm for every person. I've never really thought one specific style was better than another."
Or maybe I'd simply never had the bandwidth to think about it, having been too busy staring at Lee Chaeeun all this time.
Either way, as of now I had no particular physical type I preferred.
...
...Ah.
No. Wait.
"There's maybe one thing, but... never mind."
This one I really didn't feel like sharing.
"What is it?"
Kim Hyewon stared straight at me. I averted my eyes from her gaze.
"Tell me."
"It's nothing."
"I'll keep it a secret."
"Even so, I'd rather not say."
"I seriously won't tell anyone. I won't say a word, even after I hear it."
Should you really trust a girl's I won't tell anyone? From what I'd seen, girls tended to share everything that happened to them with their friends.
"You don't trust me?"
"No, it's not that..."
Was this really something worth getting this worked up over?
"Yes. I'm that curious."
"Why?"
"Because you made me curious."
Her voice carried, and a few students passing through the hallway turned to look at us. I hastily dropped my voice to a murmur, low enough that only she could hear.
"...You seriously won't say anything?"
"Mm-hm."
The look on her face made it clear: she wasn't letting this go until I talked.
I barely held down the sigh rising in my throat and spat out the words.
"...Someone with a good body."
"Like Sohyeon?"
"Why does she even come up... Ideally, someone pretty with a nice figure."
Say, someone with a generous chest, hips, and thighs.
A little blunt, sure, but so what? Strip away the pleasantries and that was simply the truth.
"Hmm... I see."
Having heard all that, Kim Hyewon didn't look at me with contempt. She didn't look at me like I was some degenerate, either.
If that counted as a relief, it was one.
"So how about me."
"...Hm?"
"Am I attractive?"
Instead, she was the one curious about how she came across.
I scratched my head and answered.
"You're the type guys would like."
"No."
She shook her head.
"I'm asking how you see me, Baek Seojun."
For a moment, my breath caught in my throat.
There it was again.
Just like yesterday, my breath snagged in my chest.
At her behavior, at her words, at the look in her eyes—I couldn't tell you why. But somehow, my whole body went stiff.
"...You are attractive."
"So you're saying I'm pretty."
"...Yeah."
"Good body too?"
"......"
I answered with silence instead of words. But that silence was answer enough.
Reading her certainty into it, Kim Hyewon narrowed her eyes into a sly, catlike smile.
"Pervert. Sneaky little pervert. So you've been looking at me like that this whole time."
"No—you're the one who asked."
"Only an idiot actually says it out loud when someone tells him to."
"That's..."
My mind was spiraling.
Had it really been worth saying? God, my mouth really does run away from me.
Fortunately, even as Kim Hyewon hurled the word pervert at me, there was nothing genuinely offended in her tone.
...No, come to think of it, she almost seemed... pleased?
...Am I imagining that?
I couldn't tell.
But I did know I had no intention of just taking this lying down. Which was why—
"Kim Hyewon. What about you."
"About what?"
"Me. In your eyes, am I attractive?"
The same question she'd asked me, turned right back on her.
Not that I expected an answer. Her highness didn't strike me as the type to respond so obediently.
That was my mistake.
"You're attractive."
"...What?"
"Handsome, and kind. That's attractive."
The question I'd been sure would go unanswered came back with an answer attached.
As I stood there frozen, Kim Hyewon gave me a light tap.
"Let's go. Class is about to start."
"......"
Needless to say, I was unable to focus on a single thing for the rest of the day's lessons.