Didn't You Say You Were Just Friends? (2)
I was dragged out of the club room and hauled down the hallway like a criminal being taken in for questioning. Only when we reached a quiet corner with no one around did Chae-ryeong finally stop. She glanced around nervously, then let out a small sigh of relief.
“So what’s this about? Does it have something to do with Seo Ye-ji?”
At my question, she took a moment to steady her breathing before speaking in a calm, serious tone.
“Yoon Taeo. What are we going to do? We’ve been caught.”
“What?”
“Ye-ji saw our YouTube channel. She didn’t say it outright, but I think she’s watched all the videos.”
“Already?”
“Yeah. I was shocked too. I didn’t expect it to blow up this fast. I never thought things would turn out like this…”
The way she said it made it clear that even Chae-ryeong hadn’t been completely confident the channel would succeed.
“Weren’t you the one who kept saying it would definitely work?”
“Well, if I hadn’t said that, you probably wouldn’t have agreed to do it…”
She had a point. No matter how optimistic she was, even she probably hadn’t imagined it would take off this quickly. The results we’d achieved in just a few weeks were honestly astonishing.
“Okay, fine. Wow. So does this mean we’re kind of celebrities now? The department’s famous YouTubers? Influencers? That kind of thing?”
“……Can you not act so chill about this?”
When I kept responding so casually, Chae-ryeong let out a deep sigh.
“What’s the problem? So what if Ye-ji knows? Or the rest of the department?”
“It’s already awkward enough telling the other kids in our major. I mean, this whole thing is supposed to be a concept, right? We’re not actually dating.”
“…Ah.”
Yeah, that was a fair point. The situation was already complicated, and trying to explain it would only make things weirder. And what Chae-ryeong said next was even more convincing.
“If we tell people it’s just acting and that somehow gets posted on the community boards or anywhere online, it could be a disaster. Our channel just got its wings, and it might crash right away.”
“…You’re right. We definitely need to keep a lid on this.”
Now that the channel was doing so well, it was impossible not to feel attached to it. Even I would feel pretty bad if it suddenly tanked. After all, this was the result of all the hard work Yoo Chae-ryeong and I had poured into it. At the very least, the fact that this couple vlog was just acting had to stay between the two of us. People weren’t watching because they wanted to see a performance. If they wanted that, they’d watch a drama or a movie instead of searching for a couple vlog.
“……And the thing with Ye-ji is more of a personal issue. Umm…”
She kept sneaking glances at me, clearly uncomfortable bringing it up. But since it involved Chae-ryeong, I figured it was something I needed to know about anyway. I didn’t hesitate.
“What is it? When have we ever hidden stuff from each other? Just tell me. That way I can actually help.”
Besides, it was related to the filming one way or another. She must have been debating whether or not to tell me. Of course, even if it had nothing to do with me, I’d still care if it was something bothering her.
She hesitated for a moment before finally opening her mouth.
“You know… right? That Seo Ye-ji likes you.”
It was an awkward question. Some might call it self-absorbed, but after receiving plenty of attention from girls over the years, I’d more or less picked up on it.
“Yeah, I kind of figured. It was pretty obvious. But why is that coming up now?”
Ye-ji wasn’t exactly the type to hide her feelings well. She’d shown interest in me openly a few times, so I was aware of it to some degree. Still, she hadn’t come on too strongly, so I hadn’t felt the need to draw a clear line.
“Here’s the thing. At the beginning of the semester, I told her that you and I were just friends. Remember?”
“And?”
“You know how it is… when girls get involved with the same guy, things get complicated…”
“So it’s exactly what I’m thinking?”
I hadn’t exactly wanted to become an expert at reading between the lines, but hanging around someone as pretty as Yoo Chae-ryeong had taught me a few things. Especially about the complicated mind games that sometimes happened between girls.
“Yeah. I told her not to worry because we were just friends, and now we’re filming a couple vlog together. From her perspective, I must look like a total bitch, right…?”
“So that weird atmosphere in the club room earlier…?”
“Exactly… that’s what we were talking about…”
From Seo Ye-ji’s point of view, it probably looked like Chae-ryeong had thrown up a smoke screen by claiming we were just friends, then swooped in and stole me the moment Ye-ji let her guard down. Even if she didn’t think Chae-ryeong was being sneaky, they seemed pretty close, so she was bound to feel betrayed. After all, there’s an unspoken rule among friends not to go after the same person.
“……So here’s my idea. Can’t we just tell Ye-ji the truth? That it’s all acting?”
“You want to tell her that?”
“Ye-ji doesn’t seem like a bad person. I don’t want to lose a friend over something like this…”
I looked at Chae-ryeong’s slightly downcast face. She was probably asking me because this had gone beyond something she could handle alone. After all, there was real risk involved. The fact that she was even suggesting this showed how sincere she was. They did seem to get along really well, after all. And when relationships within an already-formed group of girls got tangled, things could get messy fast. Especially during the semester when you had to see each other every day. Bad blood could make campus life miserable.
“……If you think about what you just said, that probably won’t work.”
“But if it’s just one person, maybe it’d be okay?”
“You know how it is at school. The whole ‘I’ll only tell you, it’s a secret’ thing is meaningless. Someone confesses to someone else, and the next day the whole department knows.”
“…That’s true, I guess.”
Chae-ryeong’s eyebrows furrowed uncomfortably. She understood exactly what I meant. She’d probably already thought the same thing. That was why she hadn’t gone straight to Ye-ji and had come to me instead. She just couldn’t think of any other way to fix this awkward situation.
“I don’t think Ye-ji is a bad person either. But she’s not exactly super close to us, is she?”
To me, she was just a classmate in the department. To Chae-ryeong, maybe a friendly acquaintance from class.
“……Yeah, that’s true.”
“If she finds out our secret, there’s always a chance she might accidentally let something slip. People leak important family secrets all the time.”
“…”
“Plus, our channel is still small right now, but what if it gets bigger?”
“…”
“Even if we don’t tell her now, what if later when the channel grows she demands something in return for keeping quiet? There’s no guarantee she won’t use our secret against us.”
It was a grim thought, but that’s just how people are. I didn’t want to say humans are inherently evil, but when an opportunity arises, many will gladly satisfy their own desires and greed.
“You watch a lot of YouTube too, so you know. There are plenty of channels that get destroyed not because of scandals, but because insiders or acquaintances spill the truth.”
Character controversies. Old accounts on certain sites. Celebrities and influencers are always vulnerable to those kinds of attacks. And the cyber stalkers or jealous people who hate influencers often enjoy dragging them down into the abyss.
“You don’t want to stop here, do you? You want to keep growing the channel, right?”
“……Yeah. It’s been my dream since I was little.”
“Then it’s better not to create any sparks like this in advance. Don’t you think I’m right?”
“……Yes. But then what should we do…?”
Even though she agreed with me, that didn’t change the fact that she was stuck in a difficult spot. In the end, there was only one solution I could think of.
“Let’s just tell her we’re dating. Tell Seo Ye-ji.”
“Huh?”
“More and more people are going to find out about our channel anyway. Especially at school.”
The channel had already caught momentum. Once it started growing, it probably wouldn’t stop for a while. Besides, we were in the Department of Media and Video. There was no way people in our major wouldn’t be interested in YouTube, the biggest video platform in the country. So it was highly likely that people around us would eventually find out no matter what. The fact that a classmate had already discovered our channel with less than twenty thousand subscribers made the outcome pretty obvious.
“We can’t give a complicated explanation every single time. And we definitely can’t tell them it’s just a concept.”
“……I guess you’re right?”
“Yeah. So let’s think of this as an opportunity. Let’s tell Ye-ji that we’re dating. It’ll be easier for both of us that way.”
It might be a little uncomfortable right now, but it was better to let the school know we were together. This was something we had to do if we wanted to keep the channel going.
Chae-ryeong, who had been listening quietly, eventually nodded. She must have realized my logic made sense. Since she cared about the YouTube channel even more than I did, she obviously knew which choice was right. She was just having a hard time accepting it emotionally.
“Okay. Then I’ll go talk to Ye-ji. I’ll apologize and tell her that we’re actually dating.”
She put on a determined expression as she said it, but the reluctance was still written all over her face. When she turned around looking resigned, ready to head back to the club room, I gently grabbed her shoulder.
“No. You stay here. I’ll go.”
“You’re going…?”
A giant question mark seemed to pop up over her head at my words. But I didn’t want to send her back in there with a face like she was walking into a battlefield.
“You’re uncomfortable facing Ye-ji right now. And it’s awkward to tell her we’re dating, isn’t it?”
“…Well, yeah. But what are you going to do? If you go…”
Chae-ryeong still looked doubtful. After all, Ye-ji and I weren’t particularly close. And since Ye-ji liked me, hearing it directly from me that we were dating probably wouldn’t sit well with her. Since I wasn’t the one directly involved, I could understand why she was worried.
But still.
“I have an idea. I’ll make things a little less awkward between you two. Just leave it to me.”
I gave her a confident grin. I was sure of myself. Even if I couldn’t completely prevent Ye-ji from getting hurt, if I stepped in, I could smooth this situation over pretty cleanly.
“Hey! Wait! Yoon Taeo! What is it? At least tell me the plan before you go!”
Man, she’s loud. Just wait quietly for a bit. Leaving her words behind, I threw open the door to the club room.