Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Seong Yurin #1
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"Um... What do you have to say to me privately?"
Seong Yurin stared at Yoon Jiu, a cooling hamburger sitting in front of her.
His handsome, masculine looks and his friendly personality with everyone.
He'd probably been that way until now, and he'd likely make plenty of girls cry in the future.
A boy with some inexplicable charm that drew people in.
And yet, he didn't have any notable romantic relationships.
As far as Seong Yurin could guess, there was only one reason for that.
"Yoon Jiu."
"...Why?"
"You. You like Lee Sea, don't you?"
"W-What?"
Embarrassment leaked out unmistakably from Yoon Jiu's flustered expression.
Seong Yurin had always been good at reading other people's emotions.
That's why she'd shut out everyone who approached her pretending to be friendly while hiding their sordid desires, choosing to live as a loner.
From the fragments Yoon Jiu had shown, Seong Yurin was convinced. She nodded.
"Yeah. That reaction confirms it."
"N-No, that's..."
Seong Yurin closed her eyes and murmured as she watched Yoon Jiu stammer in confusion.
"...You don't have to try so hard to hide it. I'm only bringing this up because I want to help you."
"...Huh?"
Seong Yurin flashed a bright smile at the bewildered Yoon Jiu.
She,
was close with Lee Soyun,
and took her friendships more seriously than most people realized.
...A lot more.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Seong Yurin wanted to help Lee Soyun.
That didn't mean today's events were something Lee Soyun had asked her to do.
It was entirely Seong Yurin's own initiative.
A faint thought crept in that she might be meddling where she shouldn't, but she had no regrets.
Seeing Lee Soyun so anxious just hurt her heart.
Seong Yurin wanted Lee Soyun to be the first one Seo Ijin chose.
To that end, she planned to use Yoon Jiu to keep Lee Sea—who seemed to be in the lead for Seo Ijin—in check.
Sleazy and underhanded.
She was fully aware it was toying with someone else's feelings.
Even so, if she needed an excuse to justify her actions...
Lee Sea might like Seo Ijin, but that didn't mean she had no feelings for Yoon Jiu.
If her plan worked and Yoon Jiu's one-sided affection was returned, wouldn't everyone be happy?
Chewing over that self-serving excuse in her mind, Seong Yurin prepared her plan.
Did Seong Yurin like Seo Ijin?
If forced to choose between like and dislike, she could answer "yes" without hesitation. She liked Seo Ijin as a friend.
Unlike all the so-called friends she'd met in life, he harbored no desires toward her.
In the first place, she'd been the one to approach him first.
There were various reasons for striking up that first conversation, but the biggest one was surely a small fondness for him.
But was that fondness romantic in nature?
To that question, Seong Yurin could answer with a firm "no."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Seong Yurin stared at her phone, lost in thought.
The screen displayed a group chat with just four girls—no boys.
When was it again? Right, the day of Hong Yeonseo's handball tournament prelims.
Hong Yeonseo had suddenly created the chat inviting only the girls, excluding Seo Ijin and Yoon Jiu, and dropped a bombshell.
[Hey, I've kinda developed an interest in Ijin. Mind if I make a move?]
A short line that calmly confessed her feelings while showing her unyielding attitude—pure Hong Yeonseo.
Even after everyone had read it, we all stayed silent for a while, unable to respond.
The first to break the silence and keep the conversation going was Seong Yurin—the one with no romantic interest in Seo Ijin.
[Doesn't matter to me]
The moment that message went up, the read count vanished. Proof everyone was staring at the chat.
After that came long messages from Lee Sea and Lee Soyun, back-and-forth with Hong Yeonseo and all sorts, but Seong Yurin hadn't paid much attention at the time.
Not until the next day, when Lee Soyun came to her acting all cute and asking for help.
Just to clarify any potential misunderstandings here.
Lee Soyun wasn't asking her to hook up Yoon Jiu and Lee Sea.
It was just cute little requests, like ways to make herself look prettier or how to talk in conversations with guys.
Of course, Seong Yurin knew next to nothing about that stuff either, so Lee Soyun ended up disappointed sometimes.
In the past, Seong Yurin had been bullied.
It started when she rejected a confession from a boy in her friend group.
The group's leader—a guy—accepted it calmly, but a girl who'd secretly liked him found out, and everything fell apart.
After her worst middle school years, Seong Yurin never wanted to see friendships ruined by romantic drama again.
Through that whole ordeal, Seong Yurin came to think.
If those three kept competing over Seo Ijin, this fragile friendship might end in tragedy.
Even if Seo Ijin accepted them all somehow, what about Yoon Jiu, who liked Lee Sea?
What if Yoon Jiu turned bitter?
In the worst case, all their relationships would shatter.
She couldn't help sympathizing with Yoon Jiu, whom she acknowledged as a good friend.
So, for the sake of peace among her first real close friends—and especially for Lee Soyun, her closest one...
Seong Yurin bit her lip.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ So, what exactly was Seong Yurin's plan?
A date with Seo Ijin.
............
Of course, there were conditions.
First, induce Yoon Jiu and Lee Sea to go on a date.
Then, "coincidentally" run into them during her date with Seo Ijin.
Seo Ijin would naturally start imagining things about their relationship. The sweet, naive guy wouldn't even consider wedging in and stealing Lee Sea.
Lee Sea would have a hard time approaching Seo Ijin naturally after being seen on a date with Yoon Jiu.
A flimsy, half-baked plan—but wasn't it straightforward and effective?
If it created even a small rift where Seo Ijin thought of Lee Sea differently, and vice versa, Seong Yurin would be satisfied.
Lee Soyun could slip right into that gap.
That's why she'd recruited Yoon Jiu first.
And during break time that very day, Seong Yurin sprang into action. She pulled Seo Ijin aside and bluntly asked him out.
"...So. Wanna go hang out downtown with me?"
"Yeah. Got some stuff I wanna do, and I feel like hanging out one-on-one with a friend."
Seong Yurin smoothly laid it out, hiding her true intentions.
Seo Ijin was momentarily flustered by the date suggestion but quickly realized it wasn't romantic and regained his composure.
"Sure. When?"
"How about Thursday after school? We grab dinner, stroll around a bit, then head home?"
Seong Yurin felt a pang of anxiety, worried he might turn her down.
"Thursday... Yeah, okay."
"Phew..."
Seo Ijin gave her a weird look as she let out a sigh of relief.
"Got it then."
"Yeah, I should note it down too."
Seo Ijin pulled out his phone and added it to his schedule.
He might act lazy about everything, but he had a habit of meticulously noting down plans, so she knew he wouldn't forget.
Feeling like the first button of her plan had been fastened smoothly, Seong Yurin returned to class with a satisfied smile.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ That surprised me.
When Seong Yurin suddenly dragged me out and asked me on a date, my heart nearly stopped.
A blonde beauty's date invitation was way too intense for a total newbie like me.
Luckily... or whatever, once I realized it was a misunderstanding like with Lee Sea's birthday, I managed to calm down.
Of course it'd be. As if I'd be doing any dating.
A fresh-faced active high schooler might pull it off, but not me with my worn-out mindset stuck in high school mode.
Still, I felt a little disappointed.
I scratched my itchy nape for no reason.
I opened my phone again and edited the schedule.
...From "Date with Seong Yurin" to "Outing."
Back in class, Lee Soyun grilled me about what we'd talked about alone, and when I brushed it off, she got all sulky over the little thing.
Managed to calm her down with some fruit candy from the school store.
Finally catching my breath, I spun my pen while pondering what to eat Thursday evening.
Maybe something Western to match Seong Yurin’s image.
I’d ask her again anyway, but looking up some good spots in advance felt like the manly thing to do.
Thinking back to that "not-date" outing with Lee Soyun... yeah, prep ahead of time was definitely smart.
Sudden idea: If Seong Yurin was cool with it, revisiting that ramen place from before wouldn’t be bad.
Feels like I’m turning into some alpha male dragging different girls to the same ramen joint.
Just a friendly outing, so I let out a dumb chuckle over the impossible fantasy.