First Love (3)
“That was really fun.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s an animated movie, but there was a reason so many people came to see it.”
“Right?”
Park Jimin nodded with a smile.
An animated film about a race of giants, the people who hunted them, and the forces that sought to wipe out ordinary humans who weren’t giants. Because he hadn’t watched much manga or anime for years, Jimin had worried whether he would even be able to enjoy it.
People said you could still have a good time without reading the original comic—though that felt like a bit of an overstatement. Still, it ended on a satisfying happy note that left him feeling warm.
“I’ll get this.”
“Huh? It’s fine, really.”
“Jimin, you already paid for the meal and the movie tickets.”
“You bought the popcorn, Eunhae.”
“Isn’t that just expected?”
“Ah…”
They left the movie theater inside the department store and arrived at a franchise café. Lee Eunhae paid for two coffees and a slice of cake.
Click.
“…”
Jimin watched Eunhae as she smiled and snapped photos. A girl dressed up prettily, laughing and clearly enjoying herself. She looked like she had stepped straight out of the ideal girlfriend images that floated around the internet.
Weird.
Even setting aside how cute Eunhae was as a girl, meal, movie, café—it was the most classic date course for a guy and a girl. To actually experience something like this himself…
There was an old song that sneered at how cliché it all was, but that had never had anything to do with him. And the person he was sharing this first experience with was Lee Eunhae, the girl everyone at school had been crazy about?
“There are so many people.”
“Yeah.”
“…”
The problem was the atmosphere. With his friends, and especially with Yu Dahye, he always had plenty to say. With Eunhae, he had no idea what to talk about. She wasn’t a streamer, and from what she had said earlier, she didn’t know much about games either. She had only gone to that Valorant match because a friend had dragged her along to watch.
“Hey, Jimin.”
“Yeah?”
Even after bringing over the coffee and cake, the two of them hadn’t said much. Eunhae started to speak, then hesitated.
“You’re not usually much of a talker, huh?”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
“Haha.”
Slurp.
Whether it was the weird weather or not, it was still hot at the end of September. Jimin took a sip of his iced coffee.
Awkward.
It was awkward, and a little exhausting. Of course he didn’t mind dating a pretty eighteen-year-old girl, but there were more moments that required him to think than he had expected.
“…”
The reason he couldn’t fully focus on this moment refused to leave his head.
Lately the streams have felt a little boring.
What champion should he show today? The viewers still liked him, but shouldn’t he bring out something different—new champions, new plays? The higher his rank climbed, the harder it became to focus purely on performance.
Pretty soon…
The moment was coming when he would have to give Jang Yaohwan an answer about the pro offer. Yaohwan had said his own coaching announcement would come within a week after Worlds ended, and that Jimin should contact him around then.
Slurp.
I’m jealous.
Song Hochang had said the two of them were flying out together to watch this Worlds. Europe, was it? Jimin had never even been on a plane, and those two were going all the way to Europe and watching Worlds matches live.
Jimin had drifted off into the stream of his own thoughts.
“Jimin.”
“Yeah?”
Eunhae pulled him back to reality.
“Are you bored?”
“Huh? Ah, no.”
“You suddenly went quiet.”
“…”
Eunhae’s shy expression. But she also looked a little dark.
What am I doing.
Zoning out while sitting across from a girl—he really was the worst. Streaming and the pro offer were genuinely important things he had to keep thinking about, but still…
“I must have been really boring.”
“No, it’s just… I hang out with my friends so much that this feels a little awkward.”
“I bet you were popular with girls, Jimin.”
“Me? No way.”
What ridiculous idea was that? Girls his age barely registered in Jimin’s memory. Eunhae, whom he had barely ever spoken to, was the only one who sometimes smiled and said hello when they passed each other in the hall.
“…”
“Hmm?”
“Haha.”
Jimin gave an awkward laugh. When he just sat there looking at her, Eunhae propped her chin lightly on her hand and smiled back. Being stared at like that made him a little embarrassed.
“I had fun today.”
“Yeah.”
I don’t think she did.
It was time to head home. As a guy, Jimin felt he had completely failed to lead the date properly.
“I’ll text you.”
“Okay. Get home safe.”
She smiled right to the end.
“Haa…”
The moment Eunhae disappeared from view, a sigh slipped out of him.
Exhausting.
He had never imagined spending time with a girl could be this hard. Constantly thinking of what to say, watching her reactions… dealing with over a thousand viewers on stream almost felt easier.
“When I think about it…”
Whenever he met Dahye alone and then parted ways, a heavy, complicated feeling always lingered. The emotion he was feeling right now was different from that.
“Thank you so much for watching again today.”
“Thank you for the 1,000-won donation! Everyone have a good night.”
Broadcast has ended.
“…”
It was always the same. When the stream started he felt nervous, and when it ended he felt strangely empty.
“Ugh, I’m such an idiot.”
He had won the last game, but he had made a few mistakes the game before that. He could have ridden a win streak and ended on a high note. Challenger was a place where a single skillshot could snowball the entire game—it was really hard.
“Haa…”
Now that the stream he could fully immerse himself in was over, realistic worries came crashing in.
If I join the Academy…
Streaming was one thing, but he would have a lot less free time. From what he had heard last time, becoming an official second-string player meant moving straight into the dorms—it wasn’t like school.
(Just because it’s called an Academy doesn’t mean they work you to death these days. It’s not some boarding cram school. But if you’re aiming for the top as a pro, you can’t just mess around and try to keep everything else going.)
Still, it was only the second team. He would have to make it to the first team eventually. Only then would he truly be a pro player, and only then could he return to streaming. Taking Academy life lightly was out of the question.
“…”
He would have to leave the mother he had lived with his whole life, his friends, and even Dahye would become hard to see. Her place would actually be closer in distance, yet in reality they would grow farther apart. And he would have to live like that for a whole year?
Just imagining it felt overwhelming.
Still…
He was old enough to know that every choice came with a price.
“Hmm.”
He could accept it a little better now. The fact that he had reached the stage of deciding whether to choose this hardship at all meant something.
I really do want to go pro, don’t I.
He could feel his heart leaning that way to some degree.
“Huh?”
It wasn’t really something to apologize for, but when she put it that way he couldn’t just stay quiet.
“…”
Did he have to start worrying about what they should do when they met? Jimin felt like his brain might short-circuit from the overload.
“Huh?”
Eunhae suddenly turned serious.
At some point she had started taking everything he said in a positive light.
“Huh?”
Get to know each other?
“…”
The current was flowing so fast that Jimin’s head was spinning.
He didn’t even know what he was supposed to say.
Is this…
Normally Jimin didn’t like casually guessing what other people were thinking. This time, though, no deep thought was required. She clearly meant she wanted to keep meeting and eventually date him.
“Ah.”
Thud.
He flopped onto the bed.
What the hell is this.
Confusion. Nervousness. Frustration. Every emotion hit him at once. Looking at it calmly, a pretty girl like Eunhae had said she was interested in him. And yet…
This easily?
It was a bad thing to think, but the first word that came to mind was “pressure.” Dealing with people was always hard. Going deeper into a relationship was really…
Even during the date that afternoon he hadn’t looked too deeply into what he felt toward Eunhae. Now he had no choice but to.
Honestly speaking.
Do I like Eunhae?
It was a hard question to answer. If someone had asked him back when he was still in school, and if Eunhae had approached him like this back then, what would he have felt? The very idea of deliberating might have felt stupid.
“…”
He put it on hold for now. He made a vague excuse about being tired and left it at that with Eunhae.
I need help.
Most of the time, the confusion right before a decision came from a lack of information.
“Ah, sorry. I just finished work.”
“Thanks for your hard work.”
Jimin had called his close friend Lee Jonghyun.
“So what’s up?”
“Ah, well…”
Jimin told him the truth about Eunhae. Of course he left out the parts she would probably hate hearing.
“Ah… uh… hmm…”
“…”
Jonghyun, who was usually so composed, sounded a little broken.
“If she said that much, it’s basically a confession, right?”
“Is it?”
His friend thought the same. And yet it was strange. Just a few days ago he had been wondering whether he would ever get a girlfriend, whether something like that could happen to him. Now a pretty girl was coming on strong and instead of being happy, all he could think was what do I do.
“Unexpected.”
“What is?”
“You don’t seem that into it.”
“Ah…”
“I thought you’d completely lose it if a girl said that much to you.”
“…”
So to Jonghyun he came across as kind of flighty.
“Do you know anything about Eunhae? Or were you originally close?”
“Not at all.”
“Ah.”
“Haa…”
Jonghyun sounded off today.
“Hey Jimin. I’ve been thinking about this a lot.”
“Huh?”
“I’m not even sure this is the right thing to do, but just listen.”
“…”
Jonghyun told him about the relationship between his girlfriend and Lee Eunhae. About what she had done in middle school.
“Guys don’t usually go around talking about girl drama like this, but…”
“Ah…”
What he heard was shocking. If it hadn’t been a friend he trusted, he might have told him to stop lying. Kind Eunhae, who always got along with everyone, had been considered that scary among the girls?
“That’s pretty shocking.”
“I figured it would be. Honestly, until Jihyun told me, I didn’t think I had any bad blood with her either. Same for the other guys.”
“Yeah.”
I can’t believe it.
He was glad he had called Jonghyun, and also a little unsure whether he should have heard all that.
“So. What are you going to do?”
“…If she’s that bad…”
“Can you just cut contact?”
“…”
“See? That’s hard for you, Jimin.”
Even now the thought wouldn’t leave his head—maybe there were circumstances he didn’t know about. And he also knew it wasn’t good to brand someone as a bad person based only on other people’s words.
“Jimin. You should see her for yourself and decide what she’s like.”
“Huh?”
“Me and Jihyun—how are we supposed to know everything about her? So think it over yourself.”
“Ah…”
Think and judge for himself. It was the obvious thing to do, and also the hard thing.
“Thanks.”
“Out of nowhere?”
“Yeah.”
“Geez.”
He heard Jonghyun’s soft snort of a laugh.
“This Saturday?”
“Yeah.”
“Mom’s fine with it, why?”
“Really?”
Jimin’s face broke into a wide smile.
“I’ll tell you next time.”
“You’re no fun.”
His mother Kim Eunhye smiled along with her son’s grin.
Rattle.
He closed his bedroom door.
The timing was perfect—Dahye had just read the message.
“Hoo…”
He was so happy he covered his face with both hands.
Thank god.
Dahye was free that day. And Mom already liked Dahye, and Dahye seemed comfortable with Mom too. That was a relief.
“Oh right.”
Last time his friends had said they were buying matching outfits they all liked. Maybe he should ask in the group chat and tag along.
“…”
He planned to treat Mom and Dahye somewhere nice with the money he had earned and talk about his dream. Mom would be shocked, right? When she heard her son had received a pro offer.
Yaohwan and Hochang had stressed several times that it was only a verbal agreement, so he should hold off on saying the name P1 for now.
Instead…
He could just say it was a really famous team, a team everyone in the scene knew, a team that treated its players well.
He wanted to tell them soon, and later be able to say he had been invited to join the P1 Academy. Dahye had said P1 was the most famous team, and as for his friends—what would be the point of telling them early. Jonghyun might not care much, but Sangcheol, Yuseok, and Jaeyeong would absolutely flip out.
Jimin found himself smiling.
“…”
He sent the reply without thinking about what to say next. He hadn’t meant anything by it, but for the past few days his reply speed had slowed down. Rather than saying something weird, he chose the convenient excuse that he was busy and saw the message late. It pricked his conscience a little, but he couldn’t help it.
Because he was acting that way, Eunhae’s replies slowed down too. Still, she always said she was sorry.
“Haa.”
Jonghyun had told him to see for himself and decide, but ever since that conversation Jimin had only been keeping an ambiguous distance. What was he even supposed to do?
Dahye Nuna…
Jimin shook his head left and right. Not yet. And for some reason, bringing up girl talk to Dahye felt… even though she had told him to contact her right away if some girl started acting weird.
“Yes!”
Jimin hurriedly carried the package into his room. They had said delivery would be delayed, but luckily it arrived a day early.
Sniff sniff.
The exciting smell of new clothes. If anyone found out he had bought them just the day before, it would look lame, so he needed to erase every trace of “new” as soon as possible.
“Huh?”
His phone rang.
“Hey Eunhae.”
She had called but wasn’t saying anything.
“Why’d you call?”
“Jimin, why are you suddenly avoiding me?”
“Huh?”
Her voice had gone low all of a sudden.
“I’ve just been busy with streams lately.”
“It wasn’t like that at first.”
“It just got busy all of a sudden.”
“Jimin, be honest with me.”
“Huh?”
“I’m used to this. People suddenly putting distance between us.”
“…”
A small chill ran down Jimin’s spine.
“What are you talking about?”
“What did Jonghyun say to you?”
“Why are you bringing up Jonghyun all of a sudden.”
“He said something, didn’t he. Your voice is shaking.”
“Huh?”
The words were a little sharp, but her tone was soft and gentle, which made it even weirder.
“Jimin, Jonghyun’s girlfriend is a girl I have a really bad history with. Kim Jihyun.”
“…”
“She was one of the girls who bullied me in middle school.”
“Huh?”
Eunhae was the one bringing this up first.
“Back then there was an oppa I liked, but he was dating another girl in our group. Was that my fault? I clearly told him it wasn’t right. But even though it wasn’t my fault, my friends ostracized me and weird rumors spread everywhere and it was so hard.”
“Ah…”
Jimin nodded for the moment.
But…
It was roughly similar to what Jonghyun had told him. There were a few differences, though. Because of that, he still didn’t feel particularly sorry for her.
“Even in high school all the friends only heard those rumors and hated me and it was so hard, and now you’re doing the same thing? I thought you were different because you’re so kind.”
“Eunhae.”
“Jimin, please don’t do this.”
“…Okay. I get it, so let’s talk next time. You seem really worked up right now.”
“Jimin.”
“I’ll contact you later, Eunhae.”
Jimin hung up first.
“…”
It was the first time in his life he had ever done that. But if he had kept listening even a little longer, he felt like he might lose his mind.
This isn’t right.
Eunhae hadn’t done anything wrong to him, but he simply couldn’t imagine going deeper with this girl.
How did it end up like this.
Even though neither of them had done anything wrong, the relationship was twisting itself into knots. It was a fresh and unpleasant experience. But since it involved him, he had no choice but to resolve it somehow.
“…”
He had kept hesitating, but he decided to keep the promise he had made himself.
“Huh?”
He was texting when another call came in. It was startling, but the name on the screen made him answer immediately.
“Hey Nuna.”
“Hoo…”
“Huh?”
Dahye, who had been texting him, called and immediately sighed. He had carefully told her about what happened with Eunhae, and she was calling right away?
“Jimin, don’t freak out and just listen.”
“Huh?”
Dahye told him. The phone call she had overheard from Eunhae that day in Jongno.
“That’s what happened.”
“…”
“Are you shocked?”
“A little? Haha.”
“Doesn’t seem like something to laugh about.”
“Yeah…”
There was nothing Jimin could do except give a hollow laugh. What Dahye told him was shocking. The Eunhae Jonghyun described was a somewhat distant past. The Eunhae Dahye described was the very recent past.
“Jimin.”
“Yeah.”
“She’s the weird one. You didn’t do anything wrong, so don’t worry about it.”
“I know.”
Of course he didn’t feel great, but in a way he also felt a little relieved. If even a tiny part of Eunhae’s intense affection had been genuine, it would have been hard to shake her off.
“So what are you going to do now?”
“I’m meeting her tomorrow to talk. Tell her we’re not a thing.”
“Hmm.”
Missed calls and messages kept piling up. It was uncomfortable, but Jimin decided to meet her face-to-face and settle it.
“There’s a café that’s perfect for cutting off a girl.”
“Huh?”
“How about meeting at the place Nuna recommends?”
“…”
There was no way a café like that actually existed. But if Dahye said it, there had to be a reason.
“Should we?”
“And since we’re meeting for dinner tomorrow anyway, let’s meet a bit earlier, just the two of us.”
“Huh? How much earlier?”
“Just contact her first.”
“Okay.”
“If she’s free, meet me there about an hour later? That sounds good.”
“Got it.”
They were already meeting that evening with his mom. He didn’t understand why she wanted to meet early, and he wanted to cut Eunhae off with his own hands, but when Dahye said she wanted to see him, refusing didn’t make sense.
“…”
Gulp.
An hour? That was plenty of time. He would finish this with his own hands no matter what. A line from the movie he had watched with Eunhae floated up in his mind.
Yeah. This is a story I started myself.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I don’t think we’re a good match.”
“You suddenly told me to come here and that’s what you say?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Jimin, didn’t you hear what I told you? It’s all lies. No, it’s a misunderstanding.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“What?”
Near the station a little ways from Jimin’s house. Couples, study groups, people working on laptops. In a fairly crowded café, Jimin declared it to Eunhae.
From now on they would live as if they didn’t know each other.
“I said it’s a misunderstanding. And what does that even have to do with you? We just need to get along well with each other.”
Eunhae, who had dressed up prettily, looked at Jimin with sad eyes. It was an expression that would make any guy’s heart waver. But Jimin counted to three inside and opened his eyes.
“That’s not it.”
“What’s not it?”
“Eunhae, I just don’t like you.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to get to know you more.”
“…Ha.”
The look in Eunhae’s eyes changed. Even Jimin was startled for a moment.
“Hey, Park Jimin.”
“Yeah?”
Scrape.
Eunhae stood up from her chair. Then she began to glare at him.
“What? You don’t like me? You don’t want to get to know me?”
“…”
“Who the hell do you think you are? Just because you stream a little, you think you’re somebody?”
“Eunhae.”
I can’t believe this.
He had heard she was a little off, but for a person to change this suddenly?
“Ha, shit, this is actually unreal?”
Her tone couldn’t contain her anger. She was breathing hard like some kind of beast.
“Hey, when I talk to you first you should be grateful, and you say this shit?”
“…”
“Acting like a man, getting all full of yourself just because a girl like me smiled at you—ha, I’m actually going crazy, wow…”
Even though the air conditioning was blasting, Eunhae fanned herself with her hand as if she were hot.
“You think I liked you? I just thought you’d be a guy who listens well, that’s all.”
“Yeah.”
“What?”
“I don’t care.”
After today they would never have to see each other again. Jimin spoke flatly.
Thank god.
She had just said with her own mouth that she hadn’t been interested from the start. Now he could speak without any guilt. Cutting someone out of your life was really hard—but when the other person came out like this, he could do it.
“If it’s not me—no, even if you say some bitch worse than me—there’s no girl who’ll like you. You know that?”
“If you don’t have anything else to say, I’m leaving.”
“What?”
He had told Dahye they would meet at this café, but even if it was somewhere else it wouldn’t matter. He didn’t need to hear any more.
“Jimin!”
“…Huh?”
Someone suddenly called his name. And then, just as suddenly—
“Whoa?”
She ran over and wrapped both arms around his left arm, clinging tightly.
“Hmm?”
“…”
Dahye Nuna?
Her hairstyle was different and she was wearing clothes he had never seen before. But it was definitely Yu Dahye. Why was Dahye here all of a sudden?
“Why…”
“I wanted to see you so I came early!”
“…”
Even this way of speaking from Dahye was a first.
“What’s with that reaction though?”
“Ah, well…”
“Are you mad at Nuna for coming a little early?”
“That’s not it.”
Eunhae was still watching. And…
Her chest…
Dahye’s chest was pressed right against his arm. The cleavage was so clearly visible he thought he might lose his mind.
“You’re hopeless. I’m not letting go until Nuna’s not mad anymore.”
“Huh?”
“Ten kisses and I think I’ll forgive you…”
“Nu-Nuna, what are you—”
Dahye looked at Jimin with a sly face.
Scrape.
“Hoo…”
“Ugh.”
“Shit…”
The guys who had been typing on their laptops while sneaking glances at Dahye suddenly started packing up their tables and standing as if they had just witnessed something they shouldn’t have. A wave of inexplicable sharp looks shot toward Jimin and then vanished.
“So who’s this?”
“Ah.”
Dahye looked at Eunhae. Jimin had no idea what this nuna was thinking.
“Oh, those kids from back then.”
“Ah?”
“…”
Eunhae stared at the two of them with an expression that asked what the hell this was supposed to be.
“That friend you met in Jongno?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
“Jongno?”
“Wow, you talked so scary in the bathroom, but looking at you properly you’re actually cute.”
“What?”
“Even if you’re on the phone with a friend, you should still use nicer language.”
“…”
Eunhae’s eyes went wide. A face that said something had just clicked. Seeing that face, Dahye grinned.
“My shoulder hurt a little, you know.”
“What did you say?”
“And now you’re talking down to me?”
“…”
Jimin, who had been looking back and forth between the two women, closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again.
“Please keep it down a little.”
“I’m sorry, we’ll leave right away.”
“Excuse me?”
He first reassured the female café staff member who had come over to quiet the disturbance.
“Eunhae, I heard everything.”
“…”
“But I’ll try not to hate you.”
“What?”
“I’ll buy you one of those cakes when I pay. They said it’s the most popular one when I came in. Eat and drink slowly and then go.”
“What the hell are you—”
“Eunhae, I’m happy right now because I have a lot of good people around me.”
“…”
“If you treat people sincerely, you can be like that too.”
The words What do you even know to go around saying that somehow wouldn’t come out of Eunhae’s mouth.
“Let’s go, Nuna.”
“Huh? Yeah.”
Dahye, who had been leisurely swinging around an eighteen-year-old guy and girl, spoke as if flustered.
“You’re kind of cool, you know that?”
“Hehe.”
“Virtue of forgiveness? Or since you’re a streamer you don’t want to make enemies?”
“…”
The two of them walked down the street without deciding on a destination. At Dahye’s words, Jimin let out a short laugh.
Just…
Eunhae was definitely a bad girl. But he himself had been in a really rough place mentally until recently. Maybe she was wandering in her own way too. If he was going to keep his distance anyway, he decided not to leave any unpleasant feelings behind.
“But Nuna’s not happy. Why were you even talking to a girl like that?”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, Nuna’s the one who should be sorry.”
“Huh?”
Dahye, walking beside him, looked at Jimin with a grin.
“I should have told you sooner.”
“Well, about that…”
If anything, Jimin felt guilty that Dahye was the one apologizing.
“It wasn’t even recorded, so if I just talked about it alone I’d look crazy, and if you think about it she might have just been showing off while on the phone with a friend. Looking back I was being kind of dumb too.”
“No, that makes sense.”
“But the way she was acting toward you, and the fact that your friend told you over the phone too—at that point I figured it was worth mentioning.”
“Thanks for telling me.”
“…”
Jimin hung his head.
I really…
Getting help from Dahye again. That weird behavior of hers earlier was probably to boost his confidence, right? He knew even without her saying it.
“Ah, thinking about it is pissing me off.”
“Huh?”
Smack—!
“Ow!”
Dahye slapped Jimin’s shoulder with her hand.
“I told you to contact me right away if a girl starts acting weird, didn’t I? Why don’t you listen to Nuna.”
“S-sorry.”
“This is hopeless, really.”
“…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
I’m going crazy.
Today’s events were today’s events, and being sorry was being sorry. But setting all that aside, Dahye was too pretty today. A pure white dress, long swaying hair. Her makeup was especially pure and soft.
“What’s wrong?”
“Huh?”
Dahye smiled and stepped closer.
“Hmm, what’s with Jimin today all of a sudden?”
“…”
Because he wouldn’t speak, Dahye just smiled leisurely.
She’s really pretty.
His heart felt like it might explode.
But wait.
His heart was one thing—today Dahye’s cleavage was way too visible.
“Nuna, your clothes…”
“Clothes?”
“I think you need to pull them up a little.”
“What?”
Jimin carefully made a lifting motion with his fingers from bottom to top.
“Ah, here?”
Luckily Dahye understood right away.
“Hey, this is a new outfit but why’d they make it so small?”
“It seems too small.”
“But isn’t it pretty?”
“It looks cold.”
“It’s still hot, what are you talking about. Tch.”
Dahye snorted a laugh.
“…”
Yeah.
(Jimin, you should just choose the place that truly understands you, acknowledges you, and helps you. Meet only people like that too.)
The words Dahye had said when they left Sol Park that time came back to him. He had almost gone down a weird path for a moment, but now he had his direction right. Funny enough, he was starting with the person who had said those words.
“What are you doing. Hurry up, I’m hungry.”
“Yeah.”
“…”
Now he could say it.
I like her. I really like her.
If someone guaranteed the secret, he could say it right away. He hadn’t had the courage to hold this kind of feeling before, but he couldn’t help it. He sincerely liked the girl named Yu Dahye. He could finally be honest with himself.
No matter what had happened until now, no matter how she looked at him—this was something he couldn’t do anything about.
“So what were you going to say today?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Mean.”
“Sorry.”
“Does the reason you picked today have something to do with that?”
“Huh?”
“Today’s the opening of the Worlds main event. It’s the group draw.”
“Really?”
“Nuna knows and you don’t? You said you were following it closely.”
“Ah…”
Of course this was pure coincidence. He really had been out of it this whole time. Jimin decided that starting now he would get his head on straight.