Bonds (4)
The lunch break ended, and the next class that immediately followed was the group activity one.
Come to think of it… we still hadn’t done anything at all.
Aside from deciding that I would be the group leader, we hadn’t settled on roles or anything else.
“Alright! Let’s get into your groups, everyone!”
The teacher announced the start of class with those words.
At the same time, the sound of desks scraping across the floor echoed from every direction.
“This class is basically free real estate, right? We just chat in our groups until it’s over. Don’t you think?”
Ji-su skipped over to my side with a bright, cheerful grin.
I wanted to agree with her.
I wanted to feel that relaxed and at ease too.
But the reality was… doing group work with Hye-in made me incredibly uncomfortable.
“You’ll need to submit a completed PowerPoint by next week’s class! Got it?”
The teacher revealed the deadline.
Next week…
That meant we had to finish everything by this weekend at the latest.
“Do-hyun, shouldn’t we start getting ready soon?”
Hearing the teacher’s words, Ji-su was the first to speak up.
The two people sitting across from me turned their eyes in my direction as well.
What was with these heavy stares?
“Then, how about we start by dividing up the roles?”
I decided to ignore those burdensome gazes for now.
I figured the most efficient way would be to assign tasks to each person.
“Instead of splitting everything up… can’t we all just work on it together?”
But Ji-su suggested a different approach.
The way she said “we all” made it sound like other groups were doing it that way.
Still, there was no need for us to follow suit…
“No. Let’s divide it up separately.”
Hye-in, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke.
As expected, she seemed just as opposed to working together as I was.
Probably for the same reasons.
Yeah. Simply being stuck together like this was still a headache for both of us.
“Why? We can just do it together. It’d be more fun that way.”
The moment Hye-in said that, Yu-hwa immediately shot her idea down.
Well, Yu-hwa clearly didn’t like Hye-in either, so she was probably just opposing her on principle.
“Do-hyun, what do you think?”
After hearing both of them, Ji-su finally turned to me for my opinion.
“I think dividing the roles separately would be better too.”
It was the obvious answer.
It should have been the obvious answer…
“Gah!!”
I let out a strangled cry.
Because Yu-hwa had stomped on my foot hard enough to crush it.
The way she brought her heel down made it obvious she did it on purpose.
What the hell is wrong with her?
Does she think I took Hye-in’s side again?
On the surface it might look that way, but the truth was the complete opposite.
“Then it’s two against two! Let’s settle it with rock-paper-scissors!”
Ji-su offered that compromise.
Well, given how things had gone, that was probably the best solution.
.
.
.
In the end…
We decided to work on it together.
“How about we meet this Saturday then?”
Ji-su sounded a little excited, as if she was thrilled at the idea of everyone getting together.
Well… if we were going to do it, Saturday was the only real option.
I nodded in agreement.
“I’m fine with that.”
Yu-hwa didn’t seem to have any complaints either.
That left Hye-in.
“Ah… I already have plans on Saturday.”
Damn.
As expected… getting all four of us to match schedules wasn’t going to be easy.
That was all I thought at first.
Until I heard what Ji-su said next.
“Plans? With Jun-hyeok?”
Ji-su looked at Hye-in as she asked.
Jun-hyeok…
The moment I heard that name, a sharp pang shot through my chest.
My head wasn’t particularly bothered by it, but that feeling wasn’t something I could control.
“Yeah, he asked if I wanted to see a movie together.”
“Just the two of you?”
Stop.
I really don’t want to hear this.
I don’t want to know the details.
Keep that kind of talk between the two of you.
“……No, the others are coming too.”
Hye-in had paused for a moment before answering.
It didn’t sound like it was just the two of them.
At the same time, the tightness in my chest eased.
Was that… relief?
“Then you don’t have to come. We’ll just do it with the three of us. Can’t be helped, right?”
Yu-hwa, who had been listening to their exchange, dropped that line.
And from there, a subtle but tense battle of nerves unfolded between the two of them.
“Still, how can I do that? We’re supposed to do this together. I can’t just sit it out…”
“Then what do you want us to do? You’re the one who has plans with them.”
Yu-hwa let out a frustrated sigh.
“That’s why I said from the beginning that we should split the work. Then I could just handle my part and send it in.”
“And? We already decided we’re meeting up, didn’t we?”
“Then can’t we just pick another day? Why are you immediately telling me not to come?”
Hye-in’s voice was thick with emotion too.
She sounded relatively calm compared to Yu-hwa, but I could tell.
She was definitely pissed off right now.
“I was just trying to be considerate of your schedule. What? Is there a problem with that? You get to go to your plans, and we’ll finish the homework without you. From your perspective, isn’t that just perfect?”
“…Oh, I see. I didn’t know you were such a kind person. The girl who keeps ordering him around never struck me as the type to care about my situation. Color me surprised, Yu-hwa. But sorry, you don’t need to worry about me like that.”
Hye-in smiled faintly, the corners of her eyes crinkling.
In contrast, Yu-hwa’s eyebrows were trembling with barely contained rage.
If I let this continue, the group project wasn’t going to be the only thing falling apart.
I felt like I needed to step in and mediate.
“We could change it to another day…”
That was what I had intended to say at first.
It seemed like the most realistic option to me.
But in the end, I couldn’t get the words out.
Or rather, I chose not to.
“Let’s just do it with the three of us like Yu-hwa said. She already has plans. What can we do? We’re the ones who suddenly decided on a meeting date anyway.”
I rephrased my words.
Honestly… I was uncomfortable being in the same space as Hye-in too.
If I could avoid it, avoiding her was far more beneficial for me.
…….
Beneficial or not, I just hated it.
I hated having to keep getting tangled up with Hye-in like this.
Ji-su and Yu-hwa.
I’d much rather meet with just the three of us.
“What?”
The moment I finished speaking, Hye-in’s voice sharpened.
Just one word.
It was only the single syllable “what,” but the pressure behind it was immense.
Normally, when we were putting on our usual act, Hye-in wouldn’t have confronted me so directly.
The fact that it slipped out so quickly meant she was genuinely worked up.
So it was only natural that I could feel that pressure.
“It can’t be helped. You can make the PowerPoint at home instead. We’ll handle the research.”
I figured staying silent here would be strange too, so I spoke up.
But I didn’t back down from that pressure either.
I stood firm on the position I needed to show.
And there was no room to argue with what I said.
She had said herself earlier that if we gave her a separate task, she’d handle it on her own.
There couldn’t be a cleaner solution than this.
“Ah… really?”
Hye-in’s voice was clearly displeased.
The corners of her lips twitched unnaturally.
It looked like she was forcing a smile.
Yeah. She probably didn’t have anything to refute me with.
“W-what about another day then?”
This time Ji-su jumped in, as if trying to help Hye-in.
Maybe she thought we were pushing Hye-in too hard.
Hearing Ji-su, Hye-in seemed to calm her heightened emotions a little.
“It’s fine. I’ll come on Saturday. Just make the meeting time a bit later.”
Whether she had calmed down or not, Hye-in spoke in a much steadier voice afterward.
This girl…
“Th-then!! How about four o’clock on Saturday afternoon? Is that okay with everyone?”
Ji-su hurriedly tried to wrap up the discussion.
And so it looked like we would all be meeting at four o’clock on Saturday.
***
The bell rang to signal the end of the school day and homeroom.
Once homeroom was over, I took a moment to organize my things.
The other students, of course, rushed out in a frenzy.
I preferred leaving at a more leisurely pace rather than getting caught in the chaos.
After a short while, the classroom quickly grew quiet.
I grabbed the bag I had hung up and prepared to leave.
“Ugh, I’m so tired—!”
At that moment, Do Yu-hwa suddenly shot up from her seat.
“You scared me…”
I really was startled.
I hadn’t even realized she was still there.
Why was she still hanging around?
“Are you heading out?”
Yu-hwa asked.
“Yeah. But why were you still here?”
“Just…”
Yu-hwa trailed off vaguely.
Then she immediately changed the subject.
“But what was that earlier?!”
“What?”
We naturally left through the back door together and kept walking side by side.
“You actually took my side for once.”
“Ah…”
I hadn’t said it specifically to take Yu-hwa’s side.
I had spoken up because I was genuinely uncomfortable too.
Still, if she felt that way and was grateful… I wasn’t about to correct her.
“Of course I would. Why would I take Seo Hye-in’s side? I’m closer to you.”
And now I could say it without hesitation.
At least, it was true that I was closer to Do Yu-hwa.
“Yes! Finally, we’re on the same page.”
Yu-hwa looked a little smug.
I didn’t bother responding to that.
“But seriously, don’t you have any other close friends besides me?”
When I stayed quiet, Yu-hwa threw out a rather pointed question.
“What’s with the sudden interrogation?!”
“It’s true though. Do you have any close friends besides me? You’re not even that close with Ji-su, right? You don’t, do you?”
For some reason, Yu-hwa was being unusually persistent.
That persistence almost sounded like she was hoping it was true.
“……Are you just trying to mess with me?”
Or maybe she wanted to brag that she had plenty of friends besides me.
What was the point of rubbing that in my face…
“Nooo? I’m just asking. I just haven’t really seen you with anyone else.”
“I’ll start making some from now on… so can you stop poking at that nerve?”
Besides, you’re partly to blame for me not having any friends.
Of course, I decided to keep that to myself.
Well… since I didn’t say it out loud, it should be fine.
And I really was starting to take action now.
Toward Senior Hana Bi.
“Pffft—! You’re hilarious!”
Yu-hwa laughed as if she found it ridiculous.
I had no idea why she was suddenly picking a fight over this.
“If you’ve got me as a friend, then that should be—”
As we walked down the stairs, Yu-hwa was about to say something else when my attention was suddenly pulled elsewhere.
“Senior Hana Bi…?!”
Because I had run into her coming up the stairs.
She was struggling, hugging a box almost as big as she was, climbing the stairs in a precarious manner.
I couldn’t help but focus all my attention on her.
Running into Senior Hana Bi was a welcome surprise, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it.
“Mm…?”
Her voice came through faintly.
The box must have muffled her voice so it didn’t carry very far.
I took the box from her first.
When I held it myself, I realized it wasn’t just big—it was quite heavy too.
I couldn’t help but wonder how anyone could ask a person like her to carry something this heavy.
“I’m fine, really…”
Senior wiped the sweat from her forehead with one hand.
“Where were you taking this?”
I asked while holding the box.
“To the Student Discipline Office…”
“I’ll carry it. Just tell me the way.”
“Huh? No, it’s okay. I can do it.”
“Even so… I can’t just ignore you carrying something this big.”
“…Thank you.”
While we were having that short exchange.
I noticed Yu-hwa staring at us intently.
“Yu-hwa, you go on ahead. I need to help her with this.”
“Ah… okay. Got it.”
Yu-hwa said that and left first.
Her voice sounded a little sullen as she walked away.
Maybe she was being conscious because we were in front of a Student Discipline senior.
Our rumor hadn’t completely died down yet either.
***
“Can I put it here?”
“Yeah, thank you so much. You really saved me.”
The Student Discipline Office that I reached following Senior Hana Bi.
I set the large box down in the corner and took a quick look around the room.
“It’s bigger than I expected?”
“Yeah. Go ahead and sit comfortably. No other members are coming today anyway.”
Senior Hana Bi said that and pulled out a few snacks from a drawer.
I sat down on the black leather sofa.
“Here, have these too. Thanks for helping.”
“Sure.”
I took the snacks and held them in my hands.
The quiet, somewhat solemn atmosphere of the office made even the crinkling of the snack wrapper sound loud.
And even the vibration coming from my pants pocket.
“I think your phone is vibrating?”
Senior seemed to have heard the short buzz as well.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone.
Someone had sent a text…
Is it Yu-hwa?
That was what I thought as I checked the screen, but the sender was Seo Hye-in.
.
.
.