Severing Ties (2)
“You know her?”
Yu-hwa follows up immediately with that question about my connection to Hye-in. No clue why it jumps straight there, but whatever.
“Why?”
“Just wondering.”
“……No. First time seeing her today?”
I pause for a beat before answering. Yeah, of course. After what just went down, my response was set in stone. We just agreed to act like strangers, Seo Hye-in and I.
“Hmm… got it.”
Yu-hwa looks like she’s mulling something over on her own. My answer must’ve scratched an itch somewhere.
“Alright, I’m heading out.”
I start walking, leaving her behind. Can’t hog this spot forever.
“Hey! You haven’t properly apologized to me yet!”
She scurries after me, refusing to let go easy. Damn, she’s tenacious. Mess with the wrong person, and it’ll be exhausting. Yeah, that tracks with the original story too. In the novel, Hye-in caught Yu-hwa’s ire and got bullied hard for it. I stepped in to help her, probably scheming to worm my way back into her good graces.
But in this flow… maybe Hye-in dodges that bullet altogether. If so, works out for everyone.
“Sorry. And… I did apologize from the start.”
“Doesn’t count if the person hearing it says no—your words alone don’t wrap it up.”
“R-right… sorry. My bad for being careless.”
I play along loosely, matching her vibe as we walk. Even then, she sticks to my side like glue. Feels like I’ve got a clingy ghost dragging along.
And in that state, we pass behind Hye-in, who’s in the seat next to mine.
I plop down in my spot by the cozy window corner. Now she’ll peel off, right…?
“What, this your seat?”
She drops into the desk right in front of mine like it’s natural, still eyeing me as she asks.
“Yeah…? Pretty much.”
I answer the Yu-hwa in front of me with a hint of suspicion in my voice. Something feels off. No way it’s that.
“Switch seats with me. I wanna sit in the back row.”
“Huh…? Where’s yours?”
“Me? Right here.”
She points at herself, claiming this spot as hers. And just like that, my worst suspicion hits.
Which means this is where things diverged. Originally, no Do Yu-hwa sitting right in front of me.
“Alright…? Uh…”
I toss out a half-hearted reply and rub my face with my palm. Fatigue’s creeping in.
“Switch!! For shoving me earlier… I’ll let it slide if you do.”
She says it like she’s granting a huge favor. Maybe she even believes it. If so, arguing’s pointless. I picked the wrong opponent. Best to just go along—my gut says it’ll make things smoother for me down the line.
“Sure, we’ll switch. So now we’re square, right?”
“Okay! I’ll let it go, just this once!”
She grabs her bag from the desk hook and stands. My body naturally turns toward the seat next to mine in the process.
Meaning my eyes land on Hye-in, sitting right there.
My gaze brushes her unintentionally. And for some reason, our eyes meet again. Like she’d been side-eyeing me the whole time.
The moment we lock eyes, she whips her head forward, staring straight ahead.
Yeah… figures. Maybe this is what she wanted too. Sure, we agreed to play strangers, but we weren’t originally. We did know each other—childhood friends, no less. Having that person plop down right next to you? Awkward as hell when you’re faking ignorance.
So… good thing? Maybe.
……
I swap seats with Yu-hwa, who was originally in front of me. Then I slam my head on the desk and slump over. Felt right. My body craved it.
Exhaustion mixed with helplessness—it dragged me down.
Yeah, now that the plot’s veering off hard, my head’s spinning a bit. Hard to keep up, let alone sort it out. Maybe I don’t even need to. Everything’s heading into uncharted territory now.
My old database of plot points? Probably useless.
That realization doesn’t excite me—it’s a little scary. I figured it’d just tweak within the frame, but this is a whole new story.
Oh yeah, earlier… something about “Harem Mode”?
“Hey! Lee Do-hyun! Got a charger?”
I’m catching a quick breather facedown when a poke in my back and that voice cut in.
Do Yu-hwa from the seat behind me now. Moving her back there might’ve been a huge mistake.
“Charger? Yeah, but… why?”
“What kind? Lightning?”
“Uh… got both.”
Lucky for me, I’m stocked with USB-C and Lightning—Hye-in borrowed my Lightning one sometimes.
“Gimme the Lightning then. Need to charge my phone.”
What. Morning homeroom’s almost here, and her battery’s already dead?
“Here.”
I hand it over despite the curiosity. No big deal.
Yeah, no point pissing off Do Yu-hwa. She’ll grab it and leave me alone. We settled our debt already, and she’s not the type to tangle with me anyway. In the original, any bad blood was through Hye-in. Plus, her status? School idol tier. No reason for her to bother a guy embarrassed to even walk with his childhood friend.
“You on Insta?”
She plugs the charger into her phone and asks, eyes glued to the screen, voice floating my way.
“Kinda, but not really…”
That’s the truth. Account exists, but that’s it. Never used SNS properly. Just family, Seo Hye-in, and a handful of guy friends. Barely active—looks like a lurker account.
“Cool. What’s your handle? Let’s follow each other.”
“Uh…”
She’s gotta have a ton of followers. Sharing mine feels awkward—makes my profile look even sadder. And worst, Hye-in’s one of my follows. With so few, she’d spot it instantly if she peeked. We’re faking strangers, but Insta says otherwise? Massive plot hole.
“C’mon~ I’m doing you a solid.”
Her persistence wins. I’ll tell her, but who knows if she’ll follow after seeing it.
“Wait a sec.”
I buy time and unfollow Hye-in first. That should cover it.
“Whoa… no fucking way!! This your real account?”
“……”
“This is hilarious lmao, fewer than 20 followers? But you’re following a ton?”
“……”
“Lurker alt? Stalker account or what?”
“……”
She snatches my phone, scrolls, and roasts me for a solid minute. Full-on mockery fest.
Her booming laughter draws eyes—not just from Hye-in next to me, but a bunch of others.
…Brutal. Told you I didn’t wanna show it.
“It’s mine. Just… don’t use Insta much.”
“Gotcha.”
She calms down after a while, taps her screen a few times. Then my phone pings.
Her follow notification.
“Smash that like button on my posts, got it?”
“Ah… yeah. Will do.”
She says it casually, like no big deal. Maybe to her it isn’t. But for me? Different vibe.
First time. Excluding Hye-in, first mutual follow with another girl.
And with her, of all people…
“Post something. Looks too much like a fake.”
“Yeah. And… th-thanks…”
I almost blurt out thanks unthinkingly.
“After first period, grab some jelly from the school store for me?”
Yu-hwa says.
……
Fuck… did I just become her errand boy?
I swallow the bitterness with that thought when I feel Hye-in’s gaze. Yeah, it’s been there a while. Not staring outright, but like I’m under surveillance.
So what’s she thinking, watching me like this? Probably glad we’re playing strangers. Seeing me turn into Do Yu-hwa’s gofer on day one seals it.