The Line Between Servant and Friend
"Isn't that Do Yuhwa?"
"Oh, you're right!"
Those voices were cast in our direction. Or perhaps, it would be more accurate to say they were cast toward Yuhwa. Well, they were voices I hadn't heard before, so...
"Where are you going?"
They asked as they strode toward us. Yuhwa seemed to know them, as she stopped in her tracks and waited.
"I'm on my way to get something to eat," Yuhwa said once they were close. I took a quick look at them. The group, a mix of boys and girls, were complete strangers to me, not just by voice but by face. I assumed they were just Yuhwa's friends from a different class. After all, for some reason, Yuhwa seemed to hang out with people from other classes rather than our own.
"With him? Just the two of you?" one of the boys asked, looking skeptical.
"Yeah, we're going to get tteokbokki."
"Hmm..."
The boy glanced at me. I knew exactly what kind of look that was. He was scanning me.
"You've been hanging out with him a lot at school lately, haven't you? Are you guys close?"
"Are we? We're in the same class, so..."
"The photo on your story... that jacket, it's his, right?"
I realized he had caught a glimpse of my outerwear. Was he observant, or did he just have a good memory for her social media posts?
"Yeah, I borrowed it... but I forgot and wore it home," Yuhwa said, acting as if it were nothing. Then, she turned her head toward me. "You guys should say hi, too. He's a classmate. Sits in front of me."
She was trying to introduce me to them.
"Hi, I'm Lee Dohyun," I said, offering a brief introduction, and we exchanged greetings. Once the pleasantries were over and it seemed like we were all about to go our separate ways again,
"Hey, why won't you follow me back on Instagram?" one of the guys in the group asked, dragging out the interaction.
"Seriously... what, are you acting all high and mighty because you're an influencer?"
"Well, Do Yuhwa is definitely at the influencer level."
"Yuhwa-ya, follow me back too!"
That remark gained quite a bit of support from the others. It seemed none of them had managed to get a follow-back from her. But wait... I did on the first day, didn't I? What was going on?
"Who told you to follow me?! I never asked you to!" Yuhwa dismissed the controversy with a tone that sounded genuinely baffled. While she seemed to be brushing it off playfully, I got the feeling that, aside from me, she might just be generally lacking in social skills. Then again, her personality wasn't great to begin with... or rather, it was closer to 'princess syndrome.' In the original novel, she felt like a person with a bad personality—stubborn and prideful. After spending a few days close to her, I realized it was definitely princess syndrome. Thinking about that, I suppose this behavior was to be expected.
She immediately started walking away, as if she were done with them. I followed, matching her pace.
"Let's eat together sometime!" came the formal, Korean-style parting words from behind us.
Once we were walking down the street alone again, I cautiously brought up what had just happened. I was curious why she wouldn't follow them back.
"Hey, you followed me back. Why not them..."
"I just don't want to. I'm not that close with them."
"Oh... right."
What the... does that mean she thinks she's that close to me? Really...?
We headed to a snack shop to eat. On the table sat a large serving of tteokbokki, surrounded by various fried sides.
"Are you good with spicy food?" Yuhwa asked before we started eating. I couldn't help but think she should have asked that before we ordered.
"Probably?"
Thinking I could handle most things, I reached for my chopsticks.
"No!! Wait!"
Yuhwa's voice stopped me urgently. Her phone began moving here and there, producing a series of loud, flashy shutter sounds.
"Okay, you can eat now."
Only after taking several photos was the meal finally permitted. Still, I never imagined I'd be eating with her like this. It felt surreal to be sitting across from her with a bowl of tteokbokki between us. Especially since it wasn't school lunch.
"But you saw Seo Hyein earlier, right? She really does hate me!" Yuhwa brought it up quietly while eating.
Honestly... I had noticed it clearly back then, too.
"Hmm... it did seem like that."
"Why is she like that?! Do I look like a pushover? Just let her slip up once... I swear I'll bury her."
"......"
I let it slide. I had my own things to say. I was just waiting for the right moment to bring it up. Yes, I had to do what I had to do.
"Hey, I have something to tell you, too."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Stop ordering me around. I'm not your errand boy."
It was a necessary thing to say. I couldn't keep wasting my time being tied down by her forever. Even if she thought of me as a close friend, it would be a problem if the relationship stayed like this.
"......"
Yuhwa, who had been eating the tteokbokki brightly, went silent at those words. The soft skin under her eyes began to tremble. Was she... flustered? She probably never imagined she'd hear something like that. I didn't want the atmosphere to turn too sour, though.
"Did you really think that way?!" I asked again, looking at Yuhwa, who kept her mouth shut and watched my reaction. She put her chopsticks down on the table. She took a deep breath, then:
"Are you taking Seo Hyein's side again?"
She blurted it out. Her face was stern, but I could feel a strange mix of emotions underneath. Why was the conversation heading in that direction?
"Why would I suddenly take Seo Hyein's side?"
"Earlier... at lunch. She said it. That it's really bad to order friends around."
True... Hyein had said that. But the fact that Yuhwa was conscious of it... Could it be that she had been acting nice to me earlier because of that?
"It looks like you're doing this because you listened to her."
"That has nothing to do with it. Even without that... it's obvious, isn't it? It's not good to just order friends around as if it's natural..."
"Who are you closer to? Aren't you closer to me?"
"Obviously..."
I could say 'obviously' easily. But for some reason, I couldn't get anything else out. The words were stuck in my throat. And at some point, I realized I didn't even know who I was going to say I was closer to.
"Forget it. I'm in a bad mood now, so I don't want to talk about it."
Sigh... I guess things wouldn't go smoothly. I hadn't expected this development, though. Of course, I never expected her to drag Hyein into this. Anyway, when I said that, expecting her to just say, 'Okay, I won't do it. Sorry,' was probably an arrogant expectation. Considering Do Yuhwa's personality, anyway. Still, I had to say it. I had made up my mind to say it. Even if my relationship with Do Yuhwa ended here, I had no complaints.
"Anyway... don't try to order me around anymore. I have my own life."
I picked up my nearly empty cup and took a sip. It wasn't because I was thirsty.
"Do whatever. I don't care."
Yuhwa said that, fiddling with her cup. Well... I guess that's that. Honestly, I was partly responsible for things ending on a sour note. If I hadn't accepted it from the start, it wouldn't have come to this. Yes, it was my own lack of backbone—trying to read the room and just going along with her—that was the problem. In the grand scheme of things, my spineless behavior, just to avoid getting on her bad side, was the very reason our relationship turned into such a mess.
*
We ended up leaving the shop with half the tteokbokki left because of that conversation. Yuhwa paid as promised, but the atmosphere was far from warm. Yes, an incredible awkwardness still hung in the air.
"Well... I'm off. You get home safe."
I started it off first in front of the shop. But there was no reply. Well, I thought that was to be expected. Yuhwa probably wasn't in a good mood right now, either.
"Just so you don't misunderstand, I'm not doing this because I'm taking Seo Hyein's side. And I've only been hanging out with you lately, so why would I take her side? Anyway, that's that. I'm really going now."
With that last word, I had nothing left to say. I turned my back and started walking. For some reason, I didn't feel relieved. No, it wasn't just refreshing. And at that moment, I felt my sleeve being tugged firmly. It was an external force I hadn't expected at all, and regardless of the strength, I was pulled in the direction of the tug.
"What... what am I supposed to do..."
Yuhwa asked, her eyes fixed on the ground. I could hear a fragile tremor in her voice. As if her vocal cords weren't used to the structure of the words, since she had never said them before.
"What?" I asked. I still didn't know exactly what she meant.
"...I didn't mean it like that because of how I think of you. That wasn't my intention."