Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Storm of the Golden Sun (2)
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Jin Se-jeong's immediate outburst of "Where's Yang Woo-bin?!" upon spotting her face actually put Fuyuno Tsubaki in a subtly good mood.
It felt like she was being recognized as someone who knew every single move Yang Woo-bin made, like his right-hand woman.
But that fleeting good mood didn't last. Fuyuno Tsubaki had no choice but to stiffen her twitching lips again at Jin Se-jeong's follow-up words.
"No, wait. If you knew where he was, you wouldn't be hanging around alone like this—you'd be glued to his side."
"......"
It was true.
Today, Fuyuno Tsubaki hadn't seen Yang Woo-bin even once.
Normally, they'd be together from the moment she left the dorms until she returned, but after he ditched her yesterday with that ridiculous excuse about "teaching Ryu Jia how to have sex," she hadn't laid eyes on him.
She'd spent the whole day without seeing him, her separation anxiety building until she was trembling, and that's when the rumor hit: he'd fucked Ryu Jia and turned her into a non-virgin.
Already weakened in body and mind from missing him, the shock of that rumor had her reeling, and now Jin Se-jeong was driving the final nail in. A deeper shadow fell over Fuyuno Tsubaki's face.
"So. Did you know that Woo-bin... no, that bastard Yang Woo-bin would pull something this stupid?"
Normally, as Dabcheon's respected head of the guidance department, she'd comfort a cadet with worry etched on her face. But right now, Jin Se-jeong wasn't the guidance head—she was Yang Woo-bin's childhood friend.
So she ignored the shadow on Fuyuno Tsubaki's face and asked what she needed to know.
"......Yeah."
Jin Se-jeong's question pierced Fuyuno Tsubaki's chest like a sharp arrow, contrary to her intentions.
Fuyuno Tsubaki had always taken pride in knowing more about Yang Woo-bin than anyone else, but answering yes to this question brought her no pride at all.
"What? You knew?"
"I saw it with my own eyes. Everything, right up to Woo-bin heading to the clubroom with Senior Ryu Jia."
"Not only did you know, but you saw it happen right in front of you? And you just stood there? Why didn't you stop him! You should've stopped him!"
It was tantamount to admitting she knew he was up to no good and didn't stop him, just as Jin Se-jeong said.
"......"
"What, cat got your tongue? Nothing to say? Why the hell would he do something he'd have no defense for?"
Fuyuno Tsubaki was momentarily speechless at Jin Se-jeong's furious shout.
But only for a moment. If she stayed silent, it'd be pointless, so she clenched her fists tight, pried open her heavy lips, and forced out her words.
"I don't interfere with what Woo-bin does."
"What?"
"Like I said before, Woo-bin saved me. So I have to repay that grace, and support whatever he does. That's... that's the life I chose."
"Hah."
Jin Se-jeong let out a hollow laugh at Fuyuno Tsubaki's words.
She knew exactly what dark, slimy desires lurked inside her, so a hollow laugh was inevitable.
"What bullshit."
Jin Se-jeong dismissed Fuyuno Tsubaki's shiny-on-the-outside, empty-on-the-inside words with a single term: bullshit.
"No! I really...!"
"You think I don't know you're making excuses like that just to stay stuck to Yang Woo-bin's side?"
"Euk......"
Fuyuno Tsubaki was struck right in the core by Jin Se-jeong's piercing gaze and words, her mouth clamping shut.
Unlike before, she truly had no comeback this time.
Because everything Jin Se-jeong said was spot-on, without a single flaw.
"I, I really... whatever Woo-bin does......"
Even though she'd been hit dead-center and had nothing to say, Fuyuno Tsubaki didn't want to lose to Jin Se-jeong. She desperately repeated her earlier words.
"Support whatever he does? So, like the rumors spreading around Dabcheon right now, you support him making Ryu Jia his... fuck buddy? You okay with those rumors flying around?"
"......"
Of course, repeating words already dismantled by that piercing strike couldn't stand up to Jin Se-jeong.
With every word from Jin Se-jeong, Fuyuno Tsubaki felt like the armor encasing her heart was being torn apart piece by piece.
"I'm asking you. Are you really okay with the rumors that Yang Woo-bin's got a... ugh, it's so disgusting I can't even say it. Anyway, that filthy fuck-buddy situation?"
When the same question flew at her again from Jin Se-jeong, every last piece of armor around Fuyuno Tsubaki's heart was shattered.
"......Of course not."
With all her armor in pieces, true feelings from the heart finally spilled from Fuyuno Tsubaki's lips.
It had happened because her opponent was Jin Se-jeong—the woman gunning for Yang Woo-bin.
"Then you should've barged in right then and told him not to! Watching your friend step onto the wrong path and just standing by?"
Jin Se-jeong pressed her relentlessly, still frustrated despite Fuyuno Tsubaki's honest answer.
It wouldn't erase the rumors of Yang Woo-bin and Ryu Jia being fuck buddies or solve the situation, but right now, Jin Se-jeong just wanted to blame someone.
That's why she was pinning responsibility on Fuyuno Tsubaki, who was close to him.
"I'm not Woo-bin's friend."
"What?"
"Woo-bin doesn't see me as a friend. I'm just his lackey."
But hearing such a pitiful line from Fuyuno Tsubaki's mouth left Jin Se-jeong momentarily dazed.
Even blinded by rage over the rumors about Yang Woo-bin, she had the good character respected by countless cadets.
So when such words came from the person she'd been blaming, she felt awkward instead.
"......So all that 'lackey' talk wasn't a joke—it was real? But who takes care of their lackey that meticulously?"
"......Woo-bin's kind."
"Hah, whatever. More important things than your weird dynamic right now. Anyway, you don't know where Yang Woo-bin is? Then we're done here."
In the end, with a bit of reason returning, Jin Se-jeong stopped blaming Fuyuno Tsubaki—now feeling awkwardly prickly—and turned away from her.
"Hm? What's this, you two? I knew you got close during the culling, but friendly chit-chat just the two of you? Good for you. Keep getting along."
And at that moment, she locked eyes with Yang Woo-bin, popping out from the corner and spouting nonsense.
"Hey, you! Get over here! What's this rumor bullshit?!"
"What rumor out of nowhere? Ugh."
The instant she saw Yang Woo-bin, Jin Se-jeong shot toward him like an arrow, grabbing his collar and pressing him.
Due to their height difference, her grabbing his collar and looking up created a weird, awkward sight.
"No, wait. You, follow me. This is something that needs a one-on-one as Dabcheon's guidance head. We'll talk properly in my office."
Realizing how lame she looked, Jin Se-jeong let go of his collar and grabbed something else instead.
"......Talking like you're about to bring down the iron fist of justice, but you end up grabbing his wrist?"
His thick wrist, to be precise.
"I figured you'd at least drag him by the ear."
"Want me to do that right now?"
"No, no. Wrist is good. Yeah."
Jin Se-jeong shut down Yang Woo-bin's oblivious jab with a glare and a growl, then strode toward the guidance office, gripping his wrist tight.
"......Ah."
Once the two met like a storm and vanished in a flash, only Fuyuno Tsubaki remained in the hallway.
"......"
Even though it was their first meeting of the day, Fuyuno Tsubaki couldn't even greet Yang Woo-bin, left watching his back as he was whisked away.
Because she was his lackey.
Not on equal footing like his childhood friend Jin Se-jeong or his so-called fuck buddy Ryu Jia.
Yang Woo-bin was her master, and Fuyuno Tsubaki was his lackey.
A relationship she'd affirmed and even liked.
"......"
But that was only up until yesterday.
The moment she saw him abandon her for Ryu Jia and head to the Blast Dragon clubroom, Fuyuno Tsubaki stopped liking that she was just his lackey.
And now, after Jin Se-jeong's scolding and sharp words, and seeing her drag Yang Woo-bin away, Fuyuno Tsubaki finally realized why she suddenly hated the master-lackey dynamic.
"Ah."
She'd liked being his lackey because it let her stay by his side, just as Jin Se-jeong had said.
But now, not one, but two women even closer to him had appeared at his side.
Childhood friend Jin Se-jeong and fuck buddy Ryu Jia.
Women she could never beat as a mere lackey—equals to Yang Woo-bin.
As time passed, more such equal-status women would gather around the blond-tanned thug Yang Woo-bin, and she'd get pushed further down his priority list.
"I hate that."
Just imagining it squeezed her chest so tight with suffocating pain and agony that it spread through her entire body.
Clutching her constricted chest, she wished to escape the torment.
"I need to get stronger. Strong enough to get closer to Woo-bin too."
The desire Fuyuno Tsubaki had kept tightly hidden, now surfacing for the first time today, finally formed its bud.