Chapter 179: Pandemonium
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 179: Pandemonium
After that, we didn't run into the girls from our class inside the mansion.
That was because we made a point of only visiting the attractions they had already been through.
Having safely escaped the Ninja Mansion, which had been the eye of the storm, we realized a good amount of time had passed and decided to get lunch.
"Anything you want to eat? My treat."
At Satoru's question, the girls exchanged glances, their faces thoughtful.
"Hmm~ I'm fine with anything."
"Me too!"
"Ditto."
"How about tonkatsu, then?"
"Hmm... Isn't that a little too greasy for lunch?"
"Then how about ramen?"
"I'm not a big fan of oily food."
"Ugh! Soba, then?"
"Eating something cold all of a sudden might give me a stomachache..."
"..."
Faced with the girls' continuous rejections, Satoru was left speechless.
For reference, when a girl says "anything," it's usually synonymous with, "I have a few things I want to eat right now, but I don't want to state my opinion directly. At the same time, I want to seem considerate of you, so just keep asking questions."
It was a completely different usage and meaning from when a guy says "anything."
"Why don't we just head to the food court and decide there? We can't just stand here forever."
Ryuji, unable to watch any longer, made a suggestion. Kobayashi, the leader of the girls, replied, "That sounds good!" bringing the suffocating situation to an end.
Satoru, completely drained from that brief exchange, staggered over to me.
"Yoo-Sung, do you think I'll ever be able to get a girlfriend?"
"Why are you asking me that?"
"You're closer with girls than you are with other guys."
"..."
He wasn't wrong, so I couldn't argue.
*
As is the case with most tourist spots, the Movie Village had a variety of restaurants, tea houses, and a food court.
However, the regular restaurants were too expensive for students like us, so we naturally headed to the food court for lunch.
"What do you want? Just say the word. Oppa's buying."
"Wooooow!"
Perhaps wanting to look good for the girls, Satoru pushed his sunglasses up onto his head and tried to act like a cool guy.
"Are you buying for us, too?"
"Are you crazy?"
But with us, his friends, he was merciless.
Of course.
It wasn't like we didn't expect it. We decided to split up and buy our own food.
"What are you getting, Ryuji?"
"I don't know. I'm not that hungry, so I was thinking of grabbing something simple like a hot dog. What about you?"
"Something cheap with a big portion."
"...You think you'll find that at a tourist spot?"
"That's what I'm about to find out."
With that, I charged straight into the food court.
But my sliver of hope was instantly betrayed.
"So expensive..."
It was a tourist trap. Even the water was ridiculously overpriced.
Even considering labor and rent, it felt like they had slapped a hefty premium on everything just because it was a famous attraction.
As someone who also worked in the food industry, I had a rough idea of the actual cost of the ingredients, which made everything seem even more expensive.
"Ughhh."
Still, I couldn't skip a meal. I was wracking my brain, trying to find the most cost-effective option, when it happened.
"Oh! Ryu-chan!"
I heard the voice of the last person I wanted to see right now.
"Ri-Rika?"
Following my lead, Ryuji's face turned pale.
The girls were all moving around in a group.
If Rika was here, it was only natural that Yaguchi would be with her.
"Sakamoto, you're here too!"
As expected, the rest of the players entered one by one.
As the situation unfolded, I instinctively knew we were fucked.
"Ah, hey."
I waved awkwardly. Rika tilted her head and walked over.
"Is something wrong? You look pale."
"I-I do? Maybe I got too much sun?"
My voice trembled, no matter how hard I tried to control it.
To hide my shifty eyes, I stared off into the distance and asked, "What are you guys doing here all of a sudden?"
Sasha replied as if it were obvious.
"What a stupid question. We came to the food court to eat, what else?"
"Right."
Hahahaha.
I let out an awkward laugh and started thinking as fast as I could.
What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?
Just then, the Class President, who had been watching the situation, spoke up.
"Since we've run into each other like this, why don't we all eat together? Where's Satoru?"
When she asked about Satoru, who was probably with the other girls, a startled Ryuji quickly answered.
"Ah! The bathroom! He went to the bathroom!"
But that was clearly a bad move.
Yaguchi, who could be surprisingly sharp, started looking at us with suspicion.
"What's with you two? Did you do something wrong?"
"Wrong? What do you mean, wrong?"
"You haven't been able to make eye contact with us this whole time. Ryuji, if you confess right now, I'll reduce your punishment from three smacks to one."
"..."
Gulp.
A strange tension filled the air as the net closed in around us.
Ryuji and I exchanged glances.
What do we do?
Should we make a run for it?
It was at that exact moment.
"Oppa! Is it going to take much longer to buy everything?"
A cheerful voice cut through the tense, explosive standoff.
"!!!"
Startled, I reflexively turned around. There was Satoru, his face as pale as ours, surrounded by the other girls and staring right at us.
His eyes were saying:
Are we busted?
Yep.
"Oppaaaaa~?"
The first to react was Yaguchi.
She mimicked the exact words Kobayashi had just used, glaring at Ryuji with a menacing expression.
"I had a feeling you've been avoiding us since yesterday. So this is why, huh? Ryuji?"
"N-No, it's not like that..."
"Whatever! You seem super busy hanging out with these little kids, so I'll get out of your way. Have fun, and I hope you have a great life all by yourself!"
Hmph!
She crossed her arms with a thoroughly angry expression and turned her head away.
It was a cliché pattern you'd only see in old dramas, but its effect was tremendous.
Ryuji immediately started begging Yaguchi for forgiveness.
"I'm sorry! Maiya!"
Watching this, Chiaki and Mahes, who were floating in the air, shook their heads.
「You reap what you sow.」
「Honestly, I knew this would happen.」
As I watched the two of them, the fire spread to me.
"Kim Yoo-Sung, don't you have anything to say?"
"It's all Satoru's fault."
"You could have just said no. Would he have killed you if you didn't go along with it?"
"..."
It was an undeniable truth, so I couldn't argue.
"Ryu-chan, I'm disappointed."
"Even I have to say... this is a bit much."
My shoulders slumped further under the barrage of criticism.
I was getting verbally pummeled from all sides.
"Hey, auntie, who do you think you are, talking to our oppa like that?"
"A-Auntie?"
Yaguchi took a step back, flustered by Kobayashi's sudden intervention.
But she quickly regained her composure and shouted, "Who are you calling an auntie! I'm still seventeen!"
However, Kobayashi, who looked like she'd chewed her fair share of gum, was relentless.
"Oh, my bad, unni. Your clothes are so tacky, I thought you were just some random middle-aged lady off the street. Why do you dress like that, anyway? It's so confusing for people."
"Wh-What?"
Yaguchi couldn't keep up with the relentless one-two punches coming from both sides.
"You little! How dare you be so rude to your unni!"
Karen, who was standing next to her, tried to help, but Kobayashi glanced down at her and dismissed her with a single sentence.
"You stay out of it, kid. Can't you see the grown-ups are talking?"
"K-Kid..."
Her verbal skills knocked them both out in an instant.
This girl was something else.
But Yaguchi, recovering from her dazed state, immediately launched a counterattack.
"Sorry to break it to you, but Ryuji only hit on you because that guy Satoru put him up to it. I doubt he had any intention of getting with you from the start."
"I already knew that much. And besides, if I like him, isn't that all that matters? Don't tell me you're one of those old-fashioned types who believe a relationship can only start when both people like each other?"
"Hmph."
Yaguchi glared at Kobayashi, who shot back every word without missing a beat, as if she were insolent.
A suffocating tension filled the air as the love triangle drama unfolded in real time.
It had gotten to the point where even passersby were stopping to watch.
"So who are you to him, unni, that you keep telling him what to do? Are you his girlfriend or something?"
"I'm Ryuji's childhood friend!"
"So what if you're his childhood friend? It's not like you're dating, right?"
"You little-!"
Finally deciding that words were no longer enough, Yaguchi raised her hand.
"Stop!"
Ryuji, who had been watching the situation, rushed to intervene at that very moment.
Smack!
"Yaguchi! What's gotten into you all of a sudden! You're not the kind of person who hits people!"
"Ryuji! Are you taking her side over mine right now?!"
"That's not what I meant!"
Ryuji said forcefully, gripping Yaguchi's wrist.
But Yaguchi, perhaps shocked that Ryuji had yelled at her, just stood there with her eyes wide open before shaking his hand off and running away.
"Yaguchi!"
Karen and Rika ran after her.
"Tch... Idiot."
Ryuji, who had let Yaguchi go in the heat of the moment, muttered to himself and turned around.
"I'm sorry, Kobayashi. She's not usually like that. I think she just got overwhelmed by her emotions."
"I'm fine."
"But you know you took it too far as well, right? I'd appreciate it if you properly apologized to Yaguchi when you see her later."
At Ryuji's stern words, Kobayashi hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.
The atmosphere was a complete mess in an instant.
Afterward, Ryuji turned to the Class President, who was still there.
"What do we do now?"
The Class President sighed in disbelief.
"Just go after her."
She'll only get angrier if you don't.