Why the Hell Is She Here?
Why the hell is she here? Why the hell is she here? Why the hell is she here?
I'm gonna lose my mind!!! No, I definitely told her we shouldn't stay close anymore, and she said she understood. Sure, some lingering resentment might still be there. Even if Yuyeong ended up hating me, I figured it was unavoidable—at least since it was before she could go yandere, it should be fine. But why the hell is she here??
I tilted my head for a second, then locked eyes with Gahee noona. It clicked immediately. The one remaining link between Yuyeong and me was still there. Of all days, the day I met Gahee noona, Yuyeong had tagged along and hit it off with her. In other words, Gahee noona had probably texted Yuyeong something like "Come join us" and brought her along. Or maybe Yuyeong wanted to make up and asked Gahee noona for help. I'd vaguely considered that scenario, but it never crossed my mind that Gahee noona would just bring her without saying a word.
"Hey, Taeyang. Let me explain everything, okay? Can Yuyeong come in too?"
Gahee noona's sweet, gentle voice came right out, persuading me without a hint of malice—just pure sincerity. Yuyeong was glaring at me too. She seemed a bit on guard...
"Taeyang, just let her in for now."
And then Hayan noona chimed in. I was totally cornered.
"I don't know what's going on, but she's come all this way—feels wrong to just send her off, right?"
"We even got cake to eat together nicely—can't we?"
Gahee noona lifted up a fancy-looking cake box. Persuasion from both sides, plus one pair of eyes staring at me in fear. If I refused, I'd be the bad guy. And if I kept saying no, Hayan noona would grill me later for sure. Did you really have to be that harsh? I couldn't exactly tell her the truth—that I was dodging Yuyeong out of fear she'd go yandere. Damn...
"...Fine."
The answer was obvious from the start. Even if I said no, noona—and the whole study group's opinion—would override me and let her in. With a sense of despair, I kept my distance from Yuyeong as I led her into the living room. While Hayan noona and Gahee noona went to plate the cake, Yuyeong naturally joined the group and greeted everyone.
"Hi, I'm Lee Yuyeong, Kim Taeyang's 'classmate.'"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Choi Seonwoo."
"Haha..."
I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh. And just like that, the worst possible variable had popped up. Choi Seonwoo and Yuyeong had met. Sure, since Yuyeong's route comes late in the game, she wouldn't fall for Seonwoo or build flags right away. But the fact that I'd opened the door to that possibility terrified me. Screw that—Yuyeong scares the shit out of me. She's so unpredictable; I need to stay on guard around her at all times.
Even if Yuyeong was scary, my goal came first. Help Seonwoo build favor with Gahee, then cut Yuyeong out later.
"Ooh, cake!!"
"Looks delicious."
"Thanks for the food."
Gahee noona arrived just in time. I called her to sit right next to me.
"Gahee noona, perfect timing—I had something I didn't get, so sit here and..."
"I'll teach you."
I was about to pull Gahee noona to my side when Yuyeong suddenly cut in. My whole body flinched.
"No need to overreact like that."
"O-overreact...? Anyway, this problem's tough."
"Let me see."
"You any good at studying?"
She didn't seem like the type who hit the books hard. Yuyeong plopped down right next to me. Just having her there made me tense. At this point, was she definitely a little obsessed with me? That suspicion was enough to set me on edge. The silver lining? Gahee was next to her—which put Gahee next to Seonwoo.
"This one's the problem."
"Hmm..."
Yuyeong stared intently at the math problem I handed her. Dead serious. She even bit down on the pen I'd given her without realizing it, just glaring at the page. Ten minutes passed with zero progress.
"...Forget it if you don't know. Gahee noona."
My excuse for bringing Gahee noona in was to get her to teach me, so I should ask her first. Thanks to knowing from Love Chain that she was the best at math among the heroines, I'd been able to bring it up in the first place.
"Gahee noona, can you teach me this?"
"Wait, I can solve it."
Yuyeong blocked the reference book I was handing over. With serious force—good thing it didn't rip. I swallowed hard without thinking.
"...Really?"
"Ugh... Don't underestimate me!"
"I'm not underestimating you."
Was it my imagination, or did I see venom in her eyes? She was clutching that book so desperately, I was scared to even try pulling it away. Look, it's an advanced application problem—it's supposed to be hard. I could just hand it off to a high schooler and call it a day.
"Mind if I take a look too?"
I felt warmth behind me and turned to see Iri noona. She was pressed right up against my back, something soft and warm pressing into me. I buried my face there earlier. I snapped out of that thought. Not the time.
"Kim Taeyang, you focusing on the problem?"
"Huh? Yeah..."
Yuyeong's voice snapped me back, and I looked at her immediately. But seriously, what's with "Kim Taeyang" all of a sudden? What the hell was that formality? Was she deliberately creating distance?
"Look at the problem closely, and you'll solve it. Focus—no looking elsewhere."
"Got it..."
What the hell? Why was she suddenly like this? Did she have feelings for me or something? Meanwhile, oblivious Iri noona, not grasping the tension, dropped a casual bomb.
"Taeyang can't handle his new girlfriend~"
"Iri noona?"
"We're not girlfriends."
Before I could say anything, Yuyeong cut in coldly and decisively.
"More importantly, did you just say 'newly met'? As expected..."
"Oops, I meant girl friend, you know."
"Noona, that sounds misleading to anyone."
"Hahaha, does it?"
Iri noona fumbled a bit at Yuyeong's question but managed to smooth it over. "We're not even friends."
"Huh?"
Finally sensing the chill from Yuyeong? Iri noona went quiet, awkward and at a loss for words. Gahee noona, unable to stand it anymore, spoke up.
"Hey, everyone?"
All the studying kids looked her way.
"Want some juice?"
"Ah, sorry—we don't really keep juice at our place."
Hayan noona answered, and Gahee noona smiled, shaking her head.
"No worries. How about we all take a quick trip to the mart?"
"Hmm, for a mood changer? Sounds good."
"Better than sitting here bored."
"Iri noona, you should study a bit."
Everyone agreed to Gahee noona's suggestion and started getting ready to head out. Perfect. I'd been dying of tension next to Yuyeong; this was a chance to breathe.
"Then Taeyang and Yuyeong, watch the house."
"What?"
"Together?"
My plan to dodge Yuyeong went up in smoke thanks to Hayan noona. But more importantly, who knew what could happen between Seonwoo and Hayan noona while I was gone? From past experience, some game-defying flag was bound to pop up outside my control.
"I'll come too!"
I tried to insist, but Hayan noona and Gahee noona exchanged a glance and nodded without a word. What the hell? How long had they known each other to communicate like that?
"Taeyang likes potato chips, right? We'll grab some, so stay put and guard the house... unless you wanna skip dinner."
Eh? Did I just hear something scary tacked on there?
"Yuyeong, trust your unnie?"
Gahee noona whispered something in Yuyeong's ear.
"Uh... that's!"
Yuyeong panicked and tried to protest, but they left mercilessly anyway.
"We'll be back. Study hard!"
"Wait, just—"
Slam. The door shut, leaving just me and Yuyeong. Heavy silence hung in the air. For a study group to have this kind of gap where I couldn't interfere—and worse, alone with the girl I'd declared we were done with. What a headache.
"Haa~"
I sighed and turned to Yuyeong...
"Wh-what?!"
"What? Why so jumpy?"
"Your face looks like you're about to kill someone."
"Hmph!"
Yuyeong crossed her arms, clearly annoyed, and turned away completely. Thinking back, her attitude toward me all day had been guarded, disgusted, irritated. If this was her getting revenge, mission accomplished.
"Hey, if you're gonna act like this, why the hell did you even come to my house?"
"It's not like I came to make up with you or anything!"
"Then why did you come?"
"Because who knows what you'd do to Gahee unnie."
"What?"
What the hell was that supposed to mean? What I planned to do to Gahee noona... Did Yuyeong read that notebook? Yeah, what I was scheming would turn Gahee noona yandere. No way that looks good to anyone. Nah. I'd hidden the notebook contents airtight, and no one would buy that this world was actually a game.
"You think I'm gonna do something weird to Gahee noona? Why?"
Yuyeong stared daggers at my question. Laser beams were gonna shoot out any second. After a moment, she spoke seriously.
"Your face."
"...So because I look like a blonde tanned thug?"
"It's not just looks—you are one! You blonde tanned thug!"
So those insults she spat at me on the day we cut ties were dead serious. I was so flabbergasted, all I could do was laugh dryly. Like my whole life wasn't messed up because of you.
Irritation boiled over more than fear now.
"Hey, you judging people by their looks? You damn otaku!!"
"Gasp! You called me an otaku!! And otaku isn't a bad thing! It's just deeper interest in specific areas than..."
"If it's not bad, who cares? Otaku!!"
"You—stop it!! Tanned thug!!"
"You started it!! Go home and watch your anime!!"
Yuyeong charged at me, fuming. I didn't back down and blocked her advance. We were locked in a standoff, shoving and bickering, when—
"Ow!"
My ankle twisted again out of nowhere. When I fell off the chair earlier, Iri noona had caught me so it wasn't bad, but I'd probably sprained it stepping wrong. Pain shot through my ankle, and I toppled backward, dragging Yuyeong's hand—which I'd been using to fend her off—down with me.
"Geum Tae—gah!!"
Thud. Our heads smacked together, leaving a throbbing ache. I winced and opened my eyes.
"........."
"........."
Yuyeong's face was right there, our noses practically touching. Our gripped hands and wrists had pulled us down together. For a while, we stayed frozen in stunned silence, eyes flicking to each other's faces... and lips...
"Ah..."
"Kyaaaaah!!"
We snapped out of it fast. Looks like flags were stabbing my way now too.