"I Just Posted It Once..."
"I just posted it once, and..."
Returning to the living room, Yuli muttered in a daze, still feeling stunned. She thought back to the SNS post she'd uploaded herself.
Given Cho Yuli's personality, she couldn't even dream of visiting that dessert shop in person. So she'd just browsed online reviews, savoring the vicarious thrill, and posted one of the photos along with a caption. It was a picture taken by the shop owner, not a customer, so sharing it should be fine, right?
She'd simply expressed her longing to eat there but being overwhelmed by the crowds in her own "Yuli-mental" style of phrasing.
Mentioning the "Teddy Bear" had been pure greed.
'How dare someone like me covet something like that? I'd get divine punishment.'
But then, a miracle happened out of nowhere.
A complete stranger had just given her the Teddy Bear she'd ordered.
"Delivery isn't even possible there, though."
At first, she was suspicious. What if it was some malicious prank by nasty people? What if the box didn't contain cake but a dead rat or trash instead?
She'd experienced something like that as a kid, so Cho Yuli didn't dare open the cake box right away.
She placed it on the table and pulled up the shop's homepage on her phone.
'We'll deliver Teddy Bear right to your home.'
The delivery service was real. It was just limited to a lottery draw among in-store visitors who'd entered.
"I was an idiot for getting my hopes up."
Disappointed by the fact that she couldn't buy it herself, Cho Yuli shook off her letdown and tapped the winner delivery tracker.
"Name... Lee Sooseong... Mr. Lee Sooseong... and the address matches here..."
The screen soon updated.
"For real!?"
Yuli barely stopped herself from toppling backward in shock. With trembling hands, she opened the box—and there it was, the Teddy Bear chocolate cake of her dreams, packaged with a thank-you note for extra care.
"Ah..."
It really was a miracle. Like Seonwoo, like the guy who'd given her ice cream, like the Friday Angel.
Stunned by this unexpected kindness, Yuli just blinked in disbelief.
She'd been feeling down lately... but good things like this could still happen...
"Thank you, Mr. Lee Sooseong."
Yuli closed her eyes and offered her gratitude. The gloom that had weighed on her for so long seemed to vanish in an instant.
Seriously snapping several photos, she then opened SNS.
It was still her usual cryptic post that only Yuli herself could fully understand—but soon enough, "FridayAngel" liked it.
Yuli kept bursting into smiles. She felt guilty, like she didn't deserve this luck—but she couldn't hide her joy at the fact that she could actually eat the cake.
Yeah, as long as I don't forget to be grateful, this much should be forgiven.
To never forget that gratitude, she committed it to memory. Lee Sooseong. And to ensure she wouldn't forget, she'd save his number.
Yuli had memorized the phone number. She'd glanced at the screen when the delivery guy handed her the phone briefly.
He'd said he'd delete the number for sure, but Yuli decided to save it in her own phone today as a reminder of his kindness.
It didn't matter if it turned out to be a dead number.
And both Yuli and Taeyang had overlooked one key fact: saving a phone number auto-links it to chat apps, adding them as a friend automatically.
"Kim... Taeyang?"
In the chat app, instead of Lee Sooseong, a different name appeared in her friends list.
Since it was an app she'd only signed up for and never used, with zero friends before, it stood out immediately. But no profile pic made it hard to guess who it was.
"Did he delete the number already and someone else snag it?"
She wasn't sure if that could happen so quickly, but Yuli let it slide. She didn't have the guts to message a stranger first anyway.
Though she didn't reach out, this was the moment Cho Yuli first became aware of Kim Taeyang's existence.
Break time at Pulkkot High School. Heading down the hall since next period was PE, Seonwoo happened to pass Class 1.
He paused, glancing at the class nameplate.
"Seonwoo? What's up?"
"Nothing."
"For real~ Get your head in the game."
He shot an annoyed look at Seong Juyeon, who'd playfully smacked his back, but she just grinned mischievously.
As always, Seonwoo grumbled in response.
"I am focused."
"You looked spaced out, though. So, what's on your mind?"
Seong Juyeon picked up on it slyly, but Seonwoo figured it wasn't something to share right now and shook his head.
"It's nothing. My eyes were just dry for a sec."
"Oh! I have artificial tears in my bag—want me to grab 'em?"
Choi Gahee, kinder than Juyeon as usual, offered, but Seonwoo shook his head again.
"Nah, I'm good."
He smiled and kept walking, but a nagging unease lingered for Seonwoo.
Yesterday after school, he'd spotted Yuli by chance. She'd passed by so quickly he couldn't call out, but her expression had been dark and depressed.
Come to think of it, they'd agreed to be friends when they first met, but they hadn't even talked once.
He could brush it off as empty words from a social butterfly, but from Seonwoo's side, he genuinely wanted to get close to Yuli. He'd realized she was actually a good kid from their infirmary encounter.
'Gotta check on her at lunch.'
"Did you see that pic of Taeyang in the teddy bear outfit yesterday?"
"Huh?... Yeah."
"Gahee, you okay?"
"Hey, Seonwoo! Hurry up!"
He'd zoned out again, it seemed. At Juyeon's urging from the chattering group, who looked back at him, Seonwoo quickly turned and followed.
At lunch, steeling himself, Seonwoo went alone to Class 1—and was in for a surprise.
"Uh?... Oh, hey?"
"Yeah, long time no see. Haha."
He could only laugh awkwardly. Face-to-face with Yuli, Seonwoo realized his worry had been pointless meddling.
Cho Yuli looked incredibly bright and cheerful. Up until he'd arrived, she'd been giggling at her phone. She even seemed flustered and dazed by his approach.
"Um... what's up?"
"Just checking in, seeing how you're doing."
Yuli asked cautiously. Honestly, she was nervous. She'd hoped he'd talk to her, but Seonwoo was popular. A guy busy hanging with friends wouldn't visit her without reason.
'Did I do something wrong?'
Yuli busied herself calming her pounding heart. Truth be told, it felt a bit uncomfortable. No, she didn't dislike Seonwoo at all. Quite the opposite... But with a hot, popular guy like him showing up, the stares gathering around the classroom made her skin crawl.
The whispers from afar seemed like: 'Ugh—why's he talking to that creepy girl?' 'What'd she do this time?' Gossiping behind her back.
If Seonwoo said here, 'You didn't seriously think I meant it about being friends, right? You've been staring at me sneakily,' Yuli's fragile mentality would shatter.
"Sorry. I'm sorry."
"Huh? Why are you apologizing?"
"I..."
Yuli bolted from her seat and fled. She knew there'd be murmurs behind her... She hated that others would see a nobody like her ditching Seonwoo... But she just couldn't endure it anymore.
"Urp—!!"
In the end, Yuli dashed straight to the bathroom and threw up.
"Hic..."
In the Love Chain game, Yuli usually opened up to Seonwoo through one-on-one encounters. After their second flag event by chance, she gradually joins the heroine group—but fitting in right away is tough. In low-people situations, kind heroines build bonds with Seonwoo individually, allowing Yuli to eventually hang out publicly.
But with the second flag broken, Seonwoo suddenly showing up publicly was a huge minus.
"Hoo..."
Vrrr— Her phone buzzed in her skirt pocket.
Pulling it out, she saw an SNS reply.
"Hoo~"
Her heart... settled a bit. As expected, her only stress-free friend was "FridayAngel."
She could've just read and ignored it, but out of respect for her friend, Yuli left that comment before leaving the bathroom.
First, she had to apologize to Seonwoo. He'd probably curse her out. For ignoring him.
Heading back to the classroom, stares poured in. Her legs wobbled like she'd collapse any second.
"Um... Yuli?"
"Eek!"
Turning, it was indeed Seonwoo.
"Sorry! I mean...!!"
"No, it's fine. I thought something might be wrong."
"Absolutely not! I wasn't ignoring you!"
Seonwoo, looking troubled, glanced at the surrounding stares and beckoned Yuli.
"Yuli, wanna talk somewhere without people for a sec?"
"Huh? ...Sure."
A deserted spot between stairwells, sparse on people. Yuli sighed in relief as she arrived.
'Phew~ No one's watching...'
Now it was okay. Even if the usually kind Seonwoo snapped, cursed her out, or hit her, there'd be no one around to mock or pile on.
Just take it quick and end it... Yuli squeezed her eyes shut.
"Hey, Yuli?"
"Huh?"
"Sorry for showing up out of nowhere."
"Uh..."
At the unexpected response, Yuli opened her eyes.
"Didn't realize it'd draw all those stares."
A guy from another class visiting a girl naturally sparked interest. Kids whispering excitedly about a possible confession would've overwhelmed a shy girl like Yuli—Seonwoo got that.
"N-no! Um, Seonwoo... sorry for ignoring you..."
"Huh? I'm not bothered at all?"
"R-really?"
Yuli studied Seonwoo's face but sensed no malice.
"So... why'd you come?"
She mumbled softly, and Seonwoo scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Just... you looked down yesterday."
"Huh?"
Stunned by the unforeseen words, Yuli couldn't continue.
"Got worried and checked in—glad you're okay. Were you looking at something fun?"
Feeling Seonwoo's warmth, Yuli gazed at him, moved.
"Ah... yeah! Lately, some people have been really nice to me."
"That's great."
"Yeah! I even made an online friend recently. Friday Angel..."
"Ahaha..."
He hadn't meant to pry that deep. Still, Seonwoo nodded along as Yuli chatted brightly.
Bit too much TMI, but...
And by the end of lunch, even after the pre-bell, Yuli's unease around Seonwoo had vanished.
Time to head back to class.
"Hey, Yuli."
"Yeah?"
"Let's keep saying hi and hang out more from now on."
"Yeah! Let's!"
Seonwoo began rekindling the broken second flag.