I Don't Care
"Thanks for the meal-!"
Suah's cheerful shout marked the start of dinner.
Steam rose from the stew in the center of the table, and the glistening meat side dishes looked mouthwatering.
Haeun sat quietly beside Suah, spoon in hand, but her eyes remained blank as she stared at the table without reaching for anything.
"Ah, seriously! Oppa! I told you not to eat two pieces of my meat~! I saved those for myself!"
"No, does that look like two pieces to you? One of them's an onion. And mine's right here, you gluttonous monster."
"Aish, yours is nothing but bones! Give it here!"
A perfectly ordinary dinner scene.
Suah and I were locked in our usual fierce chopstick battle over the plate of meat in the middle.
When I smugly plucked out the meat and smacked my lips, Suah shrieked in protest.
Haeun watched the noisy, harmless commotion in silence, spoon still raised.
All day long she had endured blatant disgust, mockery, and being treated like she was invisible.
This was a completely different world from the suffocating air of the classroom.
Just two people bickering over who got more meat, without a single trace of malice.
The warmth and noise of it slowly loosened the tension that had frozen her shoulders all day.
Her pale, stiff lips parted slightly.
"Pfft."
A tiny puff of air escaped across the table.
Suah and I both turned toward Haeun at the same time, chopsticks still raised mid-battle.
Haeun looked startled by the sound that had come out of her own mouth. She quickly covered her lips with her spoon, eyes wide like a rabbit.
"Huh? Oppa… Haeun noona just laughed."
"She did."
I set my chopsticks down and rested my chin on my hand, smiling.
Haeun's pale ears flushed a soft pink in an instant.
"Baek Haeun, looks like you're doing better now? Feeling okay?"
When I asked gently, eyes curved in a smile, Haeun slowly lowered her hand and stared down at the table.
"…Yeah. A little."
She glanced between Suah and me, then offered a faint but genuinely relaxed smile.
"Thanks to you."
Those quiet words slipped from her lips.
The moment I saw that smile, a sharp, sticky sense of conquest surged through my veins.
'That's right. Outside is cold and terrifying, isn't it? So from now on, I'll make sure you only look at me… Haeun.'
By the time dinner ended and night had deepened, Haeun stood up to leave.
She opened the front door, paused at the threshold, then slowly turned her head.
Her back still facing me, she spoke in a softer, almost unguarded voice.
"…See you tomorrow, Lee Woojin."
It was nothing like her usual habit of ignoring me like an insect and disappearing into her own house.
"Yeah. Get some rest. Let's go together in the morning."
Haeun nodded quietly at my gentle reply, then slipped into the house next door as the door closed behind her.
I stared at the firmly shut door for a moment, then rubbed the back of my neck and shrugged.
'…How should I put it.'
Once the venomous outer shell had been peeled away, what remained was far more fragile and easy to handle than I had expected.
It almost felt like she had regressed a little to the elementary-school version of Baek Haeun who used to trail after me, blindly dependent.
"This is going to be fun to assemble exactly to my taste."
The quiet cheer echoed coldly through the now-silent entranceway.
****
"Ugh… heavy…"
Sunlight stabbed at my eyelids. A heavy weight pressed down on my chest, forcing my eyes open.
I frowned, thinking I had been pinned by sleep paralysis, only to find Lee Suah sprawled across my stomach like a frog.
"Oppa… wake up…"
"I'm tired, just let me sleep a little longer…"
"No! If you don't get up by the time I count to three, I'm kissing you. One, two…!"
"Shit, I'm up! I'm getting up!"
I shoved her forehead away in panic and sprang upright.
She was crazy enough to actually do it if she said she would.
Suah giggled and backed toward the door.
"I left sandwiches on the table, so just eat those and go! Also, Oppa, you've got five minutes before you're late!"
"…What?"
My eyes nearly popped out when I checked the clock on the wall.
I was screwed.
Staying up late last night fantasizing had been a mistake.
I scrambled into my uniform pants, buttoned my shirt haphazardly, and bolted into the living room.
Shoving a piece of bread into my mouth, I slung my bag over my shoulder and burst out the front door.
"Hey, I'm heading out first!"
Crash, bang.
I flew down the stairs and had just cleared the apartment lobby when a tiny, mosquito-like voice reached me through the cool morning air.
"Good morning… Woojin."
I slammed on the brakes, sandwich still in my mouth, and saw Baek Haeun leaning unsteadily against the flowerbed wall.
"Baek… Haeun? What are you doing here…"
When I stammered in surprise, she clutched the hem of her skirt and avoided my eyes.
Normally she would have smacked my back for being late and marched ahead in irritation.
But the girl standing before me now looked like a stray cat that had been rained on for days—completely shrunk in on herself.
"No… I mean, you. Yesterday…"
Haeun's blue-tinged lips trembled as she forced the words out in a small voice.
"You said… we'd go together in the morning…"
Her self-esteem had hit rock bottom. She was terrified I might change my mind and abandon her.
At that moment, the sandwich in my mouth tasted sweeter than any cream cake in the world.
"Ah… yeah. I did say that."
I swallowed the bread and answered in the gentlest, warmest voice I could manage.
"Want to… go together?"
We walked side by side on the way to school.
The physical distance between us was much closer than usual.
Yet Haeun couldn't walk right next to me. She followed half a step behind, as if she were my shadow.
"By the way, Haeun."
"Hm…?"
"If we go to school together like this, won't the kids in class look at us weird? You're running for student council president too. If weird rumors start…"
I asked as if casually testing her. Haeun's steps faltered for a moment.
Just two days ago she had told me she didn't need my help and to stay out of her way.
She had been terrified my worthless assistance would damage her perfect reputation.
Now, however, she bit her pale lips and answered in a tiny but determined voice.
"…I don't care."
Exactly the answer I had wanted.
It meant she no longer cared how her reputation fared or how the other students saw her.
All that mattered was holding on to the single lifeline I had offered her.
I glanced down at the top of her bowed head and smiled silently.
'That's right, Haeun. That's all you need. Because the outside world is cold and scary.'
***
The moment we entered the classroom through the front and back doors, curious stares turned our way.
"Ah, Woojin~!"
Just as I was about to set my bag down, a bright voice full of nasal charm blocked my path.
It was Kim Doeun, known in our class for being pretty and having plenty of aegyo.
"Woojin, you're early today. I have a math problem I don't understand… Could you explain it to me?"
Doeun leaned naturally against my desk, pressing her arm lightly against my shoulder.
The smile in her eyes was quite forward.
Thanks to the protection of Kang Minjae's popular group over the past few days, my position in the classroom had changed dramatically.
The invisible extra had suddenly become someone the girls whispered about as "actually pretty good-looking," "loyal and kind," and "doesn't have a girlfriend."
"Uh… math class isn't until tomorrow, right?"
When I took a deliberate step back, pretending to be flustered, Doeun ignored it and linked her arm with mine, pouting.
"I want to get ahead on studying~ Can't you?"
At that exact moment, Haeun's footsteps behind me stopped.
Her face turned pale, and she abruptly looked away.
The only savior and safe haven she had been granted.
The instinctive fear that some other girl might steal that place.
Haeun fled to her seat like a stray cat driven from its territory.
'Good. You're finally starting to make that kind of face.'
Seeing the jealousy and self-loathing clouding Haeun's pale profile, I decided to make full use of this sly fox's flirting.
"Ah, well… How about after school?"
"After class? Really? You'd really do that?!"
When I offered with a gentle smile, Doeun jumped with joy.
"Yes! Thank you so much, Woojin! See you later!"
Doeun hummed as she returned to her seat.
I rested my chin on my desk and watched Haeun's back, shoulders hunched, and smiled silently.
***
Time passed. Lunchtime arrived.
Haeun stood up to head to the cafeteria and hesitated, about to approach me.
Just as her lips began to part while gauging my reaction—
"Hey, Lee Woojin! Let's go eat!"
Kang Minjae and a group of large guys swarmed in, slapping my shoulder.
Blocked by the sudden crowd of boys, Haeun lowered her outstretched hand and froze in place.
"Yo, Doeun was straight-up hitting on you this morning, wasn't she? You sly bastard, you're actually pretty smooth."
"Lee Woojin, you don't look it, but you got game?"
The boys' teasing laughter filled the classroom.
Haeun heard every word. She could only hover around us with her head bowed like a criminal.
She no longer had the courage to push through the group and ask me to eat with her.
"It's nothing… We just agreed I'd help her with some questions as friends."
I answered the boys' jokes with an easygoing smile.
"Aww, come on! Stop acting innocent. If it actually works out, buy us something big at the store, got it?!"
Laughing and chatting with the group as we walked down the hallway, I glanced back at Haeun, left standing alone.
Watching her pitiful figure, a cold, ruthless monologue ran through my mind.
'Whether Kim Doeun likes me or not, honestly, I don't care.'
My only goal was to create the perfect childhood friend who couldn't even breathe without me.
Both the fox-like Kim Doeun and the loud Kang Minjae were nothing more than useful gears to shatter Baek Haeun's mind.
I burst into cheerful laughter and headed to the cafeteria with them.