Hard to Handle

Behind the Main Building, where people rarely passed, two figures stood facing each other halfway up a staircase students almost never used.

One was Han Saehee, long brown hair spilling down her back. The other was Jung Yuri.

Yuri was busy wiping away tears that refused to stop, and Saehee watched her with a blank, unreadable face.

"Of all people... how could you do that to me?"

"Hic... I-I'm sorry. Saehee..."

Yuri had already exhausted every excuse she had left to give. Every feeling she had kept bottled up inside, too.

Jealousy. Inferiority.

She had even admitted that, in the end, she had envied Han Saehee — and that envy had driven her to do something she could never take back.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, Saehee. I was wrong. I was so wrong. I won't do it again. Okay? I mean it. I'll never do something like this again..."

In the end, it was the same speech on a loop.

Saehee knew perfectly well that clinging to this was foolish. And yet the very fact that she was still hesitating laid bare exactly what she was thinking.

Watching Jung Yuri sob like that, a treacherous little hope kept poking its head out. Maybe she really is sorry. Saehee couldn't even deny that she wanted to believe it.

Then Yuri spoke again.

"If even you turn your back on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me... what am I supposed to do then? You know, don't you? If you don't forgive me, what's going to happen to me from now on..."

Her voice trembled, more pitiful than ever.

"Everyone's already saying things about me, badmouthing me behind my back... Earlier, when I walked down the hall, they all just stared at me. If you turn away too... I really won't be able to come to school."

Old memories flickered past all at once.

Han Saehee swept her long hair roughly back.

"Haa... fine."

"...Huh?"

"I said fine. I'll let it go this once. So... don't ever do something like this again."

Yuri's eyes went wide.

"Saehee...!"

"And for a while, give me some space, too."

"Yeah, yeah...! Of course. I'll wait as long as you need. Thank you so much, Saehee. I really won't do it again. I promise. I really... I really regret it."

"..."

Saehee's lips parted as if she no longer knew what else there was to say, and in the end she simply turned away.

Her footsteps grew distant, and then she was gone from sight entirely.

Jung Yuri's tears stopped cold.

"...Ha."

For a while she stared in the direction Saehee had vanished, then scrubbed roughly at the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand. Her eyelids were swollen and stinging, but she paid them no mind. If anything, she rubbed at them again and again as if the whole thing irritated her, then glared down the path Saehee had taken.

Whatever thought crossed her mind, the corner of her mouth twisted.

"Kim Namgyu... that was his name, right?"

Han Saehee was popular enough, and there were so many posts about her, that I could piece together exactly what had happened as vividly as if I'd watched it with my own eyes.

...I hadn't actually been hurt yet.

And I wasn't going to be, either.

Still, it was a little novel, having the gallery worry about me for once. I hoped they'd hang on to that concern and write up, in full detail, every single thing Jung Yuri tried to pull. If I knew about it ahead of time, avoiding it would be easy.

If I'd grown up around here and thought some influential upperclassman had it out for me, I might have been scared. But I was an outsider who had only just transferred, so even that threat didn't land. And whether Senior Han Saehee chose to let it slide didn't seem to have much to do with me. In truth, I'd mostly encountered her through gallery posts; the conversations we'd actually exchanged amounted to a handful of words.

Anyway, it was becoming more and more real — how absurd a power it was, knowing things other people didn't, and being able to look in on conversations meant only for the people involved.

"No, that's not what I meant..."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I'm not—"

"Quit stammering. So what exactly are you saying Nahyeon did? You were running your mouth like she goes around giving people ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an opening, so go on — try saying it again in front of us."

Right beside me, my deskmate had been gossiping about Baek Nahyeon, gotten caught red-handed, and was now floundering while a few girls closed in around him. With their eyes that sharp, what was he even going to say? He'd brought it on himself by talking too loud, so I didn't feel a shred of sympathy. I turned my head and pretended I had no idea what was going on.

Maybe that didn't sit well with them.

A voice came from beside me.

"Namgyu."

It was one of the girls who had been laying into my deskmate.

"Why are you acting like you don't know? You heard every word from right next to him."

"Because all I did was hear it? I didn't say anything."

"Aha..."

She seemed to accept that, and nodded.

"Fair enough. Sorry."

"Yeah."

Thankfully, I didn't get dragged in for something I hadn't done.

Somehow or other, I ended up eating lunch with Ahn Jeonghun.

I'd run into him on the way to the cafeteria, and when he asked first if we should eat together, I had no reason to refuse. He'd looked after me in all sorts of ways from my very first day as a transfer, and of everyone I'd met so far, Jeonghun was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the easiest to be around. We carried our trays over and sat down across from each other at a decent spot.

"You've adjusted faster than I expected, though. You've already made friends all over the place?"

"Huh? Ah... have I?"

I tilted my head. Honestly, if you asked whether there was anyone I could confidently call a friend, the answer was murky at best. If anyone was comfortable to be around, it was Jeonghun.

"Think back to when you were sitting by yourself because nobody told you about the club stuff. What shocked me most was that day ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— you were curious about Senior Han Saehee, and then out of nowhere she came over to say hi to you in the Auditorium."

So Jeonghun had been there too.

"Did I tell you about picking up something she dropped?"

"No. Still, it's uncanny, you know? Like I can't get a read on you."

As he said it, he suddenly stared straight at me.

"So, speaking of which — do you actually like Baek Nahyeon?"

"Koff—"

I nearly spat out the rice I was eating.

"You too with that? Obviously not."

"...Really?"

The way he asked it back was thoroughly unconvinced. It was obvious he didn't believe me, but Jeonghun didn't press. He hesitated, poking at grains of rice with his chopsticks.

"Got something to say?"

"...Nah. Nothing."

Jeonghun looked awkward for a moment, then spoke.

"Truth is, there's a girl I like, too."

"...Don't tell me that's Baek Nahyeon."

"As if. I'm not that underhanded."

"I mean, it doesn't even have to be underhanded..."

"She's in another class. Someone I've known since middle school... and we still go to the same cram school."

"Oh... have you confessed?"

At my question, Jeonghun looked incredulous.

"...Seeing you like this, you really don't like Baek Nahyeon. You have no idea what a one-sided crush feels like."

"..."

"Well, it's true I don't have the guts, so I haven't confessed yet. Instead... I'm thinking of asking if she wants to meet up this weekend."

"Just the two of you?"

Jeonghun shook his head.

"Normally the only time I see her is at cram school, so if I suddenly asked to meet alone, it'd be too... you know, kind of a lot?"

"Yeah."

"So I was thinking I'd just suggest we all hang out with some friends..."

...Aha.

Only then did I catch why he'd suddenly brought up his crush. He wanted me to help. Well, that much wasn't difficult. He'd helped me from day one — I could do at least this much for a friend.

"I'll help."

"..."

"You want me to come along, right? It's fine. I don't have anything going on this weekend."

I thought I'd agreed readily enough, but his reaction was strange. Jeonghun scratched the back of his head with a troubled look.

"I appreciate it, but... there's something that bothers me."

"What?"

"She's going to bring a friend too, isn't she."

"Yeah."

"I have a pretty good idea who she'll bring. A face I've known since middle school."

He frowned slightly, as if something had just come back to him.

"Honestly... I feel bad saying this, but she's someone who's hard to handle."

"...How hard?"

Jeonghun's eyes rolled as if he were searching for the right words.

...Just how hard to handle was she?

"Mm. It's difficult to explain. Have you ever heard of Joo Yerin?"

I shouldn't have recognized the name at all, but the moment I heard it, it felt familiar. In cases like this, I'd usually seen it on the gallery. Now that I thought about it, Joo Yerin... a name that came up fairly often.

And the gallery users who liked Joo Yerin... hadn't they called them the Menhera Faction?