That's Just His Expression
Something seemed to have gone wrong.
Why on earth was I running into Han Saebyeok here? And she was with the person who was supposed to be our blind date partner.
Han Saebyeok frowned and asked.
"Kang Cheol-jin, what are you doing here?"
"It's a department blind date."
When I answered with an awkward laugh, Han Saebyeok pressed her hand to her forehead and let out a heavy sigh. Even though I hadn't done anything wrong, I flinched and nervously watched her reaction.
'Whoa, scary. I just can't get used to that tattoo, man.'
There were multiple reasons why I found Han Saebyeok particularly intimidating.
Her cold demeanor, her rough-edged style of dress, her aggressive way of speaking, etc.
Honestly, at this point, those things weren't that big of an issue anymore. It had already been two months since I joined the club. I should have been used to it. Especially after our shopping trip two days ago—I thought that had broken down the wall between Han Saebyeok and me.
But the 'tattoo' on her neck and shoulder was something I just couldn't get used to no matter what.
Sure, tattoos are basically a kind of fashion item these days, but I still had a prejudice that they symbolized "delinquency." A major psychological factor in this was that the ringleaders who used to bully me in the past had tattoos.
"Saebyeok, I'm sorry...."
The woman with her apologized, watching Han Saebyeok's reaction. Han Saebyeok's sigh deepened.
"Why don't we go upstairs? Instead of doing this here."
Seongju hyung stepped in and spoke carefully. We couldn't just keep arguing out on the street where people were passing by.
Han Saebyeok glanced around, wrinkled her nose, and nodded. We'd been clustered in front of the bar, raising our voices, and people were gradually starting to pay attention to the commotion we were making.
At Han Saebyeok's nod, the woman who'd been on the verge of tears brightened up and clung to her arm.
"Thank you!"
"...You and I are going to talk later."
"S-sorry."
Apologizing, then thanking, then apologizing again... a woman whose expressions were all over the place. Now that I looked closely at her, this was the one Seong-hyeon had said he was interested in.
Anyway, we went up to the bar.
"Reservation under Kim Seongju."
"Yes, one moment. You can go to Room 9."
Since this was a gathering for a blind date, we'd booked a bar with private rooms so everyone could chat comfortably.
We split into guys and girls and sat facing each other. As it happened, the person sitting across from me was Han Saebyeok.
It was extremely awkward, but honestly, I'd expected this arrangement the moment we walked into the bar.
Out of the six people gathered here, two were the organizers. They were Seongju hyung and a woman named Park Jeong-ah.
The two of them had known each other for a while, and they weren't here to participate in the blind date themselves but to help facilitate the conversation naturally.
And the main objective for us guys was to get Ahn Seong-hyeon a girlfriend. In that situation, there was no way they were going to sit Seong-hyeon in front of Han Saebyeok. Naturally, I ended up paired with Han Saebyeok.
'I'll just play along for a bit and slip out midway.'
I was mulling that over even before the food had arrived.
"I'm going to the bathroom for a sec. Su-jin, come with me."
"Huh? I'm fine though......."
"Come on."
"Uh, uhh."
The woman called Su-jin was practically dragged along as she followed Han Saebyeok. She was the one Ahn Seong-hyeon had his eye on.
The only one left behind, Park Jeong-ah, looked at us with an awkward smile and said.
"Sorry. The friend who was originally supposed to come had something come up suddenly and couldn't make it. She said her grandmother fell down the stairs......."
"Oh dear, is her grandmother okay?"
"It wasn't a bad fall, but she is old, so it must have been a shock. They went to the hospital together just in case."
"Hope she's alright."
"Yeah. Anyway, we had an empty spot so we urgently found a fill-in... but I guess I didn't explain things properly. I'm sorry the mood got like this because of us."
That was just as I'd suspected. Since the person changed last minute, it had to be a last-minute fill-in.
The problem was that the fill-in was Han Saebyeok.
We guys glanced at each other and chuckled wryly. At that, Park Jeong-ah's expression grew even more apologetic... but there was a misunderstanding. We weren't angry.
"Wow, of all people, Saebyeok ends up here."
"Right? World's seriously small."
"That scared the hell out of me."
When we each chimed in, Park Jeong-ah's eyes grew wide.
"Huh? Seongju, you know Saebyeok?"
"Yeah, she's in the same club as us."
"Ah, now that you mention it, you do go to the same school. But I didn't know you were in the same club, too."
"We had no idea Saebyeok would show up either."
The women other than Han Saebyeok went to a different university from us. That was why we'd never even imagined Han Saebyeok would be at this gathering.
People say that in Korea, everyone knows each other within a few degrees of separation—I guess that really was true.
Park Jeong-ah clapped her hands and smiled brightly.
"If you're in the same club, you must be close? That's great. No wonder Saebyeok didn't leave and came inside."
"Uh, well......."
Seongju hyung trailing off and Ahn Seong-hyeon laughing awkwardly. I was doing the same, just chuckling "heh heh," and Park Jeong-ah caught the vibe and clicked her tongue softly.
"A-are you not that close? Saebyeok's really shy around strangers, so......."
"Mm. Well, we, you know, exchange greetings."
"She doesn't even return my greetings... isn't Cheol-jin the closest to her, at least?"
"Huh? Me?"
Why was the attention suddenly on me? I flinched in surprise, but Seongju hyung nodded as if he agreed.
"Come to think of it, she does talk to Cheol-jin the most. She even jokes around with him sometimes, doesn't she?"
"Jokes?"
"You know, calling you a thug and stuff, trash—they've got that banter going."
...That's considered banter? Wasn't I just getting insulted?
'Well, I guess if you call that banter, then maybe it is.'
It's not like she was spewing profanity at me. And I didn't think she really meant it. Still, that was entirely because Areum was wedged in between us.
"When Areum isn't there, I don't really......."
I reflexively started to deny it, then suddenly remembered us hanging out together two days ago and changed my words.
"Mm. Well, we do exchange a few simple words, I guess."
"See? That sunbae doesn't even say simple words to us. She's super prickly. Always looks pissed off."
Seizing the moment, Ahn Seong-hyeon started driving the point home. I glared at him, thinking, you little shit? But I saw desperate eyes looking back. His hands were clasped together under the table, pleading desperately.
'Please help me out. You handle her. I want a girlfriend!'
What the hell, how could thoughts be conveyed just through someone's eyes? This bastard had a real talent for speaking with his facial expressions.
I showed him a clenched fist under the table, then let out a quiet sigh. I did come to help this guy get a girlfriend in the first place, so I ought to help him.
But talking about someone who wasn't there like this felt like talking behind their back, so I adjusted my words a little.
"Saebyeok sunbae is......."
*
Han Saebyeok folded her arms and stared quietly at Kim Su-jin. At that, Kim Su-jin flinched, shrank back, and apologized.
"Saebyeok, I'm sorry."
Han Saebyeok was just looking at her, but her characteristically sharp, feline eyes came off as rather menacing.
"I should've explained properly......."
"Yeah. You should've. You knew that, but you thought I'd say no, so you just called me out, saying 'let's hang out.'"
"......."
Kim Su-jin had nothing to say, even if she had ten mouths. She hadn't lied, but she'd deliberately omitted the details, so in the end she'd deceived her.
Deep down, Han Saebyeok was soft-hearted, so Kim Su-jin had optimistically thought she could gloss over it if she explained later.
But she hadn't known Han Saebyeok would hate it this much.
On Kim Su-jin's part, she'd secretly wanted to introduce Han Saebyeok to this kind of gathering. She hadn't called her out just to fill a spot.
"...Sorry. It's just, you're shy around strangers... and you don't have any close guy friends. So I thought it'd be good for you to come to something like this at least once......."
She was a friend who'd gone to the same high school as Han Saebyeok. Precisely because they were that close, she'd been even more meddlesome. She figured the only reason someone as visibly beautiful as Han Saebyeok didn't have a boyfriend was purely because she was shy around strangers.
Han Saebyeok let out a deep sigh. She knew this scatterbrained friend meant no malice, so she couldn't exactly blow up in anger.
"I get where you're coming from. But I'm not interested in dating right now."
"Okay."
"I'll stay for the first round. But I can't stay long. I've got stuff to do for Bam."
"Ah, got it. I'm really sorry."
The repeated apologies made Han Saebyeok feel uncomfortable. Contrary to her outward appearance, she was quite soft-hearted. In the end, though she hadn't done anything wrong, she fumbled with her lips and apologized in return.
"...I'm sorry, too. I think I was too harsh earlier."
"Hehe. It was my fault anyway. So that means you forgive me, right? Yeah?"
"Yeah. Anyway, don't do it again. If you trick me like this again, I'll really be mad."
"Ah, okay. I won't, so don't be mad. You're seriously scary when you're angry......."
"A bitch like you is saying that?"
Han Saebyeok shot her a glare with her rough way of speaking, but Kim Su-jin just giggled. Having been friends with her for years, she already knew Han Saebyeok's anger had completely dissipated.
"Let's hurry up. The others will be waiting!"
"If you say so......."
Han Saebyeok shook her head and walked back toward the room. Their strides didn't match, so before she knew it, she was leading the way. That's how she arrived at the door.
"See? That sunbae doesn't even say simple words to us. She's super prickly. Always looks pissed off."
A familiar voice came through.
'His name was Ahn Seong-hyeon, right. Sounds like they're talking about me.......'
You could consider it close to talking behind her back, but she wasn't particularly angry. She herself thought her attitude wasn't very good. If anything, they were probably just speaking cautiously.
Even Han Saebyeok knew there was a problem with her attitude. She was consciously making an effort to be gentle with other women, but it didn't work well with men. Unconsciously, she'd tense her eyes and end up speaking in an aggressive tone.
So hearing things like this was inevitable. If she started off with an aggressive attitude, how could anyone respond well?
But even knowing the reason, hearing this kind of assessment made her heart feel heavy—she couldn't help that. Especially because she knew her own issues.
'I'll open the door a little later.'
If she opened the door now, the mood would get incredibly awkward. She was waiting for the right moment with that thought. That was when it happened.
Right after Ahn Seong-hyeon finished speaking, Kang Cheol-jin's voice came through.
"Saebyeok sunbae isn't... always pissed off. Her face just looks like that."
Han Saebyeok's hand, gripping the door handle, flinched and trembled slightly. Without realizing it, she leaned her ear closer to the door.
"It's just her expression. She might seem prickly, but she actually takes good care of the people around her."
'They're really going on about my face.'
Han Saebyeok's ears perked up, straining to hear what was being said inside. Before she knew it, her body was tilted slightly toward the door.
Just then, Kim Su-jin poked her in the back from behind.
"Saebyeok, why aren't you going in?"
"Shut up for a sec."
"Uh, okay."
Kim Su-jin sullenly shut her mouth.