The Burner Account Girl (6)
"You crazy son of a bitch."
It wasn't Kang Cheol-jin who said it.
That didn't mean Park Min-cheol had said it either.
Jjaaak— a sharp, fleshy sound rang out in the wake of the curse.
"Ack!"
Park Min-cheol, smacked across the back, screamed and leapt into the air. Behind him stood An Seo-ra with axe-blade eyes.
An Seo-ra shoved the flailing Park Min-cheol's shoulder. It looked like she'd shoved him in anger, but if you looked closely, you could tell it was a gesture meant to push the two—Kang Cheol-jin and Park Min-cheol—farther apart as they faced off.
An Seo-ra stepped in front of Kang Cheol-jin, blocking his path, and scolded Park Min-cheol.
"Are you a fucking psycho or what? Just because you're drunk doesn't mean you can run your mouth."
"No, I seriously was just joking...."
"As long as it's funny to you, it's all a joke? Huh? You gonna bow your head or not?"
An Seo-ra was a fourth-year in the Sports Science department. The department couldn't compare to the hardcore world of professional athletics, legendary for its brutal senior-junior hierarchy, but Sports Science was still firmly part of the athletics world.
This was An Seo-ra, who'd been grinding in that kind of department for four years. When her face twisted into a scowl and she snapped at him, the effect was genuinely intimidating. What's more, Park Min-cheol was a third-year in the same department—her junior by one year.
Park Min-cheol flinched at the verbal onslaught and looked at Kang Cheol-jin. Then he lowered his head slightly and apologized.
"S-sorry. I, I didn't mean any harm. I'm sorry, for real."
Embarrassment and bewilderment surfaced on his face. But he didn't hesitate when it came to apologizing.
An Seo-ra turned to Kang Cheol-jin, who was still frozen stiff, and said,
"Cheol-jin, calm down. That bastard's just got no sense—he's not complete trash...."
"......."
"You're really pissed, huh?"
An Seo-ra looked at him with a troubled expression. She could feel the anger emanating from his rigid face.
But contrary to what it looked like on the surface, Kang Cheol-jin wasn't angry at all. He'd just gone rigid from sheer surprise.
'Holy shit, what's with this atmosphere. All I did was glare at him.'
Glaring at Park Min-cheol was the best he could do. From the very start, he hadn't even thought about fighting. And afterward, he'd frozen up because An Seo-ra was yelling so terrifyingly.
Kang Cheol-jin did his best to avoid any verbal slips in the chaotic situation. As calmly as he could manage, he nodded and opened his mouth.
"I-it's okay. I was just about to say it was a misunderstanding."
His startled, subdued voice came out shaking.
But some of the club members who heard Kang Cheol-jin's words flinched in surprise and began to murmur.
"Look at how his voice is shaking."
"Looks like he's seriously pissed."
"He's got every right to be. It was sexual harassment."
Whatever Kang Cheol-jin's actual inner feelings were, his low-pitched voice, quivering and subdued, sounded to everyone else like he was barely holding back boiling rage.
Kang Cheol-jin forced a weak smile and said, before the situation could get any worse,
"Park Min-cheol sunbae, Areum and I aren't dating. We're just close friends."
"Uh, uhh... b-but still, I'm sorry."
Kang Cheol-jin nodded appropriately and returned to the table. The situation had escalated far more than he'd anticipated, and any desire he had to say more vanished.
He slipped back to the table where his non-ghost-member friends were. Kim Seong-ju and Ahn Seong-hyeon, who'd been sitting apart from the others, greeted him.
"Well done. Kkang-cheol's got some guts."
Kim Seong-ju raised a thumb.
"You okay? If that sunbae gives you shit later, tell me."
Ahn Seong-hyeon wiped off his usual goofy expression and scowled. The muscles under his tight t-shirt writhed.
Kang Cheol-jin let out a hollow laugh.
"If I tell you, what are you gonna do about it, you crazy bastard?"
"Just... you know."
Ahn Seong-hyeon glanced over at Park Min-cheol.
Horrified, Kang Cheol-jin hurriedly ducked his head.
"If a guy your size looks at someone like that, it's practically a challenge to a fight, you know? It's fucking threatening."
"......?"
Ahn Seong-hyeon stared at Kang Cheol-jin like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. The look on his face said, You're one to talk? But Kang Cheol-jin didn't pick up on that underlying meaning at all.
Kang Cheol-jin had no earthly idea that the same went for himself.
*
"Whew."
Just a few minutes after returning to the dinner gathering, I walked back outside. I felt too self-conscious to just sit there, given that the mood had completely soured because of me.
'I'm a total troublemaker today.'
I'd snapped and blown up just because someone said they didn't like my favorite anime.
I'd butted in and made a scene about sending Areum home.
I'd even created a vibe that was practically a showdown with some fourth-year sunbae.
It was one of those days where absolutely nothing went right. At this rate, wouldn't I be pegged as the weirdo right from the moment I joined the club? I'd kept my normal-person front going so well until now, and it felt like I'd thrown it all away in a single day.
As I stood there, wilting in front of the restaurant, blankly staring up at the night sky, a voice reached me.
"Oh, Cheol-jin, what are you doing out here?"
"Mina nuna?"
"I thought you'd gone to the bathroom."
"Ah, that's... things got weird because of me, right? So, you know...."
"Ahaha. You felt awkward and came out, huh?"
"Yeah, basically."
When I gave an awkward smile, Mina nuna burst into giggles. She was a nuna with an extremely low threshold for laughter.
"If you've got nothing to do, keep me company. Oh, do you smoke?"
"No. I don't smoke."
At the same moment I answered, I raised a hand and wrapped it around my throat. It was a self-defensive gesture I made unconsciously at the word 'cigarette.' Because of my trauma, there's probably no chance I'll ever smoke in my life.
Mina nuna waggled a single cigarette and said,
"Is it okay if I do? There's a smoking area behind the building."
Did that mean she wanted me to follow?
"...Sure, I guess."
After hesitating for a moment, I nodded. I'd been stacking up unlikable points all day, so refusing felt a little off.
'The smell alone is fine by now.'
It must have been because enough time had passed. In the old days, just the smell had made me throw up.
'Father quit smoking because of me. Now that I think about it, wasn't that some pretty good filial piety?'
Or maybe not.
Around the time the smoking booth came into view.
"Oh, Saebyeok came out here first, huh?"
Mina nuna raised her hand in greeting. Han Saebyeok, who had just come out of the smoking booth, was walking our way.
"Saebyeok-ah, one more?"
"...I'm all out. I'll head back first."
"Uh, yeah. Sure."
Mina nuna nodded with an awkward look.
'Was it because of me?'
For a split second, it felt like Han Saebyeok's gaze had landed on me. If she'd actually avoided smoking more and dodged the spot because I was there, that would sting a bit.
Just then, Mina nuna spoke.
"Saebyeok's a little cold, isn't she?"
"Huh?"
Was it that obvious?
I was a bit flustered, but Mina nuna smiled and continued.
"She's just blunt—she's a good kid deep down. Or it might be because she has a hard time with guys."
"She has a hard time with guys?"
Considering that, she'd been yelling and fighting with two guys the other day. Though she'd done it protecting Areum, so it was a good thing.
"She went to all-girls middle and high school, and she's never had a boyfriend."
"Ahh......."
"You get it right away, right? People who've never dated always have a hard time dealing with the opposite sex."
"Mm. True."
If that was the case, it definitely made sense. Maybe naturally interacting in daily life was even harder for her than fighting?
"But nuna, you said you just had your name on the club roster, so how do you know the members so well?"
"Hm? Ah, actually, I was active in the club last year."
Sssss. Mina nuna took a drag of her cigarette and blew the smoke out the other side as she continued.
"I had to leave because of some stuff, but Bam-i asked me to at least keep my name listed, so...."
"By 'stuff'... you mean that incident?"
"Oh? You know about it."
"I heard about it roughly from Bam Nuna. She told me it was the reason dating in the club is banned."
"Dating banned? Ahaha. Well, with good reason."
Mina nuna, who had burst into a bout of laughter, alternated between taking puffs of her cigarette and exhaling smoke.
Then, out of nowhere, she looked at me with an odd expression.
"Cheol-jin, I've got something I'm curious about."
"Curious about?"
"Yeah. Is your nickname Kkang-cheol, by any chance? It seemed like the others were calling you that."
"It is. Areum calls me that a lot, so...."
"Hmm. I see. So is it Kkang-cheol because you're Kang Cheol-jin? Or is it Kkang-cheol because you like the Fullmetal Alchemist?"
"......?"
I felt a sudden wave of déjà vu. It was a question I'd heard somewhere before.
'That's what Bback-sa said.'
Could Mina nuna be Bback-sa?
"It's a nickname that came from my name. Today was the first time I mentioned I like Fullmetal."
"I see."
"Is that what you were curious about?"
"I've got a few more. There are a lot of things I'm curious about with you. Hoo."
The nuna blew out smoke, then stubbed out her cigarette, which was down to the filter. Then she stared at me fixedly and asked.
"By any chance, do you use Trickster?"
That question confirmed it. So Mina nuna was Bback-sa.
'Isn't she basically coming right out and revealing it? Why?'
The reason soon became clear.
I nodded.
"Wow, so it really was you. You're Trickster Kkang-cheol, right? I've actually sent you commission requests before."
"R-really?"
"Yup yup. You're really good at drawing. Ah, and there's one more thing I'm curious about."
"What is it?"
"You said you weren't thinking about dating."
"I-I did, yeah."
"So then, by any chance......."
The nuna tucked her hair behind her ear and went up on her tiptoes. Her body pressed close.
"N-nuna?"
I stood frozen still, and the nuna pressed down on my shoulder. As my posture lowered slightly, the nuna brought her hand close and whispered right into my ear.
"Are you not thinking about sex, either?"
After saying that and pulling away, a mischievous smile hung on Mina nuna's lips.