Refusing Rude Interest
Today was Tuesday.
For our class, Tuesday was the day we had a two-hour practical in either music or art, along with club activities, so compared to the other days of the week, it had less in the way of normal classes.
Maybe that was why it felt, for someone like me who didn’t really need to sit through regular lessons anymore, like half a holiday.
The art practicum was interesting enough that I never got bored, and club activities were basically no different from sitting in my seat and enjoying free time, so Tuesday was definitely easier on the nerves than the rest of the week.
The only thing that really bothered me was the social studies group project I’d started with Lee Narin yesterday...
The deadline was a week away anyway, and the other members didn’t look like they had any intention of finishing early, so I’d left it alone for the time being.
“Hi, Ian. Do you have a moment? I came to let you know about a concrete decision regarding what my parents called a little token of sincerity.”
But this morning, Han Sia came looking for me.
Last time, things had been a little less noticeable because the class was busy fighting with itself, but today the students seemed oddly relaxed just because it was Tuesday, and nobody was picking fights first, so...
almost every student in the room turned their eyes to follow Han Sia.
...
Still, I’d gotten used to other people staring at me by now.
Whether it was Han Sia or Yu Somi, those two drew attention everywhere they went, and since I’d been hanging around people like that nonstop, I’d naturally picked up the attitude of, Look if you want. See if I care.
“Yeah. I happened to catch a pretty lucrative opportunity last time, so I’m more than satisfied. What is it this time? Personally, I’d prefer cash.”
What Han Sia called a “token of sincerity” was the apology and compensation for the voyeur incident during summer break.
After all, the private security her parents had assigned to stop the peeper had ended up doing the peeping himself, and from the perspective of Han Sia’s upper-class parents, if that ever got out, it would be embarrassing... In practical terms, it was basically hush money.
Still, based on my experience, Han Sia’s family’s “token of sincerity” had a pretty good chance of being worth a lot, so I focused on her words with bright eyes full of anticipation.
But then... for some reason, she started awkwardly twisting her body, like some shy girl at the peak of embarrassment, and handed me a yellow envelope.
“It’s a little awkward to talk about here, but if you check what’s inside this envelope, you’ll understand. You have to look at it alone when nobody’s around~❤”
“....?”
If this had been one of those works from the neighboring country, the envelope would probably have contained an absurd line like, ‘The reward from our parents is me,❤’ along with a marriage registration form.
But there was no way something like that could happen in real life.
I didn’t understand why she was acting like this, but at least I could tell one thing for sure: she was acting.
After all, Han Sia wasn’t the type to hand over a letter while blushing like a shy schoolgirl; she was the kind of girl who, even when she seemed perfectly normal, could suddenly swoop in with those crazed eyes of hers.
Besides, the conversation we’d just had was, at its core, about the “token of sincerity” from Han Sia’s parents.
She’d made it look as though she was giving me some kind of love letter, but what was actually inside that envelope was undoubtedly related to the gift from her parents.
And the part about “it’s a little awkward to say here” or “you should look at it alone when nobody’s around” was probably just her way of saying not to show the contents to other people, because talking about money in front of everyone was considered bad form.
See? Han Sia handed me the envelope and looked like she was leaving the classroom, but now she was peeking in from the doorway, smiling brightly in my direction.
Her smile was undeniably beautiful—so beautiful it would be hard to compare it to anyone else in this country—but...
she only ever wore that expression when she was tormenting me.
Han Sia was probably hoping to watch me open the envelope in a flustered panic, only to be thrown off by contents that didn’t match my expectations.
....
Too bad, Sia.
Sure, I was an otaku, but I wasn’t stupid enough to confuse fiction with reality.
To make it clear that her little scheme wasn’t going to work, I shoved the envelope straight into my school bag and shot a mocking grin at Han Sia, who was still watching from outside the classroom door.
But... that was strange.
By now, if her plan had failed, Han Sia’s expression should have been twisted in annoyance, but instead she was still smiling at me as if she were delighted.
What? What was I missing?
“Hey, Jung Ian. What’d Han Sia just give you?”
“Crazy... Did you see Han Sia’s face just now? She looked completely smitten.”
While I was trying hard to figure out what I’d missed, the attention of the students around our class somehow shifted toward me.
What the hell. Weren’t you people the ones who had no interest in me? Han Sia’s already gone, so go back to whatever you were doing.
“Wait... did she give you a love letter or something?”
“Why would Han Sia confess to someone like this guy when she could do better?”
“No, damn it, then what the hell was that just now?”
“Pfft! He got confessed to by Han Sia last week and got rejected, so let’s cut him some slack. The guy’s probably sensitive.”
They were making my head spin, so I wished they’d take their chatter somewhere else.
...And now that I thought about it, was that bastard the one who’d confessed to Han Sia and gotten rejected?
Up until early last semester, he’d been running around with me, and then when the atmosphere started getting weird, he’d stabbed me in the back like a traitor, so I’d been holding a grudge.
But hearing that he’d been rejected after confessing made me feel strangely refreshed.
“Still, maybe it wasn’t a love letter, but there’s definitely something going on between those two, right? Han Sia comes to our class pretty often, and every time she does, she only talks to Jung Ian before leaving.”
“I heard somebody saw the two of them staying alone in an empty classroom after school!”
“Jung Ian, say something. What’s going on with you and Han Sia? Don’t tell me you’re really dating?”
“You’re talking nonsense! What’s so great about this punk that he’s better than me?”
In the end, the splash of that conversation landed on me too.
The students gathered around us all turned to look at me at once, and even Lee Narin and Song Changwon, who’d been watching from farther away, were now staring over here with interest.
...
But seriously. So what?
To tell the truth, Han Sia had confessed to me last summer break, but because of her family situation, we weren’t actually dating.
But that was a problem strictly between Han Sia and me. It wasn’t the kind of thing I needed to announce just because some classmate I wasn’t even close to was curious, was it?
I didn’t want to stir up trouble in class... but I also had no intention of blabbing about our situation, and even less intention of lying like I’d done something wrong.
Since this thing looked like it would keep following me until graduation anyway, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to make my position clear now, while I had the chance.
“Tch... if you’re so bored, stop sticking your noses into other people’s business and get lost, you bastards—”
“Why are you all acting like sticking your heads into somebody else’s private business is somehow your right? Judging by how you can’t tell the difference between where you should and shouldn’t interfere, I’m guessing your families didn’t raise you properly?”
“...”
But just as I was about to go another round with the class, Song Changwon snatched all the attention away from me.
Song Changwon already had a bad relationship with the boys in our class anyway, so Tuesday’s peace was shattered instantly.
Between Song Changwon, who’d started the fight, the boys who’d pushed back, and the girls who’d gathered from a distance to join the war of words, our class had become a mess in no time at all.
Then Song Changwon casually pointed his thumb toward where Han Sia was standing and said to me, “Ignore them. I was bored anyway, and messing with dog hair is more fun than I expected.”
Honestly, if it were now, I think I could buy him a convenience-store bun without blinking.
So while Song Changwon kept stirring up the class, maybe I should go have a talk with Han Sia.
.
.
.
“Sorry. I just wanted to see you blush and confess our relationship to everyone... but it seems you were taking my confession more seriously than I expected.”
As if we’d arranged it in advance, we wordlessly opened the dark, empty music room on the upper floor, went inside, and locked the door.
Then Han Sia bent her waist and apologized to me.
Well... it was a little irritating, but she was pretty, so I’d let it go.
The fact that she apologized right away made it seem like she hadn’t exactly meant any real harm, either.
...
Wait. She’d said she’d done it because she wanted to see me blush and confess our relationship, so maybe she had meant harm after all...?
Either way, setting aside who was right and who was wrong, I decided it would be better to find out a little more about what Han Sia was thinking.
“So what, you wanted me to reveal that you’d confessed to me? I only didn’t like the idea of other people tossing your confession around like gossip for fun. Did I overreact and take it too seriously...?”
To my careful question, she answered with a slightly dazed look in her eyes.
“No. Of course, when I planned this, I did expect you to say something, but now that you haven’t, I’m actually even more grateful. It feels like you’re cherishing my feelings so much...❤”
Uh... huh? Why did your eyes suddenly look like that?
What. Why are you coming closer?
.
.
.
Since I’d already come to the music room, I asked Han Sia to explain the reward her parents had prepared.
There had been too many people listening in our classroom for me to bring it up there, but here it was just the two of us.
“Still, if they settle this kind of issue with cash, it won’t look good, so this time it’s going to be paid out as a club activity support scholarship... Ssshh... Haa...❤ You remember my stepmother is a board member of the scholarship foundation, right?”
A club activity support scholarship, huh... I didn’t know how much money it would be, but depending on how it was paid, it might be difficult to slip it quietly into my back pocket.
Honestly, it seemed like the whole club would end up using it together. Maybe it’d be more profitable to bribe the librarian and ask to split it in half instead?
“Haa...❤ Haa...❤”
Ah, don’t mind that breathing.
Han Sia had gotten strangely worked up and was simply trying to calm herself down while hugging me from behind.
“Anyway, the club I’m in is the library club... which makes me wonder whether there’s even anything to spend money on. If it were the art club with Yu Somi, though, we could easily say, ‘We’ll buy digital practice tablets for everyone!’ and spend money like water.”
“Huu...❤”
“No, Sia. If you keep doing that, I won’t be able to get up from my seat... We still need to go back before class starts.”
But Han Sia only tightened her arms around me and whispered into my ear.
“I’m holding back so hard right now... should I stop holding back?”
“...No. I’d appreciate it if you kept holding back.”
“Heh... then stop whining and count the stains on the wall for a while.”
...In the end, I was a little late for class, but I didn’t get scolded.
---