Everyone, Hypnosis Is This Scary
Let me say it again: Younghee is a pretty girl. That's an undeniable fact. A hundred out of a hundred people would agree.
But "beauty" means different things to different people. If someone else saw Younghee right now...
They'd definitely think she was different from her usual self.
...
"Yujin, try this one too. Ahh~"
Younghee held out a piece of fruit in her hand. Her cheeks flushed a shy red. Her eyes gazed at Yujin with a heartbreaking tenderness.
"How is it? Delicious, right? I hope it suits your taste..."
It was an adorable expression. The face of a girl who couldn't contain her bursting feelings.
"Hehe! Doesn't this make us feel just like newlyweds?"
That same lovely face. But her eyes were completely dead.
There was nothing sweet about it. That gaze wrapped around its target, sticky and unrelenting.
But that target wasn't Yujin.
Kim Cheolsu, sitting right in front of her, watched it all in silence.
No anger, no sadness. He just stared.
And that was exactly what Younghee was aiming for.
Her actions and words were meant to hurt Cheolsu.
That was the conclusion she'd reached in her broken mind, trapped by the suggestion.
"Oh, Yujin. You've got something on your cheek."
"Huh?"
"Hold on. Let me wipe it off for you."
Younghee leaned toward Yujin's face.
But it wasn't her hand that moved.
Lick.
She stuck out her pink tongue and lovingly licked his cheek.
Even Yujin couldn't help but be startled by the gesture.
"Younghee, that was..."
"Ah, sorry! I got too carried away, didn't I?"
Younghee covered her mouth as if shocked by her own actions. It was such obvious acting that even a child could see through it.
As proof, she flashed a bright smile like nothing had happened.
"But... we'll be kissing someday anyway, right? This much should be fine."
Younghee fidgeted with her fingers bashfully. Her cheeks slightly pink, she spoke with the careful expression of a girl in love.
"And... if you want, Yujin, I could wake you up with a morning kiss every day."
Snap!
The chopsticks in Cheolsu's hand broke.
They crumbled into wooden splinters onto the floor.
Cheolsu ignored them, his eyes fixed only on Younghee.
As if she'd been waiting, Younghee turned to him with a smug, infuriating smile.
"My, why are you staring like that?"
Her eyes looked at him like he was a bug.
A gaze that saw the other as trash, beneath contempt. The arrogant smile unique to someone dealing with something insignificant.
Her eyes, filled with malice and mockery, targeted Cheolsu openly.
"What? Can't you just get close to the class president? You don't care about someone like me anymore anyway."
It was blatantly forced. After all, she was the one who'd first pretended to be Yujin's girlfriend.
But that didn't matter. Cheolsu already felt guilty about it, and the hypnotized Younghee was fully intent on exploiting that.
Right now, she didn't care about anything as long as it hurt him.
That was the nature of the hypnosis on her.
"Hmph~ I thought your feelings for me would never change. Guess I was wrong."
Younghee carved into him like a dagger.
Hoping even a little would stab into his heart.
Hoping it would tear his feelings apart.
"I get it, though. With a girl like the class president around, it's no wonder your heart wandered. To you, I was never more than that anyway."
She didn't know why she was doing this. She couldn't understand why she felt compelled to.
Normal her would never do something like this, not even on her deathbed.
Her mind was too shattered to even question it.
"Why don't you say something? Or is it all true, so you have nothing to say?"
"..."
"Ah~ I see. I'm not even worth an excuse anymore. You think a bitch like me is just some trash you scraped off the bottom of your shoe?"
Cheolsu's face twisted in pain.
"No conscience at all. Who do you think I ended up like this because of?"
Cheolsu finally stood up.
He left his half-eaten bowl behind.
As Yujin unconsciously started to rise too—
Squeeze.
Younghee clung tightly to his arm.
As if she were the one who'd been hurt.
Stuck in the middle, Yujin awkwardly slurped his spoon.
...Are these two fighting over love or something?
Such a ridiculous thought crossed his mind.
...
The class president's magic shot struck the rabbit.
She trudged over and picked up the fallen creature.
"Today's food secured."
There wasn't a hint of accomplishment in her voice.
How could there be, with her friends acting like that?
She'd even used hunting and a walk as excuses to escape the suffocating atmosphere.
Haa... Why is Younghee acting like that?
Younghee had been off since they arrived on the island.
At first, she'd brushed it off. After all, wasn't it just acting to impress Yujin?
But now, it was clearly crossing lines. No matter how you looked at it, she was maliciously attacking Cheolsu.
Hmm. Was it such a shock that Cheolsu protected me?
From a girlfriend's perspective, yeah, it made sense. Her boyfriend had protected another girl first.
Even she had felt a twinge of jealousy when Yujin protected Younghee...
No! No! Don't let yourself think that way!
It had been an unavoidable situation. Cheolsu had judged in that instant that he needed to protect her.
And his decision hadn't been wrong given the circumstances.
But just because it wasn't wrong didn't mean it led to the right outcome.
That was all.
She knew that logically...
But human hearts don't sever and reconnect so easily.
...I'm in no position to call Younghee strange.
Was her own heart this narrow? No, whenever it involved Yujin, she turned into this.
Even on this island, she'd only focused on him. She'd meant to show off her skills to catch his eye at first.
How did it end up like this?
"Yujin..."
"You called?"
The class president jumped in surprise at her spot.
For a moment. Then she hurriedly smoothed her messy hair and hid the dripping rabbit carcass in her hand.
Ahem! Ahem!
She turned around with the prettiest smile she could muster in that state.
"Oh, Yujin. What brings you all the way here?"
Was he worried about her and followed? That would make her a little happy. No, honestly, really happy.
"Just. Thought I'd take a walk. Younghee said she'd clean up and kinda shoved me out."
But Yujin didn't give the answer she hoped for.
Of course, given the situation, that was the natural response.
Hiding her slight disappointment, the class president asked,
"How's Younghee?"
"Same as before."
The class president nodded silently.
So, still a problem.
Maybe she should be glad the survival test was ending soon. With some rest for body and mind, things might improve.
Oh, come to think of it, this is the first time we've been alone since arriving on the island, right?
Say what you will, the four of them had stuck together the whole time. Washing, sleeping, eating.
She hadn't approached Yujin because of her friends. She wasn't shameless enough to act close to him in front of Cheolsu.
Ah, suddenly I'm nervous?
Realizing they were alone, her heart started pounding.
Thinking back, she hadn't spent a single day with him since fully realizing her feelings.
Her face heated up for no reason.
Ah, anyway, I need to say something!
The class president desperately scrambled for a topic.
But even her top-of-the-class brain wasn't much help here.
The best she came up with was this.
"Um, Yujin, what do you think of Younghee?"
The class president wanted to bang her head. Why bring up Younghee here?
Sure, given the situation, it made sense. But still, what do you think of her?
She regretted asking immediately.
"She's a good girl."
Yujin answered without hesitation.
Hearing that, the class president's heart sank.
Damn it, she'd gone and cared.
She continued cautiously.
"R-Really? In what way?"
"Kind. Big-hearted, amazing girl. She's the first one I got close to at the academy."
"Mm... Oh no."
It really started to hurt. She knew she shouldn't feel this way, but her chest stung anyway.
She could feel the inferiority complex buried inside her rearing its head bit by bit.
I'm such an idiot...
She knew he'd say something like that, so why did she ask? She almost hated her 30-seconds-ago self.
Above all, what pissed her off was realizing she was jealous of Younghee amid all this.
She felt like she could drown in self-loathing.
"So the current situation is kinda tricky. I don't get why Younghee's acting like that."
The class president started to reply but suddenly shut her mouth.
She'd realized something important.
"Huh? So right now, base camp just has Younghee alone?"
"For now. Cheolsu went back earlier, but with nowhere else to go, he might've returned—" Yujin stopped.
He'd grasped the meaning of his own words.
In other words, Younghee in that state was alone with Cheolsu right now.
The two bolted toward camp at the same time.