Academy Youth (3)
I stepped into a café inside the academy with Yu Hae-rin. The moment we sat down without a word, students passing by kept stealing glances at us. Among them were Cheol-i and his crew. The guys who had run into us by chance were now parked at a table across the way, openly studying my expression from a distance. They looked like they’d just witnessed something incredibly rare.
Well, I guess it made sense. An awkward pairing like ours wasn’t something you saw every day. The “taken” idol from Emperor Hall showing up at a café alone with a guy from Citizen Hall? That kind of thing didn’t happen often. Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing.
And on top of that, Yu Hae-rin was… well, probably the most famous girl in the entire academy among the first-years. So maybe it was only natural that all eyes were on us.
Cheol-i, sitting across from me, moved his mouth so only I could see. I could read his lips perfectly.
“……”
He was clearly misunderstanding the situation. I just shrugged my shoulders without answering.
“What do you want to drink?”
Yu Hae-rin’s voice came from across the table.
“Hmm. You’re buying, right?”
I’d only been joking, but she nodded with surprising seriousness.
“Of course. I was the one who asked you to come with me in the first place…”
“…I was kidding.”
“……”
A little while later, I returned to the table carrying our drinks. A caramel macchiato sat in front of her. I had an Americano. I took a sip and immediately grimaced at the bitter taste. Seeing my reaction, she let out a small snort of laughter.
“…You’ll keep it a secret, right?”
“Keep what a secret?”
“That I was crying earlier.”
“I thought you said you weren’t crying.”
“T-that was…!”
Only then did Yu Hae-rin’s expression gradually brighten. The redness around her eyes had calmed down as well. I didn’t know what had made her cry, but it looked like she had calmed down quite a bit. That was a relief.
After that, the atmosphere wasn’t awkward at all. We’d always gotten along well when we talked. I didn’t press her about why she’d been crying. I simply waited for her to bring it up first. The fact that she’d dragged me to a café made me think she had something she wanted to say.
“As you probably already know, the truth is I…”
It didn’t take long before she started opening up to me. I already knew most of it, so none of it was really a secret, but hearing it directly from her felt different somehow.
Her arranged marriage with Seo Geon-woo. She finished by saying the wedding was now “soon.” She didn’t elaborate further, but I could tell clearly that this wasn’t a marriage she wanted. The tears she’d shown earlier were probably ones she’d shed in secret because she couldn’t stand the idea of being paired with someone like Seo Geon-woo.
And the reason she was telling me all this… maybe it was because I had witnessed that scene. Even I had thought Seo Geon-woo looked pathetic, flirting with another woman while his fiancée was right there. Perhaps Yu Hae-rin felt a small sense of trust toward me because I hadn’t spread rumors about what I’d seen.
“Can’t you just say you don’t want it?”
“…No.”
“Still, if your father knew how much you hated it, I’m sure he’d understand.”
“My father cares more about rankings than he does about family.”
Yu Hae-rin swept her golden hair back as she spoke.
“That’s why my mother married him too.”
“……”
I listened quietly. I could roughly imagine what kind of life she must have lived. At that moment, her gaze drifted down to my waist. The dagger she had given me was hanging there in its sheath, clipped to my uniform belt.
“You’re still carrying it?”
She asked in that sharp tone of hers.
“It fits my hand perfectly.”
I answered cheekily. She let out a soft laugh, then continued.
“That Arachne from that day… you were the one who killed it, weren’t you?”
“……?”
“It was blurry, but I remember it clearly. The moment you saved us. That’s why I don’t think you’re weak. I actually think you’re strong.”
I had no intention of hiding it, so I simply nodded. She lowered her voice and went on.
“But even so, you should be careful this time.”
“About what?”
“Geon-woo. He’s been looking at you with a lot of resentment lately. He really hates that you and I are even talking like this. Haven’t you noticed how his eyes have been getting sharper whenever he looks at you?”
I had more or less picked up on it. Still, I didn’t care about their reactions, so I answered with a relaxed expression.
“That’s not my problem. I don’t pay any attention to it.”
“What? You’re saying that because you don’t know him! That guy is…”
Yu Hae-rin frowned, struggling to find the right words.
“Anyway, just be careful. Geon-woo isn’t a simple-minded person… That’s why I called you here. To tell you that.”
She gave me a serious warning, her voice full of concern.
“Yeah… I got it.”
Caught up in her solemn expression, I relaxed my shoulders a little as I answered.
That was when I heard a familiar female voice behind me.
“Ah!”
I turned around slowly. My eyes met Ju Si-eun’s as she stood frozen near the café entrance.
“Oh? Si-eun!”
I raised my hand cheerfully to greet her.
“H-hello, Yeonjun…”
She gave me her usual gentle, eye-smiling greeting in return. But that kind smile only lasted until her eyes landed on Yu Hae-rin sitting across from me. Her gaze began to waver. She stared at Yu Hae-rin for a long moment before suddenly whipping her head away. Maybe it was just my imagination, but her eyes looked unusually sharp.
Ju Si-eun was in a bad mood.
Of course, she knew she was being overly sensitive. But emotions weren’t something a person could easily control. It was an unavoidable reaction.
Even though she and Ha Yeonjun weren’t officially dating, they had gone on a date and were clearly in the talking stage. They even had their next date already planned. It might have been nothing but her own misunderstanding, but still.
The fact that her almost-boyfriend was having coffee alone with another girl was more than enough to make her blood boil.
“Ugh…”
Yu Hae-rin. She had felt it for a while now, but he seemed especially close to Yu Hae-rin. Of course, she knew Yu Hae-rin already had a fiancé. They were even engaged to be married. So logically, their relationship clearly couldn’t be more than friends. But a woman’s intuition was a powerful thing.
The way Yu Hae-rin looked at him was ambiguous. It was completely different from the way she looked at her actual fiancé, Seo Geon-woo. That fact filled Ju Si-eun’s heart with worry.
“…Si-eun? Is something wrong?”
Oh Ha-yul, who had been sipping her grapefruit ade through a straw, tilted her head when she sensed something was off.
Ju Si-eun flinched and quickly smoothed out her blank expression.
“Ah, no. I was just lost in thought for a second.”
As she spoke, Ju Si-eun glanced toward the window where Yu Hae-rin was sitting. Looking at her made her compare herself without meaning to. Even another girl could tell she was beautiful. Si-eun had always believed her own looks were second to none, but when the opponent was Yu Hae-rin, it was a different story.
Even if their beauty was on par, Yu Hae-rin had one decisive weapon that Si-eun didn’t.
Yu Hae-rin, daughter of the Storm Guild’s chairman.
And Ju Si-eun, born into an ordinary family. The difference somehow felt overwhelmingly large. She couldn’t help but feel shabby.
“Sigh.”
Ju Si-eun let out a sigh without realizing it.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
The quick-witted Oh Ha-yul checked Si-eun’s expression and immediately began piecing things together. It only took her a second to realize that Ha Yeonjun and Yu Hae-rin were spending intimate time together.
Once she had the full picture, Oh Ha-yul pushed up her red glasses and spoke seriously.
“This won’t do. It looks like it’s time for you to make a bold move.”
“A bold move?”
“More direct expressions of your feelings. If you don’t, you’re going to lose him.”
At Oh Ha-yul’s advice, Ju Si-eun bit her lip.
“But the other person is Hae-rin…”
“Who cares? She already has a boyfriend anyway. Besides…”
Oh Ha-yul looked Si-eun up and down before continuing in a serious tone.
“You’ve got a better figure. You’re definitely not losing in that department. I’ll vouch for that.”
“W-what?”
Ju Si-eun’s face turned bright red like a tomato. Oh Ha-yul giggled and hid her eyes behind her glasses. Still, the joke had lifted the heavy stone that had been weighing on Si-eun’s chest. It felt like genuine comfort. Her expression brightened again.
After all, she had one powerful weapon that Yu Hae-rin could never match.
With that, Ju Si-eun steadied her heart and began thinking about gathering her courage once more.