Contract Dating (4)
By the time I came back to myself from looking all that up, twenty minutes remained. Time had gone slack all of a sudden, and twenty minutes was an awkward gap no matter what I tried to fill it with. On any other day I'd still be walking in from somewhere not even half this close, but I'd already made it to the Academy's doorstep.
I tried to think of something to do with the leftover time, but every idea that surfaced involved doing it with someone else.
"Well... beats me."
Walking into the classroom this early would just be burning time anyway. With nothing else to do, the sensible move was to duck into a café and wait it out... but after yesterday, I wasn't thick-skinned enough to walk into one again.
"Haa..."
I'd asked people before what they did with empty time. The answers were usually games, and reading. But I'd hardly ever played a game in my life. Never had the time. Which meant I didn't know what was even fun, so I couldn't start. Reading was off the table too. Not because I'd never read a book — I just didn't have one. No book, nothing to read.
The community boards... I'd rather just look at the sky.
Better to kill time staring at the sky than dive into a community that would be going nuclear over the breakup news.
I was looking up when my wrist buzzed.
Bzzzt...
The watch-type device the Academy issued — a smartphone built like a wristwatch. And the fact that it was vibrating now meant this wasn't an Academy emergency alert. It was a personal message.
The contacts saved on this device numbered a grand total of four. Ex-girlfriend. Current girlfriend. Roommate. And the Academy's dead last. One of those four pitiful contacts had just reached out.
I didn't know where Amelia had gone, but we'd been together until a moment ago, so it wouldn't be her. Kim Seongchan would be sprinting here right now, too busy to text anyone, so not him either. The Academy's last-place... I hadn't heard from that guy in over a week. Said he had something going on. It was about time he got in touch, though. Highest probability, as things stood.
Highest, sure...
It was still a pathetic contact list of four.
Last of all, my ex-girlfriend, Kang Areum. The girl who had filled this device with hundreds of texts and calls — practically its second owner. Once. Honestly, I didn't think she'd be the one messaging me. The reason I was even running through this whole deduction was—
"I hope it's her..."
I wanted it to be Kang Areum.
The moment I thought that, I remembered something I'd heard — that a man who can't let go isn't popular. But I was that man who couldn't let go. Nothing I could do about it. It was pathetic, but I couldn't stop her from coming to mind.
I looked down at the device. The name that appeared was one Kang Areum had changed herself two weeks ago.
Just seeing that name brought back the way she'd grinned and teased me — you'd better take good care of me, she'd said. A memory from a time that already felt like once upon a time. A name I used to smile at. I'd had so much happen yesterday and today that I hadn't even had the presence of mind to change it. And that was the name glowing on the screen.
"...!!"
It was a name I never expected, and I was so happy I wanted to open it that instant. Then reality caught up. I was a guy who'd gotten a new girlfriend the moment he was dumped. Fake or not, I couldn't tell her that. Even if Kang Areum had good news for me, I wasn't in a position to just say sure and go along with it.
Not because I'd been hurt by the breakup, or because I was struggling. Because I already had a new girlfriend. In every sense, it was the worst possible situation. Should I even look at this message? The question rose on its own. But dodging it wasn't an answer either. In the end, I opened the text.
It was a message a lot like yesterday's. The reason I even compared them: yesterday we were dating. Today we were broken up.
What's this about?
Let's get back together. It wouldn't be that. Probably... or would it? Was it? Was she going to ask to get back together...?
One thing was certain: today's classes were shot. Luckily it was the wrap-up stretch of the first semester, so almost nobody was actually teaching — it shouldn't be a problem.
That was before I looked at the time on the device.
I'm screwed.
If I ran at full speed, I could somehow make it on time. Somehow, in the most literal sense of the word.
"Park Yeonho? Park Yeonho?"
"Yes! Huff — yes!"
It was the exact moment they were checking my attendance. The teacher clicked his tongue and let it slide with a look that said he'd give me a pass just this once. Lucky break.
Doesn't this still count as present...?
The question crossed my mind, but even I knew that mouthing off to a teacher was a one-way ticket to a miserable life.
The class itself had that end-of-semester energy, which was a blessing for someone who couldn't focus anyway.
Today's been full of lucky breaks...
For someone who believed luck came in a fixed, limited supply, that was the worst possible news. What on earth was going to happen this evening? What would come out of Kang Areum's mouth when we met at Central Plaza? Thinking about it...
She'd probably start with something like, I'm sorry about yesterday.
Kang Areum's temper flared often. Which meant she apologized to me a lot, too. But this was the first time she'd ever said we should break up. And it would be the last, surely.
I-it's not like I said that because I don't like you... she'd say. She said things she didn't mean often enough, and when she did, it showed. She was a terrible liar. Awkward. Stiff. And then she'd explain there were circumstances. If I had to guess... something like, My grades dropped a lot too, so I was having a hard time. And then she'd ask to get back together. Something like that.
"So... could you maybe forget what I said yesterday...?"
Why is this actually happening?
I'd spent our relationship focused on getting to know each other, sure. But watching the situation unfold exactly as I'd predicted, I could only think God was messing with me. Or maybe I just had a talent for reading people.
"I-I had a really hard time too... watching you work so hard, I mean — not that it was hard because of you...!"
She was rambling so badly I could barely follow. Kang Areum was normally a gifted talker, so the fact that she was this flustered came through loud and clear.
"I'm sorry."
In the end, that was all I could say. Same as yesterday. There was only one thing I could say. I'm sorry.
"R-right. Of course..."
The eyes looking at me went wide, then slowly filled with resignation. She seemed to think I'd come to hate her.
"It's not because I don't like you."
"Then why...?"
"That's..."
This time I was the one who couldn't get the words out. Kang Areum was staring at me with a questioning look, and I had no idea what to tell her.
I have a new girlfriend. Except she's not a real girlfriend, she's fake, there's a contract...
How was I supposed to say that?! And the fact that the contract itself was baked into the excuse was the whole problem. My head throbbed just trying to figure out how to put it.
"Yeonho? You look like you're in a bit of trouble."
"Who's that?"
A voice. One I'd heard for the first time yesterday, but had already become familiar. It overlapped with Kang Areum asking who it was, after hearing my name from Amelia.
"Amelia..."
Why the hell are you showing up here?!
The one person who could make this headache even more complicated had appeared. Or maybe not. Maybe this would actually make things easier for me. Amelia's particular brand of personality would flip the whole board.
"Amelia?"
Kang Areum didn't seem to place who that was from the first name alone. Amelia was usually called Rosemary. More precisely, there was nobody close enough to her to call her Amelia. Even the teachers didn't use her given name. Right. Amelia's boyfriend (fake), and the first student to call Amelia by her first name. That was me.
"Did you ask who I am?"
"Yes... may I ask who you are?"
Amelia was dressed well enough that Kang Areum had switched to formal speech. Even at a glance, she didn't look like someone ordinary. Right now Amelia was wearing an extremely ornate dress in blue. I knew nothing about expensive clothes, but the image that came to mind was the kind of gown you'd see at a ball.
"It seems Yeonho hasn't told you yet. I am Amelia Rosemary."
"Rosemary?!"
I should not have stood there doing nothing from the moment Amelia appeared. And the result of standing there doing nothing:
"......"
Kang Areum, staring at me with the lights gone out of her eyes.
The personality I'd figured out. No — the personality I was figuring out right now. Kang Areum had an obsessive streak. Not that she'd always had one. It looked like it had just been born, right this second. That face of hers said, How could you do this to me? I wanted to tell her I hadn't wanted any of this either, but standing next to me was my current girlfriend (fake).
I looked at Amelia with a plea that said, Please, do something!
"Haa. Fine, I understand."
She sighed like she wasn't happy about it, but she went along.
I'm saved.
I let out a genuine sigh of relief, this one on the inside.