Blackmail (1)
“……Ow.” Blank stare. “……Seolah. Seolah?” Still dazed. “Hey, Baek Seolah!” “……Huh.”
Baek Seolah, who had been staring blankly into space for quite some time, reacted a full three beats late to the person calling her name. It was early morning in the A-class classroom, still relatively quiet with an hour left before lessons began. She had been sitting at her desk, chin propped on her hand, gazing out the window without a single change in expression until she finally turned her head. Then she offered an awkward smile to the girl standing beside her, arms crossed and looking mildly annoyed.
“Ah…… Sorry, Eunbi. What were we talking about again?”
“……You’ve got to be kidding me.”
The girl’s distinctive mid-length hair, tinged with deep navy, swayed lightly with the tilt of her head. Standing beside the desk, she looked down at Baek Seolah with clear displeasure in her eyes. “What on earth were you thinking about that you didn’t even hear me calling you? When did you become this spacey?”
“H-Hey, calling me spacey is a bit much just because I lost focus for a second.”
“Oh, really? Do you even know how many times I called you?”
The girl was Yu Eunbi, a classmate in A-class and one of the few people Baek Seolah had maintained an unusually long relationship with at Cheongun Academy. Their parents had known each other for years, so the two had grown up together—childhood friends, more or less. Baek Seolah flinched under Yu Eunbi’s narrowed bluish eyes and answered timidly.
“……Uh, haha. Sorry.”
“Apology accepted. So, what exactly were you spacing out over?”
But Baek Seolah couldn’t give an immediate answer to the follow-up question. She flinched again, her eyes darting around, which only made Yu Eunbi’s gaze sharpen further. The other girl slammed her palm on the desk with a sharp thud and leaned in, clearly determined to get answers.
“I’ve been trying not to meddle too much, but I can’t let this slide anymore. You’re not going to tell me anything unless I drag it out of you, are you?”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about……”
“Han Taeyang.”
“……”
Baek Seolah’s attempt to play dumb collapsed instantly. Of course it did—the moment Yu Eunbi uttered that boy’s name. Her expression visibly stiffened, and Yu Eunbi snorted as if she had expected exactly that reaction.
“Look at that. Your face changed the second I said his name. Still going to pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about?”
“……”
“Don’t give me that troubled look. I’m not letting this go today. I’ve already waited long enough.”
“……Agh.”
Baek Seolah tried to muster a pitiful expression in hopes of evoking some sympathy, but it was pointless. If the other party had been a boy, maybe, but this was Yu Eunbi—someone she had known for over a decade. Emotional appeals wouldn’t work on her. Baek Seolah’s brows furrowed in genuine dismay as she let out a small groan.
By then, Yu Eunbi seemed to sense that the conversation would take a while. She pulled over the chair from the desk in front and plopped down across from Baek Seolah. The latter made a sulky face at the assertive move, but Yu Eunbi wasn’t backing down.
“Alright, spill it. What the hell happened these past few months?”
Yu Eunbi’s eyes remained sharp, but the emotion behind them was unmistakably concern. As both a classmate and a childhood friend, she had seen enough to know something was wrong. Until last year, Baek Seolah had been in a sweet, drama-free relationship with Lee Hyeonseong. Yu Eunbi knew exactly how much Baek Seolah liked him—and how much he liked her in return. So the recent changes made no sense.
‘There’s definitely something going on behind the scenes.’
Yu Eunbi’s expression grew more serious. She had been waiting for Baek Seolah to open up on her own, but her patience had run out—especially after seeing her like this today.
From an outsider’s perspective, there were several possibilities. The most likely one, statistically speaking, would be that Baek Seolah had cheated—choosing Han Taeyang over Lee Hyeonseong. But Yu Eunbi prided herself on knowing Baek Seolah better than even her boyfriend did.
‘Cheating, my ass.’
No matter what rumors were circulating around the academy or what anonymous idiots on the community boards were saying, Yu Eunbi wasn’t swayed. She had personally witnessed Baek Seolah getting close to Han Taeyang, so she didn’t think the rumors were entirely baseless. Still, she suspected there was more to it—some hidden circumstance the others didn’t know about. After all, Baek Seolah wasn’t the type of girl who could handle the guilt of an affair on her own terms.
That was exactly why Yu Eunbi was pushing so hard. She firmly believed that only by hearing the truth directly from the person involved could she make a proper judgment.
“You’re going to tell me, right? Seolah.”
Yu Eunbi smiled, convinced that their long-standing bond meant Baek Seolah could confide in her about anything.
“……I’m sorry, Eunbi. I can’t tell you this. Not even you.”
“……”
And unfortunately, the moment those words left her lips, Yu Eunbi felt the years of trust they had built crack and shatter. Her smiling face froze like a statue.
*****
Baek Seolah watched guiltily as Yu Eunbi left the classroom, looking deeply hurt.
‘I’m really sorry, Eunbi. I believe there’ll come a day when you understand.’
Even so, she didn’t regret her decision. It would be a lie to say she hadn’t felt tempted to confide in her friend—Yu Eunbi was one of the few people she could truly trust, and they had always been each other’s first choice for advice. But this time, she couldn’t ask for her help. Regardless of her wavering heart.
Baek Seolah squeezed her eyes shut and silently recited the fundamental reason behind her choice.
‘……Even so, I can’t turn you into a murderer, can I?’
It was a rather brutal thought, one that might seem like an overreaction, but Baek Seolah was dead serious. She opened her eyes slightly and shivered, a chill running down her spine. If she ever confessed to Yu Eunbi about the netorase play involving Lee Hyeonseong and Han Taeyang, she was certain—absolutely certain—that Lee Hyeonseong would be killed by Yu Eunbi that very day. At the very least, he’d end up in intensive care. Asking your girlfriend to sleep with another man was that insane.
Just as Baek Seolah cherished Yu Eunbi as a friend, the feeling was mutual. If anything, it might even be stronger. In their friendship, Yu Eunbi had always played the “mom” role, while Baek Seolah was usually the “daughter.”
“Haa.”
Baek Seolah pressed a hand to her chest and let out another heavy sigh, her heart still in turmoil. Did Lee Hyeonseong even realize she was protecting him with this self-sacrificing mindset?
‘……Well, the real problem is something else entirely, though……’
Baek Seolah’s wistful golden gaze drifted back to the window. The early morning sky was clear and brilliantly blue. Whether she was tormented by the new emotions she had become aware of and the accompanying guilt, whether she agonized over Han Taeyang or Lee Hyeonseong—the sky remained cloudless and bright. Completely indifferent to the storm raging inside her.
*****
And Baek Seolah had no idea.
“Shh. Keep quiet.”
“……Mmph.”
“Scream and you know what happens, right? You’ll get stabbed right through.”
The silence she had maintained to supposedly save Lee Hyeonseong’s life had only resulted in the exact same outcome—just with a different target.
‘What the hell.’
It was a peaceful Monday morning, just like any other. Han Taeyang broke into a cold sweat as he felt the sharp sensation pressing against his back. They were still on campus, on one of the many paths leading to the main building. He had been strolling along, yawning lazily, when a shadow suddenly rippled at his feet and a figure burst upward. Before he could react, something sharp was jabbed against his back—probably a dagger.
Han Taeyang knew whose unique skill involved approaching through shadows. That didn’t stop him from looking completely dumbfounded, though. He glanced awkwardly over his shoulder and asked, “……Did I do something to deserve getting stabbed by you? Yu Eunbi.”
“……”
She didn’t answer, and that was far from reassuring. Even as he said it, Han Taeyang knew better than anyone why he might deserve this. What had he done to earn a knife from Yu Eunbi—Baek Seolah’s longtime friend and closest confidante?
‘Shit, what now.’
In reality, there were more than just one or two things. The worst part was that he had no way of knowing exactly which one had set her off. It was enough to make him extremely nervous. Sadly.