The Shaky Bridge
It was another brilliantly sunny day, same as always. A cloudless sky poured bright light over the world, and though it was a touch warm, the weather still clung to spring, offering that crisp, clean feeling. The midday air—neither humid nor dry—seemed to stir a drowsy mind awake.
Of course, someone like Lee Se-won would probably scowl and call even this weather too hot. But for Lee Eun-byul, who ran around even in the height of summer, this much warmth was nothing but pleasant.
She glanced up at the clear sky, then let out a sigh.
"Hahh..."
The breath from deep in her lungs scattered into the air. The sky was wide open and beautiful, and yet, strangely, all she felt in her chest was a suffocating tightness.
Her daily life was as comfortable and enjoyable as any other day. And yet it felt like nothing had actually been resolved. That subtle disconnect was dragging her mood down for no good reason.
The truth was, she knew perfectly well where this restlessness came from. Lee Se-won. He was the reason she felt this way.
It had already been more than three weeks since she'd last had drinks with him and gone their separate ways. Spring was creeping toward summer; the flowers that had bloomed so thickly were dying off, and the time had come for dense green leaves to take their place. It was more than enough time to hold most of a season's vitality, but unfortunately, she hadn't managed to spend any time alone with him since then. The only times they met were during the limited breaks at school.
And in those frustratingly brief windows, the conversations they could have weren't much of anything. How was yesterday... you doing okay... that kind of talk, and nothing more. She was at least using those moments to keep things from getting awkward between them, but anything beyond that—any real progress in their relationship—was proving difficult.
She scratched her head.
"Ugh, why does he always turn me down?"
Honestly, after she'd clung to him this much about hanging out, he could at least play along once. They'd drunk together several times just three weeks ago, so why was he suddenly refusing...? She genuinely couldn't understand it.
Of course, Se-won had turned her down gently, saying he was busy. But that was the thing about people's words—the same phrase could mean something completely different depending on who was listening. From Se-won's perspective, he really had been too busy to accept. But to her ears, it could just as easily sound like an excuse. She was doing her best to take him at his word, but she couldn't help the seeds of doubt taking root.
From the depths of her heart, negative thoughts were unspooling one thread at a time...
She was still scratching her head when someone spoke up beside her.
"That's 'cause he's just not interested in you anymore. Dummy."
It was Yu Bo-ram. The girl who'd been diligently smoking a cigarette right next to her had finally opened her mouth.
Eun-byul shifted her gaze to look at her. Mischief filled Bo-ram's eyes, and the corners of her mouth were curled in a sly grin. Her intent was obvious. She was teasing her.
Eun-byul glared at Bo-ram with a deadpan look. Here she was, all torn up inside, and this so-called friend was just sitting there making fun of her. She felt like punching that smoke-stained upper lip right then and there.
Honestly, she'd been stacking up a lot of grievances against this brat lately. She put on a cold voice and said,
"Hey. Stop butting in."
"Huh? The hell're you on about."
"When I'm talking to sunbae... stop constantly inserting yourself."
They already had so little time to talk. People kept jumping in, and the conversation kept leaking off in other directions. Even when she tried to actually talk to him, the area around them was so crowded her voice got buried. It was inconvenient in all sorts of ways. So she'd said something about it, and yet...
"Nah, don't wanna~ I'm gonna get close with Se-won sunbae too~."
Yu Bo-ram just laughed and needled her. Eun-byul sighed inwardly. Aigoo. Yeah, she's not even listening with half an ear. Honestly, it was the reaction she'd expected, so she wasn't particularly disappointed.
After a moment, Yu Bo-ram spoke with complete nonchalance.
"Don't worry about it though. Pretty sure Se-won sunbae hates us anyway."
Eun-byul tilted her head.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... every time we swarm him, Se-won sunbae scrunches up his face. He's basically expressionless the whole time. You can tell he's uncomfortable just looking at him."
Yu Bo-ram scratched her head as if even saying it made her uncomfortable. Eun-byul tilted her head for a moment, wondering what she meant... then gave a short nod. She understood.
"Ahh..."
So that's what she'd been thinking... no wonder she barely talked even when she butted into the conversation. That was how she'd been feeling. That Se-won sunbae found her unpleasant.
Normally, if you felt that way, you'd back off on your own. But watching Yu Bo-ram keep approaching him anyway... Eun-byul couldn't decide whether to call it a strong will or just shamelessness.
For now, she decided to reject that interpretation.
"I don't think that's it."
This, she was sure of. He wasn't the type of person who hated someone for no reason.
When she said that, Yu Bo-ram tilted her head again and asked,
"Huh? He's basically stone-faced every time we go up to him. And he frowns too."
"That's probably... just because he's awkward. And he's not frowning—that's just how his eyes look."
Other people might not be able to tell the difference, but she, who'd talked with him more than anyone, could. Those subtle differences were things you could pick up on if you paid attention.
Lee Se-won wasn't frowning because he disliked them. The truth was his eyes just looked fierce by nature, and the way he kept wiping the expression off his face was most likely just because he felt awkward. Despite that sharp appearance, he was actually pretty timid. That was something she'd learned from sticking close to him these past few weeks.
At a glance he looked cold and unapproachable, but he was actually warm-hearted and fun, and secretly the type to be shy around new people.
She still remembered it. The way Se-won had stammered and fumbled when she'd first approached him. That flustered expression, so at odds with those sharp eyes, had left quite an impression. That unfamiliar side of him—so different from a face that looked like it could snap at anyone—was still vivid in her mind. Just thinking about it, a smile started forming on its own.
"Yo, what? Why you suddenly grinning like that."
Yu Bo-ram, who'd caught the expression like a hawk, asked. Confusion filled her eyes.
Seeing that, Eun-byul hurriedly changed her expression. No. If Bo-ram figured out she'd been smiling while thinking about him, that girl would tease her to death. Yu Bo-ram had a seriously mischievous personality. If she got caught on that radar, it would be exhausting. She quickly changed the subject to throw her off.
"Hey, more importantly, help me out. I'm not making any progress lately."
This was a request that was half genuine. She really had hit a wall lately. She needed some kind of new approach. She'd asked hoping she might get some advice.
"Yo, the fuck. There's fifty thousand won on the line and you think I'm gonna help you?"
Of course Yu Bo-ram refused. From her perspective, there was no reason to help. There was no need to take a risk just to do something that would put herself at a disadvantage.
But Eun-byul had an ace up her sleeve.
"Just help me out a little. You said you'd win no matter what I did. What, you scared?"
It was the word she'd learned from Lee Se-won: scared? A technique that could toy with anyone's emotions. There was magic in that word—it had a way of firing up whoever heard it.
"Kkugh..."
Sure enough, even she wasn't immune to the magic. Bo-ram let out a frustrated groan. After a moment of that, she seemed to think it over, then made a proposal with a mischievous look on her face.
"Alright, how about this? We deliberately threaten Lee Se-won sunbae."
"...What? Are you insane?!"
Eun-byul shrieked. This crazy bitch—I asked for advice and now she's trying to use it to wreck the relationship!
Not a chance. Not only would her bet money go up in smoke, the relationship she'd worked so hard to build might fall apart. Yeah, I was the crazy one for asking her. Eun-byul shook her head and started to look away.
But Yu Bo-ram opened her mouth faster.
"No no, hear me out."
She waved her hands and kept going.
"You know the suspension bridge effect, right?"
"...I've heard of it."
It was the theory that your attraction to someone increases more when you meet them on a shaky bridge than on a stable one. You mistake the anxiety from the situation—and the physical changes that come with it—as being caused by the other person. It was a fairly famous theory, so Eun-byul had heard of it at least once.
"We use that."
Eun-byul decided to just listen quietly for now and hear what Bo-ram had to say.
Her overall plan went like this. First, gather her friends and have them act like delinquents. Then use those newly minted delinquents to threaten Lee Se-won. Got any money? You're pretty good-looking, huh? That kind of thing—psychologically corner him without mercy. Then, right when Se-won is terrified—ta-daaah! Lee Eun-byul makes her entrance. And then—wham! Wham! Crack!—she takes down the delinquents and rescues Se-won. At which point Se-won, soaked in anxiety, goes "whoa!" and falls for Lee Eun-byul. That was the plot.
Amazingly, Yu Bo-ram had actually said all those sound effects out loud.
Having heard the entire plan, Eun-byul smiled.
"Ha."
It was a hollow laugh. Another variety of the sigh that comes out when something is so absurd you don't know what else to do.
Is she actually insane?
What did I just listen to? Does she actually think that would work? This isn't the sixties. That sloppy, half-assed plot? A situation where coincidence stacked on coincidence pretending to be logic, and the whole thing's credibility is completely fucked. It wasn't just lazy—if it was him, with his decent instincts, he'd definitely see through it.
So of course Eun-byul was going to refuse. She was going to chew her out for talking such bullshit.
But someone cut in before she could.
"What are you girls talking about?"
A guy sidled up next to them with a bright, beaming smile. It was Han Ho-cheol. With his kind, handsome features, he approached their side.
At his question, Yu Bo-ram grinned and opened her mouth.
"Oh, so—"
A brief conversation followed. The story of how Eun-byul herself was trying to seduce Lee Se-won, the fact that she'd hit a wall, and even the ridiculous plan Yu Bo-ram had just been spouting.
Wait...
Did they really have to tell him all of that? This had nothing to do with him. And they'd even left out the part about the "bet."
This makes it look like I actually like Se-won.
She just didn't want to lose the bet... that was all. She liked him as a friend, that much was true. But whether she liked him as a guy...
"......"
She still didn't really know.
Unbidden, the memory of three weeks ago replayed in Eun-byul's mind—the time he'd touched her chest. Why was she suddenly thinking about that... she had the feeling her face was turning just the faintest bit red.
"Ahh, I see."
Han Ho-cheol was nodding, having apparently heard the whole story at some point. His eyes went cold for a moment, then settled, then found their light again, cycling through. A flicker of jealousy had surfaced at the story of Eun-byul trying to seduce Lee Se-won.
But no one noticed. A master of acting, he quickly recovered his smiling expression and murmured,
"That's not bad, actually?"
He was talking about Yu Bo-ram's plan. Hearing that murmur, Eun-byul reacted.
"What? You're saying that plan is okay?"
"Hey! What do you mean 'that plan'?!"
Something reacted from the side, but she ignored it. Honestly, it was an answer she couldn't understand at all. That old-school sixties production... was okay?
But Han Ho-cheol's conviction was firm.
"Mhm. Honestly it's a little crude, but that's 'cause she just made it up on the spot. If we polish it a bit, I think it'd work."
"See?! He said so, fuck~"
Eun-byul was dumbfounded.
...For real?
The two of them continued preaching the rationality of the plan after that. Cliches work for a reason, they said. You think the suspension bridge effect is some cheap-ass joke? Faced with that passion, even she was starting to find her ears perking up.
There's an old saying: three people can make a tiger. If three people say there's a tiger, even one that doesn't exist becomes real. If just three people can turn something nonexistent into something tangible, then two people were more than enough to make an awkward story start sounding appealing.
The conversation went on for quite a while... and in the end, Eun-byul couldn't help but be persuaded.
"It... might actually be okay..."
There was a part of her that didn't sit right with the threatening him part... but she didn't really have any other options right now. If he got scared, she could just jump in and handle it.
Once Eun-byul had come over to their side to some degree, Han Ho-cheol played his trump card.
"Aigoo, guess I've got no choice. I'll help out with this one~"
As naturally as if he were doing them a favor, he started inserting himself into the affair. Eun-byul asked,
"What? For real?"
"Yep~ Asking your friends to play delinquents would be kinda awkward anyway. And if he happens to recognize any of their faces, you'd get found out immediately."
That was true enough. Asking them to play delinquents over one guy. Not only would the request itself be a burden, her friends would tease her about it for ages.
"And besides, this kind of thing is more realistic if a guy's involved too, rather than just girls."
"...Is that how it is?"
Honestly, she didn't really know. But since it was coming from a fellow "guy," it felt pretty persuasive.
"Still, I feel really bad. Asking you is just as much of a burden."
"Nuh-uh~ I'm doing it 'cause I want to. And......"
It also looks like fun, Han Ho-cheol murmured quietly. His eyes seemed to sink deep for a moment.
"...Alright, then."
And just like that, Eun-byul accepted Han Ho-cheol's offer.