The Misunderstanding and the Truth

Aria burst through the front door of the dessert shop, her eyes rimmed red as if she'd been crying. The sight of her created an oddly pitiful atmosphere.

"Siwoo... you! I never thought you'd be the kind of guy who'd do something like this!"

"No, wait. This is... there's a perfectly good explanation. Wait, no—!"

"Don't make excuses! What do you mean you're sick of it? Is that something you say to a girl?!"

"That's not what I meant—!"

"I said no excuses! That's the kind of thing you should never say to your girlfriend, no matter what!"

Siwoo pounded his chest, desperately trying to plead his innocence. But Aria, whose empathy had apparently hit its limit after hearing whatever story she'd been told, came running over, pulled me into a tight hug, and glared at him.

"Hey, wait! Plea! Say something too!"

"You... even now...!"

The moment Siwoo said my name, Aria's aura grew even more ferocious. What had been a bubbling simmer before now felt like it was one second away from exploding. The silence that followed was heavy. If I kept watching this any longer, someone was definitely going to pull a knife, so I slipped out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of Aria's arms and stepped in to mediate.

"Aria, hold on! Calm down and listen to me for a second."

"Plea... Alright. I'll hear you out first."

Like she'd put out the immediate fire, Aria's hand—which had been drifting toward the personal weapon at her waist—moved to her chest as she crossed her arms.

"First of all... Siwoo and I aren't in the kind of relationship you're imagining."

She clearly thought we'd been dating and then broken up. But we weren't in that kind of dirty mess.

"We were never even together to begin with."

We're just two friends who used to be the same ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gender. What's there to date about?

"So don't be too hard on Siwoo. He only said that because... he wanted to eat the Solo Cake here."

I pointed at the menu and gave her a bitter smile. Aria seemed to understand what I meant. She lowered her head and took a deep breath. She was probably blushing, realizing her misunderstanding.

Tap tap.

I lightly kicked Siwoo's shin with my heel while hiding my right hand behind my back to flash him a V for victory. The secret signal clearly asked, I did good, right?

But Siwoo didn't seem to notice my signal. He was too busy staring at Aria, who still had her head down. After a moment, she lifted her gaze with a strangely determined expression, grabbed my shoulders, and said,

"Plea, wait here for a bit. I have something to talk about with Siwoo..."

"Huh? Sure, got it."

Are they going to work on an assignment together or something?

When I nodded, Aria walked right past me, grabbed the arm of Siwoo—who was standing there like a plaster statue—and dragged him out of the shop.

Hmm... Looks like I'll be eating this cake by myself.

"I'll have one Solo Cake, please."

"Huh?! Oh, right away..."

The employee brought over the cake made exclusively for solo customers, her face a mixture of confusion and burning curiosity. It was delicious too.

"This should be far enough that no one can eavesdrop."

"Aria... please, just listen to me. I'll explain everything from the beginning."

"Fine. Go ahead and explain."

Aria had decided to listen to what she assumed would be his final plea, but surprisingly, according to Siwoo's testimony, the real culprit behind this incident was Plea.

"Wait... is that actually true?"

"I swear on the honor of my deceased parents. It's the truth."

Aria rubbed the back of her aching neck as she organized her thoughts.

So... after class, Plea had seen a dessert shop with a tempting couple's menu, basically kidnapped a passing Siwoo, made him pretend to be her boyfriend so she could eat the cake, then decided she also wanted the solo menu and immediately suggested they break up on the spot?

"Did I understand that correctly?"

Siwoo nodded with a slightly sour expression.

"No... more importantly, why would you actually do it just because she asked?! I can understand the couple's cake, but suggesting you break up right there just to eat the solo menu? Wouldn't a normal person refuse?"

"Well... honestly, I wanted to eat that too..."

This time, Aria slapped her forehead. She'd thought Siwoo was just another victim of Plea's abysmal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠social skills, but it turned out this guy was just as crazy.

"Sigh... Alright, I understand now. So you're saying you're a victim too, Siwoo."

"Yeah... By the way, your speech keeps switching between polite and casual?"

"I usually use polite speech, but when I'm flustered or talking to someone who doesn't deserve it, I switch to casual."

So when she spoke casually to him back at the dessert café, was it because she was flustered, or because she no longer thought he deserved polite speech...?

Siwoo had a gut feeling it was the latter, but he desperately spun his happiness circuit and decided to believe she was just flustered. No matter what, he didn't want to think his first friend hated him.

"Anyway, I'm a victim too. I got dragged into Plea's weird antics... If she were weak I could just ignore her, but if I refused, who knows what she'd do to me. I didn't have a choice!"

"I've understood up to that point. Then... do you dislike Plea, Siwoo?"

"If I had to say whether I like her or not... I'd say I dislike her. Honestly, who could like someone so selfish and impossible to understand?"

When Siwoo said that, Aria bit her lip hard. With his characteristically quick senses, he immediately noticed that his comment had soured her mood.

"...Still, I wouldn't say she's completely bad. She's selfish, sure, but she hasn't actually done anything truly evil. Of course, I've suffered some damage... but it didn't feel like it came from malice."

"You're right. Just like you thought, Plea's actions aren't driven by malice."

"How do you know that...? You were called by Professor Dana earlier. What exactly did she tell you?"

At Siwoo's question, Aria covered her mouth with her hand as if surprised. She'd planned to tell him later anyway, but she hadn't expected him to deduce from that single clue that she'd learned about Plea from Professor Dana.

"Your senses really are sharp. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yes, when I was called by the professor earlier, she told me about Plea."

"So the person behind all those rumors about Plea's background was actually Professor Dana?"

"That's correct, but... could you please listen to me until the end? I need to explain everything in detail, but if you keep making deductions like that, I'll have nothing left to explain..."

"Ah, sorry..."

When Siwoo scratched his head and apologized awkwardly, Aria cleared her throat and began recounting everything Professor Dana had told her. The death of Plea's family in the past, being left with relatives who subjected her to severe abuse, and how she'd coincidentally met Dana, learned various skills from her, escaped her relatives, and entered the academy. Of course, most of it was fabricated, but Siwoo—who had no way of knowing that—clenched his fists tightly as he swallowed every word.

"...That's the worst."

"It really is. Both Plea's environment and all the misfortune surrounding her."

Both Siwoo and Aria let out heavy sighs. A child who'd lived through such hardship had finally gained freedom, only for the first thing she felt in that freedom to be someone else's malice... The tragic thought weighed on them, and the realization that they themselves had been among those holding that malice carved a deep sense of guilt into their hearts.

"So... there's only one thing I want to say, Siwoo."

With those final words, Aria smiled softly, turned around, and walked out of the dark back alley. Once her gently swaying silver hair was no longer visible, Siwoo unclenched his tightly balled fist and let out a hollow laugh.

"Yeah... I really should treat her better from now on."

As someone who aspired to be a hero, he couldn't just leave that pitiful girl alone.

After completely conquering even the solo menu at the dessert shop, I figured Siwoo probably wasn't coming back, so I returned to the dormitory first and went to sleep. I slept deeply as usual, woke up normally, and was about to head to class when I saw a familiar face in front of the girls' dormitory.

"Siwoo? What are you doing here?"

"Aria told me yesterday to treat you better. So let's walk to school together."

"Oh... friends walking to school together. Pretty thoughtful, huh?"

I chuckled and gave Siwoo's back a light smack. He frowned for a second, then—

Thwack!

"Ow!"

He gave me a knuckle to the head.

"What was that for?!"

"What do you mean? You suddenly smacked my back, so I returned the favor with a knuckle."

"Hmm... Is that how it is? Then I guess..."

Seeing Siwoo say it like that, it seemed this was how real friends played around. Not that I'd know—I didn't have any friends in my previous life...

I rubbed my aching head and smiled brightly. Siwoo looked at me with complicated eyes, then suddenly let out a sigh.

"No... That wasn't the kind of thing friends do. I hit you to mean don't suddenly smack a person's back like that, especially not someone you've just met."

"Huh? I thought that was how friends played around?"

"It's not."

Siwoo answered instantly, then paused for a moment as if thinking before asking a question.

"By the way, what the heck was that rock you fed me last time?"

Of all the things he could ask, at least this was one I'd prepared an answer for.