Whispers in the Hallway
It had been a week since I entered high school.
I had finally made some other classmates to talk to besides Kim Dahi and Park Sung, and the same went for the other kids.
Yet, I still hadn't seen Pina talk to any of the other students.
And it wasn't just the kids.
Pina never spoke to the teachers either, except for the absolute bare minimum.
Still, she seemed to pay close attention during class.
Today, I was heading back up to the classroom after playing basketball with Park Sung and some other guys from our class during lunch.
That was when I overheard them.
"Ugh, seriously, Ha Pina is so annoying. Just because she's a little pretty, she thinks she's all that."
"Right?!"
"Oh! Did you hear? Word is she actually sells herself to guys for money."
"Wait, seriously?"
"No wonder. I always got a dirty vibe from her."
"What? What are you, a psychic?"
Two girls were gossiping loudly between themselves.
I was pretty sure they were girls from our class.
Were they jealous because Pina was too pretty, or was it because she pushed everyone away?
It was highly likely to be both.
But that was one thing, and this was another. No matter where you go, there are always people who talk trash about others like that.
"Hey."
Whoops. My voice came out much lower than I intended.
"Huh? Oh, Lee Hanbyul! Hi! Are you just coming back from working out?"
"Hanbyul~~ You looked so cool playing out there."
Ugh, why are they suddenly clinging to me?
"Yeah, I was playing basketball outside with the guys. I smell like sweat, so back off."
"Aw, we don't mind though?"
"Sigh. Do whatever you want, but what were you guys talking about just now?"
"Huh? What talk?"
"You were talking about Pin—Ha Pina."
"Oh, that? Well, a friend of mine went to the same middle school as her, and..."
To put it simply, it seemed Pina had kept her distance from others since middle school.
As time went on, our lovely classmates, who clearly loved gossiping, had fabricated rumors out of thin air. It was so ridiculous I was speechless.
Are you guys elementary schoolers? Even elementary kids would find this too childish and say, "Even we don't do stuff like that."
"So, you've never actually seen it yourself. Is that what you're saying?"
"Well, yeah. But there must be a reason why rumors like this start, right?"
"Look, I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully. Stop talking trash about people behind their backs like that."
"What? Hey, Lee Hanbyul, what's it to you? Why are you defending Ha Pina?"
Sigh, why is she throwing a fit now? God, trying to soothe her is going to be annoying.
"No, it's not that. I'm just saying this because I'm worried about you."
"What? Me?"
"Yeah, you. If you spread rumors that aren't even confirmed, you're the one who's going to end up looking bad. I'm only saying this because I saw someone go through that in middle school."
"R-really? But why do you care about me?"
"Of course I care. I can't stand seeing a nice girl like you get misunderstood!"
"Well, I guess I am pretty nice, hehe."
Why is she so simple-minded?
Is she a single-celled organism?
"Lee Hanbyul..."
"Ugh, I got scolded by the teacher again today. *Sniffle, sniffle.* Sung-ah~~ Pat my head."
"Dahi, that's why I told you to go to sleep early last night."
Did you really have to pat her head while saying that?
Park Sung is surprisingly dense in his own way too.
"But Kongderland was on last night! You have to watch the live broadcast of Kongderland."
"Kim Dahi, are you stupid?"
"What?!"
She was definitely an idiot.
What kind of high schooler stays up to watch a drama live and then oversleeps?
"Oh? Dahi, you watch Kongderland too?"
"It's so good, right? Oh Junho is seriously so handsome..."
Right, it wasn't just the three of us here.
We were hanging out with some other kids we'd gotten close to in class. You watch Kongderland too?
Seriously, why are high schoolers so obsessed with watching dramas live?
If it's just a drama, you can just watch the rerun. The rerun!
"Look who's talking. You slept late last night too, Lee Hanbyul."
"Me? When?"
"Your light was on until two in the morning because you were reading again!!"
"Hey, is reading a book the same as watching a drama? And even if I sleep late, I don't openly doze off during class like you do, you lazy bear."
"What? A bear? You're the bear! You're dense, ridiculously huge, and you don't even budge from your bed on weekends."
"Hey, I'm not ridiculously huge, you're just tiny, shorty."
"Um, hey... Hanbyul, Dahi... do you two live together by any chance?"
"..."
"..."
Ah... right. We were at school.
Dahi, you were the one who said, "If we tell people we're cousins, it'll just be annoying for both of us. So let's just pretend we're childhood friends, okay?" the day before the entrance ceremony.
You idiot. Looking at me like that isn't going to cover this up.
Even if she stared at me with a desperate do something look, there were some things that simply couldn't be fixed.
I wanted to tell her, You got us into this with your stupid brain, so you deal with it, but damn it, if I left it alone, it would become a pain for me too. What should I do?
"Ah~ I slept over at Hanbyul's house yesterday."
"I was on a video call with Dahi back then, so she must have seen his room. Dahi has been to Hanbyul's house with me before, so she knows what his room looks like."
Oh, Savior Park Sung, I shall serve you for the rest of my life.
Thank you so much. Sung, having you as a friend is truly the greatest pride of my life.
Okay, we managed to get past that idiot's slip-up.
Seriously, she was the one who insisted on hiding it, yet she was the one who blabbed.
Kim Dahi definitely had a lower IQ than a dog.
"Ah, I see~ I just thought so because Dahi spoke as if she had seen Hanbyul's room in person."
"Why would I ever live with someone like Lee Hanbyul..."
Hey, hey, shut your mouth. And keep your eyes still.
Even Sung won't be able to cover for you if you keep going.
"Hey, let's talk about something else. Besides, it's not like Dahi sleeping in class is anything new, right?"
"True. It'd actually be weird if Dahi didn't sleep."
"Whaaat~ Sung, how could even you say that?"
Thank goodness. We somehow got through it.
With that, the topic shifted away from Dahi and me, and we moved on to trivial chatter.
The boys talked about games and sports, while the girls talked about makeup and food. It was the picture-perfect image of high school students. It looked nice and wholesome.
But wait, I only stayed at my desk because I was too lazy to go out today. Why did you all have to gather around my desk to chatter, fellow students? Huh?!
"By the way, guys, what do you think of Ha Pina?"
Why are they suddenly bringing up Pina?
"Why Ha Pina all of a sudden? That's so random."
Yes, Kim Dahi. For once, you're making sense. Keep going.
"Well, she's the one everyone talks about the most in our class."
"Well, that's true."
Right. I was the fool for expecting anything from you.
"So I was just curious about what everyone thinks of her. People's opinions seem to vary quite a bit."
"Hmm, I think she's cute and pretty!"
"Well, Dahi likes anything that's cute and pretty."
"Hehe, what about you, Sung?"
"I don't really have any thoughts. Just... 'Ah, she's pretty,' I guess?"
I expected as much from Dahi and Sung. Neither of them liked judging people blindly.
But I was worried about the others.
"Hmm, for me, she's a bit uncomfortable to be around? Something like that."
"Honestly, right?"
"Why? She's pretty."
"That's the only thing she has going for her. Whenever anyone tries to talk to her, she just ignores them. I've never even seen her talk to the other kids or the teachers."
"Honestly, her personality is trash."
"It's like she knows she's pretty. She gives off this vibe like, 'I'm too noble for you guys.'"
"Right, right! She acts so stuck-up."
"She definitely has a princess complex."
Why is this turning into a gossip session about Pina?
Do people have a disease where they'll die if they don't talk behind someone's back for even a second?
I was starting to get annoyed.
"Guys, we should probably stop. This is starting to sound like badmouthing."
"Why? It's just between us."
They didn't even pretend to listen to Dahi. Sung's expression was also growing increasingly uncomfortable.
"What do you think, Hanbyul?"
"Oh, right! Hanbyul got totally humiliated trying to talk to Ha Pina on the first day of school."
"So you don't like her either, right?"
You don't have to look at me like that, Dahi. I'm not going to cause a scene.
"Sorry, I don't really like talking about people behind their backs."
"Oh..."
"H-haha, Hanbyul, why are you being so serious about a joke?"
Right. A joke. You guys always call it a joke or a prank.
You don't know, nor do you care to know, how deeply those words hurt the person who hears them or the one they're aimed at.
It wasn't that these kids were exceptionally evil.
Humans, as creatures, were just built that way.
It was hard for them to feel the weight of their own actions.
"Sure, it might be a joke to you guys. But wouldn't Ha Pina feel hurt if she heard it?"
"And I don't think people's worth should be decided by others gossiping."
"Everyone's opinion is bound to be different, but honestly, in this kind of atmosphere, isn't this just an excuse to trash Ha Pina?"
"When I judge someone, I plan to do it based only on what I've seen and heard myself. I don't really trust things I hear from others."
I should stop here.
If I'd said this much, they would stop if they had any tact.
"So my judgment is still reserved! Since I've never actually talked to Ha Pina myself!"
Damn, was I a bit too late?
Maybe I should have relaxed my expression more. I thought I did, though.
Looking at Dahi's face, it seemed I hadn't relaxed it at all.
"Sorry, guys. Lee Hanbyul is just completely clueless like that."
Oh, nice, Kim Dahi. What got into you?
For once, I'm gratef—
"As someone who has watched over him like an older sister for a long time, I apologize on his behalf. Now, Hanbyul, repeat after your big sister: 'I have absolutely zero tact.'"
"'But since I was born this way, it's hard to fix. So I'm sorry.' Go on, say it."
Grateful, my foot...
I should never be grateful to Kim Dahi, whose brain is definitely smaller than a puppy's.
"Sister, my ass. Why are you my sister? My birthday is earlier than yours."
"Bwahaha! Lee Hanbyul, is that really what's important right now?"
"Pfft, Hanbyul is surprisingly childish."
"Hanbyul, have you two still not settled that? Pfft."
Why is this childish?!
Isn't this incredibly important? Deciding whether I call her sister or she calls me brother.
Ah, but if she actually called me 'oppa', I'd probably bite my tongue...
I feel like I said this recently.
"Hey, Park Sung, what do you expect me to do when your girlfriend won't admit it?"
"Lee Hanbyul... he's a strange guy."