120) Chapter 18. No? (6)
I quietly observed Nam Jinwoo for a moment.
When I stared at her without saying anything, Jinwoo kept wiping her face.
Did she think I was staring because something was on it?
Of course, she’d been using a straw from the moment she got her drink, so there was nothing on her face.
Eventually, Jinwoo gave up trying to figure out my intentions, lowered her gaze, and focused on drinking quietly.
Hmm.
I know this isn’t exactly a good thing to do. At a glance, it looks like bullying.
No—if you think about it, it is bullying.
It only works because Jinwoo doesn’t dislike me.
“…Hm?”
Then something suddenly came to mind—something I’d forgotten.
Does she eat properly?
We don’t always eat dinner together.
The student cafeteria we use for lunch is closed at night. It’s only meant for lunch service inside the building.
For dinner, everyone either eats at one of the restaurants on campus or at the dorm cafeteria—each dorm has one.
The campus restaurants are just normal restaurants, and the dorm meals are similar to lunch.
The school’s food quality isn’t bad, so it’s good enough.
Sometimes we eat outside before returning to the dorm, but sometimes we go back early and eat in the dorm cafeteria.
And when we do that, Jinwoo isn’t with us.
“……”
But she doesn’t have friends.
Does she have any male friends in the dorm?
Probably not. If she did, she wouldn’t be following behind us like this.
“……”
Watching her lower her head and suck up tapioca pearls through that thick straw—filling her mouth with half a cup’s worth of pearls—I suddenly wondered if she was trying to fill up here so she could skip dinner at the dorm.
But asking that directly would be too much. That would be… humiliating her.
“……”
Just as I was thinking that, I felt a gaze.
On both sides, Soi and Chae‑yi were staring at me. I didn’t even need to look to know.
Since they’re wary of Jinwoo because she’s “a boy,” this was probably inevitable.
Even if Jinwoo realized I was teasing her, to other girls it would look like “a girl staring intently at a boy.”
“……”
And it wasn’t just Soi and Chae‑yi staring.
I felt a stricter gaze.
Hyeonji.
Maybe she thought I was teasing a friend too much—she was staring at me with her arms crossed.
In the end, I lowered my gaze too.
And like Jinwoo, I sucked on my straw.
For some reason, even after I did that, the three of them—and even Jinwoo, who kept glancing—continued staring at me for a long time. Why?
*
Like I said earlier, once I start worrying about something, I keep worrying.
Once I started worrying about whether Jinwoo was eating properly, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
So when I said, “Should we eat dinner before heading back today?” Jinwoo’s face brightened so noticeably that it felt… extremely awkward.
S‑she’s happy because she’s eating with friends, right?
Not because she has no one to eat with and would’ve skipped dinner otherwise… right?
Even after eating so much at the café, she still ate well at the restaurant, and watching her made me feel strangely sad—until I noticed Soi, Chae‑yi, and Hyeonji staring at me again and had to lower my head.
But I still kept thinking about it.
As for me…
I’m not super sociable, but I have people who stick with me, so I never have to eat alone.
As an adult, eating alone isn’t a big deal.
But school is… different.
“Hey.”
“H‑huh?”
Jinwoo had followed us all the way to our dorm again, even though she could’ve split off earlier, so I called out to her.
She flinched but didn’t run away.
Now that I think about it—well, I’d noticed before—she really does give off the vibe of an abandoned puppy.
Thinking that, I kind of understood why the heroines in the original couldn’t leave her alone.
“…We’ll walk you to your dorm today.”
“Huh?”
“You always follow us. …I mean, it’s okay, right?”
When I asked, Soi and Chae‑yi looked at each other.
Then they shrugged at me silently.
I… don’t know if that means yes or no.
Maybe it’s neutral.
I looked at Hyeonji, and she nodded quietly.
So we all walked together to the boys’ dorm.
Even though we call them the boys’ dorm and girls’ dorm, they’re not that far apart. About seven minutes on foot.
Well, if you consider the entire campus grounds, I guess that’s kind of far.
As we approached the boys’ dorm, the ratio of male to female students gradually flipped. There were still some girls around, but not many groups like ours.
So people stared at us.
And at Jinwoo.
Even though she walked with her head down, she had a faint smile tugging at her lips, like she was trying not to show it.
It made me feel strangely sad again.
“Uh, um, th‑then… see you tomorrow.”
Jinwoo said hesitantly.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
I waved. Soi, Chae‑yi, and even Hyeonji waved too.
As Jinwoo turned and walked toward her dorm, her steps looked lighter than yesterday. Was that just my imagination?
Even when we walked back to our dorm, people stared at us.
Jinwoo must’ve felt like this every morning waiting for us.
…Even though the people staring at her were girls just like her.
*
“Okay, say it.”
“H‑huh?”
“Did you fall for Nam Jinwoo?”
“Wha—?!”
The moment we entered the dorm, Soi said that, and my brain froze.
Me? Fall for Jinwoo?
No way.
If anything, the one saying this—Soi—has a much higher chance, right? Or Chae‑yi. Even Hyeonji… if the order had been different, it wouldn’t be strange.
Honestly, it’s weird they don’t have boyfriends already with how they look.
…Saying that makes me sound like the original author, but whatever.
“No, I just…”
“Then why do you care so much?”
Chae‑yi asked.
Because she’s a friend?
But saying that outright feels weird.
In my previous life, even among my few friends, some had “female friends.” Or acquaintances. Usually club seniors or juniors, or coworkers.
If you asked if they were dating, they’d get genuinely offended, but honestly, they were close enough that it made sense to wonder.
So hearing “You care that much about the opposite sex but you’re not into them?” made me lose my words.
Even though the premise is completely wrong.
But if I don’t answer properly here, it’ll become “confirmed.”
“……”
More importantly—
Soi looked extremely anxious, angry, and like she didn’t want to hear the answer—all at once. Her leg was shaking, her expression was tense, and her eyes were watery.
“H‑hey? Soi? Chae‑yi?”
Soi asked first, but Chae‑yi’s expression was the same.
Like they were ready to scare me if they had to, just to get a proper answer.
Hyeonji was expressionless, but her ears were perked up.
“It’s not like that.”
So I denied it first.
“Then?”
Soi asked immediately.
“Is it just because you feel sorry for him?”
“W‑well, yeah. He doesn’t have many friends.”
Soi and Chae‑yi made faces like, You’re one to talk, but I continued anyway.
Yeah. I’m 99% sure, but it’s not confirmed.
It’s not like I know Jinwoo’s secret because of the original.
And also…
Friends should know things about each other.
So this is for Jinwoo’s sake. Definitely not because Soi looked like she’d jump me if I answered wrong, or because Chae‑yi looked the same and was breathing weirdly, or because the atmosphere felt like they’d tie me up and keep me from leaving the dorm if I didn’t answer. Definitely not. Absolutely not.
“Um…”
“Um?”
“Um?”
They both leaned in.
Their intensity made my words catch in my throat. I swallowed hard.
“N‑Nam Jinwoo is… um.”
Silence.
Soi and Chae‑yi stared at me like they’d eat me alive. The silence was terrifying.
I looked at Hyeonji for help, but she didn’t move.
“Nam Jinwoo is—”
I thought one last time.
…But the only words in my head were:
Screw it, whatever.
“Nam Jinwoo… I think she’s a girl.”
“……”
The silence remained, but it wasn’t heavy—it was buzzing.
A silence filled with startled breaths, clothes rustling as they turned to look at each other, and a collective gasp.
Then—
“What?”
It was the most “Are you kidding me?” tone I had ever heard in my life.
Honestly, I wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it.
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A word from the author (A/N):
Thank you for reading today as well!
=
To eternalyg, thank you so much for the support!
Thank you so much for always reading my work! From the very first day I uploaded my writing on Novelpia until today, every day has been joyful thanks to all of you! If you hadn’t read my story, it would’ve remained nothing more than scribbles in a notebook—just my own private daydreams—and it probably would’ve been abandoned before it ever became a real story. Rua, Soi and Chae‑yi, Hyeonji and Jinwoo—all of them were able to become the protagonists of this novel thanks to you! Thank you so much! I hope the joy I feel while writing reaches you when you read it! Thank you truly! I look forward to your continued support!