episode_0110

“Hey, Hyunjin-ssi.”

It was Baek Ayun’s call. I didn’t bother turning my head and replied curtly.

“What.”

“It looks like Rachel-ssi over there is glaring at us, rather unusually.”

“……”

“Hmm. It doesn’t seem to be just my imagination.”

Saying that, she glanced back at me. Her gaze seemed to be asking for an answer, but I didn’t really have anything to say.

Something like a great secret I was hiding, or words I couldn’t tell Baek Ayun…

It wasn’t any grand reason like that.

Simply put, I didn’t know either.

The reason a blonde beautiful girl (a classmate, on good terms) from a western island nation was glaring at me?

First, to be clear… she was undoubtedly glaring at me.

I was having a secret meeting with Baek Ayun after a long time. For Rachel to show up at the same time, the cafe itself was in too secluded a spot.

It was the kind of place not frequented by ordinary students, let alone faculty members.

It wasn’t popular, but the drinks and snacks weren’t bad, making it the perfect place for a secret rendezvous one didn’t want to be discovered.

I was flustered too. To think I’d run into Rachel while on a pseudo-date with Baek Ayun, all under the pretext of taking ‘responsibility’?

Perhaps I should find this more unsettling than I initially thought.

At any rate, publicly, I had a fiancée. I’d even made a marriage promise, hadn’t I?

And in such a situation, I’d been witnessed having a secret meeting with another female student, even if it was on the outskirts of the campus, it was still within its bounds.

Of course, I was confident that even if this story reached Cheon Soyul, I’d just get a moderate zapping from her lightning…

Still, an awkward situation was an awkward situation. This was a more fundamental problem.

I sipped my drink through a straw, lost in thought, leaning deep into the backrest.

‘It feels like it’s been like this for a few days now.’

It was a recollection of the past. Not long ago, maybe around last week? The change must have occurred after my match with Rachel in the ranking battles.

There was no solid evidence to guarantee it, but then again, there wasn’t much else to suggest.

For instance, I could give an example from two days ago.

On my way to school, I felt an unknown, sticky gaze, so I turned my head to look.

-Ehehe!

Rachel was right there. Her distinctive hair color made her easy to recognize.

And what about five days ago?

It was a bit vague in my memory since some time had passed… but during class, my spine tingled, and I reflexively scattered cold air.

-Cold!?

Rachel was there too. I immediately apologized, but thinking about it now, the chill I’d felt just before remained unexplained.

And finally, it led to today, with such blatant tailing?

‘Something’s up.’

I grunted. I prided myself on not doing anything that would incur resentment, but it might just be a simple grudge from the ranking battles.

Having finished my thoughts, I immediately grabbed Baek Ayun’s shoulder, who was glancing at Rachel with a ‘warning’ in her gaze.

“Huh?”

And then I shot off! Using the physical abilities I’d permanently ‘borrowed’ from Baek Ayun, I swiftly exited the cafe with her.

“Oh, wait, I haven’t finished my cake yettt…”

“I’ll buy you a prettier one later.”

“Oppa, you’re the best! I love you!”

Baek Ayun’s quick change of attitude didn’t matter. Anyway, right now, I needed to involve Rachel to find out the reason for this unsettling situation.

I moved almost silently, skillfully checking behind me.

The presence following me was quite faint, but not so faint that I couldn’t perceive it.

This clearly proved that she was shamelessly ‘stalking’ someone.

I frowned in displeasure but immediately turned into an alley. It was just a feeling, but at that moment, I sensed the pursuer flinching.

“Go, Baek Ayun!”

“Hmph!?”

I hurled Baek Ayun, whom I’d been half-carrying!

“…?!”

“…!!!”

Thud!!

With a short thud, a shrill groan immediately echoed as someone tumbled to the ground.

“Ow ow ow…”

“What the, *tsk*, ugh.”

The owners of those sounds were Baek Ayun and Rachel, respectively. Soon, Baek Ayun looked up at me with a bewildered expression, while Rachel closed her mouth.

And then, her eyes darted around. It seemed she was trying to come up with something, but…

“Give up. This, hey, isn’t the circumstantial evidence too strong?”

I acted like a police officer interrogating a suspect, nudging her feet with my foot.

This girl, how dare she follow someone? And with such an ominous gaze as a passive skill.

Her methods were too clumsy for her to be pursuing me with malicious intent, so it didn’t seem like she had any grand purpose.

Still, it remained suspicious. Along with curiosity, my inner sadism, longing for retribution, began to peek out.

‘Oops.’

And I reflexively slammed the brakes on my gaze, stopping myself from scanning Rachel.

…It was because, of all things, her fallen posture had an oddly alluring feel to it.

I almost became a pervert who knocked someone down and then observed their physique as if appraising it.

I sighed in relief inwardly and simultaneously squatted down in place.

At any rate, I matched eye level with Rachel, who was sprawled on the ground.

Oh, and by the way, Baek Ayun was someone with a complex about her height.

She quickly stood up and looked down at us from above, and I briefly glanced at her with a wry chuckle.

Baek Ayun’s expression quickly turned subtle.

“Rachel.”

Before she could say anything unnecessary, I immediately spoke first.

Rachel flinched, retracting her neck, and looked at me with subtle eyes.

I adopted a strict, solemn, and serious expression and gently pressed down on her shoulder, not hard enough to hurt.

“Why are you trailing people around like that? It’s bothersome.”

“…Uh, uhm. Well.”

“It’s too late to make excuses now, claiming you didn’t do it.”

I narrowed my eyes. Rachel stammered for a moment, then seemed unable to find words after my added remark and pressed her lips together.

Just as I was about to press her further, seizing the momentum.

“Wow, Hyunjin-ssi, you look completely like a villain right now.”

Baek Ayun’s voice, laced with admiration, quietly resonated. A harmless remark.

I couldn’t utter the words I had prepared and had to close my mouth again.

Rachel, for her part, nodded with an innocent expression, as if secretly agreeing.

It was a reaction that quickly faded when I frowned to show my displeasure, but…

“Ayun-ah?”

Anyway, I turned to Baek Ayun with annoyance, and she immediately winked at me.

“I love you too, even like that.”

“……”

She was the kind of person who could make you hold your complaints unspoken.

I just twitched my lips for a moment, then decided to turn my eyes away as if I hadn’t heard.

Anyway, the important thing now was to question Rachel. Thinking so, I was just about to formulate my next words.

“Lo, love…!”

Rachel suddenly blurted out a short word as if in a fit.

She had reacted to none other than Baek Ayun’s ‘keyword’.

I flinched and spun to look at her, and Baek Ayun, fully aware of the situation, gave a coy eye-smile as if she knew nothing.

…A gaze filled with reproach didn’t seem to have much effect on her.

“Hyunjin, I just heard it clearly! Ayun mentioned love to you! Right?!”

“……”

“A-And, everyone at Cheongsong Academy knows that you’re engaged to Soyul.”

I sighed, pressing a hand to my forehead.

Rachel’s subsequent words contained nothing different from what I had worried about.

And so, I had naturally fallen silent, but how had she interpreted that?

“Huhu…!”

Rachel, losing all traces of her previous timidity, instantly became imperious and jutted her chin towards me.

And then she raised a finger, pointing it! This Brit actually started wagging her finger at me.

“You asked why I was following you, didn’t you? I’ll tell you, I was trailing you for an interview.”

“…Interview?”

“I’m part of the newspaper club.”

That wasn’t a fact I was particularly curious about.

I wasn’t in any club, so I had no great interest.

I gestured to her to continue, and Rachel, as if she’d been waiting, began to chatter on.

“Listen, who do you think is the hottest topic at the academy these days? Until now, President Woohyuk or Director Seonghyeon were always mentioned, but now the situation has changed a bit. Did you know, Hyunjin? Despite being only a second-year, you’re the most frequently mentioned student in the school newspaper!”

“…Is that so?”

Should I be happy? Is that true? I paused, momentarily confused, but Rachel continued without a care.

“Of course, the same goes for Soyul. It’s no exaggeration to say that virtually every student in this academy is interested in your engagement.”

I asked with my eyes, ‘Why is that?’

Rachel replied simply.

“Because it’s fun, of course.”

“……”

Is that so.

Hmm.

If it’s fun, then I suppose so.

I nodded, and Rachel, confirming my acceptance, delivered her concluding line.

“That’s why I followed you. You’re clearly someone with a fiancée, Soyul, yet there are various rumors about your womanizing tendencies, so I figured I could definitely catch you red-handed somewhere.”

She said that was the reason for her tailing. There were no further words, but if I were to guess, her intention was undoubtedly gossip.

All judgment was complete. Mm-hmm. I nodded a couple of times.

“I see…”

“Ahem.”

Rachel’s lips curved into a smug smile, and I, not caring much, turned my head to meet Baek Ayun’s gaze.

My fingertip then pointed at Rachel and the unremarkable ground around her.

“Should we just bury this one?”

“Oh, should I dig the hole?”

My utterly plain remark, and Baek Ayun’s witty response.

“…Huh?”

Rachel’s smug expression instantly froze rigid.