Chapter 80: Photos and Blackmail (2)

“…You don’t seem very surprised?”

After moving to a secluded spot behind the building, So-yul’s friend tilted her head and asked.

The blackmail victim appeared so calm that she seemed quite disappointed.

She was someone who had hidden her identity behind a strange username and sent threatening messages. Though her reasons weren’t clear, perhaps she’d been feeling playful. She might have expected me to stare with wide eyes and gape when she appeared.

The reason I didn’t show such a reaction was because the person I’d suspected had shown up.

I hadn’t been absolutely certain it was her. But if I had to pick the most likely suspect, I would have pointed to her. In a way, my guess had been correct.

With a snort, I answered:

“I had a pretty good idea it was you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

When I nodded casually, a puzzled look settled on her face.

Then she widened her eyes, looking at me as if wanting to ask how I knew.

“How?”

Just as I thought.

I stuck my hands in my pockets.

“You took pictures of us dating in the classroom. If there’s no noise, sounds from the hallway carry into the classroom. Before those two barged in, there were no footsteps in the corridor.”

“…So?”

She should understand after this much explanation.

“So the suspects are the three people who came to the classroom. But if those two girls had this kind of evidence, they would have spread rumors everywhere. That leaves only one person… I figured it had to be you.”

“Hmm.”

She made a dissatisfied expression, apparently finding my reasoning unconvincing.

That was fair enough. After all, we had clearly been photographed. This meant we hadn’t detected someone lurking in the corridor. I couldn’t entirely rule out the possibility of a fourth person who had concealed their presence.

But I still had one more piece of evidence.

“When I thought it through, everything fit if you were the blackmailer. I actually found something suspicious at the time.”

“At the time?”

She looked quite puzzled as she questioned this.

Since there was nothing to hide, I immediately revealed what had been suspicious.

“When you opened the classroom door and came in.”

The situation had been so precarious that the memory remained clear. I could distinctly recall what words had been exchanged. I recited the conversation as it played in my mind.

“Those two explained to you, ‘So-yul’s clothes are lying here, so we thought she might be hiding somewhere in the classroom.’ And you asked back, ‘Why would they hide in the classroom?'”

“What?”

Hearing my answer, the girl momentarily looked blank as if she didn’t understand.

“…Oh.”

As if finally realizing my meaning, she looked up at me with wide eyes.

So-yul’s outerwear was lying there, so they were looking to see if she was hiding somewhere in the classroom.

Let’s assume they didn’t question this absurd line of thinking because that girl had always done strange things.

Indeed, it wasn’t normal to see bags and clothes and immediately think of searching for people hiding.

But… wasn’t it oddly specific to object, “Why would they hide in the classroom?”

I sensed something strange the moment I heard it. I briefly wondered if she’d overheard their conversation from the hallway, but there was no reason for her to do that when she’d simply come looking for two friends who hadn’t shown up at their meeting place.

So perhaps she had witnessed everything, including “us running toward the teacher’s podium.”

Maybe she happened to see us dating in the hallway. Took a photo through the door crack as evidence. Then we ran to the teacher’s podium when footsteps approached. Seeing this, she also hid herself.

Then, as she monitored the situation in the classroom, she appeared just before we were about to be discovered… all the puzzle pieces fit perfectly.

Well, how about that? With this much evidence, there’s no way to deny it. You should confess and face the consequences now.

“Yeah, you’re right. Looks like I slipped up.”

…Contrary to expectations, the girl simply admitted it with a rather brazen expression.

“Fine, let’s say you figured it out ahead of time. But what are you going to do about it? The fact that I’m the one who blackmailed you has already been revealed.”

“…”

Well, that was true.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I scratched the back of my neck.

“So? What do you want?”

The unnecessary preamble had dragged on.

She must have called me here to demand something. Despite thinking about it all evening, I couldn’t figure out what she wanted.

Except for being close to So-yul, we had no connection. I wasn’t even sure if her specialization was music or physical education, let alone her name.

This meant she probably knew just as little about me. I had no idea what she could possibly want.

But one thing remained distinctly puzzling.

She usually doted on So-yul so affectionately, so why would she take blackmail photos of us?

At my question, the girl raised her head. Her gaze toward me was cold. Her eyes, as if trying to look deep inside me, were thoroughly chilly.

I met her eyes without flinching, and she slowly parted her lips.

“First, let me ask you this. Are you really dating So-yul sincerely?”

“What are you talking about? You saw everything, so you should know.”

“Should I? You might just be playing with So-yul’s feelings.”

“Heh.”

She really was saying absurd things.

I openly showed my disbelief.

“Think about it rationally. We’re dating at a school where romance is forbidden, taking on all the risks that entails. If we weren’t serious about each other, why would we go to such lengths?”

…It’s kind of funny saying this when we started out fake-dating, but still.

I thought my rebuttal was solid, but apparently not. The girl’s face didn’t brighten at my answer. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and glared at me.

Then she slowly opened her mouth to speak.

“So-yul is probably sincere, but I’m not so sure about you.”

“…Not sure about me?”

“That’s right.”

She snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. The posture matched her sour expression perfectly. Just from her attitude, it was clear she was trying to gauge my true feelings.

Then, lowering her voice, she began cautiously.

Her gaze was cast somewhere far away.

“So-yul, despite how she looks, is a girl with many wounds.”

“…Many wounds?”

I asked not because I was unaware of So-yul’s pain, but to estimate how much this girl actually knew.

At my question, she furrowed her brow.

“I don’t know the details, but So-yul sometimes makes incredibly sad expressions. Whenever I approach and ask her about it, she says things I don’t understand. Like how she tried her best but things didn’t work out, or that she feels she didn’t work hard enough.”

After saying that much, she now looked directly at me.

“If you truly like and care for So-yul, you should know at least this much, right? You weren’t completely clueless, were you?”

“…”

Her probing questions left me momentarily silent.

When I finally spoke, my voice somehow lacked strength.

“I know. Probably much more than you do.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

I had heard everything directly from So-yul herself.

She said it was a secret she’d never shared with anyone. Even her closest friends didn’t know the full story—she had truly kept it hidden.

Her complicated family environment. Her mother’s oppression and criticism. Her conflict about whether to continue playing the piano.

Perhaps I was the person in this world who best understood So-yul’s circumstances.

And yet, I couldn’t answer confidently because…

I knew all this but hadn’t been able to help her in any meaningful way.

I merely hoped So-yul would endure somehow, prayed she wouldn’t crumble under all the pressure, and tried to give her strength from the sidelines… In the end, wasn’t that just empty comfort?

Even now, So-yul was suffering under her mother. I could only comfort her pain, but I had never tried to improve the situation so she wouldn’t be hurt in the first place.

What exactly was I doing as So-yul’s boyfriend?

“That’s fine then. …Moving on.”

The girl, who couldn’t possibly understand these concerns, seemed ready to continue with what she wanted to say.

I met her gaze to show I was listening, and she looked at me as she continued.

“If you’ve decided to date in a place where getting caught would be serious trouble, you must be confident you can make her happy, right?”

This was an area I’d thought about hundreds of times already.

I gazed at the path visible in the distance as I answered.

“We work so hard just to meet without getting caught by teachers or classmates. I’ll make sure nothing bad happens to So-yul. Don’t worry.”

“…What?”

However.

“What are you saying right now?”

From her tone, it seemed this wasn’t the answer she had expected.

When I turned to look, the girl was staring at me intently. With one corner of her mouth raised, her face appeared strangely cold. She almost looked like she was looking down on me.

Then she let out a hollow laugh and said:

“I asked if you’re confident you can make So-yul happy, and you think it’s enough to say you’ll be careful not to get caught?”

The moment I heard this, I felt something catch in my throat.

As long as we weren’t caught, we could date happily. I knew this was nonsense even as I said it.

Perhaps sensing my hesitation, the girl continued her offensive.

“You’re dating, but you’ll be happy as long as you don’t get caught? Then if you never met at all, that would be extremely happy, right?”

“…”

“If you like each other and got together, you’d want to meet every day. But you have to hold back because you might get caught. Do you really think that makes So-yul happy?”

I couldn’t say a word in response to her pointed remarks.

Her observation pierced directly into a painfully vulnerable spot.

We like each other but can rarely meet. No one understands how sad and painful this frustrating situation is better than we do.

Hadn’t So-yul expressed it herself? That once her mother came to school, dating would become difficult. That she hated that more than being controlled by her mother.

It was certainly true.

We were under suspicion in our class. In the evenings, she was held captive by her mother. At most, we could meet briefly after dorm curfew.

I wasn’t shameless enough to claim this was making So-yul happy.

Facing me as I was at a loss for words, So-yul’s friend glared sharply.

“Well, by now you probably understand… I don’t intend to demand anything from you. Even if you were dating So-yul as a joke, reporting this photo to the school would make things difficult for So-yul too.”

With these words, as if throwing away the weapon in her hands, she took a step closer to me.

“But if I ever feel like you’re making So-yul sad… I’ll do whatever it takes.”

She concluded the conversation with what sounded like a warning.

Having finished what she wanted to tell me, the girl let out a deep sigh.

The eyes that looked at me were filled with disapproval.

From her perspective, I was probably someone making So-yul sad.

A moment later, she turned around and headed toward the building entrance.

Naturally, she didn’t offer any farewell. Whether as strangers who didn’t even know each other’s names, as blackmail victim and perpetrator, or as her friend’s boyfriend—our relationship didn’t warrant such formalities.

Left alone in the empty space, I looked up at the arts track building beside me.

Beyond a brightly lit window, the fragile melody of a piano could be heard.