episode_0056

I’ll say it again, Yeonghee is a beautiful girl.

There’s no denying that fact,

I would say it a hundred times over.

But the meaning of ‘beauty’ varies from person to person.

If someone else were to see Yeonghee right now…

They would definitely think she looks different from her usual self.

“Yujin-nim, please try this too. Ah~”

“Mm.”

Yeonghee extended fruits towards Yujin with her hand.

Her cheeks blushed as if embarrassed.

Her eyes sparkled tenderly as she gazed at Yujin.

“How is it? Delicious, right? It would be nice if it suits your taste, Yujin-nim…”

It was a lovely expression.

It was the face of a girl unable to contain her bursting heart.

“Hehe! By acting like this, don’t we look just like a newlywed couple?”

With that lovely face,

Her gaze was completely lifeless.

Not sweet at all.

Her stare felt sticky and suffocating.

However, the recipient wasn’t Yujin.

“……. ”

Cheolsu, sitting in front, silently observed her.

There was no sign of anger or sadness.

He simply watched.

In the first place, what Yeonghee aimed for was that.

Her actions and words could ‘hurt’ Cheolsu.

That was the conclusion drawn by the girl whose heart shattered under implications.

“Oh, Yujin-nim. You have something on the corner of your mouth.”

“Huh?”

“Just a moment. Let me wipe it off for you.”

Yeonghee moved her face closer to Yujin’s.

But what she moved wasn’t her hand.

-Snap.

She extended her face, then playfully licked Yujin’s cheek with her pink tongue.

Even Yujin seemed flustered by this action.

“Yeonghee, that’s… ”

“Oh, I’m sorry! I was too hasty, right?”

Yeonghee covered her mouth as if surprised by her own actions.

Even a child could tell it was an act.

As evidence, she grinned mischievously as if to say, “When did that happen?”

“Still… since we might kiss someday, isn’t this okay?”

Yeonghee wiggled her finger as if embarrassed.

Blushing slightly, she cautiously spoke with the expression of a girl in love.

“Also… if you only want Yujin-nim, I can wake you up every morning with a morning kiss.”

Snap!

The chopsticks Cheolsu held broke.

The wooden piece turned into splinters and fell to the floor.

Without paying any attention to it, Cheolsu only had eyes for Yeonghee.

Yeonghee turned her head towards Cheolsu, smiling slyly as if she had been waiting.

“Oh my~ Why are you staring at me like that?”

Her gaze was as if she was looking at a bug.

A condescending smile towards someone she deems inferior.

Eyes filled with malice and mockery blatantly directed at Cheolsu.

“Why? Cheolsu, you should get along with the class president, right? Now, you don’t even care about someone like me.”

Honestly, it was forced.

After all, it was Yeonghee who first pretended to be Yujin’s lover.

But that didn’t matter.

In any case, Cheolsu felt guilty about it,

And Yeonghee, caught in implications, was full of plans to use it.

To her, as long as she could hurt Cheolsu, nothing else mattered.

The hypnosis Yeonghee was under was of that kind.

“Hmm~ I thought your feelings for me would never change. But that wasn’t the case, was it?”

Yeonghee’s words cut like a knife.

Hoping to become a dagger in Cheolsu’s heart, even just a bit.

Wishing to stir his emotions.

“I get it. If a girl like the class president is around, it’s natural for feelings to shift. To me, you were barely anything more than that, anyway.”

Why she acted like that, she didn’t know.

Why she thought she had to act that way, she didn’t know either.

Under normal circumstances, she would never have done such a thing.

To the point where it was difficult to even question, Yeonghee’s heart was shattered.

“Why? Can’t you say anything? Or is everything you said the truth, leaving nothing more to be said?”

“……..”

“Oh, I see. So now there’s no point in justifying yourself to me. Do you think a woman like me is just a rag that sticks everywhere?”

With a grunt, Cheolsu’s face twisted.

“You have no conscience. It’s all because of me.”

Cheolsu eventually got up from his seat.

He left without finishing his meal.

It was when Yujin unconsciously tried to get up as well.

– Firmly.

Yeonghee tightly grabbed Yujin’s arm.

As if she herself had been hurt instead.

Yujin, who was sitting in the middle, awkwardly sucked on a spoon.

‘…Did they have a lover’s quarrel?’

Thinking such a ridiculous thought.

****

The captain’s magic hit the rabbit.

He walked over to the fallen rabbit.

“Today’s food secured.”

There was no sense of accomplishment in his tone.

How could one be happy when things were like this among friends?

Just moments ago, he had escaped under the pretext of hunting and taking a walk because he couldn’t breathe.

‘Ah, why is Yeonghee acting like that?’

Since arriving on the island, Yeonghee’s state had been somewhat off.

Of course, initially, it wasn’t taken seriously.

Wasn’t all of Yeonghee’s actions just an act to look good in front of Yujin?

But now, the behavior clearly crossed a line.

It seemed like an outright attack on Cheolsu out of malice.

‘Hmm, was it that shocking that Cheolsu protected me?’

Of course, from a girlfriend’s perspective, it could be enough reason.

Her boyfriend protected someone else before her.

Even she felt a bit jealous about Yujin being protected by Cheolsu…

‘No! No! I shouldn’t have such thoughts!’

That was clearly an unavoidable situation.

Cheolsu thought he had to protect himself in that moment of judgment.

And in that situation, his decision wasn’t wrong.

However, making the right decision doesn’t always lead to the right outcome.

That’s just how it is.

Of course, he knew that in his head, but…

A person’s heart isn’t something that can be easily cut off and reconnected.

‘…Was I not in a position to find Yeonghee strange?’

Was his mind really this narrow?

No, it seems he only thinks this way when it comes to Yujin.

Even on this island, he only cared about Yujin.

Initially, he wanted to show off his skills to make her notice him.

Why did it turn out like this?

“Yujin…”

“You called?”

The captain was startled and jumped up from his spot.

For a moment.

He quickly straightened his disheveled hair,

And hastily hid the bleeding rabbit carcass he was holding in his hands.

Ahem! Ahem! Cough!

With that appearance, he turned around with the best smile he could muster.

“Oh, Yujin. What brings you here?”

Perhaps she followed him out of worry?

If so, he would be somewhat happy.

No, honestly, very happy.

“Just came for a short walk. Yeonghee sent me away as if she was tidying up.”

But Yujin didn’t give him the answer he hoped for.

Well, in the current situation, that was the expected response.

Trying to hide the slight feeling of disappointment, the captain asked,

“How is Yeonghee?”

“The same as before.”

The captain nodded silently.

So, the problem still persists.

Maybe it’s fortunate that the end of the survival period is approaching.

When there’s some peace of mind, things might improve.

“Oh, come to think of it, isn’t this the first time the two of them have been alone since coming to the island?”

Despite this and that, the four of them had stuck together on the island.

When bathing, sleeping, eating.

Their friends were concerned, so they couldn’t approach Yujin.

No matter what, he wasn’t the type to act friendly towards Yujin in front of Cheolsu.

“Oh, suddenly feeling nervous?”

Anyway, realizing they were alone made his heart start pounding.

Come to think of it, there hadn’t been a day spent with Yujin since fully acknowledging these feelings.

His face flushed for no reason.

“Ah, I need to say something, anything!”

The class president desperately searched for a topic.

But even a head that vied for the top spot in the whole school wasn’t much help at times like this.

The words the class president managed to come up with were as follows:

“Hey, how do you feel about Yeonghee?”

The class president wanted to bang his head against a wall.

No, why bring up Yeonghee here?

Of course, given the situation, it could come up, but still.

No matter what, how could he ask that?

He wondered what kind of question he had just posed.

“A good kid.”

Yujin answered without hesitation.

Upon hearing those words, the class president’s heart sank.

Nerves, shot.

Carefully, he continued speaking.

“S-So? What makes you say that?”

“Kind. Generous. A remarkable kid. The first one I got close to at the academy.”

“Uh… okay.”

Oh no, trouble.

His heart truly began to ache.

Even though he knew he shouldn’t harbor such emotions.

His heart kept stinging.

He felt his inferiority complex slowly rearing its head within him.

“How foolish…”

Knowing he would hear such an answer, why did he ask?

He was reaching the point of resenting himself from 30 seconds ago.

Most of all, what angered him was the fact that amidst all this, he was jealous of Yeonghee.

Really.

He felt like he might drown in self-loathing.

“So the current situation is a bit awkward. I don’t understand why Yeonghee is acting this way.”

The class president was about to respond but suddenly fell silent.

He realized something important.

“Huh? So right now, Yeonghee is alone at the base camp?”

“For now. Cheolsu did leave earlier, but he might have returned since he had nowhere else to go…”

Yujin stopped talking.

He understood the meaning behind his own words.

In other words, wasn’t it implying that Yeonghee and Cheolsu were alone in that state?

Almost simultaneously, both of them started running towards the camp.