episode_0167

Kim Woojin probably doesn’t know how much effort Min Juhee put into dressing up so femininely.

“Hmm, I think this one would be better.”

Before having lunch with Kim Woojin, Min Juhee was in her room choosing clothes with Seo Yerin, who had come to visit.

“Is that so?”

Min Juhee, who had never dressed up like this before.

That’s why she asked Seo Yerin, who she knew was the most beautiful person she knew.

Of course, she kept it a secret that she was going to meet Kim Woojin.

“Senior, do you really look good in clothes like this? It would be prettier if you stopped wearing utility jackets and dressed more brightly!”

“Well, that’s…”

She unintentionally made plans with Kim Woojin, so she dressed up like this.

She didn’t want to show this girlish side of herself to others.

“Fine, I get it. You have someone you want to impress!”

“…”

Min Juhee, who had nothing to say, kept her mouth shut.

Seo Yerin, who was humming a tune, started setting Min Juhee’s hair, showing that she had this skill.

“Yerin, you’re good at this too.”

“Huh?”

“Well, I thought you wouldn’t be interested in dressing up since you’re naturally pretty.”

“Oh.”

Seo Yerin, who was curling Min Juhee’s hair with a curling iron, admitted the truth without hiding it.

“Yes, I wasn’t really interested in it.”

Since everyone already said she was pretty without dressing up, there was no need to do so.

“But since there’s someone I want to impress, I naturally learned how to do it.”

“…”

Min Juhee kept her mouth shut.

Otherwise, she might have to apologize.

It seemed like it would be a big problem if she revealed that she was actually going to meet Kim Woojin.

“Okay, all done!”

She changed her clothes, finished her hair and makeup.

“Ta-da!”

Looking at herself in the full-length mirror, Min Juhee exuded a surprisingly innocent femininity.

“With this, your date with Senior Juhee will be a success!”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it! Make sure to win him over! I should call this brat who hasn’t been in touch recently.”

***

“Cough.”

In the restaurant, they were cutting steak and chatting noisily.

It was natural for people around to be in a good mood since they were in an expensive restaurant.

On the contrary.

Our table was filled with silence.

‘What’s going on here.’

Juhee dressed up.

And very beautifully at that.

Honestly, I wouldn’t have known it was Juhee if I had seen her for the first time.

The important thing was that she seemed embarrassed, focusing on eating.

Through rational deduction, I came to the most likely conclusion.

“By any chance…”

“Huh?! Why are you asking that?”

“Did you make plans to meet your boyfriend after lunch?”

“…”

Oh.

If there had been a fork next to me, I would have been stabbed right away by the ominous atmosphere.

I filled my mouth with a piece of meat again, thinking that if I said more, something might break.

Juhee had said she wasn’t interested in dating, but people’s hearts are fickle by nature.

Even if you didn’t want to date yesterday, you might want to today.

‘Forget it.’

It’s not good to pry too much, and the atmosphere is bad.

With a very unpleasant mood, I muster up the courage to speak to Juhee, who is chewing her meat noisily.

“Senior, I really appreciate what you did this time.”

“…”

“If you hadn’t helped, I would have been in big trouble with Hwang Sajang.”

If Juhee senior hadn’t dramatically appeared at that moment, Hwang Sajang would have been thoroughly beaten up.

As I sincerely expressed my gratitude, Juhee senior hesitated for a moment.

“Well then.”

She made another request.

“After this, do you want to watch a movie?”

“A movie?”

It seemed out of the blue, but then I remembered.

Oh, that’s right.

I had seen a trailer for a movie directed by a famous director known for martial arts and action.

It seemed like she wanted to watch it.

“Yes, let’s go after this.”

I smiled and nodded, and Juhee senior’s lips curled up slightly as she started eating her steak a bit faster.

And so, after lunch, we headed to the movie theater together.

Since we had just eaten, we decided to only buy drinks at the kiosk and reserved our tickets.

“…Are we watching that?”

“Huh? Wasn’t that what you wanted to watch?”

As I chose a movie directed by an action director, Juhee senior furrowed her brow and shook her head.

“I didn’t have anything specific in mind.”

But she seemed somewhat dissatisfied with my choice.

“Isn’t this the style you like, Juhee senior?”

“Well, it’s not that… I feel like watching something different today.”

“Something different? Like what?”

As we looked at the movies available on the kiosk, Juhee senior reached out and pointed to one.

“This one looks good.”

“…Are you serious?”

The movie seemed like a static melodrama from the poster.

“It’s not a romantic comedy or anything, just a romance.”

“Yeah, I feel like watching this today.”

“Well… if you want to watch it, senior.”

In the end, we bought tickets for the romance movie, and we entered the theater.

Juhee senior next to me seemed quite excited about the movie, as she fidgeted with her hands.

Glancing at me, she called out.

“Uh, Woojin?”

“Yes?”

“Can you massage my hand a bit?”

“Your hand?”

“It’s a bit sore.”

After giving her a quick massage, Juhee senior shivered slightly and smiled in satisfaction.

“Come to think of it.”

I had also given a massage to Yurin when we went to the movies together before.

“I wonder what Yurin is doing now. She must be having a good time with Yoonji.”

Hoping for a good conversation, I focused on the movie that was about to start after the ads ended.

* * *

“Huh?!”

I suddenly woke up from dozing off.

The end credits were rolling.

Had I watched the movie for 30 minutes?

The boring plot and the fact that it didn’t suit my taste made me naturally fall asleep.

Feeling quite embarrassed for falling asleep while watching the movie with Juhee senior, I glanced at her.

Just like me, Juhee senior was fast asleep.

Resting on my shoulder, she slept soundly, showing that she was just as bored as I was.

“Senior, wake up.”

“Hmm?”

“Senior, the movie’s over. Let’s go.”

“It’s over? Ugh!”

Yawning, she looked around and realized that there was no one else around except us, then turned her head in embarrassment.

“Let’s go quickly.”

Saying that, she hurriedly left the theater as if running away.

She had asked to watch the movie and then fell asleep, so she must have been feeling even more embarrassed.

“I’ll go to the restroom for a moment.”

Since I had also fallen asleep, I went to the restroom to check my hair and clothes.

Usually, the restroom would be crowded after a movie, but seeing it empty now, it seemed like we had woken up quite late.

“I wonder if she’ll have dinner until then?”

As I was trying to organize my thoughts, my phone started ringing.

It was Yoo Arin calling.

Curious about how her conversation with Oh Yoonji went, I answered the call right away.

– Where are you, you punk?

“Why do you curse as soon as you pick up?”

– I’m being clingy, so hurry up and tell me. Where are you?

When she spoke like that, there was nothing I could say.

“I’m outside. I watched a movie.”

– With who?

“Senior Juhee.”

If it was another girl, I might have hesitated to tell her. But Juhee was an exception.

With that in mind, I sighed deeply as Arin sounded annoyed.

– Weren’t you just supposed to have lunch with Senior Juhee? Why did you watch a movie too?

“How did you know I was having lunch with a senior?”

– Yoonji told me.

“Did you have a good conversation with Yoonji?”

– Why does that matter?

She was getting impatient.

– Isn’t it more important that Senior Juhee dressed up today?

“How did you know?”

– Because the one who dressed her up is right next to me.

– Kim Woojin! Why aren’t you answering my calls!

“Seo Yerin! I told you not to send me weird photos! When my phone was stolen last time, if there was no lock, someone else could have seen them!”

I was shocked when I found my phone again and saw the numerous messages from Seo Yerin.

– Ugh, I’m on a call. Anyway, how was it? Did you go on a date with Senior Juhee?

“What date?”

Being with Senior Juhee wasn’t a date. We were just hanging out.

It felt more like hanging out with a boss than a friend.

As I answered, Arin let out a deep sigh.

– You. Senior, who usually doesn’t dress up, wore a dress, did her hair, and put on makeup?

“……”

– Did she not smoke either? What movie did you watch?

“I don’t even remember the title, but it was a romance.”

– Look at that. Ugh, Kim Woojin. Why do people like this kind of person?

“Do you have to ask me that?”

– If you drink wine today, you’ll really die. Yerin, say something too.

“……”

– The moment you stay out tonight, I’ll-!

The threat was too cruel, so I decided not to listen to the rest.

Arin was also surprised and quickly snatched the phone back.

– Anyway. Be careful. Don’t play with our feelings and confusion about not being able to make up your mind.

– If you mess with x, then-!

Click.

The call was cut off.

Staring blankly at my phone, I felt like I had been hit on the back of the head.

Juhee liked me?

Then, memories of the incident at Gold One came flooding back.

Juhee, who was in my arms.

It wasn’t a dream, but it felt like a dream.

“……”

As I came out of the bathroom, I clenched my lips.

Juhee was waiting for me, looking neat as if she had also been to the bathroom.

“Going back to the dorm is a bit awkward, so how about we have dinner and then go in?”

As if it was just a practice, Senior smoothly moved on to the next topic.

I had to hold back, but I couldn’t resist the question.

“Is this a date?”

In the end, unable to hold back my curiosity, I asked directly.

Senior seemed taken aback, not expecting me to be so straightforward.

Since I had already said it, I decided to be direct and see where it led.

“Senior, do you like me?”

“Eh?!”

With a strange exclamation, Senior blushed and took a step back.

I approached her as if chasing after her and continued my questioning.

“Why did you dress up today?”

“Uh, well….”

“Why did you suggest watching a romance movie?”

“Uh!”

“Did you suggest dinner because you were practicing in the bathroom?”

“Wait a minute!”

“Last time.”

Click.

Before I knew it, I grabbed both of Senior Juhee’s shoulders and locked eyes with him.

Would I be able to swing a baseball bat with such a body that it seemed like it would fit snugly in his arms and beat up thugs?

It was hard to believe.

“Why were you clinging to me at Gold One?”

“….!”

Bang!

I heard something explode.

Usually in anime, when this happens, steam comes out of the head and emotions explode, right?

But that wasn’t the case.

“Oof!”

It was the sound of my head exploding from Senior Juhee’s uppercut.

I felt my body lift slightly.

I shouldn’t question how Senior dealt with the thugs since I experienced it firsthand.

“Ow, that hurts so much.”

As I rubbed my chin and looked at Senior, he forced himself to suppress his emotions while taking deep breaths.

Now I have a question.

“Um, Senior. But there’s really no reason for me to like you.”

There’s really no reason to like him, right?

Of course, sometimes you start to like someone just by looking at them, naturally growing fond of them.

But Senior Juhee?

Would the Chief of the Student Council steal someone’s heart like that?

Especially when he used to reject dating altogether?

That’s why I thought there must be a reason for this.

“S-So, what I mean is.”

Senior Juhee started to explain, overcoming his embarrassment.

“At Gold One, you… you did it with Yerin and Arin.”

It was cute how he hesitated to say it.

“S-So you saw that.”

Even though I tried to remain calm, I felt sweat forming on my head.

I screamed internally to not get caught for something that should never have been found out.

But since Senior hadn’t finished his story yet, I listened carefully to his words, pretending to be nonchalant.

“After seeing that, I started to feel… interested in you.”

“…What?”

Did I hear that correctly?

“Just, after that, I started to feel strangely interested in you.”

Hmm.

It felt like my head was clearing up in reverse.

Like solving a difficult math problem and feeling a sense of relief in my head.

“In summary.”

I clenched my fist and neatly summarized the situation.

“Are you saying that you mistook lust for love!?”

Before I could continue, Senior Juhee’s fist struck my chest, cutting off my words.