Chapter 52
At Cheongwoon Academy, second-year student Han Taeyang was fairly famous for a variety of reasons.
He was basically known as a womanizer and a lecher who used his tall stature and good looks to fool around with female students.
Yet that image of him as a thoroughly sleazy punk, including all such behavior, wasn't the whole story…….
The objective, comprehensive assessment around school was that, if you looked closely, he did seem to have a surprisingly diligent side as well.
But.
‘Actually, both of those are wrong.’
As a member of the same second-year Class B, Ryu Chae-eun had occasionally become involved with him privately over the past year, and she took the opposite view of those assessments.
More precisely, she agreed with them to some extent, but believed they were wrong at the crucial point.
First, his tall stature and good looks. Those were difficult to deny. Han Taeyang's face certainly wasn't bad for a man.
On the other hand, was he really a womanizer and a lecher who used those looks to fool around with female students?
Though she never showed it, Ryu Chae-eun would inwardly scoff whenever she heard such an assessment.
‘What do you mean, fooling around……? In reality, he’s an oppa with neither the courage nor the ability to do that.’
In the first place, weren't the stories openly circulating around the school ultimately nothing more than baseless rumors—in other words, hearsay?
They sounded impressive enough, talking about sleeping with female upperclassmen and having countless one-night stands, but.
Unless something could be proven for certain, Ryu Chae-eun's principle was that there was no reason to believe it without question.
She was the type who preferred to judge people only by what she had seen for herself rather than by rumors she heard.
Thus, even early last year, when positive opinions of Han Taeyang were extremely close to being a minority view, Ryu Chae-eun paid no heed whatsoever to the widespread badmouthing of him.
She ignored both the prejudice that he was a blonde, tanned punk and the unsavory stories about his past that circulated in the form of rumors.
Ignoring all of it, she met Han Taeyang directly, spoke with him, and judged him solely by instinct.
So what conclusion had Ryu Chae-eun ultimately drawn about her classmate Han Taeyang?
‘As expected, he’s a turtle-like person.’
Ryu Chae-eun still sat with her legs crossed, sucking down the last of her drink and wearing a mischievous, little-devil smile.
Both her eyes had been fixed from the beginning on the dull-blond male student sitting across from her.
The group members had gathered around a wide table and were discussing how to tackle the dungeon they would be clearing a few days later, but.
Since the general guidelines had already been established by the old guide passed down from the upperclassmen, there was no need to offer particularly active opinions.
Accordingly, Han Taeyang, sitting across from Ryu Chae-eun, was also keeping his distance and simply observing the group members.
‘Did he not notice, or is he pretending not to?’
Ryu Chae-eun stared intently at him through her narrowed eyes and let out a relaxed, derisive chuckle.
With her staring at him so blatantly, surely there was no way he had failed to notice her gaze.
He knew all about it and was ignoring her. More precisely, he was pretending to ignore her in order to hide the fact that he was actually flustered and looking away.
To reiterate, the assessment of Han Taeyang in Ryu Chae-eun's mind was that he was ‘a turtle-like person.’
Put differently, he was truly a coward.
Whether that was genuinely the truth or not…….
At the very least, Ryu Chae-eun trusted her own judgment and opinion without a shred of doubt.
Because she had seen enough of him herself.
She slowly began recalling the impressions she had formed after first getting to know Han Taeyang a year ago and observing him ever since.
As befitted a notorious womanizer, Han Taeyang had indeed approached and openly flirted with female students who were already taken, including her.
Among the second-years, he had focused especially on her, Baek Seol-ah, and Seo Ahyun.
Those around her would frown at the sight and say that he really was a punk through and through, but.
‘How is that flirting? It was closer to picking a fight, if anything. It only backfired every time.’
At some point, Ryu Chae-eun realized that Han Taeyang's behavior was unbelievably awkward in a strangely subtle way.
At first glance, it looked like flirting, but in essence, it was closer to picking a fight for no reason.
Ryu Chae-eun didn't know whether he had intended to flirt but ended up picking a fight because he lacked the skill, or whether he had intended to pick a fight from the very beginning.
But did it matter which one it was?
If it was the former, then Han Taeyang was actually a hopeless amateur who didn't even know how to seduce women; if it was the latter, then it would be proof that he wasn't a consistent womanizer after all.
Moreover, at some point, Ryu Chae-eun even realized that Han Taeyang was especially wary around her and had begun subtly avoiding her.
Putting all of this together, she had quite reasonably reached a single conclusion.
In other words, the rumors about Han Taeyang that were so widespread around the school were the result of deliberate image-building on his part.
There was no other plausible explanation. If that wasn't it, why would he have thrown a few halfhearted advances at Ryu Chae-eun and then avoided her ever since?
‘Poor Taeyang oppa.’
Ryu Chae-eun looked at Han Taeyang pitifully, as though she were looking at a pitiable older male relative.
With that face, how little experience with women must he have had to start such a pathetic rumor about himself?
If he had just honestly confided in her, she would have introduced him to at least one decent friend long ago.
As time passed and she learned that Han Taeyang was quite diligent and hardworking as well, she felt even more sorry for him.
Naturally, a personal fondness for him had begun to blossom in Ryu Chae-eun's heart, too.
That was why, whenever she happened to see Han Taeyang, she sometimes played good-natured pranks on him, just as she was doing today.
‘He’s actually a pretty decent person…….’
Although her feelings as a woman were directed toward Jeong Jaeha, that was no reason for her not to think well of Han Taeyang.
To that extent, when viewed as one human being by another, Han Taeyang was more than capable of winning people's favor. He was diligent, and fairly capable in his own way.
If she had to name a flaw, it would be his thoughtless tendency to show interest even in female students who already had boyfriends.
Considering that she assumed he had almost no romantic experience, that much was understandable.
In any case, that was why Ryu Chae-eun had decided to pretend not to know about Han Taeyang's pitiful truth(?).
She realized that she had finished her drink, so she gave a small, amused laugh and set down the cup.
Thunk-
These days, a ridiculous rumor had been going around that Han Taeyang had stolen Baek Seol-ah and Seo Ahyun away from their respective boyfriends and made them his partners in fooling around.
Ryu Chae-eun had even personally witnessed several times how the two girls had suddenly begun acting friendly toward Han Taeyang recently─.
‘Our turtle-like Taeyang oppa. He can fool everyone else, but he can’t fool me.’
It was deeply ironic. Not readily believing rumors and trusting only what one had seen personally was indeed a good habit.
But when that was combined with a personality that refused to believe even rumors with fairly clear evidence and was incapable of doubting anything once it had become convinced of it…… well.
As Ryu Chae-eun was doing right now, one could end up trapped in one's own world and spend an entire year continuing a tearfully pitiful misunderstanding.
She still needed a little more time before realizing that her conviction was an embarrassingly foolish misunderstanding.
*****
‘Looks like she’s thinking strange things again.’
I quietly sighed inwardly and pretended not to notice Ryu Chae-eun's expression, which looked as though she were barely holding back a laugh while staring at me strangely from earlier.
As I mentioned before, she was one of the heroines I had wanted to become involved with less than Baek Seol-ah or Seo Ahyun.
Though I couldn't say I perfectly understood the ‘Ryu Chae-eun’ in this place where a novel I had once read had become reality.
Even so, when she made such an overtly silly grin, I couldn't help but realize it whether I liked it or not.
No matter how you looked at it, this girl seemed to be thinking something extremely outlandish─or so I thought.
Of course, the precise nature of that outlandish thought was beyond anything I could know.
All I could do was hope that Ryu Chae-eun wouldn't make things any more exhausting for me.
If the same thing kept happening, it would become difficult for me to restrain my desire to take her aside and scold her.
‘Do you understand? Chae-eun.’
I hadn't said it aloud, but if you'd somehow understood, then use your judgment and be suitably careful.
Before I grab and yank those pointlessly enormous tits of yours.
“……Then the formation’s decided.”
Around then, the discussion about how to tackle the dungeon on the day of the practical exam was also drawing to a close.
“Seol-ah will handle the main damage dealing, and Han Taeyang will serve as the vanguard and protect the damage dealer. I specialize in support, and Jaemin in scouting, so Chae-eun can take care of utility and sub-DPS. Is everyone okay with that?”
A female student from Class D who gave off an intellectual impression, perhaps because she wore glasses, Kang Dasom looked around at the group members as if asking for their agreement.
Since none of the five people's usual roles overlapped, no one seemed to have any other opinions or complaints.
“Good, then.”
After confirming everyone's reaction, Kang Dasom nodded repeatedly and summed things up one last time.
“Unless something unexpected happens, we’ll lock in these roles…… Since the exam is this Friday, it would be good to practice together in the training room tomorrow or the day after. What do you all think?”
“I’m in favor.”
“I’m fine anytime, too.”
Shim Jaemin was the first to voice his agreement, and Baek Seol-ah followed with her own assent in a gentle voice.
Though I hadn't said anything, Ryu Chae-eun and I had no different opinion, so the decision was settled without issue.
Besides, we weren't exactly close to one another, so the gathering naturally began to break up then and there.
“Ugh……. Then I’ll get going first. Good work, everyone.”
“See you all tomorrow at five in the afternoon.”
Kang Dasom was the first to stretch and rise from her seat, followed by Shim Jaemin, who wore an exceptionally friendly smile.
“Hmm.”
Around then, I too tidied up my empty coffee cup and rose, intending to return to the dormitory.
“……?”
Yet, strangely enough, two pairs of eyes immediately followed me as I stood.
I paused for a moment and furrowed my brow at the two gazes I felt from across the table and from the side, respectively.
‘What is it.’
For one thing, there was Ryu Chae-eun's pale-green gaze, which had clung tenaciously to me throughout today's group meeting.
There was no need to explain this one. Since she had warned me that we should meet when we were alone, it was fairly obvious.
Which meant there was another gaze…… and this one was actually the important one.
Since Kang Dasom and Shim Jaemin had already left, I could simply use the process of elimination.
The identity of that second gaze was none other than.
‘What is it really?’
It was a gaze so familiar to me now that having it nearby felt perfectly natural─.
“What are you doing, unni?”
“……And what are you doing still here instead of leaving, Chae-eun?”
My secret friend and sex partner, Baek Seol-ah.
It was her golden gaze.
Ryu Chae-eun tilted her head and looked at her as though she were genuinely puzzled, while Baek Seol-ah replied with a strangely ominous smile.
Crackle-!
……Why was it that, at that moment, the two girls' gazes, each filled with a different emotion, seemed to meet and send hostile sparks flying?
I felt my shoulders shiver as a threatening sense of déjà vu suddenly washed over me.
“I still have something to discuss with Taeyang oppa! I was planning to finish talking about it at a café before leaving.”
“……What do you mean, oppa? Taeyang, huh?”
Of course, unlike the time when Seo Ahyun and Baek Seol-ah had been mutually hostile, this time, for some reason, it felt like Baek Seol-ah's anger was entirely one-sided.
What exactly had rubbed her the wrong way in Ryu Chae-eun's straightforward answer?
Baek Seol-ah's forehead sprouted a cross-shaped vein, and I involuntarily studied her expression while awkwardly shifting my gaze around.
‘Baek Seolgi…….’
Why are you suddenly acting like this again, seriously.
These days, you're truly impossible to figure out.
Are you on your period?