Just A Friend

#44

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Even after the early admission applications were submitted, the unfocused atmosphere in the classroom continued for a while. Those who acted as if they had already been accepted, despite only having submitted their applications, could hardly hold a pen, and the unsettled air spread throughout the classroom.

Nam Seonwoo couldn’t concentrate on studying for a different reason. These days, his attention was entirely focused elsewhere.

The appropriate timing for a breakup. His head ached from contemplating that timing.

Although he had decided to break up, he couldn’t do it right away. The unique circumstances of being a high school senior, which had hindered him right after his regression, were once again holding him back.

He couldn’t throw in the huge variable of a breakup with the college entrance exam so close. While some people were avoiding even minor changes to the point of wearing the same clothes every day before the exam, a breakup was out of the question. He wanted to break up with Kang Jihan, not ruin his exam.

But if he kept postponing, there would be no end to it. If he broke up right after the exam, he worried it might affect the regular admissions applications, and if he suddenly said let’s break up after the final announcements, it would be like throwing ashes on a celebration.

‘…Let’s think about it after it’s over for now.’

Nam Seonwoo stared at the corner of the blackboard. The D-day countdown for the exam, about a month away, now felt like the time he had left to be with Kang Jihan.

“Seonwoo.”

As he turned his head, Kim Jaewoo was standing there with an awkward smile. Even after calling out, he kept glancing at the classroom door, seemingly checking when Kang Jihan, who had stepped out briefly, would return.

“So, where did you apply for early admission?”

At those words, Nam Seonwoo also looked towards the door. It was content that Kang Jihan shouldn’t hear.

In fact, Nam Seonwoo had thought a bit about his major choice. In a way, it was an opportunity to change what could be seen as a low-paying job. He had considered applying to other departments, but teaching still suited him best. So he applied to the College of Education again this time. Of course, he hadn’t told Kang Jihan.

“Sorry. I don’t want to go around telling people in case I don’t get in. It’d be embarrassing.”

As he smiled as if it was difficult to tell, Kim Jaewoo nodded excessively.

“Oh, right! Of course, it’s a bit awkward to talk about. Sorry.”

He hadn’t told Park Gyuhyeon either. Park Gyuhyeon had pestered him for a while, seemingly dying of curiosity, but Kang Jihan surprisingly didn’t pry. And the reason for that wasn’t hard to guess. He probably thinks I applied to medical school. Kang Jihan.

Once, Kang Jihan had asked about the admission process for the medical school at Korea University. For him, who couldn’t use his school records, the only answer was priority selection based solely on the college entrance exam score, which meant he had to score nearly perfect on the exam. After learning this fact, Kang Jihan began to focus even more on studying than before.

“Um, Seonwoo…”

It was Kim Jaewoo who broke his thoughts again. He was still standing there awkwardly, as if he had more to say. It was a bit strange, as he rarely approached since drawing the line about the girlfriend talk before.

“Is it difficult to talk here?”

Kim Jaewoo nodded quickly. Considering he had asked about early admissions too, it seemed he wanted to talk about something related to academics. Since quite a few guys had been consulting Nam Seonwoo about which departments to apply to, he stood up without much suspicion.

Kim Jaewoo led Nam Seonwoo outside the building. As they got closer to the back gate, there were fewer and fewer people, but Kim Jaewoo, still not feeling secure, walked all the way to the recycling area.

‘What on earth does he want to talk about…’

By this point, Nam Seonwoo felt that whatever Kim Jaewoo wanted to discuss wasn’t about academics. If it were, there would have been no need to come to such a secluded place.

Surely he’s not trying to confess or something.

Kim Jaewoo’s face, when he finally stopped, was full of tension, and Nam Seonwoo had a gut feeling that his guess was correct.

“So-sorry for taking your time. I felt like if not now, it wouldn’t…”

Kim Jaewoo, seemingly very anxious, mumbled to himself. Nam Seonwoo could barely make out “Kang Jihan” and “Kang Jihan is always next to.” He couldn’t understand why Kang Jihan was being mentioned now, but Nam Seonwoo calmly replied.

“It’s okay. So what did you want to say?”

“Oh, yes! Yes! Just, just in case. You know, Seonwoo… um, that, perhaps you still…”

As he was calmly waiting for the sentence to finish, sure enough, Kim Jaewoo brought up that topic.

“…Are you still dating your girlfriend?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, I, I see…”

But something was a bit odd. Despite receiving an answer that was as good as a rejection, Kim Jaewoo was grinning as if he was happy. The way he kept glancing at Nam Seonwoo and mumbling “Then, I, I too” was even a bit unsettling. It didn’t feel right.

“If you’re done talking-“

“Even so, you shouldn’t do such things at school, right?”

It sounded strangely like a threat. As Nam Seonwoo closed his mouth and stared at him, Kim Jaewoo grinned unpleasantly. Nam Seonwoo thought he might bring up the end-of-term ceremony incident again, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“What things at school?”

Faced with a reaction that seemed genuinely clueless, Kim Jaewoo looked bewildered.

“I, I saw everything.”

“Saw what? I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

As Nam Seonwoo calmly looked at his wristwatch, trying to end the conversation, Kim Jaewoo’s breathing became rough. Finally, he showed his hand first.

“In… in the infirmary!”

Shit. So it was that after all.

He needed to stay calm. Kim Jaewoo hadn’t seen the crucial part last time, so it could be the same this time.

“You did it with Ka-Kang Jihan in the infirmary!”

But with the following words, it felt like a nerve snapped. For some reason, Kim Jaewoo started shouting with an angry face.

“You pretend to date a girl, but then you do that filthy… that, that with that bastard Kang Jihan…!”

Seeing his face color change immediately, the chilling feeling solidified into certainty. There were occasionally types like this among the outcasts. Not because of a passive personality, but because of a strange mental world that prevented them from getting along with others. Beyond simply lacking social skills, they were trapped in their own world.

“When, when you smiled at me and said I was cute… and then you quickly give it up to that bastard, how, how dare…”

Such guys tended to overinterpret kindness. He thought he was a herbivore that needed to be taken care of, but it turned out he was a creepy stalker. Nam Seonwoo’s eyes filled with contempt. As if feeling guilty, Kim Jaewoo started to make pointless excuses.

“I! I was worried because you said you had a nosebleed, so I followed… But then Kang Jihan didn’t come out, and I, I was just worried just in case…!”

“Enough.”

There was no evidence anyway. All phones had been collected, so he couldn’t have filmed secretly, which meant there was no need to take a submissive stance.

“Is that all you have to say?”

“Wh-what…?”

Although he still didn’t know what Kim Jaewoo wanted, he didn’t really want to know. He just wanted to get away from this creepy guy as soon as possible.

“Then I’m going back first.”

“Wa-wait-“

“Oh, and don’t follow people around secretly from now on. It’s rude to the other person.”

His attitude, far from being flustered and even offering advice, was close to a complete non-reaction. As things weren’t going as planned, Kim Jaewoo visibly became agitated. Trembling with his bony hands, he mumbled “Wai-wait” and floundered. Regardless, Nam Seonwoo was about to ignore him and leave.

-…ot …ed.

Nam Seonwoo stopped abruptly at the sound from behind. The voice heard through the static was clearly Kang Jihan’s. When he turned around, Kim Jaewoo was holding up a phone with a triumphant face. It was a model he hadn’t seen in the collection box.

He had heard that there were occasionally guys who brought separate phones for submission, but could it be…

“I, I told you. I saw everything.”

The video was shot from an angle peering through a crack in the corridor window. So the conversation inside was mostly muffled, but the sound recorded up close was relatively clear. It was breathing. The unpleasantly rough breathing got faster as the video progressed.

‘This crazy bastard…’

Don’t tell me he got excited while peeping?

It made him nauseous. He couldn’t control his expression at the behavior that went beyond common sense. But Kim Jaewoo was the type to take even that as interest. Trying his best to suppress his anger, Nam Seonwoo asked.

“So what do you want?”

To blackmail like this meant he clearly wanted something. So what could it be? Kim Jaewoo seemed to have a lot of hostility towards Kang Jihan. But if he demanded anything that would harm Kang Jihan even slightly, Nam Seonwoo was ready to punch him in the face right there.

“Do, do it with me too.”

That’s why Kim Jaewoo’s words didn’t make sense for a few seconds.

“As, as much as I want.”

…He had forgotten. That this guy wasn’t just an ordinary weirdo.

“If not… I’ll spread this everywhere.”

Nam Seonwoo let out a deep sigh. Truthfully, he didn’t care if rumors spread or not. To put it bluntly, if he were a “real” high school student, he might have been scared, but having lived a long life, he knew that something like this wouldn’t ruin his life.

But that wasn’t the problem.

‘You only filmed me, you son of a bitch.’

What concerned him was Kang Jihan. He shouldn’t be labeled at a time when he should be enjoying life freshly in college. Although he knew Kang Jihan wasn’t the type to care about such things, it would still have a negative impact.

That can’t happen. Besides, we’re going to break up soon anyway.

“Hey.”

Kim Jaewoo flinched at the unfamiliar way of address. But what was even more unfamiliar than the address was the aura Nam Seonwoo was emitting. The face of the kind class president without a single wrinkle was nowhere to be seen.