# Chapter 70
I parted ways with Kwon Dojin, who expressed deep regret in front of the main entrance, and went up to my home. Actually, to say we parted “right away” wasn’t quite accurate, but I decided to overlook such minor details.
Beep beep, electronic sounds rang each time I pressed the door lock numbers. I entered with the clear sound, quickly took off my shoes, and turned toward where Lee Yumin’s room was.
“Is that Habin?”
“Yeah! It’s me!”
I answered my dad’s question from across the living room and pounded on the firmly shut bedroom door.
“So noisy! What do you want!”
A sharp voice jangled in my ear. Despite the door between us, the impact was still strong, so I deliberately waited until Yumin’s shout ended before opening the door.
“What do you mean ‘what’? You made me curious first.”
“When did I ever?”
“Are you developing early-onset dementia?”
“Tch! If you’re going to talk like that, get out right now.”
I calmly ignored her as she glared at me with wide eyes, sharply pointing outside the door, and took a chair out to sit down on my own.
“Anyway, little sister.”
“Can you just state your business and go?”
“Ah, really. I’m stating it right now.”
“Then say it quickly!”
I knew that Yumin, like any teenager, hated having her space invaded. But because of her attitude, I couldn’t help feeling a mischievous urge to dawdle just to annoy her.
“Are you thinking something pointless? Say it before I kick you out right now.”
Tsk, she’s just too quick-witted. Thanks to my sister who keenly detected my intention before I could even play around, I lost interest. Since neither of us wanted a prolonged conversation anyway, I decided to just say what I came to say and return to my room, as Yumin wanted.
“What does this text message mean?”
“What do you mean what does it mean? It’s exactly what it says. What are you really up to these days?”
“I’m just going to school, what else would I be doing? This time I really didn’t do anything.”
“Someone who claims they didn’t do anything is now rumored to be dating Dojin-nim and even kissing him?”
I froze. Literally froze.
Not because I couldn’t understand what Yumin was saying. Rather, I understood it all too well. Me dating Kwon Dojin? Even kissing him? None of it was true, but it was shocking enough to hear such rumors.
“…Why are you reacting like that? Don’t tell me it’s true?! Are you crazy?!”
Her shocked scream pierced my eardrums. For a moment, her voice was so loud I almost covered my ears, and it instantly cleared the fog that had dulled my mind.
“How could it be true? How could it be true?!”
“Oh. I thought it was real for a second.”
When I retorted with sincerity, Yumin waved her hand dismissively as if she’d never been excited.
“Fine then.”
As she became calm, I naturally calmed down too. That didn’t mean my bewilderment had subsided, though.
“When did this rumor start? Why did such a rumor spread? Are there photos or anything like that again this time?”
“There aren’t any photos, and the rumor started today, satisfied? And as I’ve repeatedly said, you should know the cause. How would I know?”
If there are no photos and the rumor started today…
“Ah.”
“Do you have an idea? What is it?”
“Just one thing.”
No matter how I thought about it, it could only be that incident when Kwon Dojin confidently said he would try to control the situation once more. Seeing how quickly the rumor spread, either Kwon Dojin forgot to control it, or his influence drastically diminishes when it comes to rumors.
“I slept in the infirmary today.”
“…You slept? You ‘slept’?”
Yumin’s reaction seemed odd, so I narrowed my eyes.
“What are you thinking? I slept alone.”
“Oh. Then you should have said that clearly from the beginning!”
I clicked my tongue at her behavior, which was unfairly directing her frustration at me. Dad should know how sneaky Yumin is. She always puts on a perfect act in front of our parents.
“But wasn’t today the sports day?”
“For various reasons, I took a nap in the infirmary. Anyway, when Kwon Dojin came to get me—”
As I summarized, omitting unnecessary details and highlighting only the key points, Yumin understood perfectly and clicked her tongue while looking at me. It was an attitude that treated me as if I were beyond help.
“At this point, why not give up? How about dating for real, as the rumors say?”
“Little sister. Are you having a hard time lately? Are you struggling with your studies?”
I was genuinely worried about Yumin, who was saying such strange things. How much must things not be going her way for her to seriously suggest something so ridiculous? Dating, sure, it’s easy to say. My sister doesn’t seem to understand how many steps are needed to reach that point.
Above all, the most important thing is that Kwon Dojin and I would need to like each other—Even if I were to say that I liked Kwon Dojin, there’s no way Kwon Dojin would like me.
Of course, seeing how he treated me, it could be confusing. Even I couldn’t help but misunderstand. But he had shown a consistent attitude toward me from the beginning.
Even in times when we didn’t know each other well, when there were absurd misunderstandings piled up, he calmly lifted my chin, gently stroked my wrist with his thumb, and softly held my cheek.
With such memories clearly in my mind, how could I think that Kwon Dojin liked me? Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.
So when I reached out to my sister with a worried look, she shook me off with a shudder.
“Get out! Get out of my room right now!”
Even when I’m concerned for her, she’s like this, seriously!
I quickly moved out of the room in response to my teenage sister’s tantrum. My dad, who had heard the commotion, was sticking his head out and looking at me, so I shrugged my shoulders.
I don’t know why Yumin is acting like this either.
With that, Dad seemed to think it was nothing serious and turned back toward the master bedroom. Since Yumin’s reactions like this weren’t uncommon, both Dad and I had long grown accustomed to them.
I could still hear Yumin’s irritable voice until I entered my room, but knowing it would soon subside after a little time, I properly gathered my things and went in.
I shoved the annoying angel concept T-shirt into a corner of my closet and organized my small items. Actually, I hadn’t brought much for the sports day, so there wasn’t much to organize.
After changing into my pajamas, I picked up my phone and, whether it should be expected or not, there was one message from Kwon Dojin.
[Did you resolve what you were curious about?]
[Kind of?]
After sending a brief reply, I headed to the kitchen where the refrigerator was. As the days were getting warmer, the air in my room felt a bit stuffy, so I planned to eat some ice cream.
[Kind of? Can I ask what you were curious about?]
Shortly after I sent the message, ding, a reply came. Kwon Dojin’s response speed still amazed me. How could he be this fast?
[My sister was asking what I’ve been up to lately. But I don’t remember doing anything special.]
I quickly replied and opened the freezer door to check the ice cream section. There were fewer varieties than usual, but what I liked was still there. I opened a twisted strawberry ice cream and held it in my mouth.
I took one bite of the hard ice cream and held it in my hand. As I walked while only looking at my phone, my dad, who was in the living room, said something briefly.
“Habin-ah, that’s dangerous.”
“Oh, okay.”
I reluctantly turned off the screen and focused on the ice cream until I reached my room. The ice cream I held in my mouth to close the door was very cold, but it was bearable.
[Well, in many ways, you have been doing a lot of things.]
“When did I do that?”
Sitting on the bed, I belatedly checked Kwon Dojin’s message, and my eyebrows raised involuntarily. There was no student in our grade who was as quiet and trouble-free—well, not as much as him—but still, no one studied as hard as I did.
That might change if other grades were included, but anyway, that’s how it was.
[I didn’t do anything, you know? As you know, I only studied.]
I held the ice cream in my mouth and quickly moved my thumb. My lips were getting so cold they might freeze, and if I typed slowly, my lips might become one with the ice cream.
Kwon Dojin must have felt like my message was snappy, as he sent back a rabbit emoticon looking at the sky innocently. Again, again. He only avoids when it’s unfavorable to him.
[Hey. Answer me, quickly.]
[Well, yeah. That’s right.]
After urging him, prepared for my lips to freeze as I held the ice cream in my mouth, I finally got a response. It was an unsatisfactory answer, but I decided to be content with it.
Even if he had been actually beside me, it was obvious that he would have tried to gloss over it with a smile. Besides, there was something else I needed to press Kwon Dojin about.
[Kwon Dojin.]
[Yes?]
[You said you’d control the rumors one more time.]
I also sent a glaring emoticon. Due to the limitations of text expression, I had to rely on emoticons for help.
[Don’t tell me rumors have already spread?]
[Yes. They’ve spread. Quite extensively.]
A cute and soft rabbit emoticon dripping with sweat evoked sympathy. However, not forgetting that the person behind it was Kwon Dojin, I maintained my firmness.
Of course, unlike the serious texting, in reality, I was urgently moving to deal with the ice cream that was already melting and dripping, but it was fine since Kwon Dojin couldn’t see me anyway.
I wiped away the ice cream that had dripped down my arm with a tissue and ate the last bite. After disposing of the trash in the small wastebasket in my room, I lay down on the bed.
As I looked up at the white ceiling and thought deeply, there was something strange. Even though it wasn’t the first time rumors about kissing had spread, why did rumors about dating spread this time too?
“That’s strange.”
Isn’t the evidence a bit weak for dating rumors to spread? When I was linked with Baek Han, there were photos, but this time there’s nothing like that.
As I was connecting thoughts, following one after another, my phone rang as if to interrupt. It was a call notification, not a text message. When I picked up the phone from my chest, it was Kwon Dojin.
“Hello?”
[Are you angry by any chance?]
His attitude was cautious, as if checking my mood. I didn’t think I was angry enough to express it that way, so I tilted my head, wondering why he was suddenly acting like this, and on a hunch, I took the phone away from my ear to check the message history.
He had sent over ten messages in the short time I hadn’t looked at my phone.
[…Habin-ah?]
“Oh. I’m not angry. I just couldn’t check my phone for a moment because I was doing something else.”
After quickly scanning the numerous messages Kwon Dojin had sent, I put the phone back to my ear. At that moment, I heard a sigh of relief, suggesting he had been tense.
[Were you very surprised?]
“I’m not really bothered by rumors anymore, now.”
I was actually very surprised, but I hid it reasonably well. Anyway, rumors are like clouds in the sky, hard to grasp.
[Really?]
“Yeah. Anyway, how did you find out so quickly? That’s what’s more interesting to me.”
[It’s easy to find out.]
A soft laugh tickled my ear. It seems someone had reported the story to Kwon Dojin this time too. Having informants as the second-ranked wasn’t particularly strange.
