# Chapter 3
“Well, children, prepare for class, and Hakyoung, would you come with the teacher for a moment?”
The moment the teacher and the transfer student left through the door, the classroom erupted into chaos. Murmurs exploded like a boiling kettle overflowing.
“Hey, that transfer student must be super rich.”
“Yeah. He saw it. A Bentley coming in this morning. It was obviously a visitor’s car, but it was the transfer student’s car.”
“Whoa, so there’s a Bentley in the parking lot right now?”
“Let’s go check it out!”
With a loud cheer, a group of male students couldn’t hide their excitement and rushed down the stairs with a clatter.
In contrast, the more mature female students hid their excitement and spoke in hushed voices. But they couldn’t conceal their occasional bursts of laughter. After all, the existence of a handsome male student brings daily vitality, even if he won’t be dating them. Thanks to this, the girls’ eyes sparkled with unprecedented life.
“Hmph…”
Yumyeong looked diagonally forward again while lying on his desk.
Heeun was whispering with her friend next to her. At a glance, her face seemed ordinary and plain, but upon closer inspection, you could tell she had no rough edges. Her half-tied hair flowed naturally beside her ears, and her winter uniform jacket was slightly larger than her narrow shoulders.
[Will you go out with me?]
He couldn’t even express how much he had agonized over sending those simple five letters.
When he finally sent it, he did so impulsively with a “just go for it” mentality, but it was true that he had worried about it for a long time.
‘Why is she smiling like that?’
He wanted to believe she was smiling for another reason, but it seemed clear it was because of the transfer student. Yumyeong buried his face in his arms, tousling his hair.
Of all places, the seat the homeroom teacher assigned to the transfer student was right behind Heeun. His stomach burned. But he didn’t want to show it.
If he put himself in her shoes, it was no different than a celebrity-level pretty girl suddenly transferring to their class. At that moment, all the male students, including himself, would certainly become fools.
But that was just reacting to appearances. People are more than just their faces. The time spent together, the affection built up, and how much they understood and needed each other were more important. At least that’s how he felt.
Maybe Heeun didn’t…
Thinking about this made him feel more depressed, so Yumyeong buried his head even deeper.
Shortly after, the guys who had gone to see the Bentley in the parking lot were caught as a group and brought back by the teacher.
“These rascals are so distracted, class is the last thing on their minds!”
Simultaneously, Yumyeong also received a scolding.
“Who’s that lying down? Shin Yumyeong! Get up now.”
Blushing at the mention of his name, Yumyeong awkwardly raised his head. However, Heeun didn’t turn to look at him as she usually would when his name was called. She simply tucked her hair behind her ear habitually and opened her textbook.
“Let’s talk.”
After class, Yumyeong couldn’t hold back anymore and approached Heeun first.
From first period until the last period today, they hadn’t even made eye contact once. That meant she was consciously avoiding him, and the reason was clearly because of the text he sent last night.
“We need to talk.”
At Yumyeong’s words, Heeun sighed as if she had expected this, but also as if it was a bit bothersome. Even that slight response made Yumyeong’s heart shrink.
“Would you go ahead? Just a moment.”
Heeun spoke to her best friend who was waiting, looking troubled. Even the way her friend glanced sideways at Yumyeong was uncomfortable. The thought that they might have talked a lot about him made Yumyeong even more anxious. He wondered what they had discussed.
Suddenly feeling a piercing gaze, Yumyeong looked to the side. The transfer student was looking at him.
“What are you looking at?”
Already in a bad mood, Yumyeong snapped harshly, feeling like oil was being added to the fire. Then he immediately left the classroom with Heeun, who had just stood up.
The two walked out through the school gate.
The branches around the campus in early spring were still dry. The mountain was dead brown, and the stream flowing in front of the school showed its bottom. After walking through the desolate landscape for a while, Yumyeong suddenly couldn’t hold back and asked.
“You saw my text, right?”
“Yes.”
At the quick answer, Yumyeong bit his lip. His plump lips became prominent.
“Then why didn’t you reply?”
“I was thinking about how to respond.”
“Do you need to think about it?”
Yumyeong’s drooping eyes sparkled with a kind of desperation as he asked. It was a sign of waiting for an affirmative answer. Heeun hesitated for a moment, thinking Yumyeong was about to cry.
Then she sighed weakly and spoke again.
“Do you really like me?”
“What?”
Yumyeong immediately questioned back, dumbfounded.
“Why would I ask you out if I didn’t like you?”
At those words, Heeun seemed conflicted before answering in a tone suggesting she had no choice.
“It doesn’t seem that way.”
“…”
Just as Yumyeong was too shocked to close his open mouth:
“I think you just like what’s familiar. We’ve been friends since freshman year… We’ve gotten along well, but there’s never been anything between us. So I don’t understand why you suddenly want to date. Unless you’re teasing me…”
“I’m not teasing you.”
Yumyeong answered firmly. But Heeun didn’t seem convinced.
“…I just think it’s better if we stay friends.”
“Really? Can’t you reconsider? Do I have no chance at all?”
At his pleading voice, Heeun gave a bitter smile.
“Yumyeong, you’re popular. There will be many others who want to date you besides me.”
Yumyeong was at a loss for words. She had said she was thinking about it, but it seemed Heeun had made up her mind long ago.
“Ugh, it’s cold. I’m going back in. You should come in soon too.”
After saying that, Heeun waved her hand casually and ran back into the school. There was truly not the slightest hesitation in her retreating figure as she ran quickly away.
He was rejected. For real.
Caw, caw!
A crow started flying above Yumyeong, who was standing blankly. The noisy sound made his irritation flare up.
“Hey! Do you want to become grilled crow?”
Yumyeong shouted toward the sky.
“Ha.”
From somewhere came the sound of incredulous laughter. Whipping his head around, Yumyeong’s eyes met with an unexpected person.
It was the transfer student.
Yumyeong flinched in surprise and quickly turned around.
The transfer student was staring at Yumyeong with those deep, dark eyes.
Did that guy just laugh?
Yumyeong looked at the transfer student with suspicion. But those eyes with their long, bright lashes only appeared kind. Yumyeong, who had always been weak to good looks, unconsciously stared back at the transfer student, meeting his eyes.
“What? Why are you standing here…”
Yumyeong muttered, pretending to be nonchalant. The sudden encounter with the transfer student was so embarrassing that he almost forgot he had just been rejected.
If only the transfer student hadn’t smiled.
The corner of his mouth rose askew on one side. At the smile that was clearly mocking, Yumyeong felt a quiet shock.
He saw.
The transfer student must have seen every detail of him being rejected just now.
“Did you just laugh?”
“Yes.”
The transfer student answered immediately. You’d think he would hesitate a bit after seeing someone’s embarrassment, but the guy was shameless. His face was pretty, but his inner thoughts might unexpectedly be twisted. Yumyeong was confused whether this was his usual personality.
Yumyeong bit his lip with his teeth. His plump lips puffed up and then bounced back.
“How, how long have you been here?”
“I saw all of you getting rejected.”
At those words, Yumyeong’s vision blurred as his mind went blank for three seconds. At the same time, indignation rose toward the person who was answering so brazenly. If he was a fellow man, couldn’t he pretend not to see, or at least phrase it more tactfully? There seemed to be a hundred better ways to state the facts without crushing the other person’s pride, but the transfer student made no such effort.
The combative Yumyeong flared up.
“Just peeking at things like that!”
The transfer student snorted lightly.
“I never peeked.”
As he said that, he looked around once.
“How could I secretly watch in such an open place?”
“What?”
“Aren’t you the one who chose a place like this to show off to someone?”
Yumyeong was so flabbergasted he could barely speak.
As if to prove his point, scattered passersby could be seen beyond the transfer student. This place, a little distance from the school gate, wasn’t crowded, but it wasn’t exactly a secret location either. Yumyeong acknowledged that, in his anxious state, he had spoken with Heeun in what was essentially the middle of the street as soon as they left school.
With that realization, his stomach, which had been burning hot until just now, became ice cold. Yumyeong let out a low sigh, deflated.
“Fine. Look if you want.”
Then he walked past the transfer student.
Throughout his life so far, Yumyeong had rarely lost. With his natural competitiveness, tenacity, persuasiveness rivaling con artists, and shamelessness that never blushed at lies, he had won many verbal battles until now.
But now he didn’t feel like winning. He didn’t want to argue. Why he suddenly didn’t care about losing was obvious. It was because Heeun had rejected him.
The wound in his heart made Yumyeong sullen.
“Yumyeong, you…”
Yumyeong stopped again at the transfer student’s voice. Something uncomfortable gripped his nape along with it, but even that feeling was annoying right now.
“What.”
When he blurted that out, the transfer student fell silent instead. The eyes that had been staring at Yumyeong blinked once. Because his eyes themselves were large, it somehow seemed to take longer for him to close and open them than it did for others.
