WTFUDLS 50

Chapter 50

“Wow, it’s hot. Running here made me really hot.”

Jiu said as she sat down next to Hansol.

Noeul said,
“What were you running for?”

“I was afraid you guys might eat all the soufflé cake. Hehe.”

Jiu still looked hot and gathered her long hair up. She held it with one hand while fanning herself with the other.

Her slender, pale neck was exposed. Sweat trickled down it, and a few strands of her long hair clung to her damp skin.

It was just a sweaty neck—but Noeul couldn’t look away.

With her hair pulled up, her jawline looked more defined. Her already slim face appeared even slimmer.

Still, Noeul didn’t look directly at her, worried Jiu might notice. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes while pretending to look elsewhere.

Jiu’s cheeks were flushed. Like a ripe peach. They looked sweet enough to bite.

As Jiu fanned toward Noeul, a subtle scent of her skin mixed with sweat drifted over. It wasn’t unpleasant—in fact, he wanted to smell it more. His own clothes smelled stale and sweaty, but how could Jiu smell like this? Noeul wondered if humans were instinctively drawn to scents like this.

Jiu let down her hair again.

Noeul turned to the window, then casually looked back at her as if he had no thoughts at all.

But his heart was racing from what he had just seen. He reacted to every little thing about Jiu. Everything about her seemed to pull him in. And there was nothing he could do about it.

While thinking this, his eyes met Hansol’s.

Hansol stared at Noeul for about two seconds, then looked down at his phone.

In those two seconds, a lot passed through Noeul’s mind.

Had Hansol seen Noeul sneaking glances at Jiu? It seemed likely.

What might Hansol be thinking? Noeul had previously told him, with all the right vibes, that he no longer liked Jiu. Yet here he was, staring at Jiu’s neckline…

‘Pfft, humans… you’re not not liking her at all,’ he might be thinking.

Noeul felt suddenly embarrassed.

Why did he even say that back then? It had been true at the time… but still, that’s why you never reveal your true feelings to someone.

Now, he had to just act shamelessly. Pretending not to look or making excuses would be even more pathetic.

Jiu picked up a fork and said,
“You guys are really loyal. You haven’t eaten a bite. Can I go first?”

“You’re already eating and asking that?”

Noeul said.

Jiu stopped the fork just in front of her mouth.
“No, I haven’t put it in yet.”

She looked at Noeul, as if silently asking him to tell her to eat quickly.

She looked so cute doing that. Noeul looked out the window again, suppressing a laugh.

“Eat. You don’t need permission. …Hansol, you eat too.”

“Yeah, I’ll eat on my own.”

Hansol didn’t look up from his phone.

Jiu frowned.
“Mm~~ soft~ sweet~ so delicious~”

Noeul chuckled at her exaggerated tone.
“Is it really that good?”

“Yeah. Don’t you know? It’s a Kyung-gi banana impression?”

Every bite Jiu took, she kept exclaiming how soft and sweet it was.

Noeul looked at Hansol. Even with all the fuss, he hadn’t taken a bite.

“Hey, she says it’s soft and sweet. Try some,” Noeul said.

“I have.”

Hansol still focused on his phone.

Noeul looked at his fork. It was still in its original spot, untouched.

“Is something wrong?”

“Huh? No.”

“You’ve been staring at your phone. I thought maybe something happened.”

“No, don’t worry about it. You two keep talking.”

Hansol seemed off. Before Jiu arrived, he had been unusually lively, joking around, but now he didn’t join the conversation at all.

Noeul had some idea why.

After watching Noeul, Hansol finally looked up from his phone.
“Play with Jiu. Don’t worry about me.”

“…….”

There was an edge in Hansol’s voice, a little irritation.

He probably thought Noeul was pathetic—faking feelings about Jiu, claiming he didn’t like her, then staring at her neck with a big grin.

It was like comforting a friend crying over a breakup, only to see them days later happily in love with someone else. It made him feel like all his effort was wasted.

Noeul turned slightly toward Hansol, trying not to look at Jiu, hoping Hansol would finally stop staring at his phone and talk to him.

But Hansol seemed determined not to.

Noeul asked,
“Hansol, did you take the law class in first year?”

“…Law and society?”

“Yeah.”

“Was it mandatory?”

“I think so.”

“Oh crap, I didn’t take it.”

“You just need it before graduation.”

Meanwhile, Jiu was munching on cake.
“I took it~ How could you forget a required class?”

“Looks like you’ve got one thing over me.”

“Hehe.”

Once the conversation shifted to Jiu, Hansol stayed silent again.

Noeul asked Hansol,
“What books have you been reading lately?”

“Not much.”

“Really? What’s the most recent one?”

“Hmm… it’s been a while…”

He trailed off.

“Come on, remember.”

“I can’t.”

“Ah, hurry up and remember.”

“I said I don’t remember.”

Hansol sounded slightly annoyed.

Noeul persisted,
“I’m really curious. If you don’t tell me, I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

“Why? You don’t even care about books.”

“Eh? Why would you say that? I love books! How many do you read in a week?”

“…Two or three.”

“Whoa~ two or three? With all your schoolwork? So, 52 weeks a year… at least 104 books, maybe up to 156 books a year?”

“Do I read that much…? I don’t know…”

“When did you start reading so much?”

“…Since elementary school?”

“Whoa~ So if we count 10 years, that’s at least 1,040 books, maybe up to 1,560 books? Oh my god.”

Hansol laughed in disbelief, then finally looked at Noeul, as if conceding defeat.

Noeul said calmly,
“I’m really amazed. While you’ve read fifteen hundred books, what was I doing? Sleeping? Isn’t our knowledge gap just ridiculously big? You’re not thinking I’m dumb while talking to you, right?”

Hansol looked at him silently, trying hard to keep a composed expression.

Suddenly, Hansol packed his bag.

“You leaving?”

“Yeah.”

“Where to?”

“…Just not feeling well. I need to lie down at home.”

He left before Noeul could ask more.

[Jiu suddenly said something as if remembering something.]
[I was going to the library, but Yeonsu and Noeul were walking together.]

Hansol switched to speakerphone and lay on the bed.
“Yeah.”

[Then Noeul kept hitting his arm, holding his shoulder, elbowing him…]
“Mm-hmm.”

[So I got annoyed and started walking fast to keep up.]
“Mm-hmm.”

[Then I heard them asking for someone to buy them a meal.]
“Yeonsu?”

[Yeah! So I stepped in and said, I’ll buy it, then left them.]

Hansol chuckled. It was so typical of Jiu.

[She was really rude, right? Acting like she got a thing for Noeul, then shamelessly asking for a meal. What kind of psychology is that? Why is she like that?]

“…Exactly.”

Jiu was kind. She cared about Noeul’s matters as if they were her own. She genuinely got angry. She was clearly a good kid.

But sometimes talking with her felt like talking to a child. Innocent and cute, but not fully understanding the adult world.

So Hansol could only say, “Exactly.”

Noeul and Jiu’s relationship seemed unlikely to progress. One was too timid to act, the other too naive to understand their feelings.

If left alone, nothing might happen. But if Hansol nudged them a little, maybe they would connect.

But then Hansol would… Until now, he and Noeul were closest, but if Jiu and Noeul got together, it would be harder to maintain that closeness. Hansol would be alone again.

Even if Jiu and Noeul did well, Hansol would try to remain involved. But it wouldn’t be the same. On the surface, yes—but essentially, he’d be alone.

But was that a big problem? Hansol had always been alone. It was just returning to normal. Being alone wasn’t strange. Everyone is alone eventually. Avoiding them out of fear of being alone would be more painful. Hansol wasn’t that kind of person.

Hansol said,
“Hey. I got tickets to some movie expo. I don’t know if it’ll be fun, but do you two want to go together?”

[Really? That sounds awesome!]