WTFUDLS 70

Chapter 70

“- …I’ll just… ask you honestly. …What’s going on between you and Noeul?”

“[ …Obviously… we’re just friends. ]”

“Friends, yeah… but is there like… something going on? Like a thing?”

“[ No, what do you mean a thing. …Is this because of what Noeul said to Junhee earlier? ]”

“…Yeah. I mean, friends can do that kind of thing, but… you know, there’s a feeling.”

“[ No, nothing like that. ]”

“Is it just Noeul who likes you then?”

“[ I said no. ]”

“What, Noeul could be secretly into you.”

“[ No way. I would’ve noticed. ]”

“Nah, she could be hiding it really well. Doesn’t Noeul seem like the type who’d be good at that?”

“[ Come on… no way…. ]”

“You never know. …Anyway, I was just wondering if maybe I was the only one who didn’t know, since the three of us always hang out.”

“[ I see… Well, anyway, no. If something ever does happen, I’ll tell you. ]”

“Promise.”

“[ Yeah. ]”

Hansol clearly said she and Noeul weren’t anything.

But… could you really call them “nothing”?

Jiwoo remembered the scene she witnessed yesterday.

Noeul stepped on the vomit instead of Hansol, stopped Hansol from cleaning her shoes, Hansol apologized over and over and clung to Noeul’s arm…

…And that’s supposed to be “just friends”?

If that’s what friendship is, then I guess I have no friends….

If Jiwoo had been in Hansol’s position, would Noeul have done the same? No—maybe even more? Whatever “more” means. But still—would she have done anything like that for her?

Jiwoo was jealous.
Why did moments like that only ever happen to Hansol?
If she had been the one about to step on vomit, then she could’ve gotten Noeul’s help, and she could’ve gotten closer to Noeul….

…Did Hansol do it on purpose? There was no way. Noeul and Jiwoo had told her to be careful. It wasn’t like she didn’t hear them—she’d nearly stepped right on it.

What if Hyunsu or Byungjun were in Hansol’s situation?

Jiwoo would’ve said, “Hey, puke ahead!”
But she wouldn’t have stepped in it for them. She would’ve just said something like, “Ugh, see? You should’ve watched where you were going.”

Then what would Noeul have done?

Hmm… maybe she would’ve watched them step on it and gone, “Lmao dumbass,”
Or maybe she would’ve done what she did for Hansol…

No. Guys don’t do that kind of thing for each other. She would’ve just watched.

But Hansol is a girl. Of course there’s a difference between a female friend and a male friend.

Then what if Hyemi were the one about to step on puke?

Hmm…. maybe Noeul would’ve stepped on it for her, too….

Not that there’s anything wrong with Noeul doing that for Hansol.

Honestly speaking, the two of them could totally end up dating. Nothing wrong with that….

But shouldn’t they tell Jiwoo?
They both said they were just friends, that the three of them were equals.
But what if they were actually… a thing this whole time? Then wouldn’t Jiwoo just be the idiot?
She thought they liked hanging out with her—what if she was just the third wheel?
What if she was just there to support their romance?

Then how would Jiwoo feel?
She even straight-up asked what they were to each other.

Does Hansol really not like Noeul?

But Hansol was acting weird too. When they were drinking at Noeul’s place, and at the beer tower yesterday—she kept glancing at Noeul.

Not just glancing—her whole attention seemed fixed on Noeul.

A girl can always tell when another girl likes someone.

This was definitely… something…
Something very… something-ish…

Jiwoo absentmindedly fiddled with the rabbit keyring Noeul gave her.

Hansol often stared at that keyring.

Was it that she wanted it?
Like—why eye something Noeul gave me?

So Jiwoo even asked if Hansol wanted it.
Partly because she felt bad being the only one who’d gotten something from Noeul,
But mostly because she expected Hansol to say “I don’t want it.”
Even if she did want it, Jiwoo wanted to hear her say no—so she could tell herself,
You said you didn’t want it. Don’t get greedy.

“Do you want this?”

“Ah, no. I wasn’t staring because I wanted it. It’s just cute.”

“You said you like rabbits.”

“I was just saying. Who doesn’t like rabbits? I meant it suits you. It’s cute, so it suits you.”

Only after getting the answer she wanted did Jiwoo feel embarrassed.
She’d asked just because she didn’t want to give it away.
She felt like Hansol could probably tell.

Even so, she didn’t want to hand the keyring over.

She really… absolutely didn’t want to.

Anyway…

What were Noeul and Hansol thinking now? What were they to each other?

Sure, maybe they just didn’t want to tell Jiwoo yet.
It could be embarrassing.
People don’t have to tell their friend everything.
So maybe it wasn’t something to get mad over.

But why did she feel so irritated? What exactly was the problem?

Was it because Noeul was acting too gentlemanly?
Or was it that the thought of her two friends dating made her feel… lonely?

Maybe that was it.

Sure, she might get a little lonely, but if two people she likes end up together, that’s a good thing.
Good people dating is always heartwarming.

Right. It’s good. It’s fine. It really is…

“The weather is crazy. Insane. Freaking amazing.”

Hansol looked up at the sky.

The sky was bright blue, and white clouds drifted like a painting.

Noeul said,

“Wanna grab something from Kkangcha and take a walk?”

“Sure.”

They walked into the cafe.

Apparently lots of people had the same idea—there was a long line.

Noeul and Hansol stood in line at the counter.

Noeul said,

“Lots of people.”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe because the student ID discount is 15%.”

“Maybe.”

“Ugh, it’s so hectic.”

Just then someone walking behind Noeul bumped into his back.

Noeul staggered half a step forward—bringing him half a step closer to Hansol.

Hansol shrank back like a snail whose antenna got poked.
Shoulders pressed together, head ducked down.

Noeul wondered, Did she get uncomfortable because I got too close?

But if that were the case, she could’ve stepped back—there was plenty of space behind her. But she didn’t move.

The person who bumped into Noeul muttered a half-hearted apology and walked off.

Noeul stepped back to where he’d been.

Hansol’s face was flushed pink.

…What was that?

It didn’t seem like anything happened, so asking “Are you okay?” felt weird.
So he pretended he didn’t see.

Noeul said,

“Ah, I don’t have my student ID on me. Do you?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Oh good. What are you gonna drink?”

“Uh… I’ll have… iced chamomile.”

“You drink that stuff a lot.”

“What stuff?”

“Like chamomile… hibiscus….”

“Oh, that. It doesn’t make you gain weight and it doesn’t leave a weird aftertaste….”

Noeul nodded.

But something felt off. Hansol wasn’t looking at him properly today. Her eyes kept circling around his face—east, west, southeast—anywhere but directly at him.

…Seriously, what’s up with her.

Soon it was their turn to order.

Noeul told the cashier,

“One iced chamomile and one hot milk tea, please. And the student ID….”

He looked at Hansol to ask for her ID.

Hansol hurriedly pulled it out.

Just then the cashier said,

“Would you like a coupon?”

“Oh, no thanks.”

As Noeul took Hansol’s student ID—while also talking to the cashier—he accidentally grabbed her hand instead.

Noeul flinched and said,

“Ah, sorry.”

He turned back to finish the order, but something felt strange, so he looked at Hansol again.

Hansol was frozen like a statue.

Noeul stared.

Hansol finally snapped out of it. Seeing him look at her, she asked,

“…What?”

“……Nothing.”

Noeul tilted his head.

Ugh… ugh… What was wrong with me earlier….

I must’ve looked like a broken wind-up toy.

Hansol pressed a hand over her chest as if she had swallowed poison.

She’d seen that face for nearly a year now without batting an eye.
So why couldn’t she look at him today?

She hadn’t looked at Noeul’s face for more than two seconds all day.
She’d glanced so fast that even if he had a massive pimple on his forehead, she wouldn’t have noticed.

She was doomed.

Was she going to be like this every time she saw Noeul now? She couldn’t. She was so doomed.

Noeul probably thought his friend turned into an idiot.

She pulled her knees up onto the chair and hugged them.

Then she looked down at her right hand.

She had handed over her student ID… but since Noeul was looking elsewhere, he grabbed her hand instead.

She tried remembering the feeling.

The moment Noeul’s big hand covered her small one—
The warmth spreading from his palm to the back of her hand—
The slightly rough texture….

His hand had pulled away too quickly. Too, too quickly.

Hansol squeezed her right hand with her left.

Then buried her face in her knees and shook her head violently.

She shouldn’t feel like this.
She knew nothing good would come from it.

If she let these feelings grow, only she would get hurt.
Noeul liked Jiwoo, and those two would probably end up together.
Hansol’s feelings would never have a place to land.

But even so… she didn’t want to kill these feelings.
She wanted to feel them a little more.
Even if they later came back as huge regrets—she thought she could live with that.

But was it okay to stay by Noeul’s side with such dark, selfish feelings?

Wasn’t she pretending to be a friend while using Noeul for her own heart?

What would Jiwoo think if she knew?

Her chest felt stabbed over and over.

But… but who would know?
Only Hansol knew her own feelings.
As long as she denied everything, no one would ever know.

Then she just had to act normal.
Grow the feelings quietly… and kill them quietly when the time came.

Brr—brr—

Her phone vibrated.

[ Jiwoo ]

Hansol flinched.

It felt like Jiwoo somehow knew what she was thinking and was calling to stop her.

She answered.

“Hey, Jiwoo.”

[ What are you doing? ]

“I’m just… lying down.”

[ Ah, yeah? Just chilling. Oh, it’s nothing big, but—I got two musical tickets. Do you want to go with me? It’s this weekend. ]

“Ah… a musical?”

A flood of thoughts hit her.

Had Jiwoo asked Noeul first?
Did Noeul say he couldn’t go, so she was asking Hansol?
Or was Hansol her first choice? Why?
She’d obviously rather go with Noeul. Was she asking Hansol first out of courtesy?

Hansol didn’t have plans this weekend.
So she could say yes.
But what if Jiwoo hadn’t asked Noeul yet—wouldn’t Hansol be stealing Jiwoo’s chance to see the musical with Noeul?

Wait, what if Jiwoo was actually setting up a reason to invite Noeul?
If she asked Hansol first, and Hansol said no, then inviting Noeul afterward would look natural.

So was Jiwoo secretly hoping Hansol would say she couldn’t go?

The first thought that crossed Hansol’s mind was—
I don’t want to.

She didn’t want Jiwoo and Noeul to go to the musical together.

Should she reject it and keep the opportunity away from them?

But Noeul probably wanted to go with Jiwoo.

If both of them wanted it, how could Hansol justify blocking it?

But did she really have to think that deeply?
Couldn’t she just take Jiwoo’s offer at face value?
Jiwoo asked her to go, Hansol was free, so they go.

Hansol hesitated, then finally spoke.

“Jiwoo, about the musical…”