This World is too Cruel to Men

I thought I had thoughtfully divided everyone into groups, but my so-called friends seemed to have a problem with it.

“What is it?”

I felt a prickling on the side of my face and looked in that direction.

As expected, Jinho asked why we had to divide everyone into male and female groups.

“Oh, is that what you’re complaining about? You should have said something earlier.”

“Well… then… it would have been obvious…”

“Of course, it would have been.”

What more is there to say?

Jinho, the organizer of this trip, liked Sanga from the girls’ group, who was currently absent.

‘I never would have guessed, considering he always gets picked on by her…’

Well, the world is vast, and tastes are diverse.

Maybe he likes being picked on.

Anyway… the reason this guy, uncharacteristically, took the initiative to plan this trip was largely because of that.

Unlike Yun-Seo and me, those two were lucky enough to get into the same high school, but he was apparently anxious about going into high school with their relationship still so ambiguous.

So, he’d been thinking about how to create some kind of ‘something’ between them, and that’s how he came up with the idea of this trip.

He thought something might happen if they went on a trip together.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Huh?”

“Do you want my help or not?”

“Uhhh…”

I’m trying to be nice here, what’s with the hesitation?

And that distrustful look in his eyes.

“I understand Myung-uk, but you, Dokgun…”

“What about me?”

“Honestly, you and I are the same.”

“What are you talking about…”

He’s only in his first round, who is he to lecture me?

It was so ridiculous I couldn’t even laugh.

“And… I’m going to try it on my own first.”

Judging by the determined look on his face, he must have made up his mind about something.

Anyway… since he said he’d try it on his own, there was only one thing I could say.

“Okay, I’ve heard enough. How about you finish carrying your luggage?”

“…Can’t I rest a bit?”

“Suit yourself.”

“Really?”

“But you’ll end up starving for another 30 minutes or so.”

“Tch…”

Does he not realize clicking his tongue won’t change anything?

While the boys were bickering among themselves, the girls were busy teasing Yun-Seo.

*****

‘Ugh…’

Dokgun had already noticed, but Yun-Seo wasn’t in a good mood.

The reason, needless to say, was Dokgun.

Or rather, Dokgun’s actions, to be precise.

‘Why is he calling them by their name…?’

She knew.

That getting jealous over something like this was unsightly, and that Dokgun probably did it without thinking, simply because he didn’t have any other suitable way to address them.

She knew, but… she couldn’t help but feel annoyed and jealous.

So, she was walking along, hugging a bag of onions, when she heard giggling coming from behind her.

“Ahahaha… I can’t… Yun-Seo is so cute. Don’t you think so, Chae-Dam?”

“She is.”

One of them was even tearing up, unable to contain her laughter.

Seeing that, the frustration that had been building up inside Yun-Seo began to boil over.

“You’re jealous that Dokgun called us by our first names, right?”

Of course, the moment those words reached her ears, her annoyance vanished, replaced by a wave of embarrassment.

Because her hidden feelings had been exposed?

Her face felt like it was burning up.

“N-no, I’m not!”

She quickly shouted, but… she realized as soon as she did.

That her hastily constructed excuse hadn’t worked at all.

Otherwise, there was no reason for them to be grinning at her like that.

“Right, you’re not.”

“That’s right. Our Yun-Seo isn’t that petty.”

“Ugh… I’m telling you I’m not!”

“Not what?”

“…What?”

“What are you not?”

Sanga’s slightly curved, beautiful eyes seemed to have a spellbinding power that could silence anyone.

“Ah, perhaps…”

“Are you trying to say—”

“That you don’t like Dokgun?”

“…N-no, it’s…”

Once again, her words caught in her throat.

A burst of cheerful laughter, far more lighthearted than before, filled the air.

“Honestly… if that’s the case, why don’t you just confess?”

“Exactly. What’s the big deal about a girl confessing first? It’s perfectly fine.”

“That’s what I’m saying. I heard it happened a lot in the old days.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, before people started developing talents.”

Yun-Seo couldn’t say anything in front of her chattering friends.

Because she was envious.

As Sanga had said, it would have been nice if she had the courage to confess her feelings first.

But her feelings, which had grown like a snowball, and the anxiety that grew along with them, prevented her from doing so.

If her feelings were reciprocated, she wouldn’t wish for anything more.

But what if… they weren’t?

She didn’t know what to do with her misplaced, unrequited feelings.

The conversation with her friends, which had started like that, continued even after they moved to the sink.

The topic… was still the same.

Honestly, they should have been tired of talking about it by now and moved on to something else, but weren’t they bored?

Was it because the two of them kept talking about her and Dokgun?

It felt strangely uncomfortable.

So, she kept her mouth shut except for giving occasional, noncommittal responses—

“But you know… seeing you today, I think I understand why Yun-Seo is so into Dokgun.”

A comment she couldn’t just ignore slipped into her ears.

“Ah, I know what you mean.”

“Right? He definitely has something different about him compared to other boys.”

“Totally. It’s like… a mature vibe? Plus, he’s a good cook.”

What were these girls talking about?

“What are you talking about… you don’t know him. He’s so childish.”

“Hmm? Really? I don’t think so.”

“It’s not that I don’t think so, it’s the truth. You saw him today, he keeps saying weird things…”

“That’s… because it’s you, Yun-Seo.”

“What?”

“I mean… from Dokgun’s perspective, you’re the most comfortable person for him to be around, so he jokes around with you like that, right? He never does that to us.”

I-is that so?

Now that she thought about it, it made sense.

She had never seen Dokgun joking around with other girls.

So, should she be happy about this?

Honestly, she was confused.

That was because there were only two types of people Dokgun joked around with.

His close male friends, or her.

That meant that the reason he only joked around with her among the girls wasn’t because she was special, but because they were so close that he felt as comfortable with her as he did with his male friends.

And if that was really the reason… how could she overcome that familiarity?

Just thinking about it made her sigh.

It was understandable, because they had known each other for 10 years.

How thick and strong would the feeling of familiarity between them be after 10 years?

She had to break through that to move on to the next stage.

It would be less frustrating to be asked to break a rock with an egg.

“Why are you sighing again?”

“Don’t tell me it’s because you think Dokgun doesn’t see you as a girl?”

“…W-what are you talking about?”

At this point, she felt like she needed to revise her pre-trip assessment of these two as ‘safe’ friends she could trust.

This was dangerous in a different sense.

Had they awakened some kind of talent to read each other’s minds while she wasn’t looking?

How could they see through her so well?

“Hmm, well… seeing how you two usually interact, I did get that feeling sometimes.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah, you know… like… the way an older brother looks at his younger sister? Ah, no, wait, more like…”

“An uncle?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Like an uncle with his niece?”

An uncle?

“What are you talking about, we’re the same age! And what’s with the uncle thing… my uncle isn’t that childish.”

“It’s just a feeling. A feeling. You know what I mean?”

Know my foot.

Like an uncle with his niece.

She refused to acknowledge it.

That would mean Dokgun saw her as a seven-year-old kid.

That was synonymous with saying she could never be seen as a romantic interest.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t completely ignore their excited chatter… because, unlike her, they were experienced, having been in relationships before.

One of them was even in one currently.

“This is a serious problem… Honestly, I thought that since you two have known each other for almost 10 years, you’d start dating on your own…”

“Yeah, it won’t be easy. It means you have to completely change his perception…”

Yun-Seo had been painfully aware of how incredibly difficult that was lately.

So, what she was really curious about wasn’t that, but… the solution.

Was there any kind of trick?

“But the situation is actually quite favorable…”

“True, we won’t get another chance like this.”

“Exactly.”

What were they whispering about?

While she was wondering that, the two of them, who had been huddled together, suddenly turned to her—

“Yun-Seo.”

“Will you trust us just this once?”

They said, their eyes sparkling.

Yun-Seo instinctively gulped.

Then…

“…What are you going to do?”

She asked cautiously, lowering her voice as much as possible.