This World is too Cruel to Men

She’s annoyed with me right now.

The moment I realized that, I was dumbfounded.

‘This is like getting slapped by the Han River and taking it out on Jongno…’

Or was it the other way around?

Anyway, how absurd would it be from the Han River’s perspective, to be suddenly subjected to someone’s irritation?

It’s like getting yelled at for just standing there.

Putting aside my own feelings, I understood Yun-Seo’s annoyance to some extent.

Of course she’d be annoyed.

Not only was it embarrassing to lose so quickly without being able to do anything, but she even showed herself floundering afterwards…

It must have left a huge scratch on the mentality she’d maintained ever since her Awakening.

‘But still…’

Just because she’s annoyed doesn’t mean she should take it out on someone completely unrelated.

Aside from everything else, that’s not the right thing to do.

Taking your frustration out on someone else when you’re the one at fault is something only an immature kid would do.

‘…Ah.’

Right.

She’s still a kid.

This is the problem with the Second Round.

Sometimes, when I’m lost in thought, I tend to equate the people around me with myself.

Anyway, the moment I realized that, unlike me, she was still a ‘kid’ who hadn’t even entered high school, the irritation I felt melted away.

What followed was a slight embarrassment.

Thinking about how I, an adult who lived through the First Round, almost got into a serious argument with Yun-Seo, who hasn’t even lived half as long, was honestly a bit awkward.

“Why? Can’t I go to the bathroom?”

I don’t know what she was so angry about, but I acted even more nonchalantly towards Yun-Seo, who was glaring at me as if to say, “I’m angry,” partly to dispel that embarrassing feeling.

She probably didn’t expect me to react so smoothly while she was being so prickly.

Since we were in the competition hall, a public place and not her home, she seemed to be at a loss for words. Yun-Seo let out a small groan, “…Ugh,” from between her tightly pursed lips.

Then—

“…Th-Then go ahead!”

She said.

So I asked,

“Huh? You were going to the bathroom, weren’t you?”

Aren’t you going to the bathroom?

She closed her mouth again.

“…What does it matter to you whether I go to the bathroom or anywhere else?”

Then she said that.

“Me? Of course it matters.”

“…What?”

“You have to go to the bathroom so I can go too.”

I said that because I didn’t know the way and needed her to guide me to the bathroom… but why is her face turning red?

“A-Are you crazy?”

Is this something to call me crazy over? What did she even imagine…?

The problem was that when she blushed like that and acted embarrassed, I felt embarrassed too.

“No, I just… I haven’t been to this area much, so I don’t know where the bathroom is…”

When I stammered out a reply, Yun-Seo, realizing her huge misunderstanding, blushed even more.

The moment I saw that, I instinctively knew.

Right now, this was the perfect chance to appease this sulky little kid.

“Hmm…? That’s strange. Did you think I was asking you to go to the bathroom together?”

“…”

Of course, there was no reply, not even a rebuttal.

I didn’t mind, as I expected that. I continued,

“You called me a pervert and all that… but it seems like you’re not in a position to talk.”

“…”

“What do you watch at night…? Huh? Miss Oh Yun-Seo? Care to explain?”

“…Shut…”

“Excuse me, but are you capable of functioning in everyday life?”

My strategy of teasing Yun-Seo to divert her attention worked perfectly.

The moment I found something to tease her about and focused on it, she yelled at me to be quiet and lunged at me, as if she’d forgotten she was ever sulking.

So, the last regular sparring match I participated in as a middle school student practically ended, and I thought I had managed to soothe her sulking… but who would have known?

That the sparring match that day would affect later events.
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Compared to my original world, the school year in this world starts and ends earlier, so it’s common to have the closing ceremony around mid-November.

Because of this, around early November, final exams are over and the school atmosphere becomes very relaxed…

Maybe it’s because we’re about to graduate from middle school.

This time it was even more so.

Those who’ve experienced it probably know.

Ninth graders about to graduate are just as wild as 12th graders after the CSAT

‘No, wait. At least some 12th graders worry about retaking the exam…’

Our 9th graders, still shielded by high school, don’t need to worry about retaking any exams, so it felt even more intense.

Since the high school we’ll attend will be decided by the lottery, and the calculation of grades is already done by early November, kids skipping school to go to karaoke or PC rooms are rampant.

Of course, the teachers scolded those kids whenever they saw them, even if it didn’t affect their grades… but honestly, even I didn’t see a reason to stay at school.

Even if I sat diligently in the classroom, they’d just play movies we’d already seen several times.

With our overflowing energy, would 9th graders just sit still and endure the boredom and frustration?

‘They should at least send us on field trips…’

What’s the reason for calling us to the classroom when they know we’re dying of boredom?

Lack of budget?

Well, it wasn’t just the students who were tired of the same old movies.

Some classes went on movie outings led by their teachers.

And those classes were the envy of other students.

Perhaps because of the students’ positive reactions, after one teacher took the initiative, other homeroom teachers naturally followed suit.

However, since this wasn’t a regular event but a spontaneous one, the entire school couldn’t move together.

They decided in a meeting to take turns, one class at a time… Unfortunately, our homeroom teacher came last in rock-paper-scissors, so naturally, our class’s turn was last.

Today was finally the result of that long wait.

School-sanctioned skipping has its own romance.

Perhaps that’s why Yun-Seo seemed to have been waiting for this day as well.

“Hey.”

“What.”

“Do you know what movie we’re watching today?”

“I don’t know.”

She asked me that as soon as we met in front of my house, so she must have been thinking about it.

“Hmm… What did the other kids watch?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask because I didn’t want spoilers.”

If I asked, they would excitedly spill everything about the movie. How could I ask?

Well, I’ve heard there are people who enjoy being spoiled, but I’m not one of them.

If I watch a movie already knowing everything, there’s no point in watching it, as I won’t feel anything even if there’s a twist.

Yeah, that’s right.

“Hmm… I wonder what we’ll watch…”

“If you’re so curious, why don’t you search for what movies are playing these days?”

“I forgot to charge my phone last night, so the battery’s dead. I charged it for a bit before coming out, but it’s probably only at 10%.”

Speak of the devil, I also forgot to bring my portable charger, so I decided to do the searching.

“Hmm… Let’s see, today’s date is…”

As Dokgun slightly furrowed his brows, looking down at the phone in his hand, Yun-Seo glanced at him with a slightly anxious heart.

It was a monumental day, after all.

That’s why she deliberately didn’t go to the convenience store last night.

She glanced at Dokgun, who was looking up what movies were playing at the cinema near the school today, and then spoke as if she just remembered something.

“Oh, by the way, what’s today’s date?”

After asking, she thought,

‘What if…’

What if he thinks it’s strange that I’m suddenly asking about the date?

She felt a bit nervous, but it probably wouldn’t be like that. Asking someone with a phone to check the date wasn’t strange.

It’s something you can ask if you want to.

“…Today? Uh… Wait…”

Fortunately, Dokgun seemed to feel the same way. He said to wait a moment and moved his fingers across the phone screen.

And soon, the answer came…

“It’s November 11th.” [T/N: In Korea, November 11th is celebrated as “Pepero Day,” where people exchange Pepero snacks (chocolate-covered biscuit sticks) as a way to express affection for friends and loved ones, similar to Valentine’s Day]

It was the answer she had been waiting for.

How… Did he notice?

What day it is?

…Unfortunately, it seemed like he hadn’t.

If he had noticed something, he would have reacted.

‘Seriously…’

He’s usually so perceptive, but he becomes obtuse at times like this.

A sigh escaped her, but what could she do?

A thirsty person digs the well.

There was nothing more to say.

After being thoroughly embarrassed in the previous sparring match and realizing that what she had believed to be true was just her own delusion, she had fully accepted it.

That Dokgun might not like her romantically.

‘No…’

He must like her.

They wouldn’t have been friends from kindergarten until now if he didn’t.

It’s just that the degree of his liking was different from hers, at the level of close friends.

At first, it was too difficult to accept, even for her pride.

It was difficult, but… with her pride already crumpled, she couldn’t stay like that forever.

Even if she denied and denied it, reality wouldn’t change.

So she accepted it.

She accepted it and… decided to change.

If Dokgun didn’t see her as a girl?

If he didn’t feel anything for her?

She just had to make him see her as a girl, make him feel something.

Of course, it hurt her pride a little that she had to do this when she should be the one being pursued… but she now knew.

That pride and everything else was meaningless in the face of true desire.

So—

‘Today, I’ll definitely…!’

She muttered to herself, carefully adjusting the bag containing the item in question.