This World is too Cruel to Men

It was obvious, but simply taking the hidden item out of my bag and handing it over wouldn’t be the end of it.

There was no way I’d get a proper reaction from someone who clearly had no idea what day it was.

More likely, I’d be met with a confused look.

Of course, there was a chance he might realize what day it was the moment I took it out… but gambling on that with this idiot, who was usually perceptive but acted completely clueless at times like this, felt risky.

Therefore, before taking the item out of my bag, I had to do something else… I had to tell this clueless idiot what day it was.

It wasn’t that difficult.

It could be done with a single sentence, nothing more, nothing less.

But… why did such a trivial thing feel so embarrassingly difficult?

To speak, I had to open my mouth, but my lips were stubbornly sealed shut.

“Ugh…”

Frustrated, I discreetly fidgeted, and resentment towards Dokgun began to sprout within me. Why did he have to be so dense at a time like this?

If it were any other boy…

They would have figured it out already.

It was the perfect day to confess to a girl you liked.

“Sigh…”

A sigh escaped my lips as frustration filled my chest, but at the same time, I felt a slight… joy.

Seeing him so indifferent to the special day, as if anniversaries were meaningless, meant he didn’t have a girl he cared about.

That fact made me happy, yet also annoyed.

When I was caught up in my delusions, I’d overthink Dokgun’s obliviousness, thinking he was pretending not to know because he was shy.

But now that I was free from those delusions, his attitude felt like he was drawing a line.

So, I had to somehow break that damn line.

The problem was… it didn’t seem as easy as I thought.

What should I do?

How could I make the words “Ah! Today’s that day!” come out of that clueless idiot’s mouth?

The mere thought made my chest tighten, but I couldn’t stay silent forever, so I opened my mouth.

“…Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Come to think of it, wasn’t there something special today?”

Maybe, just maybe, he knew. There was a chance.

“Today?”

“Yeah.”

If that were the case, I couldn’t ask for more.

“We’re supposed to go watch a movie with the class, right?”

“No, not that… something else.”

Subtly dropping hints made my heart pound.

It was probably beating faster than it ever had.

It made me think the boys I’d dated before were incredibly brave.

If I was feeling this nervous just hinting, how did they manage to confess their feelings?

“Hmm…? Was there something…?”

“…There was, wasn’t there?”

“Really? Now that you mention it… maybe…”

“Think about it carefully.”

Despite my impatience, I calmly guided Dokgun.

Did my efforts pay off?

“Hmm…”

Dokgun furrowed his brow and made a sound like he was thinking hard.

And then, following that—

“Ah…!”

It was the reaction of someone who had just realized something.

Had he finally realized how important and meaningful today was?

“Right. Now that I think about it, today is that day.”

“What day?”

“It’s that day, you know.”

“…That day?”

Even if he was clueless, he couldn’t be ‘this’ clueless after all my hints. He must be pretending—

“The day our high school assignments are announced!”

“…Huh?”

This was… completely unexpected.

Honestly, who would have imagined this?

That ‘that’ would coincide with ‘this’.

As I stood there dumbfounded, Dokgun, nodding to himself, suddenly quickened his pace.

“What are you doing? Hurry up!”

“But…”

“Aren’t you curious about the results?”

Honestly, I wasn’t curious at all.

The results were obvious.

I was a prospective Hero.

That meant a free pass to any high school.

So, I would definitely get into my first choice.

Likewise, Dokgun couldn’t possibly be rejected from his first choice.

He cared about his grades, surprisingly.

Plus, there was the proximity bonus.

Of course, the school we both agreed on as our first choice was popular, attracting students from all over, even those who lived quite far away… but there was no way we wouldn’t get in.

So, I wasn’t even remotely curious… but Dokgun thought differently.

He kept urging me to hurry up and check, and I couldn’t just not follow him, so I matched his pace.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Was it because the school lottery results were out and it was also the day our class was going to watch a movie? The atmosphere was always a bit chaotic and bustling, but today it felt even more so.

So, were the lottery results out yet? Curious, I put down my bag and headed towards some familiar faces, the noisy atmosphere intensifying.

“Hey.”

“What, when did you get here?”

“Just now.”

After casually joining them and exchanging greetings, I went straight to the point, only to be met with shrugs.

“They’ll probably tell us during homeroom, right? Wouldn’t want to ruin the mood by telling us early.”

“Hmm, you think so?”

It would be great if everyone got into their first-choice school, but things didn’t always go as planned.

Since there were limited spots, if someone got in, someone else had to be rejected.

“So, where did you apply for your first choice?”

“Me? Whispering Willow High, of course.”

“With your grades?”

“Hey, did you even ‘see’ my report card?”

“Ahem… Anyway, if you applied to Whispering Willow High, then Oh Yoon-seo probably did too, right?”

“Well, yeah… it’s the closest high school from here.”

Parents might want their kids to go to prestigious schools, but for kids, the closest school was always the best.

And if the closest school was ‘also’ prestigious?

Then it was only natural to make it your first choice.

Well, if we were thinking about college, we might have made different choices… but in this damned world, where men were treated like third-class citizens, going to college wasn’t easy.

There was a reason why guys either went straight into the workforce after high school or got married young to their high school sweethearts.

Getting into college was like a camel going through the eye of a needle.

So, it was better to graduate from a reputable high school, statistically speaking.

“Oh Yoon-seo will probably get in through the prospective Hero track, and judging by your confidence, you’ll get in too… so, wouldn’t that be a grand slam?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, haven’t you guys been together since kindergarten?”

“We live next door to each other, so…”

“So, kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, and high school—that’s a grand slam.”

Hearing it like that… it kind of was.

Honestly, I never thought my relationship with Yun-Seo would last this long, not even back when we were seven.

“It really has been a long time.”

“Right? So…”

“Yeah?”

“When are you two going to start dating?”

“…What?”

Where did that come from?

“Don’t tell me… today? Talk about timing, it ‘is’ the perfect day.”

“What kind of random nonsense is that?”

“Did you already give it to her on the way to school…?”

“Give her what?”

“You know, the long, thick one.”

Long and thick? I must be corrupted if that’s all I can think of.

“What’s that supposed to be?”

“What else? Pepero, of course.”

“Huh…?”

“It’s Pepero Day today, you know.”

“…Oh.”

“Wait, don’t tell me… you seriously didn’t know? The streets are filled with Pepero and couples.”

“No, it’s just…”

I’d have to have celebrated it before to know.

And though it sounded like an excuse, there wasn’t even a convenience store, let alone a supermarket, on my route to school.

Besides, I hadn’t seen anyone carrying Pepero.

“Of course, you wouldn’t be carrying it around. It’s not like you’re advertising your confession. You’d be crazy to walk around with that in your hand.”

“Ah, right.”

“You two are totally acting like you haven’t already done everything.”

“What are you talking about? Done what?”

“Oh, come on, I’m not falling for it.”

“No, seriously, we haven’t done anything…”

I swear!

I knew Yun-Seo was popular, and I acknowledged her good looks.

But she was still just a middle schooler.

What could I possibly have ‘done’ with a kid like her?

‘This guy’s trying to make me sound like a criminal…’

This was so unfair that I couldn’t just laugh it off.

“Hey, you said you have a younger sister, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Does your heart pound when you see her?”

I used that analogy to explain that Yun-Seo was like a sister to me—

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Wait, did he just come out like that?

I was so taken aback by his unexpected confession that I froze.

Then, a smirk spread across his face, as if he was asking why I’d even ask such a question.

“Every time I see her, I get so pissed off my heart pounds and I think my blood pressure’s going to spike.”

“Damn it…”

Figures. He was just messing with me.