This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 83

“…Huh?”

Seeing Dogun’s slightly flustered reaction, I internally muttered.

“Don’t do it.”

“Please, just stop here.”

I urged quietly, but once my mouth opened, it didn’t want to close.

“…So, you’re saying you went to the cafe. Why did you go?”

“Well… I mean, who else goes to a cafe but to drink coffee?”

“With who?”

“What?”

“I mean, who did you go with? You wouldn’t have gone alone, right? You rarely go to places like cafes by yourself.”

‘No way…’

Please… please stop.

Right now… just right now I can stop this.

It may be a little late, but I can stop.

So why do you keep… saying things like that?

Why do you keep provoking Dogun, who is already in a bad mood?

No matter how many thorns you put up like this, in the end, it’s me who gets hurt, so why… why do you do this?

As the words that had bubbled up carelessly exploded out, I bit my cheek in frustration, watching Dogun’s expression slightly twist.

Of course, who would enjoy being interrogated like this, as if it were a formal questioning?

Not to mention, wasn’t Dogun already angry at me?

But instead of an apology, receiving this kind of interrogation would make him feel even worse, especially someone like Dogun, who usually doesn’t get angry easily.

Was that why?

“Hey, Yoonseo, are you a bit… weird today?”

Dogun’s voice came out rougher than before.

That must be it.

The tension in my eyes started to tighten.

“…What do you mean?”

“No, it’s just. If someone saw me, they’d think I went somewhere I shouldn’t have or something?”

“…”

“Do I really have to be interrogated just because I went to a cafe?”

“…Why won’t you tell me who you went with?”

“What?”

“I asked you twice. Who did you go with?”

“Uh, well… sigh…”

“Why? Did you get a girlfriend or something?”

“No, that’s nonsense…”

“Oh, I guess so. I must have missed the signs. So, you said it would end at six, and then lost track of time…”

“Hey, Yoonseo. Are you sure you’re not acting strange? I don’t get why you’re so angry…”

“…”

“Huh, never mind. Let’s talk later. Later.”

Is he saying he doesn’t want to even talk to me right now?

After repeating a dry wash of my face several times, Dogun turned sharply like he was done.

That abrupt attitude only made the tension around my eyes tighten further.

Why… do I always end up like this?

It’s supposed to be simple—just be honest…

Just apologize for suddenly getting angry… that’s all I need to say…

Feeling pathetic for not being able to say even that made my eyes sting.

So, I covered my eyes with my hand.

With my hands over my eyes… I stood there for a while, keeping watch over the place Dogun had just left.

*

While Yoonseo stood alone in the alley, Dogun’s expression as he returned home wasn’t bright either.

‘I’m going crazy, seriously…’

I already had so much on my mind with the matter related to Baeksulhwa, so why was she acting like that?

If Yoonseo usually behaved like that?

I would probably just let it go and later when she seemed in a good mood, I would try to smooth things over.

However, Yoonseo hadn’t once shown a hysterical reaction like what I’d just witnessed.

Because of that, I couldn’t just ignore it.

What could be the reason?

There must be some cause behind that…

‘Could it be…’

Did something happen at school?

Maybe she got into a fight with someone…?

Honestly, Yoonseo isn’t someone who would typically lose out, but you never know with people.

And above all, despite how she appears, Yoonseo is quite tender-hearted.

Though she may act tough, later she would be the type to regret, saying to herself, “Why did I act that way?”

‘Hmm…’

I thought I should look into this a bit more.

I picked up my mobile phone and sent a message to Myungwook, who went camping with us the other day, all for that.

He might not be as widely connected as Jinho, but he’s quite sociable, so he should know what’s going on with others.

So I sent a message, but… there was no response.

Thinking he might be busy and not heard the notification sound, I sent another message asking if he was busy, but still nothing.

While waiting for a reply felt pointless, so I put my mobile on the bed and decided to organize matters related to the senior.

If I could clear up at least that, maybe it would help sort out the jumbled mess in my head.

In fact, most of it was already sorted out on the way home; I just needed to gather some points for tomorrow’s discussion about training with my senior.

So it made sense to organize that first while waiting for a reply.

Thoughts about Yoonseo could come later.

However, one thing was for sure… while it might seem trivial, it was actually quite an important matter.

So even though I was in a hurry, I couldn’t just do it sloppily.

Even if my senior would likely accept usual training methods, that one thing wouldn’t change.

Because understanding the reasons behind this specific training and actually doing the training are entirely different things.

Am I really going to repeat myself unnecessarily when introducing new training menus for Yoonseo?

I realized that was the root of my concern.

And one thing I’ve learned from dealing with Yoonseo repeatedly is that…

“At least when explaining, I have to sound like an expert.”

The clearer and more concise I could explain training, the better.

To avoid getting tongue-tied or hesitating during a session requires practice, absolutely.

So while lying on my bed, I was mumbling the notes for tomorrow’s meeting with my senior—

Buzz buzz…!

After repeating it about three times, my mobile phone, which I had placed on my stomach, vibrated roughly.

I quickly grabbed it to check and saw Myungwook had finally responded.

“What were you up to that took so long?” I asked, but the answer came back as…

“I was too focused on a game to notice.”

Well, whatever the reason, it confirmed he wasn’t too busy to talk, so it was time to ask what I was really curious about.

I typed intensely, asking if anything had happened to Yoonseo lately—

A bewildered reaction returned.

It felt like, “Why are you asking me that?”

So I clarified, stating it happened at school…

Yet still, there was nothing actionable that came back.

Which meant… at least nothing big had happened.

‘Haa…’

So what’s going on?

It mustn’t be without reason.

As I thought and thought, I felt increasingly frustrated since nothing was coming to mind.

‘Seriously…’

Why does she have to get on my nerves like this?

‘Ugh…’

That worry continued into the late hours and even through the next morning.

Thanks to that, seeing Yoonseo’s face felt really awkward, but… I thought I couldn’t ignore it, so after a bit of procrastination, I headed to Yoonseo’s house.

On my way there—

“Huh? Dogun, what brings you here?”

“Yeah…?”

“Yoonseo told me she went out for training this morning?”

‘Huh…?’

Not just now but “already”?

‘This…’

She’s definitely avoiding me on purpose, right?

The old man seemed to completely believe in Yoonseo’s morning training, but I didn’t.

After all, I knew how much she hated waking up early.

But going out for training in the morning?

Honestly, believing that it would be more credible if they said the sun rose in the west today.

At this point, I was getting slightly annoyed beyond disbelief.

No matter how I thought about it, I didn’t think I had done anything wrong either.

Honestly, putting up with her personality was only fun for a while…

‘…Hmph.’

I knew she would just mope about it afterward alone, so if that’s how it was going to be, she might as well have just said that from the start.

‘Why is she doing this?’

Well, whatever… it seems like after our argument yesterday, we’re going to be ignoring each other for a while… as if no one has any hard feelings.

Sure, if that’s what she wants, I guess I have no choice but to go along with it.