Rumors are much like wildfires. If not quelled at the earliest, they return later as an uncontrollable force and leave behind severe damage.
It’ll be useless to try to control the situation once it takes such a form. By then, the spark would have already grown too large. No matter how much a lone person scurries around frantically, gathering up all the spread rumors is no easy task.
Moreover, it is extremely hard to discern when and where such rumors even begin. It’s much like a cigarette butt carelessly tossed onto the middle of a mountain slope.
─Did you hear about that?
Here, right at this moment, the small spark signaling the start of the wildfire was just beginning to rise.
─I’m talking about Shin Yoon-seong from the Combat Division. I heard he injured his back while carrying Arna?
─Really? That’s unfortunate.
─I heard he was hospitalized because of it.
─Wow, the back is something that could potentially trouble you for life. So it’s the end of the road for him as a man, huh?
At first, the story was based on facts.
Looking at it solely from this angle, there didn’t seem to be any major issues. It was merely casual chatter exchanged among students, a small spark that would fizzle out as soon as it began.
However…
This small spark didn’t die out but caught the wind, flowing onward and starting to spread into a large inferno.
─I just heard this from a friend in the Tech Division. You know Shin Yoon-seong from the Combat Division, right?
─The what? Spoonman?
─Yeah, I mean that Shin Yoon-seong. I heard he injured his back because of Arna?
─Did they have some kind of practice match or something?
─I’m not entirely sure. It could’ve been something else.
That one uncertain word only fed the rumor further. It’s here that the spark started to grow rapidly.
─Boss, did you hear this? About Shin Yoon-seong. Supposedly, he wrecked his back while dealing with Arna?
─What nonsense is that? Wrecked his back, you say. Were they even in a relationship or something?
─Yes, I’m telling you, I heard it clearly!
No longer was it just a rumor. After passing through a few people’s mouths, what had once been the truth transformed into something completely different.
The massive wildfire didn’t stop here—it continued spreading unchecked.
─Hey. Hey. Do you know Shin Yoon-seong?
─Yeah, kind of.
─I heard he broke his back while engaging in a showdown with Arna.
─What…?
Anyway, it’s just a rumor—a mere rumor. When talking, there’s no need to get anyone’s approval or bear any responsibility.
Anyway, it’s just passing on what someone else had told you. Whether the rumor gets distorted in the middle or not—it doesn’t really matter.
Just savor the moment.
—
—
—
─Oh my, oh my. Really?
This particular place was the student cafeteria inside the Han-yul Military Academy’s Education Hospital. Choi Soo-eun was in the middle of eating lunch.
─That Shin Yoon-seong?
─Yes, I’m telling you!
“…”
Shin Yoon-seong.
At the mention of that name, Choi Soo-eun paused her spoon mid-meal, focusing all her attention with bated breath.
─No wonder! Yesterday, Shin Yoon-seong came to the Imaging Department! To get an X-ray!
─Wow, if he went to the Imaging Department too, it must be serious, then!
What on earth were they conversing about that she was getting so excited?
Indeed, yesterday Shin Yoon-seong had come here to the hospital due to a back injury. After a brief examination and treatment, he had been admitted and was currently resting in a room.
So why was it about Shin Yoon-seong?
Did he make some kind of mistake?
─They were creating mayhem because they couldn’t kill each other fighting Arna, so I guess they ended up feeling some kind of mutual dislike for each other, huh?
─How passionate must their love-making have been to leave him with a broken back? Haha, really funny!
Choi Soo-eun decided to piece together the situation based on the conversation she had just overheard.
Shin Yoon-seong, Arna, mutual dislike, love, back…
“…”
Clang!
Before long, Choi Soo-eun dropped the spoon she was holding.
“Senior! The spoon! The spoon fell!”
The words of the junior student sitting in front went unheard. Choi Soo-eun was currently in a daze, completely out of it.
─Then what will happen with Choi Soo-eun? As far as I know, Shin Yoon-seong used to chase after her.
─Ah, that? He’s tired of it now. No matter how many bouquets he kept bringing to the ER, she refuses to even look at him, right?
Creak—!
Choi Soo-eun pushed her chair back silently and stood up. The junior student nearby was startled and asked:
“Se-, Senior? Did you finish eating already…?”
“…”
There were still several bites left in her lunch. Choi Soo-eun picked up her tray and headed somewhere, wavering with each step.
“Senior…! The tray return is not that way! Senior! Eeeehhh…!”
As soon as Choi Soo-eun left the cafeteria, she made her way directly to the floor where the patient rooms were located. She was heading to the room where Shin Yoon-seong was admitted.
Creak—!
Shin Yoon-seong was indeed inside, lying in bed and fiddling with his phone.
“Hmm? Isn’t it still too early for treatment?”
Clomp, clomp. Choi Soo-eun approached the bed with heavy steps. Then, without taking off her shoes, she boldly climbed right onto the mattress, positioning herself on top of Shin Yoon-seong’s body.
“Hey, at least take your shoes off while you’re up here.”
Uncharacteristic behavior for Choi Soo-eun, though her face remained ever stoic, devoid of any emotion.
From a distance so close that their breaths could touch, Choi Soo-eun spoke.
“From now on, you will only answer my questions.”
“Out of the blue.”
“What did you and Arna do yesterday?”
It didn’t concern her at all. The relationship between them—it was all because of her, after all. No matter what Shin Yoon-seong did elsewhere, why should it matter to her?
Her mind clearly understood this fact, but her body wouldn’t obey her thoughts.
Even knowing that what she was about to do was truly disgusting and unnecessarily clingy, she still had to confirm it.
The truth.
“Arna? Why are you so curious about that?”
“Answer me.”
“Hm, I’m not really willing to talk about it.”
“…”
By avoiding the answer, Shin Yoon-seong confirmed that the rumors spreading were indeed true.
I see. So they’d been letting off strange vibes lately. They had finally become that kind of couple.
There was no denying it anymore.
Shin Yoon-seong had given both his body and heart to Arna.
─What? Is that Kang Tae-hoon? The demon has returned to school?
At that moment, voices from outside drifted in. It was the sound of people talking in the hallway.
“Kang Tae-hoon…”
Shin Yoon-seong quickly turned his gaze from Choi Soo-eun and looked toward the hallway, listening earnestly.
─I heard from the community live stream that he just met Arna.
─Oh, so he’s going to meet the top student right away? Cool guy. Is he planning to request a practice match?
“This won’t do…”
Shin Yoon-seong pushed Choi Soo-eun off and stood up, attempting to get out of bed.
“What are you doing… Where are you going…?”
“I need to go to Arna.”
Shin Yoon-seong was desperate. Clutching his aching back, he tried to move forward despite his pain—his determination so intense that he hadn’t even changed his clothes.
He’s going to Arna in the end.
“…”
Watching Shin Yoon-seong leave, Choi Soo-eun found herself unable to take any action. She remained stuck to the bed, nothing more than observing his departing back from afar.
She couldn’t bring herself to hold him back.
After all, Choi Soo-eun didn’t have the right to hold Shin Yoon-seong back in the first place.
“Ugh, seriously! How could such rumors even start?”
Until the morning, everything had been fine. But after lunch, an immense crisis had befallen Arna.
That crisis came in the form of rumors that had spread throughout the school.
The content of these rumors was outright shocking. How could the story about her spending the night with Shin Yoon-seong circulate?
Even more shockingly, the reason Shin Yoon-seong was hospitalized was supposedly her doing. They claimed that she had worked his back too hard, leading to his current condition.
It was truly infuriating and stifling. Despite all that she’d established, how could anyone pair her in a scandal with that man?
Irrespective of the truth, this was a matter of pride. She hadn’t worked so hard all her life just to chase after some guy like that. Arna did, in fact, have standards when it came to the person she was interested in.
Ah, speaking of which, apologies to her girlfriend.
Shin Yoon-seong currently had a girlfriend, Choi Soo-eun.
What would Choi Soo-eun think if she heard this rumor? In order to protect her, who was an uninvolved third party, it was necessary to quash this absurd rumor as soon as possible.
Ring…
Since earlier, Arna’s smartphone hadn’t stopped ringing. The calls were all from journalists wanting confirmation of the facts.
“Those are all malicious rumors, so please don’t worry about them! I’ll soon post an alibi in the next few minutes… No, really, it’s not true!”
“Huff… huff…”
She really got screwed over. Whoever started the rumor might as well be applauded; it even made Arna more flustered than when she faced a monster.
Tump.
“Hey, Arna. Long time no see.”
Just then, amidst all the chaos, an inconsiderate male student approached her to strike up a conversation.
Snow-white skin, wide-as-a-child’s eyes, yet a soul that was deeply dark—so dark that it had burned up and charred…
The last year’s runner-up student made his appearance.
“Kang Tae-hoon…”
“Wow, you remember me? The top student recognizing me? Such an honor, truly.”
Kang Tae-hoon stretched out his arms as if to celebrate joyfully.
Kang Tae-hoon was supposed to have been suspended due to numerous incidents last year. So how had he shown up here, back in his uniform?
There were plenty of questions, but it wasn’t the time to waste here now. Arna continued walking.
“Sorry, I’m a bit busy right now. Let’s talk later.”
“Huh? Busy? What’s going on? Let me help?”
“No, that’s not necessary.”
His so-called offer to help was superficial anyway. Arna knew that Kang Tae-hoon wasn’t the type to readily assist others.
“Tsk. Are you just going to leave after we met like this? Am I being ignored?”
“Didn’t mean to ignore you. But…”
─Ohh, it’s Kang Tae-hoon! And Arna’s here too!
Before she knew it, the area was filled with onlookers.
Everyone had gathered to witness the meeting of the top student and the second-in-command. With the top two talents of this academy meeting, it was only natural for them to garner unusual attention.
Of course, Arna had no intention to deal with Kang Tae-hoon right now.
“Anyway, I’ll be going first.”
“Huh. The top student is being so snobbish. From someone else’s perspective, she looks like a celebrity. Wait, isn’t she already one?”
“Huh, what did you say…?”
“Is that so? If not, then there’s no problem for me to request a practice match against you right here and now.”
It was a predictable provocation. It was clear from the beginning why he approached Arna; it was because of the practice match. To take away the position of the top student through a practice match.
What to do? Should she just quickly face him and get it over with? If she avoided it here, it was evident he’d return later.
─I will pass through.
Meanwhile, the students surrounding the area split neatly like they had agreed ahead of time, and a male student began walking through the open path.
Clunk.
Clunk.
Clunk.
He walked slowly, using a large spoon as a cane. His steps were slow, as if he were an old man.
Clunk.
Before long, the male student stood proudly in front of Arna. It was none other than Shin Yoon-seong of the Combat Division, the main character of the currently circulating rumors.
Ah, why now of all times…
“Is your name Kang Tae-hoon?”
Shin Yoon-seong briefly glanced at Kang Tae-hoon standing opposite him. Naturally, there was no sense of intimidation. Wearing a pure white hospital gown and bending forward due to a sore back, how could he possibly look terrifying?
Arna sighed quietly behind him, finding the sight pathetic.
WOW—!
But the spectators clearly reacted differently. They cheered as if a prince riding a white horse had just arrived.
All because of the rumors. Through the eyes of the onlookers, he must have looked like the male protagonist who had come to protect his girl.
“…”
This isn’t a pure romance manga. He’s no prince on a white horse. He’s a patient in white clothes. And what’s up with that giant spoon?
Arna’s expression grew increasingly sour.
“I apologize, but you can’t touch a single finger on Arna. In this school, Arna is off-limits to every man except me… Cough!”
PANG—!
Arna kicked Shin Yoon-seong’s injured back with all her strength.
“This will only cause more misunderstandings if you say something like that in this situation, OH MY GOSH…!”
