This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 105

“Surely things haven’t actually gotten worse…?”

After knowing him for nearly 10 years, is it the first time I’ve seen him in such distress?

I distinctly remember the uncle’s face I saw in the morning didn’t look that serious, yet my worry wouldn’t subside.

[No, what are you up to? Are you busy?]

And in an instant, my worries melted away the moment I heard the voice flowing from the mobile phone speaker, as if it had never existed.

Although I only had the voice to rely on, it didn’t sound like a serious situation.

So what could it be?

It’s only been a day since that incident, so it should still feel a bit awkward, but why did they call me first?

[Did I disturb you while you were busy…?]

“I did have something going on, but it’s not to the point where I can’t talk for a moment. Anyway, why did you call?”

[Um… you’re still at school, right?]

“Uh…? Yeah…?”

[Is it because of what we talked about before?]

“Yeah.”

[What about dinner?]

“Well… I might eat when I get home?”

[So you haven’t eaten yet? Got it.]

And that was it.

As if deciding there was nothing more to discuss, the mobile phone speaker emitted a series of beeping sounds that signaled the end of the call.

‘Wait…’

So why did they even call me?

Normally, when you have a conversation, there’s some context involved, and as you follow that context, you gradually understand why the conversation needed to happen. Yet, my recent conversation with Yoonseo didn’t follow that pattern at all.

Initially, it seemed like they were considering my position, but just like that, they only said what they wanted and hung up.

‘Geez…’

Seriously.

If they hadn’t been sick and in discomfort yesterday, I would’ve called back to give them a piece of my mind.

Anyway, after finishing the call with Yoonseo, I returned to the place where my Senior was waiting—

“Sorry. Did you wait long?”

“Not at all, it didn’t take that long. I was just about to take a break anyway.”

“I was just going to chew on something, but it was such a call that I felt like I had to take…”

“Yeah…”

The Senior’s reaction wasn’t very good.

‘Well…’

When you’re trying to focus intently on something and it gets interrupted by someone else, it does put you in a bad mood.

That’s why I hesitantly suggested resuming training, keeping an eye on the Senior’s mood.

“Uh… Should we finish what we were doing?”

This wasn’t the situation I intended, but regardless, my interruption had caused a brief halt in the flow.

I couldn’t just call in Yoonseo, who was at home resting, and make her take responsibility, so I figured I should at least take some of the heat.

“Huh? Ah, um.”

I proposed it hesitantly with such thoughts, but fortunately, they didn’t refuse that much.

“Then shall we challenge the eight again?”

*

As Dogun assessed that Baeksulhwa didn’t seem to be in a good mood and began to observe her cautiously, in reality, she was indeed feeling quite down.

However, the reason for that was slightly different from what Dogun had surmised… Dogun thought Baeksulhwa’s bad mood stemmed from suddenly receiving a call while she was wholeheartedly engaged in training, but it wasn’t quite that straightforward.

To be precise, it was true the call had dampened her spirits, but it wasn’t just because of the fact that a call came in.

After all, Dogun wasn’t doing anything; he was just sitting around when the call interrupted him.

So there was no reason for him to feel anything about it.

I mean, what are spam calls that come in multiple times a day? Being annoyed because one came in the middle of training was hardly fair to Dogun, who didn’t do anything wrong.

In fact, up until the moment the phone started vibrating, he was planning to hang up right away.

Dogun’s attitude changed only after checking the name flashing on his mobile phone screen.

What can I say? Seeing that name dimmed his mood considerably.

When Dogun’s phone was vibrating, that familiar two-letter name was boldly displayed on the screen.

He certainly didn’t intend to peek or anything.

It was, after all… an unavoidable circumstance.

It’s only that while he was focusing on adjusting the sound coming from his phone, the call happened to come in at just that moment.

The moment he noticed the name floating on his phone screen… he felt a hint of expectation.

That is… he wanted to hang up right away as he initially intended.

But once he realized it was a call from her, his attitude changed completely… Dogun’s shift in demeanor disturbed him.

If he wanted to hang up, he should’ve done it as he originally planned; changing his attitude the moment he found out it was her was… well, that didn’t sit right with him.

After all, they have known each other for 10 years and lived close to each other, right?

So there was no need to receive the call now; he could’ve just called later.

That this all happened at a time when he was fully committed to training hurt his heart.

If it were another time, that might be fine, but when he’s training, it would be wonderful if she could prioritize this.

Though it was an unavoidable meeting due to rumors, even as a temporary manager, a manager is still a manager.

Honestly, if Dogun didn’t have the ambition to achieve something as a manager, he probably wouldn’t even have these thoughts.

But that wasn’t Dogun at all.

Even as a temporary manager, he put his utmost effort into the role he was given and spared no advice or effort to fulfill it.

He even continued to take notes in the notebook he brought every time training commenced… only to completely disregard them and focus solely on her the second the call from her came through.

Honestly, that was a bit much.

And that was why time spent feeling down also stemmed from a sense of disappointment in Dogun.

And I knew that feeling was chaotic, confusing… that I was bewildered by it.

I used to think, if I could only hear what gave him that confidence, that would be enough… perhaps this was what they meant by being fickle in matters of the heart?

Somehow, I found myself wanting more than I originally expected from him.

How did it come to this?

Since when… did it turn out this way?

I couldn’t tell.

It was far too devoted and gentle an attitude from Dogun towards me to pinpoint that moment exactly.

When had I last received such devoted care from anyone else?

Had I ever longed to lean on someone?

It all began when I met Dogun and got close to him.

Perhaps as all these feelings piled upon one another, this is what came to be.

I know, of course.

Wanting more than I originally wished for him was greed.

But… might it be okay just once?

Having come this far without indulging in such common desires, without depending on anyone, maybe just this once would be fine.

Just like everyone else, perhaps I could indulge in some greed too.

‘Just one thing…’

That doesn’t mean I wanted something huge.

I just… wanted one thing.

When training, or rather, when fulfilling the role of manager… above all else, I wanted Dogun to prioritize me, just that much would be enough.

…There was no reason not to.

And if I could add just one more tiny thing—

‘…I don’t want to lose.’

Perhaps it was because I’ve already had this experience of being sidelined a few times.

At the very least, I didn’t want to lose to him.

That didn’t mean I was okay with losing to someone else, but… nevertheless, that was how I felt.

‘Phew…’

Is it the confusion speaking?

My thoughts had dragged out longer than necessary.

So now it’s time to focus on what I was doing.

Because that would surely put Dogun, who had been anxiously observing me since earlier, at ease.

Just as I tried to refocus on training—

Vrrrng vrrrng vrrrng—

“Oh, sorry! Senior.”

Another call had come in.

“Why is she doing this again…?”

And sure enough… it was from her again.

The moment I realized that fact, a displeased, sticky feeling surged from deep inside my heart.