This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 138

Was it because a promise that never existed suddenly came to be?

Time flew by like an arrow, quite literally.

As it sped along, I came to my senses and realized that there was only one week left until the day I promised to meet Yoonseo.

So, I was in deep thought.

Considering there was only a week left, I knew I had to buy something, but I just couldn’t figure out what to get.

What should I give this time?

It’s not really a problem, but when you know someone for a long time, these things can be tricky.

I’ve already given her almost everything imaginable, so every time I think about buying a gift, I can’t help but wonder, “Huh? Haven’t I given this before?”

‘Perfume… was given last year.’

The weather was starting to get colder, so maybe I should gift her something like a scarf? But then, I recalled what I gave her at the end of last year.

Yoonseo, who generally doesn’t wear them much, has actually been wearing it reasonably often. Still, it isn’t exactly falling apart.

Unless the world suddenly does a complete flip and all four seasons become winter, that scarf will last at least another year.

‘Then…’

Should I go all out and gift her a pair of gloves to go with the scarf?

Well, considering Yoonseo tends to feel cold more than others, that wouldn’t be a bad gift, but… just handing her a single pair of gloves as a present felt a bit underwhelming.

I’ve always believed that the thought behind a gift matters more than the price, but if it’s too cheap, the receiver might feel offended, right?

Of course, I hadn’t completely ruled it out from my options.

There’s no rule saying I can only give one gift, so if it really comes down to it, I could just add something else along with the gloves.

In that way, I would have been pondering hard about what would make a good birthday gift.

“Do you have something you’re worried about?”

Maybe the sweat from practice had gotten to her.

As Senior came back after changing into a different training outfit, that question flew my way.

“Huh?”

“Well, you had that exact look on your face.”

“What kind of look?”

“Hmm… it looked a lot like ‘I’m worried about something.’”

Sure enough, I had been deep in thought about what to get Yoonseo for her birthday just moments earlier, but did that show enough on my face?

Unintentionally, I found myself rubbing my face, perhaps out of concern that I had been wearing such an expression even during training.

“I’m sorry. I should have been concentrating on practice…”

“So, what’s bothering you?”

Could I even talk about it?

That thought crossed my mind, but then it suddenly struck me that asking Senior for advice might not be a bad idea.

After all, she was quite considerate of the people around her.

It was rare for any member of the student council not to receive a birthday gift from her.

And those who did receive gifts from her all seemed satisfied, which surely meant she had a knack for choosing presents.

After a short while of wrestling with my thoughts, I eventually opened my mouth to speak, primarily because of that trait of hers.

“Well, actually, I have someone I need to buy a gift for.”

“A gift?”

“Yes, but I’m not sure what would be good to give…”

As I said this, scratching the back of my neck shyly, Senior took a moment to think before she naturally continued speaking.

“…Who is it?”

“Huh?”

“Dogun is the person you’re buying a gift for, right? A friend?”

“Uh… well, sort of, yes?”

“Then that means he’s also a high school student like us. What’s his gender? Male?”

“No, um… he’s a girl.”

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“Um, er… she’s a girl.”

The moment that answer came out awkwardly, I had a hunch.

‘It’s her, isn’t it?’

The one I’m thinking of gifting is definitely her.

Given Dogun’s personality, he wouldn’t randomly give gifts without reason, so maybe it’s just a few days away from her birthday.

…That must be it.

No wonder I suddenly felt down.

At first, I thought I’d help Dogun out since it was obvious he was struggling with something, but now I found myself refusing to do that.

Why on earth would I help him choose a gift that would obviously end up in Yoonseo’s hands?

So, I wanted to clamp my mouth shut right there, but… I couldn’t do that.

After all, I was the one who had asked what was going on first.

But to suddenly become mute after asking would certainly make Dogun think something was off.

“Hmm? Really? Then it must be quite a dilemma.”

I forced myself to keep my demeanor casual as I spoke this way, hoping to mask my own concerns.

Because, after all, it wasn’t the right time yet.

There hadn’t been a moment yet when I could fully express my feelings.

But what if I did reveal them carelessly?

What if those feelings happened to be jealousy directed towards ‘O Yoonseo’?

Dogun would undoubtedly find himself in an awkward position.

He would probably choose her side in the end.

So I needed to wait, for sure.

To flip a clearly visible outcome, I had to wait just a bit longer.

One comforting thought in all this waiting was that I was quite accustomed to patience.

“Isn’t there something good you could give her?”

“Well, I’d love to give advice, but I don’t know much about who she is…”

“…Ah, yeah, I suppose that’s true.”

So I just had to hold on.

I could endure, but—

“By the way, while we’re talking about gifts, have you… thought about it?”

However, I began to wonder if just holding on was really the best action.

To distract Dogun, who was about to get lost in thought again, I spoke up, perhaps to divert his attention elsewhere.

“Huh?”

In response, I got a curious gaze that clearly said, “What are you talking about?”

Had he indeed forgotten?

Debating how to address this appropriately, I decided to let a hint of the disappointment I was currently feeling show on my face.

It seemed to have quite an effect.

Before I knew it, all of Dogun’s attention was back on me.

“What’s wrong? You didn’t forget, did you?”

“Uh…”

“Dogun, you said to me before. When you get that reward, you’d buy me something delicious.”

“…Ah!”

Yes, this is how it works.

After all, since we came from different starting lines, it might’ve been tough to surpass me immediately, but if I wait patiently for the right moment, maybe I could inch ahead bit by bit.

“It’s been a while since you received your reward, so I’ve been wondering when you’d finally take me out…”

“…”

“It’s not that picking a menu is difficult; it’s that you just forgot, didn’t you?”

At least I could seize one chance to take the lead over someone who’d been racing ahead of me.

“Ah… I’m really sorry, Senior.”

“Oh, it’s okay. I understand. You’ve been really busy taking care of me morning and night lately. It’s understandable if it slipped your mind.”

It seemed he had no rebuttal to that.

Watching Dogun wearing an apologetic expression with his head slightly bowed made me continue.

“So, like this, why don’t we just knock this out of the park quickly?”

“Huh?”

“This week, my schedule is packed on the weekend, so finding time will be difficult… Would you be free next weekend?”

The moment I suggested it, I assumed Yoonseo’s birthday must be around then.

In that case, which day of the weekend was it? Saturday? Or was it Sunday?

Pretending not to notice Dogun’s slight look of distress, I continued, eager to find out.

I planned to check which day and then make my move a day ahead—

“Next weekend?”

“Yeah, Saturday should be fine. Or! What about going right after school on Friday? That wouldn’t be bad either.”

“Oh, um…”

“How about it? Are you free next week on Friday?”

“Uh… Senior?”

“Yeah?”

“Actually, I have someone else I’m meeting on that day. I don’t think I can meet up then.”

I was stunned to realize that the meeting he had planned wasn’t on the weekend, but on Friday.

In that case, I’d have to adjust my plan.

There was no way any kind of fuss would work here; doing so would only leave me empty-handed.

“Really? Well, it can’t be helped. Then, how about Saturday? Are you free then?”

So… I chose to step back willingly.

While it was a tiny disappointment to see my plans fall through,—

‘It’s okay.’

I could overwrite whatever had happened on Friday to the point that I wouldn’t even remember it.

Yeah, that would work.

In this way, amidst the crisscrossing desires of two different individuals… Yoonseo’s birthday finally arrived.