This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 304

Dogun’s Perspective

I was persuaded halfway to change my mind and come this way, but upon actually encountering it, it seemed I liked it much more than I had expected.

“What do you think? It’s way better in person than in the photo, right?”

The moment I hopped into the car, that was the first thing I heard from Chae-rim, so it must be true.

“Yeah, it is.”

Well, aside from that, it definitely had the visuals to back it up.

Not only the exterior but the interior was something else.

I had no idea what they did or how they did it, but when it came to just the inside of the car, it would hardly be odd to say they plucked an airplane’s interior right out and moved it here.

I guess you could call it the kind of private jet only the really rich could fly on.

Thanks to that, even I, who usually wasn’t that interested in cars, found myself intrigued.

“Right? Right?”

While I was chatting with Chae-rim, who was all excited about receiving her new car, I decided to ask about Bora and Yoonseo, who had yet to show up despite our departure time nearing.

“By the way, where are Bora and Yoonseo?”

“Who knows? Maybe they’re just taking their sweet time in the bathroom?”

Of course, I couldn’t expect Chae-rim to know what I did not.

And just as the saying goes, mentioning a tiger brings it right to you, Yoonseo and Bora appeared from opposite ends at that very moment.

What caught my attention was Yoonseo’s demeanor.

Considering they both arrived late, it was reasonable for them to come running to the car, but why did Yoonseo insist on sitting in the left seat instead of the right?

On top of that, what was with that strangely proud look on her face?

As a result, Bora, unexpectedly facing Yoonseo, seemed rather dumbfounded.

Well, I guess that made sense.

From Bora’s standpoint, Yoonseo took the seat closer to her, forcing her to walk further to the right seat.

Sure, it was only a small distance, but when it comes to feelings, distance is different.

And speaking of Bora?

She had a pretty fierce personality, rivaling Yoonseo’s.

Not to mention, they’d had quite the history of bickering back in kindergarten.

I’m not joking; those two genuinely fought almost once a day.

So it felt like, after Bora transferred schools, the legendary rivalry between Yoonseo and Bora—Yoonbo War—was about to be resurrected after ten years, but…

I couldn’t quite tell if that was a good thing or a sad thing; nevertheless, it didn’t happen.

That’s because, despite her baffled reaction, Bora ended up backing down first.

“Are you missing anything? If not, we’re off?”

With that, I thought the matter was settled.

It might have been smooth sailing, had Bora not suddenly decided to speak to me while we were all on our way to school in Chae-rim’s car.

“By the way, Dogun.”

“Huh?”

“Could you spare a moment later?”

The start was pretty trivial.

It was just the kind of small talk you could have in everyday life.

So I nodded without thinking too much about it.

“I mean, I don’t mind, but… why?”

I just wanted to know the reason behind it, as it seemed necessary…

“Uh, you know… about that thing from last time.”

Bora’s voice sounded like she was trying to gauge the mood around us.

“Huh…?”

At first, I didn’t get what she was saying.

I mean, the sound of her voice was chopped and unclear.

And regrettably, I didn’t have the ability to decipher those scrambled words like a ghost.

So, unbeknownst to me, I adopted a puzzled expression until I suddenly realized.

“Ah…”

I figured out what Bora was trying to say.

Adding to that, I understood why she had to chop up her words like that all of a sudden.

That ‘thing from last time’ must be the comic she was considering submitting to the contest.

I remember her saying she’d try to sketch it whenever she found the time, but had it already been completed?

“I get it. I’ll do that.”

In any case, if that was the case, there was no reason for me to refuse, so I nodded along as originally planned.

It was only after doing so that I realized the voices of Chae-rim and Yoonseo, which had been echoing inside the car, had suddenly stopped.

Given the constant mention of schedules and whatnot, it seemed like it was an important conversation.

But maybe we had interrupted them for a bit?

The thought crossed my mind.

Thus, I turned my head to apologize if that was the case, and the moment I did… I immediately caught sight of Yoonseo glaring at me with intense eyes.

And it didn’t stop there.

Yoonseo wasn’t alone; Chae-rim, who had been chatting with Yoonseo about future plans, also sneaked a glance my way during a brief stop at a traffic signal.

As a result, I found myself momentarily flustered.

If both were reacting this noticeably, had we been that loud?

‘No way…’

It felt like we had talked at our normal volume, just like always.

While I was thinking that in my mind, Yoonseo called out to me.

“Dogun.”

“Yep?”

“What’s this ‘thing from last time’?”

Suddenly, Yoonseo asked me, and I hurriedly responded before she continued.

And her voice, I couldn’t tell if it was just my imagination, sounded slightly lower than usual.

Maybe that sticky feeling in her tone contributed to the weird sensation that lingered in my ears after her words departed.

Whatever the case, I soon realized.

The conversation just exchanged between Bora and me would sound excessively meaningful to someone unaware of the details.

I guess that’s why Yoonseo reacted like that.

“Um, well… that’s…”

The problem here was that revealing those ‘details’ wasn’t something I could casually do.

It was unavoidable, given that Bora had chosen to chop up her words like that.

It seemed Bora wanted to keep the comic and contest talk a secret from anyone other than me.

Considering it was her own choice, what more could I say?

“It’s a personal issue, so I can’t really talk about it…”

I might be offloading it onto Bora, but at least for now, that’s all I could say.

And, of course, the response I got back wasn’t fantastic.

“Hmm, really? Private matter, is it?”

I was genuinely surprised; today was the first time I learned that Yoonseo could wear such an expression.

She was smiling with her mouth, yet her eyes showed no sign of joy.

That expression hung on Yoonseo’s face as she stared at me.

Honestly, if she was that curious, she could just ask Bora directly.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Bora had really tussled with her back in kindergarten.

“Yeah, well, okay.”

Yoonseo seemed to have a blocking pride that prevented her from directly asking Bora, so with that, she turned slightly to the side.

But not just any turn—she crossed her arms too.

‘Goodness…’

Right then, it dawned on me.

That Yoonseo was genuinely sulking due to our earlier conversation.

She was clearly trying to turn her back, refusing to engage in any further discussion, and crossing her arms on top of it all meant she was pretty annoyed…

At this rate, it wouldn’t be easy to mend things.

I had a gut feeling this would be a difficult battle to get back on track, and while I was pondering over my next move,

The car that had been steadily cruising along the familiar streets suddenly came to a halt.

And before I could even step outside, I was met with…

“Dogun, do you want to come over and meet my sister for a bit?”

“Huh…?”

That was none other than Chae-rim’s invitation.