This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 337

Yoonseo, overwhelmed by my remark, made such a big reaction that it almost turned my perfectly cooked rice into a disaster topped with ashes—no, champagne! Thankfully, that calamity was avoided.

It’s no wonder, considering Yoonseo’s talent began to show its power the moment I said that.

It was as if someone rewound a video tape called time; the golden liquid that had just poured out of the glass was being sucked back in, a spectacle too mysterious not to admire.

“Whoa… her reflexes, huh? They seem faster now?”

“Hmph, this much is a piece of cake.”

“Wow…! So this is what happens when you pass a special exam?”

“Well, I am a hero now.”

Thinking back, time really flies. It feels like just yesterday I was tearing up every time training didn’t go my way…

“Wait, when did I?!”

Seeing her full of self-importance struck me as oddly annoying, so I slyly decided to pull out one of her embarrassing moments, which resulted in a bubbly reaction like soda.

Being in a situation with Chae-rim, the Senior, and Bora around, it must have been awkward for Yoonseo when one of her dark moments got revealed.

Before I knew it, Yoonseo’s face was as red as a ripe tomato.

“Was that not you?”

“That never happened! You must be confusing something because it’s such an old story!”

“True…”

“You really just go on about pointless things…”

“After all, you wouldn’t remember it too clearly since that was almost every day.”

“No way, that never happened!”

Her face flushed bright red like someone who was falsely accused, but for a moment, I could tell she didn’t want to let herself go out like this.

“But what about you?”

Yoonseo tried to counterattack.

For her, this was truly unfortunate, but as for me, I’ve been systematically managing my dark history since childhood, just in case a situation like this arose in the future.

I mean, it was just good foresight in the second round of life, if I must say.

And what that meant was?

No matter how long Yoonseo and I had been childhood friends for over ten years, this was not a fair game.

“What about me?”

I felt quite confident against Yoonseo, who looked like she was about to expose something.

But then…

“I know you got caught stealing beer from that lady when you were in elementary school and got spanked by her!”

The moment those words flowed out of Yoonseo’s mouth, I felt my confidence wobbling.

“No way, how do you know that…”

In my memory, that day, it had been just my mom and me at home, so how could Yoonseo know about it?

While I was sinking into panic, our audience, curious and filled with interest, finally stepped into the duel unfolding between Yoonseo and me.

“Really?”

“Yup! You really drank beer from a young age, didn’t you?”

Maybe it was the sudden interruption that caught me off guard.

There was a moment of silence, but still, Yoonseo had an airs of triumph.

She seemed like she was dead set on winning this duel.

And my feeling of dread, “Could it be…?” was entirely due to her expression.

“What a surprise… I thought Dogun would have been mature from a young age…”

“Well, maybe I was just curious? Kids often show interest in what adults do…”

“If just stealing beer was all, that would have been fine. But do you know how she got caught?”

“Uh, how did she get caught?”

“The thing is…”

And in that moment, as Yoonseo spoke with the kind of voice only someone genuinely knowing the truth would, my dread turned into certainty.

“—Stop.”

“Why? Are you getting scared now just because you started this? Scared? Scared?”

“I said stop. If you cross that line, I can’t help but cross mine too.”

“Oh, really~?”

“Hey, Yoonseo! You’re unbelievable…”

“Who’s the one that crossed the line first?”

Seriously, how does she know that?

That couldn’t be possible!

“So how did you get caught?”

“How I got caught? I drank beer, got drunk, and then fell asleep under the blankets…”

“Did you see? Did you see or not?!”

“I couldn’t see.”

“But how could you dare incite…?”

“I heard it instead.”

“Who did you hear it from?”

“I heard it from dad!”

If the source of information is my uncle…

It was obvious who he heard it from.

“Oh…”

Family members being too close can be a bad thing…

And look at this proof!

There are no secrets among us.

Anyway, thanks to Yoonseo’s revelation, the mutual certainty between us disappeared!

“Ha… okay, so that’s how it is.”

I had no more reason to hesitate.

“What? If you lost, stop babbling nonsense and cough it up! I’ll take care of it!”

She seemed so convinced she had won…

But there’s a saying, right?

It’s not over until it’s over.

“Seriously… this was bound to happen anyway, why are we going on about pointless things… Thanks to you, I was going to toast and now I’m going to lose sleep over this.”

So, for now, I’d let Yoonseo enjoy her sense of victory.

Because later, when she got hit hard by me, it’d feel even worse.

“…tsks.”

Clicking my tongue, I reversed the bottle I was holding and offered it to Yoonseo as part of the setup.

Just when I thought we finally could do a toast… Yoonseo reached out with both hands to grab the champagne bottle, but just then, a third hand pushed through.

“Um, sorry, but can I pour the first cup?”

What more can I say?

The surprise intruder was none other than Chae-rim.

“…What?”

“I really want to pour the first cup for you. Is that okay?”

Caught off guard by Chae-rim’s firm statement, I seemed to stumble for a moment.

I was flustered, rolling my eyes about, while Yoonseo might not have had any particular thoughts about it.

After a moment of hesitation, Yoonseo nodded.

So, Chae-rim took the bottle intended for Yoonseo and slightly tilted the end toward me.

I hurriedly grabbed my glass and held it out to Chae-rim, who filled it with the content just as I extended it.

“Dogun, you’ve had a tough year too.”

The moment those words came out with the drink being poured, I finally understood.

I realized the peculiar reason behind everyone suddenly feeling awkward while exchanging words as their cups were filled.

“This is how it feels…”

What can I say?

It wasn’t even a special occasion, yet it felt oddly embarrassing.

“Ha ha…”

While I awkwardly chuckled, Chae-rim, smiling brightly at me, continued.

“With all sorts of problems, you must have felt a lot of stress, so thank you for hanging in there and doing great.”

“…You too, and everyone else helped me like it was their own issue, so thanks.”

Regardless, that single sentence was sincere.

If I had to endure it all alone?

I would’ve collapsed long ago, or was it just pure luck that I managed to hold on? Either way, I would have been completely damaged.

So, in a way, not only Chae-rim but also the Senior, Yoonseo, and Bora could be considered my benefactors.

“Um, and…”

Speaking of which, did she still have something left to say?

It felt like that, so I took on a listening posture…

“…Did you put on perfume?”

Chae-rim’s sudden comment took me by surprise.

“Uh… yes? Oh… yes, well…”

“It smells nice. It suits you, Dogun.”

Caught off guard, the last statement wrapped up our conversation.

“Okay, now that Dogun’s glass is full, shall we toast together?”

Chae-rim raised her glass in a slight posture, standing up.

“I won’t do some fancy toast since Dogun already covered what I wanted to say… So, you know what to do when I say, ‘cheers,’ right?”

After matching her cue and toasting, something relatively peaceful followed.

Honestly, it would have been hard for the atmosphere to feel bad.

It’s just that when people eat something delicious, they usually end up feeling good.

With both food and drinks sticking to the palate, how could the mood be anything but good?

So I thought this calm atmosphere would last, but then Chae-rim’s face started to turn slightly rosy.

As if the alcohol was starting to get to her, she looked a little dazed for a moment, but then her usual serious expression softened.

“Hehe! Let’s play a game! A drinking game!”

“A game?”

“Yeah!”

She proposed a drinking game.