This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 52

Anyway, after finishing the dishes, we headed towards the trampoline park instead of the pension.

Is it because we’re the only ones using the campsite right now?

The area around the trampoline park was quiet, with not a single person in sight.

“Is it okay to leave it here?”

“Just to be safe, let’s keep it somewhere visible.”

Since it wasn’t even ours to begin with and we borrowed most of it from Jinho’s aunt, there’s no harm in being cautious.

So, I unlocked the padlock hanging at the entrance of the trampoline park and pushed the handcart we brought from the faucet inside.

“Wow, they really locked this up tightly.”

“Right?”

I wondered if they were worried that kids who came camping with their parents might sneak in and have an accident or something.

Not only was there a padlock at the entrance, but the barbed wire surrounding the trampoline area was also locked up.

When I unlocked that too—

Yoonseo, who had been eagerly waiting for the door to open behind me, could no longer contain herself and threw herself towards the trampoline.

“Yay!”

Oh boy, her smile was practically stretching from ear to ear.

Is it really that fun?

Before diving straight into bouncing, Yoonseo, as if she needed a warm-up, started bouncing lightly on the trampoline, and then suddenly threw out a challenge.

“What are you doing? Are you coming up or what? Or could it be… you’re scared?”

“What? Hey, just wait!”

“Sorry, but I’ve been waiting for you since earlier!”

While bouncing up and down on the spot just to tease me added to my irritation.

So I decided to get on the trampoline right away—

“Gotcha! Caught you!”

Up until now, her actions were merely a preview, or maybe a distraction, but from that moment on, she started bouncing like crazy—

Thanks to that, the trampoline began to shake wildly.

“Hey, hold on…! Time out—!”

“Nope, no such thing!”

“Seriously, you have to give me time to get up?!”

Does the saying “first hit wins” also apply in the world of trampolines?

Every time Yoonseo bounced, my body, barely managing to get onto the trampoline, was sent flying in every direction, making it impossible to find my balance.

“Ugh, wait a minute!”

“No can do! I’ve been waiting for this!”

Let me tell you, it felt like I was the popcorn popping in a frying pan.

My body was bouncing around uncontrollably against my will—

“Heeheehee…!”

It seemed like Yoonseo found my predicament amusing, and she wouldn’t stop bouncing.

If we had been exercising like this normally, I would have been worn out by now…

‘So this is how it’s gonna be?’

Well then, there’s no choice but to respond in kind.

So I reached out to grab Yoonseo to stop her, but—

“Too slow.”

“Ugh…”

“How dare you! Not a chance!”

My outstretched hand was ineffective, and instead, I just ended up humiliated.

‘What the…’

What is this agility?

How could she move this fast?

I’m not kidding; it’s been ten years since I’ve seen someone so quick.

As I was left flabbergasted, she found it amusing and continued bouncing.

But one thing Yoonseo completely overlooked was that the combination of the trampoline and socks is not that great.

It was so evident that my attempts to catch her were futile. I was half-giving up when I lay on the trampoline.

“Can’t catch me? You’ll never—… Wha?!”

Just then, Yoonseo, who was circling around me teasingly, suddenly slid right off the trampoline!

The problem was that she fell directly in the direction I was lying.

And perhaps because of that, the moment her balance wavered and she started to tilt, it felt like time was slowing down.

In that slowed-down moment, I seriously contemplated.

‘Should I dodge… or not…?’

Rolling sideways seemed risky as I worried about possibly getting a nosebleed, and staying put filled me with dread about the aftermath of the impact.

I knew all too well how hard Yoonseo’s head was; she had knocked into me before and it nearly felt like hitting a utility pole.

But to actually head-butt like this?

‘What if I get a concussion…?’

While I was stuck between choices, Yoonseo, no, Yoonseo’s head was closing in on me.

‘Whatever, I’ll just…!’

At that moment, I placed my hands in front of my forehead as a cushion—

BAM—!

The sound of our collision was so immense it felt unbelievable that it was just two people hitting each other, and an intense shock hit me right in the head.

‘Whoa…’

You know in those cosmic movies when planets collide with asteroids? It felt just like that.

The impact was gigantic enough to shake my core, no, my brain too—thanks to it, my eyes instinctively squeezed shut.

Perhaps the shock was so intense because the pain was localized to my head.

Even though my hands served as a cushion, it was still pretty intense, and I thought that without them, I probably wouldn’t be thinking anything right now.

I would’ve surely fainted on the spot.

“Ugh…”

So while I was letting out sounds akin to those one might make before passing out, cradling my head with my hands, Yoonseo, who had been lying on top of me since the collision, suddenly stood up as if nothing had happened.

It was then that I opened my eyes to see her worried face gazing down at me.

“Are you okay? Do you feel dizzy or anything?”

‘Ah…’

In that moment, it hit me so naturally.

If, and I mean really if, Dogun saw me as someone to take care of, it was probably due to moments like this.

From an outsider’s perspective, it was the kind of situation where I should have been checking up on him first.

Yet, he had been the one to inquire about my well-being first.

As if it were a natural thing to do.

‘So that’s how it is. That’s why…’

Not realizing that, I had been all fluttery over such trivial feelings… It wouldn’t be strange if he didn’t see me as a romantic interest.

Because of those thoughts, my expression must have darkened without me knowing.

“Hey, are you really okay?”

His voice filled with a heavier concern than before made its way into my ears.

“Y-yeah…”

“Geez… I knew something like this would happen the moment you started bouncing around like that.”

“…”

“Are you really okay? If you feel dizzy at all, just tell me, alright? Don’t hide anything from me.”

“…Yeah.”

It would have been nice if I had gotten that epiphany and left it at that—

“Hey, you…!”

“Yeah…?”

“Nosebleed!”

Too bad my body just wouldn’t cooperate.