This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 77

Even after spotting Dogun, I couldn’t bring myself to approach him… because he wasn’t alone.

They said they always went to school together, and today was no different.

Seeing him standing next to that girl Yoonseo made me hesitant to step closer.

I couldn’t explain why, but that was how I felt.

So, I stood back, keeping my distance while observing the two of them… And as I continued watching, I began to realize something.

The atmosphere between them seemed oddly off.

When I saw them in front of the school gate yesterday, it was as if they were completely engrossed in each other, oblivious to the people around them.

On the surface, it looked like they were playfully bantering, but standing next to them, it felt different.

It definitely was that way… but within less than a day, their vibe had turned awkward.

At first, I thought it might be because they were tired from waking up early, but… I soon realized that wasn’t the case.

If it were due to that reason, then…

It meant Yoonseo must have exchanged words with him when she got off the subway.

Yet, even up to that point, they hadn’t spoken a single word to each other… So the only thought crossing my mind was:

‘Did they… maybe have a fight?’

Well, that wasn’t too surprising.

Friends often squabble over trivial reasons.

Anyway, if that were the case… it was obvious what Dogun would be wanting to say.

He’d probably want to apologize to Yoonseo but wouldn’t know how to go about it, and he’d be looking to me for advice.

Honestly, it wasn’t a subject I was particularly excited about.

I guess you could say I was somewhat reluctant about it.

I didn’t quite understand why, but… that was the way it was.

Of course, despite my reluctance, I didn’t feel overwhelmingly negative about it.

Him seeking advice from me meant he thought I was reliable in some way.

So, even though I wasn’t keen on the topic, I planned to give him some appropriate advice to strengthen that image—

“Um… Senior? Have you heard any rumors going around in school lately?”

“Uh, huh? Rumors?”

What came out of Dogun’s mouth was something I had never expected.

So I was flustered.

Rumors, huh.

I racked my brain trying to recall if I had overheard anything, but no matter how hard I thought, nothing came to mind.

From Dogun’s reaction, it seemed the rumor was quite widespread… yet here I was, the Student Council President, unaware of what rumors were circulating among the students.

It was a bit embarrassing, but I admitted I honestly didn’t know.

If I acted like I knew something and it turned out I didn’t, I would face twice the embarrassment I was feeling right now.

“Well… I really don’t know… what rumor is it?”

“Um… you see…”

What kind of rumor could be making him so cautious with his words?

That question was soon answered.

After nervously biting his lip for a while, Dogun finally spoke up.

“Well… there’s a rumor that the Senior has a boyfriend…”

“…Huh? Me?”

When I heard Dogun’s words, my heart sank with doubt, and he confirmed it was true.

So, as I stifled a ‘Huh…’ laugh internally, Dogun continued with a cautious voice to explain.

“But there’s… one of the new students who just joined us…”

As soon as those words reached my ears, I had the instinctive thought of ‘Surely not…’.

And that feeling morphed into disappointment when I heard the next part of Dogun’s statement.

“Someone said they saw the Senior and her boyfriend coming out of the Special Physical Education Room, all sweaty…”

Naturally, I realized what had happened… someone must have witnessed me with Dogun yesterday.

In truth, the fact someone saw us wasn’t all that shocking.

There are no everlasting secrets in this world.

I expected something like this would happen sooner or later.

However, I never anticipated that it would lead to such a rumor being spread.

Let’s give it the benefit of the doubt—sure, the rumor about the boyfriend was whatever.

Fine, I could roll with that… but the last bit of the rumor clearly seemed like an attempt to slander me.

“Well, um…”

Thus, the embarrassment was non-stop.

The kind of things people might imagine upon hearing such rumors were too easy to guess, which only added to my anguish.

What should I do?

“…there’s been a rumor going around. I’ve been thinking, and I think someone might have seen us standing together in front of the Special Physical Education Room after morning practice yesterday.”

At this rate, everything I had built up with great effort could come crashing down in an instant.

How could it have come to this…

I should’ve realized sooner and taken action when the rumors first started spreading.

If Dogun hadn’t been looking so cautious and hadn’t brought it up at all, that would have saved us both from the current situation.

“Well, I’m okay for now… but if we leave it like this, I think it’ll cause trouble for you, Senior.”

In the midst of all this, Dogun was truly kind.

If it were someone else, they’d be off worrying about themselves by now, but here he was concerned about me instead.

“Honestly, I’m not sure what we should do… but if there’s anything I can help with, please let me know.”

Seriously, what should we do?

As those thoughts flickered in my mind, I started to realize there might be an opportunity here.

Not just any opportunity, but a chance to kill two birds with one stone…

If that’s the case?

It would be a chance I couldn’t afford to miss.

I felt a bit guilty that Dogun, who must’ve felt flustered hearing a rumor that involved him, was now in this, but I didn’t have much time.

So—

“Um… what if we tried doing this?”

I pretended to think for a moment before carefully speaking up.

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“W-Wait… Seniors have no real way to deal with this…”

That’s how bad the rumor was.

If the rumor directly accused us of “being in a relationship,” I could have responded decisively, but it wasn’t like that.

Because of that, I expected I’d have to endure some discomfort for a while and wait for the dust to settle—

“Pardon? A disguise?”

Unexpectedly, a surprising solution slipped from the Senior’s mouth.

“…Yeah.”

“What do you mean by a disguise…?”

Could she possibly be suggesting we pretend to date for real? Then later act like we weren’t?

“I really don’t think that’d help…”

But that was all I could immediately think of at the moment—

“Um… did you think about what I mentioned yesterday? Have you given it any thought?”

Guess it wasn’t the Senior after all.

What could she be planning?

“Um…”

“The idea of going as a Hero Manager sounds good too.”

“…Ah.”

At that point, I started to grasp it.

So, this is how the Senior intended to cover up the rumor circulating around the school.

Choosing the word ‘disguise’ must have been deliberate as well.

“So what you’re saying is… we pretend I’m acting as your temporary manager, right?”

As I voiced that line of reasoning, I was slightly surprised to see her flinch and nod her head.

“…Yeah, exactly.”

“Honestly… that doesn’t sound bad.”

I genuinely believed it might even play out that way.

Thinking back on all the comments I’d heard here and there, the Senior’s image was that of a model Student Council President.

Not just her image; her actions reflected that too.

Who would believe such a model student suddenly had a boyfriend and was even involved in rumors like this at school?

But, the reason the rumors were spreading like wildfire was… because the content was so provocative.

However, if it were revealed that I had been acting as her temporary manager…

Most students would probably think, “Oh, that’s why,” or “Well, that was a baseless rumor after all. I knew it!”

But one thing I had to consider amidst this situation—

“The problem lies in the impetus.”

That was it.

I wasn’t an existing student, nor a member of the Student Council; just some new kid. How did I end up becoming the temporary manager?

If I didn’t handle that part well, this plan could end up being worse than useless.

So, I had to craft a convincing backstory… but what would work?

“How about we try this?”

“How?”

“Let’s go with what you suggested and say… I was the one to first cling to you, and you reluctantly accepted after a series of persistent requests.”

“Um… would that be okay? If it turns out like that…”

“Well… it might make me get home a little later for a while… but it should be better than leaving the situation as is.”