This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 79

Honestly, it was a hassle even to answer.

“What, why?”

Still, I opened my mouth to respond because the person who called me was a friend who had relayed real-time news about Yeongang Middle School just yesterday.

“No, it’s just that you look so gloomy since morning.”

“Ah…”

“Is something wrong?”

Hearing that made me ponder for a moment. I was debating whether to mention what happened with Dogun.

After all, you never know if it might spark some brilliant solution.

But after thinking it over—

“It’s just… I’m not feeling great.”

In the end, I decided not to share.

“Really? Then you should probably go to the nurse’s office, right?”

“…It’s not that serious. By the way, why?”

I changed the topic because honestly, I found it a bit uncomfortable to talk more about that.

I was genuinely curious about why they came to see me.

“Oh, right.”

It was a reaction as if they suddenly remembered something they had forgotten.

What followed was—

“Remember that rumor I asked you to check out yesterday?”

And the topic was—

“Rumor? Ah…”

By rumor, they must mean the nonsense involving Dogun and that… Baeksulhwa girl.

So, what does that even mean?

I confirmed long ago through Dogun’s reaction that all of that was indeed nonsense, but I couldn’t help but be curious about how such rumors even spread.

“Why?”

“Ah, it’s nothing big. I just asked a friend I was in touch with yesterday if anything had changed.”

“Okay, and?”

“But it turned out all those rumors were just nonsense.”

“Ah… is that so?”

It was a bit deflating.

I had thought I might hear something new, but it turned out to be something I already knew.

So, I intended to drop the topic and think about how to cheer Dogun up when—

“Yeah, it turns out the person who was with the Student Council President is not her boyfriend but a temporary manager!”

But those words caught me off guard.

“What?”

“Um, you know… Those candidates who are always hanging around with heroes.”

That was not the question I had in mind.

I’d probably know more about what a temporary manager does.

Why wouldn’t I know?

I’ve been offered a few times already.

Of course, I turned them all down.

I mean, that’s just annoying and wouldn’t help at all.

If someone were to become a temporary manager, would that person know more about me than Dogun?

No way.

So, it was only natural that I rejected all of them because they seemed like they’d just be a hassle and of no help…

What’s the deal with this?

I couldn’t believe it.

What followed was even harder to swallow.

Dogun had chased that girl around asking to be her temporary manager for days?

He was not the type to do such things, and if he had been that desperate, he would’ve surely said something to me.

But the only time Dogun mentioned anything related to a manager in the past few days was yesterday.

Yet the rumor said he had been chasing her for days.

Trusting this rumor was impossible.

I wanted to dismiss it again, thinking it’d be just another silly rumor, but—

Buzz…!

Right at that moment, my mobile phone in my hand buzzed with a vibration.

That’s when I began to feel uneasy.

The timing was too coincidental.

So, I hesitated to reach for it but still felt I should at least check what it was, so I cautiously glanced at the screen.

And there it was—

“Hey, I’ve got something to do after school for a while, so don’t wait for me and go home first.”

The message from Dogun, who I had been waiting for all morning, stared back at me.

…Packed with totally incomprehensible content.

I suppose that’s why.

‘…Why?’

The very first thought that crossed my mind after reading that message was that.

Had he really gotten that mad?

So angry that he didn’t even want to go home together…?

No way.

That couldn’t possibly be true.

If he had been that angry, like I said earlier, he wouldn’t have even come to pick me up this morning.

What this must mean is that something truly came up…

But what could it be?

Is there some event happening at school or something?

Or did he join a club…?

In that moment, those thoughts piled up rapidly, but I already knew deep down that he probably wouldn’t do any of that.

After all, Dogun absolutely detested those things.

He was the type to think, “Why would I stay at school if I could just rush home after classes?”

But did Dogun seriously just say he had things to do after school, telling me not to wait?

That had to mean there was a concrete reason… but what could it possibly be?

Could it be… that the ridiculous rumor I just brushed off was actually true?

Like… Dogun is Baeksulhwa’s temporary manager?

In that very instant, what popped into my head was a comment from Dogun at the mart yesterday.

He asked what I would think if he worked as a hero manager.

What if that question was a build-up to ask if he could be a temporary manager?

If he had noticed my extreme refusal and yet felt hurt about it, how would he have reacted?

Wouldn’t he have felt a bit disappointed?

If it was something like that, it could easily explain why he looked mad this morning.

I could imagine feeling that way too if I were in his shoes.

The question was… how did that link up with Baeksulhwa?

If Dogun had begged her for the temporary manager position in a fit of anger and she accepted, then that would be a problem. But what if it was the other way around?

What if Baeksulhwa initiated the idea instead?

What if she detected Dogun’s state and cunningly took advantage of that?

Putting everything else aside, I needed to be sure about that bit.

If that were the case, it meant she harbored some ulterior motives.

‘Maybe…’

What if our encounter at the uniform shop wasn’t just coincidence?

So, I asked.

What was the reason?

And the reply I got was—

“None of your business.”

“Anyway, I’m going to be late, so don’t wait around for me, just head home.”

It felt a bit… hurtful that she wouldn’t give me a clear reason as if it was none of my concern, but I bit my tongue and slightly altered my question to ask one more time.

“What time are you finishing?”

“Probably around six?”

“It might be later, too.”

Six o’clock meant she would be alone with that girl for at least an hour and a half after school.

If it might be later, that could mean more than that.

And she wanted me to just let it be?

That was absolutely out of the question.

There was no way… I couldn’t allow it.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Dogun.

No, putting aside whether I trust him or not, if he was going to give someone else attention, he’d have done that ages ago.

Dogun wasn’t the kind of person to fall for that easily.

Just looking back to our middle school days, I could remember how much trouble it was to fend off all those girls who seemed to have an interest in him.

Yet, no matter how much the surroundings might have changed, Dogun had never acted that way.

That’s why I believed in him.

I believed in Dogun… but what about that Baeksulhwa girl?

Could she be trusted?

What if she approached him with some ulterior motives?

That’s when it all hit me.

If that were the case, then what about my nightly training that I always do?

After sending that message, I felt like I was begging Dogun, and a wave of regret washed over me afterwards… but I firmly believed Dogun would choose me without doubt.

At the very least, I thought he’d show some sign of discomfort.

I was sure of it, yet—

[?]

[You’re going to have to manage solo for a while.]

What I received back was a response that sounded as if he was asking why I was bringing up something so obvious.

Solo for a while?

How many days would that even be?

A day? Three days? A week? Ten days? A month?

[And honestly, you can manage without me now, right?]

I see.

That’s how it is, huh?

I’m not okay with it… but you seem to think that way.

A feeling welled up from inside me, like something was bubbling to the surface.

So… reflexively, I bit down hard on my lip.

If I didn’t do that, I felt like something would just spill out, whether from my eyes or my mouth.

I had been agonizing over how to soothe Dogun’s anger all morning, so of course, I felt more than that.

…It was hurtful.

Everything just… felt that way.

Hurt and upset—

“Fine, do whatever you want since it’s your business.”

My fingers pressed down on my mobile phone keys, typing out the reply.