This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 87

While Yoonseo was completely absorbed in the hope of “maybe…” spending a full day there, Dogun was diligently focused on his training with Baeksulhwa.

“Front.”

As soon as he spoke, the rain that had been falling since earlier abruptly stopped.

“Back.”

In an instant, the sound of rain came back to life.

Instead, the crackling sound of the campfire that had been filling the silence quieted down.

“Front.”

The embers, nearly extinguished, came back to life with a snap as the sound of burning wood resonated once more.

The rain had long since ceased.

“Front and back.”

And finally, at the moment everything around fell into complete silence, I stifled a chuckle inside.

“I said it was a sample…”

But that didn’t mean it could be handled in one day.

Could it be that he simply spent the entire day repeating this training while I was in class?

If that was the case, his concentration was truly admirable.

On the other hand… Seeing the way my senior was, I became more curious.

So… why was she trying to become a Hero?

However, clearly sensing it was a landmine, I couldn’t bring that topic up first, so I instead said something else.

“With this, I think we can move on to the next level?”

Was the next level even the issue?

Considering my senior’s focus and determination shown today, even if I set up eight, which could be considered the next level, she would eat through them in no time.

“Should we just jump straight to eight instead?”

Honestly, I thought that might actually be possible.

The problem was… even if I filled two spots with our mobile phones, how on earth would I fill the other six…?

“Should I bring my laptop from home?”

If I connected cheap speakers and cables from some place like Dallae, maybe I could somehow make it work?

“Ah…”

But then it would just produce the same sound from the remaining six spots, excluding our mobile phones.

It would actually be more convenient for training if all the sounds were different.

Was there no good way?

As I was pondering that…

Brrrrrr—!

“Ah, wait a second…”

My mobile phone, which I had lying on the ground, suddenly started vigorously vibrating against the floor, so I asked my senior for a moment and picked up the call.

“What on earth could be so urgent?”

“Uh, what is it?”

*

Unbeknownst to Dogun, who was taking the call, Baeksulhwa was watching him closely with keen eyes.

And the reason Baeksulhwa was observing Dogun as he walked to a corner to take the call was simple.

‘Could it be her?’

If so, perhaps the fight they seemed to have had this morning was just a misunderstanding.

Maybe, they were simply tired from the morning and were just keeping silent, and she had jumped to conclusions.

Thinking that way, I found myself becoming increasingly curious about what Dogun would say during the call.

I don’t know why, but I was.

For some reason, I couldn’t help but be concerned.

The real reason I kept glancing toward Dogun, pretending to wipe off the sweat that had dripped down from my focus, was because of that.

On the other hand, I felt a little… disappointed.

Normally, that was acceptable, but at least during training, I wished he could just focus on me.

Of course, I knew.

It was unreasonable to expect that level of commitment from Dogun, who hadn’t formally taken on the title of a temporary manager and had simply accepted it to quash the baseless rumors floating around school.

‘But…’

He could have waited until training was over to take that call.

As I watched, it seemed Dogun finally started speaking on the phone, bringing the device close to his ear and muttering something, lost in thought. Suddenly, I was startled.

I never thought I would have such childish thoughts, like being jealous of a friendly interaction between a friend and another girl, like a seven-year-old.

Was that why?

My face felt hot, so I quickly averted my gaze toward the mobile phone set on the ground.

I tried to replay the video I had paused earlier to pretend to focus on training, but…

At that moment, when I powered up my talents again,

“I have time, but… when exactly is the weekend?”

A sound I had never expected whispered its way into my ear.

The moment I heard it, I flinched.

I had no intention of eavesdropping on the call, but unintentionally, that’s what I’d done.

“Saturday? Or Sunday?”

I hurriedly tried to gather my focus, redirecting it elsewhere.

‘Are they planning to meet up just the two of them on the weekend…?’

That thought popped into my head, and I couldn’t shake it off.

“On Sunday, what time and where are you meeting?”

And as I considered that possibility, a strange tightness gripped my heart.

“At Junko at one o’clock on Sunday?”

While someone else took care to speak cautiously, Yoonseo seemed completely nonchalant about making plans.

Just when I had been hoping Dogun would focus exclusively on me during training, experiencing this realization was strangely deflating.

“Okay. Got it.”

Maybe that was why I felt so deflated.

Yes, that had to be it.

“I’m sorry, senior. Just taking a call from a friend…”

“…No, that’s understandable.”

“Uh… where did we leave off?”

“Up to the point where we could move on to the next level.”

“Ah, right. Hmmm…”

“Uh… so about that…”

“Yeah?”

“Could you… possibly make time this weekend?”

There was no reason to ask such a question unless I was genuinely interested in Dogun.

After I asked that question?

My heart started pounding wildly.

“…Yeah?”

Dogun’s reaction was clearly one of slight surprise, which made it even more so.

“Uh, it’s not a big deal… I just thought we should add more tasks, right?”

“Right?”

“So wouldn’t something like a device be needed?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“But I’m not really good with that kind of stuff…”

Was that last remark effective?

Dogun erased the look of puzzlement from his face and replaced it with a look that said he understood.

“And you said this wouldn’t end at eight, right? You also mentioned you want to keep increasing the number?”

“That’s right.”

“So while it’s manageable up to eight with mobile phones and speakers from home, increasing beyond that seems tricky if we continue using the same method…?”

“Well, that’s true.”

“That means we’ll need some more specialized equipment and since we’re planning to increase the tasks, it seems like preparing some proper facilities would be good.”

After I said that, Dogun nodded as though in agreement.

Seizing the opportunity, I quickly continued.

“So if you’re okay with it, how about we check out some stores this weekend to see what we need?”

“Um…”

“If you can’t find the time, that’s alright, though…”

“No, that’s… that’s fine.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Just when Dogun nodded, seemingly without difficulty, he added as if he had just remembered something.

“But by the way, when exactly on the weekend do you mean…?”

Hearing that made me reflexively swallow hard.

And, I carefully opened my mouth, making sure not to show my anxiety.

“Um, Saturday I have another schedule, so that might be tough… but Sunday morning seems fine. How about that?”

“Ah… Sunday morning…”

“Yeah, I think around ten or eleven should be okay. What do you think?”

I knew.

I knew fully well that forcing Dogun to choose between options like this was quite childish.

I was aware, yet… what could I do with my curiosity?

So in this situation, I was genuinely curious about what Dogun would choose.

I wanted to check once more.

And despite having accidentally overheard the earlier conversation, I still chose a vague time, worried that he might refuse if I raised the possibility of an earlier out.

If Dogun had been aware of that, he might have thought I was cowardly, but… it couldn’t be helped.

I didn’t want to lose, even if it meant being a bit cowardly.

Especially to that brat who seemed completely oblivious to the word “decorum.”