This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 94

‘Why…’

Are those two… together?

My vision trembled at the unexpected sight.

At the same time, I felt an involuntary tightness in my hand gripping the cup I was holding to pass to Dogun.

Was it because my vision was swaying?

My head… was spinning.

I thought I had gotten better since I hadn’t felt dizzy after leaving the house…

But the feelings I thought were gone returned slowly, and they were so horrific I couldn’t even put them into words.

“Ow… hey…”

“Is this… completely ruined…?”

“…Are you that clueless? Shut up, you idiot.”

The whispers of my friends from middle school, who had lowered their voices more than usual, no longer reached my ears.

And for good reason; everything felt like nothing more than a dull noise.

In that single moment, the world around me had become muted, while Dogun’s figure stood out clearly.

And staring at that scene made it feel like everything beneath me was crumbling down.

Amidst it all, the sight of the two standing far away was oddly vivid, making everything worse.

In fact, the reason I could only stand there like a fool, staring blankly at the two, was largely thanks to that.

It made sense that if everything around me was blurred, the spot they occupied felt dreamlike.

What could they be talking about?

I had no clue what was so entertaining, but both of them were smiling.

Filled with confusion, one thing was certain: both of them were gazing at each other with gentle smiles, which was… quite a sight to behold.

If it looked that way from my eyes, how did it look to others?

I didn’t even need to check.

Nothing could be duller than a predictable story with a set conclusion.

Over there.

That’s when I got the feeling I had locked eyes with Baeksulhwa; it was during a moment when such thoughts were swirling wildly in my head.

At first, I thought I was just imagining things.

I believed that, influenced by that bad feeling that had made me lose control in front of Dogun a while ago, I had misinterpreted something.

But… it wasn’t that.

It wasn’t an illusion.

If this was just a single person’s delusion, then what was visible in front of my eyes shouldn’t exist.

It scared me to think that I felt like I had made eye contact… and then, a different smile, one not like what I usually wore when facing Dogun, lined Baeksulhwa’s lips like it was saying, “Keep watching from there.”

The moment I opened my eyes wide, the gaze that had been directed at me shifted back to Dogun.

Then… their silhouettes overlapped.

By sheer coincidence, they were both about the same height, and from where I stood, they merged perfectly, making it so I couldn’t see them even if I wanted to…

And because I couldn’t see them, I couldn’t know.

The moment those two silhouettes aligned so exquisitely, what on earth had happened?

What had transpired that made Dogun flinch so suddenly?

It was a constant stream of unknowns from beginning to end.

Unlike me, whose already confusing thoughts had become even more tangled, they appeared… relieved.

As proof, Dogun, leaving me behind, walked away without a trace of reluctance.

How strange.

If an enemy retreats willingly, I should feel glad.

Yet instead of happiness, I felt… more anxious.

From the back of that figure leaving so casually, I sensed a confidence.

I had felt the presence of something I couldn’t have, and it was palpable.

*

As Yoonseo clenched tightly what she held in her hand, biting her lip, Dogun was equally perplexed.

“Aigo…”

I hurried, but the weekend crowd was way more than expected, taking longer than planned.

Plus, I wasted time sending off a senior saying they were heading back.

Sure, I was still within a ten-minute range, but late is late, right?

So, preparing a secret phrase to calm down the friends who would, judging by the situation, be filled with fake anger, I turned my body towards the meeting place—

“What the, where… huh?”

I didn’t know what kind of twist this was, but there were more people than I expected.

Not just one or two, but three more.

The issue was that one among those three was… currently a bit of a tricky opponent, Yoonseo.

“Wait…”

Wasn’t this just for us guys to meet up?

I thought it was just for a weekend hello…

“Um, uh…”

I hadn’t expected to run into her this way, and that was probably why I felt… awkward.

If this situation had unfolded under my intentions, then I wouldn’t have felt as troublesome as I did now.

“It’s ambiguous…”

And it seemed Yoonseo felt similarly awkward.

At least, judging by the expression on her face, that was the case.

How flustered must she be, that a girl who usually talks a lot wasn’t saying a word and was just staring at my face?

And what did that mean?

It meant she hadn’t expected me to show up either… so it was obvious who orchestrated this situation.

It must have been one of the two.

Considering there was only one person among the two who shared a class with Yoonseo… it was surely Yuchaidam’s doing.

As for the reason… it was probably because Yoonseo had been sighing heavily every day.

She likely saw that and thought, “Oh, they must have had another fight,” and set this up.

If it were any other day?

I would have felt grateful for Yuchaidam’s actions.

After all, being in the same school and class during middle school meant more chances to apologize when we fought, but that’s not the case anymore.

Aside from that point, I absolutely should be thanking her, but… the problem was I wasn’t ready yet.

Of course… I certainly thought about reconciling with Yoonseo.

But… the intention of wanting to reconcile and actually reconciling are completely different things.

But to have it happen so suddenly?

Even if someone else aside from me were placed here, they’d probably struggle just the same.

“Still, I really have to make it happen this time…”

Just by looking, it seemed Yoonseo was equally unprepared.

As proof, when I first joined, she was flustered by my sudden entrance and couldn’t take her eyes off me, but now it seemed she was treating me like I was invisible.

“Hey, this.”

“What? Did you buy mine too? Thanks.”

Thanks to that, what had originally been held by Yoonseo was passed to me through Jinho’s hands.

As I hurriedly took a sip of what was handed to me, I realized something in a natural moment.

That Yoonseo and I weren’t the only ones in strange states.

Like us being awkward was understandable, but what about the others?

Everyone was watching just me and Yoonseo, and to mend the atmosphere that had become unbearably awkward, it was Sangah who stepped up.

“So… what should we do first? Karaoke?”

And voicing her agreement was none other than Jinho, who was a bit of a Sangah admirer.

“Karaoke? That’s not bad. Come to think of it, we’ve gone to karaoke with this group just a handful of times.”

“Right.”

Karaoke.

As Jinho said, it had been a while since we went with this group, so it felt fresh…

‘Will it be okay…?’

Even on this open street, the atmosphere was so awkward; if we went into a small room, wouldn’t it feel suffocatingly awkward?

Then, being in a situation where everyone was just watching me and Yoonseo, it felt like a struggle to say something, so I kept my mouth shut, but fortunately, someone else threw a dissent.

“Ah… I’m not in the best shape for karaoke today.”

“Seriously, who would think you’re a pro or something? So then, where should we go?”

“Um… how about a movie?”

“Movie… hmm, now that I think about it, it’s been a while since I watched one at the theater…”

“I went once last November and haven’t been since.”

“Last November was when we went to see a movie as a class, right?”

“Right.”

“Jeez… please get out more and engage in some cultural activities instead of just playing games at home.”

“And that’s why we’re saying we should go now.”

“So what movie will we watch? Do you have anything in mind?”

“Well… what movies are out these days?”

“Hey, you’re asking me after you suggested going to watch a movie?”

“Why? I might not know.”

“Oh…”

As Jinho and Myungwook bickered back and forth, Sangah, who had been pondering something ever since my first arrival, suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!”

Then she suggested—

“How about an Escape Room Cafe?”