I bit down hard on my lip.
[Seong Yu-un!!]
If I did not answer, he would throw a tantrum and ask if I had gone deaf. If I did answer, he would find some way to pick apart every word.
Usually, I put up with Min Yu-un because he helped me more often than not.
And in the end, he was the one capable of bringing me to my death.
Maybe, deep down, I pitied him because we shared the same fate. We were both unloved, both abandoned in the end to face judgment alone.
But not now.
The quest involving Han Tae-ryeong already had my thoughts in chaos. Instead of helping, Min Yu-un was only making everything worse. Just earlier, I had tried to do something for his sake, only to get distracted by clovers and accomplish absolutely nothing.
In other words, I had no patience left.
I could no longer bring myself to calmly ignore Min Yu-un’s whining.
But there was nothing else I could do either.
I buried my face in my open textbook, closed my eyes, and simply waited for it to pass.
*****
The moment the bell rang for break, I shot up from my seat and headed for the restroom.
After splashing cold water over my face several times, the fog in my head finally began to clear.
[Hey, Seong Yu-un.]
“What now?”
[Isn’t that Yoo Si-eon’s gym uniform?]
I shot a glare toward the source of the voice.
Crumpled beside the sink lay a gym uniform.
“That’s Yoo Si-eon’s?”
[It’s been slashed up. Who else gets that kind of treatment?]
My hand hesitated as I reached for it.
The possibility of triggering yet another misunderstanding flashed vividly through my mind. But leaving it there would not erase the suspicion either.
Taking a deep breath, I picked up the damp uniform.
When I unfolded it, several holes gaped through the shirt, as if someone had taken a knife to it. Inside the collar, the name Yoo Si-eon was written in neat letters.
“It really is Yoo Si-eon’s.”
[See? Told you.]
Ignoring Min Yu-un’s smugness, I considered what to do next.
No matter what I chose—leaving it here, carrying it out, returning it to Yoo Si-eon with an explanation—I would still end up accused of being the culprit.
And the real culprit was, without a doubt, Jin Ha-seong.
After what he had said to me earlier, I was not even angry anymore. I was just exhausted. Drained all the way through.
So what if I acted like a complete lunatic?
Clutching the gym uniform tightly, I left the restroom and began checking each classroom, starting with Class 1.
I found him when I reached Class 10.
Striding straight toward him, I raised the soaked uniform high.
Then, without a second’s hesitation, I threw it right into Jin Ha-seong’s face.
Blinded and choking from the sudden attack, Jin Ha-seong frantically clawed the uniform off his head.
“M-Min Yu-un?!”
“Hey.”
I did not even want to say his name.
My face was as expressionless as ever, which only seemed to make the air around me more menacing. I stared at Jin Ha-seong in silence for a moment before finally speaking.
“Let’s stop this. Seriously.”
“W-what are you—”
“Stop doing things I never asked you to do.”
I pointed at the torn gym uniform clutched in his hands.
Yoo Si-eon, who had followed after me, froze when he saw us. Even with my back turned, I could feel his stunned gaze fixed on me.
I turned away from Jin Ha-seong without another word.
As I passed Yoo Si-eon, our eyes met briefly. For once, his face had gone slack with shock.
I broke eye contact and kept walking.
“Min Yu-un? Hey, Min Yu-un!”
Jin Ha-seong shouted after me, but I did not stop.
If anything, I walked faster.
[Wow, Seong Yu-un. You’re a total psycho.]
Min Yu-un, shameless as ever, offered his unsolicited opinion.
This time, I did not bother denying it.
I had already survived this world once.
If it meant dying—if it meant finally being allowed to rest—there was very little I would not do.
******
After that, Yoo Si-eon did not speak to me until homeroom ended.
Part of me felt relieved.
Another part could not help growing anxious, wondering what was going through his head.
Lost in thought, I did not notice the other students leaving until the classroom had gone completely silent. By the time I looked up, only Yoo Si-eon and I remained.
I rose, gathered my bag, and kept my eyes lowered, even as I felt his gaze lingering on me.
Moving carefully toward the back door, I tried to slip out unnoticed.
A voice stopped me.
“I told you, didn’t I? Let’s walk home together.”
I froze.
Lee Soo-hyeon stood in the doorway.
Without looking up, all I could see was his chest. At his height, I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes.
He was not smiling.
That familiar mask of friendliness was gone. In its place was a blank, unreadable expression as he looked down at me.
‘He must’ve heard about the gym uniform.’
Something inexplicable stirred in my chest.
“Come on, Yu-un.”
“I’m coming too.”
A presence settled behind me.
It was Yoo Si-eon, his gaze as persistent as ever.
Lee Soo-hyeon echoed him, disbelief written plainly across his face.
“You’re coming with us?”
“Why not? You said you wanted to walk home with Min Yu-un. So why can’t I?”
Lee Soo-hyeon pressed his lips into a thin line.
He seemed at a loss for words. His confusion toward Yoo Si-eon was obvious.
But the person most baffled by Yoo Si-eon was me.
I had not even properly explained the milk incident from this morning. And now he wanted to walk home with the person responsible for the gym uniform incident too?
As Lee Soo-hyeon searched for some excuse to send him away, he finally spoke after a long pause.
“Si-eon, your house is in the opposite direction from Yu-un’s.”
“And yours isn’t?”
Yoo Si-eon let out a faint scoff, making Lee Soo-hyeon flinch.
“Your house is in the opposite direction from Min Yu-un’s too.”
“What?”
I had only been half-listening to their conversation, but that was not something I could ignore.
Without hesitation, I cut in.
“Lee Soo-hyeon, is your house really in the opposite direction from mine?”
Lee Soo-hyeon opened his mouth, then looked away.
“It’s not completely opposite.”
“It is completely opposite. You have to go the other way from the school gate, don’t you?”
Yoo Si-eon added it casually, and Lee Soo-hyeon’s eye twitched.
“Si-eon, enough.”
Lee Soo-hyeon glared at him.
Yoo Si-eon only shrugged.
I let out a quiet sigh.
At this rate, they would probably spend the entire walk bickering over every trivial thing.
I was already exhausted. The last thing I wanted was to waste what little energy I had left.
So I quietly stepped past them and started walking.
‘Honestly, they don’t actually want to walk home with me anyway. Slipping away is the best option.’
Unfortunately, my judgment was completely wrong.
“Min Yu-un.”
“Yu-un, where are you going?”
Both of them called out at the same time.
*****
In the end, all three of us ended up walking home together, with my house as the final destination.
Sandwiched between Yoo Si-eon and Lee Soo-hyeon, I walked with my eyes darting restlessly from side to side.
No matter how I looked at it, I could not understand their decision.
Nothing had changed.
To them, I would always be the perpetrator, the sinner, the villain, and nothing more.
After all, Min Yu-un’s sins could not be undone, no matter what consequences followed.
“How far are you planning to follow us?”
Yoo Si-eon asked, annoyance sharpening his tone as he cast Lee Soo-hyeon a sidelong glance.
After a brief hesitation, Lee Soo-hyeon forced a stiff, awkward smile.
“That’s what I should be asking you. I was the one who planned to walk home with him first.”
“I just have somewhere to stop by on the way. It happens to be in this direction. Unlike you.”
“Anyway.”
Cutting Yoo Si-eon off, Lee Soo-hyeon quickly changed the subject.
“Seriously, though. What’s with you suddenly walking home with Min Yu-un?”
Yoo Si-eon’s gaze sharpened.
Even with that fierce look, there was still a trace of the cat-like charm that suited the main character of this story. When their eyes met, Lee Soo-hyeon quickly looked away, deliberately avoiding Yoo Si-eon’s stare.
Yoo Si-eon let out a small, incredulous laugh.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that? Why are you walking home with Min Yu-un?”
At that, Lee Soo-hyeon fell silent and pressed his lips together.
He probably felt guilty about being friends with me.
Even more so about walking home with me.
To Lee Soo-hyeon, Yoo Si-eon must have been unbearably precious.
As if he knew it, Yoo Si-eon struck coldly.
“Wasn’t it only a few days ago that you were badmouthing Min Yu-un to me and Han Tae-ryeong? You did it almost every day. Again and again.”
Startled by his words, I instinctively looked up at Lee Soo-hyeon.
Our eyes met.
I blinked, caught off guard, a clean jolt of shock running through me.
Lee Soo-hyeon had always projected kindness and easy friendliness. Hearing that he had spoken ill of someone behind their back was hard to believe.
Of course, I knew Lee Soo-hyeon disliked Min Yu-un quite a bit.
Whether from obligation or guilt, Lee Soo-hyeon was a frustratingly naive person who never let go of that strained smile.
Besides, he was not the type to badmouth someone in secret or turn his back on them when they were not around.
Lee Soo-hyeon had always been too kind, holding everyone—Yoo Si-eon included—to impossibly high moral standards.
‘But… he talked behind my back?’
Lee Soo-hyeon’s face had gone pale, as if all the blood had drained from it.
“Yu-un, I…”
He stumbled over his words, sounding desperate.
I looked at him calmly.
After fumbling for a moment, he finally lowered his voice, as if surrendering.
“I’m sorry.”