SMW 54

Far from knowing the car had been fixed, I didn’t even know that Choi Seol and Noona had met alone. Did they meet during morning exercise? Anyway, I decided to ask about that later.

“Then what about the car? Where is it now?”

Now I needed Choi Seol’s cheat-level intuition. Hoping he would lie and say he’d bring it back within the week if possible, I looked at him with desperation in my eyes.

“You can’t use it.”

That was the moment his cheat-level intuition turned into garbage.

“Hahaha, what do you mean? Didn’t you just say the repairs were finished? What’s the problem now? That’s strange; no matter how luxury a foreign car is, if it’s been a month, there shouldn’t be anything they can’t fix, right?”

“Right, these days it’s finished in ten days at most.”

Another owner of an expensive foreign car kindly added a supplementary explanation. Using the senior’s words as a basis, I questioned Choi Seol demandingly.

“See? He said so. So why can’t I use it? Back then, it was just a slightly dented bumper. Do you think the shop scammed you?”

“The repairs were finished, but I just sold it.”

“Right, so you sold it and got scammed… what?”

At the thunderous news, I tried to jump up and almost flipped the table with my knees. Fortunately, the senior and Choi Seol caught me, avoiding a disaster. But I was in no state to feel relieved.

“When—no, why did you sell it? Then the money!”

“I put the money away safely.”

I mean, where exactly did you put it safely?

His vague answer made me feel like I was going to explode. Of course, it was his car and he sold it, so I had no right to complain, but still, this wasn’t right. Knowing that Choi Seol hated using a single cent of his wicked father’s money, I had worked myself to the bone spending my own hard-earned cash to feed and clothe him until now.

Wait a minute. If it’s a foreign car, wouldn’t it fetch a decent price even as a used one? I’d only know if I’d ever bought one. I’d never been interested in that side of things.

Would the senior know the market price? Only then did my gaze shift to the human I had forgotten. As if he had been watching me the whole time, the senior’s question flew in as if he’d been waiting.

“Is the car he sold Yeo-reum’s car?”

“…No, it’s Choi Seol’s.”

“Then it can’t be helped. You’re coming back up with me, right?”

Why is the conversation going that way? Anyway, whether he was a long-time ex-boyfriend or a long-time first love, he seemed to have chewed up and digested social cues like ribs and had already finished digesting them.

“Senior. I appreciate the offer, but I’m not thinking of going back yet…”

“Yeo-reum, you’re not thinking of taking another leave of absence, are you?”

For a moment, I was speechless. Interpreting the silence in his own way, the senior gave me a worried look.

“Yeo-reum. Shouldn’t you graduate before it’s too late? You have to think about your age. Even at our company, the boys coming in as interns are already your age.”

“I know. I know, but I…”

“If you know, you should feel urgent, shouldn’t you? You’re already further behind others because of your leave of absence. If you want to build a proper career, you need to hurry up now.”

“Senior. I’ll take care of that…”

“I don’t know if your parents are helping you separately, but you’re not like that, Yeo-reum. What’s the point of staying stuck in the countryside like this? Don’t you have no time for this?”

“…”

The sound of pages turning was heard again. It seemed Choi Seol had turned his attention back to the book while I was talking to the senior. A slight feeling of resentment washed over me that he was calmly reading a book while I was being pushed around like this. But what made me angrier was my own inability to refute the senior’s overstepping remarks.

It was then.

“This is boring as hell.”

Choi Seol closed the book with a loud thud and looked at me as if annoyed.

“Han Yeo-reum.”

“Huh?”

“This book is boring.”

Why on earth is he picking a fight and acting out right now?

“You haven’t even turned a single page, so what’s so boring about it?”

“It’s too unrealistic. What era is this that an owl delivers mail in such an inefficient way? And the plot is too tedious. Why is there so much long-winded backstory right at the start?”

“It’s a magic world; an owl could be the delivery driver. That’s what makes it unique and fascinating. Who would read fantasy if it were full of realism? And the beginning is long-winded because when a new series comes out, they have to explain the protagonist’s situation from the previous volume. That way, readers can quickly recall the events of the previous series.”

“If they don’t remember, they should go back and read the previous volume themselves. Why put in useless considerations?”

“It’s because it’s a long series. And it’s not useless; it’s a kind consideration. Anyway, don’t conclude it’s boring from the first page and read more carefully. It’s so interesting.”

“I can tell just by looking. Whether it’s a book or a person, if the first impression is boring as hell, it stays boring until the end.”

I felt as if Choi Seol’s gaze momentarily shifted toward the senior.

Was I imagining it?

No. He really is looking.

“Your friend is quite interesting.”

The senior seemed to have noticed Choi Seol’s gaze. His soft smile deepened. That was actually a signal that he was displeased.

Sure enough, the senior started picking a fight.

“Choosing friends is truly difficult.”

The senior’s gaze, which had lingered on Choi Seol for a moment, returned to me.

“Yeo-reum, as you get older, your network becomes increasingly important. Especially when choosing people to keep close, you must be particularly cautious. Staying with someone lethargic and incompetent only adds to your losses.”

What is this person talking about?

“Senior, I think you’re being a bit too harsh.”

“I’m saying this because I’m worried about you. You know me, right? I don’t say things like this to other guys. I have no interest in them at all.”

I had fallen for that voice, gently soothing me with that characteristic soft smile, more than once or twice. To me, barely twenty and exhausted by financial hardship, it had been my only solace.

That’s why adults are great. visit our siteI can now clearly distinguish whether that appearance is sincerely for my sake or unauthorized copya show to [visit our site]manipulate me according to their will.

I stood up from my seat and spoke.

“Senior. I’ll take care of my own business. So I think you can stop worrying about it now. And please apologize to Choi Seol.”

The senior, momentarily flustered, stood up following me.

“Yeo-reum, what are you talking about? Did I make a mistake with your friend?”

“You just did. You were rude. He’s like this now because of unavoidable circumstances, but he wasn’t originally unemployed. He’s a very capable person.”

I’ll let it slide when he does it to me. But he has to pick the wrong person to mess with.

I didn’t explicitly mention Choi Seol, but unless he was an idiot, he could easily understand who was being attacked.

“Yeo-reum, are you perhaps pouting?”

“…What?”

There was one thing I had overlooked. What kind of person the senior had been to me.

“Our Yeo-reum was like this before, too. Whenever I tried to nag, he’d puff out his cheeks and storm out, saying he’d take care of it himself.”

In short, he was like a wall. Not a reliable support, but just a stubborn wall unauthorized copy[stolen content]that didn’t communicate. I thought he was at least a person who knew the time and place.

“I’ve never done that.”

“Look at him being shy. Yeo-reum’s face is turning red again.”

Is he crazy!

I couldn’t even use this as a tactic to induce jealousy. I thought our concept was that of close senior and junior, but this senior kept trying to showcase a clingy ex-boyfriend concept. I covered my forehead and said,

“Senior. I think you’re mistaken about something…”

“Han Yeo-reum.”

At the sound of Choi Seol calling me, the mouth that was about to refute the senior’s words closed. I reflexively tried to look back, but before I could, a book suddenly intervened in front of my eyes.

“I told you, this is boring.”

The moment I instinctively grabbed the book blocking the way between the senior and me, my shoulder was grabbed and I was turned around. Now, the person facing me was not the senior, but Choi Seol.

“Are you going to return to school?”

A question similar to the senior’s flew in. The difference was that Choi Seol was waiting for my answer.

“I’m… still thinking about it.”

“Then that’s fine. If you decide to go after thinking it over slowly, tell me. I’ll take you.”

“How?”

“By car.”

“I thought you sold the car?”

“I can just buy another one.”

Am I misunderstanding something? Is the ‘car’ he’s talking about not something with wheels, but something you drink? But he says he’ll take me by car now…

“If you want, I’ll get you an expensive, high-end foreign car. You shouldn’t choose the wrong person to keep close just because of something like that, right?”

As I tilted my head at the sound I’d heard somewhere before, Choi Seol stepped closer. Then, he leaned his waist slightly and whispered low over my shoulder.

“You should be careful, as staying with an incompetent person who has fallen into lethargy by relying on their parents’ background only adds to your losses.”

With those words, Choi Seol dragged me into the room. With the book still in one hand, I was pushed into the room in the blink of an eye. Simultaneously, the door closed loudly. As I mentioned before, each of those door panels is an antique with expensive craftsmanship. I told him to be careful. I was about to say something, but a stern face was immediately thrust right in front of me, and I shut my mouth.

He looked exactly like someone who was angry. It was only natural. I recalled the rude words the senior had said about Choi Seol. These were words I wouldn’t have had to hear if I hadn’t brought the senior home.

“About earlier, I’m sor—”

“Can I touch your hair for a second?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah.”

At the sudden request, I nodded reflexively. Normally, I would have asked why first, but that wasn’t easy right now. Once permission was granted, Choi Seol reached out and lightly ruffled my hair. Then, he began to tidy it again with his fingers as if stroking it. Just as I was getting used to the delicate touch, Choi Seol withdrew his hand and spoke.

“Let’s sleep now.”

“Huh?”

And that was it. Choi Seol passed me and went further into the room.

With the incident with the senior and all, I thought he’d say something, but this is the end?

“Wait, hold on!”

As I hurried to follow him, Choi Seol suddenly stopped. Because of that, Choi Seol’s back and my face had a collision accident. My entire face where I hit felt numb. Was his back made of a steel plate? As I looked up while clutching my crushed nose, I locked eyes with Choi Seol, who had turned around in the meantime.