By Zephyria 
“Are you sure you’re okay to eat?”
“Yeah.”
“Then since Hae-jun seems a bit better… Is there anything you want to eat, Hae-jun? I’ll buy it for you.”
Beyond the kindly asking Seong Hae-min, Ban Pyo-ran was lingering nearby. He was hovering around me like a dog needing to pee, so I couldn’t miss him. Our eyes met, and Ban Pyo-ran hesitated before approaching.
“Are you… really okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you eat anything?”
“Yeah.”
“…You don’t need to go to the infirmary?”
“I’m fine.”
I answered as curtly as possible to emphasize I was fine, but the mention of the infirmary was the last straw. I’d rather contact my homeroom teacher and go home to rest than lie uncomfortably in the amusement park infirmary.
Ban Pyo-ran, still looking worried, said to the other kids,
“Then, everyone, buy what you want to eat? It’ll be a lot of stuff, so let’s all… Ah, Hae-jun, I’ll stay with him.”
“Pyo-ran, what do you want to eat?”
“The same as you guys, and get something that won’t upset Hae-jun’s stomach. And if possible, could you buy some medicine too? Like motion sickness medicine, and antacids…”
Since there were seven of us, it would be a lot of stuff. No one refused Ban Pyo-ran’s request. After all, it would be ridiculous for the strong guys to whine about carrying things. Everyone seemed to think so and nodded in agreement.
“Okay. We’ll be back soon.”
“Don’t get hurt rushing!”
After sending the kids on their errand, Ban Pyo-ran carefully sat beside me.
With only two people left, the bench became quiet. The calm surroundings helped me feel more at ease. I silently looked down at my feet. They were the sneakers Seong Hae-min had bought in pairs for the picnic.
The comfort was short-lived. Thoughts flooded my mind. Now that my head had cooled down and I could think calmly, there were several suspicious points.
Was Min Si-hu the only one who noticed Ban Pyo-ran liking Lee Beom? Or did everyone know but just not show it? But how could someone so perceptive make such a misunderstanding? I suppressed the rising indignation.
Even if I had pushed Lee Beom towards Ban Pyo-ran, why did Min Si-hu mistake it for me liking Ban Pyo-ran? And why did he keep offering to buy me candy?
It was then, as I was deep in thought, that Ban Pyo-ran called me with a somewhat choked voice.
“Hae-jun.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s Lee Beom, isn’t it?”
“…What is?”
Wondering why he suddenly brought up Lee Beom, I asked back slowly. Ban Pyo-ran looked at me with a benevolent expression, like a grandmother worrying about a pitiable child.
I hadn’t realized it until now, but looking at him, he did resemble Ban Seo-yi. I had a useless thought.
Especially their facial features. Of course, Ban Pyo-ran’s eyes were gentle and kind, while Ban Seo-yi’s were sharp, so that part was different, but even excluding the eyes, their face shape, nose bridge, and mouth…
“Don’t pretend you don’t know, Hae-jun. You can’t fool my eyes.”
“What are you talking about?”
I was bewildered. I didn’t know what he meant by ‘what is Lee Beom.’
The information I had about Lee Beom was that he was the male protagonist, and nothing special beyond that. He wouldn’t suddenly ask if the male protagonist was Lee Beom…
…Could it be?
A hypothesis shot through my mind like an arrow.
Could it be?
‘Did Ban Pyo-ran realize it, like Ban Seo-yi?’
That this place was a novel, and that he was a character in it? And because of that, he knew my actions differed from the original plot, like Ban Seo-yi did, and was testing me? My mouth felt dry.
If so, what should I answer this time? How should I explain? I rolled my tongue in my mouth. It wasn’t the first time I’d encountered something like this, so my mind didn’t go completely blank, but I didn’t have a particularly good answer prepared.
In Ban Pyo-ran’s hesitant demeanor, unable to speak easily, I saw Ban Seo-yi again. The sharp look he had in Myeongdong, when he hesitated and finally asked directly.
‘Whatever he says, I won’t be surprised.’
My heart pounded anxiously. I clenched my fists in tension.
“The person Seong Hae-jun loves…”
…Love? Suddenly?
“It’s Lee Beom.”
“What?”
My head spun. I asked again if I had heard correctly.
“What are you talking about?”
“You can’t fool my eyes.”
“Are you joking?”
“Don’t try to brush it off. I’m serious, Hae-jun.”
I felt cold sweat trickling down my nose.
“I don’t really understand what you’re saying…”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. I can see clearly that you like Lee Beom.”
“…No? It’s really not like that?”
“Really not?”
“Yeah! Why? Why would you think that?”
To hear such nonsense from Ban Pyo-ran after Min Si-hu too? I couldn’t believe it, and my voice rose.
I pounded my chest as if trying to make a stone tool. It was a gesture begging them to believe me because I was so frustrated. Ban Pyo-ran’s eyes widened at my convulsive actions. He looked like he believed he had made the correct deduction without a shred of doubt, and it felt like I had swallowed a hundred sweet potatoes.
“I really don’t like Lee Beom!”
Hitting my chest once wasn’t enough. I roared, beating my chest in frustration. I felt like a gorilla, but it was better than dying with my insides bursting like a dumpling.
“But your actions say so.”
Ban Pyo-ran was calm.
“…My actions? They say so?”
“Yes.”
“For example, what?”
I managed to calm myself down and listened to Ban Pyo-ran. If this absurd misunderstanding was the result of logical deduction, I just needed to refute that logic.
However, I was innocent. Reflecting on my actions, there was nothing that could have led to such a misunderstanding. I couldn’t predict what terrifying words Ban Pyo-ran would utter.
“Wherever you go, you check Lee Beom’s reaction first. You can tell just by looking at where your gaze lands first.”
“……”
This… I had no words. When I was with these friends, I always checked the reactions of Ban Pyo-ran and Lee Beom, the two protagonists. But I didn’t just check Lee Beom’s; I checked Ban Pyo-ran’s too? To interpret this as liking Lee Beom was a leap.
I shook my head coldly.
“That’s a stretch.”
“That’s not all.”
“Then?”
What actions did I even take? My palms grew sweaty.
“Hae-jun, you hated being misunderstood as liking me so much.”
“That’s…”
“It’s because you didn’t want to be misunderstood by the person you love, right?”
“…?”
That was… because the Four Heavenly Kings were wary of me, so I did that?
My head was spinning. I didn’t expect Ban Pyo-ran to hit me with such a massive blow.
“When Lee Beom leaves, you always try to follow him out.”
“When did I?”
“You don’t remember. As expected, love moves people unconsciously.”
“……”
This is crazy.
I felt nauseous, but I managed to hold onto my sanity and decided to focus on unraveling Ban Pyo-ran’s misunderstanding. If I dismantled the flawed chain of logic, such misunderstandings would shatter like planks.
“All your assumptions are wrong. I’ll explain, listen carefully.”
I took a deep breath and continued.
“First, the reason I looked at Lee Beom first was because he’s… that guy, no, he’s the top dog. Who doesn’t pay attention to the top dog?”
My lips trembled as I uttered the word ‘top dog.’ It was cringeworthy, but it was the best I could do. I couldn’t just say, ‘I was trying to see if you two would fall in love,’ so I used a word Ban Pyo-ran would readily accept and explained shamelessly.
“……”
But he didn’t look convinced. I didn’t give up and moved on to the next explanation.
“The reason I hated being misunderstood as liking you is obvious, because it was a misunderstanding. Who likes misunderstandings? If I left it as it was, it would be disrespectful to you too, so I had to make it clear without ambiguity. That’s why I’m explaining now. And…”
I was about to say, ‘It’s because the kids were wary of me because they liked you,’ but it felt like I would be confessing the Four Heavenly Kings’ feelings for me, so I stopped. I didn’t want to get into trouble by carelessly relaying information.
“Lastly, I never chased after Lee Beom.”
I desperately searched for additional explanations. I had seen people prove that coincidences weren’t coincidences, but now I had to prove that they were coincidences. My brain was working overtime.
“It probably just looked like I was following him because my gaze was drawn to him first. He’s just so peculiar. He often takes the lead, and if he doesn’t like something, he’ll just leave.”
“……”
“I don’t know why everyone is having such strange misunderstandings.”
After finishing my explanation perfectly, I exhaled and looked at Ban Pyo-ran. But his expression wasn’t good.
‘What’s wrong with his face?’
“Hae-jun.”
Ban Pyo-ran placed his hand on my shoulder. His face was very serious. I held onto a faint hope that he would be more reasonable than the reckless Min Si-hu and met his gaze.
“I know about you too. I’m your friend, after all.”
Ban Pyo-ran smiled faintly. He was smiling like a movie protagonist who watches dandelion seeds fly away, washing away all lingering feelings.
“So, that kind of lie… I don’t believe any of it.”
“…? What lie?”
“Everything you said.”
“Huh?”
……?
I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t speak. How could he say something like that so shamelessly? Was I talking to a wall?
‘Something is seriously wrong!’
The terror of logic not working! I rubbed my cold hands, but no warmth returned. Ban Pyo-ran gently took my hands, which were fidgeting. Ban Pyo-ran’s white hands were warm, like someone who wasn’t nervous at all.
“How hard it must have been to spend your whole life trying not to burden others…”
Ban Pyo-ran’s eyes began to glisten. I blinked like a frog character with handcuffs on both arms.
“…Me?”
“Yes. You’ve been like that since you were young, haven’t you?”