Chapter 16. What Do You Guys Think?

“…Just. I can’t go around explaining everything when the rumors are already spreading like that.”

“Hmm… So, you two are a couple at school?”

“How does it even come to that?”

Annoyed by the absurd turn of the conversation, he opened the classroom door.

“What’s up? Why are you here so early?”

Surprisingly, Jinhyuk, who had arrived ahead of them, greeted the two.

“I woke up early.”

Hyunwoo answered without much thought and took his seat.

“Did you have a nice date over the weekend?”

Jinhyuk’s question struck Hyunwoo like a spear, making his thoughts spiral.

“…”

Hyunwoo and Chaea’s eyes met immediately.

They had just been discussing this, and the first thing he asks is something like that…

“Are we a couple outside too?”

Yeah, he should’ve seen this coming.

“There’s a misunderstanding. Lee Jinhyuk is mistaken.”

Hyunwoo steadied himself with over a decade of honed explanation skills.

“Mistaken? You literally messaged me saying it was a date.”

“Shut up for a second.”

“Whoa. Harsh. Your girlfriend should know how you treat your friends.”

But Jinhyuk’s relentless stream of slander—no, facts—was hard to refute.

“Who’s whose girlfriend?”

To make matters worse, Enubi walked in at just the right moment.

“Do Hyunwoo ignored my texts to go on a date with Yoo Chaea over the weekend.”

“What? Acting innocent and now showing your true colors…!”

“Haah, listen first, Jung Enubi. It’s not like that…”

Until the start of homeroom, Hyunwoo’s explanation time unfolded.

By the time the morning classes were over, he barely remembered how the hours had passed.

He was too drained from justifying the weekend’s events to process any lessons.

“Hyunwoo? Are you okay?”

“…Yeah. Why?”

“You seem completely out of it. Do you want to borrow my notes later?”

“…Thanks.”

Now, he even had to rely on Chaea’s left-handed notes.

The reason Hyunwoo was this worn out was simple.

If only he had just said, ‘I’ve decided to live as a normal human being, you idiots!’ it would’ve been fine.

Instead, he went with the bad answer—explanations.

–So, you wore matching outfits, went to a café, did an escape room, and then ate tteokbokki?

–Yeah, that’s all.

–That’s literally a date!

–Listen, the reason this isn’t a date is…

It took forever.

–We’ve been doing escape rooms together for ages, so it doesn’t prove we’re dating…

–Can you summarize in three sentences?

It was tedious and overly intellectual.

–Isn’t the route you took basically a typical date course?

–Just because we follow a date course doesn’t mean we’re a couple.

–But most couples follow date courses.

–That’s a matter of sequence…

It sparked endless debates.

–Hmm, so you’re saying you’ve always acted like a couple.

And in the end, he lost the argument, and his world crumbled.

Taking a 2-on-1 beating from Enubi and Jinhyuk.

“I’m fine, Hyunwoo.”

“What do you mean, you’re fine?”

“I mean the fact that people think we’re dating.”

Chaea’s ambiguous words shook Hyunwoo’s already fragile mind.

Ding-dong-dang-dong—

By the time the fourth period ended and lunch arrived, Hyunwoo was still dazed.

“Hyunwoo, let’s go eat.”

“…Yeah, let’s go.”

Thinking he needed to at least fill his stomach, he followed Chaea to the cafeteria.

“Can I join you guys?”

Enubi tagged along.

“Jinhyuk, want to eat with us too?”

“I, Lee Jinhyuk, am not a man who refuses a friend’s girlfriend’s invitation.”

At Chaea’s suggestion, Jinhyuk joined them for lunch.

“Oh? They’re serving sausage stir-fry today.”

“Well, at least the menu’s decent.”

Hearing that, Hyunwoo, who had been slumped over, perked up.

For a Monday, the cafeteria food wasn’t bad.

The four of them got their trays and found a seat.

Since Chaea could only use her left hand, she ate everything with a spoon.

“Hey, I have a question.”

She casually threw out a question while looking at Enubi and Jinhyuk.

“Let’s say Hyunwoo and I are dating.”

“Why are we assuming that?”

“Didn’t you already admit defeat earlier?”

As the defeated Hyunwoo silently stuffed a sausage into his mouth, Chaea continued.

“Then what exactly is a childhood friend?”

“…?”

“…?”

Enubi and Jinhyuk simultaneously looked confused.

“I mean, I always thought a childhood friend was like the relationship Hyunwoo and I have. But since you guys are saying it’s not, I’m curious.”

Her gaze was unusually serious.

“If we aren’t childhood friends, then what is the real meaning? We should be childhood friends…”

Her brow furrowed slightly as if something was on the tip of her tongue.

Since her question was so genuinely confused,

“What do you guys think?”

Enubi and Jinhyuk fell silent, unable to answer immediately.