Chapter 4

※?4th time

xx

Near where Seokhoon was standing, a luxury foreign car was visible, and it seemed that his mother had personally driven him here.

“Did your mom bring you here?”

When I asked Seokhoon, he glanced at the car his mother had driven and scratched his head.

“Well, anyway, I’m really sorry that things turned out this way.”

I found this situation truly bizarre. I needed to apologize to Seokhoon’s mother, and yet, I had hit Seokhoon so hard that his nose bled, and strangely, Seokhoon had come to school to apologize to me.

“You should apologize to my friend, not to me. You didn’t let go of his collar, did you?”

“Huh? Oh, right. I’m sorry. Please forgive me….”

Seokhoon also apologized to Geuncheol, who was standing beside him, even bowing his head 90 degrees….

I understood this situation. Or rather, now that I was about to be a senior in high school, I naturally accepted it. Because his father was powerful. So, such matters were resolved according to the logic of power.

I didn’t think it was wrong at all. If this was how people lived, I intended to enjoy it thoroughly. Because it wouldn’t change even if I rejected it….

I wanted to clean up this situation more neatly. So, I walked over to Seokhoon’s mother’s car.

The driver’s side window rolled down, and Seokhoon’s mother, who had slapped me last time, showed her face.

“Student, do you have something to say?”

“Yes, ma’am. Could you buy us some bread and drinks?”

“What?”

Seokhoon’s mother looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“We have something to sort out among the three of us.”

“Oh… okay. Nothing bad will happen, right?”

“Of course not.”

“Get in. Is there a suitable place at this hour?”

“Just take us to a Family Mart.”

“Is that okay? Alright.”

We bought bread and drinks at a Family Mart not far from the school and sat on a bench.

As soon as Seokhoon and Geuncheol sat down, they looked at me with curious expressions.

“Let’s eat first!”

I passed around the bread and drinks that Seokhoon’s mother had bought.

The hungry teenagers, having just finished their night study, made the bread, which was about the size of a fist, disappear in one bite, and they all downed the drinks in one shot. In just a few seconds, the bread and drinks on the table were all gone.

“Now that we’ve eaten, let’s hear what you have to say.”

Seokhoon looked at me straight and spoke. Although he had apologized because his mother had told him to, he still had a lingering resentment in his eyes.

“I need to sort out the situation with a girl named Jisook, which is why I arranged this meeting.”

“What?”

Seokhoon looked surprised, and so did Geuncheol, who was sitting beside him.

Seokhoon’s expression stiffened slightly, and he spoke as if he had made a decision.

“Since things have come to this, can I tell you how I feel?”

“Anything….”

“Why is your friend hanging around Jisook? He keeps following her and bothering her even though she said no.”

As soon as I heard Seokhoon’s words, I looked at Geuncheol. Geuncheol was clenching his teeth in anger. I had to speak on his behalf.

“Why does someone have to explain why they like someone?”

“She said no. Jisook….”

I tilted my head and asked him.

“You… are you dating Jisook? Are you her boyfriend?”

Seokhoon shook his head.

“No, not yet. But I was planning to confess someday.”

“So, you like Jisook too?”

“Well… how should I put it… yeah, I like Jisook!”

Seokhoon said, emphasizing his words, and Geuncheol’s expression became even more twisted. I spoke on Geuncheol’s behalf again.

“So, you and Geuncheol are competitors, right? You don’t know what Jisook really feels, do you?”

But Seokhoon spoke with confidence.

“I can tell from the way Jisook looks at me and acts. It’s different from that guy. She’ll be mine soon.”

Seokhoon’s words were met with silence from Geuncheol, who then spat out a remark.

“Fucking idiot, you’re out of your mind….”

Geuncheol’s words made Seokhoon slam his hand on the table and stand up.

“Fucking bastard, do you want to die?”

I barely managed to stop Geuncheol, who was about to stand up with his fists clenched. It was a moment when I felt the power of love again. Males in this world are helpless, it seems.

“Calm down and sit down. If you do this, we’ll just go back to square one.”

Seokhoon sat down again at my words.

“You two… since you keep clashing over Jisook, I’ll mediate.”

“What do you mean?”

Seokhoon asked.

“Try to make Jisook yours within a month without interfering with each other. If you fail, give Geuncheol a chance.”

I continued, looking at Geuncheol’s expression.

“Geuncheol, you won’t lose anything. You’ve shown Jisook a bad side so far, so it’s better to express your feelings after a month. From what I see, this is the best way….”

After thinking for a moment, they agreed to my suggestion.

“Why a month? Why specifically a month?”

Seokhoon asked, and I replied calmly.

“Isn’t a month enough?”

“Some girls are easy to win over, and some are hard. If Jisook is the latter, it might take longer.”

“If there’s no progress after a month, it means she’s not interested in you. She’s just playing with you. But she enjoys the attention. Why would you keep hanging around her if she’s not really interested? If she’s really interested, she’ll tell you within a month.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Seokhoon’s expression changed. He looked surprised and as if he had realized something. He asked seriously.

“You… how do you know so much about women?”

“I have a sister who’s a bit of a fox. She doesn’t give her heart to any man. When I asked her why, do you know what she said?”

“What did your sister say?”

“She said it would devalue her. If she gives her heart to a man and starts dating, her value would drop. So, she pretends to be interested even if she’s not, and keeps her distance even if she is. She can’t let her value drop. If a girl like Jisook is similar to my sister, let her go. It’s tiring. I haven’t lived long, but I know it’s tiring to be involved with such women. Come to think of it, I should be grateful to my sister for giving me this advice.”

Seokhoon and Geuncheol were strangely convinced by my words and agreed to play fair for their respective months. We decided to meet once or twice a week to update each other on our progress.

***

It was the weekend. I headed to the apartment near the university where my sister was studying to receive the tutoring she had promised. When I arrived and pressed the doorbell, there was no response. With no choice, I used the key she had given me to open the door and was shocked.

“What kind of place is this? It’s so dirty. Living alone, huh? It’s a mess, a complete mess. This is what freedom looks like?”

I started cleaning up the soju bottles and various trash scattered in the living room.

“Ugh… what’s this smell? Did someone throw up after drinking? I’m going to go crazy….”

I grumbled as I mopped the living room and washed the dirty dishes piled up in the sink.

“Damn, why am I doing this?”

I was so frustrated that I wanted to throw everything away and forget about the tutoring, but I decided to endure it.

The sliding door separating the living room and the bedroom was closed, so I opened it out of curiosity and found my sister sleeping! And she wasn’t alone in the room.

Seeing this, I couldn’t hold back my boiling emotions.

“Hey! Can’t you wake up already?”

My sister, with a disheveled face, slowly sat up and looked at me indifferently.

“What time is it?”

“It’s 1:30. We agreed to start tutoring at 2.”

“What? It’s already that late?”

My sister, in her underwear, started shaking the man lying next to her.

“Bro! Wake up! Hurry!”

“Ugh… my stomach still hurts. Let me sleep a bit more.”

“No! You have to leave right now!”

I watched my sister wake up the sleeping man with a look of disdain and shook my head, then opened all the windows in the house to ventilate.

“I thought no one was here because there were no shoes.”

“This bro threw up in his shoes last night, so they’re all in the bathroom.”

The man, who had been sleeping soundly, came out to the living room in his pajamas. It was an awkward moment.

“You’re Minha’s brother? Nice to meet you. Brother-in-law!”

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