15 – Haerin Kang (15)
Haerin Kang (15)
“sit down.”
Baek Yu-ram said to me with a firm expression.
No, it should be called an order.
I sat on the floor with my back to the bed.
Baek Yu-ram shouted as if he was dumbfounded as he saw me sitting on the floor stiffly looking at me.
“… you’re stupid? Sit on the bed!”
“……..”
“Sit down with your feet on this side.”
She pointed to a bed with a pink duvet.
I did as he said.
I’ve never been to anyone’s house except for my sister, and it’s a girl’s house that I’ve only had a drink with.
Ah, now that I think about it, there have been a few times in the past when I was forcibly taken to Kim Eun-hye’s house and teased.
But that’s a no count.
Not only in his house, he was bullied quite a bit.
In particular, I suffered a lot of s*xual harassment.
But now is different from then.
When we meet again, I will show you a different side of me.
“……”
I felt dirty sitting on Baek Yu-ram’s bed, which was surprisingly well-organized and smelled good.
I was sorry to sit in such a place, but she pushed my chest down as if she was frustrated.
“Why are you so slow? Are you doing this on purpose? to look innocent? Sit quietly.”
Incomprehensible, she continued to stomp in anger and retrieved a first-aid kit from a drawer.
“Give me your hand.”
“……..”
She put red pills on my palm.
“Ah, well…”
“it hurts? Be alone…”
She flinched and whispered.
“Look at this face.”
Baek Yoo-ram seemed to hesitate for a moment, then put his finger on my chin and turned his face to his side.
“Look in the mirror. What’s happening…”
Looking through the hand mirror she gave me, I saw that my lower lip had been torn and was slightly bleeding.
It wasn’t too bad.
Compared to being bullied by Nam Jae-chan or Seo In-woo or being beaten by a drunken father.
“It’s okay, but that’s enough…”
“What is fine? Don’t pretend to be strong.”
Baek Yoo-ram patted the back of my hand.
The hand that applied the ointment to the lips was surprisingly delicate.
Her eyes fixed on my lips as she healed me, and her scarlet lips gathered a little from her concentration.
“… Hey, do you like me by any chance?”
Then her eyes turned to me.
When our eyes met, I was stunned and backed away.
“… What are you talking about?”
“Then why did you help?”
Baek Yu-ram said expressionlessly.
“… I heard you have a girlfriend.”
“… huh.”
“Your girlfriend is very pretty. If you had a girl like that, you wouldn’t look like me. I know my fountain. Then did I just look pitiful?”
Baek Yoo-ram said self-deprecatingly.
“It’s a joke!”
As I was making a bewildered expression, she smiled and slapped me on the arm.
“Did you curse inside when you heard that I had a boyfriend?”
“… no.”
“No. I think I deserve to be criticized because I lashed out at you about having a boyfriend.”
She was depressed for a moment.
I also kept my mouth shut.
“… I’m sorry if I’m intrusive. If you have an abusive boyfriend, I think it’s better to break up.”
“Ugh, are you saying something?”
she chuckled.
“I’ll just go. Thank you for treating me.”
I got up.
It wasn’t because I felt sorry for Baek Yoo-ram, but rather because I remembered the image of my mother being beaten by my father.
Violence, for whatever reason, is abhorred.
“…would you like to go eat?”
“… uh?”
“Seyoung will come in a little while. eat and go huh?”
Baek Yoo-ram, who had been tickling ever since he came to the room, begged me with a relaxed face.
Yeah, it just sounded like a plea.
What is it like to eat rice?
I sat back down hesitantly.
#
The menu was Tteokbokki.
Even though I said I would help, the customer told me to sit still, so I sat face to face with Park Se-young at a folding table.
Baek Yoo-ram was busy washing rice cakes, fish cakes, and making sauce in the kitchen.
Park Se-young, unlike me, was waving her feet and smiling, as if she was used to this kind of treatment.
“Senior, I took class with Kang Hae-rin today.”
Park Se-young turned on the conversation.
Fortunately, I didn’t ask about the sudden phone call yesterday, but this wasn’t a pleasant topic either.
“Kang Hae-rin, seeing it up close, it wasn’t really a joke. Senior, how did you end up dating someone like that? Do you know the idol ‘Sung Ji-eun’? I have a bit of a resemblance to her in terms of features, but her body is comparable to that of actress Seo Bo-eun…”
Coincidentally, Park Se-young met Kang Hae-rin at a lecture on ‘Research on Genre Literature’ and shared her impressions.
“You barely listened to that lecture and only peeped at it. Women will fall in love with it, but men…”
She continued to express admiration.
I was a little proud.
That child, because I made it.
And honestly, I admired her sharp eyes.
In imagining Kang Hae-rin’s appearance, I actually referred to Sung Ji-eun, who is famous for being a visual idol, and Seo Bo-eun, who is famous for her Western-style body.
In addition, I also referred to the looks of many classic Hollywood actors, foreign actors, and models.
Anyway, it was strange to find out.
“But you should be a little nervous, senior.”
Park Se-young said.
“Or are you getting used to the checks now? It would be very uncomfortable for me to go out with such a pretty person.”
I was calm because Kang Hae-rin couldn’t keep an eye on a man other than me.
Of course, doing that in front of her would be a bit annoying, but she has no interest in a man other than me.
If that’s the case, it’s only when you have a different purpose.
“All the men in the lecture couldn’t take their eyes off Kang Hae-rin. Is there anything that is very obvious?”
“Well, you know what to do.”
When I said it coldly, Park Se-young admired.
“Ohhh, suddenly, you look so different…”
“Is she that pretty?”
Baek Yoo-ram, who was wearing an apron while boiling rice cakes and making sauce, turned to us and said.
“Don’t talk. sister. You are not of this world.”
Park Se-young laughed briskly, revealing her dimples.
I didn’t know what was good because I saw other girls pretty, but I was pretty excited.
I wish you wouldn’t pay more attention.
“But senior.”
Park Se-young tapped my thigh.
“… uh?”
“Do you two live together?”
“… Oh no?”
“Then do you often come to play?”
“…well, since you’re my girlfriend…”
“Huh, that’s right. But senior, why are you so afraid of Kang Hae-rin?”
“I?”
I caught my breath.
“I’m afraid of Haerin Kang?”
“When I hung up the phone yesterday, it was Kang Hae-rin who came over to play, right? I definitely felt it. The fact that the senior is watching Kang Hae-rin a lot. It doesn’t look like that from the outside, but are you on the obsessive side?”
“Hey, Park Se-young.”
Baek Yoo-ram intervened.
“Why are you so meddling in other people’s relationships?”
“It is because I am worried. Sister, I’ll just be honest. I don’t understand people who live with their ex-boyfriend or girlfriend hanging around. It takes my breath away just by looking at it.”
“……..”
Baek Yu-ram shut his mouth at Park Se-young’s words.
As if realizing that her words were shooting him, he turned back to the boiling pot.
No matter how close they were, they were obviously seniors and juniors, but they seemed quite reticent enough to say such things.
“Senior, tell me. Haerin Kang, are you a bit obsessive? That’s why you noticed that when I went to the classroom with me the other day.”
“… I hope Harin didn’t talk about it.”
I said.
Normally, I wouldn’t have been able to respond properly to such a persistent question, but the interest Park Se-young is showing in Kang Hae-rin now is worrisome.
It’s not that I’m uncomfortable, it’s that she’s dangerous.
Fortunately, Park Se-young also noticed and apologized.
“Sorry, is this over the line?”
“Yes, Park Se-young. You have crossed the line.”
Baek Yoo-ram said while placing his ‘special’ Rosé Tteokbokki on a folding table.
“Why are you doing this to a couple who are dating well?”
“I’ll just call it lingering.”
“What lingering?”
“To put it bluntly, Yoo-ram unnie and Dong-min sunbaenim get along so well, so I thought it would be better if both of them broke up and started dating.”
“……”
“I’m kidding~!”
Park Se-young said playfully and swallowed the tteokbokki made by Baek Yoo-ram in one bite.
However, neither I nor Baek Yoo-ram were at a loss for words.
I was suddenly worried.
Are Park Se-young’s eyes ‘toxic’ good?
It is true that I am afraid of Haerin Kang.
However, I thought I was doing well in my own way, but if that was enough for a third person to notice, there is a possibility that Kang Hae-rin, the person in charge, also noticed.
Might have to pay more attention in the future.
Baek Yu-ram was reluctant to gossip about Song Yeon-woo, compliments on Kang Hae-rin’s beauty, and talking about personal affairs of classmates I don’t know about, Park Se-young said as if he remembered.
“Ah, senior. Would you like to join the club?”
“What club?”
Curious, I said.
Since I was a person who had few friends in middle and high school, I had a desire for human relationships.
My sister also wanted me to make a lot of friends, and I wanted to do social activities as well.
Because that’s how I become ‘normal’.
A club wouldn’t be bad for that.
Besides, it would be nice to have at least one place to run to when spending time with Kang Hae-rin is too suffocating.
“Web novel research club!”
“……”
Park Se-young said brightly.
“I already talked with Jiyoung and Yoona. I think we can make it if only one more person comes in, but it would be nice if one of Yu-Ram unni and seniors came in.”
“… I’ll decline.”
I said.
I was writing a web novel at home, but I didn’t want to talk about it in the club again.
Besides, I don’t want it to be revealed that I’m the author of 『Journal』 because of a slip of the tongue.
By any chance, Kang Hae-rin might be suspicious of me because of my participation in the web novel club.
You shouldn’t do anything suspicious.
“Is it because there are only women?”
Park Se-young asked.
“Is Kang Hae-rin monitoring that too?”
Her eyes widened mischievously.
… Why is he so provocative?
“Senior, you really can’t move with Mr. Kang Hae-rin. right? Then what if it was like this? I also have a lot of interest in Haerin, and Yu-Ram unni seems to have a lot of interest too, so we all join the club together. how is it?”
I was out of breath.
I fully understand that Park Se-young is curious and likes to get involved in other people’s affairs.
However, it is dangerous to do that even to Kang Hae-rin.
Slowly, she started to worry.
This is persistence beyond the level of curiosity.
“Hey, when will I! Why am I interested in him? Don’t say anything strange.”
Baek Yoo-ram blushed and shouted.
“I have an interesting theory.”
Park Se-young put down her chopsticks and said.
“Is it really a coincidence that the author of 『Ilji』 is named ‘Kang Haerin’? yes, senior? what do you think?”
she asked, winking at me.
“……”
It was terrifying because I knew what he was thinking.
“Mr. Kang Hae-rin, in fact, couldn’t it have been secretly writing a web novel behind the scenes? Until yesterday, I read about half of the novel, but the main character, Kang Hae-rin, is surprisingly similar to the real Kang Hae-rin, right?”
the blood went cold
Of course it will be similar.
No, it’s not similar, it’s because it’s itself.
Because the Kang Hae-rin that I portrayed in the novel became a reality is the Kang Hae-rin who is by our side now.
However, Park Se-young was mistaken.
Kang Hae-rin is also looking for the author of the novel, but I, Dong-min Lee, actually wrote it.
“I will make a proposal to Haerin Kang. If you say that you plan to study 『Journal』, I think that person will be interested. Wouldn’t you be curious to know what to say about your work? Writers usually have the temperament of a gwanjong.”
“Whoops,” she laughed.
… stop.
My eyes became dizzy.
Park Se-young was smart, and her reasoning was well-founded, but now she was walking towards death.
Please stop paying attention to 『Journal』.
“… well, that’s interesting.”
“Right, sister!?”
While I was speechless, Baek Yoo-ram showed interest, and naturally, the plan for a web novel club was slowly revealed.
“Senior too, if Mr. Harin comes in, will you do it together? Isn’t it nice, if couples are in the same club!”
“……”
In the end I couldn’t say anything.
We desperately need to stop Park Se-young.
If that doesn’t work, even Kang Hae-rin will have to convince him.
#
That evening, Kang Hae-rin came to my house, changed into comfortable clothes, and sat on the sofa.
“Dong-min, do you know the novel ‘Kang Hae-rin’s Murder Diary’?”
“Kuhup…!”
She asked without looking at her phone.
“I see…”
she murmured softly.
“… Ah, yah, I’ve heard of that name.”
There is a possibility that Kang Hae-rin may have already heard from Park Se-young, so I accepted it without hesitation.
It’s better than being accused of lying for nothing.
“… Who is this writer?”
“… I know. sh*t, it’s amazing Harin has the same name as you. Maybe the author’s name is the same? By any chance… isn’t Harin written by you? It was so scary…”
In case Kang Hae-rin’s suspicions returned to me, I tried to pretend I didn’t know.
“……..”
Ominously, Kang Hae-rin did not answer.
“Dongmin, do you know Park Se-young?”
“… Oh, I know, I know. that’s exaggerated our department.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Haerin Kang said.
“He asked me to join the club, what do you think? A web novel creation club. He smiled and asked me. Don’t you know senior Lee Dong-min? surprised. There were many cases where people I didn’t know pretended to be close to me, but their name came out.”
“Oh, did you? Did you say boyfriend?”
“then. ‘Cause there’s nothing to hide By the way, he… told me that if I joined the club, there would be senior Dongmin, so it would be nice to do it together. And they said that the first research topic would be 『Kang Haerin’s Murder Diary』. Laughing like it’s funny…”
“……”
I gulped.
Park Se-young is basically smiling, but from Kang Hae-rin’s point of view, who suddenly heard such words, it might not have felt very trustworthy.
Maybe it felt like a joke.
“Are you going to join, darling?”
Kang Hae-rin said with her mouth closed and her eyes closed.
“… Ah, I’m not going in.”
I said.
“Okay, don’t go in. I will sign up.”
“… uh?”
“… I was curious for some reason. That Park Se-young. I wondered if it was a coincidence that he invited me to join the company while dealing with a novel with the same author name as my name and a main character with the same name in the first class…”
she chuckled.
Uh, that’s not it, Harin.
don’t go there