26. Destruction
Written by Malranggong.
The sound of a notification signaling the end of a long dream rang in Jeong Su-yeon's ears. The dream was so vivid, as if she had traveled back in time, that even after waking up, Jeong Su-yeon lay there in a daze, her eyes wide open, still deeply moved.
‘Was it a dream…?’
Only then did Jeong Su-yeon fully realize it was a dream. She came to her senses and checked her phone to check the message. Then she looked at the time, and to her surprise, it was almost 12:30. If it had been the weekend, she wouldn't have really paid attention... but unfortunately, it was a weekday, and she had to go to school, and it was the day of the class she had signed up for. Jeong Su-yeon, who had never been late or absent before, was shocked to have slept until this hour, but she also felt a sense of helplessness.
‘It’s already late, so I guess I shouldn’t just go… …’
Jung Soo-yeon put down her phone, placed one arm on her head as if shielding her eyes, and closed her eyes. Just as she was about to drift off to sleep again, the notification rang again, as if a message had arrived. Jung Soo-yeon checked her phone again to see who kept sending her these messages, and the sender was none other than Min Yoongi.
yunki min
-Suyeon.
-What's going on?
-I still haven't been able to contact him and he hasn't come to school.
-The professor is worried because you, who were always diligent, suddenly stopped coming.
What about you, senior?
yunki min
-uh?
Aren't you worried about me, senior?
Jung Soo-yeon was disgusted with herself for sending the message so thoughtlessly. All this time, she'd known Yoongi loved her, yet she'd been so confident, manipulating him as she pleased, believing his feelings would never change. And now, she was desperately seeking love. And on top of that, she wasn't even interested in Min Yoongi...
Jeong Su-yeon sighed deeply as if the ground was collapsing, feeling so disgusted and pathetic about herself.
The message has been deleted.
Sorry for saying something strange.
Just ignore it, senior.
yunki min
-I'm worried about you too.
-Honestly, I don't think it's very polite to confess to you here.
-I’m more worried about your condition right now…
-What am I saying now… I’m talking nonsense…
-anyway.
-I was worried that you might be sick, so I called.
I'm fine.
yunki min
-That's good then.
-Get some rest.
senior.
Senior, what do you like about me?
Jung Soo-yeon was curious. Why did Min Yoongi, who had suddenly started talking to her since the freshman orientation, come to like her? She had always been sincere, upright, gentle, and somewhat vulnerable—just like a cliche heroine from a novel.
yunki min
-Actually, I fell in love with you at first sight at the freshman orientation.
-That's why I approached you.
-And thankfully, you continued to go with me.
-As I hung out with you, I got to know your charming sides.
-To be honest, at first I thought you were just an ordinary kid.
-Because of that, our love started to cool down little by little.
-I like ordinary things too.
-I like it calm.
-Thanks to you, I learned that ordinary things are good.
-They say that being ordinary is more difficult.
-So what… I started to love you more.
Jeong Su-yeon couldn't be happy to hear those words. She couldn't feel at ease. Because, in her own opinion, she wasn't an "ordinary" person. She believed that exploiting others' weaknesses and enjoying the knowledge that Yoon-ki and Jimin liked her didn't fall into the category of "ordinary."
"What exactly is the standard for mediocrity?"