Judo Club's Jeon Seon-bae
It was lunchtime, and Yeo-ju came to the cafeteria alone. Dami couldn't come because she was on a blind date, and Eugene had a free class next day, so she went straight home. Since she was alone, she decided to eat deliciously and chose pork cutlet, but the moment she picked up the knife, she regretted it.
My arms were shaking from holding the handstand for over three hours. The other hand was so wounded that it was difficult to hold a knife. I thought, "I should've just ordered some noodles," and scooped up some pork cutlet with a spoon.
"Huh? Emergency room?"
"...?"
"Why are you eating here alone? Where are the friends you saw back then?"
Blink. Blink.
Jungkook pulls out the chair opposite him and sits down. Only after watching the entire sequence was the female protagonist able to answer Jungkook's question.Ah... I heard everyone had plans.Just in case someone saw my trembling arm, I quickly took my other hand out and sipped the water I had placed next to the spoon.
But this time, I made a mistake in my choice. As I lifted the glass of water with my bandaged hand, Jeongguk's gaze followed it.Are your hands okay?Jungkook asked at the same time as she put down her half-empty glass of water.Yeah, well...When she saw the interest in the wound, she remembered what had happened at the drinking party, and the female protagonist gave a vague affirmative response and changed the subject.
“Senior... didn’t you say you weren’t coming today?”
"Ah, I was going to do that, but a close friend of mine said he'd buy me food. I didn't know it would be at the cafeteria."
"Then here's the hospital bill."
"Okay, buy a drink with that. Why are you sweating so much? Are you hot?"
"...."
Oops. I was only thinking about my shaking arms and didn't even think about the sweat.It's a little... hot. Haha....Yeo-ju let out an awkward laugh and gulped down the water she had been drinking. For some reason, she felt like something really bothersome would happen if she told Jeong-guk what had happened earlier, so she kept her mouth shut. Well, telling him wasn't really a good thing.
"Hey, what are you doing there... huh? Yeoju?"
"...Hello, senior."
Huh. The female protagonist's eyes widened as she saw Seokjin approaching. She forced the corners of her lips, which had been rising unconsciously, down as she greeted him. Seokjin, as usual, closed his eyes prettily and smiled back.
"Are you here to eat alone? Are your friends with you?"
"We all left first because we had an appointment. Did you come to eat too, senior?"
"Yeah. When I heard that Jungkook was discharged from the military, I was going to buy him a meal."
"I had no idea that meal would be a school cafeteria meal. If you're going to buy it, shouldn't you at least grease it, hyung?"
"You might as well eat the liver of a flea. I'm broke these days, man."
"If you don't have money, who will? I heard you won a gold medal in shooting and even filmed a commercial. Rumors are going around."
"What are you talking about, don't overdo it. It's not that bad."
Seokjin casually came to the table carrying two plates and sat down next to Jeongguk. The two sat side by side across from Yeoju. She felt the prying eyes from everyone around her, but this time, Yeoju didn't want to leave.
"But, do you two know each other? I was surprised to see you two talking here."
"We're in the same judo club. I saw you guys drinking together. I find it strange that you two know each other. The shooting club and judo club have nothing in common."
"Why not? If you make it, it'll be a point of contact. Right, heroine?"
"Huh? Oh, ...yeah."
Yeoju's eyes widened at the sudden question and she nodded. For some reason, her hands felt sweaty, not because of the handstand. As Yeoju avoided Seokjin's gaze and poked at her pork cutlet with a spoon, Seokjin, seeing this, reached out and took her plate. Soon, the beautifully cut pork cutlet returned to her.
"Your hand hurt. What happened?"
"No, just... a little cut on a piece of glass. Thank you."
"Why are you thanking me for something like this? I was just helping you out a little because you looked uncomfortable. I didn't buy it for you, but it was delicious."
My hand holding the fork trembled. This time, with a different meaning. Seokjin chuckled, and my face flushed, I lowered my head, and ate my rice with a determined expression. I couldn't even begin to imagine what it tasted like.
"What? You take such good care of me, hyung. You don't do that to me, hyung."
"Why should I take care of you? You know how to do it yourself."
"Can't the emergency room do anything wrong?"
"Emergency room? What are you talking about all of a sudden? Are we really talking about the same thing?"
Seokjin tilted his head, dipping his mouth into the egg roll that came as a side dish. As Jungkook showed signs of wanting to tell her about the day's events, Yeoju reached out and stuffed a sausage into Jungkook's mouth.
"...."
"...."
An awkward atmosphere. An unreadable exchange of glances. The female protagonist clamped her mouth shut and shook her head wildly. Jungkook, grasping the meaning, nodded nervously. The fork slipped from Jungkook's mouth and returned to her plate. Seokjin, witnessing this right in front of him, looked back and forth between the female protagonist and Jungkook with a puzzled expression.
"...Are you two dating?"
"no,"
"no!!!!"
The heroine's voice covered Jeongguk's. Her voice was so loud that he wondered if she'd ever spoken this loudly before. ...Was it really necessary to deny it so much? Jeongguk, his pride somehow hurt, turned his gaze, and saw the heroine, her face flushed, belatedly realizing her mistake and biting her lip.
"...Yeonju, did you hate it that much? I'm sorry."
"...no...."
"But Jungkook isn't that bad of a guy... Jeon Jungkook, did you do something wrong to Yeoju?"
"What? This is my second time seeing you. I'm a little hurt right now, too. I didn't hear anything about me going out of my way to escape."
"sorry...."
"Don't apologize. That's worse, junior."
"...."
Jungkook wiped the seasoning off his lips with his thumb and chewed and swallowed the sausage Yeoju had placed in his mouth. Seokjin chuckled as if he were watching a variety show, and Jungkook calmly began eating. Yeoju glanced between them and stood up, picking up her half-empty plate.
"I'll go first..."
"Oppa!!"
A high-pitched voice cut through the air. I didn't even have to look up to see who it was. I knew who it was calling out so brightly.
"Seokjin oppa! Why aren't you answering your phone..."
"Oh, my lady."
"...."
Lady, the owner of that call is not 'Go Yeoju.'
"...Jungkook, oppa."
"...."
The moment she realized that the person sitting next to Seokjin was Jeongguk, Yoon Yeoju's face, which had been smiling brightly, hardened. Seokjin looked at Yoon Yeoju, Yoon Yeoju looked at Jeongguk, Jeongguk silently put down his spoon, and Go Yeoju looked at them.
It didn't take long for Seokjin to notice that the way he looked at Yoon Yeo-joo, the way Yoon Yeo-joo looked at Jung-kook, and the way he looked at Seokjin were the same.
Yeoju is good at understanding her surroundings. She doesn't overreach. So, despite her feelings for Seokjin, she never once confessed, keeping him in her heart. Seokjin, who always won medals at competitions and was considered the pride of the Korean National Sport University, wasn't a match for Yeoju, who was just beginning to collect medals. She never imagined that Yoon Yeoju would take his place.
The female protagonist felt like a character in a novel. She was a typical supporting character, a character who unknowingly meddled in a love triangle between two male leads and one female lead, harboring a crush on the male lead.
"My lady."
It made me so angry that Seokjin knew right away that the call "Yeojuya" wasn't referring to me. My arms were shaking, and I couldn't tell if it was from muscle pain or anger.
It just leaves me with meaningless regrets like, “I shouldn’t have eaten at the cafeteria.”