Lately, rumors have been going around at school.
It seemed like the married-man incident that had finally been quieting down had been dragged back out again. And this time, even Lee Sang-won got caught up in it too.
Things like the two of them sitting together in a gen ed class and messing around, or the professor bluntly telling them to save their dating for after class. I guess that day in gen ed was what started it all.
The people who took the same classes as me would glance at me whenever they passed by. Maybe it had spread to other departments too, because even faces I’d never seen before were whispering behind my back.
'After the married man, now it's Lee Sang-won.'
'The two of them really found each other.'
That was just from what I’d heard directly. Little comments got added onto little comments, and before long there were already rumors that the two of them had slept together. Nobody ever asked me if it was true.
Well, I didn’t feel like explaining, either. Even if I tried to grab them and talk, they wouldn’t believe me, and I hated the idea of begging them to believe me even more.
Still, it seemed better to keep my distance from Lee Sang-won.
I was tired too, and it wouldn’t do him any good either. He already had a dirty reputation, and if he got tangled up with me, it would just be one more piece of trash piled on top.
After lunch had passed a little, I found a spot on the steep stairs around the field.
There was about an hour and a half left until the next class. I didn’t want to go into the crowded student union building. I turned on my phone, looking down at the field below the stairs.
There was a message from a friend.
[ Do you have something going on with Lee Sang-won? ]
I turned off the screen the moment I read it. Why are you even doing this too.
“Hoo.”
I set my phone down beside me and rested my chin on my hand. On one side of the field, people were kicking a ball around, and students who had finished class were walking in groups along the track.
Do they all have nothing better to do? I don’t get why they keep track of who sat with whom, or who smiled at who.
While I was lost in thought, I heard rustling beside me. When I turned my head, Lee Sang-won was setting his bag down on the stairs. He was holding a convenience store bag in one hand.
“What.”
The words came out cold before I could stop them. Sang-won looked down at me once, then sat down right beside me.
“You looked bored.”
“I’m not bored.”
“Really?”
As if my opinion didn’t matter, he took a wrapped sandwich and a carton of milk out of the convenience store bag. He was unhurried as he tore open the sandwich wrapper.
Anyone looking at us would think we’d planned to eat lunch together or something.
“Go eat somewhere else.”
“Why?”
“There are plenty of seats.”
Sang-won took a bite of the sandwich and looked at me. His face seemed to be saying, what's the big deal now? I just shut my mouth at that easygoing expression. Yeah, like telling you would change anything. I turned my head again and looked back out at the field with that lukewarm stare.
Lee Sang-won kept eating his sandwich without saying a word. The rustling of the wrapper kept going beside me. When I glanced over, he was looking at his phone with the sandwich in one hand.
Maybe he felt my gaze, because Sang-won held up the half of the sandwich he had left and waved it in front of me.
“Want some?”
“Eat it yourself.”
Sang-won took the sandwich back without a word.
His expression didn’t change. Getting tangled up with Lee Sang-won would just make me tired, anyway. My own rumors were already bad enough; there was nothing good for him in hanging around with me, either.
He seemed like the type who only dealt with women for work and had little interest in them otherwise. There was no need to drag him into more weird rumors because of me. Better keep our distance. Neither of us would gain anything otherwise.
Once I finished thinking it through, the action was easy. I grabbed my phone from beside me and stood up. I was about to say I was leaving, then closed my mouth. No point in that.
That was when Sang-won grabbed my wrist.
“What?”
I looked down at him irritably. Sang-won didn’t even look at me. He just stared at the people running on the field and asked,
“Is it true you flirted with a married man?”
“What?”
Only then did Sang-won lift his head.
“So that’s why you got slapped?”
He still had half a sandwich he’d been eating in one hand. Sitting on the stairs, Sang-won looked up at me. Was he joking? Doesn’t seem like it. His eyes were pretty serious.
“What do you want to know that for?”
“Just want to know.”
The evasive answer was starting to piss me off. I tried to pull my hand away, but Sang-won kept holding my wrist and pressed down with his other hand. My off-balance body was dragged right along with it.
“Ah! What are you—”
“Sit. My neck hurts.”
“Let go if you’re going to talk.”
Sang-won let go of my hand. People around us were starting to look this way too. If I jerked my hand free and left here, I felt like it would only draw even more attention.
After a moment of hesitation, I sat back down on the stairs. I put a little more distance between us than before.
Sang-won took another bite of his sandwich.
“You seem to be in a bad mood today.”
“None of your business.”
“Well, that’s true.”
His obedient answer was even more absurd. What the hell was this bastard thinking?
I couldn’t tell whether he’d grabbed me because he had something he wanted to ask, or if he really just sat down because I looked bored. He’d brought up the married-man thing and then didn’t pry any further. After keeping quiet for a while, I spoke first. I figured being direct would work better with a guy you couldn’t read.
“But if you’re with me, you’ll get worse rumors too.”
“What rumors?”
“People are saying you and I are involved now. With the woman who went after a married man.”
I let out a sneer as I said it, but Sang-won didn’t look flustered. He didn’t seem like he was going to move, either. Without a single change in his expression, he just kept chewing the sandwich.
“Guess it’s nice being tied up with me.”
“What’s nice about it?”
“I’m handsome, aren’t I?”
I was too dumbfounded to say anything. Why am I even doing this here?
I swallowed my words and turned my gaze back to the wide field. People running along the track, people who’d brought lunch boxes and were eating on the grass, couples pressed together on one side looking at each other’s phones. Peaceful, I thought for a moment. Sang-won beside me was quiet too.
Every time the wind blew, the sandwich wrapper rustled softly. For a while, our side of the stairs was filled only with the wind and people’s voices. Just as I was watching the field, Sang-won suddenly spoke.
“I’ve even tried seducing someone because I thought she was married.”
“…….”
My head turned slowly. Sang-won was still looking at the field.
“Well, it was for business.”
“…Do you think I’m you? I didn’t know.”
Sang-won’s gaze came to me.
“You didn’t know?”
“Yeah.”
The words came out before I could stop them. Crap. I hadn’t planned on telling him that. Even so, once my mouth was open, the words just kept coming. The excuse I most wanted to give someone else. Just one line.
“You probably won’t believe me even if I tell you, but I didn’t know that bastard was married.”
Sang-won narrowed his eyes and looked at me for a moment.
“Hmm.”
That was it. What the hell, he was the one who asked. He really is impossible to read.
Sang-won put the last bite of the sandwich in his mouth and chewed slowly. That was all the reaction he gave.
I guess I shouldn’t have said anything after all. Maybe he was baiting me into saying it. He was the kind of guy who lived off his silver tongue, so that would make sense. My mouth tasted bitter for no reason. I’d thought it didn’t matter whether he believed me or not, but once I said it out loud, I found myself waiting for Sang-won’s answer.
Sang-won folded up the wrapper and said,
“I believe you.”
I looked at Sang-won, wondering if I’d heard wrong.
“What?”
“And I was lying.”
Sang-won suddenly stood up. He brushed the crumbs off his clothes and slung his bag over one shoulder.
He set down the half of the sandwich I hadn’t touched beside me, then even took a small carton of milk out of his bag and placed it down with a thud next to it.
“About seducing a married woman.”
“…….”
“Eat it. I’m going to class.”
“Hey!”
Without answering, Sang-won just strode down the stairs several steps at a time, then crossed the field and got farther and farther away.
All that was left beside me was a sandwich and a carton of milk.
What kind of guy is he, seriously.
I didn’t know why he’d gone to the trouble of listening to me by lying, and I also couldn’t understand why he’d believed me so easily.
“Haa….”
I’d pushed away plenty of people who came at me, and there were plenty who wouldn’t leave too. But this was the first time I’d seen someone this impossible. I unwrapped the sandwich left beside me and took a bite. Chewing slowly, I looked out at the broad field.
“It’s good.”
Today’s free period didn’t seem like it would be quite so boring.