This World is too Cruel to Men

“Uh…”

What in the world just happened?

I remember fighting sleep until I finally dozed off and dreamt of a glutinous rice cake monster, whose entire body was made of glutinous rice cake.

I even remember trying to punish the monster, who was bouncing around on a trampoline like Yun-Seo, by eating it.

Then, there was a flash, and I woke up.

As soon as I woke up, I felt a throbbing pain in my cheek.

Then, I saw Yun-Seo, fuming mad.

Her face and even her neck were flushed crimson.

She was clearly beyond just annoyed.

Naturally, I was curious.

Why was she so angry?

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to ask.

Before I could even open my mouth, Yun-Seo stormed off the bus through the open door.

She was so furious she didn’t even bother swiping her card.

Since the only person who could answer my question had just run off, I was left to speculate on my own.

“Could it be…”

Did I drool in my sleep?

And did it somehow land on Yun-Seo?

Or did I perhaps bump into her while nodding off?

The latter seemed more likely than the former.

That would explain the flash of light I saw while I was dozing off and dreaming that bizarre dream.

Of course, even if that were true, it didn’t seem like something to get ‘this’ angry about.

Both scenarios were annoying, sure, but not enough to warrant such a reaction.

Since I could only speculate so much on my own, there was only one solution.

“I should apologize after school…”

I could do it right now, but honestly, I hesitated.

If I knew why she was so upset, I would have done it immediately, but I didn’t.

Calling her now to apologize might work, but it also had a high chance of backfiring.

It was wiser to give her some time to cool down than to confront her immediately.

“Ugh…”

””’

Contrary to Dokgun’s assumptions, Yun-Seo wasn’t angry.

Of course, she looked the part.

Her neck was flushed red, she was fuming at Dokgun, and even considering that he had just woken up, she looked every bit like someone in a fit of rage.

Well, that’s how she ‘looked’.

The emotion consuming Yun-Seo wasn’t anger.

It was an intense, burning embarrassment, a feeling she had never experienced before.

It was this embarrassment that made her crouch down as soon as she got off the bus.

“Ugh…”

A whimper escaped her lips. She was ‘that’ embarrassed.

The sensation of something on her neck was still vivid.

She had even covered it with her hand, but she could still feel it.

It was as if her heart had somehow migrated to the spot where Dokgun’s lips had touched her.

She could feel her heart pounding through her fingers, which only intensified the strange sensation.

She couldn’t bring herself to look in a mirror.

Her heart was already racing; if she saw the undeniable mark Dokgun had left on her neck, she thought it might actually explode.

But she couldn’t ‘not’ check.

Taking deep breaths and ignoring the curious stares directed at her, she forced herself to stand.

Then, she fled into a nearby building.

She planned to find a restroom or any place with a mirror to check her neck, but thankfully, she didn’t have to go that far.

She wasn’t sure if it was fortunate or not, but there was a large mirror attached to the wall near the entrance.

She cautiously approached it.

After a brief staring contest with her reflection, she slowly removed the hand that had been covering her neck since she fled the bus.

And then—

“Oh… Ah…”

She was taken aback by what she saw.

There, in a very prominent spot, was a very prominent mark.

A hickey.

The moment she saw Dokgun’s mark on her neck, the word that came to mind completely changed the rhythm of her racing heart.

It began to pound even faster, and a strange tingling sensation spread through her hands and feet.

She bit her lip, unable to resist the urge to touch the spot, and examined the hickey more closely in the mirror.

“Wow…”

She couldn’t help but admire it.

The placement was incredibly precise.

How could he have managed such a perfect mark while supposedly asleep?

It was so strategically placed that even her collar wouldn’t be able to hide it.

“Was he pretending to be asleep?”

The thought briefly crossed her mind, though she knew it was unlikely.

“What am I going to do…?”

If it were a little warmer, she could have blamed it on a bug bite.

But not in this freezing weather.

Well, she ‘could’, but no one would believe her.

She should have worn the scarf Dokgun had given her.

She hadn’t worn it because Dokgun wasn’t wearing his that morning, and she felt awkward wearing it alone.

“Ugh…”

What was she supposed to do?

She could just brazen it out.

Sure, it would be embarrassing, but she couldn’t cover her neck with her hand all day. If nothing else worked, she’d have to resort to that.

However, there was one thing that bothered her.

Doing so might spread unnecessary rumors.

Rumors like, “She has a boyfriend,” or “She’s in a serious relationship with someone.”

If the rumors linked her to Dokgun, she wouldn’t mind, but what if they linked her to some random guy she didn’t care about?

And what if those ridiculous rumors reached Dokgun’s ears?

She couldn’t imagine how he would react.

A negative reaction or jealousy would be ideal, but if he congratulated her, she wouldn’t know what to do.

She knew it was unlikely to go that far.

However, their relationship hadn’t even properly begun yet.

She wanted to eliminate any potential obstacles, no matter how small.

It would be too painful to stumble and fall because she had dismissed a small possibility.

So, she needed to do something about this… hickey. Was there a solution?

“Ah!”

Band-aids! Of course!

The moment the thought struck her, she pulled off her backpack.

She rummaged through the front pocket and found an unopened box of band-aids.

Dokgun had forced her to take them, saying she was clumsy.

She had accepted them reluctantly and forgotten about them.

She never imagined she’d use them like this.

The thought that Dokgun was both the cause and the solution to her problem made her chuckle wryly.

But she had to deal with the immediate issue first.

Carefully, she opened the box.

***

While Yun-Seo was busy with damage control, Dokgun had just arrived at the school gates.

“It took longer than I thought…”

This was why you shouldn’t trust the internet blindly.

The website said it would take 20 minutes, but it actually took 25.

It was a good thing he had left early; otherwise, he would be staring at the closed school gates right now.

“By the way…”

It was bigger than he expected.

Of course, it wasn’t as grand as Whispering Willow High School, which he had visited for a field trip, but that school received a different level of funding.

Considering that, this school was pretty decent.

He observed the school buildings beyond the clean walls, devoid of even a single scribble of graffiti.

Perhaps they had hired someone to repaint for the entrance ceremony.

He was lost in thought when—

“Attention, new students attending the entrance ceremony—”

A voice, likely belonging to a Student Council member, reached his ears.

He immediately joined the line of students and followed them into the auditorium where the ceremony was to be held.

The moment he stepped inside—

“…There he is!”

Someone’s eyes lit up as they spotted Dokgun.