Park Dong smirked and crossed his arms.
"What do you think of her?"
Suwon immediately blushed.
"I'm not really thinking about anything..." He scratched his cheek awkwardly. "I'm just excited that someone seems to like me."
Park Dong burst out laughing.
"HAHAHA! This punk's kinda cute, isn't he?"
Seojin walked over and patted Suwon on the head with a smirk.
"This is your chance, Chestnut."
Suwon swatted his hand away.
"Stop doing that."
Inseop shrugged.
"What's there to overthink? Just ask her out."
Suwon's eyes widened in shock.
"Huh?! Ask her out?!"
Seojin nodded casually.
"He's got a point. Don't you want a girlfriend?"
Inseop rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"She does seem a little gloomy, though."
Then he looked straight at Suwon.
"You're the one with the upper hand here. Do you really think you'll get another shot like this?"
Seojin spread his hands.
"We don't know if someone's ever going to like you this openly again. This is basically the universe handing you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Park Dong pointed at him dramatically.
"So you've gotta grab that opportunity. Don't hesitate now and regret it later."
Inseop nodded.
"Why are you hesitating? If you actually dated that glasses girl, I bet you'd end up liking it."
Suwon went quiet, his gaze dropping to the ground.
The goofy grin he'd been wearing all morning slowly faded into a thoughtful expression.
Inseop sighed and stood up.
"Stop overthinking it." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "This is a 100% chance of you getting a girlfriend. Man up, dude, or this chance might slip away."
Suwon went quiet, gaze fixed on the ground. The grin he'd been wearing all morning faded into a thoughtful look.
-
The next day at the snack store, Suwon and Ono sat together on a bench, leaning back against it.
Suwon sipped on a jelly tube.
"Never thought something like this would happen to me. It's kinda funny that I'm even pondering about this. Who do I think I am, anyway? Should I just do what Inseop said? Haahh..." He let out a sigh and glanced at ono beside him. "It's tough for you too, huh, Ono?"
Ono, who was busy sipping his own jelly tube, hadn't heard a single thing Suwon had said.
'King of Fighters should've ended at '98.'
Suwon sighed again.
"Wait, why am I the one confessing? Isn't she the one who likes me? Isn't it supposed to be her?"
He paused, rubbing the back of his neck. "But... what if she never confesses...?"
Ono remained in his own world.
'But 2000 was actually decent.'
The glass door of the snack store was push open.
Suji stepped inside and immediately froze when she spotted Suwon sitting there.
Suwon saw her too and instantly sat up straighter.
Both of them blurted out at the same time.
""H-hi!""
""Uh... yeah!!""
The moment their voices overlapped, both of them turned red.
Suji fidgeted nervously.
"I-I came to buy gum. Gum, hehe..."
Her friend looked at her strangely.
Suwon blinked.
"Oh... gum."
Suji immediately covered her face with both hands, trembling in embarrassment.
"You idiot...!! Why'd you tell him what you're buying?!"
Her friend leaned closer and patted her shoulder.
"Suji, this is your chance!"
She glanced around the nearly empty store.
"There's no one else around right now! This is your chance! Hurry before people show up!"
"I-it's embarrassing!!"
"Ugh, you're so frustrating!!"
Meanwhile, Suwon and Ono stood up to leave.
Suwon pushed the glass door open.
'So awkward...'
Suji's friend noticed them leaving and hurriedly whispered,
"He's about to leave! Hurry!!"
Suji turned her head, fidgeting nervously.
After taking a deep breath, she pulled her phone from her pocket and hurried after him.
Just outside the store, she called out.
"Suwon!"
Suwon turned around.
"Can I... get your number...?"
Suwon's eyes widened.
His brain completely shut down.
Suji waited.
And waited.
When no answer came, she felt her heart crack a little.
"I-if you don't want to, that's okay..."
The disappointment on her face immediately snapped him out of it.
"N-no, it's fine."
A faint blush spread across his face as he reached for her phone.
"I'll give it to you."
Suji quickly handed it over.
"Y-yeah!!"
Suwon rapidly typed in his number before handing the phone back.
"H-here."
Suji took it with both hands and held it close to her chest.
A smile spread across her face.
Then she noticed him looking at her.
"It's not anything else..." she said nervously. "I just thought I could ask you stuff about drawing or something... hehe."
Suwon scratched his cheek.
"Th-then I can ask you things too, right?"
"Yeah! Hahaha..." she laughed nervously, gripping her phone tightly. "I'll send you a text later!"
Behind Suji, her friend watched with a proud grin.
Meanwhile, Ono stared blankly at the sky.
Suji bowed slightly.
"T-then I'll send you a text!!"
"Yeah!!"
Meanwhile, Seojin and Seolhyo were walking toward the PC bang after school.
Seojin glanced at her.
"Why are we going to the PC bang? I thought we were going out to eat."
"I want to check my Cyworld post. We'll eat after. There's still time."
A cold gust of wind swept past them.
Seolhyo shivered.
"Hisss... It's getting colder and colder."
Seojin glanced at her and immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer.
Seolhyo tightened her scarf and pull it to covered half her face.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the PC bang.
The glass door was fogged up from the warmth inside.
Rows of computers flickered beneath dim blue lights.
The moment they stepped inside, the sounds of clicking keyboards and mouse buttons filled the air.
"Go grab us some seats," Seojin said. "I gotta use the bathroom. I'll be quick."
Seolhyo nodded.
After looking around, she found two empty PCs in a corner and paid for thirty minutes on both computers.
She sat down and waited for them to boot up.
Barely a minute later, three boys from another row approached.
Judging by their uniforms, they were from another school.
The one in front smiled.
"Hey, aren't you from Sangji High?"
Seolhyo gave him a brief glance.
"Yeah. Why?"
The guy's face reddened slightly.
'Holy shit, she's beautiful.'
'I didn't know Sangji High had someone like her.'
"Nothing," he said. "Just saying. It's my first time seeing you here. If I'd seen you before, there's no way I'd have forgotten someone this pretty."
Seolhyo ignored him and continued logging into Cyworld.
The guy's smile twitched.
Behind him, his two friends snickered.
"LOL, he got ignored."
"This guy's way too full of himself."
The guy leaned closer to Seolhyo's.
"Oh, you use Cyworld? Can I add you?"
Then he moved to sit in the chair beside her the seat for Seojin.
Just before he sat down, Seolhyo looked up.
"Someone's sitting there."
The guy paused.
"Oh, sorry. Your friend's here too?"
"No. My boyfriend is."
The guy only smiled.
"No need to lie. Why don't you give me your number so we can get to know each other?"
Seolhyo was about to stand up and tell him to get lost when a voice suddenly spoke from behind.
"Why don't you leave?"
A hand landed firmly on the guy's shoulder.
He turned around.
"What is it I'm bus-"
The rest of his sentence died instantly.
Standing behind him was Seojin.
A full head taller.
The guy instinctively tried to brush his hand away.
Instead, Seojin tightened his grip.
Pain shot through his shoulder.
"W-wait! I was just about to leave!"
His two friends had already retreated to their own seats, pretending not to know him.
Seojin let go of his hold on him.
The guy hurried away while rubbing his shoulder.