Chapter 18 : Contention (3) Part-1

“So what?”

With my one line, the atmosphere became extremely cold.

The homeroom teacher, who had been standing behind me, turned pale.

Letting it out did make me feel a little relieved, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d made a mistake.

After all, with this, I would only be suspected of being the perpetrator.

Still, I didn’t want to put Jiguppa in a difficult position either.

I’m not trying to say whether that approach is right or wrong.

It’s just… well, she jumped in to help me, so I feel I should help her back.

Hmm, maybe this reason sounds a bit cheesy?

Besides, we work at the same place.

If she quits, someone will be missing, and I’ll have to pick up the slack, so that wouldn’t be good.

Yeah, that’s a solid reason.

Anyway, that’s how things went.

The mood became cold, and though I felt like I made a mistake, I didn’t look away from the woman.

I don’t want to lose.

Even in situations where I’m bound to lose, my personality is always the same.

Even if I lose, I still want to land a punch.

“You, you…”

The woman raised a hand to the back of her neck as if she was feeling a headache.

“Ma’am!”

The homeroom teacher rushed in to support her from behind, but failed.

Crash!

They both collapsed in a way that looked like something out of a cartoon.

The woman must have thought the homeroom teacher could catch her for sure, but the teacher didn’t have enough strength.

As I watched the two tumble, I noticed the children’s faces seemed to lose a bit of life.

At least, this wasn’t my fault.

She tripped on her own, getting frustrated.

By the way, the kid who was filming from behind was still recording.

At this point, the video needed a new title.

The way the woman had fallen was just too ridiculous—no matter how much she tried to play the victim, the internet was bound to turn her into a joke.

People online didn’t really care about the context.

I sat back down.

Then I started digging through my desk to prepare for class.

The atmosphere was incredibly awkward, but well, that wasn’t my problem.

“You, you…!”

The woman struggled to get up and shouted at me, while the homeroom teacher desperately tried to hold her back.

After one fall, she clearly wasn’t going to try anything like that again.

“You… I won’t let this go!”

In the end, the homeroom teacher begged and dragged the woman out of the classroom.

Even as she left, the woman continued to scream.

When I saw the teacher’s expression as she looked at me before leaving, I figured I’d be called out during the break.

I sighed lightly.

“Jieun.”

As I was preparing for class, Hayoon spoke to me.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s not something you need to worry about.”

I didn’t want to lose. I didn’t want to sacrifice Jiguppa either.

And I don’t want Hayoon to be worried, either.

Am I being too greedy?

Even though I said that, Hayoon still looked very concerned.

“Don’t worry too much.”

I spoke a bit more firmly.

“There’s a way to solve this.”

The truth is, I had no idea how.

Hayoon pressed her lips together and stared at me silently, so in the end, I couldn’t meet her gaze.

*

As expected, I was called out during break.

The teacher scolded me harshly, but I kept my mouth shut.

The delinquent girl’s mother sitting next to me looked like she was about to have a stroke from high blood pressure, but I didn’t say a word.

Half of me wished she would collapse from a real stroke, but she didn’t.

Too bad. If she had collapsed, the scumbag kid next to her would’ve jumped up from his seat, too.

“…Do you think keeping quiet will just solve this?”

The homeroom teacher said.

It probably won’t.

I planned to figure out a way to solve it.

Honestly, I didn’t have any real plans, though.

In the end, the homeroom teacher just let me go.

At least, I didn’t think this would be resolved today.

Maybe it’ll happen in a few days, or maybe tomorrow.

I didn’t expect things to go this way.

When I returned to class, Hayoon was still looking at me with a worried expression.

I didn’t say anything.

*

Still, nothing happened until the end of class.

The homeroom teacher looked like she didn’t want to pay attention to me anymore, and the woman didn’t seem to be around, so I assumed she must’ve gone home.

I thought about what she might be preparing for, but there wasn’t really any clear answer, so in the end, I just felt vaguely uneasy, unable to fully ignore or care about it.

It left me with a strange, ambiguous feeling.

This would probably continue until the end of the day. I was already getting frustrated.

“Jieun.”

“Hmm?”

“Are you really okay?”

“Yeah.”

I only answered, but before I realized it, I was looking straight at Hayoon.

Huh.

Oh, she had grabbed my shoulders and turned me around.

I thought I had gained some strength from tussling with magical girl-like characters, but it seemed Hayoon was stronger than me.

Hah.

Whenever her body touched mine, there didn’t seem to be any hard spots, but where on earth were her muscles hiding?

“…Really?”

Hayoon stared me in the eyes.

When I looked into those upright, sparkling eyes, I couldn’t even think of lying.

Hayoon knew that as well, and that was exactly why she acted the way she did.

Just as I knew Hayoon well from spending so much time with her, she knew me just as well.

I turned my gaze away.

“Jieun.”

“…I want to handle this myself.”

“…”

At my words, Hayoon let out a slight sigh.

“…Is there nothing I can do to help?”

If Hayoon were to help, everything would be neatly solved.

The woman probably had something she wanted from Hayoon.

It likely wasn’t anything illegal—probably something like connecting her husband to someone from the Galactic Federation or something along those lines.

All Hayoon had to do was get close to that delinquent girl.

Then everything would be solved neatly.

But the very idea of Hayoon doing such a thing bothered me.

Jealousy, pride, and… my selfishness.

My strange obsession with not wanting Hayoon to get involved with such people was what was complicating matters even more.

I knew this. I knew it, but my heart didn’t follow my thoughts.

“…Later.”

In the end, I couldn’t endure Hayoon’s gaze, so I said it.

“I’ll tell you later. If it really gets to the point where I can’t handle it, then I’ll tell you.”

Hayoon continued to stare at me for a while.

Then, slowly, she took her hand off my shoulder.

I glanced up and looked at Hayoon.

Her expression was complicated.

But the dominant emotion there was disappointment.

I wasn’t sure if that disappointment was about me, about our relationship, or just about this situation. I couldn’t quite tell.

“Okay.”

Just like I had eventually said to Hayoon, she also said the same thing to me.

“But, if it really gets tough, you have to tell me, okay?”

As she said this, Hayoon extended her pinky finger.

I quietly stared at her pinky and then linked my finger with hers.

We had made promises by linking pinkies many times since we were kids.

Even when we became teenagers, Hayoon often made promises with me this way.

I had always kept those promises.

And these promises were something I couldn’t refuse.

Being close to someone like this is truly scary.

“If it really gets tough, I’ll tell you.”

But, I think this promise might be the first one I’ll break.