WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Malfoid
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◈ The Dynamics of Pure Love and Overprotection ◈
Chapter 11
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Maybe I was lucky. I didn't have to force a conversation with Jeong Sujin. Kang Uihyeon and Han Jio happened to be walking over from the other side, one after the other. Han Jio kept darting glances at Kang Uihyeon, who was walking half a step ahead of him, then spotted me and hurriedly straightened his clothes.
The men reached the museum at the same time and each stood beside the woman they had plans with. Their quiet greetings, “Hi,” and “You got here early,” were clearly conscious of the others. Keeping their gazes fixed on their own partners was really just an attempt to stop them from wandering in the wrong direction.
“Chaewon said she came to see the exhibition too.”
Jeong Sujin dutifully reported this to her date, glancing at Han Jio. There was no need. Kang Uihyeon had already known perfectly well whom he would run into here.
“Let’s go in, oppa.”
I looked up at Han Jio, not Kang Uihyeon, as I spoke. Then I entered the museum before anyone else. Thankfully, Han Jio soon followed so I wouldn't be alone, and Kang Uihyeon’s soft voice trailed behind us a couple of steps away. I wanted to raise my middle finger at that low voice.
When I told Kang Uihyeon I had plans to meet Han Jio here at this time, he hadn't said a word. That meant meeting Jeong Sujin here had been entirely deliberate. Whether he hadn't told me that our locations happened to overlap, or he had decided on this date course after following me, Kang Uihyeon clearly had his own intentions.
I wasn't curious about what those intentions were. He was probably just being selfish and trying to have fun by himself. He must have wanted to spend time with Jeong Sujin while keeping an eye on my date too. All while thinking he was doing Yu Dogyeom’s job for him.
This two-on-two arrangement was ridiculous. One man who knew everything. One woman clumsily trying to dangle bait, who would only end up with a sore arm. And one clueless woman and one clueless man.
Han Jio and Jeong Sujin were equally innocent fools, but Jeong Sujin had it worse. At least I hadn't considered bringing Han Jio along to wherever Kang Uihyeon was dating. Jeong Sujin wasn't being respected at all today.
Kang Uihyeon might have thought this strange date would be efficient and fun, but that was a huge mistake. All he had done was make a bad move that blindsided Jeong Sujin while thoroughly trampling on my devoted love.
There were more people trying to take pictures of themselves at the museum than people looking at the exhibition. Since it wasn't an environment where I could leisurely appreciate each piece, I avoided the crowd and stood before a pink painting hanging in a corner.
“Want me to take a picture?”
Han Jio pulled out his phone as he asked. He had been busy stealing glances to see where Kang Uihyeon was, and seemed to have only just remembered why we had met.
“Please take one from behind.”
I didn't refuse Han Jio’s offer. Just like the other visitors, I needed proof that I had come to the exhibition. I wanted Kang Uihyeon to see me enjoying it with ease. It was also my declaration that no matter what he was plotting, I would have fun with Han Jio today.
“I’ll take it.”
I was fixing my hair and posing when Kang Uihyeon’s voice reached me.
“Stand next to Chaewon.”
When I turned around, Kang Uihyeon was holding up his phone. Han Jio, pushed aside, looked at the photographer uneasily. He had treated him like a potential criminal just because we ate pizza together outside my house, and now he had suddenly changed his attitude and offered to photograph us from behind. Han Jio must have thought that bastard was insane.
“Okay. Let’s take one together, oppa.”
I smiled brightly and gestured for Han Jio to come over. He quickly put his phone away and walked to my side, his cheeks reddening.
We stood side by side with our backs to the camera before the piece painted in vivid pink. Han Jio’s firm forearm touched mine. I could feel his tension clearly.
“I’m taking it.”
All my attention flew behind me. I wondered how I would look on the six-inch screen in Kang Uihyeon’s hand. What expression Kang Uihyeon was wearing, what Jeong Sujin was thinking as she watched, whether Han Jio and I looked fairly good together.
Three shutter sounds rang out behind us. Just from the sound, I could picture how carelessly Kang Uihyeon had taken them. The photo shoot ended in an instant, without even a word of advice on how to pose.
“I’ll send the pictures through Chaewon.”
Photos of Han Jio and me appeared in my message thread with Kang Uihyeon. It would have been easier for both of them if Kang Uihyeon had taken the pictures with Han Jio’s phone from the start, but instead he had used his own phone, sent them to me, and created the extra hassle of having me pass them on to Han Jio.
I glared at the phone in Kang Uihyeon’s hand. The pictures that would remain on that phone bothered me terribly. My foolish bravado had been left behind as a clear record. I wanted to snatch it away and erase everything at once.
“Would you like me to take one for you too?”
Apparently satisfied with the photos he had just taken, Han Jio readily asked Kang Uihyeon. Jeong Sujin didn't seem to dislike the idea either. Pretending to look at another painting, I stepped aside to give them room. I still couldn't get used to seeing Kang Uihyeon with another woman.
“Use this.”
Kang Uihyeon handed his phone to Han Jio and stood beside Jeong Sujin. Pictures of all four of us would end up on one particular person’s phone. Was he obsessed with saving pictures or something?
“Okay, one, two, three.”
While Han Jio bent his knees and earnestly took their picture, I moved on to the next piece. I had no hobby of tormenting myself by watching something that would crush my heart.
“Chaewon, are you upset?”
After the photos were done, Jeong Sujin came over to speak to me. The men, perhaps sensing that the women were having an important conversation, tactfully stepped back a few paces.
“I’m sorry. It seemed like you had important plans, and we interrupted.”
My temples throbbed. Once because Jeong Sujin was apologizing to me at all, and again because she grouped Kang Uihyeon and herself together as “we.”
“Uihyeon oppa worries about you a lot, even normally. He said that since he has known you since you were young, he still sees you as a kid.”
Jeong Sujin had noticed that today’s encounter wasn't a coincidence. She knew he had followed us because he worried about the younger girl he had known since childhood, and that their date had become an excuse in the process. Yet instead of being upset, she was worrying that my feelings had been hurt and defending Kang Uihyeon.
“Please understand him, Chaewon. I think his worry got the better of him.”
I stared at Jeong Sujin as she asked me to understand Kang Uihyeon. Was she kind, or a complete idiot? Or was she so shrewd that ordinary people could never hope to keep up?
“Are you okay with this, unnie?”
“Huh? With what?”
“Oppa changed it into a double date however he wanted. Are you okay with that?”
An awkward smile bloomed on Jeong Sujin’s face at my question. She glanced at Kang Uihyeon before looking back at me, her dark eyes like those borrowed from some country puppy.
“I, um, honestly... I think it’s fun.”
The needle of my scale, which had been wavering between different judgments of Jeong Sujin, stopped on the section labeled “Idiot.” I arbitrarily gave Jeong Sujin the nickname Idiot and smiled kindly. There was no need to waste my energy in a battle of nerves with a fool who knew nothing.
“As long as you’re having fun, unnie.”
The smile was fake, but I meant what I said. If Jeong Sujin wasn't hurt, I didn't have to feel sorry in Kang Uihyeon’s place either. Instead, I should focus on how to give the instigator of this meeting a hard time.
“I’ll ask if we can eat separately.”
Jeong Sujin stepped in like a mediator. I suppressed the urge to mock her and obediently nodded. Jeong Sujin is trying to help me. Jeong Sujin is not the one who put me in this difficult position. I repeated it to myself over and over.
After we finished looking around the exhibition, Kang Uihyeon, who had been quietly talking with Jeong Sujin, turned his gaze this way. His eyes, which always held a steady temperature, were filled with an especially irritating expression now. I had seen that emotion last autumn, when I stubbornly insisted that I wouldn't submit an early admission application to Baegyeong Women's University.
“Yu Chaewon.”
Kang Uihyeon called me aside. The way he pulled his wallet from his pocket didn't look good. Even caught in a sense of foreboding, I couldn't break the habit of trotting over whenever he called.
“Buy yourself a meal with this.”
Kang Uihyeon took out several 50,000-won bills and pressed them into my hand. Han Jio and Jeong Sujin both fixed their eyes on the money. It must have looked quite strange, one college student giving another college student an allowance.
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