Unrequited Love Obsession Diary - Chapter 24

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 24

 

She’s still on the phone

 

Sorry, I already know her so it won’t work out well

 

Just two messages and it was over.

 

Hyeonoh’s messages were simpler than expected.

 

She thought he would question her, asking why she didn’t tell him beforehand if she already knew the girl, but there was nothing like that.

 

Yeon-jae roughly understood why Hyeonoh was being sparing with his words. After all, when you think about it, Yeon-jae was a mutual friend of both of them. He couldn’t very well gossip about it.

 

Suddenly, Yeon-jae had one more worry added to her list.

 

‘He’s not mad at me, is he?’

 

Ugh. Why did I volunteer to set them up when I’ve never even done it before?

 

But the regret didn’t last very long. It was because of another thought that followed.

 

‘But when was the last time I had such a long phone call with a friend?’

 

Yeon-jae felt quite nostalgic.

 

* * *

 

The next day.

 

On her way to her major class, Yeon-jae heard someone running toward her from behind with hurried footsteps.

 

But wait, is this even a valid sentence? That can’t be right. There are only two people at school with whom Yeon-jae has anything resembling social interaction.

 

Hyeonoh and Dohan.

 

Moreover, she wasn’t even confident she could confidently say she and Dohan knew each other well.

 

Besides, Hyeonoh was the type who might be late, but would never run. So what about Dohan? He was the type who wouldn’t create situations that required running in the first place.

 

‘Am I still half asleep?’

 

Yeon-jae yawned and turned up the volume of the song she was listening to a bit.

 

That’s when it happened. Someone tapped Yeon-jae on the back. And then.

 

“Yeon-jae, hello!”

 

They greeted her with a cheerful voice.

 

When she turned around, Si-eun was standing there with a bright smile.

 

“Oh, hi.”

 

Yeon-jae greeted her awkwardly.

 

However, Si-eun didn’t care about Yeon-jae’s reaction at all and linked arms with her.

 

“On your way to class?”

 

And she even struck up a conversation in a very friendly manner.

 

“Mm-hmm.”

 

“Perfect. Let’s go together!”

 

It was such a cheerful, high-pitched voice that it was hard to believe this was the same person who had been crying yesterday.

 

“Ugh~ I cried for no reason yesterday, so I had to wake up an hour early this morning to get rid of the puffiness. So annoying~”

 

…So she really was the one who cried yesterday.

 

Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, Yeon-jae awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck.

 

Regardless, Si-eun kept chattering away.

 

“No way. I was so puffy today that I spent all morning rubbing my face with a gua sha tool. Seriously. Yeon-jae, do you have class after this one?”

 

“No. I don’t have any…”

 

“Wow! Then we can eat together today! What do you want to eat?!”

 

“Uh.”

 

“Let’s eat tteokbokki! Tteokbokki!”

 

And just like that, lunch plans were made in a flash.

 

Yeon-jae was led by Si-eun’s hand and settled into the classroom, and Si-eun, like the social butterfly she was, immediately made a round of greetings to the upperclassmen and underclassmen in her major as soon as she entered the classroom.

 

“What flavor tteokbokki should we eat? Hey guys. We’re going to eat tteokbokki after class, do you want to come too? I got my part-time job pay the day before yesterday. I’ll treat you~”

 

And just like that, she quickly formed a group of four for tteokbokki.

 

“We can have yogurt ice cream for dessert too. Kyahaha. I need to think about what toppings to get in advance.”

 

Even yogurt ice cream on top of that.

 

“Yeon-jae, what do you like?! I absolutely have to have chocolate rings and coconut chips.”

 

“…I’ve never tried it.”

 

“Whaaaat. That’s impossible.”

 

…That’s food exclusively for people with lots of friends. What occasion would I have to eat it?

 

By the time she finally sat down and opened her textbook, introvert Shin Yeon-jae was already completely drained and worn out.

 

But just as she was about to catch her breath, the screen of her phone on the corner of her desk lit up.

 

Lunch at 12 later?

 

It was Hyeonoh.

 

Yeon-jae made a troubled face. Because of the prior engagement she had just made, she couldn’t eat with Hyeonoh today.

 

Yeon-jae quickly typed a reply under her desk.

 

I’m eating with a classmate

 

Yeon-jae hesitated for a moment, then sent one more message.

 

Sorry ㅠ

 

When she thought about it, there was nothing to be sorry about. But it was also true that she had been eating lunch with Hyeonoh most of the time lately.

 

Perhaps that’s why she felt like she had committed a betrayal, even though it wasn’t really a betrayal. Moreover, the fact that it was Si-eun made her feel twice as uncomfortable.

 

Sure enough, a reply came from Hyeonoh.

 

Why do you suddenly have so many friends?

 

I don’t know;;

 

Hyeonoh didn’t pry any further and left after saying he understood.

 

‘Phew. I’m saved.’

 

Yeon-jae sighed in relief, patting her chest.

 

After that, it was a class period like any other.

 

Si-eun’s group, who had been chattering noisily, all started concentrating and listening to the class as soon as it began.

 

As Yeon-jae was getting familiar with the faces of the classmates sitting around her without any empty seats, she suddenly recalled again how long it had been since she had been part of such a group.

 

It was probably around the same time as when she had last talked on the phone with a friend.

 

Back then, Yeon-jae had resolved never to create situations in her life where she would have to form relationships with groups again.

 

Still, she had hypothetically considered it once before.

 

If she ever had to join a group again, what choice would she make then?

 

Hmm…

 

Yeon-jae was lost in thought for a moment, then made a resolution.

 

At least she wouldn’t avoid it just because she hated the idea of repeating past events.

 

* * *

 

A few days later, cherry blossoms were gently falling from the sky.

 

‘I wondered why. I’ve been seeing a lot of outsiders lately.’

 

The university Yeon-jae attended was always listed as a famous cherry blossom spot.

 

Even from Yeon-jae’s perspective, the campus around this time of year looked quite beautiful. Everywhere she looked was filled with falling cherry blossom petals.

 

But what’s the flower language of cherry blossoms?

 

‘It’s exam period.’

 

Therefore, the way to distinguish outsiders from current students was simple.

 

The more haggard-looking ones were the current students.

 

When you saw students carrying heavy textbooks and walking around like zombies as if they were ghosts from urban legends, they were without exception current students during exam period.

 

“Sigh. So depressing.”

 

Moreover, today was the weekend.

 

The outsiders dressed like peacocks who came to see the cherry blossoms from weekend morning were particularly noticeable.

 

Regardless, Yeon-jae yawned and headed straight toward the Central Library.

 

This was the reason Yeon-jae came to school from weekend morning. Now it was full-blown exam period, and Yeon-jae was spending most of her waking hours studying.

 

She usually studied going back and forth between home and cafes near home, but the money spent at cafes was money, and studying in the same place every time made her feel like her concentration was dropping.

 

While she was at it, to refresh her mind as well, she had walked all the way here using her memory of the Central Library from when the three of them – Dohan, Hyeonoh, and herself – had gone there last time.

 

‘I really need to study hard today.’

 

Yeon-jae stopped the deep sighs that had been making the ground sink and started walking toward Jungdo again. Had even 10 seconds passed from there?

 

“Oh, Yeon-jae.”

 

Someone called her from behind. A voice so familiar it seemed engraved in her brain.

 

“Oh, senior…!”

 

It was Dohan.

 

“Hi.”

 

“Hello!”

 

“Why are you sighing so much from weekend morning? Is something wrong?”

 

Yeon-jae smiled awkwardly while fidgeting with her glasses frame.

 

‘Ugh. If I had known I’d run into Dohan senior, I would have at least worn contacts.’

 

A faint smile also crossed Dohan’s face as he watched her.

 

“Are you on your way to study?”

 

“Yes! Are you also on your way to study, senior?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Before they knew it, the two were walking side by side, heading to the library together.

 

Since it was exam period, even though it was morning, the reading room was quite filled with current students.

 

“If I had known Yeon-jae was coming too, I would have reserved seats for two people in advance.”

 

Because of this, Dohan and Yeon-jae ended up taking seats in separate areas. Yeon-jae’s hope of being able to sit next to Dohan and study together was scattered just like that.

 

‘Still, running into each other midway and coming to the Central Library together is something.’

 

Just as Yeon-jae was comforting herself while putting down her bag, her phone screen lit up.

 

Want to have lunch together later?

 

Gasp!

 

Yeon-jae immediately covered her mouth. The person next to her glared at Yeon-jae.

 

Yeon-jae bowed her head toward them, then sat down and quickly replied.

 

I’d love to!!!

 

Then she regretted it.

 

‘…Did I unnecessarily send three exclamation marks?’

 

After that, Yeon-jae spent the entire morning time worrying about whether she had shown too much that she was happy.

 

Should we go eat in about 10 minutes?

 

In the end, Yeon-jae couldn’t properly turn a single page of her book and got up from her seat in a daze until Dohan’s message about eating came.

 

“Did you study well?”

 

Dohan’s face when they met outside the reading room was no different from usual.

 

He looked like he had done his studying well throughout the morning.

 

“So-so… Haha.”

 

Yeon-jae wanted to tear her hair out at herself for only giving terribly uninteresting responses again. She felt like an unpopular comedian singing outdated hit songs.

 

“What do you want to eat?”

 

But as if he had no interest in Yeon-jae’s burning insides, Dohan asked calmly.

 

“I… whatever senior likes.”

 

“Huh? What I like?”

 

“Ah. Let’s just eat whatever senior wants to eat…”

 

“Are you sure that’s okay? Don’t you really have anything you want to eat, Yeon-jae?”

 

Yeon-jae drew circles with her toes. As her head dropped all the way to the floor, her hair fell down, revealing her reddened nape.

 

Dohan’s gaze touched that spot briefly before quickly falling away.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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