Yi Soo came to school around lunchtime after receiving notice that morning classes were canceled.

As Yi Soo passed by the playground absent-mindedly, she turned her head at the cheers coming from the basketball court.

People were crowded in layers around the basketball court, as if some good spectacle was happening.

“Hey, let’s hurry. All the good spots must be taken already.”

“We should have come here before lunch, now we won’t be able to see from up close.”

“It was a good chance to openly admire today… Ugh, what a waste!”

Girls grumbled as they rushed past Yi Soo.

They were heading towards the basketball court.

‘What on earth are they trying to see?’

Yi Soo’s curiosity was piqued as well, so she changed direction.

She went to the upper steps of the playground where she could overlook the basketball court.

As she got closer, the faces of the men playing basketball came into view.

Among the men running around the court, only Ji Ho stood out clearly in Yi Soo’s eyes.

Whenever he ran across the court in his pure white cotton shirt, the bangs falling on his forehead swayed gently.

Even to Yi Soo, who didn’t know much about basketball, his dribbling and shooting seemed skillful.

Every single one of his movements looked impressive.

‘It’s my first time seeing Ji Ho play sports… He really looks cool no matter what he does.’

Judging from the enthusiastic cheering, it seemed to be a match.

There were quite a few spectators sitting on the steps that served as bleachers.

Yi Soo’s head kept moving left and right, following Ji Ho’s movements.

It seemed like all the girls surrounding the court were cheering for Ji Ho with one heart.

Screams of excitement could be heard every time Ji Ho got the ball.

‘To think that man is my boyfriend.’

Yi Soo unknowingly smiled contentedly.

Though she couldn’t join in and cheer with the crowd, she watched Ji Ho intently, supporting him with the same heart.

Shortly after, the match ended and the gathered people began to disperse.

At that moment, a group of girls was seen running towards Ji Ho.

Amidst the girls bowing their heads and greeting Ji Ho, Yoo Mi stood beaming with a triumphant look.

Yoo Mi held out a jacket that had been hanging on one of her arms to Ji Ho.

‘Anyone who sees this would think she’s Ji Ho’s girlfriend. No wonder such photos were taken.’

Just seeing this scene, it didn’t seem unreasonable for such rumors to spread.

As Yi Soo turned away with a frown, someone tapped her shoulder.

“Did you come to watch basketball?”

“Oh! Dong Woo.”

Yi Soo was so distracted by Ji Ho that she didn’t notice Dong Woo coming up beside her.

Dong Woo’s face and hair were wet with sweat.

‘So Dong Woo played basketball too. But why didn’t I see him?’

It was because everything around Ji Ho had appeared blurry and indistinct to Yi Soo’s eyes.

Dong Woo looked at Yi Soo with puzzled eyes as she startled enough to hunch her shoulders.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Ah, well… I was lost in thought.”

“I recognized you at a glance… Weren’t you watching the basketball game?”

Yi Soo’s gaze had clearly been directed at the basketball court the whole time…

“The people blocked the view, so I couldn’t see well.”

Yi Soo laughed awkwardly, brushing it off.

She felt ridiculous for not having noticed Dong Woo.

“How long have you been here?”

“Not long. I was passing by and heard loud cheering, so I came to take a look. Was there some kind of match today?”

“Yeah. There’s an inter-department basketball tournament before the festival.”

“Ah. Did you win?”

“Of course. Our department has a lot of good basketball players.”

Yi Soo nodded half-heartedly as Dong Woo spoke proudly.

She was bothered by Ji Ho being with Yoo Mi since earlier.

How did Yoo Mi know to come?

Even though she knew they weren’t anything, it irked her every time she saw Yoo Mi and Ji Ho together.

“Yi Soo, have you had lunch?”

Dong Woo asked while checking the time.

“No.”

“Then let’s go eat together.”

At the edge of Yi Soo’s vision as she looked at Dong Woo, Ji Ho could be seen.

Though their eyes didn’t meet, she could feel his gaze directed this way even from afar.

Yi Soo deliberately avoided Ji Ho’s gaze as she turned away.

She didn’t want to acknowledge Ji Ho while he was with Yoo Mi.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

“Give me your bag.”

Before Yi Soo could answer, Dong Woo snatched the bag hanging on her shoulder.

“It’s okay, it’s not heavy.”

Knowing she couldn’t get it back, Yi Soo still reached out to try and take the bag.

“It is heavy.”

“The books are a bit heavy today, that’s why.”

Yi Soo grabbed the strap of the bag, but Dong Woo held it firmly, not budging an inch.

“See? It is heavy. I’ll carry it just to the cafeteria. Just go. No matter how much you try, I won’t give it back, so don’t waste your energy.”

Yi Soo smiled wryly and let go of the bag, pretending to give up.

They bickered and laughed the whole way.

Ji Ho stood rooted to the spot, his brows furrowed as he watched the two from behind.

‘What’s so fun about that? She doesn’t seem to mind being alone with Dong Woo at all.’

It wasn’t the first time he’d seen them getting along, but every time he saw it, he felt his insides twisting.

“Oppa, let’s go get lunch.”

Ji Ho didn’t respond to Yoo Mi’s coquettish words and strode up the playground steps.

Yoo Mi said goodbye to her friends and followed behind Ji Ho.

Ji Ho changed direction towards where he saw Yi Soo and Dong Woo entering the student cafeteria.

“Oppa, let’s go together.”

Yoo Mi reached out and grabbed Ji Ho’s arm.

“Why do you keep following me?”

“I need to eat too. I want to eat with you.”

Ji Ho stopped walking and stared at Yoo Mi.

After heaving a deep sigh, he said,

“Yoo Mi, if you keep acting like this, I’ll have no choice.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I’m telling you to stop crossing the line.”

“What line is there between us?”

Yoo Mi replied with a smile, disregarding Ji Ho’s cold words.

**

The cafeteria was quiet after lunch hour.

Yi Soo and Dong Woo sat at the same table as Ha Joon, who was sitting alone.

“How come you two are together?”

Ha Joon asked, just taking his first spoonful.

“We happened to see the basketball match while passing by the playground and came together.”

“Did you win the match?”

Ha Joon asked, looking at Dong Woo.

“Is that even a question?”

Dong Woo said after gulping down a glass of water as soon as he sat down, seemingly thirsty.

“Ji Ho probably hasn’t eaten lunch either, why didn’t he come with you?”

“He seemed to have company, so we came by ourselves.”

“Company? Look, Ji Ho’s coming.”

Ha Joon looked behind Dong Woo and waved his hand high for Ji Ho to see.

‘Ji Ho’s coming? Don’t tell me Yoo Mi is with him?’

Yi Soo turned her head, pausing mid-bite.

As expected, Ji Ho was coming first with Yoo Mi following behind.

Yi Soo hoped that Ji Ho wouldn’t come to the same table, but predictably, Ji Ho sat down next to Ha Joon.

The trays that Yoo Mi and Ji Ho set down side by side came into Yi Soo’s downcast view.

At this point, she couldn’t pretend not to see them and it looked like she was stuck having lunch together.

‘What was Yoo Mi thinking, following all the way here? This is so uncomfortable.’

Yi Soo sighed and raised her head.

Since Ji Ho wouldn’t know the situation, she thought to just give a simple greeting rather than pretending not to know.

When she looked up to just nod a greeting, Ji Ho’s expression was stiff, which made Yi Soo a bit flustered.

As Yi Soo was eating hurriedly, wanting to leave this place quickly, to make matters worse, Ju Hee’s voice was heard.

Her voice was much more excited than usual.

“Oh my! What, what? Everyone’s gathered here?”

Ju Hee quickly came and sat down next to Yi Soo.

Clank. As soon as she set down her tray, Ju Hee carefully examined Yoo Mi’s face right in front of her.

“Oh, hello. You’re the famous dance department goddess, right?”

The sociable Ju Hee greeted Yoo Mi first with a kind smile.

At being called the dance department goddess, Yoo Mi lifted the corners of her mouth shyly.

“Oh my, how embarrassing… Do you know me?”

“Of course I do. You’ve become very famous thanks to Ji Ho.”

Ju Hee sat with her upper body pulled close, resting both arms on the table, seemingly with no intention of eating.

She looked back and forth between Ji Ho and Yoo Mi with sparkling, interested eyes.

“Seeing you two together in person makes me really curious. Even though we’ve just met, can I ask just one thing? I have a personality that can’t stand not knowing when I’m curious about something.”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

Though Yoo Mi seemed quite taken aback by Ju Hee’s aggressive attitude, she didn’t decline, perhaps feeling good about being praised as the dance department goddess.

“You know there are rumors that you’re Ji Ho’s girlfriend, right? Is that rumor actually true?”

‘Wow, as expected of the shameless An Ju Hee. She’s asking such things point-blank.’

Yi Soo chewed the rice in her mouth with difficulty, feeling like she might choke.

“What? Yes. Well, that…”

Yoo Mi made a shy expression and trailed off.

Although it would be good to say yes clearly in front of Yi Soo, she couldn’t lie outright with Ji Ho right beside her.

So she intended to show an ambiguous attitude just enough to cause misunderstanding.

Yoo Mi just smiled without saying anything.

A smiling silence is usually interpreted as affirmation.

The stare of Ju Hee looking at her with a strange expression was burdensome, but usually, this much of a reaction was enough for people to jump to conclusions and misunderstand on their own.

“Huh? What’s this. Seeing as you can’t answer right away, there must be something going on?”

Ju Hee tilted her head slightly and looked at Yoo Mi as if finding it interesting.

“What could be going on? I clearly said it’s not true.”

Ji Ho stepped in to answer in place of Yoo Mi’s prolonged silence.

“I’ve already heard your answer. I’m asking the dance department goddess now. Answer me?”

Ju Hee urged Yoo Mi to answer again while smiling brightly.

There was a subtle mockery mixed in Ju Hee’s tone as she specifically said ‘dance department goddess’.

Ju Hee, who knew about the plastic surgery, narrowed her eyes and stared at Yoo Mi’s face in an unpleasantly scrutinizing way.

Yi Soo thought she understood why Ju Hee was acting like this.

Given Ju Hee’s personality of not being able to stand someone better than herself, she probably wanted to put down Yoo Mi, who was called a goddess despite being a plastic surgery beauty.

Ju Hee’s insistence on hearing Yoo Mi’s answer even after already hearing from Ji Ho seemed full of intention to humiliate Yoo Mi.

What kind of spite was this?

“The dance department goddess seems to think differently from Ji Ho?”

At Ju Hee’s persistent attitude that knew no giving up, Yoo Mi’s face turned red and blue.

She was just moving her lips awkwardly, unable to do this or that.

Except for Ju Hee who was smiling brightly, even Ha Joon, Dong Woo, and Ji Ho glanced at Yoo Mi with expressions wondering why she was acting like that.

The most excited person here was Ju Hee, while Yi Soo could only look down at her tray with an embarrassed expression.

“Actually, Ji Ho oppa and I have known each other for a very long time. So we are…”

Yoo Mi felt like she had to say something.

Feeling that if she just stayed quiet like an idiot, she would really become nothing to Ji Ho, she opened her mouth as if to protest.

She was about to say that she and Ji Ho had a very long and special relationship, but Ji Ho cut off her words.

“I’m saying this because I don’t want to receive unnecessary uncomfortable misunderstandings, but my girlfriend is…”

Yi Soo was the most flustered by Ji Ho’s sudden words.

Yi Soo raised her head and looked at Ji Ho.

‘What on earth is he trying to say…?’