Heh... hehe... I'm trash... total trash...
I haven't been able to get my head straight since the incident with noona.
It didn't end one way or the other... it just feels unresolved.
Like stopping a movie halfway through...
Or a novel getting canceled right before the final chapter...
"Kuhuhuhu..."
I'm a bitch... a complete moron...
I grabbed my face and pulled at my cheeks.
"Ha..."
Time flies.
The cherry blossoms have already bloomed, and I heard festivals in the provinces are already over.
Time... really does move fast.
I still haven't heard from Juha.
No idea what she's up to.
But it's not like I can just text her, "What's up?" out of the blue...
In all this time, I've never been the one to reach out first.
It was always Juha who texted me first. I was always too busy running away.
I used to beg, "Just one day without her!" But now that she's not around, it feels weird...
Is this some kind of slave gaslighting?
"Ugh..."
Did she go on a trip?
If she went on a trip with Yoo In-ha and Joo-ri, I guess that makes sense.
But even then, it'd only be for like 2-3 days. It's been a while since I've heard from her.
Or maybe she's back into gambling and lost all her money again?
Heh... hehe... Hold'em! I'll win this time! I swear! If she's pulling that crap again...
Then I'll really have to teach her a lesson this time. With my terrifying Magnum Dong!
"Ha..."
All I can do is daydream about useless stuff...
I rested my chin on my hand and stared out the window.
An empty classroom... and a long break. I'm too restless to focus on anything.
Outside, the campus is lively, but I'm just here feeling sorry for myself.
"Kyahaha."
Laughter echoed from everywhere.
I could see people already preparing for the festival.
Some were practicing how to set up stalls while checking the grounds.
"Ha..."
But when are we gonna do the group date? The guys are all ready.
Not that I care... it's not like anyone would like me anyway.
Though it does sound kinda fun... I'm a little excited.
*Last contact - 10 days ago.*
Yoo In-ha hasn't contacted me either.
Did they all just vanish into thin air? How can they all be so out of sight?
I should reach out later.
There are a lot of people I'm looking forward to, besides Kim Myung-jun and that one other guy.
If things go well, maybe we can do another group date...!? The underclassmen are already hyped for it...
[Pang Seok-ho: Joonhyung, we've got a problem.]
[Pang Seok-ho: The seniors want you to come quick.]
[Pang Seok-ho: It seems kinda serious...]
My phone, which had been silent, suddenly buzzed.
What... what's going on? What's the issue?
[Pang Seok-ho: Did you do something wrong? LOL]
I... I didn't do anything wrong?
Why the emergency call? It's not a group meeting, just me being called out?
I quickly packed my stuff. Something felt off.
*
"Ah... hello."
I opened the department room door and saw all the key seniors sitting inside.
What... what's with this atmosphere?
Everyone looked kinda serious.
Did... did I do something wrong?
"Joonhyung..."
One of the male seniors stood up and slung his arm around my shoulder.
A heavy arm around me...
I instinctively glanced at the friend who had texted me.
He avoided my gaze and turned his head away. What... what's going on?
"Joonhyung."
"Ye... yes?"
I swallowed hard.
What... what's with this tense vibe?
"Sorry about this."
"About... what?"
What is this? This heavy feeling?
"We couldn't find anyone else suitable. I'm really sorry to ask this of you..."
"What... what is it? Just tell me..."
"To burden you with this after all the hard work you've done for soccer..."
...I haven't even agreed yet?
The senior looked genuinely upset.
"I tried to stop it. I'm sorry..."
"Stop... stop what?"
The senior wiped away a tear.
What, what is it? What the hell are you guys planning now?!
"For this festival... you're gonna have to cross-dress."
"Huh?"
My brain short-circuited.
What... what do you mean?
I looked back at my classmates. They all avoided my eyes. What the hell, guys?!
"After a unanimous vote from all 20 members of our department... you've been chosen as the perfect candidate for cross-dressing!"
"Oh, I have an important appointment—"
"Hey!"
The senior tightened his grip on my arm.
My shoulder felt like it was about to pop off.
Stop messing around! Stop messing around! What the hell did you guys discuss without me?!
"Gah!"
I was forcibly dragged and seated in the middle of the couch.
The seniors surrounded me with sinister expressions.
Se... seniors?
I desperately looked for the soccer team members. They all avoided my gaze, staring into space.
We're supposed to be comrades! Seniors and juniors are supposed to help each other in tough times!!!
"At least you're fair-skinned and have nice legs. We can't exactly make those dark, hairy-legged guys cross-dress, can we?"
"Wouldn't Myung-jun be better—"
"Hey. Myung-jun's our face. He can't do it."
I'm ugly! I'm ugly, how can I cross-dress?!
"Can't we just go for a funny concept? Even if it's a comedic cross-dressing, people would still—"
"Hey."
The senior shook his finger.
What's with this anime-like gesture...
"Anyone can be funny. Anyone can make a bunch of dark, hairy guys wear skirts."
"...Uh... uh..."
"But making a guy look genuinely pretty? That's something not everyone can do."
The senior's eyes gleamed.
His lips were wet with saliva.
"Our department needs to stand out. We can't be like everyone else. Just like how second place in soccer is worthless..."
"...Save me! Please save me!"
"Can't we just have girls serve? Fine, whatever. Then we'll just turn a guy into a girl, right?"
Some seniors who were good at makeup approached.
Their eyes had turned sinister. You... you demons...
"Our department... will take everything this year."
The senior gripped my shoulder tightly.
My body shrank. Heh... heh!
"The festival... and the sports competition."
*
"Hey... bro."
"What?"
The sound of chips being tossed echoed.
In the large Hold'em pub on the second floor... men sat with cards in hand, resting their chins.
"Juha hasn't been coming around lately."
"What? Baccarat?"
"No, Hold'em. Hold'em."
Oh?
The man nodded. Now that he thought about it, he had been focusing on Juha.
His business had been growing recently, so he'd been too busy to pay attention.
"How much did Juha lose?"
"We got her up to 1 million, but things got a bit tangled..."
"What got tangled?"
The employee looked nervous.
"At some point, she either got lucky or something... She took back everything we worked for. She even walked away with an extra 500,000..."
"Did you cash her out?"
"Yeah..."
"Do I need to teach you how to work her again?"
"It's not that..."
The employee hesitated, trying to explain.
"Up until the middle, everything was going smoothly... But then her style suddenly changed. I was caught off guard and couldn't respond. I'm sorry."
"She's an idiot, so just push her. Why the hell are you overthinking it?"
"That's what I did... but it's like someone helped her... ugh..."
The employee shut his mouth.
No point in making excuses. It'll just piss him off more.
The man lit a cigarette at the employee's words.
"Ha..."
This guy's a bit of an airhead, but he's never messed up before.
Whenever we work someone, they come crawling back, begging for money.
But Juha... why isn't she falling for it? It doesn't make sense.
"Did you record it? Bring me the footage. From the part where things got weird."
"Yes."
The man skimmed through the footage the employee brought.
Smoke rose from his furrowed brow.
"It's real."
"Right?"
"That's not Juha."
These are plays Juha's brain couldn't possibly make.
The man took a long drag of his cigarette.
Did she get someone to play for her? But who? Everyone around here is a dumbass.
"Ha..."
Someone's helping her.
The man leaned back in his chair.
I've put a lot of effort into this. If I hadn't been so busy with business lately, I would've already taken her down.
"What should we do?"
"We'll just work her again."
Ha... damn.
It's hard to reel someone back in once they've walked away...
Should I just drug her? Getting her wasted and taking her down isn't even worth the effort. But I've been doing that a lot lately, so I should lay low.
There's been a lot of talk about cops showing up at clubs recently.
"Just keep an eye on her for now."
"Yes."
The man stretched.
Juha... I forgot about her, but now that I think about her again, I'm intrigued.
She's a tough one to crack...
She looks like she'd be great in bed, but she doesn't give it up.
I was planning to turn her into a debtor and then dump her after having my fun...
But it's not working.
Honestly, there are plenty of plans and ways to do it... but it's just annoying.
There are plenty of pretty girls out there. Why waste time and resources on Juha?
"This pisses me off."
The fact that it's so close yet so far is driving me crazy.
The man chewed on the cigarette filter.
'But who's helping her?'
Suddenly, I got curious about the guy helping her.
There's no one in this age group who could pull this off.
Did she get some guy involved? Unless he's way older, he shouldn't be able to do this.
*Swoosh.*
The man looked at the footage again.
Even watching the plays again, it's impressive.
We've got an employee and a computer working on this, and it's not working.
She doesn't even bite the bait.
She doesn't take the bait at all, so we end up throwing it here.
Then she bites.
It's a clear angle to trap her, but she doesn't fall for it.
She moves as if she's calculating the scam.
She knows the opponent's cards and thinks beyond that.
The opponent doesn't even matter.
Winning is a given, and she's just deciding whether to scam or not.
'This guy's like a ghost.'
Drugging her is no big deal.
No matter how good someone is, online Hold'em is meaningless.
You can just manipulate the cards at the end.
But it's annoying because you need an employee and a program...
I didn't have the resources to use it on someone like Juha. She should've been easy to trap.
But she slipped away.
'Juha's one thing...'
But I'm more curious about who this guy is.
His plays are so annoying. Makes me want to stab him in the gut.
He might be useful to have around... but at the same time, I might just want to take him down.
"Ha..."
The man looked up at the ceiling.
I'll just clean up some loose ends and try again...