"You seem shocked, Yulia. Why though? Isn't our bet with the same end goal? The methods are just different."

What did this guy just say...?

"Sorry... Could you repeat?"

Maybe I misheard him...

"What is the deal with you girls not listening to what I say the first time? I told you to kill yourself if you lose the bet."

It's beyond me how someone can say those words with no emotion at all. Maybe it's because it's those precise words that he can say them so emotionlessly. Nevertheless, it still inflicted a fair share of shock onto my soul the moment I heard it from Hyunda.

"You're insane...."

"Quite the opposite. But, as I said, don't be too shocked. If I lose the bet, then I'll have to drop out of the program which means my life is therefore terminated. On the other hand, if I win, your life is terminated. This is extremely fair, no matter how you look at it."

Still on his crouched position, this fearless being just keeps on firing those confident words while remaining logical throughout the whole thing.

And after he was done explaining how fair the bet was, he just took up and left.

"......"

He's a lunatic. His goal may be unknown to me, but he's trying to manipulate me for sure. That much I already know. And besides, even if it's the consequence of the bet, I'll not follow it.

That's just stupid and nonsensical. After all, I have a reason to be alive.

.........

Relax, relax, relax. Hahaha... What's the deal with him anyways? He's so cocky and overconfident. Does he seriously think that Daniel would cheat on me...?

...

I decided to call Daniel while hesitating to enter the queue.

"Pick up, pick up..."

Yet Daniel didn't pick up. That's usually the case. He isn't someone that just pays a lot of attention to his phone I think. Maybe he's absent-minded...?

In order to empty some of my doubts, I decided to call Sana. Just to check how she's doing. Seriously, it's just to know how she's doing...

...She's not picking up...

"Maybe it's a bad time..."

"Two individuals that love each will always treasure time alone without surroundings."

You're wrong, you're wrong! You're just evil and you are aiming to provoke me without any reason whatsoever. People like you are the absolute worse.

Yet... Why is Sana not picking up? This is not like her... Sana is someone who gives a big deal out of her calls and has never missed one of my calls... I remember that I even called her twice when everyone was asleep, so why...?

Sana would not miss out on my calls. I'm sure that there is a good reason for this... Maybe... Oh, I know...

Okay. I'll queue up then.

I need to clear a certain doubt of mine. I am sure that it will all make sense once I am able to achieve the answer to my doubt!

And eventually, after I managed to get my registration done, I asked the staff member a simple question.

"I'm sorry to bargain, but are you allowed to have your phone on during an event?"

This will definitely clear my doubts. Sana, I don't want to doubt you, so I'll do everything in my power to prove Hyunda wrong!

"Not at all. You have to turn your phone off before partaking an event. A single interference can cause you to be disqualified, so please be extremely aware of this factor while conducting the event."

"I see! Thank you very much!"

With that comfortable information in mind, I went right to the waiting room where I was able to glance upon the other participants who were engaging with one another; either practicing or trading interests.

That quickly gave me a wide view of the participants and my possible opponents. I was also no longer worried about my previous worries because Sana is without a doubt in an event, so she must've turned off her phone, thus my call was not able to reach her.

It makes perfect sense.

I have nothing to worry about. There's no need to over-analyze.

2 hours later.

On the exit of the block, I inhaled fresh hair to let loose some of my steam.

Truth to be told, I'm impressed! Although I only managed to come in second place, the captain of the club recommended me to enter the club after she saw my good maneuvers!

And with that in mind, I've accumulated my first win.

However, I want to meet up with Sana and tell her the news. Therefore, I turned my phone on.

But, before I could...

"Excuse me... I just couldn't help but notice that you are really pretty. Are you seeing someone right now?"

A person, rather, a participant that came in third place just spoke those words out to me, while elegantly reaching his right hand out to me.

This brow-long-haired individual essentially just asked me out. But, in my mind and in actuality, I didn't even blush nor felt nervous in the slightest. Because...

"Yup! Sorry!"

I am already going out with the best person in the world. And there is nothing that will make change my mind about the latter statement.

"I see. Very well, I shall retreat then. I am sure that the person who you are going out with must feel blessed for sure. Farewell, miss Yulia."

"Mhm!"

I nodded this well-mannered person a farewell as well. How well-mannered though. He even asked me first if I was seeing someone and didn't just impulsively ask me out.

Furthermore, he took the rejection politely and bid me a farewell while maintaining his manners.

How chivalrous.

Too bad I'm already taken. Forever and more. Seriously, a lot of people have asked me out before but I always felt so awkward when it came to denying them, but now, I don't have to feel that way, because I know that there is someone that loves me despite the way I look and for who I really am.

In the meantime, I was wondering where to go next, but Arkalee gave me a call and said for us to meet in the Taco Bell restaurant.

Upon reaching the entrance I noticed Hyunda and Arkalee together talking to one another.

As obvious as it is to say, Arkalee was obviously happy. However... She shouldn't be...

Because Hyunda's a sociopath, if not a psychopath too. No, he's without a doubt a lunatic and a psychopath...

"......"

Silently, I took my seat without crossing glances with Hyunda nor Arkalee.

An awkward moment of silence was therefore formed. Unintentionally, I had killed the atmosphere by not talking to neither Hyunda nor Arkalee, which caused Arkalee to take action.

"Hm? Yulia? What's wrong...?"

"Er, nothing... By the way, do you know about Sana's whereabouts...?"

Maybe asking Arkalee will give me the answer, since Sana hasn't answered her phone yet.

"Mhm? I just called her a moment ago and she said she was on her way up here."

Wait... What...?

"Sana... answered you...?"

"Eh? Yes, she did. Why are you asking me that question so reluctantly though, Yulia?"

"A-Ah, no reason..."

Is this true...? Sana answered Arkalee's phone call but not mine...? So, what about Daniel though...? I didn't mean to sound like a bother, so I didn't spam his voicemail...

"Oh, if you are worried about Daniel, then don't be! Hyunda gave him a call! He's also on his way up here!"

Reluctantly, I glanced upon Hyunda and he greeted me with his past devilish grin... B-But why is he putting up his grin...?!

"Yeah, Daniel answered my call on the first time I called him. Did you call him, Yulia?"

"No......"

That was a lie... I obviously did, but the calls just kept on being missed... Without any sign of being returned back... Yet Daniel answered Hyunda's call?! Why?!

"Really? How odd. I called him two hours ago and he said that he would meet up when it was lunchtime. Naturally, I gave him a second call a while ago just to confirm if he was still coming or not."

Two hours ago...? But that was when I tried to reach out to him...

"Yeah, the same happened to me. Two hours ago, I reached out to Sana and she said the exact same thing!"

And now Arkalee said that... But, that's impossible. I can understand Daniel, but Sana? Did Sana prioritize Arkalee over me? And just one single call too?

Sana, but why...?

"Oh, here they are."

Enthusiastically, Hyunda called out to Sana and Daniel, who both walked inside the restaurant while idly talking to one another.

Unknowingly, I started to feel slightly mad yet I completely calmed myself once I realized that this might just be one of Hyunda's lies.

"Yo. That took way too long, maaaannn... The scavenger hunt is such a pain in the ass, I'm telling you. Too many unnecessary tasks all at once."

I see! Daniel was doing the scavenger hunt! I should try that next for sure.

Yet, what a coincidence... How come Daniel and Sana just walked in together...? At the same time too...

"That was because there were so many unreasonable tasks! If only they were a little bit more sensical..."

"You did pretty well though, Sana. Third place, eh?"

"Haha, just because you got first place... Don't get cocky now."

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Huh...? Wait... Did Sana and Daniel participate in the same event? But that's just... What? That's so coincidental...

And... can Hyunda stop with his grin already...!?

"Eh, you two participated in the same event? Talk about a coincidence!"

Insecurely, I said that, expecting some sort of answer from Daniel, who took a seat right next to me in this round table.

Please say that it was a coincidence. Actually, no. It could only be a coincidence. Same with Sana. Just say it.

It's not much, come on.

"Yeah, it was pretty much a coincidence, but we got positive results out of it."

Easing up my expectations, Daniel gave me the answer I wanted to hear.

Still, I wanted to get something out of the way...

"Hey, Sana... Did you receive my calls...?"

Sana's a logical person. I'm sure she had a reason for neglecting my calls, so I'll hear her out. There's no reason to be nervous or anything of that sort.

Yet for some reason... Sana didn't give me an immediate answer, as she looked downcast for a while.

"...I was during the event, so I couldn't take your calls, sorry."

"Oh, I'm talking about two hours ago. You couldn't be in an event because the events hadn't even started yet. What happened, Sana?"

It's common sense that the events couldn't start before 10 am, and now that it's midday, it means that Sana must've had surely another reason to neglect my calls.

I already knew about the first option, which was why I didn't say it. However, Sana is an extremely reasonable person so I am SO sure that she will give me a reasonable reason for neglecting my calls.

Yup, certainly!

"Oh... You really called me! How did I not notice!?"

Sana just took out her phone and went through her missed calls and expressed a sudden burst of exclamation for my words alone.

This is a tad bit confusing because you were never the type of person to miss out on my calls, Sana.

Yet, I will not doubt you. Because that's what the person who has that omnipresent devilish grin in front of me wants; to doubt you.

"I guess you must've forgotten! It happens, it happens! I'm somewhat annoying, so maybe I should slow it down..."

Certainly, I tend to get a bit obsessive with my calls and messages and that shows how insecure I am, so in order to tighten my resolution on becoming less insecure, I'll refrain myself from annoying Sana.

"No, no! That was totally my fault! I put my phone in silent mode, so I couldn't notice your calls! It happened right after Arkalee called me as well! It was such an odd coincidence! My bad, I won't repeat it again! You don't have to feel like I ignored you on purpose because that was not the case at all!"

Hearing that gave me an undeniable transient relief that only lasted for a very short time because Hyunda decided to speak and interrogate Sana.

"That's strange, Sana. Isn't Yulia your best friend? Why would you put your phone in silent mode when Yulia might give you a call? Which, by the way, was what happened."

Without erasing that obnoxious malicious grin of his lips, Hyunda persisted to ask Sana about that.

Sana, on the other hand, gave a quick reply without having to think about why she put her phone in silent mode.

"Daniel asked me to and I didn't mind because we were having a talk. So, I thought that I wouldn't get any calls. But, I was wrong, hahaha..."

Eh...? But, why would Daniel ask that...?

Wanting to know why I asked my boyfriend that.

"Hey, it's rude to do that, you know? She's my best friend, so why did you tell her to put her phone in silent mode?! Geez..."

Although I started to pout, in my mind, I was constantly asking why Daniel would do that. Just what was his reason to do that?

"No real reason. Sana was just on her phone instead of paying attention to what I was saying, so I got pissed off."

No real reason...? There's always a reason though.

"Rude. You were just too discreet and didn't have the balls to tell me that directly."

.........

When did Sana and Daniel become so social with one another...

"What were you two talking about... Hahaha..."

Unable to laugh sincerely, I threw that question at both Sana and Daniel, who both looked away awkwardly. As if symbolizing that they had something to hide.

In addition to that, they both didn't answer my question, which forced me to get skeptical about my beliefs.

"What's wrong you two? Answer Yulia's question. Or, do you two have something to hide?"

Not Arkalee, but Hyunda asked them that, implying that they were hiding something from me.

Slightly paranoid, I started to have strange thoughts about things that I shouldn't be thinking about in the first place... Things that have no conceivable way of being true...

"W-Well, more importantly, how did things go on your side, Yulia?!"

Avoiding Hyunda's question, Sana drifted away from the initial topic and asked me how things went. I wanted to feel excited and happy that my best friend asked me that yet I couldn't even muster the strength to fake a smile.

"...I got second place..."

"Eh?! You did! That's fantastic! I'm so proud of you!!"

Sana even clasped our hands together which made me prematurely happy yet the fact that the very person I love doesn't even care enough to ask me about this simple thing bothers me every single time.

I am wondering if that's normal or if Daniel is just socially inept... That's alright though. I've tightened my resolve about this!

As long as we are together, I'm willing to solve this matter and see the best in him, because even the people that are labeled as 'worse' have a great side to them! It's just up to the individuals to see it from the other side and I believe I can be that someone he needs.

"Okay! Now that Yulia, Daniel and I have told our reports, it's up to you two now!"

With a grand smile, Sana started to direct her words towards Hyunda and Arkalee. Arkalee is all over Hyunda, to the point of being physically clingy with him. Even going as far as eloping his arm between her chest.

Apathetically, Hyunda shows no response whatsoever. Monster... You don't feel anything, stop wasting Arkalee's precious feelings...

As I thought... I... need to tell Arkalee how it is.

"Um, before that... Can I talk to Arkalee in private? It won't take long, I promise!"

The way Arkalee acts like a parasite around the wrong person bothers me. I'm not against the idea of being clingy because I know for a fact that's a way to express one's love, but if the one who you are expressing your love towards is an evil sadistic manipulator then that's just wrong!

"Haha, maybe later, okay?"

Still lingering onto Hyunda's arm, Arkalee denied my offer. I understand, Arkalee. I really do, but---

"Arkalee, go."

"Um, no, Hyunda. I will stay here with you."

"I appreciate the thought. Now, go on and have a talk with Yulia. It's rude to deny her like that, don't you think?"

Why is Hyunda defending me now...? What?

Even when Arkalee is clearly stating that she wants to be with him here, he's deliberating appealing to my side. And that's really confusing, because, why would Hyunda do that?

No matter. I'll take this chance. Except...

"I-It's alright! We can talk later, right, Yulia?"

"..."

I didn't answer back to Arkalee, because this is extremely urgent. I'm sorry!

"Yulia doesn't mind, Arkalee. Because we will be talking later on, so it's fine."

"Eh?"

That was not Hyunda who said that, but Daniel. He tightly held my shoulder close to him while pulling me closer.

O-Oh... So you do care...

Okay. Still, you could have told me, but that's also fine. You just suck big time when it comes to self-expression.

"I understand. Then, Hyunda, come along please!"

Arkalee, finally understanding the necessity of having this conversation, said that. Although, she invited Hyunda along, which was just not optimal, therefore, I intervened.

"No offense to Hyunda, but this is a girl's talk, soooo..."

It's really not like that. I just don't want that evil bastard near my good friend Arkalee. That's all.

She's so much better off without him. I don't have the experience of falling in love with the wrong person, but Arkalee is going through a wrong phase and it's my duty as her friend to look over her!

"That's fine. Hyunda, you can still come along. As a matter of fact, come along!"

Arkalee's love is something else but this is just... She's parasitic... Is she even aware of how obsessed she is with Hyunda? Can you even call this love?

"I told you that I won't, Arkalee. Don't be too dramatic and go. Or do I need to resort to---"

"Ahh, let's go Yulia! Mhmmm! Wanna go to the mall?"

Oddly enough, by interrupting Hyunda's monochrome and cold words, Arkalee quickly rose up from her seat and grabbed my wrist with a little bit of strength.

Thus, we went to the public mini-mall that this school has. Realistically speaking, having a mall in a school is unthinkable by all margins but this school just has a little bit of everything which makes it impossible for you to ever get bored.

It even has theaters. Maybe I should go with Daniel there?

That thought aside, I firmed my resolution once more as we ventured through Zara. It may seem meaningless to have this shop here at first, but considering that all the other students can leave school at any given time if they are allowed to, I suppose it makes sense for occasions...

And besides, students here, outside of our class, don't have to take weekend classes as we do, so they can just buy clothes here and go out of the school to do whatever they want while looking fashionably plausible.

The sad part about this is that we can only leave once a month.....

"Arkalee... How do I say this... Do you notice how you act around Hyunda?"

I had to get this question out of the way. It's important that Arkalee is self-aware about this.

"Yes. It is such a shame though."

A shame...?

"What is a shame?"

Sincerely and honestly, I was somewhat puzzled by what Arkalee just meant. We held this weird exchange of words in the underwear area, where Arkalee looked extremely intrigued while searching for the most expensive set of underwear panties...

"It's a shame that I have to hold myself back whenever I am around other people. Don't you feel that way too when you are around Daniel? I'm sure you must have, right?!"

Twisting her posture, Arkalee looked at me with explosive eyes.

However, I didn't really understand her question. Well, it's not as if I actually didn't, because I do behave differently with Daniel whenever we are alone, but it's not that different so to say...

"Yes, I do feel that way too. But... Why are you so willingly this attached to him? There is nothing appealing about Hyunda. He has a cold personality and he ruthlessly tells you all the time orders he wants you to obey. So, what gives?"

I hope she doesn't feel like I'm questioning the entirety of her feelings, I just want to point out that maybe those feelings could be redirected towards a better person.

In other words, someone that isn't Hyunda...

"Heh. You're awfully curious, aren't you, Yulia?"

"Well... Of course, but that's because I just want to mention something..."

Arkalee looks so indecisive while choosing what she wants to buy though. Is she always this indecisive? We have been here for so many minutes and she...

"Yulia, which one do you think is more attractive? Like, the one that is sure to capture a man's attention, no matter how apathetic he may be?"

Holding onto two pieces of lingerie clothing, Arkalee asked me which one I thought was more attractive when it came down to the task of seducing an apathetic man...

Certainly, the red lingerie piece is bound to be alluring and fascinating yet on the other hand, the deep purple lingerie piece in Arkalee's right side might just provide enough temptation to drive someone wild, no matter how apathetic.

However...

"You're not talking about Hyunda, right? Arkalee, hear me out right now... I'll say this with my best intentions but get away from Hyunda. He is not a good person!"

Even though I said this with the best of intentions, Arkalee looked a bit upset, as she put the pieces of lingerie back.

"Ahhh.... Yulia, Yulia... You... You think I don't know that?"

"Um, what?"

"Yulia, I know that Hyunda is a bad person. But, so what? I love him. So much. You have no idea. You are acting like this is some sort of second-handed piece of information I don't know, but trust me, I know it the best."

Arkalee...

That's even more worrying. Because you fell in love with his evilness too... And that alone makes it incredibly hard for you to get out of the delusion that you two share a strong romantic bond because Hyunda is possibly not even capable of feeling that much emotion in the first place.

"So you know... But still, don't you think that your feelings would be better off used on another person other than Hyunda? He clearly doesn't treasure you... Please, you deserve better..."

"My feelings? Are you even aware of how strong my feelings are for Hyunda? Yulia, what you have seen thus far is nothing but the tip of the iceberg. The actual thing far transcends what you think are my true feelings. Let me it from this perspective... How do you think I feel when he mentions another girl in one of our conversations?"

........?

Is there a specific way that you are supposed to feel whenever another girl is mentioned in such conversations? Of course there is. It's called jealousy. I know that.

Yet, why is Arkalee making such a big deal out of jealousy? I get jealous too but this is just... platonically dramatic.

"You must feel quite jealous, hahaha. You said that when Ikk--"

"Don't say that name! Do you have any idea the disgust I feel whenever I heard that name!? I feel like pulling out my hair strands! The urge to vomit! Just this morning, I was talking to Ikkiri and you know what happened?! I had to go to the bathroom in order to vomit!"

O-Oh my god... What is wrong with Arkalee?! She...

I thought Hyunda was the lunatic but...

No, no, no! Arkalee surely has been under Hyunda's influence. In the beginning, Arkalee was never like this! She only started behaving like this when she developed a crush on Hyunda!

"But you know what's even worse than that?! Something that even transcends the pure thought of not being his top priority? I'll tell you what it is! It's the thought of having my love for Hyunda be judged. Are you jealous, Yulia? Honestly, answer me."

"No, I am not. I love Daniel very much, so I have no reason t---"

"Then stop addressing Hyunda so casually. He's mine. Only mine. No one else's. Mine. M.I.N.E. Please understand that."

This is a side of Arkalee that I have never seen thus far. She's getting so paranoid and flustered to the point where she's getting extremely obsessive.

Without a doubt, this has to be Hyunda's fault.

"Okay. I will. However, I still think that you should reconsider your choice, Arkalee. Your feelings are too good for him. Don't waste them on him."

"Yulia... You... just don't get it at all. Allow me to put this from yet another perspective... Why do you think I've been indecisive about pieces of lingerie?"

I have given thought about that but I didn't want to voice my honest thoughts about this because I didn't want to believe that Arkalee could possibly be thinking what I was thinking, so, I'll attempt to remain clueless and not let my expectations get the best of me.

"....Because it gives you a sense of fashion?"

True enough, regardless of your gender, you don't need a partner to uphold a sense of fashion. If you want to dress well in order to feel great about yourself, then why not?

It's a vague misconception that ladies only buy revealing clothes because they want the attention of the male gender.

No, that's not true. I'm not denying the fact that there are such cases, however, there are cases where it's the reverse, as in the saying of, buying fashionable clothes for the sake of a great self-feeling is acceptable.

"This? A sense of fashion?"

Arkalee pointed out at the pieces of lingering which are all lined up for me to see, in-between the rows and all.

"...Yes?"

"Well, that's not illogical, certainly. But, no. Just, no. You see, I know Hyunda to a blatant extent. He doesn't care about my appearance. At all."

So why does Arkalee take care of her appearance so much still...?

"Still, I know something for a fact. He possesses a human vessel that incorporates the very embodiment of physiology in it. Which means that he is bound to have physical reactions. You might not believe me, but I've managed to get a few reactions out of him when it came down to the real thing. Yet, why do you think I went as far as provoking his physical reaction?"

I want to be impressed by Arkalee's waterfall of knowledge about Hyunda but at the same time, my worries just keep on rising because she's not showing any signs of backing off.

"Because you wanted to get to know him better?"

"Hahaha, yes! You get it! That's right. I want to know him better. But, it just so happens that it's way more than that. It's true, I want everything there is."

Oh, I understand...

Arkalee's really curious about Hyunda and wants to know everything there is about him. That's natural. I'll eventually get there with Daniel too.

Hopefully.

"Here is the main reason why I'm being picky about choosing a piece of lingerie. You see... If it's not for a sense of fashion, then what for?"

"..."

...I really know what she's implying but I'm seriously hoping that she won't say it.

And, just as I hoped that she would not say it, Arkalee said something way beyond the original margin.

"I want to have his babies!"