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Absentmindedly twirling her straw in her half-finished drink, Jiseol's mind was elsewhere instead of the conversation she was having with Chenle over dinner. Or rather, the conversation Chenle was having with himself. The only thing Jiseol could pick up was that his assignment groupmates were "total asswipes" and something about his presentation next week being about Daegal's birthday, or something like that.
Jiseol hadn't been able to think about anything else ever since she got that message in her inbox, even more after she knew what Donghyuck wanted to do. She didn't get it. She didn't understand why he'd risk his entire future and his own innocence just so she wouldn't be the victim of some childish gossip.
More than that, what was constantly buzzing through Jiseol's mind was how she was going to stop all this nonsense. This wasn't an action movie with a confirmed satisfying ending; this was real life and nobody could predict the ending. The biggest question that echoed through her head was "Who would be fucked in the head enough to do something like this?". Sure, a lot of the kids that went to their school were fucking menaces, but who was evil enough to commit a cyber crime just to create controversy?
"Do you need to take a shit?" Chenle loudly asked her, succeeding in not only catching Jiseol's attention but also other customers nearby. "'Cause you sure look like you do."
Jiseol subtly flipped him off in response by pushing her glasses up her nose with her middle finger. She then sighed, rubbing the back of her neck that was beginning to ache from the amount of thinking she was doing.
"Marital troubles?" Chenle asked again.
Taking a deep breath, Jiseol nodded. "I didn't sign up for this shit. All I wanted was to study well, have fun here and there and graduate quietly—not blow my brain up from trying to solve a fucking Internet crime on my own."
"You know, I'm a hundred percent sure that Donghyuck's like, in love with you or something."
Jiseol's eyes widened. "Why the hell would you say that?"
"Look, Ji, I love you with my whole ass and being. But if I was in Donghyuck's shoes, my first reflex would not be turning myself in. Of course I wouldn't risk you getting hurt at all, but I wouldn't be stupid enough to not think of other ways that wouldn't result in me getting expelled or sued," Chenle shrugged.
"The fact that Donghyuck is that stupid, it means that the guy's in love."
"That's bullshit," Jiseol mumbled. She wasn't counting on it to be true, she could never imagine herself wanting Donghyuck to be in love with her, yet for some reason Chenle's conspiracy theory made her feel a little squeamish inside.
Maybe it was because she was too disgusted by even the idea of it. Yeah...maybe.
"Anyway, I was thinking about this whole thing the other night," Chenle's expression turned serious. "Honestly, I'm starting to think that whoever did it has something personal against you."
