Hexed Intention

Do people think every misfit dreams of becoming a popular kid? Absolutely not. A significant number of misfits just want to continue living their peaceful, solitary lives. Yoonmin believed that there were probably more misfits who preferred their current existence than those who wanted to become popular. After all, they generally lack the ability to socialize with large groups.

Misfit Trait 1: They struggle to make eye contact with girls, especially the pretty ones.

Misfit Trait 2: They can’t speak in large groups.

Misfit Trait 3: They’re terrified of others’ stares.

Yoonmin was an elite outcast, embodying all three of these traits. So the situation he was currently in was his idea of hell.

At the moment, Yoonmin was sitting in a café with six girls. And not just any girls, but Haein’s crew, all of whom were pretty and popular. “Crew” might not be the right word. “Clique” might be more accurate.

Regardless, Yoonmin could feel the stares of other people, lingering on him because he was with this group.

Yoonmin kept his head down and sucked on his straw as if drinking his iced Americano was the most important task in the world. As if the iced Americano was his greatest concern. But he couldn’t even tell what it tasted like. The surface was black. The ice was sharp. Why was an iced Americano 500 won more expensive than a hot Americano?

“Yoonmin.”

He didn’t answer.

“Look at us,” Soyul ordered. “Listen to what Haein has to say.”

“Uh… Okay…” Yoonmin could barely get the words out. Slowly, he raised his head, only to see the six girls in their school uniforms, all staring at him.

Shit.

How did he end up in this nightmare? Yoonmin felt like his face was on fire. It wasn’t, was it?

This morning, Soyul had called Yoonmin’s name, but he was rescued by the arrival of their first period teacher. The real problem came after school. Yoonmin had tried to leave the classroom as quickly and quietly as possible, but Haein’s crew had blocked him in. Jinsol stood at the front door with Ahyoon at the back door, then Jian and Yeeun came to grab him. Meanwhile, Soyul was in the hallway, playing with her phone.

“I already made plans to meet a friend today…” Yoonmin tried to protest.

“Oh, you mean Jiyoo?” Jian asked with the air of someone who knew they had won. “I already told her.”

Since when did Jian have Jiyoo’s number? And what excuse had she given? Wouldn’t Jiyoo be furious when he got back?

Now, after suffering their sneak attack, Yoonmin ended up here, sitting with the most popular girls in his year. They were practically gangsters.

“Haein, go ahead and talk,” Jinsol said with a nod.

Haein raised her downcast eyes to look at Yoonmin. They were still slightly bloodshot, probably from crying so much. Even with her puffy eyes, the redness somehow made her look even prettier. Yoonmin couldn’t help but feel utterly frustrated by her.

You—You’re the reason I’m in this mess!

Soyul patted Haein’s shoulder. “Hurry up and say it, I’m starving!” she whispered.

“This morning… I apologized to Jian,” Haein whispered. “And to the other girls too. You were right… I lost it. I was being stupid and selfish. I thought if I acted pathetic, you’d feel sorry for me. I was so focused on trying to get you back that I didn’t think about my friends’ feelings… Just like you said, I’m a piece of shit.”

At that, Jinsol frowned and interrupted, “Seriously, how many times are you going to say that? I told you to stop. We already forgave you.”

“…Sorry.”

“Ugh…”

Soyul handed her phone to Yoonmin, her eyes glinting with mischief.

“Want to see Haein crying? She was so cute when she was sobbing, so I recorded it this morning.”

“Are you serious?” Jian demanded.

Haein took a deep breath and continued.

“I’m so embarrassed… I can’t even look you in the eye. You’re such an amazing, kind, brave, and gentle person, Yoonmin. But I’m disgusting, shameless, thoughtless, and selfish.”

At that revelation, nearly everyone at the nearby tables turned to peek at Yoonmin. Many people were openly staring, wondering who this girl was talking about. Innumerable eyes flickered over Yoonmin’s face.

Is she trying to humiliate me right now?

“I was asking too much. After everything I did, how could I expect you to go back to the way things were between us… I won’t ask that of you anymore. But I just want you to know that I really am sorry. I’ll keep trying to make up for what I did.”

Haein mumbled her apologies like it was the chorus of a song. Yet her continued verbal prostration didn’t make Yoonmin feel better. In fact, he now felt like he was stubbornly refusing to accept an apology. Hadn’t he already accepted her apology? He just didn’t feel like hanging out with her. And how exactly did she plan to make up for the past?

“I don’t know what happened between you two…” Jinsol said. “But Haein can only focus on one thing at a time. When she focuses on something, she can’t think of anything else. One time, I asked her what class was next, and she just said ‘curry’ because she was hungry and couldn’t stop thinking about curry.” Jinsol shook her head affectionately. “So, can you forgive her? Even just a little?”

“Yeah, she’s really a sweet girl at heart,” Ahyoon chimed in. “She just makes a lot of mistakes.”

“Give her one more chance,” Yeeun added, her eyes pleading.

Yoonmin was tired of this ambush. All these girls were Haein’s friends. Of course they were only focused on Haein’s side of things. Yoonmin’s feelings didn’t matter to them.

And honestly, that was normal. People are wired to empathize with those who are close to them. Feeling sad over the death of a stranger? Most of the time, that’s hypocrisy. Isn’t it? People die every second somewhere in the world—no one grieves for their loss.

Yeah, enough of this. Yoonmin was glad that Haein had reconciled with her friends. He just had to nod along and wait to escape. Then Haein could move on with her friends, and Yoonmin could move on with his own life.

But just then, Jian, who had been silent all this time, said something Yoonmin didn’t expect.

“Guys, we don’t actually know what happened between these two. It feels like we’re basing everything off Haein’s perspective. We don’t know Yoonmin’s side at all.”

Jian’s words caught Yoonmin completely off guard.

Wow, what’s gotten into her? She was the one pushing me the hardest to forgive Haein.

Jian continued, “We helped bring Yoonmin here, but the rest is between them. We shouldn’t interfere.”

The other girls fell silent and stared at Jian. They were probably thinking the same thing as Yoonmin. Why was she suddenly backing off?

Still, Jian was right. Yoonmin slurped his drink, trying to finish the coffee as quickly as possible so he could leave. He wanted Haein’s crew to go back to hanging out with each other, and leaving him alone. But then, Soyul decided it was her turn to say something unexpected.

“Then we just need to become friends with Yoonmin, too.” Soyul grinned. “If we’re friends with Yoonmin, it won’t just be a problem between the two of them, right?”

As if that was the end of the discussion, she handed her phone to Yoonmin.

“Let’s exchange numbers. I’ve got two phones. The one in the class group chat is for everyone, but this one’s for real friends.”

***

The next day, Yoonmin went to school feeling utterly exhausted. He had gotten a serious tongue-lashing from Jiyoo the night before.

“What the hell are you doing at school to have so many girls wrapped around your finger like that?”

“You were talking about dropping out, but it seems like you’re actually having a blast there, huh?”

“Are you having more fun at school than hanging out with me?”

“So it’s okay for me to be ignored at school while you’re out living it up?”

He tried for about five hours to convince Jiyoo that it wasn’t true, that it felt more like being swept away by a natural disaster. In the end, he failed and had to leave Jiyoo to her tantrum. So, today, he planned to pick up a snack for her in hopes that food would make things better. But then…

“Yo, Yoonmin!” Soyul called.

The greeting caught everyone’s attention. Soyul was unpredictable, yet quite reserved, and she rarely went out of her way to talk to anyone she wasn’t close to.

So, naturally, her voice drew everyone’s attention. Startled, Yoonmin raised his hand awkwardly in response. He felt stiff, like a reanimated corpse. Regardless, Soyul approached and said, “I heard you usually eat sandwiches alone for lunch.”

She sat down in front of Yoonmin.

“Yeah, so?” he said uncomfortably.

“Eat with us today.”

“I prefer eating alone.”

“I want to have lunch with you.”

“And I prefer eating alone.”

“We want to have lunch with you.”

Soyul stared at Yoonmin with bright, innocent eyes. Yoonmin was certain now—this was the “innocent-eyed lunatic” he’d heard about.

“Do you really have to eat alone?” she asked.

“I don’t like noise. You guys are always so loud when you eat,” he argued.

“Then we can eat together, just the two of us.”

What in the world?

He tried again. “I don’t like talking while I eat. It distracts me.”

“Then don’t talk. I’ll just watch you eat.”

“…What?”

“Now there’s no reason to refuse, right?” Soyul said cheerfully. “Any other excuses?”

Wait, wait. A flood of thoughts ran through Yoonmin’s mind. If I sit with you, people will stare, rumors will start, and being around you will be super awkward.

Before Yoonmin could voice any of these concerns, Soyul got up and walked away.

“Hey guys, I’m eating lunch with Yoonmin Seo today!” she shouted as she went.

She’s making an announcement…

Yoonmin did end up having lunch with Soyul. When lunchtime came around, she brazenly sat down right in front of Yoonmin with her lunchbox.

Just ignore her, ignore her. I’m alone. There’s no one sitting in front of me.

Muttering to himself, Yoonmin bit into his bread.

Soyul, watching him, mumbled, “Him? Cool? I don’t really see it.”

“You promised not to talk,” he growled

“You believed that?”

Yoonmin closed his eyes in irritation.

Smiling, Soyul pulled out a small box and handed it to Yoonmin.

“What’s this?”

“Open it.”

Yoonmin tilted his head in confusion and opened the box. Inside was something all too familiar to him.

“Ugh,” Soyul muttered as she peered in.

“You didn’t know what was inside?” he asked.

“Oh, I knew. But it’s still disgusting.”

Inside the box was a mood lamp in the shape of a skull lamp—a limited edition giveaway for those who had seen the movie The Skull’s Room, with wriggling maggots in its eye sockets.

“I heard you like this kind of stuff,” she said, looking vaguely nauseated.

Yoonmin looked between the lamp and Soyul’s face, then asked, “You watched The Skull’s Room? I wouldn’t have pegged you as a horror movie fan.”

Soyul paused for a moment before answering,

“Well… I guess it’s alright.”