I Fell in Love With My Tomboy Friend’s Avatar

A monotonous ringing tone sounded through Hayan’s phone.

“Is she busy…?” Just as Hayan spoke, the ringing stopped abruptly. A message popped up on the screen. “She says she’s too busy to pick up the call, and she’s sorry. Hmm… must be really busy…”

Hayan pursed her lips in slight disappointment, and her classmates chimed in, filling the classroom with noise once again.

“Well, she’s got exams coming up, and they’re practicals too, so of course she’s busy.”

“Yeah, let’s not keep bothering her. She might get annoyed.”

They were likely saying this because they secretly hoped Hayan would attend the audition alone without Jeongwon. They encouraged her to ask Jeongwon about it later, but Hayan responded with a pout.

“But I wanted to go with her…”

“Oh, whatever. Let’s just go eat.”

They gave Jeongwon a few more minutes to call back, but eventually, Hayan and her classmates left the classroom. Eunho also started heading home for lunch.

“Eunho.”

This damn clingy pest. Eunho held back a curse and turned around.

“What now?”

“Oh, nothing. Just that we’re going the same way.”

That was true. Eunho sighed and trudged forward, with Hayan following closely behind.

“By the way, Eunho, you really seem to like Jeongwon a lot.”

A chill washed over him. “What kind of nonsense is that?”

“You must really like her,” Hayan repeated. “I even heard a rumor that you fought 17-to-1 with the Taekwondo department over Jeongwon.”

“Damn, if that were true, I’d be dead by now.”

Eunho rubbed his forehead, sighing. How had that rumor blown up so much that people were saying he’d taken down the entire Taekwondo department.

“I don’t like her; stop spouting nonsense.”

“Really? Then what’s up with that rumor?”

“Hey, just how much of the rumor have you heard?”

“They say you and Jihoon fought over Jeongwon. But it turned into 17 of them after 16 guys from the Taekwondo department joined in. Then they hit you with a board, and a splinter got in your eye, and you said something like, ‘I won’t defile the eyes my parents gave me…’ ”

“Am I some kind of martial arts actor or something?” he snapped back. Hayan laughed and slapped him on the back.

“I’m kidding, kidding. It’s hilarious. But honestly, that’s how big the rumor is. They say you fought for Jeongwon.”

Well, that much was true. Without looking at Hayan, Eunho stammered an explanation.

“No, it wasn’t because of Jeongwon. That Jihoon Kim guy was being a total ass and said some really disgusting stuff. I’d have done the same if he’d said that about any other girl or guy. You’d have been mad too if you’d heard it.”

“Hmm, really? But still, I don’t think I could go up against the head of the Taekwondo department.”

“A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”

Hayan was silent for a few moments. Then, “Do you really want Jeongwon to be the promo model?”

“What? No, I don’t care if she does or not. I just mentioned it. The school magazine staff love Jeongwon.”

“True. Jeongwon’s so pretty, athletic, smart… She’s got that charm.”

Hayan looked at the side of Eunho’s face. She studied him, squinting slightly and smiling mischievously, then grabbed his arm.

“What.”

“Call Jeongwon yourself.”

Hayan tugged on Eunho’s arm, wrenching a frown from him.

“Hey, why should I? I’m not doing it.”

“Just call her, come on!”

“She’s busy, remember? What’s the point of calling?”

“If Jeongwon doesn’t go, then I won’t go either.”

Hayan shook Eunho’s arm back and forth. Eunho held back his urge to shake her off right then and there. He could almost hear their classmates’ voices coming from both sides.

Because of Eunho, Hayan wouldn’t participate in the promo model audition. Then, the school magazine staff would resent Eunho, and so would their classmates. There was no one else like Hayan. The backlash he’d face was already eating at him from both sides. Eunho’s head began to ache.

Would it be enough just to make a call? Whether she went or not was up to Jeongwon. All he had to do was call and suggest it. He could just say the school magazine staff asked him to talk to her, and it wouldn’t even be his idea.

“Damn, fine, I’ll just do it.”

“Now, now, now!” Hayan grinned and let go of Eunho’s arm. Eunho reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

After the one ring, Jeongwon’s voice came on.

“What,” she said flatly.

“Hey, Jeongwon. You know, that thing. That, um…”

“Spit it out, Eunho. Are we playing 20 Questions here?”

“No, geez. You know about the campus promo model audition, right?”

“Why would I care?”

Eunho awkwardly went back and forth, trying to tell Jeongwon about the campus promo model audition as indirectly as possible. Glancing at Hayan’s expression, Eunho happened to catch sight of her lips.

“She answered your call,” she mouthed. Something inside Eunho curled up as he thought about Jeongwon instantly picking up his call.

She probably picked up because she just finished something, he thought to himself, watching Hayan’s sly smile.

***

Campus promo model… Only attractive people do that, right?

Jeongwon felt like she’d only heard half of what Eunho was saying. As soon as he asked if she’d consider going, the rest of his words seemed to evaporate. It felt like Eunho was trying to sugarcoat it afterward, but Jeongwon didn’t have the patience to listen anymore.

Is he kidding?

Eunho was stammering, like he was watching his words. Jeongwon imagined who might be beside him. Classmates? School magazine staff? People in the same classroom? Or maybe…

“Hayan’s going, too.”

Could Hayan be next to him?

Jeongwon knew deep down it was all just her own paranoia. It was impossible, but it felt like she kept hearing her classmates’ mocking voices.

Did they ask me just to make fun of seeing Hayan and me side by side at the audition? Are they really asking me to join the guys’ audition, not the girls’? Did they think, ‘Let’s try and get Jeongwon Yoo to bite’? Did they make a bet?

She imagined her classmates snickering, heard Hayan teasingly insisting on the call, pushing everyone to make it happen. Even though she had never actually heard those voices, they kept echoing in her mind, stirring up anxiety. Jeongwon knew Hayan was a genuinely good person, truly beautiful, smart, and kind-hearted. Still, it made her feel miserable.

So annoying…

She hated herself for resenting Hayan over all this. She hated it. Feeling a bit choked up, Jeongwon forced a laugh and spoke.

“Are you kidding me? Me, a model? You guys planned this as a joke, right? Are there others with you?”

Trying to hide any tremble in her voice, Jeongwon cleared her throat.

“It’s not like I’m pretty or cute like Hayan. What kind of model would I be? You really think university applicants would come to our school because of me? Seriously?”

She laughed loudly on purpose, worried that her voice would otherwise sound shaky.

Then, on Eunho’s side, she heard him cough incredulously a few times, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She could hear a frustrated sigh.

Before she could admit that the real ridiculous one was herself, Eunho responded in a frustrated voice.

“Yeah, right. Good self-awareness you’ve got there. But…”

Here we go again. She knew it. He’d clearly called just to torment her. He hadn’t done this for a while, and now he was going all out today.

Unable to contain her frustration, Jeongwon instinctively pressed “end call,” cutting off Eunho’s agitated voice.

“So annoying, it’s so annoying, gosh!”

Jeongwon threw her phone onto her bed. Feeling something swelling up inside, she buried her face in the bed to keep it from spilling over. Her breathing was tight, suffocating. Buried under the covers, Jeongwon began to sob quietly.

“So annoying…”

She felt depressed. It might have been just a simple suggestion, yet her paranoia ate it up, making her think like this. And she hated herself, hated that she couldn’t shake the fear that her paranoia might actually be reality.

“Why am I even like this…” she mumbled with her face still buried in the blankets. She hated that she had to lie on the bed and be sad for so long over something so trivial.

***

“Hayan, what happened with the campus model thing?”

“Hmm…”

With her lips pressed slightly into a pout, Hayan pretended to think about it, then shook her head.

“I’m not going. Jeongwon said she won’t go, either.”

“Aw, why not? Hayan, if you don’t go, who else will?”

“Our candidates are practically nonexistent, Hayan. And the ones who did apply? When they came in for the interview, they were so nervous they couldn’t even get a word out. Hayan, please, you’ve got to help us out here.”

The editorial team member organizing the school’s promotional model project clung to Hayan’s hand, practically pleading. Other classmates, equally eager to show off Hayan’s beauty, echoed similar sentiments.

“Hey, Eunho, can’t you talk to Jeongwon about it?”

“God, what do you want me to do? If she says she doesn’t want to, what am I supposed to say?”

“Well, you’re the one who suggested Jeongwon. This is on you.”

“I didn’t even suggest her!”

Classmates crowded around Eunho, tugging at his collar and arms, shaking him ceaselessly. Eunho sighed, feeling his head pounding.

“Let go, damn it! I’m getting motion sickness!”

“Come on, you know Jeongwon best and you’re her closest friend. You must know how to persuade her.”

“Just go and tell her why she’s perfect for it. She doesn’t even have to do it; just get her to come to the audition with Hayan, okay?”

They attacked him from both sides, filling his ears with nothing but “Jeongwon, Jeongwon,” until Eunho thought he might lose his mind.

“Fine. Just this once,” he heard himself say.

“Yes, yes!”

“What a petty guy—make it twice.”

Eunho flashed a middle finger at them before leaving the classroom. He stalked down the hallway, kicking the wall in frustration, before calming himself and calling Jeongwon.

“Hey, Jeong—”

Click.

“Seriously? You hung up before I even said your name?”

It was as though Jeongwon thought she’d picked up a cursed call and then smashed her phone to end it.

“Is that how you want to play it?”

Eunho felt his pride seething. He wasn’t calling Jeongwon because his classmates begged him. No, he was calling out of sheer stubbornness, to see how far Jeongwon would go to avoid him.

If he gave up on Jeongwon now, he’d be ostracized by the entire department. They’d never forgive him if he failed to get Jeongwon to come. Just one little request—convincing Jeongwon to at least show up at the audition—was the only option.

“This is ridiculous, seriously.”

Suddenly, Eunho remembered something.

“Good self-awareness you’ve got there.”

Could it be because of that? He kicked the wall again, muttering to himself to watch his words before setting off to find Jeongwon.

“Hey, Jeongwon!”

Eunho ended up at the Taekwondo building, finally locating Jeongwon.

She glared at him. “What? I’m busy.”

But now, standing before Jeongwon, Eunho found himself unable to start talking. He needed to choose his words carefully. Taking a deep breath, he cleared his throat and spoke.

“You… You know your place.”

“You came all the way here just to say that? Want me to smash your head with a board, Eunho?”

“Look, can you just listen until I finish, you idiot?”

Ignoring the stack of wooden boards Jeongwon was pointing at, Eunho steadied himself, voice trembling a little.

“I know you think you know your place, but the truth is, that ‘place’ of yours is actually kind of… relative, you know? Do you really think the way you see yourself is the same way others see you? I don’t think so. So, what you think is your place might actually be a bit different from your actual place.”

Jeongwon scratched the back of her head, squinting at him.

“Can you just summarize it in three sentences?”

“Ugh, come on. I’m trying to say that, even though your status might seem a bit low, I think you have what it takes to be a school promotional model. In other words, even if you’re considered a bit of an underdog, our school isn’t exactly a prestigious university, and you’re more than qualified to be a model for our school magazine. So…”

Eunho practically monologued his way through the whole argument.

“Uh-huh. Sure. Is that my place?” Jeongwon raised an eyebrow, appearing completely uninterested, and fished something out of her pocket. There was a rustling sound as she dug around in her track pants.

“Why don’t you eat this?” she said sweetly as she pulled out her middle finger.

“You son of a—!”

Jeongwon promptly took off, vaulting over a nearby fence.

“What the hell—are you doing parkour now?”

A few of Jeongwon’s Taekwondo classmates watching the fuming Eunho whispered among themselves.

“Do all humanities students talk like that?”

One classmate muttered quietly as he watched Eunho, now so furious he was practically pounding the ground.

“Probably not.”