Chapter 113
That evening.
I was sprawled on my bed, preparing a report for her, trying to kill some time.
All of a sudden, the doorbell of my room rang like crazy. What the heck, no one should be visiting. I got up and peeked through the lens by the front door to see who was ringing.
“Blanca, it’s us! Open the door when you’re ready!”
Yeonhwa was waiting at the front door with a group of her friends.
All of them were clad in pajamas and holding pillows, which made me wonder if they were planning a pillow fight.
But that probably wasn’t the case; maybe it was a pajama party? Knowing Yeonhwa, that sounded just like her. I told them to hold on a sec from behind the door.
Considering I was barely dressed in my underwear, I felt like I needed to cover up at least something.
Sure, I had been in my underwear frequently in the changing room, but I wasn’t the kind of perv who enjoyed exposing myself.
So I just threw on a white T-shirt and opened the front door. Yeonhwa burst in cheerfully, leading her friends into my room.
“Yeonhwa, are you really sure we’re allowed to do this? Even if it’s kind of a hangout, this late…?”
“Oh come on, Justitia said it was fine for a bit! So, Ageha, don’t worry too much and let’s have some fun.”
Yeonhwa reassured Ageha, who was understandably anxious.
From the way she spoke, it almost felt like Yeonhwa had rounded up her friends from their rooms and dragged them to mine.
“We’re not just here to hang out for a bit; we’re planning to stay all night, right? Yeonhwa, you little liar.”
“N-no way we’re staying up all night… We still have training tomorrow.”
“That may be true, but still, liar.”
Yeonhwa had no solid comeback to Seolhwa’s remark and just mumbled in frustration.
It seemed like there was a bit of a fib in her “invitation.”
“And what if the kids next door complain about the noise…? I mean, even if the teacher allowed us, it’s not like the others would be okay with it…”
“…Why exactly did you call us over?”
Lapiz piped up with concern, while Lucia complained about the reason for the gathering.
Yeonhwa was trying to keep the car from derailing.
“I just… wanted to get to know Lucia better…!”
Even if her method was a bit off, there was no harm in her intentions, so I nudged Yeonhwa a little by sharing a fact that might help her out.
“See? It’s not weird to go hang out in someone else’s room!”
Yeonhwa seemed to perk up a bit at that, proudly setting down a black bag she had been holding.
Inside the bag was a bunch of snacks and sodas, perfect for making a mess on the floor.
Watching her distribute the goodies amongst everyone while reminding them not to spill anything made me question things even more.
“Yeonhwa.”
“Yeah?”
“But why my room?”
Isn’t there your room, or Ageha’s? Why did they have to come to mine specifically?
When I asked, Yeonhwa looked a bit dazed, as if she hadn’t thought that through, then awkwardly smiled and replied.
“Well… your room is the furthest?”
“It must be because Blanca is so kind. She’s usually willing to help out, right? Or were you planning to pressure us with numbers?”
“I don’t think Yeonhwa thought that far…”
“I’m not that sinister, nor am I that dumb?!”
Yeonhwa seemed a bit taken aback by the comments from the two rich girls. Then she quickly calmed down and announced that, from now on, she’d start the party.
“Alright then, let the first pajama party commence!”
Yeonhwa clapped her hands in approval. Lapiz, oblivious, joined in the clapping.
“So… what are we doing?”
Pajama party sounds fun, but I had no idea what we were planning to do, so I asked Yeonhwa about it.
I worried and hoped that she hadn’t actually come without a plan. I waited for her answer with mixed feelings.
“Surely you didn’t just come here without a plan! First on the agenda is… a truth game! But we’re going to spice it up with a lie detector!”
Yeonhwa pulled out a real lie detector from her pocket and set it on the floor.
“W-where did you even get that?”
“I bought it ages ago. Since I never had an opportunity to use it, I stuck it in the storage and thought I’d finally bring it out now. It’s a legit one, so you better not try to lie!”
Yeonhwa flashed a wicked grin as she explained the rules of the game.
You point at someone and ask them a question, and they have to answer whether it’s true or false. And they have to place their hand on the lie detector.
If they don’t want to answer, they just do a penalty instead, and after that, the person who was asked gets to select someone else. Simple, right?
“That sounds more like… an interrogation, doesn’t it?”
Lucia asked, already munching on snacks. Yeonhwa drew the line, saying it was different from an interrogation.
“Interrogations ask question after question! Plus, if you don’t want to answer, you’ll get grilled! This is only one question, and if you don’t want to answer, you just don’t have to.”
“Is that so…”
“Then shall I go first? Blanca! Do you like Minho?”
Yeonhwa grabbed my hand, placing it on the lie detector while she asked. I could feel my face heat up from the sudden question.
“W-what kind of question is that—”
“Answer or do the penalty!”
Yeonhwa smiled brightly, applying pressure on me.
I looked desperately at Lapiz and Ageha for help, but even they looked like they were suddenly invested in the spicy topic.
“I’m curious too; I mean, you and Minho have been pretty close, right?”
“Blanca with… another guy…”
As the atmosphere shifted, it felt like I had to answer this.
I calmed my pounding heart and replied as calmly as I could.
“…False.”
The lie detector didn’t buzz.
Yeonhwa seemed doubtful, wondering if the lie detector was broken, muttering something under her breath, and then jumped in shock from a little electric shock she received.
“Wha- you really don’t like him?!”
What do I even say? It’s definitely not mere attraction, but trying to define my feelings was awkward.
Wishing for things to go well… Yeah. It’s like a fan adoring a star.
“People usually differentiate between cheering for someone and liking them. It’s different from liking an idol and a partner.”
“So that means you like Minho like an idol?”
“No way, you can only ask when you point at someone!”
Yeonhwa blocked Ageha’s question while confirming that I was the one with the power to point.
So, in turn, I decided to bounce it back to Yeonhwa.
“Yeonhwa, do you like Jinhyeon?”
“Oh my, revenge.”
“You’ve definitely been close with Jinhyeon.”
Just moments ago, Yeonhwa was all cheerful, but now her face turned bright red, like she was speaking from a mouse hole.
“Uh, um… actually…”
The lie detector didn’t react this time either, which was a stark contrast to how it had responded to her query just before.
When that happened, the room’s mood heated up. Really? How long have you liked him? Questions kept firing her way, even though it wasn’t their turn.
“I said to ask after you’ve been pointed at!”
Yeonhwa yelled out, embarrassed, and redirected the questioning onto Ageha.
“Ageha, do you have a crush?”
“I… don’t. But I do have someone I’m interested in or am friends with.”
The lie detector stayed silent.
“W-why?!”
“Haha, there’s no rule against picking the person who just asked, is there? Hmm… should I reveal this? Yeonhwa has liked Jinhyeon since childhood. Answer, or penalty?”
Yeonhwa placed her hand on the lie detector as if she had nothing to hide and confessed that it was true.
“Oh wow, what power!”
“Brace yourself…!”
The subsequent truth game led to a back-and-forth of Ageha and Yeonhwa’s bantering.
There were a few moments where the spotlight also fell on the other girls, but for the most part, it was about them having fun with the lie detector.
That just made it even more entertaining.
Watching them wiggle around to expose each other’s embarrassing stories created an amusing yet enjoyable scene.
“Um, can we wrap this up and not ask others anymore…?”
“Haha, agreed. At this rate, we’ll just both dive down together…”
“Then how about Seolhwa? Do you have a crush?”
“I do. Okay, then it’s my turn. Lucia, do you like Minho?”
“…I do. Well then… my turn… Seolhwa, do you also… like Minho?”
“Yeah.”
“W-wait what? Are we in a love triangle?!”
“It seems like it…”
There were a few intense moments between Seolhwa and Lucia, but thanks to Yeonhwa’s mediating, we were able to smoothly get through it.
As the night wore on and when everything that Yeonhwa brought—snacks and drinks—had all but disappeared, we were all tipsy with the atmosphere.
Even without alcohol, our faces were flushed, leaving me bemused, especially since I was among those with rosy cheeks.
“Ah… haha, that was fun. Right, Blanca?”
At Yeonhwa’s question, I instinctively found myself still with my hand on the lie detector before answering.
“…Yeah, truly.”
