Chapter 15
It’s 9 p.m. I usually go to bed at midnight.
In other words, I had to stay awake with Han Seojin for about three more hours, but the fact that I was already getting a little sleepy seemed like a promising sign that might cut that time way down.
Maybe it was because so much had happened today. Usually, nine was when I was full of energy, but for some reason I was already sleepy.
‘To think I’ve changed this much from my days of living online….’
It had been nine years since the days when I only used a keyboard and mouse, and now I barely used them outside the computer lab, so it made sense that I’d changed. Still, it put me in a bad mood to think that much time had passed.
…I don’t just look younger; I’m actually younger than I was back then.
Though my body was fourteen, my soul was twenty-eight—twice my body’s age—and in a few years I’d be over thirty. I remembered that and hurriedly tried to erase the thought from my mind.
Get out of my head right now…!
For someone my age, I hadn’t even gotten to attend the university I’d worked so hard to get into, but I guess that was just how it felt.
Ah, whatever! I’m fourteen, a fourteen-year-old about to start middle school.
‘Yeah, yeah. Exactly.’
Everyone else saw me not as ‘Lee Siyeon, age twenty-eight,’ but as ‘Kim Siyeon, a pretty fourteen-year-old middle school girl,’ so it wasn’t exactly wrong.
…Of course, my conscience would keep pricking me and crying out in pain.
‘W-What do I care?!’
It was best to think whatever made me comfortable.
My conscience had already become an impossible topic to discuss ever since I took a bath with Mom.
Thinking that, I stared blankly into space.
“Yawn… *gasp*?!”
As a wave of drowsiness swept over me, I started to yawn, then hurriedly covered my mouth with my hand.
…W-Wait, I’m not alone here right now, am I?!
Yawning makes me look ugly. I hope he didn’t see.
I glanced sideways at Han Seojin, and there was an idiot sitting beside me, smiling brightly as he watched the game on the computer.
…I suppose I should be relieved, but why did I feel so bad?
Just a moment ago, I’d been watching those videos and thinking about something else, too, but for some reason I didn’t like seeing that idiot staring only at them even though I’d yawned.
…At least when you hear a sound like that, you could look over.
-Squeeze.
“Ow!”
“……”
Annoyed by something, I pinched his arm, and only then did Han Seojin look at me.
I’d succeeded in drawing the idiot’s attention away from the video and toward me, but now it felt like I’d forced him to, so instead of feeling better, I felt even worse.
…Was I really that unattractive as a girl?
‘Well, of course. What’s so great about a girl who does that in a movie theater….’
Being tsundere might be a moe point in a game, but in real life, how could someone who did nothing but annoy the other person be attractive?
“Forget it, idiot….”
“…?”
As I said that, giving up on the thought, Han Seojin tilted his head and then—
“Want me to hug you?”
“H-Huh?!”
He suddenly spread both arms and said something so embarrassing.
W-What is this idiot saying all of a sudden…!
While I stammered, unable to even process what I’d just heard, I stared blankly at Han Seojin as he slowly came toward me, and—
“W-Why are you trying to hug me whenever you feel like it, you idiot?!”
“Eek.”
I barely came to my senses just before he could hug me and immediately pushed Han Seojin away, so thankfully, nothing like that happened.
“Seriously, seriously, you’re such an idiot…! Seriously, what are you doing?!”
“Hehe….”
Thanks to Han Seojin approaching me just now, I’d felt embarrassed on his behalf, so even though I went on and on, it made me hate him that he only smiled brightly.
Seriously, I had no idea what this idiot was thinking. I hated how he’d go and do something so embarrassing whenever I let my guard down for even a moment!
‘D-Do you really think I’m going to fall for you or something…?’
That’s never happened, and it never will!
Even if this is a dating sim and I’ve been possessed as its heroine.
I absolutely had no intention of becoming your heroine…!
As I renewed my resolve and glared at that idiot, he smiled even more brightly and said,
“Still, you look better when you’re not making that gloomy face from earlier.”
“-!?!!? Y-You, you idiot…!”
He threw out another embarrassing remark, and I felt my heart start pounding again as I desperately avoided Han Seojin’s gaze.
…Wh-Why am I like this?
It was Han Seojin’s face I’d been looking at just fine until a moment ago, so why couldn’t I look at him all of a sudden…?
‘I-I mean, it’s not like he’s ugly….’
If anything, he was incredibly handsome, and his personality was kind, too. Sometimes I’d just keep looking at his face to pass the time, so I had no idea why I suddenly couldn’t look at him.
“…Ugh.”
Even when I tried looking at him again, I just turned my head away because I was even more embarrassed.
Seriously, seriously, what was wrong with me…?
‘This is definitely because of my period.’
I was just so emotional because of my period that I’d gotten too worked up, that was all.
Having finished rationalizing it that way, I twisted a strand of my short hair around my finger and kept watching the video that was still playing.
To avoid this situation right now.
==========
After Han Seojin and Kim Siyeon’s little exchange.
“…Huh?”
Han Seojin had been sitting and watching videos with Kim Siyeon on his phone to accommodate her as she grew sleepier. Seeing Kim Siyeon sleeping peacefully beside him, he let out a sigh of relief.
“…Was that okay?”
He might have teased her a little more than usual, but he felt he’d handled Kim Siyeon’s ‘that time of the month’ about as perfectly as possible.
Han Seojin had heard that people were more sensitive and emotional during that time, so he’d paid a little more attention to her and increased the frequency of the little compliments he usually gave her.
As a result, Kim Siyeon had gotten incredibly embarrassed and said all sorts of things, but afterward she’d smiled in a way that didn’t seem like something someone who disliked it would do, so he smiled with satisfaction.
‘Siyeon definitely wouldn’t like the atmosphere around her changing because of something like this.’
That was why he’d deliberately teased her a little more than usual—to show her that he wasn’t going to treat her any differently during ‘that time.’
He’d never imagined she’d start crying, but at least he’d managed to comfort her.
‘…I never imagined that movie would be a horror movie, either.’
Han Seojin had picked the movie on a whim just because it was popular, and hadn’t realized it was a horror movie until right before they entered the theater lobby. Remembering Kim Siyeon trembling at the trailer more than when she cried, he felt a chill run down his spine.
He knew perfectly well that Kim Siyeon hated horror.
He’d tried to calm her down as much as he could with a lie like, ‘I heard it wasn’t that scary,’ but in the end, Kim Siyeon couldn’t take it and suddenly ended up hugging him.
At the time, Han Seojin had been incredibly surprised and worried to see her go so far.
-Y-You said you wanted to see it….
‘…I really am sorry.’
In particular, Kim Siyeon’s attempt to endure the horror movie she hated because it was ‘a movie Han Seojin wanted to see’ was more than enough to make his guilt sting even worse.
“Ugh….”
“…?! A-Are you okay?!”
Thinking about that, Han Seojin couldn’t help being startled when Kim Siyeon groaned and grimaced.
At fourteen, it was hard for him to understand Kim Siyeon’s reaction right now.
“S-Seojin… W-Where are you…?”
Kim Siyeon slowly opened her eyes and began to speak.
==========
The memory of the monster from the movie appearing in my dream wasn’t a very pleasant one.
And the part where it killed Han Seojin right in front of me was enough to make today’s dream the worst one ever.
“S-Seojin… W-Where are you…?”
After jolting awake from that nightmare, the first thing I did was look for Han Seojin.
It was terrifying to think that maybe it hadn’t been a dream, and that Han Seojin, who’d been beside me just moments ago, might have disappeared.
If I lost Han Seojin, my only friend right now, I felt like I’d really start crying.
“I’m right here. What’s wrong?”
“S-Seojin….”
Maybe that was why.
The moment I saw Han Seojin’s face, I immediately started crying.
Then I pressed myself against Han Seojin, hugging him and reveling in his warmth.
“I-I’m so glad… So glad….”
“…? Siyeon?”
“J-Just stay like this….”
Normally, I’d never act like this, but the dream I’d just had was so shocking.
I felt like I couldn’t bear it unless I did this.
Thinking that, I hugged him tightly, trying to convey that I didn’t want him to leave me without a very good reason, and then, seeing Han Seojin’s arms flailing because he didn’t know where to put them, I remembered what he’d said before I fell asleep.
…Right now, I kind of want you to hug me.
“P-Please hug me….”
“H-Huh?”
“I said, hug me…!”
I barely managed to endure my embarrassment as I quietly asked him to hug me, then trembled in Han Seojin’s arms again.
The dream I’d had still felt vivid.
‘So warm….’
The one good thing was that I felt a little better when Seojin hugged me.
He was so cozy and warm, and…
The breath I felt against my hair made me feel incredibly safe, and I could feel my eyes slowly closing again.
…I’d kick the blankets like crazy when I woke up tomorrow, but I didn’t care.
I want to stay like this right now.