Chapter 116
* * *
— “……Lee Seungho, when did you get this tall?”
I heard my mini-me muttering.
‘Well, I did grow a bit taller.’
I barely managed to keep the corners of my mouth from curling upward.
It was a result I could be satisfied with.
Working out diligently and taking my supplements every morning must have helped.
“?”
I wondered what she was thinking. Ji Nuri wasn't following and had fallen far behind.
The mini-me muttered something.
“Hey, aren't you coming?”
“I-I should.”
When I called out to Ji Nuri loudly, she finally seemed to come to her senses and hurried after us.
— “…Guess I can't put my arm around him. I have to make it look natural, but… D-damn, he got way too tall.”
Too tall for nothing, huh.
There was nothing bad about being tall.
“I'm going on ahead?”
Ji Nuri tapped me on the shoulder and scampered off.
She was already quite far ahead.
Running was a hassle, and getting caught by a teacher for running in the hallway would only make things worse, so I walked slowly.
“Nuri…!”
“S-sorry!”
I could see Ji Nuri getting caught by a teacher.
See?
‘……Hmm.’
I recalled what Ji Nuri's mini-me had been muttering.
Putting an arm around my shoulders.
It seemed to be a continuation of whatever she had been scheming since morning.
I never would have guessed she would use a method like that to find out.
She's genuinely impossible to predict.
……She wouldn't take things any further than this, would she?
If that was what she was doing, it felt wrong to pretend not to know when I did.
* * *
Ji Nuri had no intention of giving up so easily.
Although her first plan had been derailed by an unexpected variable.
Plans were supposed to have contingencies prepared in advance.
‘All right.’
She followed Lee Seungho's back as he looked around the snack bar.
She immediately moved on to her contingency plan.
‘A slight brush of our arms should be fine.’
As if she had bumped into him.
That wouldn't be excessive, and she could approach him very naturally.
“Hey, what are you going to eat?”
Ji Nuri walked over with quick steps.
She playfully tapped his arm—then pressed herself against Lee Seungho.
The moment they touched, a heavy sensation traveled up her arm.
‘……Eek.’
Ji Nuri almost let out a startled sound without meaning to.
She pressed her lower lip tightly shut.
His forearm was thicker than she'd expected, and it didn't move an inch, which startled her.
‘……St-Still, this should be enough.’
Seeing that things had gone according to plan, Ji Nuri let out a quiet laugh inwardly.
This should be enough to draw a reaction from the two of them.
Whether they became jealous or showed no reaction at all.
To anyone else, it would look like something more than two close friends—like a guy and a girl who were seeing each other.
“……?”
…Wait a second.
That's how it looked?
At the thought, a faint warmth crept into her cheeks.
She realized that it was more embarrassing than she'd expected.
“Ahem….”
Lee Seungho seemed conscious of it too and gave a small cough.
He seemed inwardly flustered by the sudden contact.
“……”
At first, she had felt sorry for dragging Lee Seungho into this for no reason.
But judging by his reaction, perhaps it wasn't so bad for him after all.
Well, of course Lee Seungho would be happy.
He was in a situation where he only had to endure it himself.
‘Well? How about that!’
Ji Nuri wore a triumphant smile and turned her gaze toward the two people behind them.
“Isn't the original tastier than Zero Cola?”
“It makes you gain weight.”
“Since when did you care about that, Sol?”
“…I care too, you know?”
“Besides, you'll gain weight no matter what you eat.”
They weren't looking this way at all…!
They were engrossed in a heated debate over the difference between Zero Cola and regular cola.
Ji Nuri waited a little longer, then—
……”
Deciding it wasn't going to work, she subtly moved away from Lee Seungho.
Staying pressed against him any longer would only arouse unnecessary suspicion.
Her second attempt had failed too.
“…I'll pay for this.”
Ji Nuri handed her card to the snack bar lady.
After finishing the payment, she went outside.
She pressed the cool canned drink against her earlobe while devising her next plan.
…At this point, it had become a matter of pride.
* * *
……Strange.
“……”
Shin Ayoung narrowed her eyes into crescent shapes.
‘…She's really acting weird since this morning.’
There had been signs since morning, and after their trip to the snack bar, it had only gotten worse.
She was always a little strange anyway.
But that tendency seemed especially pronounced today.
Even now.
“Seungho, help me with this.”
“What?”
“The club president's work. There's something here I don't know….”
She had definitely boasted in her own words that she knew everything and that there was nothing to worry about.
And now she was asking Lee Seungho about it.
Lee Seungho asked,
“I thought you knew everything? Last time, you said you could handle it yourself.”
That's right, she was good at it.
Shin Ayoung nodded in satisfaction at those words.
“……”
At that, Ji Nuri paused for a moment, then—
“I'm confused.”
She raised her index finger and said it with absolute confidence.
There probably wasn't anyone else who could be so dignified about not knowing something.
“……”
But that was an act.
Since putting on such acts was part of Shin Ayoung's everyday life, she could spot a clumsy lie at a glance.
Ji Nuri was asking for help even though she knew everything.
The problem was that she couldn't figure out why Ji Nuri was doing it. She couldn't discern the purpose behind it.
‘…Because she's Nuri.’
That was why it was even harder to understand.
She didn't look like it, but Ji Nuri had a lot of eccentric sides to her.
“…What don't you know?”
It was obvious that perceptive Lee Seungho knew this was an act too.
But he couldn't bring himself to refuse, so he was helping her again.
“……”
Shin Ayoung rested her chin on her hand and watched them.
“…Want me to help? I'm the vice president, remember?”
Shin Ayoung tentatively broached the subject.
“It's fine.”
Ji Nuri shrugged.
“Seungho got a direct handover from the president, so he'll know better.”
“…All right, then.”
Shin Ayoung nodded and looked away.
That was a completely different answer from what she had expected.
Normally, she would have said, —Want to?—
There was definitely something going on.
Tap-tap-tap— tap-tap—
Shin Ayoung rapidly tapped on her phone.
[See? Isn't she acting weird?]
The recipient was Lee Sol.
Tap, tap.
She sprawled on the sofa and tapped her phone.
[(Hamster emoticon nodding)]
That was the reply from Lee Sol. It meant that she agreed.
Shin Ayoung sent the next message.
Tap-tap-tap— tap-tap— tap-tap-tap—
[Why is Nuri suddenly acting like that? Do you know anything?]
Tap, tap.
[(Hamster emoticon with its eyes closed, thinking)]
Was that supposed to mean she would think about it?
“……”
After closing the screen and waiting for a moment,
Bzzzz.
Her phone began to vibrate.
[(Hamster emoticon with an exclamation mark)]
[Back then]
[Remember?]
A text like that flew in from Lee Sol.
Shin Ayoung blinked blankly.
Back then?
[At the sports festival]
[I told youㅎ]
[didn't I]
The typo-laden messages arrived slowly.
Shin Ayoung fell into thought as she looked at them.
‘……If she means the sports festival.’
Shin Ayoung recalled what she had heard from Lee Sol before.
Lee Sol had once suspected that Ji Nuri might be interested in Lee Seungho.
Perhaps that was what she was trying to say.
There was no other topic about Ji Nuri that she and Lee Sol had discussed back then.
“……”
[You mean Nuri likes Seungho?]
When she texted to ask if that was right,
[(Hamster emoticon nodding)]
[High possibility]
That was the reply she received.
“……”
It was only speculation, but
Shin Ayoung's expression stiffened for a moment.
“……”
Shin Ayoung raised her head and looked at Lee Seungho and Ji Nuri.
“You can file this report separately.”
“Here?”
“No, not there. You know, the one made next to it.”
Lee Seungho carefully explained it to Ji Nuri, who pulled him closer while saying she didn't understand.
‘…Interesting.’
She had brushed it off before.
But now she understood why Lee Sol had wondered about it.
If that prediction was correct,
after Lee Sol, it was Ji Nuri.
It was one problem after another.
Even as she hoped that guess was wrong, she couldn't help continuing to watch the two of them.
It was clearly something she would keep worrying about.
……Did Nuri like Seungho?
***
“……”
Ji Nuri sucked in a low breath.
The results of her hard work since morning were finally showing.
She had clung to Lee Seungho with impressive determination.
She had even grabbed him by the shoulders.
She had grabbed his arm and pulled him over, claiming she had something urgent to do.
‘…It was nothing special.’
She had been startled when their arms first touched because it was the first time, but once she got used to it, it was nothing at all.
She could easily grab his shoulder or wrist.
There were things beyond that she couldn't do because, strangely enough, Lee Seungho kept avoiding her.
He was surprisingly shy.
“……”
It had actually worked out for the best.
If she had gone any further, she would have been too embarrassed and given up.
Even pretending to bump into him casually had been more distracting than she'd expected.
‘Anyway.’
Now that it was over, all's well that ends well.
After working so hard, she had finally reached a conclusion.
“……”
Ji Nuri peeked her head over the monitor.
Just look over there.
Shin Ayoung's expression had sunk low.
It had turned strangely dark.
Lee Sol was the same.
Seeing their expressions, she couldn't help becoming certain.
‘Those two like Lee Seungho…!’
Ji Nuri made a huge fuss inwardly.
Her gaze on the monitor began to wobble wildly.
‘…What do I do?’
That was her only remaining concern. What attitude should she take?
Those two liked Lee Seungho,
and Lee Seungho liked her.
Being this pretty was a problem too. It naturally drew troublesome situations—
“Hweck!”
Slap—
A light blow landed on the crown of her head. She looked up at the sudden impact.
“Hey, focus. Focus.”
Lee Seungho pointed at the monitor and tapped his palm with a rolled-up sheet of paper.
That was what he had hit her with.
‘…Honestly.’
They weren't elementary schoolers, either.
What was he trying to get my attention with something like that?
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(!Signboard!)
(There's an illustration if you scroll down!)
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Triumphant Nuri Minimi