Chapter 119
“…….”
Lee Sol grabbed her pants.
“It’s…….”
Her lips opened, then closed again.
Her hesitation went on endlessly.
“You can take your time.”
Kim Boyoung said that as she looked at her daughter.
Just as Lee Sol needed time, she too needed time to prepare herself to accept the story.
It was bound to happen.
She understood that these were words she would hear someday.
But understanding and empathy were entirely different matters.
“It doesn’t have to be right now. If it’s not urgent, you don’t need to rush. Tell me later.”
A part of her wished she would tell her later instead.
“…No.”
Lee Sol was firm.
“I... want to tell you now.”
There was even a hint of impatience in her.
As if it had to be now or never.
“…Then go ahead.”
Kim Boyoung had no choice but to nod.
Though startled by her firm tone, a bitter taste lingered in her mouth.
“…….”
Whew……
A long breath escaped through the gap between Lee Sol’s parted lips.
“…You know Seungho.”
“…….”
“I... like that boy...”
Lee Sol laid bare her feelings.
Her skin, white as a blank sheet of paper, had flushed red.
“Yes, I see.”
She accepted the words calmly.
“…Did you already know?”
Perhaps her mother’s calm reaction seemed strange; Lee Sol looked surprised instead.
“I had a feeling that might be the case.”
Kim Boyoung nodded lightly.
It made sense.
She had been watching that boy throughout the meal.
She couldn’t be absolutely certain, but she had expected something close to it.
“Is that all you wanted to say?”
“There’s one more thing….”
“…….”
Kim Boyoung set down the black tea she had been about to drink.
It seemed better to hear that part before drinking.
“Um….”
After a brief hesitation, she parted her lips.
“My friends like Seungho too.”
“…….”
Good thing she hadn’t drunk the tea.
Otherwise, she would have either spilled it or coughed. It would have been one or the other.
“…Your friends?”
“Ayoung and Nuri… The girls who came to our house last time.”
“The ones who are in the same club?”
“Yes.”
She had expected him to be popular, but hearing it so directly provoked a different reaction.
“Those girls…….”
Kim Boyoung felt somewhat deflated.
This was one prediction she could have done without getting right.
She didn’t know why ominous premonitions were always so accurate.
“That’s why I wanted to ask you…. I don’t know what I should do.”
Lee Sol’s little fingers fidgeted.
“I heard Mom was like that once, too. That Dad was popular.”
“…….”
Where had she heard that?
At least, Kim Boyoung didn’t remember telling her.
It was embarrassing to bring up her love life from when she was young with her child, and it wasn’t something she needed to say.
“Did your father tell you?”
At that question, Lee Sol shook her head from side to side.
“…Uncle told me a while ago.”
“…….”
That boy, seriously.
Kim Boyoung stifled her anger as she thought of her younger brother.
Telling a child unnecessary things, too.
She decided to give him a piece of her mind later.
“…….”
Kim Boyoung inhaled and asked,
“Do you have no intention of giving him up?”
Lee Seungho was a decent boy, but the fact that so many girls were drawn to him was a disqualifying flaw.
Not one, not two, but three, including Lee Sol.
At this point, it wouldn’t be strange if that number grew even higher.
“…….”
Lee Sol gave no answer.
Instead, her expression, turned cold and lowered, answered the question for her.
“…….”
Even Kim Boyoung was momentarily startled by that look in her eyes.
That was the look of someone who had already made up her mind.
“…All right.”
There was no sign she would listen, no matter what Kim Boyoung said.
In that respect, she was exactly like her mother.
“…You’ll help me?”
“That’s why you told me, isn’t it?”
It was her daughter’s first love, and if possible, seeing it come to fruition would leave less of a bitter aftertaste.
“Are you confident you’ll do everything I tell you?”
“I am.”
She was good at answering, at least.
If only she were this quick with her words normally.
“But you can’t change your tune later.”
“Yes.”
Lee Sol nodded.
Kim Boyoung thought about what would be best to do.
“First….”
Kim Boyoung looked Lee Sol up and down and said,
“Haven’t you put on weight lately?”
“…….”
“You’ll have to start with exercise.”
Lee Sol’s face turned to stone right then.
* * *
After-school band club room.
“Hellooo—”
A greeting with less energy than usual reached them.
“You’re here?”
Ha Seorim bowed her head slightly, even as she wondered about it.
Ji Nuri was setting down her things.
“The others said they were going to the snack bar, so I think we’ll have to wait a bit.”
“Okay, take your time.”
Ha Seorim opened her mouth while tuning her bass.
“You came early today?”
She usually stopped by the counseling club first, so it took her a little longer to arrive.
There were still thirty minutes until the appointed time, but she had already arrived.
“I just thought… we might as well start practicing early.”
Ji Nuri had come to the band club as if fleeing, without reaching a conclusion about how to treat the others, but
Ha Seorim had no way of knowing that.
“Hmm….”
Ha Seorim tilted her head at Ji Nuri’s words.
She did sense something slightly off about that answer.
That was the result of everything she had observed of Ji Nuri so far.
She would say it outright if she meant it.
She wasn’t the sort of person to speak so vaguely in the first place.
“Did something happen?”
Ji Nuri seemed less energetic than usual.
“No? Nothing happened.”
Ji Nuri shrugged.
Her gaze lowered, and she continued leisurely tuning her guitar.
“…….”
Ha Seorim’s lips moved.
She couldn’t tell whether it was a lie or not. Ji Nuri’s expression was so composed.
So she added,
“…If something’s bothering you, feel free to tell me. I can at least listen.”
“Huh?”
Ji Nuri blinked.
“…Ah.”
At that reaction, Ha Seorim rolled her eyes.
Come to think of it, she was right.
It probably wasn’t something to say to someone who belonged to the counseling club.
There were countless people around her who could provide counseling.
She felt embarrassed inside.
“Thanks for offering, anyway.”
Ji Nuri smiled brightly and nodded.
…….
“We’ll wrap up practice here for today….”
Ha Seorim continued as she put her bass into its case.
“As you all know, after today, there won’t be any more practice until the midterms are over.”
Since they had already been told in advance, no one had anything to say.
There wasn’t much time left, so this was when they really needed to work hard.
“…….”
Ha Seorim pulled the English vocabulary book from her pocket.
She planned to memorize at least a few more words whenever she had time.
“Are you memorizing English vocabulary?”
Ji Nuri poked her head out.
“Oh… You study really hard.”
“Yeees….”
Ha Seorim merely nodded, unsure how to respond to that innocent admiration.
“Unni, didn’t you know? Seorim’s a full-scholarship student.”
An Boram had apparently become close to Ji Nuri at some point and was speaking casually to her.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I think she gets a scholarship on the principal’s recommendation.”
She looked proud, as if she were talking about herself.
“Hey—”
Ha Seorim shook her by the shoulder, telling her that was enough.
She was embarrassed.
It wasn’t something worth making a fuss about, and in the first place, it was a misunderstanding.
People thought she received it because of her good grades, but the reality was different.
‘The first-semester finals were a really close call….’
She wasn’t doing it because she wanted to.
She was only doing it because she didn’t think she could keep the scholarship if she didn’t work hard.
Her diligence had a reason behind it.
“What about you, Nuri unni?”
“I’m doing all right, too.”
Ji Nuri shrugged at An Boram’s question.
“Seungho’s good at teaching. I pick things up just by listening in beside him… It comes naturally.”
“…….”
That senior is good at studying, too.
Ha Seorim read down the vocabulary list as she listened to the conversation.
“Hmm… Should we get together and study?”
An Boram suddenly made the suggestion.
“Since we’re doing it anyway, it works better together. Let’s study at my house today.”
“Take turns?”
“Yeah.”
When Jin Hyunwoo went along with her, she quickly nodded.
“We’ll go to my house today. Next time, we can go to Hyunwoo’s house or Nuri unni’s—”
“I don’t think my house will work.”
Her tone was firm.
Unlike usual, Ji Nuri spoke in a stiff voice.
“…….”
“…….”
The atmosphere turned awkward in an instant.
Not only Ha Seorim but the other two also looked somewhat surprised.
“…S-Seorim, what about your house?”
Perhaps to break the awkward mood, An Boram changed the subject.
“Ah… well… I’d have to ask. My parents don’t really like friends coming over….”
She didn’t know whether they did or not. She had never brought friends home in the first place.
It just felt awkward to bring them.
The house wasn’t that spacious, after all.
“Then I guess it can’t be helped.”
An Boram clicked her tongue regretfully.
In the end, the subject was left to fizzle out.
“…….”
Flip—
Ha Seorim turned the pages of her vocabulary book without a word.
It was for the best.
She was more comfortable studying alone.
* * *
Early morning.
The house was bustling with people getting ready to go to school and people preparing for work.
I finished washing my face by splashing lukewarm water over it.
In the meantime, Lee Seungah had changed into a neat school uniform.
“I’m off—”
Lee Seungah’s words broke off strangely as she stepped outside.
Bang—! Rrrroll—
The front door slammed shut again, and then—
“Oppa!”
She suddenly called for me.
“…What.”
“Come out here, quick.”
“What is it this time?”
I slowly walked toward the entryway.
Maybe a morning delivery had arrived.
Sometimes ingredients arrived through early-morning delivery, so I thought perhaps she wanted me to carry them inside.
“Oh, come on! Come out wearing pants!”
— “This guy, seriously!”
Lee Seungah smacked me hard across the back.
I was hit once without knowing why, then chased back into my room.
“…….”
I put on pants and came out again.
When I opened the front door, dragging my slippers along,
“…Oh.”
I could do nothing but gape.
“…Sorry. You must’ve been surprised by my sudden visit.”
Lee Sol stood before me in a neat school uniform.
“We’re headed in the same direction. I thought we could go together while we were at it….”
Lee Sol twirled the end of her hair around her index finger, looking embarrassed herself.
“…Would that be okay?”
I couldn’t bring myself to refuse that beseeching look as she gazed up at me.
The mini-me of Lee Seungah, watching from behind, muttered,
— “Whoa, I saw this in an anime.”
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