Chapter 124
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Bustling inside the school snack bar.
The students were so busy carrying things around that they barely knew what was going on.
“Phew… There are so many people….”
I sighed as I made my way outside.
‘Maybe it’s more crowded because it’s exam day.’
There were twice as many people as usual.
Good thing I came early. Otherwise, everything would probably already have sold out.
— “Hehe~ Exams start today.”
A minimi of Shin Ayoung hummed.
She looked like she was in a good mood.
— “What should we do for fun on the last day?”
The minimi grinned foolishly. She was lost in a happy dilemma.
“……”
I gave her a hollow laugh as I looked at her.
She was already thinking about the last day.
For her, exam days were practically days when school let out early.
I looked at Lee Sol, puzzled.
“You’re not nervous today?”
“Huh?”
“No, you’re always like that on exam days.”
Lee Sol got very nervous.
Even without looking at her minimi, she usually expressed it with her entire body.
So seeing her as composed as she was now was rare.
“……”
Lee Sol blinked slowly.
“…I guess not?”
Her tone suggested she hadn’t realized it until now, either.
— “How strange that I’m not nervous. I studied just as hard as always….”
The minimi repeatedly clenched and unclenched her pebble-like hands, saying it was strange.
That meant the reason was simple.
“You must be confident.”
“……”
Upon hearing that, Lee Sol nodded.
“I guess so. I feel like I’ll do well this time, too.”
Her confidence rose, and she shrugged.
‘Is all the hard work I’ve put in finally paying off?’
Then she probably didn’t need chocolate.
I put the chocolate I had picked up back into the bag.
“…Why are you putting that back?”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t you take it out to give to me?”
Lee Sol’s eyes turned pouty.
She licked her lips. She clearly wanted to eat it.
“…Want one?”
At my question, Lee Sol gave a faint blush and bobbed her head.
“…Yeah. Come to think of it, I think I’d better eat one. I might get nervous.”
I took out individually wrapped alphabet chocolates from the bag.
— “Mmm….”
The minimi’s expression softened as she chewed, her cheeks puffed out.
— “…Chocolate really does taste different when you eat it at a time like this.”
Was it like rice-cake soup on New Year’s or seaweed soup on birthdays?
When had chocolate on exam days become such a tradition?
“Ah, I want one, too. I’ll give you a gummy.”
Shin Ayoung leaned her upper body toward me and held out her hand.
She handed me a gummy.
Lee Sol shot her a sidelong glance when she saw it.
“…Ayoung, you’re not really nervous.”
“You never know. I’m eating one ahead of time, just in case.”
“……”
Lee Sol couldn’t say anything and closed her mouth.
Because what Shin Ayoung had said was exactly the same as what she herself had said.
“Mm. That’s true.”
Ji Nuri, who had somehow come over, nodded.
Ji Nuri was chewing chocolate. Judging by the bag in hand, it was my chocolate.
When had Ji Nuri taken it?
I gave a hollow laugh as I looked at Ji Nuri.
“Why, were you nervous too?”
“? No, it’s tasty.”
— “Nom, nom.”
The minimi chewed with hamster-like cheeks, chocolate smeared around the mouth.
Ah, Ji Nuri was just eating it because it tasted good.
“…Oh.”
I raised my voice when I saw someone entering the store.
It was none other than Minji sunbae.
“It’s been a while, sunbae.”
“Hi, guys….”
Minji sunbae gave us a weak smile when she saw us, too.
Since it was a busy time in one way or another, Minji sunbae looked more drained than usual.
“Did you guys come to buy something to eat, too…? Should I buy you something…?”
“It’s okay. We just bought these and came out.”
“No, no. If there’s something you want, you can buy more.”
Park Minji widened her eyes and led us back into the snack bar.
It was an almost desperate invitation.
It seemed she wouldn’t let us leave unless we picked something.
“Then, just this one….”
I cautiously pointed to one item.
“Okay. And?”
“…Yes, this is enough.”
Even so, anything more than this would be too much of a burden.
.
.
.
“……”
“……”
When I came out of the store, I was carrying another bag filled with snacks for each of us.
Drinks, snacks, gummies. There was a lot.
She had bought enough for the four of us to share.
We wouldn’t even be able to finish it all since first period was about to start.
“…Why is she doing that?”
I asked the others while looking at her inside the store.
“Who knows….”
“Maybe she’s nervous because of the exams?”
Lee Sol and Ji Nuri tilted their heads, as if they didn’t know.
Shin Ayoung was the one who answered.
“Minji unni took her early admission exam a few days ago.”
“Ah… It’ll be a while before the results come out, right?”
I assumed most art college early admission exams were taken around this time.
“Yeah, she’ll probably keep doing that until then.”
I understood what she meant.
She was building up good karma, so to speak.
Now that the result was in the hands of heaven, she was praying while doing good deeds.
“Hmm….”
For some reason, I couldn’t laugh. All that escaped me was a hollow breath.
Because in a year, we would be standing where she was.
It wasn’t a distant future.
I turned toward the classroom with the heavy bag in my hand.
“Ah, you guys go on in first.”
“Okay.”
The three of them went up the stairs first, while I headed for the bathroom.
I planned to stop by before taking the exam.
“Phew….”
I felt considerably lighter.
I washed my hands and came out of the bathroom.
Just as I was about to head straight back to the classroom.
“Haa…….”
Someone’s sigh came from beside the stairs.
A faint noise was mixed in with it as well.
“……”
Hearing noise on exam days was common, so I was going to just pass by, but—
I stopped because the voice belonged to someone I had heard before.
It wasn’t familiar, exactly, but it wasn’t a voice I was hearing for the first time, either.
I cautiously peeked over there.
“Phewww…….”
— “Ah… I’m so nervous I’m going crazy. What’s wrong with me….”
Ah, it was that girl.
I had thought she looked familiar, and it turned out I knew her.
She played keyboard in the same band club as Ji Nuri and Ha Seorim.
Her name was definitely… An Boram.
“Phooow…….”
An Boram braced a hand against the wall and let out a deep breath as she looked out the window.
“Inhaaale…… hold…… exhaaale…….”
She inhaled. Held it. Then exhaled again.
She repeated the process.
That was one of the methods for relieving tension.
You inhaled, held it for about four seconds, then exhaled again.
— “…It only helps for a moment while I’m doing it, and then it starts again….”
The fact that the minimi’s expression wouldn’t relax suggested it wasn’t helping much.
Judging by how nervous An Boram was, she seemed to be the same type as Lee Sol.
“…Ah.”
That was when An Boram spotted me and let out a gasp.
“…H-hello.”
An Boram awkwardly bowed her head.
Since An Boram had greeted me first, it felt wrong to pretend not to know her.
“What are you doing here?”
“…I just wanted to get some air… What about you, sunbae?”
“The snack bar.”
I asked while rummaging through the snack-bar bag.
“Did you study?”
“I did, but I’m not sure I know it well….”
“How was your last exam?”
“…It was so-so.”
“Hmm.”
Ah, here it is.
“Do you drink coffee?”
“No, I’m not very good with coffee….”
“Then how about chocolate?”
I pulled a can of hot chocolate from the bag.
“Want one?”
“Ah, no, I’m okay.”
An Boram waved her hands.
“It’s fine. I got it from someone I know, anyway. I heard drinking one before an exam helps you relax and improves your concentration.”
— “Oh….”
The minimi looked tempted.
“Thank you….”
An Boram accepted the can with an awkward gesture.
I checked the wristwatch I had brought along. It was about time for first period to begin.
‘…Has she relaxed a little?’
As we talked, An Boram’s minimi seemed calmer than before, too.
As expected, nothing was better for easing tension than this.
You could divert your attention while communicating.
It was a tip for relieving tension I had learned from the club president one day.
Just as I was about to say goodbye, thinking it was about time to head back—
“…What are you doing here?”
That voice reached me.
“……”
I turned around. Ha Seorim was standing there.
Maybe I had been so focused on the conversation that I hadn’t noticed her approaching at all.
— “…I wondered why Boram hadn’t come, so I came to look. Why is she alone with this sunbae?”
The minimi’s eyes curved into their characteristic crescent moons.
I answered calmly.
“I ran into her on the way and we were talking for a bit.”
“Yeah, sunbae gave me this to help me relax.”
An Boram agreed and held up the can in hand.
“……Really?”
Ha Seorim’s minimi’s expression grew even worse.
— “Haa…… This sunbae flirts with everyone at the drop of a hat.”
It wasn’t flirting.
“……”
Could I really just ignore her and walk past?
It was only a little gesture that would ease her tension, and she also knew Ji Nuri.
If treating her well made her happy, there was no harm in it. That was all.
“…First period’s about to start. Shouldn’t you be going?”
Ha Seorim looked down at her wristwatch and asked.
“I should.”
I had been planning to do that anyway.
I took another can of hot chocolate from the bag.
“I’ll give you one, too.”
“I’m fine.”
“I got it from someone else anyway. I heard something warm is good for easing tension.”
“…I wasn’t nervous.”
Sure you weren’t.
She might look that way on the outside, but the minimi was honest.
She had been fidgeting restlessly, playing with her fingers, for a while now.
Besides, this was an exam with a scholarship riding on it for Ha Seorim.
Even if she pretended otherwise, she couldn’t help being more nervous than everyone else.
“Here.”
I placed the can in Ha Seorim’s hand and started walking.
Looking at the time, I really did have to go now.
“Do well on your exam.”
“……”
Ha Seorim slipped the can inside her hoodie and answered as if the words were merely passing by.
“…You too, sunbae.”
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