Chapter 129
* * *
Ha Seorim arrived at a café with Yoo Haneul.
It was apparently a newly opened place, with fairly clean decor and a nice view.
“……”
Ha Seorim fidgeted nervously, rolling her eyes.
She did not usually come to cafés, and given the circumstances, either.
It was an uncomfortable space in many ways.
“Wow….”
Yoo Haneul held up her phone camera with a gentle smile in her eyes.
She took several pictures of the strawberry cake on the table.
“This is really pretty. Did you take a picture, too?”
“Uh, yeah… I should.”
Ha Seorim took out her phone.
How much did this cost?
It was pretty, but the price was frightening.
“……”
Even so, Ha Seorim kept sneaking glances at Yoo Haneul.
Yoo Haneul had the same expression as always. She did not look like someone who had been sunk in gloomy thoughts just moments ago.
Ha Seorim wondered if she was forcing herself to act all right.
“I’ll enjoy this, unnie.”
Since Yoo Haneul was paying for the food, Ha Seorim picked up her fork with a more comfortable feeling.
“I didn’t know you were working part-time with Seungho, Seorim.”
“……”
Ha Seorim stopped with her mouth wide open.
She had expected the subject to come up, but not at such an unexpected moment.
She quietly set down the large bite of cake she had lifted.
“…If I told you, you would’ve worried about it for no reason. And I can’t exactly quit my part-time job, either.”
“……”
“Right?”
“…Yeah, that’s true.”
Yoo Haneul nodded slightly. She could not bring herself to deny it.
Ha Seorim let out a deep sigh.
“Don’t worry about it, unnie. I heard Seungho sunbae is quitting soon anyway.”
“……”
At those words, Yoo Haneul fell silent for a moment.
She worked her lips, then asked softly.
“…Quitting?”
“Yeah. I heard he found another part-time job.”
“Hmm… I see….”
Yoo Haneul once again fell into a blank, thoughtful silence.
What could she be worrying about so much?
It seemed the appearance of her former love interest had left her feeling unsettled.
……”
Yoo Haneul’s eyes fixed on Ha Seorim.
“But… what was it like working with Seungho?”
“Huh?”
“Nothing happened while you were working, right?”
She answered the question without much thought.
“Nothing happened.”
Ha Seorim put a piece of cake into her mouth.
“We were too busy to get involved much in the first place.”
…Actually, since they worked in the same dining area, they often did end up interacting.
There was no need to bring that up.
Nothing much had happened with him, either, and there was no reason to mention it.
“You really were okay with him?”
“Yeah, I told you, nothing happened.”
“…I’m glad.”
Yoo Haneul leaned her upper body forward with a serious expression.
She continued in a low whisper.
“You said he’s quitting, right? Don’t get too close to him before then.”
“……”
Ha Seorim’s hand, which had been moving her fork, slowed.
Yoo Haneul continued.
“I told you before. There’s a reason he’s kind to all the girls. Even before—”
“Unnie.”
Ha Seorim lightly called her name.
The words that had been following that call abruptly cut off.
“Let’s stop there. I’ve heard that story several times already, and it’s making the atmosphere gloomy for no reason.”
There was a reason she had changed the subject, too.
The Lee Seungho she knew was not like that.
It also bothered her because it felt as if someone she knew was being bad-mouthed for no reason, making it unpleasant to listen to.
It was even more so because it was her close unnie saying it.
“……”
Yoo Haneul blinked. She looked slightly surprised by Ha Seorim’s words.
“…Okay.”
She nodded, closed her mouth, and cut up the cake in front of her with her fork.
“……”
Ha Seorim quietly watched her.
A sigh escaped her inwardly.
Yoo Haneul was a good person, and the Lee Seungho she knew was a decent person, too.
Why had things between them ended up like this?
Where had it gone wrong? She wanted to clear up some misunderstanding between them.
* * *
“Yeah, then I’ll see you there.”
Shin Ayoung set down her phone.
“……”
Her plain-looking eyes, nose, and mouth from moments earlier now held complicated, subtle emotions.
Honestly, she was flustered.
“…Ahem.”
She let out a false cough and calmly settled her thoughts.
The moment she first heard Lee Seungho’s subdued voice through the speaker.
Shin Ayoung had been flustered before she knew it.
The Lee Seungho she knew was always unflappable.
This was the first time she had seen him show weakness like this.
At a time like this, if she helped him—
“…Ugh.”
Shin Ayoung frowned and pressed her thumb firmly against the space between her brows.
The thought that this was an opportunity had flashed through her mind.
She felt disgusted with herself for making that judgment.
“……”
Enough. She shouldn’t think that way right now.
Shin Ayoung hurried her steps as she left the gym.
“……”
Then she stopped for a moment.
Rattle—
She took a pouch out of her handbag.
…I should fix my makeup first.
…….
She should be around here.
Where was Lee Seungho sitting?
Ah, there he was.
Shin Ayoung looked around, spotted Lee Seungho sitting on a bench, and raised her hand.
“Seungho…!”
“…Oh, you’re here.”
At the call, Lee Seungho looked up from his phone.
Shin Ayoung ran toward him with quick little steps.
“Have you been waiting outside this whole time?”
“I haven’t been out here very long.”
Lee Seungho lightly shook his head and started walking.
“Where are we going?”
“……”
Shin Ayoung quietly looked up at him.
Seeing him in person made it feel even more real.
He really was different.
His mood was subtly different from usual.
The expression on his face was an act.
Since she always lived while hiding her true feelings, she could recognize the change at once.
“…Why?”
At that gaze, Lee Seungho awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.
“No… It’s nothing.”
Shin Ayoung shook her head.
She shouldn’t let on right now, either. That seemed best.
“……”
Lee Seungho scratched his head and asked again.
“So where are we going? You’re the one who said we should ditch.”
“Uh… well….”
“Did you not think about it?”
“……”
She had come in such a hurry that she had not had time to think that far.
“…Want to walk around for a bit?”
Shin Ayoung casually changed the subject.
She thought it was not a bad suggestion. Since they had skipped their workout, wouldn’t it be good to at least walk around the area a little?
Sometimes a meaningless walk could lift one’s spirits, couldn’t it?
“Sure.”
Lee Seungho nodded, as if anything was fine.
“Here, take this.”
Shin Ayoung took out the hand warmer she had kept in her pocket.
A wave of scorching warmth rose from it.
She put it in his hands.
The backs of his hands where they touched hers were quite cold. He seemed to have been standing outside for a fairly long time.
“A hand warmer?”
At that warmth, Lee Seungho’s expression softened compared to before.
He kneaded the hand warmer.
“Did you bring it from home?”
“The weather’s chilly these days. I brought it because I thought I might catch a cold on the way back after working up a sweat.”
“…I suppose. It’s winter now.”
Next week would be November. Thinking about it that way, there was not much of the year left.
The CSAT was coming up soon, too.
The CSAT….
That reminded her of something.
“Seungho, did you hear the news?”
Shin Ayoung asked, lifting the corners of her mouth into a mischievous grin.
“…What?”
“Guess what it is.”
“……”
Lee Seungho’s eyes blinked blankly at the sudden quiz.
“…What, no hint?”
Even so, he humored her appropriately.
“It’s good news.”
“Minji sunbae must have been accepted through early admission.”
“……”
Shin Ayoung’s eyes widened.
Her apricot-colored lips pouted, then she reluctantly nodded.
He was right.
It wasn’t fun when he guessed it so quickly.
She really shouldn’t play quizzes with Lee Seungho. He guessed everything far too easily.
“Now all that’s left is for hyung to pass.”
She had always called him “club president,” but now she had switched to “hyung.”
Maybe it was because Nuri was president now.
“I know.”
Shin Ayoung nodded.
She hoped it would work out. They were in the same club, and Minji unnie would be happy if he succeeded, too.
“Oh, right.”
Shin Ayoung remembered a topic she had forgotten.
“Minji unnie said that once the CSAT was over, we should all get together and go somewhere.”
“Where?”
“She said we should go to Busan. You know, there’s a gaming event that takes place then.”
Once a year, a gaming event was held during the week the CSAT ended. It was a fairly large event, enough that people came from overseas to attend.
“Ah….”
Lee Seungho nodded, showing that he knew what she meant.
“But are we going there and back in one day?”
“Probably not. We’ll likely go for two days and one night. The former club presidents said they’d help us out, like they did with the valley trip last time.”
That made the lodging issue less of a problem.
“Then we need to get permission.”
“…Yeah, we do.”
Shin Ayoung’s face turned rather sullen.
That was what worried her most.
Would her parents really allow her to go on a two-day, one-night trip?
It probably wouldn’t be easy to persuade them.
“You’re going, right?”
Shin Ayoung asked cautiously.
“Of course. It’s the last time.”
“Really? You said you’re going?”
That was all she needed.
Now she absolutely couldn’t back out.
She felt confident she could persuade her father somehow.
“…How long are you going to keep doing this?”
“Huh?”
“…I’m asking when you’re going to take your hand off.”
Lee Seungho looked down.
His hand was holding the hand warmer, with her palm covering it.
Shin Ayoung gently averted her gaze and said one thing.
“……It’s the only hand warmer I had.”
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