Chapter 18
Lee Sol put on her outerwear and walked out the front door.
Phew···
The chilly evening air brushed past her face.
She looked around for Lee Seung-ho.
Could he have failed to find the house? She hadn't sent the wrong address.
Where on earth is he···
“Lee Sol.”
At the sound, she turned her head.
Across the street, Lee Seung-ho caught her eye as he raised one hand slightly.
There was a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead.
It felt as though he had run over from somewhere.
“Did you work out before coming here?”
Lee Seung-ho took a small step back.
He raised his arm and sniffed it.
“···Do I smell?”
“No? You were just sweating.”
The tension drained from his stiff shoulders.
That was unexpected.
She hadn't thought he would care about something like that.
···It was then, while she was lost in those thoughts.
“···.”
Lee Seung-ho's dark eyes quietly swept over her.
“···Did something happen?”
He suddenly brought up the question.
···That startled her.
Suppressing the slight tremble in her shoulders, Lee Sol asked in as even a tone as possible.
“Why?”
“Just··· your expression looks really bad.”
“···Well··· it's just because studying isn't going well.”
That really startled her.
His perceptiveness was something else.
But apart from that··· what had happened with her mother didn't seem like something she could tell Lee Seung-ho.
“Nothing else really happened.”
Lee Sol tried to brush it off casually.
“···.”
Lee Seung-ho didn't say anything more about it and let it pass.
It felt as though he was deliberately doing that for her.
···In any case.
“What is it all of a sudden?”
He had suddenly called her out at this hour, but she still hadn't heard why.
“Wait a second.”
Lee Seung-ho reached into the bag slung over his shoulder and took out a small notebook.
It was a notebook with index tabs neatly attached along the side.
He held it out to her.
“Here.”
“···What's this?”
“A notebook summarizing the test range.”
Lee Sol flipped through several pages.
It seemed to summarize only the parts from the common subjects that were likely to appear on the exam.
Even from a brief look, it was organized extremely neatly.
So this was how he studied.
“I marked the important parts from everything we've covered so far. Study while looking over those.”
···Oh.
Wait.
“···Don't tell me you came all the way here just to give me this?”
Lee Seung-ho nodded.
“I came out to work out, so I figured I'd do this while I was at it. Actually, I meant to give it to you at school earlier, but I forgot.”
“···You could've given it to me tomorrow.”
“You were going to study today anyway.”
“That's true, but···”
Lee Sol's eyes lowered.
She had told her mother that midterms were still ahead.
But honestly.
She wasn't confident she could do well just because someone was going out of their way to help her.
“···.”
She knew perfectly well that her mother's suggestion was the better path.
Quitting modeling and studying··· Maybe complaining about it was just a sign of being spoiled.
So.
She was afraid that all the help he had given her would end up being meaningless.
“···I just feel a little sorry, that's all.”
Lee Seung-ho blinked slowly at those words.
“······You?”
His mouth fell slightly open.
He covered the corner of his mouth with his hand.
He looked as though he found it amazing that she even knew what it meant to feel sorry.
“···.”
···Something about that irritated her.
She took back the apology. She took it back.
Then.
Lee Seung-ho rummaged through his bag once more.
“Here.”
He held his palm out toward Lee Sol.
A Choco Mong was sitting in his palm.
Was he giving it to her?
Why was he giving her this?
“···What is it?”
At Lee Sol's question,
Lee Seung-ho spoke with an indifferent expression.
“Eat something sweet and relax your shoulders a little. Otherwise, you'll end up failing to do things you're capable of.”
He seemed a little exasperated.
The Choco Mong was placed in Lee Sol's hand—perhaps half by force.
“I'm going. Study hard.”
Lee Seung-ho turned around and walked away immediately after saying that.
That really was all he had come for.
Lee Sol stared blankly at the street where he disappeared.
“···.”
Then she looked down at the Choco Mong.
It was still cold. Drops of condensation touched her fingertips.
He had probably just bought it for himself.
Tap.
As if entranced, Lee Sol stuck the straw through the top and took a sip.
···It really was delicious.
A sweet flavor spread through her mouth.
Maybe this was easing her stress a little.
“···Phew.”
Her heart settled down a little.
The outside breeze gradually calmed the dizziness that had been clouding her head moments ago.
“···.”
Hugging the notebook, Lee Sol turned back toward the house.
···Her thoughts had cleared up a little, at least.
She might not get good grades.
Even so.
Rather than doing something because someone else told her to, she wanted to find something she liked a little more.
Because she wanted people to see more potential in her than just someone who could only be a model.
***
“Haaam···.”
Did I work out too hard yesterday?
I ran a little more than I usually did.
I'm a little sleepy.
“Yap.”
A cold sensation suddenly touched my cheek.
“···!”
When I turned my head in surprise, Lee Sol was holding a Choco Mong out toward me.
“Want some?”
···Could this be today's snack?
If so, that was a slightly disappointing choice.
“I was going to eat something other than Choco Mong today.”
“I'm giving you this separately. It's my thanks for yesterday.”
Oh, so that's what it was.
If that was the reason, there was no need to refuse.
“Thanks. I'll enjoy it.”
I immediately stuck the straw through the top.
Mm. Sweet.
···But if this was payment for yesterday, hadn't I technically bought and eaten it with my own money?
While I was lost in that thought.
“···.”
I saw Shin A-young crouching between the desks.
Her gaze moved back and forth between Lee Sol and me.
— “Did something happen yesterday?”
Shin A-young's thoughts soon reached me.
···Something had happened, though we had mostly glossed over it.
— “···Don't tell me you played Rule duo without me?”
As if.
Just how much did she like Rule?
I wouldn't be surprised if she took us to a Rule arena someday.
“Where are we studying today?”
Lee Sol asked me while gathering up her worksheets.
“There's an unused counseling room in the clubroom, so let's study there.”
There was a free study room available, so there was no reason to go to a study café or reading room.
That would just cost money for no reason.
“Shin A-young. You're coming to study with us too, right?”
I called out to Shin A-young as she put on her backpack.
We needed her.
I could ask her about problems I didn't know how to solve, after all.
Even if Shin A-young couldn't explain things properly, I could just read her thoughts.
“Huh? Me too···?”
Shin A-young pointed at herself with one finger.
She looked as though she hadn't expected to be included.
— “···Uh··· I was going to play games at the PC bang?”
Her mini-me was sweating profusely.
···Apparently, she had simply wanted to play games.
It was irritating that she was good at studying.
Ahem—
Shin A-young cleared her throat.
“I have an important appointment today···.”
“Are you going to the PC bang?”
“···.”
When I asked so directly, she was rendered speechless.
She subtly averted her gaze as if she'd been caught red-handed.
“You're not, right? Midterms are only a month away. If you're going to study, wouldn't it be better to do it together?”
“···Yeah, then let's study together.”
Shin A-young answered with an outwardly shameless air, smiling silently.
— “······Ah.”
Her mini-me flopped facedown on the floor and radiated depression.
She had the face of someone who had lost their country.
“···.”
Can't be helped.
I should cheer her up a little.
“After the exams, let's get the club president and Senior Minji to join us and go play a three-on-three Rule scrim.”
At those words, Shin A-young's mini-me sprang to her feet.
— “I've never played a scrim before···!”
Shin A-young quickly returned to normal.
If anything, she looked happier than before.
“···.”
···She really was easy.
***
Thud···!
I placed a thick workbook on the desk and asked Lee Sol,
“Do you already have a goal in mind?”
I thought that if she had a set goal, we could decide on a direction for her studies.
She made a subtle expression, then parted her lips slightly.
“···At least Grade 3 in every subject.”
Oh, boy.
“···We've got a long way to go.”
The thing was, she had to reach that level within a month.
Judging by her current scores, the difficulty was higher than I'd expected.
But what could we do about it?
“We don't have much time, so let's start right away.”
There was only one thing we could do at the moment: study.
We should solve even one more problem instead of spending time worrying.
“Let's start with literature. Just solve it as a light test.”
“Okay.”
Lee Sol gripped her pen with determined eyes.
Tick-tock—
By the time the minute hand had nearly completed half a revolution,
“I'm done.”
Lee Sol pushed the worksheet toward me.
“···Let's see.”
I quickly graded the problems.
···Right, right, wrong, right.
From what I could tell, her score hadn't changed much from the mock exam overall.
Not bad.
If her score had barely changed, that meant she had made few mistakes.
At least we wouldn't have to worry about her answers shifting out of alignment.
“All right—I'll explain the wrong answers one by one.”
I sat Lee Sol down beside me and began going through the solutions.
The studying had only just begun.
.
.
.
Solve problems. Correct them. Explain them.
“No. Rather than understanding this part that way—”
.
.
.
Solve problems. Correct them. Explain them.
“Memorize this one no matter what.”
“Just memorize it?”
“Yeah, just do it like memorizing Rule champions.”
.
.
.
We repeated that process.
Before long, we reached the last problem I had prepared for today.
······This is the last circle.
“Hmm···.”
I looked down at Lee Sol's worksheet and groaned.
What was this supposed to be?
With this score, based on the mock exam,
Grade 4.
She had gone from Grade 5 to Grade 4 in a single day.
“···.”
“···.”
When I looked up, Shin A-young had more or less the same expression as me.
Her eyes seemed to ask what this was supposed to be.
Lee Sol quickly grew smug, the corners of her mouth twitching. She couldn't hide her amazement at her own ability.
“···Should I just open a cram school?”
At Shin A-young's words, I had nothing left to say.
···Did I really need to do that?