Chapter 19
***
‘In Session.’
The sign hanging on the counseling office door.
In short, it was a no-entry sign.
“···It’s real.”
I narrowed my eyes as I looked at it.
I had heard about it from the club president in advance, but a counseling session had been scheduled right in the middle of exam season.
Fortunately, it wasn’t us who needed counseling—it was a session the teacher had to handle.
Anyway, it looked like studying here today was out of the question.
“Looks like we need to go somewhere else.”
“Then··· let’s go to a study café or reading room nearby.”
Jinuri said she knew a place and motioned for us to follow her.
At that, Sol slowly raised her hand.
“I’m short on money.”
Maybe she had spent a lot lately on one snack or another.
Can’t be helped.
“I’ll pay, so pay me back later—”
I opened my wallet, then shut my mouth.
Because there was nothing inside.
Only dust came tumbling out.
Apparently, my situation wasn’t much different.
“What should we do?”
We couldn’t make much noise in a library or the school study room.
But we couldn’t study outside, either.
“···Or should we study at home?”
“Whose house?”
“Mine.”
This was the only thing I could think of.
Of the remaining options, it seemed like the best one.
I took out my phone.
“I’ll ask.”
My little sister should be at home.
If I brought friends over again without saying anything, she would definitely get angry.
I picked up my phone and called her right away.
Brrring··· Brrring···
The ringing continued for a long time.
“···.”
···She wasn’t answering.
I tried sending a text, but she didn’t look at that either.
“···What about your houses?”
At my question, Shin A-young gave an awkward smile.
“My dad doesn’t like it when I bring strangers home.”
Well, she was an actress, after all.
She was a celebrity, and her profession meant constantly being surrounded by people.
I could understand why he might feel that way.
“Jinuri, you—”
“I don’t think that’ll work. We have guests over today.”
The answer came before I had even finished speaking.
She answered so quickly that it was as if she had already thought of it in advance.
— “Our house is out of the question. Absolutely not our house···!”
Jinuri’s mini-me trembled, her face pale.
Hmm.
She was truly desperate.
It was probably because of the display shelves full of figurines and all sorts of other things at her house.
There was no way we could go in there.
“Then let’s go to my house.”
Sol said that while tapping on her phone. She seemed to be texting home.
“Is that okay?”
“Yeah, I just got permission.”
Sol’s expression was a little strange.
— “Studying at home isn’t ideal, but··· everyone gathered because of me.”
***
“I’m home.”
In response to Sol’s call, a woman came walking out from inside.
“You’re back?”
Sol’s mother was extremely beautiful.
Her appearance made her look almost like she was in her late twenties.
It was immediately obvious where Sol had gotten her looks.
““Hello.””
“You must be Sol’s friends. Make yourselves comfortable before you go.”
She greeted us matter-of-factly.
— “···There’s a boy here too?”
Even as she did so, she subtly looked me over.
It seemed the presence of a boy among us had caught her attention.
It was an understandable look.
My father also paid attention to whether there were any boys whenever my little sister brought friends home.
It was probably the same thing.
Sol walked through the living room. The room farther inside seemed to be hers.
“We’re going to study in my room, so you don’t need to bring us any snacks.”
“Okay, got it.”
The two of them conversed like an ordinary mother and daughter.
Shin A-young’s mini-me watched them and adorably folded her arms.
— “Something··· feels strange.”
She was quick to notice things.
Maybe it was because Shin A-young was used to living while worrying about other people’s eyes.
She had noticed the strange atmosphere between Sol and her mother.
Though she didn’t seem to have any intention of getting involved.
“···.”
I followed Sol into the room.
It was cleaner than I had expected.
I thought there would be trash lying around because she found cleaning bothersome···.
“···.”
···No, of course it would be clean.
Thinking about it again, that made sense.
After seeing her mother, I couldn’t imagine her allowing Sol to live that way.
Flop—
Sol naturally flopped down onto the bed.
“Everyone, sit wherever you’re comfortable.”
“You’re being way too comfortable.”
“Eek···.”
Drag······.
Jinuri pulled her down from the bed.
"···Here."
We sat in a circle around the desk on the floor.
“First, the homework?”
“Of course I finished it all.”
Sol held out her math workbook.
I had told her to solve the problems for homework, and judging by how confidently she handed it over, she seemed sure of herself this time.
Let’s see how many she got right.
“···Oh. You’ve improved a lot!”
The difficulty hadn’t been particularly high, but she had barely gotten anything wrong.
“Hehe···.”
Sol exhaled through her nose with the corners of her mouth twitching. She was clearly pleased to see the fruits of her efforts.
Not bad.
At this rate, it seemed like we could move on to the next step.
“Here.”
I took out another notebook. This one was green.
I held it out to Sol.
“I organized some predicted questions that I think might appear on this exam.”
That was what I said.
In truth, it was based on traces of the teacher’s thoughts.
It was a notebook roughly organizing which kinds of questions would appear from each unit.
In other words, it was a preview of the test.
“Solve as many problems as possible that resemble the types in here.”
“Okay.”
The questions wouldn’t be exactly the same, but knowing the general types would greatly increase her chances of getting the answers right.
Knock knock—!
The door opened with a small knock.
Sol’s mother came in through the opening.
“Sorry to interrupt your studying. Eat some of this while you work.”
Her mother had brought strawberries on a plate.
“···.”
Sol’s eyebrows drooped.
She looked mildly uncomfortable.
“···I told you that you didn’t need to bring us snacks.”
“How could I do that when we have guests in the house?”
The atmosphere was strange.
···I should at least thank her first.
“I’ll enjoy them.”
“All right, eat up.”
She immediately left the room.
I wished that really had been all she wanted.
— “···So he’s the one teaching her.”
At the sound of her thoughts quietly reaching me as she looked at me,
I could tell indirectly that she hadn’t come in just for that.
“···.”
I glanced around cautiously, then
Munch, munch.
put a strawberry in my mouth.
I decided to pretend I hadn’t heard anything.
***
Scratch scratch···
Around two hours after we started studying,
Tap. I put down my pen and stretched for a moment.
“···Should we take a short break?”
“Aaaah···!”
At the same time, Sol leapt onto the bed. The mattress bounced up and down.
···Her reaction speed really is incredible.
“Ugh···.”
“Phew.”
Shin A-young and Jinuri also moved around as if loosening up their stiff bodies.
Let’s go outside while we have the chance.
I awkwardly stood up from my seat. My legs had gone numb from sitting for too long.
“I’m going to the bathroom.”
Hearing that, Sol mumbled with her face buried in a pillow.
"The door to the left of the entrance, after passing through the living room···."
—“The door to the left of the entrance, after passing through the living room···.”
“Okay.”
Through the living room.
The door to the left of the entrance···.
Is this it?
“···.”
Creak.
When I opened the door a little, I saw the bathroom’s distinctive tiled floor.
This was the right place.
“Whew······.”
Refreshing.
Whoosh—
After drying my wet hands on a towel, I came back outside.
“···.”
“···.”
I made eye contact with Sol’s mother, who was sitting on the living room sofa.
How should I put it?
She really did look just like Sol, but the atmosphere was different.
Unlike Sol, who always wore a languid expression, her mother was somewhat expressionless.
“···.”
···Maybe that was why.
It was awkward. I felt as if my breath had caught in my throat.
I forced a faint smile and tried to hurry through the living room.
“What do you think of Sol?”
My footsteps stopped on the living room floor.
The question came out of nowhere, and it caught me slightly off guard.
“···Yes?”
“Um··· what was your name again?”
“···I’m Seungho. Lee Seungho.”
“I see, Seungho. It looks like you’re teaching Sol.”
“···.”
She had a sharp eye.
Had she noticed and figured it out in that short time?
“Is there anything difficult or troublesome about teaching Sol?”
“Yes, well···.”
“···.”
“So far, I don’t think there’s anything major.”
“···.”
No reply came.
She simply continued to look at me in silence.
After a short silence, she opened her mouth.
“It’s all right. You can be honest. I know Sol is slower to understand things than other people.”
“···.”
That was···
Something I couldn’t bring myself to deny.
Even while teaching her, I felt like I understood why Sol struggled with studying.
— “If cram school didn’t work, what does she think she’ll accomplish with a study group···.”
Her thoughts reached me.
She didn’t seem pleased with the situation.
A moment later, she slowly parted her lips.
“If it looks to you as though Sol has no potential in her studies.”
“···.”
“Wouldn’t it be better for her to take another path now rather than wearing yourselves out?”
So that was her real purpose.
“···If you mean another path.”
“Sol already has modeling as an option.”
Definitely.
For her, that was the safer path.
At least, she didn’t seem likely to fail at it. If someone with Sol’s face failed, who could possibly succeed?
But···
“···I’m not sure.”
It was her life.
It wasn’t something I had the right to tell her what to do about.
And she wasn’t the sort of person who would listen just because I told her to.
···Besides.
“I think that the fact that Sol wants to study on her own already makes her better than most kids.”
There were plenty of kids who didn’t even think about studying.
Sol, on the other hand, was the one who had asked.
She had thought about it herself and directly asked me for help.
The fact that she had done that meant···
“If you give her a little time··· I think she’ll figure things out on her own.”
“···.”
“It’s true that she takes a long time and needs help right now, but···.”
Sol always managed to do at least as much as I expected of her.
“I don’t think you need to worry too much.”
···Even as I said it, I found myself surprised.
“She’s more diligent than she looks.”
···Of course, she found nine things out of ten bothersome,
always tried to find shortcuts,
and never let go of snacks whenever she got the chance.
But when she became interested in something, she worked hard at it.
That was Sol’s strength, as far as I had seen.
“···.”
Sol’s mother remained silent.
She seemed to be thinking deeply about something.
— “He’s a good friend, but as my daughter’s friend, he’s troublesome.”
That was a rather strange assessment.
Was it good or bad?
She gave a small nod.
“···All right. Sorry for taking up your study time. Go on inside.”
I lowered my head slightly and moved on.
“···.”
···Hmm.
It seemed like I had managed to brush it off, at least, right?
Why had she suddenly said all that to me?
I should finish what we were doing and go home···.
“Oh, what the hell?”
“···.”
When I opened the door, Sol was standing right in front of it.
Our eyes met.
Her gaze wandered around as if it had nowhere to go.
She looked a little flustered.
“···.”
As if nothing had happened, Sol turned around and climbed back onto the bed.
Then she covered her face with the notebook I had given her.
···She was holding it upside down.