Chapter 3
They say that a person's true self is revealed in the moment of greatest crisis.
Then the face Shin A-young was showing right now must have been her true face.
“......”
Her eyes sharpened, and an emotion called bewilderment overlaid the expression that had always been so fresh and lively.
A kaleidoscope of emotions mingled across Shin A-young's face.
Could this be her true face?
Of course, that lasted only an instant.
‘She's back to her usual face.’
Shin A-young's expression regained its composure as though nothing had happened. It really is fascinating every time I see it.
Of course, since she was human too, she couldn't hide the cold sweat beading on her skin.
She moved her lips uncertainly, then cautiously broached the subject.
“......By any chance, how much did you hear?”
So that was what she was worried about.
I should apologize first.
Whatever the case, I had secretly watched her confession.
“I didn't mean to overhear, but... anyway, I'm sorry it ended up looking like I was spying on you.”
“Ah, no, it's okay. It was an accident.”
— “Aah...! No, fuck... He heard everything...!”
Shin A-young's Mini-Me shrieked while clutching its head.
So that's what it looks like when someone's face goes deathly pale.
— “If it gets around that I cursed after turning him down...”
It felt like I'd just seen another side of her.
‘She has a surprisingly fragile side.’
She cursed harshly in her thoughts, yet worried about trivial things too.
Cursing once wasn't exactly a grave offense.
“But... what were you doing here?”
“Huh?”
I couldn't help hesitating at the question.
“......Uh, well.”
Because, honestly, admitting I was eating alone was embarrassing.
— “Were you watching me on purpose?”
Her Mini-Me narrowed its eyes sharply.
No, you idiot.
It would be awkward to be misunderstood like that just because I was eating alone. I had no choice but to tell the truth.
“......I was eating.”
This is so fucking embarrassing.
Shin A-young looked puzzled. Her gaze swept over the surroundings.
“Eating? Here?”
“Yeah, food I bought at the snack bar.”
I showed her the hamburger in my hand.
The steaming burger had already gone cold and sagged limply.
“......”
Only then did the suspicion in her eyes begin to fade.
“...Seung-ho. You're Lee Seung-ho, right?”
“That's right.”
I was impressed that she had somehow remembered my name even though this was our first conversation today.
I wasn't wearing a name tag on my chest, after all. That meant she'd already memorized the names of our classmates.
“......Um.”
Shin A-young fidgeted with her fingertips. She looked hesitant, as if she were about to say something.
Then she lowered her head.
“......I have a favor to ask. Could you pretend you didn't see what happened today? If you do, then in return—”
“Sure, I guess.”
What else was I supposed to say?
I could do at least that much. It wasn't difficult.
It wasn't even something she needed to ask a favor for. I hadn't planned to tell anyone anyway.
······Besides, I didn't want to get involved with her if I could help it.
“......Huh?”
Shin A-young's eyes went round. She looked as though she hadn't expected it to be this easy.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Was there such a thing as a fake answer?
Ding-dong— ding-dong—
Just then, the school bell rang. Lunchtime ended in an instant.
“Ah.”
Right.
In the end, I hadn't finished my hamburger.
“Class is starting. Let's hurry.”
I hurriedly stuffed the rest of the hamburger into my mouth and headed back to class.
‘At first, I wondered how this was going to turn out.’
Still, I thought I'd gotten through it pretty well, right?
······No. I hadn't gotten through it properly at all.
‘Is it just my imagination?’
It started with fifth-period music class.
I began to feel someone's gaze on me.
‘Somehow······.’
During the break after fifth period, Shin A-young kept appearing in my line of sight.
‘It feels like she's following me.’
Sixth period.
This was no longer something I could dismiss as my imagination.
‘Her stare has been prickling me for a while now.’
I subtly glanced behind me and saw that Shin A-young had been staring intently in my direction for some time.
This was why I hadn't wanted to get involved with her.
You never knew what people like that might do.
Aside from that, class began.
“Sorry to assign homework from the very first class, but now that you're sophomores, I'm planning to make things more intense, so keep that in mind. Now, for the time being, we'll be working on group assignments.”
The class let out groans at the news that we had an assignment from the first period.
I was no different.
“However, you can team up with whoever you want, so form your groups freely.”
“Ah...”
But there was something even worse.
As if group assignments weren't bad enough, now we had to find our own team members on top of that.
Looking around, I saw the others already starting to gather with people they clicked with.
In that case, there was only one thing I could do.
‘I guess I'll just work with whoever's left.’
I gave up on finding a group and slumped back in my chair.
Swish—
As I waited for the others to finish forming their groups, a shadow fell over my head.
“?”
I looked up and found Shin A-young standing there.
Why is she here?
“Want to work together?”
“Huh?”
I stared blankly and repeated the question at Shin A-young's sudden proposal.
“Ah, did you already decide to work with someone else?”
“...No. Not exactly.”
“Then let's work together. I've already found the other team members, so all you have to do is join us.”
I considered refusing, but I had a feeling that turning down her goodwill would cause me even more trouble.
Was she planning to keep an eye on me?
That was simply what her gaze seemed to say.
“...Okay.”
I might as well see how this played out.
I got up and followed her.
As I did, I caught Park Jin-su's aggrieved look before it swept past me.
“......”
— “No, why him?”
He looked completely unable to understand how Shin A-young had approached me first.
···Come to think of it, this is all because of you, you bastard.
“......”
The group I arrived at after following her consisted mostly of the classmates Shin A-young usually hung out with.
“So that's who the last member was.”
It was Jinuri, who had followed Shin A-young's lead and served as Class 2's vice president last year.
“Oh, hi~”
And there was also Lee Sol, already famous for her modeling work.
Fortunately, the overall reaction was favorable.
The atmosphere wasn't bad, at least for now.
Once all the groups had been formed, the teacher spoke up.
“Since it's the first day, some teams may still feel awkward with each other, right? Start by chatting lightly and dividing up the roles.”
This team right here, sir.
“......”
Jinuri looked blankly back and forth between Shin A-young and me before asking,
“...But were you two already acquainted?”
“It just sort of happened?”
The answer came not from me, but from Shin A-young.
Since when were you and I close?
I had plenty I wanted to say, but for now, I decided to let it go.
It could make things unnecessarily complicated.
“Shall we divide up the roles first? Does anyone want to do anything in particular?”
Jinuri naturally took charge of the proceedings.
Either she'd done this sort of thing many times before, or she was simply quite good at keeping things moving.
“I don't mind, so you guys go first.”
— “Anything but the PPT is fine with me.”
Lee Sol propped her chin on her hand, looking languid.
“I don't care what I do.”
— “Honestly, researching the material is the easiest, but... should I read the room a little first?”
“Anything is fine with me too.”
When Shin A-young also left the choice to the others, Jinuri tapped the desk with her pen in annoyance.
“...No, say what you want to do. Otherwise it'll just make things harder to decide.”
She let out a short sigh, then turned her gaze toward me.
“What about you, Lee Seung-ho?”
At that moment.
— “Maybe----if-----inside----”
A crackling noise struck my ears.
‘Ugh.’
What was this all of a sudden?
It was noise coming from Shin A-young's Mini-Me. Static was mixing into the words it was uttering.
This usually happened when intense emotions came through, and that phenomenon was occurring with her now.
This kind of harsh noise was usually a negative emotion.
‘...Is she anxious? No, about what?’
Honestly, I was a little flustered.
Did she really react this strongly just because I'd heard her curse once?
It almost felt like obsessive-compulsive behavior.
“......”
······For now, I should deal with the group assignment first.
“I'll make the PPT. Does anyone want to research the material? If no one does, we can decide with rock-paper-scissors.”
“Me! Me!”
Lee Sol shot her hand up. It was an emphatic show of enthusiasm.
When I looked around to gauge the others' opinions, the remaining two seemed happy to do anything.
“All right. Lee Sol, you research the material, and... does either of you want to present?”
Jinuri flicked her eyes toward Shin A-young, then lightly raised her hand.
“I'll do it.”
“Then that just leaves the report. Shin A-young, are you okay with doing that?”
“Yeah, okay.”
— “How---could---------”
The noise persisted.
Shin A-young continued looking this way, too.
“That's all for today's class. The group assignment is due next week, so come prepared.”
As soon as class ended, I stood up.
“......”
What a chaotic mess.
The voices of thoughts around me continued to reach my ears.
— “I think this is the first time I've seen Shin A-young hanging around with a guy.”
— “What was his name again? Lee... Lee... Lee Seung-hun?”
“......”
It's Seung-ho.
On the surface, the other kids didn't seem interested in this at all.
I was the only one who knew.
They weren't revealing that fact, but I had no choice but to hear those voices against my will.
Honestly, the attention Shin A-young was drawing to me was unbearably burdensome.
— “----------------”
On top of that, the noise that kept coming was giving me a headache.
If I left this alone, I felt like I'd be the first one to collapse.
“Haaah······.”
I turned around and headed toward her, pretending not to notice her following behind me.
Shin A-young stood there blankly as she watched me approach until I was right in front of her.
“Huh? What's going on? Did you want to talk to me?”
You're the one who has something to say.
“Can we talk for a moment?”