Chapter 35
***
A moment earlier.
I headed to the school snack bar with Lee Sol and Jinuri.
All the ‘counseling snacks’ in the counseling room had run out, so we needed to restock them. There hadn’t even been that many people to counsel, but they had already run out.
I entered the snack bar with a lighter step than usual.
“Is there anything you two want to eat?”
A white card was in my hand. It was a small taste of authority the club president had given me, along with instructions to buy whatever I wanted.
“···I’m fine. I’ve been dieting lately.”
Lee Sol ran her fingers through her light gray hair.
“I may not be active, but I can’t neglect my appearance completely.”
She folded her arms with a haughty look.
“···Really?”
Lee Sol’s unusual behavior surprised me.
Definitely.
If this were normal, Lee Sol’s mini-me would already have listed all the things she wanted to eat.
— “···Hold out. I have to hold out. I’ve been eating too many snacks lately.”
Even after entering the snack bar, she maintained an impassive expression.
She was diligently exercising her patience.
So she was a model after all, even if she was a rookie.
Lee Sol had seemed like the type who wouldn’t care at all about her weight. But she was showing a professional side now.
— “···I am craving jelly, though···.”
···She was showing a professional side.
— “No, hold out.”
Saying she had to hold out, she pressed her small lips tightly together.
She was barely holding out, her patience hanging by a thread.
Every time Lee Sol moved a step farther into the snack bar, her mini-me’s pupils darted around.
— “Ssss··· Orange juice would be good too···!”
The mini-me shook her head vigorously, saying she shouldn’t.
She sure looked busy.
I stifled a hollow laugh at the sight.
“···.”
I quietly observed Lee Sol.
···But I wondered if she was really that overweight.
Honestly, she didn’t look much different from usual.
She was small and delicate, and even from a distance, her slim figure immediately stood out.
If she said so, then that was that, but she didn’t seem to need to lose weight so desperately.
“At least this much···.”
I picked up some jelly and orange juice.
A few things shouldn’t matter.
If I bought them, she’d eat them eventually.
“Let’s see···.”
I read through the note the club president had given me.
There were a few other things we needed to buy besides those. We had come both to run the errand and to buy things we wanted to eat.
I picked out several snacks to keep stocked for counseling, too.
“What about you, Jinuri?”
“These two are enough for me.”
Jinuri picked up a bag of potato chips and a boxed apple juice.
It was rather modest.
“You don’t need anything else? It’s not my money anyway, so you can pick something more expensive.”
I had already picked up a bag of frozen dumplings. They were among the more expensive items in the snack bar.
There was no need to hesitate. When an opportunity came along, knowing how to seize it was a skill too.
“This is enough for me.”
Jinuri lightly shook the food in her hand from side to side, saying she didn’t need anything else.
— “Hmm··· Nothing really catches my fancy.”
Jinuri’s mini-me stroked her chin.
It was a reaction that said the snacks at the snack bar weren’t enough to satisfy her.
Then never mind.
If there really was nothing to choose from, there was no need to press her any further.
“Nothing else you want? Shall I check out now?”
The two nodded.
I handed the card to the snack bar lady.
***
After that, we went straight back to the counseling room.
There was no reason to wander elsewhere, and the ice cream we had bought might melt.
Rattle—
When I opened the counseling room door,
“Huh, what?”
Shin A-young was standing right in front of it.
“When did she get here?”
There was no answer.
Though I found that odd, I turned my body sideways.
Just as I tried to walk past her and to the side,
— “— — — — —”
Before I could even take a step, harsh noise came from her mini-me.
It was a pounding static unlike the usual sounds.
I was inwardly startled by it. I turned my stiff neck to look back at Shin A-young.
“···.”
Her expression was the same as usual.
Her lips formed a clear arc, and her large eyes held an innocent, harmless look, as though she knew nothing of the world’s troubles.
She looked so completely free of problems on the outside that
“···Are you okay?”
I found myself worried instead.
“···.”
Shin A-young still said nothing. She merely raised one hand and touched her lips.
— “— — — — —”
Nothing changed.
Shin A-young’s expression was bright, while her mini-me remained the same, standing blankly and emitting static.
I had absolutely no idea what she was thinking.
The noise continued pounding against my eardrums,
and I racked my brain over what to do, where to even begin.
“···.”
The answer I came up with was simple.
In moments like this, that was the only thing I could do.
I wasn’t actually a counselor, after all.
What could I possibly say?
Rustle—
I rummaged through the plastic bag. It contained all kinds of food.
What should I give her?
After a brief moment of thought, I narrowed it down to a sweet ice cream and a warm can of coffee.
Of the two, I took out the coffee can that still retained its heat.
“Have some of this.”
I spoke in as indifferent a voice as possible,
so she wouldn’t take the gesture as pity.
“···.”
After hesitating briefly, she accepted it with a cautious movement.
She held the warm can up to her forehead.
Was that enough?
Bzz··· Bzzzz······.
The static from her mini-me gradually quieted down,
then — “— — It’s warm.”
A small arc appeared on her lips.
“···Are you okay?”
I asked, sounding her out.
“I’m okay. My stomach just feels a little upset.”
At Shin A-young’s words, I opened the bag again.
I hadn’t thought of that.
“Then do you want something else?”
There was some soft bread too, if her stomach was upset.
As I reached out to switch her snack,
Whoosh—
Shin A-young yanked the hand holding the can back.
I opened my eyes wide at that. She seemed surprised herself, and her pupils had widened slightly.
“···No, I’m fine.”
— “Something warm is better right now.”
Her mini-me crouched down with the can of coffee in hand and a gentle smile on her face.
“Really?”
If that was the case.
I put the bread back down.
Apparently, the coffee was more to her liking.
* * *
Shin A-young came back into the counseling room.
Somehow, it felt like she no longer had any reason to leave.
“Are you okay? Wasn’t it urgent?”
Park Minji raised her eyebrows. She looked somewhat concerned.
There was a subtle thoughtfulness in the way she avoided saying the word “restroom” outright.
Shin A-young gently shook her head, telling her not to worry.
“I’m fine now. It suddenly got better.”
“···Reaaally?”
Her expression didn’t suggest that all her doubts had disappeared,
but Park Minji seemed willing to let it go.
“···.”
······What should I say?
She was fine now.
Her heart had settled down a little since earlier.
“By the way, what were you about to say earlier?”
Shin A-young asked about the topic from a moment ago.
She wanted to listen properly to what Park Minji had to say, then properly refuse her request.
She felt like she could handle it now.
“Oh, that···?”
Park Minji slowly parted her lips.
“···.”
···Ah.
Shin A-young slowly exhaled.
In the mirror hanging on the wall, she could faintly see Lee Seungho secretly drawing an X with his finger.
“···Hmm.”
Shin A-young’s lips wiggled when she saw that. They kept trying to curl upward.
‘You don’t have to go that far.’
That was what she thought, but she didn’t feel bad about it.
It reminded her, for the first time in a long while, what it felt like to be looked after.
“···Uh··· I forgot what it was.”
Park Minji saw that too and awkwardly changed the subject, swallowing the words she had been about to say.
“Ah··· Really?”
Shin A-young lightly lowered herself onto the sofa.
If that was the case, then fine. There was no need to continue this conversation.
She turned around while remaining seated.
Her interest had already jumped elsewhere.
“What did you buy at the snack bar?”
Shin A-young leaned her head forward to check inside the bag.
I opened the bag wide and showed her what was inside.
“Alphabet chocolates and chocolate pies for counseling··· And a few other things.”
Shin A-young let out a hollow laugh when she saw them.
There seemed to be more items included under “a few other things” than things bought for counseling.
“Most of it is sweet stuff, huh?”
“They’re easy to hand out one at a time. They’re good for helping people who come for counseling relieve their stress, too.”
“I guess···.”
Shin A-young nodded as though she understood.
That was probably usually the case.
Most of the people who came to the counseling club would be that sort.
Who would come here because something good had happened?
“···.”
Hmm.
Except me.
As she was thinking that···
Shin A-young remembered why she had come to the counseling club.
“Lee Seungho.”
Shin A-young called out to him, her voice slightly rising.
“? What?”
“Let’s go to a PC bang after we’re done.”
Shin A-young rattled off the words excitedly.
“I’ll hard-carry you today. I researched a new meta on NewTube, and there’s no way we can lose with this. Seriously.”
Seungho can jungle, and I’ll go mid.
Sol said she’s a Yuumi one-trick, so we can probably send her down to bot.
I wonder if Nuri will play too···?
Then she can duo bot with Sol.
Anyway.
Today is game day······!
Just as she was unable to hide her excited expression,
“I don’t think I can today. I have plans.”
That was the answer she heard from Lee Seungho.
“Huh···?”
Shin A-young blinked blankly.
“···What plans?”
When she asked that in return,
Lee Seungho pointed behind him with his thumb.
“···.”
Shin A-young’s gaze followed. Lee Sol stood at the end of it.
“I promised to help her study one-on-one today. Finals are coming up, you know.”
At those words, Shin A-young
moved her lips, then—
“···But there’s still a month and a half left···?”
she muttered in a very small voice.