Chapter 37
* * *
“···Ugh, hmm···.”
With a groan, Jinuri glared at the chessboard.
“···.”
Shin A-young looked down at it with a somewhat sullen gaze.
The game had already tilted in her favor.
Tap—
How long had they been waiting? Jinuri cautiously set down her next piece.
That was the end.
“Checkmate.”
Shin A-young set down her piece with a sharp tap, ending the game. In truth, it had ended long ago.
“Ah.”
Then came a dying cry.
Jinuri sprang to her feet, insisting it was impossible, and scrutinized the chessboard from every angle.
She agonized over whether there was any way for the king to escape, and only collapsed back into her seat after confirming that it was completely trapped.
“···What’s the score now?”
“Five to zero.”
“Wow, you really don’t go easy on anyone···.”
The vice president and president had been watching from the side. The two of them whispered quietly.
They looked as though the one-sided game had left them speechless.
“······Let’s play one more game, but something else.”
Jinuri stood up, her eyes curving like half-moons.
Her vivid red lips were pressed tightly together, jutting out ever so slightly.
Her brows had drawn sharply together, and her round eyes trembled.
Was losing really that frustrating?
Jinuri was much more competitive than she looked.
“Sure. Bring me whatever you want.”
Shin A-young waved her hand casually.
She had no confidence that she could lose, no matter what they played.
That was because Jinuri was even worse at games than she had expected.
Or perhaps she was simply good at them.
Honestly, it wasn’t much fun. The game had ended far too easily.
Playing with Lee Seungho had at least been satisfying.
“···.”
···I’m thinking about him again.
“Ugh.”
Shin A-young relaxed her upper body and sank back into her chair.
There was a reason they were playing board games in the counseling room instead of going to a PC bang.
After discovering the fun of playing as a duo, games played alone had somehow lost their appeal.
It was better to have everyone together like this.
‘···It doesn’t have to be at a PC bang.’
Board games were fine too.
The problem was, Lee Seungho wasn’t here right now.
He had gone to study one-on-one with Lee Sol.
‘···Hmph.’
Shin A-young snorted inwardly.
Couldn’t he spare one day to hang out with her?
Even if Lee Sol liked Lee Seungho, she was being too much.
···Today had really been exhausting.
Was asking him to play a game with her to relieve some stress really such an unreasonable thing···?
“What do you want to play? Pick one.”
Jinuri asked while holding a board game in each hand.
She wiggled her eyebrows as if she intended to win this time.
“There’s Blue Marble, a fruit game, or maybe One Card?”
“···Uh···.”
Shin A-young narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at them. There were far too many kinds.
“···Why does the counseling club have so many board games···?”
There weren’t just one or two. There were enough to open a board-game café halfway.
At that question,
Park Minji cleared her throat.
“Even if it doesn’t look like it, they’re all necessary for counseling.”
All those boxes?
What possible connection could there be between counseling and board games?
“···Counseling. Board games···?”
Counseling.
And board games.
“···.”
Shin A-young’s gaze shifted toward the place where the counseling application forms were kept.
“···.”
Hmm.
She pressed her lips together. A sudden idea had flashed through her mind.
‘What should I do?’
Shin A-young twisted the tip of her chin from side to side.
She hesitated a little. Was it really okay to do this?
Even so, holding on to someone busy with exams···
“···.”
But there was still more than a month and a half left.
···If it was only for one day.
“···Minji unnie, how do I fill out a counseling application?”
* * *
···A situation that had arisen without warning.
I met the eyes of Lee Seungah, who had entered the room.
Lee Seungah looked between Lee Sol and me.
Lee Sol was looking up at the ceiling as if she knew nothing about anything.
“···.”
“···.”
And so the silence continued.
Lee Sol blinked for a moment, then stealthily climbed down from the bed.
Her movements were as quiet and natural as possible.
“···.”
“···.”
And then the silence continued again.
“···You came to bring snacks?”
Unable to bear watching that, I spoke first.
I wanted to steer the conversation elsewhere for a moment.
“Yeah, here.”
Lee Seungah went along with it too.
She placed the tray on the table.
“···But.”
I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the plate Lee Seungah had brought.
“Why is there so little?”
The snacks she had brought consisted of
one cookie and two glasses of orange juice poured in rather ambiguous amounts.
“We were all out of food at home.”
Lee Seungah shrugged.
Judging by how confidently she said it, there really must not have been any snacks left at home.
— “···Of the two cookies left, eating one should be fine···.”
Apparently, she had eaten one in the meantime. Lee Seungah’s mini-me stuck out her tongue.
Cookie crumbs clung to the corner of her mouth.
“If you want something that badly, go buy it yourself. The convenience store is right outside.”
Lee Seungah pointed toward the front door with her thumb. I scratched my forearm.
“···Can’t you buy it for me?”
Honestly, I didn’t feel like going out.
“I’ll give you money. Buy one for yourself while you’re there.”
I tried making that deal.
“Hmm···I don’t mind.”
Lee Seungah came trotting over and leaned her head close to my ear.
“?”
When I recoiled with a shiver,
Lee Seungah frowned as though she disliked the idea herself, grabbed my shoulder with one hand,
and covered her mouth with the back of her hand as she whispered.
‘···Are you two going to be alone at home? Huh?’
“Ah.”
Her words snapped me to my senses.
I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe I had been inwardly flustered because Lee Seungah had suddenly barged in.
“Give me the money.”
Lee Seungah held out her hand.
— “I don’t mind, really······Should I just go out for a bit and come back?”
Lee Seungah’s mini-me covered her mouth with her hand. She looked as though she was trying not to laugh.
“···I’ll go.”
Unable to watch any longer, I rose from my seat.
I grabbed my wallet and prepared to go outside, then turned back a moment later.
“What should I buy?”
“···I’m fine with just this.”
Lee Sol lifted the cup containing the juice.
Right. She had said she was dieting.
— “Besides, I feel bad making him get anything unnecessary···.”
Her mini-me was exercising her patience.
She really didn’t seem to need anything else.
“I want a bag of spicy potato chips.”
Lee Seungah stretched out her legs and sat down, boldly making her request. “Or should I ask you to buy something more expensive?”
Her mini-me was worrying about something completely unnecessary.
I wasn’t going to buy it anyway.
“···.”
I stood there silently, then
“···Just use your judgment and keep it reasonable.”
I called back to Lee Seungah, who was sitting down, then headed to the convenience store.
* * *
“···.”
“···.”
In the room after Lee Seungho had left,
Lee Sol and Lee Seungah.
With only the two of them remaining, a strange awkwardness hung in the air.
Normally, Lee Sol would have liked the silence, but the situation was different now.
Lee Sol sat frozen on the floor. She felt suffocated.
“···.”
Lee Sol cast a sidelong glance to her left.
“···.”
Lee Seungah sat silently nearby. From the side, Lee Sol could see her fiddling with and examining her nails.
She was beautiful, even at a second glance.
She still had a distinctly girlish air, but that gave her an innocence appropriate for her age.
So she was Lee Seungho’s little sister.
The thought came to her,
and her throat kept bobbing for no reason.
Her mind kept turning, trying to come up with a topic.
What could she say? Something that might be fun······
“···We saw each other at the airport last time, right?”
Lee Seungah suddenly lifted her head and asked.
“Ah. Yeah. That’s right.”
Lee Sol eagerly seized that lifeline. She couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.
“Your name was······.”
“I’m Lee Sol. My family name is Lee, and my given name is Sol.”
“Lee Sol··· Lee Sol unnie···. Our names are similar. My name is—”
“Seungah. You’re Lee Seungah, right?”
When Lee Sol asked her that,
“···You remembered?”
Lee Seungah’s eyebrows rose.
“Yeah, I heard it last time.”
“Aha.”
“···.”
···Nailed it.
Lee Sol exhaled through her nose inwardly.
It had been a good idea to memorize it.
Hearing that Lee Seungho had a younger sister, she had looked her up on Instagram beforehand, and that had helped a lot.
“But your other friends didn’t come today?”
“Huh? What?”
Lee Sol asked back with a puzzled expression.
“The other two people we saw at the airport. Aren’t they your brother’s friends too? You all looked really close.”
“Ah···.”
Was she talking about Shin A-young and Jinuri?
“Hmm.”
Lee Sol moved her lips.
How should she explain this? The reason she was studying alone with Lee Seungho, leaving the other two out.
Saying she was curious what it would feel like to study with just the two of them was a little embarrassing.
But lying didn’t feel right either.
“I’m not very good at studying···so we decided to do it just the two of us today. Seungho’s good at teaching.”
Lee Sol felt a faint warmth rise to the tips of her ears as she rambled out an excuse that was hardly an excuse.
“Huh?”
Lee Seungah tilted her head, looking puzzled.
“I guess my brother is good at teaching?”
“···Huh? Seungah, he’s never taught you before?”
“No.”
Lee Seungah wore an impassive expression, as though she wasn’t upset about it at all.
She looked as if she simply accepted it as the way things were.
“That’s normal between siblings. And I don’t want to learn from my brother either.”
“I see.”
So that was normal between siblings.
As an only child, Lee Sol didn’t really know about such things.
“···.”
Lee Sol sucked on the straw and drank the orange juice on the desk.
‘It’s good.’
Her shoulders lowered.
The sweetness in her mouth gradually eased her tension.
Lee Seungah didn’t seem like a bad person either, so even being alone with her was somewhat reassuring···
“Unnie.”
“What?”
“Do you like my brother?”
Cough···!
At the blunt question, Lee Sol’s mouth slowly fell open. She almost sprayed the juice straight out.
Her mind went blank for a moment.
Her head creaked as it turned to the side.
“···.”
Lee Seungah still wore an impassive expression. It was a serious question.
Then how was she supposed to answer that?
Should she deny it?
Or should she steer the conversation elsewhere?
As several alternative plans came to mind······
Lee Sol forced her eyes wide open. Her eyelashes trembled from the effort.
“···.”
Lee Sol bit her lips and stared straight at Lee Seungah.
She didn’t answer.
Her slightly flushed cheeks were answering for her.
“···.”
Lee Seungah seemed to notice that too, because her eyes widened slightly.
“···Are you thinking of confessing?”
Lee Seungah asked stealthily.
“Huh? Uh···I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet···.”
Lee Sol’s voice grew quieter toward the end.
She hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“Hmm. Then now would be the perfect time to tell him.”
Lee Seungah gave a small nod.
“···?”
A question mark appeared over Lee Sol’s face.
She had absolutely no idea what Lee Seungah was thinking.
“I’ll be honest with you.”
Lee Seungah turned her body toward Lee Sol.
Their gazes met head-on.
Her expression was unmistakably serious.
“Don’t confess to my brother.”.
notes