Chapter 39
* * *
“···.”
I rinsed my face with lukewarm water at the sink and thought.
It was about what had happened yesterday.
If I summed up Lee Sol's actions and thoughts so far, they were already something beyond mere affection.
‘···Why?’
Why did she like me?
I had wondered about that.
Because, as far as I remembered, I hadn't done anything.
If I had to name something, all I'd done was give her a little help during midterms.
‘Could it be···.’
I turned my face slightly in front of the mirror.
···Hmm.
“···.”
Lee Seungah, passing by, glanced this way and kept going.
— “Ugh··· Why is he being such a pain first thing in the morning.”
The mini-me shook its head and trotted away.
“···.”
······I guess not.
I picked up a towel, calmly dried my face, and left the bathroom.
The thought continued.
‘···My looks probably aren't irrelevant.’
Still, it wasn't as though she'd fallen for me because I was handsome.
I wasn't ugly, but neither was I handsome enough to rival a celebrity.
There were plenty of better-looking guys at school than me. Looks were always relative.
If that were the reason, Sol would already be dating someone.
“Ah, right.”
Lee Seungah, wandering around while chewing on bread, smacked her lips and spoke.
“I'd already told everyone, so don't skip next week's event, okay?”
“Yeah.”
I gave a perfunctory nod.
I didn't know why the event was on the weekend, but they said there'd be a little pay, so I had no major complaints.
“···?”
I narrowed my eyes while pouring cereal onto a plate because Seungah had plopped down across from me.
Why was she eating here?
Seeing her sitting there when she hardly ever ate breakfast made it feel even stranger.
Since I couldn't exactly say anything, I'd stay quiet for now.
“Does Oppa have a type?”
Seungah suddenly asked me that.
I almost spit out my food.
— “···If he has one, I should casually tell Sol unnie later.”
The corners of her mini-me's mouth lifted. It was the expression of someone plotting.
‘Tsk··· I thought it was something else.’
She sometimes broke her sentences off strangely, leaving people confused.
I turned my attention back to the cereal.
The answer I should give here was—
“That's fucking out of nowhere.”
Assuming she couldn't hear thoughts, that was the most appropriate answer.
“···.”
Lee Seungah stopped chewing and looked away awkwardly.
— “Tsk··· Did I bring it up too hastily?”
The mini-me stroked its chin.
It looked disappointed.
“···Smack.”
I crunched my cereal as I thought. Seungah's attention was starting to become burdensome.
Whether yesterday or today, I was grateful that she cared about me.
‘I'm grateful, but······.’
I had my own pace, too.
To other people, I was probably slow.
It might look as though I'd built a wall around that relationship. Perhaps some of it really was true.
“···.”
I was slower and more cautious with human relationships than other people,
because I could hear what people were thinking.
Paradoxically, that made it difficult for me to form relationships.
When I first saw the mini-me, I'd even grown distant from every friend I'd previously gotten along with.
As for the girl I'd had a thing with in middle school······.
Never mind. I wouldn't think about that. It wasn't a pleasant memory.
Keeping a certain emotional distance.
It was closer to a habit ingrained through experience. It wasn't something that could be fixed in a short time.
Even so.
“···.”
I fell silent as I thought of Lee Sol.
Thinking of her fidgeting and trying to do something—
“···Hmm.”
Maybe.
I did feel that I should try to change, at least a little.
I had that sense of urgency.
* * *
Early morning.
The time when students were arriving at school one by one.
If there was one thing that had changed the most since the drama ‘Black World’ was released,
it was probably the shift in the gender ratio of the people surrounding Shin Ayoung.
“···.”
Shin Ayoung discreetly looked around.
The girls stood far away, talking among themselves,
“The highlights from yesterday went up on NewTube—”
while the boys came up and chatted with her.
Requests for autographs had disappeared at some point,
but the number of male students approaching her under the pretext of talking about the drama had suddenly increased.
Still, one good thing was···
“Ayoung~ Want some of this?”
Jinuri walked over and held out the bag of snacks she had been carrying.
The boys naturally returned to their places.
When Jinuri or Sol came over, they too would subtly make themselves scarce.
Nuri merely gave them warning looks, while Sol openly told them to move away from her seat.
“Then just one.”
Shin Ayoung inwardly welcomed Jinuri as she took one snack.
Eating it made things a little more bearable.
···About nine hours until after school.
···Nine hours.
Tsk.
Yeah.
Just hang in there a little longer.
* * *
When I came out into the hallway after finishing my major class,
I locked eyes with Lee Sol at the far end of the opposite hallway.
“···!”
Lee Sol stopped moving. I could see her trembling from here.
— “— — — — —”
Her mini-me stopped moving at the same time. The noise grew worse as I approached.
Her gait was stiff and clunky. She'd been like that all day.
“You're not feeling unwell or anything, are you?”
Jinuri furrowed her brows and wore a concerned expression.
“···Yeah.”
Lee Sol gave a stiff, creaking nod.
It was the exact opposite of what she said. She didn't look fine at all.
“Are you oka—”
— “----------!”
The noise from her mini-me grew even worse.
I hesitantly stepped backward.
Words like ‘mortifying’ and ‘embarrassing’ occasionally slipped through the noise.
‘What is this.’
Something had definitely happened between Lee Seungah and her yesterday.
But I couldn't tell what it was.
“···.”
Forget it.
There was no way to find out in this state.
“Let's get going.”
It was club time now.
I packed my bag in the classroom.
“I have practice today, too. Sol, could you take care of this?”
Jinuri handed the written excuse to Lee Sol.
“Yeah.”
She accepted what Jinuri handed her without any fuss, too.
— “I feel a little bad, since I seem to keep skipping······.”
Jinuri's mini-me adjusted the strap of a small guitar case and glanced at me uneasily.
— “But if I'm going to perform onstage, time is tight.”
Onstage?
I guessed she was planning to do some kind of street performance somewhere.
“Sorry, I'll head out first.”
“Yeah.”
I raised a hand casually toward Jinuri as she left first, signaling goodbye.
And then the two of us were left alone.
“Should we go too?”
“···.”
Lee Sol nodded silently. I could see her hand tighten slightly around her bag.
Was that nervousness?
Who knows. Since I couldn't read her thoughts, I couldn't be sure.
···We had almost reached the clubroom when—
“··· Just a moment.”
Lee Sol turned aside and told me to go into the clubroom first.
Looking in that direction, it seemed she had some urgent business to take care of.
“···.”
I nodded and opened the clubroom door first.
Rattle—
Inside, I saw the club president and vice president playing cards.
“Oh··· You're here?”
The president glanced at me, then turned his eyes back to the deck of cards.
Then···.
“Ah, right. A counseling request came in for you.”
The president said that.
“For me?”
“Yeah.”
He pointed at the desk. A white envelope lay there.
Things like this happened sometimes.
In face-to-face counseling, clients could choose who they wanted to talk to. Apparently, a client had the right to tell their chosen counselor what they wanted to discuss.
— “···What······Seungho should be able to handle it himself······Hmm······.”
Since the mini-me was focused on the game, I could read only bits and pieces of its thoughts.
The rest were thoughts related to the card game.
‘Let's see···.’
After signing the pledge, I unfolded the counseling application.
“···Oh. Is this for real?”
The moment I saw the name written there, I could only blink in puzzlement.
* * *
Shin Ayoung trudged to an empty hallway.
“Phew···.”
She sighed and leaned her back against the wall. All her energy had drained away by then.
“···.”
She wiped her face, then lightly patted her cheeks as if telling herself to pull herself together.
Right, she only had to endure a little longer.
Today, she had even missed club for a legitimate reason, not because of fake illness or an excuse.
······
Her major class ended.
Tap tap tap tap.
Shin Ayoung moved with quick footsteps unlike those she'd taken before.
She scurried down the empty stairs.
In front of the teacher, she slowed slightly and flashed a smile with her eyes,
then, once she was out of the teacher's sight, walked away at a brisk pace.
Her destination was the same as always.
Rattle— She opened the door and entered the counseling room.
“Hello. I'm here.”
“···Oh, you're here~?”
Park Minji, the vice president, was the first to greet her. At her words, everyone sitting in the clubroom turned their heads at once.
Lee Seungho was there, with the president beside him.
Jinuri must not have come because she was practicing······
Oddly, Lee Sol was nowhere to be seen.
Just as she began to wonder about that—
“···.”
Lee Sol entered from behind with a rattling sound.
Her bangs were slightly wet. Had she washed her face somewhere?
“···Oh, you were here?”
Lee Sol raised her eyebrows when she saw her, then brushed past her slightly.
“···.”
She plopped down across from Lee Seungho. Her movements were a little more awkward than usual.
“···Where are we studying today?”
“I don't think I can today.”
“Huh?”
Lee Sol's expression went blank. She half-rose from her seat as if this were completely unexpected.
“I got scheduled for counseling with Shin Ayoung.”
“What?”
Lee Sol's eyes grew even wider, round as marbles.
“I had something bothering me···. So I decided to get counseling today.”
Shin Ayoung clasped both hands apologetically and tilted her head slightly.
“···.”
Lee Sol moved her eyes from side to side. She seemed a little more anxious than usual as she parted her lips.
“Then I'll—”
“It's one-on-one counseling.”
“Oh··· then I'll—”
“I think Seungho is better at counseling.”
Shin Ayoung touched Lee Sol's shoulder with a gentle hand, lightly stroking down along it.
“And you need to study, don't you, Sol?”
The final exams were only a month and a half away, after all.
She needed to start preparing diligently now.
“···.”
Lee Sol pressed her lips tightly together.
“But Minji unnie said she'd help you study.”
Shin Ayoung gestured subtly toward the side with her eyes.
Even while playing cards, Park Minji nodded.
“···.”
Lee Sol gave no answer.
‘Hmm.’
Shin Ayoung felt she could guess what Lee Sol was thinking. She might see this as interference.
Maybe··· yes, perhaps that was exactly what it was.
“Let's go in.”
Shin Ayoung led Lee Seungho into the inner counseling room.
She quietly slid the door shut.
Through the gap, she caught a glimpse of Lee Sol's stunned face.
Her lips moved as she watched her.
‘I feel a little bad.’
But she'd been waiting patiently, too.
It was only one day.
She was just trying to relieve her stress for exactly one day.
So.
······Sol, please understand this much.