Chapter 39
* * *
“···.”
I thought as I rinsed my face with lukewarm water at the sink.
It was about what had happened yesterday.
Judging from Lee Sol’s actions and thoughts so far, it was already something beyond mere affection.
‘···Why?’
Why did she feel that way about me?
I had wondered about that.
As far as I could remember, I hadn’t done anything in particular.
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 continued on her path.
— “Ugh··· Why is he acting like this first thing in the morning?”
Her Minimi shook its head and scampered away.
“···.”
······Apparently not.
I picked up a towel, calmly dried my face, and left the bathroom.
I continued to mull it over.
‘···It’s not that my looks have no influence.’
But it would be strange to say she had fallen for me because I was handsome.
I wasn’t ugly. But it wasn’t as though I was good-looking enough to rival a celebrity, either.
There were plenty of guys at school better-looking than me. Looks were always relative.
If that were the reason, Lee Sol would already have someone she was dating.
“Ah, right.”
Lee Seungah, wandering around while munching on bread, smacked her lips as she spoke.
“I’ve already told everyone, so don’t skip the event next week, okay?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded appropriately.
I didn’t know why the event was on the weekend. But they said I’d get a little pay for helping out, so I wasn’t too bothered.
“···?”
I narrowed my eyes as I poured cereal onto my plate. Lee Seungah had plopped herself down across from me.
Why was she eating here?
It felt even more out of place with someone who usually didn’t eat breakfast sitting there.
I couldn’t exactly tell her to leave, so I decided to stay quiet for now.
“Oppa, don’t you have a type?”
Lee Seungah suddenly asked me that.
I almost spit out my food.
— “···If he does have one, I should casually tell Sol unnie later.”
Her Minimi’s lips curled upward. It was the face of someone plotting.
‘Sseup··· I thought it was something else.’
She sometimes cut her sentences off strangely and confused people.
I turned my attention back to my cereal.
The answer I should give here was···
“That came completely out of nowhere.”
Assuming I couldn’t hear her thoughts, that was the most appropriate answer.
“···.”
Lee Seungah stopped chewing and looked away, seeming embarrassed.
— “Sseup··· Did I bring it up too soon?”
Her Minimi stroked its chin.
It seemed disappointed.
“···Tch.”
I crunched my cereal as I thought. Lee Seungah’s attention was starting to become burdensome.
Yesterday and today, I was grateful that she cared about me.
‘I appreciate it, but······.’
I had my own pace, too.
To other people, I must seem slow.
It might even look as though I’d built a wall around my relationships. Maybe, in part, that was true.
“···.”
I was slower and more cautious about relationships than other people.
Because I could hear what others were thinking.
Paradoxically, that made it difficult for me to form relationships.
When I first started seeing Minimi, I had even drifted away from all the friends I’d gotten along with until then.
As for the girl I’d had a thing with in middle school······.
Forget it. Let’s not think about that. It wasn’t a very good memory.
Keeping a certain emotional distance from people···
That was more like a habit ingrained in me through experience. It wasn’t something I could change in a short time.
Even so.
“···.”
I fell silent as I thought of Lee Sol.
When I thought of her squirming as she tried to do something, anything···
“···Hmm.”
Perhaps···
I should try to change, at least a little.
That sense of urgency was there.
* * *
Early in the morning.
It was around the time the students were arriving at school one by one.
If there was one major thing that had changed since the drama ‘Black World’ was released,
it was probably the gender ratio of the people standing around Shin A-young.
“···.”
Shin A-young discreetly looked around.
The girls were standing far away, chatting among themselves, while···
“It was uploaded to NewTube’s highlight reel yesterday—”
the boys came up to her and started talking.
The 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 increased considerably.
Still, fortunately···
“A-young~ Want some of this?”
Jinuri walked over and held out the snack bag she was carrying.
At that, the boys naturally returned to their places.
Whenever Jinuri or Lee Sol came over, they would also subtly move away.
Nuri gave them subtle hints, while Sol bluntly told them to move from her seat.
“Then I’ll just have one.”
Shin A-young was secretly glad to see Jinuri.
Eating it made things a little more bearable.
···About nine hours until after school.
···Nine hours.
Sseup.
Yeah.
Let’s hold out a little longer.
* * *
After finishing my major class, I came out into the hallway.
At the far end of the opposite hallway, I met Lee Sol’s eyes.
“···!”
Lee Sol stopped moving. I could see her trembling violently from here.
— “— — — — —”
Her Minimi stopped moving too. The closer I got, the worse the noise became.
Her stiff, mechanical gait. She had looked like that all day.
“You’re not feeling unwell, are you?”
Jinuri furrowed her brows and looked concerned.
“···Yeah.”
Lee Sol nodded creakily.
It was the complete opposite of her words. She clearly wasn’t fine.
“Are you oka—”
— “----------!”
The noise from Minimi grew even worse.
I took a step back.
Words like ‘embarrassing’ and ‘mortifying’ leaked out here and there amid the noise.
‘What is it?’
Something had clearly happened between her and Lee Seungah 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 again today. Sol, can you take care of this?”
Jinuri handed the absence form to Lee Sol.
“Yeah.”
She accepted whatever Jinuri gave her without any trouble.
— “I feel a little bad since I seem to keep skipping······.”
Jinuri’s Minimi adjusted the strap of a small guitar case and glanced at me.
— “But there’s not much time left if I’m going to perform onstage.”
Onstage, huh.
I guess she was planning to do some kind of street performance.
“Sorry, I’ll head out first.”
“Yeah.”
I raised a hand casually toward Jinuri as she left first, signaling goodbye.
That left only the two of us.
“Should we go too?”
“···.”
Lee Sol nodded silently. I could see her hand tighten slightly around her bag.
Was that nervousness?
I had no idea. Since I couldn’t read her thoughts, I couldn’t be sure.
···We were almost at the clubroom when···
“···Wait a moment.”
Lee Sol turned aside, telling me to go into the clubroom first.
Looking in that direction, it seemed she had to use the restroom badly.
“···.”
I nodded and opened the clubroom door first.
Rattle—
Inside, I saw the club president and vice president playing a card game.
“Uh··· You’re here?”
The president glanced at me, then turned his eyes back to the deck of cards.
Then···
“Ah, right. You’ve received a counseling request.”
The president said that.
“For me?”
“Yeah.”
The president pointed to the desk. A white envelope was lying there.
Things like this happened occasionally.
For face-to-face counseling, the person requesting counseling could choose whom to speak to. Apparently, the person seeking counseling had the right to tell the person of their choice about it.
— “···Well······Seungho will handle it well enough on his own······Hmm······.”
Because he was focused on the game, I could only hear fragments of his Minimi’s thoughts here and there.
The rest were thoughts related to the card game.
‘Let’s see···.’
After signing the pledge, I unfolded the counseling application and looked it over.
“···Huh. Is this for real?”
The moment I saw the name written on it, I couldn’t help blinking in puzzlement.
* * *
Shin A-young trudged all the way to an empty hallway.
“Hoo···.”
After letting out a sigh, she leaned her back against the wall. She was completely drained by now.
“···.”
She wiped her face, then lightly patted her cheeks as if telling herself to get a grip.
That’s right. Just hold out a little longer.
Today, she had even skipped the club for a legitimate reason rather than using an excuse or pretending to be sick.
······
Her major class ended.
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
Shin A-young moved with faster footsteps than usual.
She trotted down the empty stairs, then slowed slightly in front of the teacher and gave him a smiling look,
before slipping behind him and walking 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, and the club president was sitting beside him.
Jinuri must not have come because she was practicing······
But, strangely, Lee Sol was nowhere to be seen.
Just as she began to wonder about that···
“···.”
Lee Sol entered from behind with the sound of the door sliding open.
Her bangs were slightly wet. Had she washed her face somewhere?
“···Oh, you were here?”
Lee Sol raised her brows when she saw her, then brushed past her.
“···.”
She plopped down opposite Lee Seungho. Her movements were a little more awkward than usual.
“···Where are you going to study today?”
“Well, I don’t think that’ll work today.”
“Huh?”
Lee Sol’s expression went blank. Her hips shifted as though this was completely unexpected.
“I have counseling scheduled with Shin A-young.”
“Huh?”
Lee Sol’s eyes grew even wider. They became as round as marbles.
“Something came up···. I decided to get counseling today.”
Shin A-young clasped both hands and tilted her head slightly, as though apologizing.
“···.”
Lee Sol rolled her eyes from side to side. She parted her lips, looking a little more anxious than usual.
“Then I’ll—”
“It’s one-on-one counseling.”
“Uh··· Then I’ll—”
“I think Seungho will be better at counseling.”
Shin A-young placed a gentle hand on Lee Sol’s shoulder and lightly stroked along it.
“And you have to study, don’t you, Sol?”
The final exams were only a month and a half away.
She had to start preparing diligently from now on.
“···.”
Lee Sol pressed her lips tightly together.
“Instead, Minji unnie said she’ll help you study.”
Shin A-young subtly gestured toward the side with her eyes.
Park Minji nodded even as she played the card game.
“···.”
Lee Sol gave no answer.
‘Hmm.’
Shin A-young felt as though she knew what Lee Sol was thinking. Lee Sol might see this as an act of interference.
Perhaps··· yes, that might be exactly right.
“Let’s go in.”
Shin A-young took Lee Seungho into the counseling room at the back.
She quietly closed the sliding door.
Through the gap, she caught a glimpse of Lee Sol’s stunned face.
Shin A-young moved her lips as she watched her.
‘I feel a little bad.’
But she had been waiting patiently too.
It was only one day.
Just one day to relieve some stress.
So······Sol, please understand this much.
······Sol, please understand this much.
······Sol, please understand this much.