Chapter 43
“I’m home.”
I opened the front door and stepped inside. The sound of the TV came from within.
As I entered the living room, Lee Seung-ah was sitting on the sofa.
The girl watching anime on the big screen glanced over here, then
turned her head back around.
“…What? Did you work out? Didn’t you go study with Sol unni?”
“I didn’t today because of the counseling.”
“Really…?”
Maybe Lee Seung-ah wasn’t very interested either; she looked as if all her attention had returned to the TV.
I had no intention of continuing the conversation either.
Right now, I felt more like resting.
I roughly tossed my bag into my room and changed out of my school uniform.
“Hwaa—”
I washed up right away, then flopped onto my bed.
“Phew…”
I could finally breathe.
It had been a while since I’d skated, and that had taken quite a bit of stamina too. My eyelids felt heavy, blinking sluggishly.
At this rate, I probably wouldn’t be able to work out today.
I felt like I’d fall asleep any second.
“…”
Still, I figured I should do what needed doing, so I rolled around on the bed and picked up my phone.
‘At least I managed to settle Shin Ayoung down….’
I’d resolved her noise. She should be fine for the time being.
There was just one person left.
Lee Sol.
She was still giving off noise.
“…”
I recalled what had happened a little while ago. The noise had grown even louder when we left school.
I didn’t know whether she was okay now.
I hadn’t been able to contact her after that because I’d had to leave in a hurry.
‘…What should I do?’
I fiddled with my phone. The device, raised toward the ceiling, felt heavy.
Lee Sol’s noise was clearly a different kind from Shin Ayoung’s.
I was still trying to figure out how to take it.
So I hesitated even over sending a casual message.
…I had to do something, at least.
But I couldn’t bring myself to reach for it.
* * *
Home was nice. Lying there was even better.
Lee Sol was a person who liked being at home more than anyone.
Just as you don’t bother a dog while it’s eating.
Just as you don’t wake someone for no reason when they’re asleep.
At least while lying down, being at home at this moment meant she didn’t have to do anything.
Not having to think about anything meant, in other words, having no conflict or fatigue.
That was why Lee Sol liked being home.
…Except.
Today, at least, was different.
She couldn’t understand why she had to be at home.
“…”
Lee Sol lay facedown on the living-room sofa, resting her chin on a cushion.
“Phoo……”
The sigh she exhaled met the cushion and became a rumbling, vibrating sound.
She stared quietly at the small screen.
She flicked through her phone. Her round, clear eyes followed along with it.
‘It’s not like he went to a PC bang….’
Both accounts’ records were unchanged.
Unless he had another account, it didn’t seem like he’d gone to a PC bang.
‘What the heck…!’
Lee Sol roughly scratched her gray hair.
A surge of betrayal toward Shin Ayoung welled up.
She had said she would help…!
“…”
…No.
She had said she would manage on her own during the school trip, and that Shin Ayoung didn’t need to help.
But that didn’t mean she wanted her to get in the way, did it?
“Ugh…”
She pulled a back cushion into her arms and buried her face in it.
After rolling around on the sofa, she eventually went limp.
“…?”
Her mother, who had just finished washing up, came out of the bathroom while shaking her hair dry.
Then, upon seeing her,
she abruptly stopped in her tracks.
With a slightly flustered expression,
she set down the towel she had been using to dry her hair for a moment and
“…Did something happen at school…?”
her mother asked carefully.
Hidden beneath her expressionless face was a quiet concern.
“…”
Lee Sol got up from the sofa for no particular reason.
“…Nothing happened.”
She shook her head firmly.
It really was nothing.
Right, it was only for one day anyway.
“…I seeee…?”
Lee Sol’s mother wore an awkward expression.
For some reason, instead of going into her room, she wandered around the living room before
sitting at the dining table in front of the kitchen.
Ring—.
Her phone gave a small alert.
“?”
Lee Sol lifted the screen to see what it was.
If Shin Ayoung had called, she would have just left it alone.
[Lee Seungho]
“…!”
Her eyebrows jerked up. Lee Seungho had contacted her first.
She was about to check it right away, but
she stopped, her hand trembling.
‘This will make me look like I was waiting for him.’
She worried that checking immediately would make it seem as if she had been waiting for his text the whole time.
‘…Then I’ll wait about two minutes and look.’
Lee Sol placed her phone neatly on the sofa.
She folded her arms and tapped her fingers.
…One minute passed like that… then two.
“…”
Deliberately drawing her eyebrows together, she unlocked the screen.
She tapped the message displayed at the top of the screen.
— Lee Seungho: Did you get home safely?
— Lee Seungho: How did studying go today?
“Hmph.”
Air escaped between Lee Sol’s small lips when she saw them.
Still, she must have been concerned.
— Lee Sol: (hamster flopping over on the floor emoji)
— Lee Sol: Minji unni did help me, though.
— Lee Sol: It was difficult.
Lee Sol sent the reply.
“…”
She propped up her chin. Tapping her finger, she brushed her lips.
No reply came for quite some time.
— Lee Seungho: Then.
That was the message that came.
— Lee Seungho: Let’s do a study group tomorrow.
“…”
Lee Sol blinked.
“…Hmph.”
She let out a prim little breath and forcibly calmed her expression.
Tap tap tap.
All the while, her shins were moving alternately, drumming against the sofa.
At that moment.
“…”
“…”
Lee Sol’s eyes met her mother’s.
“…Why?”
She slowly sat up from the sofa, clearing her throat as she straightened her posture.
“No… I was just wondering if something good had happened…?”
“…Nothing happened.”
It was true.
* * *
The next day. Sunlight gently slipped through the gaps in the school windows.
It was when Lee Sol, who had arrived at school earlier than usual, was sitting at her desk, half-asleep.
“Sol.”
It was Shin Ayoung’s voice.
When she slowly opened her eyes, Shin Ayoung was sitting down after putting her bag down.
“Here, take this.”
Shin Ayoung held out a small box.
“…What’s this?”
“I think I interrupted your studying because of me yesterday. You like this, don’t you?”
Looking again at what she had given her, it was a box of chocolates tied with a ribbon.
It looked like a fairly high-end product.
“Okay, I’ll enjoy it.”
There was no reason to refuse for the sake of refusing. Lee Sol accepted it.
The situation was different from yesterday.
That was because she understood Shin Ayoung’s troubles.
“Mm.”
Lee Sol picked up a chocolate and ate it, nodding inwardly.
Shin Ayoung had drawn so much attention, perhaps because of the drama. She must have built up a lot of stress over that time.
Yesterday’s behavior could also be seen as the result of those circumstances.
That was what the counseling department was for in the first place.
If that was all it was.
Once was fine. She could understand it.
Because she was a very understanding woman, after all…!
“…But.”
Lee Sol tapped on her desk, making Shin Ayoung turn her attention this way.
Aside from that.
She was a little curious.
“What did you two do after you went out yesterday?”
“Huh?”
At Lee Sol’s question, Shin Ayoung’s movements slowed.
“…”
Right, it wasn’t anything special.
She was just curious.
That was only natural.
“It didn’t look like you went to a PC bang.”
“…”
Shin Ayoung was silent for a moment at the question.
She twirled a strand of her hair around her pinky.
As if she was troubled somehow…
“Umm… just… this and that? We didn’t do anything special.”
She evaded the question roughly.
“Really?”
It did bother her a little, but
figuring it probably wasn’t anything significant, Lee Sol let it pass without much thought.
“…”
That was the end of the conversation.
Lee Sol once again sank into drowsiness, using the warm sunlight as a blanket.
How long had she been like that…?
“Ah.”
When she opened her eyes slightly at Shin Ayoung’s single syllable,
“Hi, Seungho~”
Shin Ayoung lightly waved toward Lee Seungho as he entered through the back door.
“Oh, good morning.”
He accepted the greeting and sat in his seat.
“Seungho, Seungho.”
Shin Ayoung called to him as she walked toward the front seat.
She tapped his shoulder.
“Want to go to the snack bar later? I saw this morning that they were restocking the snacks that had sold out.”
“Really?”
“What was it again? The one you wanted to try last time.”
“Fruit ice cream…?”
“Oh, right. They got a few of those in too.”
…What?
“…Hmm?”
Lee Sol’s eyes narrowed as she watched the exchange.
Looking at Shin Ayoung’s face, she sensed something strange. It felt familiar, like something she had seen before.
“…”
Lee Sol leaned forward and examined that expression more closely.
Shin Ayoung brushed her hair behind her ear. Her gaze was directed unusually toward one particular place.
Seeing that, Lee Sol’s lips slowly parted.
“You two are coming too, right?”
Suddenly, she turned her gaze and asked Lee Sol and Ji Nuri.
Ji Nuri removed one earbud and said,
“I’ll go if you’re buying.”
“Great, Nuri isn’t coming.”
Shin Ayoung turned her gaze to the left. It was the direction where Lee Sol was.
“What about you, Sol?”
“…”
Lee Sol pushed her chair back and rose.
She reached out and tugged Shin Ayoung’s sleeve lightly.
“Hmm? Why?”
When puzzlement surfaced in her eyes,
“…Come outside and talk to me for a moment.”
Lee Sol called her outside with an awkwardly stiff expression.
Somehow, it seemed dangerous to go any further here.