Chapter 46
“···.”
Lee Seungho's expression was almost always the same. His facial muscles only moved slightly depending on whether he was happy, surprised, sad, flustered, or feeling some other emotion.
For the most part, the changes were subtle.
No passionate changes in expression could ever be seen on Lee Seungho.
It wasn't always exactly the same, but there were no major changes.
···However. It was a little different now.
Rather than his usual outward gaze, he seemed somewhat steeped in fatigue.
Lee Seungho's eyes narrowed into crescents as he fiddled with his earphones.
“······.”
Shin Ayoung's pupils contracted slightly.
First of all, she was surprised that Lee Seungho had suddenly appeared.
“···W-what?”
She could only mutter that.
Lee Seungho raised a question mark.
“? What?”
“No, weren't you going to study···?”
She had thought he was studying at home, but Lee Seungho had casually popped out into the hallway.
It felt completely out of the blue.
“I studied in the counseling room today. I just came out to take a short break.”
“···Then where are the others?”
“Jinu-ri went out to practice, and the other two are away studying, so it's fine.”
“Ah···.”
Shin Ayoung nodded.
So that was why he had been studying at school instead of going home.
Lee Seungho asked her in return.
“Are you on your way home after finishing club activities?”
“Uh, y-yeah··· That's right.”
Her words came out a little slowly. There was something awkward about dealing with Lee Seungho.
Not because she wanted it to be that way.
Maybe it was because Lee Sol's confession kept coming to mind.
It continued to prick at her.
“···.”
As if he found that strange, Lee Seungho blinked and looked at Shin Ayoung.
A faint smile appeared on his face. He asked in a teasing tone,
“Are you going to the PC bang now?”
Her body flinched.
She hadn't planned on going, but she felt a little guilty.
“···No?”
She merely denied it.
Her pride was strangely hurt.
“Do you think I only ever go to PC bangs?”
“? Isn't that right?”
“No, it isn't.”
For some reason, that annoyed her. What sort of image did he have of her, anyway?
Her lips puckered out slightly.
“Even so, I wouldn't go during exam period.”
Shin Ayoung nodded to herself.
“Then, shall we go to a PC bang now?”
“Huh? Really?”
Shin Ayoung raised her voice without realizing it.
“···.”
“···.”
Lee Seungho blinked silently.
For a moment, they simply looked at each other without speaking.
When she realized that he had been joking,
the skin beneath Shin Ayoung's eyes trembled violently, and the blood rushed to her head.
She lightly thumped him with her fists. It was her protest against being teased.
“You seem to be feeling better.”
Lee Seungho brushed a hand over his shoulder.
“···Better than before.”
“···.”
Lee Seungho looked at Shin Ayoung, then gave a small nod.
“Yeah, you're better than before.”
···What was better?
Shin Ayoung narrowed her eyes.
She couldn't understand. Her reflection, faintly visible in the window,
no matter how she looked at it,
“···looks the same as usual.”
“Huh.”
Lee Seungho let out a disbelieving breath.
“No one's watching right now. Just relax.”
He said that while sweeping a glance around.
But.
It wasn't true that no one was watching.
“···You're watching.”
“We've even gotten comfortable enough to swear around each other.”
“That···!”
Shin Ayoung was startled and looked around. Her shoulders bobbed.
Did he still remember that?
That had clearly been a mistake.
Besides, she didn't even swear much these days.
“Then at least act that way when it's just the two of us. I really won't care what you do.”
“···.”
Her lips pressed tightly together. She blinked.
Shin Ayoung said nothing and changed the subject.
“···Where's Sol?”
“···She's probably lying on the counseling room sofa. She was getting sleepy earlier, too.”
Lee Seungho turned his gaze toward the counseling room at the end of the hallway.
At that, Shin Ayoung let out a hollow laugh inwardly.
Well, that's nice.
“···Must be nice and carefree.”
I was troubled because of someone here.
Anyone would think she was already dating Lee Seungho.
“···I'll get going.”
Shin Ayoung took the first step.
“You're leaving?”
“Yeah.”
Her heart had become troubled.
She simply wanted to go home and sleep deeply.
“···.”
Lee Seungho raised his head, his face showing that he was debating whether or not to say something.
He let out a small breath, then
“Hey, after the exams, let's go to the ice rink again.”
Shin Ayoung's foot stopped.
She only rolled her eyes to look at Lee Seungho.
“Huh?”
“If you don't like that, going to a PC bang is fine too.”
No, that wasn't what she meant.
“We went during midterms too. The others will probably like it.”
“Ah···.”
What? I thought he meant something else.
Shin Ayoung let out a short breath.
“We're going, right?”
“···.”
His calm expression made Shin Ayoung a little annoyed.
Unlike her,
he kept saying whatever he wanted to say.
The thought that this was a little unfair slowly rose like smoke.
“What you just said was serious, right?”
“···Huh? Which part?”
“You just said that when it was only the two of us, I could act however I wanted.”
That she didn't have to put on an act.
Did he even know how hearing that he didn't mind affected her?
She was the one holding back.
Clearly, Lee Seungho hadn't meant it that way, but···.
···Shin Ayoung wiped the sweat from her palm on her skirt, then
“···You really mean that?”
squeezed out in a slightly trembling voice.
* * *
“···You really mean that?”
Shin Ayoung's simple question made Lee Seungho furrow his brows.
Well, that was···.
It was a strange question.
It wasn't as if something like that needed to be approved between friends.
But Shin Ayoung was the sort of person who cared a great deal about the eyes of those around her.
‘This time, too.’
The noise that had returned was the same way.
Since Shin Ayoung's way of relieving stress was to play,
he wondered if she had been stressed out because she was afraid they might no longer be able to spend time together.
There was also her relationship with Lee Sol. Perhaps being close to me had been bothering her.
“Yeah.”
I nodded casually.
Start with one person.
Gradually reduce her awareness of other people's eyes.
As the number gradually increased, she would be able to gradually reduce her stress as well.
Thinking of it that way, it wasn't really difficult.
“I don't mind.”
Wouldn't Shin Ayoung need at least one or two people she could relax around?
I hoped those people would be the ones in the counseling room.
···At my words,
— “-----------!”
the minimi's static suddenly grew louder, then
died down with bizarre speed.
And.
At the end of it,
— “------You said it.”
I heard that mutter in a low voice.
“Okay.”
Shin Ayoung lifted the corners of her lips. It was a faint smile that seemed both relieved and serene.
“See you tomorrow.”
She immediately turned around and walked away at a quick pace, almost running with pattering steps.
“···Yeah.”
I stared at Shin Ayoung's departing back with a dumbfounded expression.
The noise had disappeared completely, but
the sudden burst of sound at the very end···
I couldn't bring myself to be certain that this had gone well.
*
I saw Shin Ayoung off and returned to the counseling room.
When I opened the door,
“···?”
the inside was quiet. A strange silence had settled over the counseling room.
I looked around and found her on the sofa.
It was Lee Sol, lying there with her eyes closed.
“Lee Sol?”
There was no answer.
“Suu··· Suuuu······.”
— “···.”
Her breathing was shallow, and her minimi lay curled up on her stomach, purring away.
“···She's really asleep.”
The sight was absurd, and at the same time, it left me troubled.
Should I wake her?
Or should I let her sleep a little longer?
“···.”
We had covered nearly all the study material anyway.
After thinking it over, I quietly sat on the sofa across from her and picked up my phone.
I decided to wake her after a little while.
That was when
“Mm···.”
Perhaps sensing someone's presence, Lee Sol shifted sluggishly.
— “Mmm···.”
Lee Sol's minimi blinked its eyes and sat up.
“······.”
At the same time, her eyes slowly opened. She looked at the ceiling, then closed them again.
The space between her brows twitched—
— “···Ah.”
A short cry escaped.
The minimi slowly looked around at its surroundings.
— “Wait··· Ah, I really fell asleep···! I was only going to close my eyes for a moment···!”
The minimi's small limbs thumped against the floor.
It looked quite aggrieved.
— “Seungho seems to be here too···!”
The minimi's face had turned red. It looked thoroughly embarrassed.
“······.”
The tips of sleeping Lee Sol's ears were red. Her fingertips twitched faintly.
I pretended not to notice and discreetly watched her.
Seeing Lee Sol's condition, it felt wrong to tell her to get up right away.
The longer I watched, the more curious I became about what would happen.
— “I don't think he noticed that I'm awake yet.”
···He had noticed.
— “Should we wait and see if he wakes her···?”
The minimi nodded nonchalantly.
— “He'll wake her if she keeps sleeping.”
“···.”
···I guess I have to wake her.
At those words, I stood up from the sofa.
I slowly approached her. Without touching her directly, I lightly tapped the sofa a few times.
“Hey, Lee Sol, wake up.”
— “It's a little disappointing··· If you call one more time, then I'll···.”
Good grief, she was a lot of work.
“···Lee Sol!”
When I raised my voice,
“······Mm?”
Lee Sol finally slowly opened her eyes.
She naturally acted as though she had just woken up.
She gently stretched out her arms and yawned.
The minimi's eyes curved into a satisfied arc.
— “Good. That was natural.”
···Hah.
I let out a quiet laugh inwardly as I watched it.
···.