Chapter 60
* * *
A bustling crowd——
“Hey! What was that, Lee Seungho!”
“Whoa—that last save was insane.”
The boys in the class came cheering back into the classroom. Smiles bloomed across all their faces.
It was because they had won today’s semifinal while the preliminary matches were still underway.
Tomorrow, on the day of Sports Day, our class would advance to the finals.
“I carried.”
A short declaration.
A faint smile curved his lips.
“Hmm···.”
Isol quietly watched him. She sat with her chin propped on her desk, watching him without a word.
The corners of his lips were faintly raised.
She had thought he would act indifferent, but apparently he was happy.
···Somehow, that felt cute.
—Ahem-ahem.
She sniffed for no reason. Isol tried hard not to let it show.
Fortunately, Lee Seungho was surrounded by the other kids and had no time to pay attention to her.
“···.”
Isol discreetly turned her gaze the other way.
“Are we going to win the finals too at this rate?”
The girls were also enthusiastically discussing soccer. Today, that was all anyone in the class talked about.
“What was the prize for winning the soccer tournament again?”
“Pizza and chicken.”
“Oh, really?”
“That’s why everyone’s working so hard. They’ll hand out one set to each group.”
“Whoa, damn. Then we absolutely have to win.”
“I think it’s actually possible. The boys in our class are pretty good at soccer.”
“Ah, right. Seungho was really unexpected.”
Lee Seungho.
His name came through especially clearly. It was the first time she had heard it from a student in another class.
“···.”
Swoosh—
Her upper body subtly leaned in that direction.
Isol pricked up her ears while pretending not to.
“Honestly, if he hadn’t blocked that last shot, we probably would’ve lost, right? We scored another goal because of that.”
“I’ll give you that.”
“I knew Seungho worked out, but he blocked it really well.”
“Huh? He works out?”
“I go to the same gym as him. I’ve run into him a few times while passing by.”
“No, I mean, you work out? I had no idea.”
“Ah, seriously, do you want to die?”
Watching the girls dash out in a clatter.
“···.”
Isol’s expression slowly fell. Her hands fidgeted restlessly, unable to find their proper place.
···This was not good.
She was happy that he was being praised, too, but at the same time, she felt oddly conflicted.
Hearing his name come up in their conversation left her feeling unpleasant.
Was this impatience?
“Hmm···.”
Isol straightened her back and looked out the window.
She had begun to seriously consider it.
She had fixated on one particular word.
‘The gym? The gym···.’
The information that Lee Seungho went to a gym kept circling through her mind.
‘Hmm···’
Her eyebrows angled downward. She naturally folded her arms.
‘···Should I go too?’
Isol rubbed her stomach.
Soft and squishy.
It was soft. Maybe because she had been eating so many sweets in the clubroom lately. It had gotten a little softer.
‘I do need to exercise, though···.’
Isol was serious. Summer would arrive not long after the final exams ended.
Summer.
The season when clothes got shorter.
The season when bare skin was exposed.
Thinking about that, it was indeed about time she started moving.
“Hmm···.”
Isol groaned under the weight of her inner conflict.
To be honest, she was reluctant. That was simply her nature.
What was she supposed to do if she hated exercising?
“The finals are tomorrow. Should we practice after school today?”
Amid all that, she heard the boys talking. It was the group Lee Seungho was part of.
“Who are we doing it with? Are the others free too?”
“I’ll ask the class next door.”
“···.”
A subtle smile settled over Lee Seungho’s face.
He clearly didn’t want to do it.
His eyes rolled around. He looked like he was wondering how to bring it up.
···Should she help him?
Isol fidgeted in her seat. She wanted to get him out of there, but she couldn’t figure out what excuse to use.
“Seungho, come here for a second.”
Just then, Shin Ayoung called out to him.
“Hang on.”
At the call, Lee Seungho’s eyebrows twitched, and he quickly slipped away from the group.
The two walked side by side, whispering.
“···How did you know?”
He was asking how she had known he wanted to get away.
“You can tell just by looking.”
Shin Ayoung snorted and flashed a triumphant smile. She had deliberately pulled him away.
‘Ugh.’
Isol’s hand, hidden beneath the desk, clenched slightly.
While she was still debating, Shin Ayoung had beaten her to it.
Only then did she realize she could have simply called him over without hesitation. That left a brief pang of regret.
“Oh, perfect timing.”
Jinuri rose as the two returned. Her wallet jingled as she pointed toward the hallway.
“Let’s hurry to the snack bar before break ends.”
“Now?”
Lee Seungho checked the time. He looked unsure whether they could make it before the break ended.
“We’ll be fine if we go and come back quickly.”
“Do you think there’s anything left?”
Lee Seungho naturally quickened his pace.
“···.”
Isol stared at the three people walking ahead.
There was one more problem.
Jinuri.
It was Jinuri, whom she hadn’t even been keeping an eye on.
Although she was so easygoing that Isol had thought romance was far from her mind, lately she felt that Jinuri had grown noticeably closer to Lee Seungho.
She had even suddenly given him chocolate.
She worried that Jinuri might have feelings for Lee Seungho as well.
In any case, Jinuri was someone Isol could hardly afford to let her guard down around.
“Sol, aren’t you coming?”
Jinuri turned around while walking.
Her expression was bright and innocent. There wasn’t a trace of ulterior motive on her pure face.
She couldn’t completely erase her suspicions, but she did manage to set them aside a little.
“···I’m coming.”
Hmph—Isol haughtily exhaled and stood up from her seat.
She wasn’t letting her guard down.
She intended to follow, if only to keep watch. Her gaze quietly followed Jinuri.
“···? Want to borrow some money if you don’t have any?”
Jinuri opened her wallet. Apparently, she had interpreted Isol’s look that way.
Isol furrowed her brow. That wasn’t why she had been looking.
“···.”
But.
The fact was, she was short on money because she had bought clothes.
Isol timidly fiddled with her wallet, then
“···How much do you have?”
she asked quietly.
* * *
The school snack bar.
“Hmm···.”
I wandered between the displays, carrying an armful of food I wanted to eat.
I picked out chocolate, sports drinks, bread, and things like that.
Unlike yesterday, I had moved around a lot in this match, so I was hungry. I realized that even playing goalie took stamina.
“Phew···.”
I heard Isol sigh.
She was doing that while looking over the snack bar displays and staring down at a chocolate bar.
“···?”
I narrowed my eyes slightly as I watched her.
She had been like that for a while. She had been fine until this morning, but she had started acting that way a little while ago.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed the signs.
— “···She really doesn’t seem to be feeling well today.”
Jinuri’s Minimi glanced over.
For some reason, it had noticed that Isol wasn’t doing well.
— “Hmm··· I’m telling you, it seems like it’s that time of the month.”
It made that assessment all by itself.
“···?”
Once again, I conjured a question mark.
No.
No matter how I looked at it, that wasn’t it.
The Minimi she had during that time was more vicious than it was now. It also produced intermittent static and became more sensitive than usual.
I could tell the difference.
Maybe she was just in a bad mood.
“Hey, hey.”
Jinuri tapped my shoulder.
“?”
When I looked over to see what it was,
“I think you should avoid talking to Sol for a while, as much as possible.”
— “Still, it would be better to tell Sol.”
Jinuri’s Minimi smiled proudly. In its own way, it was offering that as consideration.
“Yeah.”
I nodded without saying anything more.
“···What are you two talking about?”
Isol poked her head between our shoulders.
“Huh?”
Jinuri’s eyes darted around in embarrassment, and she answered hesitantly.
“···Nothing. I was just curious what he was going to choose at the snack bar.”
“Hmm.”
Isol nodded as if she understood.
— “···But why would she be curious about that?”
The Minimi’s eyelids gradually drooped, then
— “···No, right. She could be curious.”
It soon changed its mind. Its thoughts wavered back and forth.
“···.”
I fell silent.
Good grief. The feelings were heavy.
Having to forcibly listen to that voice left me with a feeling I couldn’t put into words.
— “···Lee Seungho. He’s pointlessly popular.”
Isol’s Minimi shot me a bored look.
‘Is it because of the others?’
Could it be because I was interacting with kids I didn’t usually talk to?
I had thought it was just a brief surge of interest because of soccer, but from Isol’s perspective, it seemed to feel different.
‘Sss···.’
I couldn’t make any excuse, either. I just had to listen to her complaint.
After all, what the Minimi said was nothing more than her inner thoughts.
— “···.”
Isol’s Minimi puffed out its cheeks as it looked at me, then
— “···Let a goal in already.”
···Cough!
I started coughing at the unexpected curse. I had inhaled wrong and choked.
“? Are you okay?”
Shin Ayoung was startled and patted my back.
“Good grief, you’re so clumsy.”
Jinuri shook her head at my helplessness.
“···.”
Seeing that, Isol blinked in apparent confusion. She seemed startled by my sudden coughing fit.
Her eyes darted back and forth, then
— “···Ta, take it back.”
She blurted out that thought.