Chapter 66
* * *
I followed the vice class president to one side of the field.
The next event was about to begin, and students from the other classes were busily moving around to find their places.
“What is it?”
I asked out of habit.
The vice class president cautiously broached the subject.
“It’s nothing major··· but could you take someone else’s place in the obstacle race?”
“Me? There’s already someone who was supposed to do it.”
The events we participated in had been decided in advance, before Sports Day began.
If he was bringing it up now, there had to be a reason.
“The thing is··· Jihoon twisted his ankle a little while ago, so he went to the nurse’s office.”
That was the reason.
The kid who was supposed to participate had gotten injured.
“Really?”
I nodded slightly.
This was another thing I had already heard from my Minimi.
“You’re the only person I can ask. Please, just do it once.”
The vice class president gave me an earnest look.
I was silent for a moment.
As the silence continued, my Minimi’s expression grew gloomy.
— “Sss··· Seungho’s the best among the ones left···.”
Hmm.
Compliments in my head don’t get me anything.
“All right.”
I nodded.
There was no reason to make an issue of it. I could run it once.
“Ah, what a relief.”
The vice class president let out a sigh of relief.
“It’s starting soon, so let’s go right away.”
“Sure.”
I followed the vice class president toward the waiting line.
The third-year boys’ obstacle race was taking place now.
Since it was nearly over, it was soon time for the second-year boys.
“Let’s do our best.”
“Yeah.”
I gave a perfunctory nod at the vice class president’s words.
Swish—
The official raised a flag high into the air. It was the signal to get ready.
— Piiiiip!
The whistle blew loudly. At the same time, everyone rushed forward without exception.
“Hoo···.”
Perhaps because I had been moving nonstop since soccer that morning, my breathing was getting ragged more quickly than usual.
Still, I could manage.
After passing the first, second, and third obstacles in succession, only one table remained.
The ‘Bring Back the Item Written on the Note’ course.
Several notes were scattered across the desk.
I picked up one at random.
“Oh.”
After reading its contents, I was a little taken aback.
It wasn’t a difficult request. It wasn’t a particularly hard problem, but···
“What is it? Is it difficult?”
The vice class president, who had run up behind me, asked as he chose a note.
“No.”
I shook my head.
For now, I should get moving.
“···.”
It wasn’t difficult to find the person named on the note.
Isol was still sitting in the same place as before.
“Hmm···.”
I hesitated slightly about approaching her.
She was obviously in a foul mood.
That was something I could tell even without hearing my Minimi’s voice.
She was sitting with her chin propped on her hand, fuming irritably.
Isol had never been good at hiding what she was feeling in the first place.
It was simply visible at a glance.
Even so.
“Isol, let’s go.”
I ran over and lightly took her by the wrist, pulling her along.
Isol’s body came fluttering after me.
“···Huh?”
A tiny squeak came from that little mouth. Her lips parted stupidly.
We ran like that for a while.
“Hwegh.”
Isol’s body pitched forward. Her hair floated up into the air.
“!”
I quickly grabbed both of her shoulders.
Fortunately, I was able to pull Isol upright before she fell.
Perhaps because she had been running all day, the strength had seemingly left her legs without her realizing it.
“Are you okay?”
“···Mm-hmm. I’m okay.”
Isol nodded up and down.
— “---------”
Contrary to her words, however, the noise only grew more intense.
“···.”
Perhaps embarrassed by how she looked, Isol crossed her arms and shyly covered her face.
“Let’s go.”
I led her along as we ran.
More slowly than before.
I noticeably reduced my running speed, making sure she could keep up.
We still had to run all the way to the finish line in the distance.
“Huff, hng···.”
We hadn’t even run that far, but Isol already looked exhausted. She waddled like a penguin on land.
I wondered if I should make her exercise sometime.
Since she was close with Lee Seungah, they might do well exercising together.
— Beep.
While I was thinking that, we crossed the finish line.
Maybe because I had brought her over immediately after checking the note, we arrived first among our class.
“I’ll check the note.”
The event official approached us.
“Oh, what the—”
I thought I had seen him somewhere before, and it turned out he had been in my class last year.
“···It’s been confirmed.”
He glanced down at the paper carelessly and handed it back.
We hadn’t seen each other in a long time, yet he didn’t even say hello.
He merely shot me a sidelong glare.
— “Lee Seungho, you lucky bastard.”
My Minimi cursed inwardly. Its voice was filled with heartfelt resentment.
I had nothing to say to that.
“···.”
I had finished everything, so just as I was about to wait in the line—
Tug, tug—someone pulled on my collar.
“?”
When I turned around, Isol was looking up at me with a hesitant expression.
— “···Let’s ask him.”
My Minimi muttered to itself.
The noise had disappeared before I knew it. It was proof that Isol’s mood had improved.
‘Oh.’
I was secretly surprised when I saw that.
It was a good thing. At the same time, it was puzzling.
All I had done was bring Isol out there. That was it.
I had expected something more dramatic, so could that alone have improved her mood?
“Um···.”
Isol asked hesitantly, smoothing down her hair.
“···What did the note say?”
“It was nothing important.”
“Then what did it say?”
She was persistent.
“···.”
I rolled my eyes away from her gaze.
I hesitated over whether I should tell her exactly. I fell silent as I recalled the words on the paper.
···‘Someone who looks like a hamster.’
Not a rabbit, not a cat, but a rodent.
No matter how I thought about it, saying it exactly as written didn’t seem right.
— “···.”
My Minimi was looking at me expectantly. Its round eyes sparkled.
That only put more pressure on me.
“···Someone I can rely on when things get rough.”
I improvised an appropriate answer.
“···.”
Isol blinked.
She remained dazed like that for quite some time.
“Th-then, okay.”
With a light snort, she walked ahead of me.
— “Hehe.”
My Minimi’s steps had somehow grown lighter.
Pip-pip.
I watched it trot cheerfully after Isol with excited steps.
“···.”
It was a relief that she seemed to be in a better mood.
‘Was that the right thing to do?’
That was still something I was unsure about.
It wasn’t exactly a big lie.
Isol could come through when it mattered, after all. If something came up that she needed help with, maybe it would be true.
“······.”
I shoved the paper deeper into my pocket. I felt like I had to keep it a secret.
* * *
······A little while earlier—
“Phew······.”
Shin Ayoung watched Isol sigh.
She had looked like that for a while now.
“···.”
Shin Ayoung withdrew her attention from her.
She figured it would be best to leave her alone.
She hoped time would solve it. It didn’t look like a problem she could solve by stepping in right away.
‘When is he coming···?’
Shin Ayoung’s foot swung back and forth.
She sat quietly, waiting for Lee Seungho to return.
‘···That’s Seungho, isn’t it?’
Shin Ayoung spotted Lee Seungho on one side of the field.
She was more than a little surprised to see him.
He should have already participated in every event he was scheduled for today. Why was he over there?
Had he filled in for someone else?
‘The next event is···.’
Shin Ayoung searched for the Sports Day schedule. She was sure she had put it in her bag.
Ah, here it is.
Snap—the paper unfolded. The day’s schedule was written down in a long list.
She slowly ran her finger down the chart. At this time···
···Second-year boys, obstacle race.
“···.”
Shin Ayoung abruptly raised her head and followed Lee Seungho’s position.
The race had already begun.
“Huh?”
Shin Ayoung’s voice rose because Lee Seungho was running toward them.
His gaze was directed this way.
The distance between them kept growing smaller.
···Gulp.
At the thought, her hand unconsciously tightened into a fist.
And then.
Tap—
He grabbed Isol by the wrist.
Isol’s body was pulled along easily.
‘···Ah.’
Shin Ayoung’s gaze followed them blankly. She couldn’t take her eyes off them.
The backs of the two of them gradually grew farther away.
“······Ugh.”
Shin Ayoung didn’t know what to do. Her gaze darted around.
Because she had let herself hope without realizing it.
The shame, embarrassment, and envy she felt over it all combined, leaving her unable to control herself.
Her ears were hot. Shin Ayoung forcibly furrowed her brow.
‘···No, it’s nothing.’
It was fine.
All he was doing was helping her run in an event.
The note probably wasn’t anything particularly special, either.
It was merely a coincidence that Isol had been the one named on it.
That was all.
Even after trying to reassure herself like that,
Watching them left her chest feeling tight, as though she had indigestion.
“······?”
It was strange. The feeling was utterly unfamiliar.
Even she was flustered by the emotion.
Her fingers gripping the hem of her pants unconsciously tightened.
Honestly, she was disappointed.
She couldn’t stop wondering what was written on the paper Lee Seung-ho was holding.
“I’m back—”
Jinuri appeared before she knew it, skipping down the stairs.
“······.”
Shin Ayoung sprang to her feet.
“Hmm? Hey, where are you going? I bought drinks.”
“······.”
Shin Ayoung left without even having time to answer.
She didn’t have the confidence to keep watching that.
She was definitely falling behind.
All she had done was realize that fact.
* * *
······What is this?
Jinuri narrowed her eyes as she watched Shin Ayoung abruptly leave.
She had no idea what was going on.
“···What was that all of a sudden?”
Jinuri scratched the back of her neck.
Shin Ayoung’s expression had looked very awkward.
She was smiling, but it didn’t feel like she was smiling at all.
It was like someone who was bad at acting forcing herself to act out a smile······.
That was roughly the feeling.
“Hmm.”
She had no idea.
There was no point in continuing to worry about it.
Jinuri hummed to herself as she sat down in her place. She took out one of the drinks she had brought in the bag.
“Nngh···!”
The plastic bottle cap was screwed on so tightly that it simply wouldn’t open.
“Seungh—”
She started to call his name, then realized he wasn’t there.
“···Oh.”
Come to think of it, he was gone. Lee Seungho, and Isol too. They had disappeared somewhere.
Fortunately, she found the two of them soon enough.
“···Huh?”
She spotted them on the field. The two of them were running.
So that was where they had disappeared to—they were in the middle of the obstacle race.
Why they were over there was a separate issue.
“···.”
Jinuri watched them quietly, then awkwardly scratched her cheek.
Watching that···
Sniff.
For no particular reason, she sniffed once.