Chapter 70
* * *
I stood there, blinking. I discreetly gauged the situation.
“···.”
Meanwhile, the uncomfortable silence continued.
The encounter had been so sudden that I lost my words. I couldn’t think of anything to say.
— “Ah, seriously···.”
Ha Seorim’s Minimi scratched its head vigorously as it looked at me. Its platinum-blond hair became disheveled.
— “···Why is this person here? Could he be in the counseling club?”
She examined me uneasily.
‘She recognizes me.’
Enough time had passed that I’d wondered whether she might not recognize me. But she knew who I was at once.
— “Tsk··· Ah, what do I do? He seems to have recognized me, too···.”
She had also realized that I recognized her.
It seemed impossible to pretend not to know each other and move on. Somehow, I had to greet her naturally.
Ha Seorim rubbed the back of her neck for no reason. She seemed to be wondering how to react.
“···Hello.”
She greeted me first.
Ha Seorim gave an awkward little nod.
“···Oh. Hello.”
I returned her greeting awkwardly.
I tried my best not to make it that way, but I didn’t do a very good job.
“Oh, what? You two know each other?”
Jinuri looked at us and asked. Her eyes had become full of curiosity before I knew it.
“···She was my junior in middle school.”
We hadn’t been especially close.
We were the sort of acquaintances who had barely kept in touch after graduating.
“Oh, really?”
“···Yeah, but I didn’t know she went to our school.”
I really hadn’t expected to run into her here.
“···.”
Apparently, Ha Seorim felt the same way, because she subtly narrowed her eyes.
I suppose I should say ‘as expected,’ but I could sense a distance from her.
“···?”
At that moment, the friend beside her looked puzzled for an instant.
— “···Last time, she said he was a stranger···. Did she mean they just weren’t close?”
It seemed Ha Seorim already knew that I attended this school.
Just then, Jinuri stepped in.
“···By the way, what’s going on? You said you had something to tell me.”
She casually leaned back against the sofa.
“···Ah, about that.”
Ha Seorim explained their situation.
“We’re thinking of starting a band club. If you don’t mind, would you like to join our club?”
“Huh?”
Jinuri’s expression twisted strangely. Her face filled with confusion.
“···Huh? You’re starting a club? You’re first-years.”
She said it as if first-years weren’t allowed to start clubs.
“···First-years can start one from the second semester onward.”
I explained it to Jinuri in a whisper.
“Oh, really?”
Jinuri nodded, saying she hadn’t known that.
Then she thought briefly, as though deciding there was no problem.
“But I’m already in the counseling club···.”
“That’s okay. You can join up to two clubs at once.”
“Oh, really?”
At Ha Seorim’s explanation, she nodded again, saying she hadn’t known that either.
“···.”
Ha Seorim’s expression became strange.
— “···She’s different from what I expected.”
She looked at Jinuri with a subtle expression in her eyes.
I inwardly nodded. I could relate to that part.
“Hmm···.”
Jinuri let out a low groan. She seemed to be wondering what she should do.
At her silence, Ha Seorim quickly added,
“Of course, I’m not asking you to answer right away. We’re planning to start the club in the second semester, so there’s still plenty of time.”
Ha Seorim continued speaking as she flicked through her phone.
“You’ll probably want to know how well we play, so I’ll send you a recording on Instagram later.”
“Hmm.”
“Take your time and let us know.”
“Okay, got it.”
That was enough. Jinuri crossed her arms and nodded.
“···.”
Apparently having said everything she needed to say, Ha Seorim subtly gave off the air of someone about to leave the clubroom.
It must have been an uncomfortable place for her, too. Mostly because of me.
“Then we’ll be going.”
Ha Seorim started to walk away.
“Oh, feel free to drop by if you need counseling. I’ll give you something tasty if you come. Ah, and take this, too.”
Jinuri laughed heartily and held out alphabet chocolates to the three of them.
Seeing that, Ha Seorim waved her hands.
“No, no, it’s okay. You really don’t have to go out of your way.”
“It’s fine~ You’re Seungho’s junior, right?”
“···Ah, yeeeah.”
Ha Seorim accepted it awkwardly.
“Sorry for intruding.”
The three of them finished their greetings and left the clubroom.
Rattle— The door closed.
And so, only we remained in the clubroom again.
— “···Did something happen between them?”
— “···I thought I was going to suffocate.”
Shin Ayoung and Isol’s Minimis each muttered a comment.
The two of them watched my reaction with subtle gestures.
“Wow, Korea really is small. I actually ran into a middle school junior here.”
Jinuri muttered as though she found it fascinating.
“Were you close with that girl just now?”
Jinuri asked casually.
— “?”
— “?!”
The two Minimis jumped. They were even more flustered than I was.
“I guess so.”
Her confidence made a hollow laugh escape me instead.
— “Phew···.”
Watching the two of them relax, I looked back at myself.
I subtly rubbed the corner of my mouth.
‘···Was my expression really that bad?’
It certainly seemed like it had been.
I’d been flustered, and the events of the past had come back to the surface of my memory.
It was all in the past. Even though I wanted to tell myself not to worry about it now···.
I couldn’t control it. I suppose it was something I couldn’t help.
* * *
“···.”
Ha Seorim left the counseling room with a sullen expression.
She shoved both hands into the pockets of her oversized outerwear and buried her lower face deep between the closed lapels.
Only her half-moon-shaped eyes peeked out halfway.
Meanwhile—
“Wow, that worked out really well···!”
Ha Seorim’s friend,
An Boram, beamed brightly as she walked along with light, quick steps.
“That senior and Senior Nuri seemed really close···. If you ask her nicely, Seorim, don’t you think it might work out?”
“···What do you mean, work out?”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Because we’re not close.”
Ha Seorim shot her a sullen look.
She continued grumbling,
“You should stay away from that senior, too, as much as possible. Nothing good will come from getting involved with him.”
“···Really? Is it that bad? What part of him?”
“···.”
Ha Seorim fell silent for a moment.
She wondered how much she should explain, and whether she should explain it at all.
Still, she decided to tell her because they were friends.
“···Didn’t you see just now?”
“See what?”
“There were only girls around that senior.”
And every one of them was famous for being pretty.
“Huh?”
An Boram tilted her head, and
“···Oh, you’re right.”
Jin Hyeonwoo, the male friend who had been quietly listening, finally realized it and nodded.
“But they’re in the same club, so couldn’t that be normal? Our school has more girls, too.”
At An Boram’s words, Ha Seorim let out a derisive “Hmph—” and shook her head.
“No, he’s been like that for a long time.”
To be precise, he hadn’t always been like that. It had started at some point.
He cut ties with the friends he’d originally been close to, then formed relationships with only a few people.
They were mostly girls, which was strange.
It even felt as though he was judging people and choosing who to associate with.
“Besides, that senior made an older girl I know cry.”
“In middle school?”
“Yeah.”
Ha Seorim had been close to that girl in many ways.
She had heard all sorts of stories from her, too.
She had heard so many that she was almost sick of them.
···But things hadn’t ended well.
Lee Seungho rejected her. He cut her off very coldly. Ha Seorim had witnessed it herself.
The expression the girl wore the next day still came vividly to mind.
‘And yet···.’
Lee Seungho was living peacefully. He even seemed friendly with another girl in his club.
He was a womanizer through and through.
“···.”
That man.
He seemed like the type who would eventually live with women tucked under both arms, like some typical playboy.
She didn’t want to get involved with him in any way.
The only thing that slightly bothered her was,
‘···Will those seniors be okay?’
Jinuri and the other female seniors were involved with Lee Seungho.
That worried her a little.
···Should she at least warn them?
“Hmm···.”
Ha Seorim shook her head inwardly.
Forget it. Don’t worry about it.
Even if she told them, nothing would change. She’d only end up looking like she was badmouthing him for no reason.
‘It’s not like I’m in a position to worry about those people.’
Ha Seorim laughed bitterly to herself.
She was busy, too.
She had to prepare for final exams, prepare for a performance, and she had several part-time jobs as well.
Oh, and she was thinking of trying TaekTok, too. Apparently it paid pretty well, and money had been tight lately.
···Anyway, she had more than one or two things to worry about.
“Sigh···.”
Remembering all that made a sigh escape her for no reason.
She needed more than one body to handle everything.
They could take care of themselves.
She didn’t have the energy to worry about those people, too.
* * *
The bus stop after school.
Isol was waiting for the bus with Lee Seungho. Jinuri and Shin Ayoung had boarded the bus that came earlier and left ahead of them.
Screeech— Hiss—
Lee Seungho boarded the bus as it pulled to a stop and waved lightly.
“I’m heading out. Solve the problems I mentioned by tomorrow.”
“Okay, see you tomorrow.”
Isol raised a small hand in response.
They exchanged farewells face-to-face.
“···.”
And so Lee Seungho left, leaving her alone.
She waited a little while for the bus home.
The events from just now flashed through her mind.
The three juniors who had come to the counseling club.
Among them—
‘A junior from middle school···.’
That girl came to mind.
She was a very cute-looking girl with striking platinum-blond hair. At a glance, she looked like the type everyone around her would adore.
The noteworthy thing was that she seemed oddly resistant to Lee Seungho.
“Hmm···.”
Isol felt relieved by that fact, but···
On the other hand, a complaint of What’s wrong with Lee Seungho? kept popping out. Her lips pouted.
‘Maybe···.’
A suspicion arose that she might know about what had happened in middle school—the story she had heard from Seungah.
‘···What was that girl’s name again?’
Isol thought hard.
She was sure she’d heard it, but she was confused. She couldn’t remember it properly.
Isol slipped a hand into her pocket. She pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and unfolded it.
‘···That’s right. Ha Seorim.’
The name was written in wobbly letters.
She had written it down in advance so she wouldn’t forget.
Hehe.
Well done. Isol praised herself.
‘Should I ask Seungah about her?’
Just in case they knew each other.