Chapter 75
* * *
What should I call this?
— “------!”
Noise buzzed in every direction. All I could do was quietly listen to it.
My eyes squeezed shut. Only for a moment, but they did.
In short, the situation was a complete mess.
— “------!”
Ayoung’s Minimi’s lips trembled. Unable to hide its panic, it darted around in confusion.
I lightly patted her shoulder.
“···Get up for now.”
“Ah···!”
She jerked upright.
“A-are you okay?”
Ayoung broke into a nervous sweat when she realized she had been on top of me the whole time.
Even then, she was worried that she might have been heavy.
“Yeah.”
I nodded vaguely.
That wasn’t the problem. The real problem was elsewhere.
“···.”
It was her father, who had been silently watching us without saying a word.
“···Hello. My name is Lee Seungho.”
I greeted him first.
I’d already ruined my first impression, but I couldn’t keep making it worse.
“So, are you Ayoung’s friend?”
He returned the greeting naturally, but his expression still didn’t change.
Unlike on TV, his face was cold and impassive.
It was only natural.
He’d seen me in that position in the study with his only daughter. It would have been stranger if he hadn’t reacted.
“He’s my classmate. We have an assignment to work on together.”
Ayoung stepped in and answered for me.
“···Is that so?”
Shin Jinseop’s eyebrows lowered faintly. He didn’t look like he believed it without question.
Ayoung noticed that, too, and raised her voice.
“I-I almost fell just now, and he caught me, so that’s how we ended up like this.”
“In the study?”
“It’s··· I was looking for something I needed to take down···.”
Ayoung’s voice grew quiet again.
Even she seemed to think it was an absurd situation to explain.
“···All right. No one’s hurt, right?”
Shin Jinseop nodded and carefully looked Ayoung over.
“I’m fine.”
“What about your friend?”
“I’m fine, too.”
I quickly spoke up.
“···All right. Be more careful from now on.”
Shin Jinseop seemed to understand what had happened and didn’t say anything more.
‘···For someone who understands, the noise isn’t going away.’
Ayoung had calmed down and returned to normal by then, but
Shin Jinseop’s Minimi was still there.
— “---------”
His Minimi continued to watch me with a sharp gaze.
“···.”
I turned my head to avoid the Minimi’s stare.
The peach I had just eaten felt like it was sitting heavily in my stomach.
“I’ll be in the living room, so take your time with your assignment before you leave.”
He turned his back.
It was a kind remark to his daughter’s friend, but
it felt quite different to me.
The word ‘assignment’ came through especially clearly.
Somehow, it sounded as if he were telling me to quietly do that and leave as soon as possible.
“Yes, thank you···.”
I could only nod awkwardly.
***
Click—
The study door closed again. Ayoung carefully locked it.
“Phew···.”
Only then did I let out a sigh of relief. I thought my heart was going to fall out.
“···You said there was no one home today···.”
I gave her an aggrieved look.
“No, I didn’t know he’d be coming home this early···.”
Ayoung offered an excuse.
— “Wow··· That really startled me··· How did he come in at exactly that moment···?”
The Minimi clutched its chest and took a deep breath, looking aggrieved, too.
“Forget it. Let’s just finish the assignment quickly.”
Since things had turned out this way, I decided to finish quickly and head home.
I moved back to where I had been sitting.
“Huh?”
Ayoung’s voice suddenly rose.
“···!”
Throb—!
Pain shot through my arm. Startled, I yanked it behind my back.
The sudden pain caught me off guard.
“??”
I turned around to see what it was.
Ayoung had one hand slightly outstretched, as if she had touched me.
“···!?”
Ayoung covered her mouth, startled.
— “Ah, uh··· What do I do? It looks like it hurts a lot.”
The Minimi’s eyes shook violently.
It wore a stunned, flustered expression.
“Sss···.”
I checked the spot that hurt.
‘···Is it bruised?’
Maybe I had hit it hard when we fell earlier.
The pain was in the back of my upper arm.
Given where it was, I couldn’t see the spot properly.
As soon as I realized I was injured, the pain intensified. It kept throbbing.
“Let me see.”
She examined the injured area with an apologetic expression.
I asked her,
“It’s bruised, right?”
“···Wait here. I’ll get some ointment.”
Ayoung left the room.
She dashed out and soon returned. Her hair was mussed, as if she had run all the way.
“Stay still. I’ll put some on.”
She grabbed my shoulder and pulled me down. I sank to the floor.
“···It might sting a little.”
“Yeah.”
“···.”
Swipe— Swipe—
I could feel her hand applying the medicine.
Just as she had said, heat rose from the spot where she had applied the ointment.
“···Sss.”
It wasn’t unbearable, but my brow still furrowed slightly.
“···.”
Ayoung’s expression crumpled along with mine.
She didn’t need to feel that sorry about it.
“Phew—”
She blew gently on it. The cool breeze eased the pain a little.
“···.”
Aside from that, I found myself feeling a little strange.
Her parents were probably in the living room.
It felt awfully strange to be doing this alone with her in the locked study.
“Pheeeew—”
···But how long was she planning to keep blowing?
A strange warmth mingled with the coolness of her breath.
“···.”
Knock— Knock—!
Just then, there was a knock from outside the door.
“!”
Ayoung jumped and quickly moved away with small, quick steps.
“You two, have some snacks while you work.”
A deep, low voice came from beyond the door.
“···.”
“···.”
We briefly met each other’s eyes, then stood up awkwardly.
Let’s pretend nothing happened.
That was our wordless agreement.
* * *
“···Did your friend leave?”
Her father’s voice called to Ayoung.
“Yes, he just left.”
Ayoung returned to the living room with a deliberately regretful expression.
Even though they hadn’t finished the assignment, he had left much sooner than she expected.
‘What a shame···.’
···They could have eaten a late-night snack together if things came to it.
She was left with a little regret over missing that.
‘I hope he got home safely.’
She worried that she might have caused him trouble in various ways today.
“Ayoung.”
The deep voice called her.
“···Yes.”
Ayoung answered with the feeling that the inevitable had finally come.
“···.”
After hesitating slightly, Shin Jinseop spoke.
“When no one’s home, I’d like you to show some restraint about bringing friends over. At least bring them when someone’s here.”
His tone was cautious but firm.
“···.”
That was···
Quite unexpected.
She had expected him to tell her not to bring him over, but telling her to bring him when someone was home was honestly beyond her expectations.
“···Dad, you don’t really like meeting my friends, do you?”
“It’s fine, so do that from now on.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Ayoung nodded obediently.
She didn’t know what he was thinking, but she had received permission to bring Lee Seungho home.
But.
‘Next time, we should go somewhere other than home.’
Now that something like this had happened once, she had no intention of bringing him home again.
Lee Seungho also seemed to have felt burdened by meeting her parents.
‘Hmm···.’
Just as Ayoung was wondering where they should work next time,
“···But he’s not your boyfriend, right?”
Shin Jinseop cautiously broached the subject. He looked extremely concerned about it.
“···.”
Ayoung narrowed her eyes.
“He’s a male friend.”
“···It’s okay. You don’t have to hide it. It’s not as though you’re going to be an actress, anyway.”
“I’m telling you, he really isn’t. He’s just a male friend.”
If only the “sa” in “male friend” could disappear, how wonderful would that be?
But the reality was that he wasn’t her boyfriend, even if she wanted to pretend otherwise.
“Hmm, I see.”
Shin Jinseop’s gaze gradually softened. He looked a little relieved.
“···.”
Ayoung watched him with a sullen look. She really didn’t like that reaction.
What was wrong with Seungho, anyway?
He was perceptive, had an eye-catching face, and a great physique.
Wasn’t that more than enough to make him first-rate boyfriend material?
“···.”
Besides.
When she remembered him catching her as she fell from the ladder.
When she replayed that moment in her mind.
Thump— Thump—
Her heart was still pounding hard, and her face filled with a strange warmth.
“···.”
Ayoung clenched both hands inside her pockets.
If she didn’t, she felt like she might start stamping her feet right there.
That was why Ayoung was dissatisfied with her father’s reaction.
“···Not yet.”
This was why that small, impulsive complaint had slipped out.
“Huh?”
Shin Jinseop’s expression turned strange at her words. He clearly didn’t understand.
“For now··· he’s just a male friend.”
After saying that, Ayoung fled into her room, scampering off.
She thought she caught a glimpse of Shin Jinseop’s bewildered face in the corner of her vision, but
that didn’t matter to her anymore.
“···.”
Shin Jinseop stared blankly after her, then
for a moment, he wondered whether he should go out and find Lee Seungho, who had gone home.
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(!Sign!)
(Scroll down for an AI illustration!)
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(Changed Clothes & Tied-Up Hair)