Chapter 9
***
“···Ugh.”
The muscles in both my arms started aching again.
I really needed to stretch or something.
I stopped walking for a moment, set down my schoolbag, and stretched, pulling my arms this way and that.
“Argh······ I’m really dying here.”
Maybe I’d overdone the exercise yesterday.
Thanks to that, I’d fallen asleep almost like I’d passed out after showering yesterday.
“···Maybe I should’ve taken it a little easier.”
But I couldn’t help it yesterday.
It was because Shin A-young, my club senior, had been weighing on my mind.
What she’d said yesterday—that I was ‘the real deal’—was impossible to just let slide.
I couldn’t just ignore this.
Unlike words spoken aloud, there are no lies in someone’s inner thoughts. They can’t help but hit harder.
“···It would be nice if I were just a little taller.”
I pressed a hand against the top of my head and let out a regretful sound.
I was a little short for my age. Around 168 centimeters.
The average height for high school boys was 173 centimeters, so I definitely wasn’t tall.
Still, my growth plates hadn’t closed yet.
Last year, I was 162 centimeters. I’d grown since the year before, so maybe I’d shoot up this year.
—Throb!
“Argh······.”
Muscle pain stabbed through my whole body again.
I definitely had overdone it yesterday, so from now on, I’d better stay within reasonable limits.
I should get to school and sit down quickly···
“Myaow~”
Just then, I heard a cat meow.
Could it be Chunsam? The cat that lived in the school’s back courtyard.
As it happened, I was near the area where Chunsam lived.
I hadn’t seen him since last year, and this was my first time seeing him this year, so it had been a really long time.
“Is it over here······?”
Following the sound, I turned around the corner of the alley.
The first thing I saw was a black guitar case.
A brown-haired girl with a short bob, carrying it on her back, was crouching and looking at something.
“······.”
That profile···
No matter how I looked at her, it was Jinuri.
“Come here~ Meow~”
She waved some foxtail grass and called to the cat sitting in the corner by a stone wall.
Her normally sharp eyes had softened slightly.
Her gently relaxed expression was completely unlike her usual self.
······Let’s pretend I didn’t see this and walk past.
Pounce—
Chunsam stood up and moved somewhere with a light step.
“Oh.”
Jinuri let out a disappointed sound as she watched Chunsam suddenly leave.
Her gaze naturally followed him.
It was pointed in my direction.
“······.”
Our eyes met right then.
“?!”
Jinuri jumped at the sight of me and sprang— to her feet.
She must have been terribly startled; the tips of her ears began turning red.
"Uh, uhhh······."
— “Why is he here??”
Jinuri’s flustered feelings came through loud and clear.
Though that was exactly what I wanted to ask her too.
— Myaow~
Regardless, Chunsam rubbed his head against my leg.
Ever since I’d given him churu a few times, he remembered me and acted all affectionate.
It was a street cat’s desperate struggle for the snack it wanted.
I gently stroked his head.
“Yeah, Chunsam, long time no see. Have you been well?”
That name made Jinuri look puzzled.
“···Chunsam? Do you know this cat?”
“Yeah. He’s a cat that lives in the school’s back courtyard. After I played with him a few times, he remembered me.”
He was wary by nature and often hid in places where he couldn’t easily be seen. But for some reason, he was out today.
I asked her with a sidelong glance.
“You like cats?”
Jinuri gave a slight nod.
“······Not a lot. A little?”
— “I really love them.”
Yeah, she really loved them.
In that case, this was a free bonus.
“Hup.”
I picked Chunsam up.
His body stretched downward like cheese.
“······Hey, have you gotten fatter since the last time I saw you?”
I was secretly surprised by Chunsam’s weight.
The unexpectedly hefty weight traveled up through my wrist. My arm tingled from the muscle pain.
What had he been eating, and where?
He seemed to be living even better than I was.
— Myaow~!
I couldn’t read animals’ thoughts, but somehow that cry sounded like he was angry.
I held Chunsam out slightly toward Jinuri.
“Want to pet him?”
“Huh? Is it okay if I touch him?”
“He’s just timid. As long as you don’t pet him too roughly, he probably won’t scratch you.”
“······.”
Jinuri met Chunsam’s eyes without saying a word.
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed.
She cautiously extended one hand, then gently stroked his fur as if he were a newborn baby.
Soft and fluffy.
Jinuri covered her mouth with her hand.
— “Whoa...! This feels insane...!”
She was far more satisfied than I’d expected.
How much time had passed like that?
“······Phew.”
Jinuri finally seemed satisfied and withdrew her hand.
Then she took wet wipes from her bag and handed them to me.
“Here, tissues.”
“···Oh, thanks.”
Cats could be cute and dirty at the same time, so I should wipe my hands.
This seemed to show another side of her personality.
Come to think of it, what time was it?
Shouldn’t we get going soon?
I finally got up from where I was sitting.
“Let’s go now. We don’t have much time left.”
We’d spent too long here. We had about fifteen minutes left.
We had to set off properly now if we wanted to avoid being late.
Just as I was about to step out of the alley.
Clench—!
My body was suddenly yanked backward.
Jinuri had pulled on my schoolbag.
“?!"
What was going on?
She was pressed right up against my back.
It was a situation one could easily misunderstand, but.
— “I came out early on purpose, and I run into him here? Haah... Hurry up and pass by...”
Reading her inner thoughts, I could be sure it wasn’t that.
It felt like she’d deliberately hidden to avoid someone.
Following Jinuri’s gaze, I saw a boy and girl in school uniforms heading to school together.
Their faces were familiar.
‘Those two are definitely in the same band club as Jinuri······.’
What were their names again?
I didn’t remember their names, but I knew their faces.
They had even appeared onstage at last year’s school festival.
“Phew······.”
Once they had completely disappeared from view, Jinuri exhaled the breath she’d been holding.
“···Ah.”
Perhaps only now had she realized how the situation looked.
Jinuri released my bag, which she’d been clutching tightly, and stepped away.
“Sorry. Did I startle you?”
“···A little?”
It would’ve been a lie to say I hadn’t been startled at all.
At that, Jinuri awkwardly looked away.
“I’m really sorry. I had a bit of a situation···.”
She looked like it was difficult to explain.
I wasn’t particularly curious, either. Jinuri must have had her own reasons.
I urged her along just enough.
“I get it, so let’s just hurry. We’ll really be late at this rate.”
“Ah, yeah. Let’s···!”
The fact that I wasn’t going to ask made Jinuri’s slightly tense expression relax at once.
— “···He isn’t asking what happened. Is he deliberately being considerate?”
“······.”
A slight misunderstanding had arisen.
······Because I’d already heard it all through her inner thoughts, so there was no need to ask.
Fortunately, I wasn’t late. Maybe because we’d hurried, there was even a little time left.
When I entered the classroom, I saw the students gathered in small groups, chatting.
Jinuri went over to Shin A-young, who was sitting at her desk.
“Hi, A-young~”
“You’re here? You’re a little late today.”
“···Yeah, something came up.”
Jinuri vaguely changed the subject.
Apparently, she couldn’t bring herself to say she’d been late because she’d been looking at a cat.
Shin A-young didn’t ask any further and gave a small laugh. Her expression suggested she had a pretty good idea what had happened.
“······.”
Shin A-young then turned her gaze slightly toward me.
“···Seung-ho came with you too?”
“Uh, yeah.”
I answered and tilted my head slightly.
Something was strange.
There was a slight sense of incongruity in Shin A-young’s expression.
“······.”
She was smiling, but she wasn’t smiling.
It wasn’t because I had read her thoughts; that’s simply how it looked.
From someone who never showed her displeasure on the outside, I could sense visible displeasure.
As if she were showing me her genuine expression. It felt like she’d deliberately loosened her act just a little.
Then.
“······.”
Whoosh—she abruptly turned her gaze away from me.
“?”
What was her deal?
Hadn’t we gotten a little closer while playing games together yesterday?
— “···I’ll never message him first again.”
Shin A-young’s inner thoughts suddenly reached me.
“······.”
What was that supposed to mean?
At least, it seemed to be directed at me.
Message?
I took out my phone and checked whether I had received any messages.
I hadn’t gotten anything from her, not······.
“······.”
No, wait, I had.
And it was a message I’d already read.
Maybe I’d fallen asleep while checking my phone yesterday; I could see her message in my read chat history.
···Then this must be what it was about.
She’d gone to all the trouble of sending it, only for me to leave her on read.
“······.”
I raised my head again and looked at Shin A-young.
She laughed and chatted with the others, but whenever she looked at me, her expression sank slightly.
Right in time with me looking at her, just enough for only me to notice.
She was making it perfectly clear that she was sulking.
It would probably become more troublesome if I left her like that.
“Shin A-young.”
“···What?”
Her answer came out with a hint of bluntness.
“You sent me a message, right? I was pretty tired yesterday and fell asleep while checking it.”
At that, Shin A-young stopped moving entirely. It was as if she hadn’t considered that possibility.
“······Ah.”
A small gasp slipped out.
She smoothly carried on as naturally as possible.
“Ahh~? So that’s what it was~?”
— “What? That’s what it was?”
Fortunately, Shin A-young’s expression quickly returned to normal.
Her mood seemed to have lifted, and the corners of her mouth relaxed.
What a relief.
I’d solved it without as much trouble as I’d expected.
“······.”
Jinuri, who had been watching the situation from beside us, sucked in a sharp breath.
— “···What is this atmosphere? Are they the kind of people who text each other? Could this be?”
That’s what I’m saying—it’s not like that.