SMW 16

“Hey, Han Yeo-reum. What the hell was that earlier?”

As soon as the break started, Gyeong-ho rushed straight toward me. His behavior, which didn’t even let a single question slide, made me frown and glare at him.

“Do you want to die?”

“Huh? Ah! Hey, I already apologized for that earlier.”

“You really want to die, don’t you?”

“No… I’m just upset that you left like that yesterday.”

“Just get in my face.”

“Whoa! Okay, okay. This big brother is buying ice cream today.”

That damn ice cream. I vowed that if he actually bought it, I’d make sure to get a cone and smash it right into his face. While doing so, I checked the book cover that had pitifully sacrificed itself against my face earlier. Unable to contain himself, Gyeong-ho leaned in and whispered softly.

“Hey, Han Yeo-reum.”

“What?”

“I’m asking what that was earlier.”

“What what?”

“What else? I mean Choi Seol.”

The question I had been desperately trying to avoid was finally thrown at me.

“Did you actually start talking to that guy?”

“It’s not like that.”

My voice, which snapped out irritably without me realizing it, must have been quite loud, as I felt eyes on me again. It had been like this since class started. Faces that looked like they wanted to ask me something. In fact, a few people actually came over to ask. In times like this, Gyeong-ho was helpful.

“Han Yeo-reum. You and Choi Seol earlier…”

“Hah! Yeo-reum is talking to me right now. Now beat it!”

In a simple-minded group of cells where hierarchy was decided by who was better at sports, Gyeong-ho was quite high-class. While Gyeong-ho chased the kids away, I quickly stole a glance at Choi Seol’s seat. Fortunately, he seemed to have gone somewhere.

“Otherwise, why did that guy butt in between us earlier?”

I wondered who would chase this idiot away.

“Maybe it looked like you were being too much, even to a stranger.”

“What did I do?”

“I thought your nose bridge was going to break. Your lips, too…”

I stopped mid-sentence and shut my mouth. The spot where Choi Seol’s finger had touched and then pulled away felt itchy. As I absentmindedly chewed on my lower lip, I felt a blatant gaze fixed on it.

“You’re fine now. It was really red earlier, but it’s almost gone now.”

“Almost?”

When I glared at him with hawk eyes again, Gyeong-ho read the room and smirked.

“It’s still a tiny bit red, but you’ve always turned red easily… Yeo-reum, let’s talk like civilized humans and unclench your fists. I said I was sorry.”

“Forget it. I’m busy, so go away.”

I unclenched my fists and focused back on the book. Fortunately, the cover that had touched my face was clean.

“By the way, this is a new book. Did you buy it?”

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Gyeong-ho.

“Haven’t you left yet?”

“You said you didn’t have money to buy this. Weren’t you saying just the other day that you were going to save up?”

Seeing as he was completely ignoring my words, it seemed he had no intention of leaving. Regardless, this guy knew that I liked this book.

“I borrowed it.”

“Borrowed? From whom?”

Why did I say that?

“…Just someone. An acquaintance.”

I immediately regretted those words too. Gyeong-ho’s eyes narrowed as if I were being suspicious.

“An acquaintance? Does our Yeo-reum have another friend that I don’t know about?”

“Anyone listening would think you’re my only friend.”

“You said I’m your only best friend.”

“Who… whatever. My mom goes to a temple. It’s someone I know from there.”

“Ah. Religious activities.”

There was no way I could tell him that Choi Seol gave it to me. Just the fact that he had spoken to me for a moment had already made the stares unbearable; if people found out I had borrowed something from him, it would undoubtedly become noisy in some way. I hated the idea of having to explain yesterday’s events for that.

“Anyway, don’t bother me when I’m reading. This is a new book, so I have to be careful and return it in good condition.”

I had no desire to go through what happened this morning again.

“It definitely is clean. There aren’t even any fold marks; it’s brand new. He lent this to you first?”

I shouldn’t have mentioned it was a new book. I regretted it once more as Gyeong-ho’s gaze became sly.

“Is it a girl by any chance?”

“Can’t you just get lost?”

“Seriously?”

To my tone-deaf friend who took my request to leave as an answer, I responded with a dead-serious expression.

“Why does the gender even matter here?”

“Because if it’s a girl, I thought she might be interested in you.”

“Crazy. Don’t you know it’s disgusting to interpret a kindness like that?”

“Hey, this isn’t just a simple kindness. Think about it. It’s clearly a new book, and he just readily lends it to you? You know how hard that is, right? If their mom found out, they’d have to brace themselves for a back-smashing. That’s the level of risk they took to lend it.”

Since he put it that way, I was momentarily tempted, but when I recalled who had lent me the book, I instinctively shook my head. Right, there’s no way Choi Seol would do that.

“There’s no way.”

“I’m telling you, it’s obvious.”

“Gyeong-ho. Please just go. I have to read…”

“Choi Seol!”

Damn, my heart. I don’t know why it’s been acting up so much since yesterday. Choi Seol was about to enter through the front door of the classroom but stopped his steps when someone called him and stepped back into the hallway. Students began to gather around him. Although Choi Seol had a reputation for being scary, he wasn’t the kind of target one had to be wary of, like the typical school bullies.

Students always flocked around Choi Seol. He tended to allow people near him, except when he was in the worst of moods. Yesterday must have been the worst. Today, he seemed to be in a fairly good mood. Thanks to that, things were difficult for me.

If he was surrounded by kids all day like that, I couldn’t even deliver a message, let alone approach him. Because of what happened this morning, it was certain that I’d attract attention just by getting close. In every way, it was a situation that forced me to be timid.

“Don’t you think Choi Seol is seriously amazing?”

Gyeong-ho, who seemed to have no intention [unauthorized copy]of returning to his seat until the class bell rang, let unauthorized copyout an admiring exclamation.

“When I heard he beat up a bully, I thought he was some hardcore gangster, but he’s handsome, has a great build, is good at sports and studying, and on top of that, he has the ability to draw people in like that. Ah! I’m so jealous. Even the teachers don’t say anything no matter what he does.”

I didn’t know whether to take that as a complaint or a compliment; I found myself laughing.

“Are you jealous?”

“Hey. You have to be somewhat in the same league to be jealous. He’s on a whole different level.”

“…That’s true.”

If it weren’t for the accidental encounter yesterday, I probably wouldn’t have exchanged a few words with Choi Seol for the rest of the year, nor would I have borrowed a book like this. Perhaps Choi Seol really felt no need to talk to me anymore. That’s probably why he left the book here in advance.

Still, I wanted to say thank you. I also needed to exchange our backpacks soon. And I had to ask if it was actually a new book.

I shifted my gaze to the book. It probably wasn’t brand new. It didn’t have that smell you get at a bookstore. I couldn’t describe it well, but it was a scent that had slowly seeped in from the owner’s side. Perhaps that was why my heart fluttered just a little bit while looking at this book.

Choi Seol was still surrounded by kids. I’ll wait and greet him when he’s alone. There would be at least one chance by lunch, after the supplementary classes ended.

“Alright, that’s it for today.”

In the end, I couldn’t say it. I waited all day, but there wasn’t a single gap to strike up a conversation. I realized once again how popular Choi Seol was. Having kept my nerves on edge during every break, I was exhausted and had no motivation left. To think that saying thank you once could be this difficult. From the lender’s perspective, he might think I’m quite shameless.

Honestly, I had things to say too. What about my backpack that he said he’d return at school? Shouldn’t he take his own visit our sitebackpack back too? He could have said something like, “I’d like it back by whenever,” or “I’ve never read visit our siteit, so keep it clean.” Or even tell me to treat him to a meal later. There were plenty of things to discuss. Or maybe he just didn’t care either way.

I slumped my shoulders, feeling gloomy. Choi Seol had disappeared long ago. I considered targeting him on the way home after school, but that felt like something a stalker would do, so I wasn’t keen on it. If I’d known it would be like this, I should have just let Gyeong-ho buy me that ice cream. I regretted sending him off early just in case. Since it had come to this, I had no choice but to use my last resort.

I opened my bag and took out a pen and a notebook. I’ll leave a note. The thought of two guys exchanging notes—not even a love letter between a man and a woman—made me cringe, but I felt I couldn’t let today pass. If I wrote this, at least he wouldn’t misunderstand me as being shameless. If I write this, put it in Choi Seol’s bag, and leave it on the desk, he’ll see it eventually…

“You’re still here.”

“Mommy!”

Startled, I dropped the pen I was holding. A large hand picked up the pen that had rolled across the desk and then thudded onto the floor. Recalling the memory of how many times I’d touched that hand, I looked up following the pen and saw Choi Seol standing there. Looking at him—who was exactly as I’d wanted all day, including the condition of being alone—I, as always, couldn’t say a word.

“Thanks for lending me the book?”

Choi Seol was the one to speak first. However, the sentence he uttered was familiar, and the intonation was awkward, like reading from a textbook. I soon realized that Choi Seol’s eyes were on my notebook spread open on the desk. It was the content of the note I had intended to write to him. In an instant, my face flushed bright red.

“That, I mean…”

I tried to cover it with my hand belatedly, but it was already too late.

“No way. Were you writing that to me?”

I was so embarrassed I wanted to turn into fine dust and disappear. What could I do? Since it had already come to this, I decided to at least achieve my goal and jumped up from my seat.

“Thanks for the book. I’ll enjoy reading it.”

My voice was shaking and cracking; it was a total mess. My face must have been red, for sure. It was the first time in my life I’d been this nervous while talking to someone. Choi Seol seemed to have seen my state accurately. At first, he looked slightly taken aback, but then he let out a small chuckle.

“Anyone watching would think you’re confessing.”

Even though I knew he was just joking, it felt like a prick to my heart.

“But isn’t the greeting a bit too late?”

“Huh?”

Could he have been waiting? As expected, it would have been a disaster if I’d let today pass.

“You seemed busy.”

“I wasn’t.”

“You were talking to kids throughout every break.”

“For the most part, those guys were just talking one-sidedly.”

“…Still.”

As I answered timidly while reading his expression, Choi Seol’s eyes narrowed. Was he annoyed [visit our site]that I was beating [unauthorized copy]around the bush? But telling him I waited for him to be alone because I [unauthorized copy]hated being the center of attention would seem even stranger.

“There’s a snack shop near the stream that makes great tteokbokki. Even the kids from our school don’t know about it, so you rarely run into anyone you know.”

As I listened blankly to the sudden mention of snacks, Choi Seol asked with a slight curl of his lips.

“Want to go?”

“…Me?”

“Well, who else is here?”

Choi Seol pretended to look around and then sent his gaze back to me, as if asking what I was waiting for. Various questions flashed through my mind at his proposal, but my hesitation didn’t last long.

“I’ll go.”

“Bring your bag.”

Right. The bag. I quickly grabbed the paper bag I had hung by the desk. However, Choi Seol was already walking out of the classroom. It wouldn’t matter. I could give it to him on the way, or we could swap them at the snack shop. I hurriedly put on my bag and followed Choi Seol.