Chapter 100: Why is it chilly in the middle of summer?

It was late, more accurately described as early morning rather than midnight.

Most (not all) of the other graduate students had already left, but Hyo-in and Ye-rin were still in the lit lab.

Hwaaam- Ye-rin, sitting in front of the monitor editing video footage, lightly rubbed her eyes.

Hyo-in, watching her, smiled faintly and spoke.

“Ye-rin, you should go home now. You’ve been at this all day.”

“It’s okay. Unnie isn’t leaving either, so I can’t just leave first.”

Ye-rin shook her head and smiled lightly.

Although she had just finished her first semester since entering graduate school, her enslavement was completed long ago.

“Well, looking at it, it seems like just a little more work will do.”

SIGGRAPH is notorious for its difficult paper submission process, but the aftermath of acceptance is even more troublesome.

Not only did they have to submit additional code and experimental data, but they also had to prepare separate videos to prove the research’s reproducibility, so each piece of data required a lot of work.

“But Hyo-in unnie, shouldn’t we be booking our flights and hotels soon?”

Ye-rin, who had been tapping the keyboard and clicking the mouse for a while, suddenly asked as if she remembered.

“I already booked all of that yesterday.”

“What? No, you should have asked me to do chores like that, why did unnie…!”

“It’s okay. You’ve been suffering a lot helping with the camera-ready stuff lately.”

“…Even then, unnie pretty much handled everything.”

Ye-rin pouted and whined.

Hyo-in let out a small laugh at her junior’s cute complaint.

“Still, thanks to you, it was much smoother.”

‘I almost missed the deadline,’ Hyo-in thought, turning her gaze back to the monitor screen.

“…”

Ye-rin gently turned her head and examined her senior’s face.

Today, no, recently.

Hyo-in’s expression was incredibly bright.

The unnie who showed no particular excitement even after receiving the paper acceptance email.

Had started smiling foolishly quite often since some point.

Despite all-nighters day after day, and listening to the professor’s nagging, who was trying to put his spoon on the belatedly finished paper, her smile never left her lips. That says it all.

Rather than excited… yes.

It was a somewhat soft, fluttering expression.

Ye-rin pondered for a moment, then carefully opened her mouth.

“Unnie, has something good happened to you lately? Besides the paper getting accepted.”

Hyo-in’s face momentarily stiffened slightly, then a smile quickly spread again.

Trying to hide her embarrassment, she cleared her throat hmm hmm- unnecessarily, but couldn’t hide the upward curve of her lips.

“Well, rather than something good… I think it’s just because I’ll be able to spend a long time with someone I haven’t seen in a while.”

As expected.

The reason Hyo-in wears such a bright expression is only related to ‘that senior’.

“Jina sunbae… right? The one who was unnie’s mentor.”

“Yeah, yeah. This conference schedule, I think I’ll be spending a lot of time with Jina unnie, is that okay?”

“Of course~ I should learn a lot from that sunbae too, while I’m at it.”

Ye-rin nodded, then suddenly realized she knew surprisingly little about Jina.

What she knew offhand was… that she’s famous enough in the industry for many people to seek her out?

Also, that she casually got into a conference that other seniors failed to get into even when they teamed up in groups of several people.

And that she left the lab last year after a disagreement with the professor.

“So unnie, what kind of person is that Jina sunbae?”

With growing curiosity, Ye-rin asked cautiously.

“She can’t just be someone who’s only good at research, right?”

“Jina unnie is, how should I put it…”

She’s truly a person hard to describe with words.

That’s why she usually mumbled her way through this question.

But maybe because it’s late? Or because she’s steeped in dawn emotions, she wanted to speak properly now.

“She was someone I relied on a lot. Research-wise, and for various other things too.”

Hyo-in slightly trailed off her words.

‘Actually, she’s more than just someone I rely on, she’s a precious person…’

Of course, she can’t say that out loud.

Because Jina, who was male, has now become female.

And Jina wants to hide that fact as much as possible.

‘As for Ye-rin… Jina unnie said she’d treat her to a drink after the conference schedule and ask for her understanding directly.’

Of course, it was obvious that not only Ye-rin but others would find out someday.

But Hyo-in didn’t want to be the cause of it.

She deliberately only mentions Jina ‘unnie’ in front of Ye-rin.

This is a matter of trust with Jina.

“But unnie, if she’s such a good person, why does everyone in the lab avoid talking about Jina sunbae?”

“Well… The biggest reason is probably because the professor dislikes her, right?”

“Puhat! Well, it’s understandable that the professor gets annoyed since calls looking for Jina sunbae come in almost every other day.”

Ye-rin giggled.

“Anyway, I want to get close to Jina sunbae-nim too when I go to the conference this time.”

‘If she got along that well with Hyo-in, I’m sure I’ll like her too,’ she thought.

Ye-rin looked forward to the meeting not far off.

“Yeah. I’m sure you’ll get along well with her too.”

Hyo-in smiled and turned her gaze back to the monitor.

Her concentration had plummeted in the meantime.

“Hmm hmm~”

Her mind is filled with thoughts of going here and there with Jina.

Of course, the paper presentation is the main thing.

But the thought of sightseeing together, even briefly, spending leisure time, and sharing unfinished talks naturally makes the corners of her mouth lift.

Watching Hyo-in’s expression, Ye-rin felt a slight, a very slight pang of jealousy.

‘I wish I could become an important person to Hyo-in unnie too.’

Ye-rin looked back at the monitor and swallowed lightly.

---

In the midst of the scorching August heat.

The airport was bustling with people leaving for summer vacation.

Among the people busily moving with their suitcases, Hyo-in and Ye-rin stood in front of a cafe, looking around.

Soon, Hyo-in’s gaze fixed in one direction.

“Ah, Jina unnie! Over here!”

At Hyo-in’s voice, Ye-rin turned her head.

A person calmly walking through the busily passing crowd began to come into view.

Ye-rin’s eyes widened in an instant.

‘That person… is Jina sunbae?’

Her bobbed hair, falling lightly over her shoulders, is neat.

Even though she’s only wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt and solid-colored capri pants, her body line looks unusually stylish.

What’s most impressive is, yes, that expression.

From Jina’s appearance, approaching with a languid and indifferent expression, a gentle charisma that draws people’s attention was felt.

Ye-rin stared blankly at Jina without realizing it.

“Oh, you’re here early?”

Just like her expression, her voice is also languid and comfortable.

Hearing that voice, Ye-rin’s heart beat a little faster.

The very senior she had heard about countless times through Hyo-in’s words.

Was now standing right before her eyes.

“Jina unnie~ This is Ye-rin, the junior who recently joined our lab.”

Hearing Hyo-in’s introduction, Jina bowed her head lightly.

“Hello, I’m Jina.”

“Ah, um… Yes! Hello, Sunbae! I’m Jang Ye-rin!”

This maknae is very disciplined.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Hyo-in. Heard you got stuck with a troublesome mentor from your first semester and are having a tough time?”

At Jina’s playful remark, Hyo-in pouted and lightly hit her arm tuk-.

Ye-rin, caught awkwardly in the middle, was flustered and shook her head dori dori.

“Ah, no! Hyo-in unnie taught me so much… Um, Sunbae! It’s okay if you speak comfortably to me!”

“Hmm, alright. You too, speak comfortab… no, call me unnie. Sunbae is too stiff, isn’t it?”

Ye-rin, her face flushing, nodded slightly and said.

“Yes, Jina unnie…!”

First impression of Jina?

Absolutely, so good.

Someone that stylish is also outstanding in research?

On top of that, she rebelled against the professor and even proved her own abilities?

The future self Ye-rin dreams of is right before her eyes.

“Ahem! Well then, since everyone’s gathered, shall we get going?”

“Just a moment. Actually, one more person is supposed to come.”

“…Yes? Who else is coming?”

Hyo-in asked back in a flustered voice.

At Jina’s unexpected words, Hyo-in’s mind became complicated.

She hadn’t expected the group to grow any larger here.

“She said she’s nearby… Ah, there she comes.”

Hyo-in and Ye-rin’s gazes naturally turned towards the direction Jina’s finger was pointing.

In the distance, a person drawing people’s attention as she approached is visible.

A woman exuding an elegant yet calm atmosphere, wearing a neat jacket over a black sleeveless shirt, was approaching.

Her graceful black hair, reaching down to her chest, swayed softly with each step.

Her confident gait, refreshing eyes, and long, slender limbs were enough to make one believe she was a model.

She walked straight up to Jina and greeted her with a bright smile.

“It’s been a while, Jina.”

As the unfamiliar woman greeted Jina with a gentle voice, Hyo-in was so flustered she just blinked her eyes.

Ye-rin, on the other hand, was completely frozen.

The sophisticated atmosphere peculiar to a working adult.

The way she casually shows familiarity towards Jina.

The woman before her eyes is a formidable opponent.

Hyo-in was certain of it at a glance.

Having naturally taken the spot right next to Jina, she smiled gently towards Hyo-in and Ye-rin.

“Nice to meet you for the first time. You were in the same lab as Jina, right?”

“Ah, yes… Hello.”

Hyo-in absentmindedly nodded and replied.

Ye-rin couldn’t say anything and just bowed her head following Hyo-in.

It’s definitely midsummer.

The chills running down her arms, ososo, must be just her imagination, right?

“Nice to meet you.”

She, who was like ‘Winter’.

Smiled gently looking at the two.

That smile was like watching an arctic fox licking its lips before a delicate snow rabbit.

Soon, she took out her wallet from her pocket and held a business card in her hand.

“I am Lee Seo-ah, in charge of content planning at the Virtual YouTuber MCN, Cosmo Live.”

Puheup-!!

Jina barely managed to suppress the laughter that was about to burst out.