Friendship Ring, Ya

,Don’t worry, just wait.”

Sohee, who had been quietly listening to Sungshin-sunbae and my story, replied in a calm voice.

Leaving only those words, Sohee went out alone.

Sungshin-sunbae and I were left alone in the classroom.

,W-we’re going to be okay, right?”

I blankly nodded at Sungshin-sunbae’s question.

Probably we’ll be fine. I don’t know much, but I knew that the large foundation that provides funds to this school is managed by Sohee’s father.

So, the influence of his daughter, Sohee, must be very powerful.

Such Sohee is on our side.

There was a high probability that she would handle this kind of problem very easily.

I somehow felt like I was using my friend’s background, but what could I do?

This was the only way for me.

Seeing that Sohee was helping without any hesitation, wasn’t she thinking something similar to me to some extent?

All I can do now is eat snacks and wait for Sohee to bring good news.

It was about 10 minutes after Sohee left the classroom that she returned.

Sohee’s face, who returned faster than I thought, had a light smile on it.

,H-how did it go?”

I ask a question that coexists with fear and anticipation.

But Sohee just smiles lightly and doesn’t answer.

,Hayun-ah.”

,Yeah.”

,If you can get through it without any problems… what are you going to do for me who made it happen?”

I blankly opened my mouth at Sohee’s question.

So, she’s asking me for some kind of reward?

But I had nothing. The only thing I could give to Sohee, who has overflowing money, was this cute and genius beautiful girl’s body.

I smiled awkwardly and opened my mouth.

,A-are you want a hug?”

,Really?”

Sohee, who smiles brightly and asks back at the playful question.

I was the one who was embarrassed by her happy appearance.

,Uh… it’s not like I can’t…”

,Then do it.”

Really just ends with a hug?

I asked back, cautiously taking a step closer.

,Really, really are you satisfied with this?”

,Yeah. For now.”

For now?

Then does that mean she’s thinking of asking for something bigger later?

I hesitated, biting my lip, and eventually jumped lightly into Sohee’s arms.

Because no matter how much I worried, there wasn’t much I could do for her.

When I reached out and lightly hugged Sohee’s body, a soft and warm embrace came to me warmly.

Was it because it had the nature of a reward?

This hug was longer and deeper than usual.

As I flinched at the touch of her hand gently stroking my back, I heard Sohee’s laughter from above my head.

,A-are you satisfied…?”

,Yeah.”

I’m glad she was satisfied.

I took a step out of Sohee’s arms and looked at her.

At this point, I felt like I knew why Sohee was so eager for my affection.

I wondered if it had something to do with her family history?

That’s how rich young ladies who often appear in subculture are, for the most part.

A wealthy family and busy parents.

The young lady born in that family felt overflowing material happiness as much as she had money, but she didn’t feel the affection her parents gave her…

Isn’t that a pretty plausible story?

It was clear that she wanted more affection from me, her best friend, than from her parents, who seemed close but were far away.

I looked at Sohee with pitiful eyes and hugged her once more.

,Hayun-ah?”

,Tell me anytime… I’ll hug you a lot.”

,Oh… okay…?”

Before I knew it, I had noticed the secret Sohee was hiding.

As expected of me…

How much smarter are I trying to become?

At this point, I started to fear my intelligence.

I’m good at games, good at studying, and good at reasoning.

Plus, I have a good personality.

Seo Hayun. Aren’t you too perfect?

,T-then, is it okay if we don’t have the competition…?”

While I was absorbed in my own thoughts, rubbing my face against Sohee’s soft belly, Sungshin-sunbae next to me carefully opened his mouth.

I was also curious about that.

I raised my head and looked at Sohee.

,Yes, there’s no problem. You can just live as usual until the day of the competition.”

,Really…? You don’t need to submit things like grades, right?”

,Yes. So don’t worry.”

Sohee answers with a confident expression.

As expected of my best friend.

I hugged Sohee’s waist more tightly.

,T-that’s a relief… I thought I had to go back to the classroom…”

Sungshin-sunbae said that and let out a sigh of relief.

I nodded at the sight.

As expected, I wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to attend school classes.

,B-but how did you solve it?”

While I was nodding, Sungshin-sunbae asked Sohee, looking around.

But Sohee didn’t answer.

She just smiled lightly without saying a word.

It’s the first time I’ve felt a silent smile was scary.

Sungshin-sunbae must have felt the same way as me, as he closed his mouth, smiled awkwardly, and stepped back.

,S-sorry… it was difficult to answer.”

,It was a little difficult.”

,W-well, I’ll practice a little more… yeah, I’ll practice…!”

Sungshin-sunbae escaped into the capsule at Sohee’s silent smile.

I was left alone with Sohee and looked around.

,Hayun-ah.”

,A-ah, yeah?”

,Do you happen to know what a friendship ring is?”

,Friendship ring?”

I tilted my head at Sohee’s question.

Friendship ring. I know what it is. Isn’t it like matching rings between close friends?

Of course, I only know about it. No one around me has ever matched friendship rings.

I didn’t have anyone around me to begin with.

,Why that?”

,Won’t you match one with me…?”

A question that flew in carefully.

Sohee, who was suggesting we match friendship rings, was looking at me.

Was this a question that needed to be looked at?

I nodded without hesitation.

,Okay.”

,R-really?”

As expected, Sohee was definitely a child starved for affection.

While I was nodding at my own thoughts, Sohee took out her cell phone from her arms and held it out to me.

Pictures of small rings appeared on the screen.

,This one?”

,Which one do you think would be good?”

The rings Sohee showed me were all flashy.

Sparkling jewels and gold.

It was a design that seemed a little too much to match as a friendship ring.

,Hmm…”

,Do you not like it…?”

,It seems too flashy…”

Of course, being flashy wasn’t always a bad thing.

But this kind of ring, rather than a friendship ring, was more like, well, what should I say.

It just looked like a wedding ring or a couple ring.

,You’re not really going to match this with real jewels, are you…?”

I ask just in case.

If she nodded, I wasn’t going to accept this ring.

But Sohee smiled lightly and blew away my worries.

,This is cubic.”

,Ah…”

If it was a normal friendship ring, it would be a price that I could afford with my allowance.

Only then was I able to shake off the burden.

,If this is too much, how about this one?”

What Sohee showed me newly had a design that perfectly matched what I wanted.

A chain-type body and a small steel plate that wraps around it.

Small spellings were written on the steel plate.

It seems like we’re going to write each other’s names on this.

,It’s not bad.”

,Then shall we do this one?”

Since there were no sparkling cubic zirconia on the outside, it wouldn’t be expensive.

I nodded willingly.

***

,Hayun-ah.”

The time when school ends.

The moment I was about to pack my school bag and leave the classroom, Sohee called out to me.

Wondering why, I glanced back, and Sohee had a small box in her hand.

,Ah.”

The moment I saw that, I could recall the conversation I had last time.

The day Sohee solved the competition problem.

So, two days ago from now.

She had shown me pictures of rings, suggesting we match friendship rings together.

It seems like it’s already finished.

,It’s already made?”

,Yeah. Come here.”

I looked around and approached Sohee.

Even though it was the time when school was ending, the classmates left the classroom strangely quickly.

So, only Sohee and I were left in the classroom.

Click-

When I got closer, Sohee opened the box and showed me the ring inside.

Inside the small box were a pair of rings.

The silver-shining rings were scattering a subtle light as if they were made by melting the moon.

,It’s a little different from what I saw in the picture…?”

,I showed you a sample. It can’t be the same.”

,Is that so…?”

I nodded at Sohee’s words.

The design of the ring was the same as what she had shown me.

[LSH]

[SHY]

A ring engraved with the spelling of the name.

I reached out and picked up the ring with my name on it.

,This is mine, right?”

,No. That’s mine.”

,Huh… my name is engraved on it?”

,That’s why it’s mine.”

Ah. I get it now.

She’s saying we should have rings with each other’s names engraved on them.

I nodded and handed the ring I was holding to Sohee.

,Will you put it on for me?”

,The ring…?”

,Yeah.”

She wants me to put on the ring for her.

There’s nothing wrong with it, but…

Sohee’s outstretched finger was the problem.

The ring finger of her left hand.

As I was looking at the hand she held out, asking me to put it on there, Sohee shook her hand lightly.

,Hurry.”

,Uh… is this where you usually wear it?”

,Yeah.”

Is this right?

Is this really right?

As I was blankly hesitating, Sohee grabbed my hand and put the ring on her finger.

A situation where I ended up putting on the ring in a daze.

Sohee looked down at her hand with satisfaction and then put the remaining ring on the ring finger of my left hand.

The ring, which slipped in and settled in place at once, gave me a stable feeling of wearing it as if it had always been there.

,Ah, Sohee…”

,Yeah.”

,Isn’t this usually where you wear couple rings? Or wedding rings…”

,People don’t really care about that these days.”

,Is that so…?”

I nodded blankly at Sohee’s words.

At that moment, I felt one question.

This ring is custom-made. But I had never told Sohee my finger size.

How could Sohee have known my finger size?

,Hey. Sohee.”

,Yeah?”

,This ring…”

,Yeah.”

,How did you know my size?”

It was a question that I naturally had to ask.

It was a question I asked lightly, but Sohee didn’t answer.

At that moment, a strange silence fell.

Sohee, who had been tightly closed, opened her mouth.

,Hand.”

,Hand?”

,You touch my hand often… so I could tell.”

,Ah…”

Only then did I nod.

Come to think of it, Sohee did play with my hand.

I raised the hand with the ring high into the sky and shone it in the sunlight coming in from the window.

[LSH]

The part where Sohee’s name was engraved sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight.