episode_0202

It’s already been a month since I started going to school.

Time passed smoothly without any special events.

Only then did the kids in my class start to get used to us and start to act more comfortable with us.

Even though I was still keeping an eye on things, I didn’t suddenly freeze over or anything like that.

It was clear that humans are animals of adaptation.

“What did you choose as your extracurricular activity?”

“Part-time activities?”

I tilted my head at Appleton’s question from the side.

Extracurricular activities, it was the first time I heard the word during my month of school life.

Of course, I knew what extracurricular activities meant.

Because it often appeared in comic books and novels.

“Yeah.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“Oh really?”

Appleton nodded to my words.

Appleton has changed a lot in the span of a month.

He was no longer nervous in front of us and began to treat us quite comfortably, just like he used to treat his old friends.

Of course, I unconsciously used formal language with him from time to time, but now we have reached a point where we can say that we are friends.

So I’ve been feeling good lately.

“Shandroy said it last week.”

“Last week…?”

I recalled what Shine had said.

What did you do last week?

If you had a day at school last week, it would have been the day that Lucy, the main character of [The Little Witch’s Great Adventure], debuted as a virtual YouTuber.

Unfortunately, I ended up going to school that day because I miscalculated the date.

“I don’t remember…”

At school, I was only thinking about Lucy, so nothing else could come into my head.

“Shandroy told me before he went home. There’s a club activity that we do once a month. He told me to choose what I like. Did you choose, Jeff?”

I don’t even remember, but there was no way I could choose a side activity.

I took the small piece of paper that Shine handed me and checked the contents.

Swimming club, cartoon research club, soccer club, etc.

From the mundane to the unusual, the list also includes archery clubs that you would only see in Lane’s comic books.

“Hey. Where’s Appleton?”

“I have this.”

Appleton responded to my question by leaning on my shoulder and pointing to a part of the paper with his finger.

What she was pointing to was the photography department.

A choice that could be called a side activity that suits her taste perfectly.

I nodded.

By the way, I felt like Appleton’s skinship had become more frequent lately.

Approach lightly, stick lightly, and then fall off lightly again.

She was coming closer little by little, so much so that you wouldn’t notice it unless you were conscious of it.

It’s nice to have less distance between friends, but I couldn’t figure out how much distance to keep between normal friends.

Shine and Rain felt like family so much that I didn’t feel any discomfort when they rubbed their bare skin against each other.

rather…

“What will Jeff choose?”

“Umm…”

I shook off my distracting thoughts and finished checking the list.

But there was nothing that really caught my eye.

“What does Shine want to do?”

“What Jeff does.”

“I knew it.”

Shine’s answer was always the same as mine.

What I want to do, what I’m going to do, is what she wants to do.

“Then… what about Rain?”

I turned my head and looked at Rain.

“Uh, huh?”

Lane, who had her head buried in a thick book, answered my question with surprise.

What on earth are you looking at that you’re concentrating so deeply on?

“I’m talking about the club activities.”

“Ah. Bu activities…”

“Yeah, what is Rain planning to do?”

“Well, back in the day… no, um…”

Lane tried to speak, recalling an old memory, but closed his mouth as soon as he saw Appleton next to him.

She didn’t seem particularly attracted to anything either.

I slowly shook the paper in front of me.

“Then, how about trying it first?

“Is that possible?”

“Yeah, I go around to all the departments for a day and choose the ones I like.”

“Oh… It’s pretty good.”

“But I wish you would come to the photo shoot club with me…”

Appleton said with a sparkle in his eyes.

A girl who wants to do extracurricular activities with us.

That cute sight brings a smile to my face.

At that moment, Appleton raised his camera.

“Should I take another picture?”

“Yeah.”

“What…”

Appleton took another photo.

The photo was immediately sent to Shine’s cell phone.

This situation happens a lot these days.

I didn’t feel uncomfortable with having my picture taken, so I just didn’t say anything, but the embarrassing pictures that were occasionally taken were a problem.

As I sighed softly and lowered my eyes, Appleton’s camera took another picture.

“Why are you taking this picture?

“Because the atmosphere is good…”

“Umm…”

I groaned softly and rubbed my face against the desk.

Then Appleton’s camera snapped another picture.

A situation that has become familiar now.

I just brushed it off and closed my eyes.

The cool touch against my cheek felt good.

“Today was a club activity day…”

Somehow, the atmosphere in the class felt a bit chaotic.

Although everyone was talking quietly, there was a faint sense of anticipation in the voices that could be heard faintly.

“But why do you only do it once a month?”

If the kids like it this much, wouldn’t it be okay to reduce the interval to once a week?

If you can’t keep up with the class, it might be a good idea to postpone extracurricular activities to the weekend.

“Because we all live busy lives. That’s why we don’t have time.”

“Time?”

“Yeah.”

It was only after Appleton’s words that I was able to recall one fact.

For me, Shine, and Rain, we had plenty of time.

That’s also huge.

Even on days when I go to the office, it’s called going to work, but in reality, all I do is follow Amy and hang out there.

I did do some serious work sometimes, but only very rarely.

But the students attending this school now are in a different situation.

They all had extraordinary social status, so it is only natural that expectations at home would be high.

I had a vague idea of how such children grew up.

“Time…”

“Hey… What does Jeff usually do?”

While I was lost in thought, Appleton asked me.

“Hmm. I think I’m just living an ordinary life.”

“Are you busy? Well, it’s the Perman family.”

Appleton nodded as if he understood my vague answer.

Although she seemed to have misunderstood, I didn’t bother to clear up the misunderstanding.

“What’s your relationship with Rain?”

Appleton obviously asked out of pure curiosity.

But I couldn’t answer her question.

To call them family, there was a difference in their status known to the outside world.

Lane wasn’t a member of the Ferman family, so he couldn’t be called family.

Then what is your relationship?

I wonder how I look in the eyes of other people.

They won’t seem like just friends.

I smiled awkwardly and stroked Rain’s cheek.

She was so focused on her book that she was startled, but the moment she realized that it was my hand touching her cheek, she rubbed her face against it.

“First of all, friend.”

“For now?”

“Yeah.”

“A friend who goes home and goes to school together?”

I nodded to Appleton’s question.

She tilted her head, but didn’t ask any further questions.

Appleton started asking us easy questions one by one, as if he wanted to answer all our questions at this point.

Most of the questions were not difficult to answer.

It was during that time.

I kept my mouth shut, unable to answer the question she asked casually.

“Then between Shine and Jeff, which one is the older sister?”

It was a really easy question.

But I couldn’t answer.

The moment I opened my mouth to answer, I closed it because of an inexplicable feeling of rejection rising from within.

Shine, she is definitely my older sister.

All you have to do is open your mouth and tell Appleton this fact right now.

“Shine is…”

This is my sister.

But the words that followed could not come out.

At that moment, Shine, who was watching us from the side, hugged my neck and spoke lightly.

“I’m your older sister.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Jeff is my brother.”

A hand gently hugging the neck.

Shine’s face resting lightly on her shoulder.

Cheeks gently rubbed.

A voice whispering in my ear.

“Right?”

Shine’s soft voice tickled my ears.

Unable to answer out loud, I could barely nod my head.

“I kind of thought that would happen. Shine is more mature than Jeff.”

Shine smiled slightly, seeming to like what Appleton said.

“Did it look like that?”

“Yeah, what would Jeff say? There are times when he acts like a junior he meets at club activities. ”

“Me, me?”

“Yeah.”

I looked back at Shine, greatly taken aback by Appleton’s words.

Do I really look like a child to other people and Shine looks like an adult?

But no matter how I look at it, it all looks the same?

“Rain! Rain, look at me and Shine for a second!”

I grabbed Lane’s arm, who was concentrating on his book.

Her small body swayed violently and fell into my arms, but Rain did not panic and only moved her eyes to look up at me.

“Yeah. I’m watching it now.”

“How about watching it with me and Shine?”

“What do you think?”

“Appleton said that if you look at me and Shine, you can tell who looks more… mature. What does it look like to you, Rain? Who looks more mature, me or Shine?”

I looked down at Rain, who was lying on my thighs, with trembling eyes.

She looked back and forth between me and Shine, then slowly opened her mouth.

“Sha… Ugh.”

I hurriedly started rubbing Rain’s cheeks roughly.

Her soft, chewy cheeks were squished and she couldn’t finish her words.

“Am I more mature?”

“Uww.”

Rain shook his head.

I made a sad face.

Do I really look like a child?

In the end, we couldn’t choose a side activity, so we decided to try it out.

The first place to experience was the photography club where Appleton worked.

After all the morning classes were over and we had lunch, we headed to the photography club.

The photo studio was using a very large space.

Cameras and beautiful landscape photos displayed throughout the classroom.

And the animals captured in dynamic poses created a wonderful atmosphere.

It seemed like the teacher in charge hadn’t arrived yet, so there were only students in the classroom.

From very young children who looked like first graders to children so tall that you had to look up to them.

There was a very diverse group of students.

One thing they had in common was that they carried their camera bags slung diagonally over their shoulders.