episode_0013

It was the Friday a week before Lee Se-ah’s birthday.

During lunchtime, everyone gathered to eat together.

“Everyone, you didn’t forget about tomorrow, right?”

Hong Yeonseo, as usual, finished her lunch first and spoke.

“Of course not.”

Everyone except me nodded their heads.

Wait a minute.

What’s this?

I nodded discreetly, but it seemed like Hong Yeonseo noticed that I was a bit slow.

“Seo Yijin!”

“What, why?”

I could sense the seriousness in her voice.

“What’s happening tomorrow?”

“……”

I bowed my head and continued eating my pork rice bowl.

“Ugh…. I have the first preliminary match of the competition tomorrow. I asked you to come and cheer for me. You airhead!”

“Oh, right.”

Oh, that’s right, there was that too.

“Show some interest in your friend.”

“I wrote it down on my calendar. I just forgot, that’s all.”

I pointed to my phone as I spoke.

Watching us bicker, Lee Se-ah chimed in.

“But still, Yijin has never completely forgotten or neglected something like this.”

Yoon Jiwoo also added a word.

“That’s true. Even though she complains about everything, she always comes through when it matters.”

Looks like I gained two more allies. Hehe.

As I shrugged, Hong Yeonseo gave me a cold look.

“Even if I told you in the morning while running in the neighborhood, you probably wouldn’t have known.”

“No way.”

But wait, am I supposed to come tomorrow too?

I’ve been busy with the competition, so I thought I wouldn’t make it even though I run every day.

As I expressed my doubts, Hong Yeonseo answered.

“Anyway, if you come prepared by 9 a.m., we’ll all take the school bus together.”

After saying that, Hong Yeonseo realized something and spoke again.

“How are you guys coming? By subway?”

“Probably, yeah.”

Yoon Jiwoo casually affirmed.

“Subway….”

Suddenly, Seong Yurin, who had been quietly eating, muttered.

Is it just me who heard that? Lee So-yoon, sitting next to Seong Yurin, raised an eyebrow.

“Yurin, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, really.”

Seong Yurin, with a thoughtful expression, turned away from the five pairs of eyes looking at her and spoke softly.

“Well, I… I’ve never taken the subway before….”

“What?”

Everyone was surprised to hear that.

What’s that? Is she from a high-class family or something?

No wonder she seemed a bit refined.

“Is it really your first time? What about the bus?”

“I’ve… uh, taken a special transport vehicle… like that.”

Seong Yurin, who had shattered her usual coolness, stumbled over her words in embarrassment.

Ah, seeing our shocked expressions, Seong Yurin, who had lost her coolness, hurriedly spoke.

“I-I didn’t hide it on purpose or anything like that. I wasn’t trying to feel superior by deceiving you or anything like that! I was just worried that you guys would feel burdened if you found out, and I was afraid our relationship might become a bit distant, so… um. I was planning to reveal it soon anyway……”

“Calm down. We were just a little surprised.”

I calmly reassured the panicking Seong Yurin.

“It could happen. It won’t make our relationship distant or anything like that.”

“Yeah! I want to continue being close with Yurin.”

Lee Se-ah interjected, brushing off my words.

Relieved, Seong Yurin sighed and wiped her chest.

“Th-thank goodness….”

“Wow, Seong Yurin suddenly looks cool.”

Despite seeming not on good terms with Seong Yurin, Hong Yeonseo unexpectedly looked at her with shining eyes.

“I just want you to treat me like you always do….”

“Of course. Understood. Miss Yurin~”

“Don’t tease me!”

Rarely did Seong Yurin make such a loud noise.

Perhaps Hong Yeonseo was the best at making such a loud noise from that guy’s mouth.

* * *

The next morning.

The color of the sky was unusual.

But it wasn’t at the level of raining immediately.

I opened the chat room and saw that both of them would come out, so I finished getting ready and headed to the meeting place.

After running for a while and catching my breath, I looked at the air that had become more humid than before and the sky and spoke.

“The weather feels off today.”

“Yeah, it does.”

“I checked the weather forecast before coming out this morning, and it said it would rain in the afternoon.”

Upon hearing Seong Yurin’s words, Hong Yeonseo let out a deep sigh.

“It will probably be raining when we go home. I hate rain.”

Is that so? I’m okay with it, more or less.

Of course, only when I’m inside the house.

“I was planning to hang out with you guys after the game and then go back. It feels uncomfortable if it rains.”

“Don’t you usually have a post-game celebration?”

“We do, but it’s also a voluntary participation. And how can I just leave when you guys come to cheer for me?”

Hmm. Indeed… now that I think about it, that’s true.

It’s only right to do so, after all.

So the three of us sat on the bench.

Hong Yeonseo checked the time and got up from her seat.

“I should go quickly. I need to go wash up and get ready.”

We waved goodbye to Hong Yeonseo.

“Take care. See you at the stadium.”

“See you later.”

“Bye~”

As Hong Yeonseo quickly moved away, I turned to face Seong Yurin.

“Should we start heading back too?”

“Yeah.”

I got up from my seat and patted my butt.

…As I lowered my gaze, it reflexively went to Seong Yurin’s butt for a moment.

Fortunately, it seemed like Seong Yurin didn’t notice.

‘Am I crazy.’

All the heroines are like that.

I’m somewhat used to Lee Sia and Lee Soyun, and I’m fine with them because I don’t have much interaction with Hong Yeonseo.

But I still can’t get used to Seong Yurin’s beauty.

Especially when we’re alone like this, I become conscious for no reason.

“Why? Aren’t you going?”

Oh. Was I spacing out without realizing it?

“I should go.”

I tried to act nonchalant and naturally changed my steps.

It’s so difficult for a socially awkward guy like me to get along with you guys…

I walked Seong Yurin to her house and said goodbye.

On the first day, she mentioned that her house was a bit further away.

At first, I thought that as a guy, I should take her home, so I mentioned it a few times,

But she insisted on it, so I thought, “Oh well, I guess that’s how it is now,” and parted ways here.

Come to think of it, we decided to have Lee Sia’s birthday party at Seong Yurin’s house next week.

Seong Yurin’s house.

Thanks to the recent discovery of Seong Yurin’s high-rise apartment, a large mansion with a garden attached to it came to mind.

After continuing with a momentary, unproductive daydream, I snapped out of it and quickly started getting ready.

* * *

When I arrived at the subway station at the appointed time, I was once again the last one to arrive.

Everyone was dressed nicely.

Even though it was daytime, the world felt gloomy due to the clouds, but it felt bright around these guys.

“Why do you guys always come out early?”

Yun Jiu responded sarcastically to my question.

“We usually come out a bit earlier than the meeting time.”

Excuse me, but I also came early.

“I came 15 minutes before the meeting time, but everyone was already here.”

“Then you should come 30 minutes early.”

“Is that so? What a waste of time.”

“Hehe.”

After a brief chat, we moved to take the subway.

“Did everyone bring an umbrella?”

Despite Seong Yurin mentioning it in the chat room in the morning,

I only saw Yun Jiu holding a long umbrella, so I asked.

“Yeah. We all brought small ones.”

It seemed like the girls had foldable umbrellas in their bags.

“I’m the only one who brought a long one.”

“It’s annoying to keep carrying around something long.”

Yoon Jiwoo, who had brought a bag with her, appeared.

Since it was annoying to keep carrying an umbrella,

I put the small umbrella I brought in Yoon Jiwoo’s bag and said,

“Do you have anything that’s not annoying…?”

Maybe not.

As I seriously pondered Yoon Jiwoo’s jab, we reached the main hall.

“Oh right. Seong Yurin, you don’t have a transportation card.”

“Oh. Yeah… I was going to make one now.”

“Never mind. Here, use this.”

I took out a rechargeable transportation card from my wallet and gave it to Seong Yurin.

“Huh?”

“I used to use it, but I haven’t used it since I made a new one, so I’ll just give it to you. There’s money inside.”

“T-Thank you.”

Seong Yurin politely accepted the card with both hands.

“Oh, Seo Jin. Did you bring it on purpose?”

Lee Saeah approached me with a playful tone and expression.

“I just brought what was left over.”

“You’re so considerate in this aspect.”

Lee Saeah, with a gentle smile, held Seong Yurin’s hand and led her.

“Alright! Just tap the card here as you pass by.”

“Oh, okay.”

Yoon Jiwoo and Lee Sooyoon laughed as they watched Seong Yurin admire something so simple.

“Ugh. D-Don’t laugh.”

“Phew. No, I’m not laughing at you, it’s just cute.”

“Right. Hehe.”

With a flushed face, Seong Yurin gestured for us to come inside quickly.

We tapped our cards in unison and followed them.

* * *

Perhaps due to the weather or the early hour,

the subway car was relatively empty even though it was the weekend.

In the car we were in, there were only two people sitting on the opposite side from where we were,

so we could comfortably sit and chat as we traveled.

“It’s shaking!”

Lee Sooyoon, who was sitting next to a flustered Seong Yurin, was comforting her.

I leaned back in the corner seat, with Lee Saeah and Yoon Jiwoo sitting next to me.

“How many stops do we need to go?”

“Ten stops. When we get off, we go out through exit 4 and the gym is right in front of the center.”

“Got it.”

It’s convenient to have Lee Saeah take care of things like schedules, transportation, and location information when we go somewhere together.

“I think I’ll look for some good restaurants.”

Yoon Jiwoo took out her phone and said.

“Oh. I found a few yesterday, I’ll post them in the group chat. You can choose from there.”

I glanced over Lee Saeah’s shoulder at the restaurant photos she was posting in the chat.

“What about this one? How does Western food sound?”

Among the various photos, a food picture caught my eye.

“Here? Haha. I thought this place looked good too. We’re on the same page?”

She turned her head shyly and smiled at me.

“Um. Yeah, sure.”

It’s hard to make eye contact for no reason.

This guy sometimes breaks through my immunity to pretty girls.

“Let me see too. Is this the one you’re talking about?”

Yoon Jiwoo put her phone in her pocket and looked at Lee Saeah’s phone with me.

“Yeah. This place has the highest ratings.”

“It looks good.”

They on the opposite side nodded immediately when asked for their opinion.

“I think it looks good too.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Alright, if Hong Yeonseo is okay with it, we’ll go here.”

Smoothly deciding on our lunch menu, we were getting closer to our destination.