Ch.136The Resemblance Is Uncanny (8)

“What should we do? Should I wake her up?”

“…No. Let’s just let her sleep. It’s been a while since she got off work early. If possible, I’d like her to get a good rest at times like this.”

Hamin brought a blanket from the room and covered his mother who was lying on the sofa.

As if responding to the familiar scent of the blanket, his mother pulled it around her body.

*Click*

He turned off the noisy TV.

The world in “Half of Half Peninsula” seemed to have a society reflected on TV that was just as noisy and chaotic as reality.

They should stop fighting and just focus on pure romance.

“Since staying here might disturb Mom’s sleep, should we go to my room…?”

“What’s that?”

Hamin subtly pointed his thumb toward his room.

His main concern was probably not wanting to disturb his mother’s sleep, but given the genre, it raised unnecessary suspicion.

“Oh, is this a green light? Are you suggesting we should check firsthand whether a daughter like your mom might be born or not?”

“I-I just meant we should go inside so our joking doesn’t wake Mom up…”

“Tch, so it wasn’t a green light but a mango light.”

I hadn’t really expected much to come of it.

Who am I dealing with here?

It’s Hamin, after all.

“Anyway, I’m fine with it. I’d like to see your sleeping mom’s face more, but right now I’m more curious about what you like. There must be something in your room. I came in briefly earlier when I brought you rice porridge, but I didn’t get to look around properly.”

“Then let’s go in. It’s a bit cramped, but there’s enough space to sit.”

“That’s fine, even if it’s cramped. We can just sit close together.”

“W-we can sit separately, so you don’t have to do that…”

“Tsk. Then I’ll sit on the bed.”

Humming the background music that naturally plays in my head when visiting a new house,

Hamin and I went into his room alone to ensure his mother could sleep peacefully.

“…The reunion with my boyfriend’s room was the worst.”

“You just came in for the first time today.”

“I came in once earlier, so it’s a reunion.”

Though I entered humming confidently,

Hamin’s room was even more sparse than I had expected.

To put it nicely, it was neat.

To put it harshly, it was boring.

“I felt it when I first came in, but this room is truly desolate. The only books you have are math special lectures and Korean language cram books. Is this really acceptable for a growing teenage boy’s desk and bookshelf?”

“Well, the desk is for studying. So is the bookshelf.”

“Usually, even though you’re not supposed to keep food in display cabinets, everyone secretly stashes snacks and drinks when they get the chance.”

“Wow, that’s a terrible comparison…”

He said he personally disposed of all his manga, novels, and games when he entered high school.

As a result, Hamin’s bookshelf was filled only with reference books and workbooks full of dizzying problems that made you want to close the book after reading just one page.

He could have left at least one shelf or part of his desk for such things.

Or if not that, he could have at least put up a comforting Marina-chan figurine.

Ah, I guess a boy living alone with his mother might not have the courage to proudly display such things.

If he were that bold, “Half of Half Peninsula” would have concluded long ago.

And that hand signal earlier would have been a green light, not a mango light.

“You really did get rid of everything except for [Mari★juana] that was in your bag on the first day of school, huh?”

“If I had seen them, I would have definitely been tempted. That’s how I got distracted and failed to get into my first-choice high school. And disappointed my mom.”

“Yeah… I see.”

I could somewhat understand the determination with which Hamin approached his high school life.

At this rate, only the location had changed from school to home; internally, nothing was different at all.

“This way, only the place changes, but what you do from morning to night is exactly the same.”

“W-well, in between, there’s also the time I practice kendo with you, Doyoung. So it’s not all that stifling.”

“…”

The kendo lessons were a card I played blindly to create a connection with Hamin without knowing the original story’s flow.

It seems that became more of a supporting force for Hamin than I had expected.

Without Doyoung, his daily routine would have consisted solely of studying.

“Anyway, I don’t think there’s anything in my room that you’d like, Doyoung. Maybe there was before I entered high school.”

“Yeah, there’s nothing but underwear drawers under your bed.”

“W-when did you check under my bed?”

“I had to do it. It’s tradition.”

“What country’s tradition is that?!”

Looking for potentially risqué books under a male protagonist’s bed when visiting his home.

It was common sense and tradition in the youth romance genre.

…

Hamin sat in the chair at his desk,

while I used his bed as a sofa and sat down.

“Sorry, it’s a bit too cramped for two chairs.”

“It’s fine. This is a G-rated story, so when else would I get to lie on your bed?”

“Cough, cough… Huh? What did you just say?”

“Nothing, nothing at all.”

Thanks to Hamin’s well-timed cough, he didn’t catch the muttered complaint I let slip.

“Yawn… Eating and then lying down makes me sleepy right away.”

People are truly fickle creatures.

When standing, they want to sit; when sitting, they want to lie down.

Though the bed was just a substitute for a chair,

it didn’t take long for me to stretch my legs and press my back against the mattress.

“T-that’s where I was just lying. Don’t put your face so close or you’ll catch my cold.”

“It’s fine, I’m currently in my cooldown period.”

However, I limited myself to just resting my body on the bed.

Even while yawning repeatedly, my mind was fully awake, watching Hamin who was leaning back in his desk chair.

Or perhaps what was awake wasn’t my mind but Doyoung’s instincts responding to the scent left on the bed.

“Thank you for today. For visiting me while I was sick… and for being nice to my mom. If you hadn’t come, she would have definitely pushed herself trying to take care of me alone…”

“She’s really a good mom, our mom.”

“…S-she’s not your mom, but thanks. For saying it like that.”

Hamin pulled out a workbook that had been inserted horizontally on top of the books on his shelf.

Judging by the bookmark, it was probably the quota of problems he had planned to solve today.

“Hey, you were just groaning earlier, and now you’re studying again?”

“You said we have to do what needs to be done. Just as you have your quota of teasing me, I have my quota too.”

With those words, Hamin picked up a fallen pencil and began solving problems with his back to me.

You should be making progress with Doyoung, not with your workbook, you fool.

“Your mom doesn’t seem to push you to study that hard. Not like our Bando-chip.”

“Yeah, she never has. Even during exams, she says ‘do your best’ but never ‘do well,’ because she’s afraid it might pressure me. Someone like my mom, who raised me alone, would be perfectly justified in demanding that.”

*Scribble*

*Scratch scratch*

His pencil strokes exuded confidence.

Even though he had missed school today and couldn’t attend classes properly,

Hamin’s problem-solving seemed to flow without any hesitation.

“Compared to what Mom has done for me, I’m still far from enough. So I need to work a little harder. All the things I lost because I was inadequate and pathetic… I need to find a way to get them all back. So that Mom can live a little more comfortably. That seems to be my biggest goal for now.”

“…”

“And I also have to keep the promise I made with you, right? To become the top student in school.”

Hamin glanced back at me lying on the bed, gave a little wink and smile,

then turned his chair back to focus on solving problems.

“Jeongyu Lee came to school today.”

“Really…? I guess he would have been discharged by now.”

*Rustle*

I quietly got up from the bed, minimizing the sound of my footsteps.

The pencil sound continued without slowing down.

He didn’t seem to notice that I had gotten up from the bed.

“He asked me to tell you he’s sorry. For speaking carelessly, grabbing your collar, all of it.”

“Phew… I’m glad I didn’t hear that apology directly. If I had been there, I might have frozen in fear and just stood there silently. Did he apologize to you too?”

“Well, sort of. But you know what that bastard said?”

*Shuffle*

Quietly lowering my footsteps,

I approached Hamin, who had his back turned to me.

His pencil was still making steady progress.

“He’s sorry, but he’ll handle his own life, so he doesn’t want us interfering by offering help or whatever.”

“Ahaha… That definitely sounds like something he would say. It’s good that he has such strong convictions. If it were a weak person like me, they couldn’t have remained so steadfast.”

*Thud*

As I reached out my hand over his workbook,

Hamin finally noticed my approach and put down his pencil.

“I don’t think so.”

“…Huh?”

“Changing someone isn’t something just anyone can do. Especially those prideful types. Just getting a guy like that to come back to school is amazing in itself.”

“…”

“I may be small, a bit ugly, and not so good at studying… but I think you’re more of a protagonist. In that way.”

I whispered softly into Hamin’s ear.

“I told you before. You’re not as hopeless as you think. Because I’m going to make you better.”

“Doyoung…?”

“That’s my goal now.”

*Tug*

I pulled on Hamin’s reddened earlobe.

“Owww.”

“Heheh, of course, it would be a bit troublesome if you kept this face and height throughout high school. Being protagonist-like is one thing, but you should quickly work on your face, height, and grades too, understood?”

“I… I get it. I don’t know about my height and face, but I’ll study as promised, so please stop pulling…”

I stayed by Hamin’s side until he finished studying,

fulfilling my unfulfilled quota for the day before heading home.

…

“I’m back.”

Hamin, whose cold symptoms had improved significantly, returned home after seeing Doyoung off to the train station.

Even when he arrived home, his mother was still asleep on the sofa with her back reclined.

“Ah, she’s still sleeping. If she keeps sleeping there, her back will hurt.”

Seeing that his mother’s nap had gone on longer than expected, Hamin approached her on the sofa.

Since it was getting quite late, he intended to move her to the bed where her back would be more comfortable.

“…Hamin.”

“Huh…? Mom. When did you wake up?”

Hamin tilted his head and asked, as her voice was strangely composed and gentle for someone who had just woken up.

“Mom would prefer a granddaughter who looks like Doyoung rather than one who looks like Mom.”

“…Mom, don’t tell me you were awake from the beginning.”

“Hehehe.”

His mother’s lips curled up to her ears.