Ch.5050. Beauty and the Beast

The next day, field trip day 2.

Today there’s no official schedule planned by the school.

That’s why the field trip schedule simply says “Free Travel.” Of course, this isn’t just in name—today will actually be operated in a way that gives students choices.

The options students can choose from are largely divided into two.

The first is a truly “free travel” option where individuals decide their own routes and tourist destinations.

The second is a guided tour following a predetermined route with a supervising teacher.

If you have a thorough tourism plan or want to enjoy yourself as you please, you can choose free travel. If that feels burdensome or you don’t have separate plans, you can opt for the teacher-guided course.

But if students were asked to make this choice on the morning of, it would naturally cause great confusion. So the survey for each option was completed before the field trip departure.

The option I chose was, of course, free travel.

The reason, well, goes without saying—it was because of my promise with Hwa Nabi.

“Phew.”

One hour before our promised meeting time.

Being the first to wake up, I quickly finished showering. As I came out drying my hair with a towel, I found several boys, including Im Hansol, chatting.

Judging by their messy hair, they must have just woken up.

“Oh, Han Siwoo. You’re up really early?”

Im Hansol greeted me as soon as our eyes met. I nodded vaguely in response.

“Yeah, I have an appointment this morning.”

“It’s not even 9 o’clock yet. Who are you meeting at this hour?”

“…Why do you need to know that?”

I was going to brush it off, but Im Hansol smiled and nodded as if he already knew everything. The other boys around him started joining in.

“Yeah, why ask that? Obviously he’s going to meet his girlfriend.”

“I’m suddenly feeling salty this morning. Do we have any salt?”

“No salt, but we have some leftover drinks from yesterday.”

“Sprinkle them outside the door after Han Siwoo leaves.”

“Did anyone check the weather forecast? Is it going to rain today?”

The boys hurling all kinds of verbal abuse and curses on this fine morning. It seemed to be a continuation from last night, but since they probably didn’t mean any real harm, I just let it slide.

Ignoring their biting remarks, I changed into the casual clothes I had kept in my suitcase. A white shirt with black slacks, and a blue China-collar jacket as outerwear. These were clothes I had bought on Hwa Nabi’s recommendation before.

“Oh, date look.”

“What date look? More like Monami look.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the crew-cut guy’s sarcasm. Looking at just the colors, he wasn’t wrong.

“Let’s see…”

After making sure I had everything I needed and checking my appearance in the full-length mirror provided in the room, I stood in front of the door.

“Have a good time.”

“Hope you trip on your way.”

“And break up if possible.”

Those were the words from Im Hansol, the vice class president, and the crew-cut guy in order. Barely listening, I put on my shoes and opened the door.

And before closing it, I quickly threw in one last comment.

“Sure, you single losers.”

-Thud.

—….

—CRASH BANG!!

Beyond the closed door came sounds of things falling over, people screaming, colorful criticisms and curses, and shouts. I ignored it all and quickly left the seventh floor.

“Phew, mission accomplished.”

Making fun of a bald person for being bald or a single person for being single is normally a grave offense… but you guys started it first. So I’m not at fault here.

“…I’ve been on the receiving end too.”

Anyway, what now? I stopped at the landing of the emergency stairs and thought for a moment.

I came out early on impulse because my roommates were giving me a hard time, but there’s still plenty of time before the appointment.

“I can’t go back to the room either.”

If I did, who knows what those angry guys might do. …I’m not joking, seriously. The keywords I heard sounded quite violent.

“Then…”

Maybe I should send a message just in case. With that thought, I took out my phone and held it. As I was about to tap the screen to compose a text to Hwa Nabi…

Creeeeak.

I heard the sound of hinges moving, and the emergency door from the 8th floor opened. Someone was trying to use the emergency stairs.

It wouldn’t be a guest at this hour, maybe a hotel staff member. I raised my head without much thought.

And.

“…”

My eyes met with someone with familiar pink hair.

“Oh.”

Why is she here? The encounter was so coincidental that I unconsciously muttered something stupid.

But the surprise didn’t last long. I soon regained my composure and straightened up from leaning against the wall. This worked out well. I was about to contact her anyway, so meeting her in person is very convenient for me…

“Ah, I was just about to text you…”

At that moment, something unexpected happened.

“…!”

She seemed just as surprised as I was. Hwa Nabi, who had been frozen without saying anything, suddenly turned bright red.

-SLAM!

With tremendous force, she closed the emergency door and ran away.

“Huh…?”

Left talking to empty air, I just blinked blankly.

What was that? Did I just see things? I naturally questioned my eyesight first.

After all, there’s no reason for Hwa Nabi to run away from me, right? Though I suppose there’s no reason for her to welcome me with open arms either.

“No…”

Whatever her attitude might be, that’s not what’s important. What matters now is why Hwa Nabi ran away when she saw me.

I thought about calling her to find out, but of course, she rejected the call. At this point, one thing seemed certain.

“…”

Hwa Nabi deliberately avoided me.

…Coming to that conclusion made my stomach feel cold. Why would she avoid me? I wondered if I had done something wrong last night, but couldn’t think of anything specific.

“…What’s really going on?”

While I didn’t understand why she left as soon as she saw me, I couldn’t just stand there doing nothing. I’m the type who can’t stand being curious about something. I can’t rest until I ask directly about these things.

So, let’s hear the circumstances directly from her.

With that resolve, I put my phone in my pocket and climbed the stairs briskly. I didn’t know which room Hwa Nabi was assigned to, but if I knocked on all the doors on the 8th floor, she’d eventually come out.

Creeeeak.

With that thought, I opened the emergency door. And just as I was about to take a step forward, I suddenly felt a strange sensation at the back of my head. A tingling feeling, as if I should turn around right now.

So I quickly turned around.

“…Hiccup.”

…And my eyes met with Hwa Nabi, who was hiding behind the emergency exit door, looking extremely surprised.

Maybe she didn’t expect me to turn around, because she was staring with wide eyes like someone who’d been caught off guard.

I had a lot to say, but I tried to understand the situation first.

“What are you doing here?”

“I, I wasn’t hiding. I just happened to be here.”

She seemed to feel guilty and confessed without being asked. But that wasn’t what I was curious about.

“That doesn’t matter, but why did you run away earlier?”

“…Run away? I never ran away.”

So she’s going to deny it. Is that it? But that wasn’t a good choice.

As I said before, I can’t stand being curious about something, and when my curiosity is piqued, I need to resolve it somehow. The more Hwa Nabi tries to evade, the more my competitive spirit is stimulated.

“I see. You don’t want to talk about it, right?”

“No, that’s not it…”

No need to listen further. I placed my hand on the wall, intending to cut off Hwa Nabi’s words.

Since Hwa Nabi was standing with her back against the corridor wall, it naturally created a position where she had to look up at me.

A distance close enough to touch if I reached out.

I asked in a relaxed voice to Hwa Nabi, who was biting her lip tightly.

“I asked why you ran away.”

“I told you I didn’t run away…”

“Then what were you doing? Why, did you suddenly feel like practicing running?”

When I asked with a smirk, Hwa Nabi’s cheeks gradually turned red. She seems to know her excuse doesn’t make sense.

“It, it’s not like that…”

“If it’s not like that, then what is it?”

“…Do you really need to know that badly?”

Sometimes actions speak louder than words. I silently stared at her. A wordless request for her to be honest.

Hwa Nabi’s already red cheeks flushed even more. I leisurely appreciated the sight.

Her trembling eyes, her lips that kept twitching…

I impulsively reached out.

“…Ah.”

I hadn’t done anything yet. Hwa Nabi made a cute sound, seemingly tense.

To ease her tension, I reached out with my other hand and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“D-don’t just touch me…”

I was worried she might collapse, her face was so red.

But I had no intention of stopping, so I forced eye contact with the trembling Hwa Nabi and asked.

“Still don’t want to tell me?”

The hot sensation transmitted from her cheek that I briefly touched.

After staring intently for a while, Hwa Nabi finally closed her eyes tightly. Essentially a declaration of surrender.

“F-fine. I’ll tell you. Just move back a little.”

“Tell me first.”

“Ah, this man really…”

That’s what happens when you run away like that. Feeling satisfied, I smiled mischievously. Hwa Nabi glared at me with fierce eyes, but with her flushed cheeks, she only looked pretty.

After taking a deep breath, Hwa Nabi muttered.

“I was embarrassed.”

“What were you embarrassed about?”

“…Do I have to say that too?”

“Well, if you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to…”

I deliberately swallowed the rest of my words. Implying she’d have to deal with the consequences herself.

“Siwoo… were you always like this?”

See, no matter how much you glare, you just look pretty.

“Yeah, I’ve always been like this. Didn’t you know?”

Actually, I’m not sure what she means by “like this,” but as long as I can see Hwa Nabi’s cute reactions, it doesn’t matter.

“…You lied about never having had a girlfriend, didn’t you?”

“No, that’s true.”

“No way. It totally seems like a lie…”

It was obvious she was trying to change the subject, so I didn’t respond. Then Hwa Nabi, who had been pressing her lips together, muttered with a somewhat resigned tone.

“…Last night.”

“Last night? Ah… when you were drunk?”

“….Yes. That’s it, that’s why I avoided you. Are you satisfied now?”

“You, you remembered all of that?”

“Not everything… but some of it.”

Now that I’ve heard the circumstances, I understand why she tried to avoid answering.

…Of course she would. If you remember your own drunken behavior, how could you face that person sober? I probably would have acted similarly. Feeling awkward, I withdrew my hand and stepped back.

“…Are you satisfied now?”

“Uh, um, that… sorry. I never imagined that was the reason.”

“If you couldn’t imagine it, what reason did you think it was?”

“Well… I thought maybe it was because I touched your butt yesterday.”

Even I thought it was a lame excuse. Seeing Hwa Nabi’s eyes narrowing at me, I quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

“…Is saying sorry enough?”

Of course not. If everything could be resolved with an apology, we wouldn’t need laws or police. As I was about to say something, at that moment.

“So… can I still look forward to it?”

Hwa Nabi’s hand extended toward me. There were no other words, but I understood the meaning behind the gesture.

“Yes, you can look forward to it.”

When I reached out and held her hand, she wiggled her fingers as if she’d been waiting for this. While doing so, she kept glancing at me, seemingly wanting to interlock our fingers.

So, pretending not to notice, I carefully intertwined my fingers with hers first while looking elsewhere. Hwa Nabi’s face brightened with a faint smile.

“…Ahem.”

Then, realizing I was staring at her, she hurriedly hid her smile and composed her expression, but it was too late. I found it cute and smiled.

“Hwa Nabi, can I ask you just one thing?”

“W-what?”

“About last night, how much do you remember?”

“……”

“Why aren’t you saying anyth— Ow, ow! Ah! Wait, don’t pinch the back of my hand!”