Chapter 11: Cozy Evening (2)

“What are you doing here?”

The head of student affairs’ booming voice filled the club room. Even though the room wasn’t small, the echoing voice made my ears ring.

But in this situation, that was the least of my concerns.

There was something far more worrying.

I gulped and glanced at the seat across from me.

Where So-yul had been sitting just moments ago… there was no one.

Just before the teacher came in, when we first heard the sound of heels…

I was about to ask her to hide for a moment, just in case, but So-yul had already jumped up and hidden somewhere in the club room.

We hadn’t exchanged a word, only a glance, but somehow our thoughts seemed to align. If we’d been even a second slower, we both would’ve been caught red-handed. It was fortunate in many ways.

But it wasn’t time to relax yet.

It was up to me to come up with an excuse to prevent the teacher from becoming suspicious.

So, trying to appear as calm as possible, I spoke:

“Oh, I was just having dinner here.”

The teacher’s eyes sharpened.

“You should eat dinner in the cafeteria. What are you eating?”

The teacher scolded me, pointing at the table. Their face seemed to say they’d report me to the school immediately if I slipped up.

So that’s what they’re focusing on first.

If I gave even an inch now, some form of punishment would surely follow, big or small. In the worst case, I might end up like that junior I saw before. I had to think as hard as I could.

“Ah, well, a senior from the sports track ordered food and had some left over, so they told me to eat it. It seemed a waste to throw away, so I was finishing it off.”

I blurted out the first excuse that came to mind.

As soon as I finished speaking, the teacher frowned deeply.

“The cafeteria menu is designed with all your nutritional needs in mind. It’s good that you don’t want to waste food, but you shouldn’t eat things like this carelessly, even if it’s leftover. Understand?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I’ll go throw the rest away in the cafeteria.”

“…Alright.”

My clear-cut answer seemed to ease their suspicion somewhat. The teacher’s expression lightened a bit.

In these situations, it’s better to honestly admit your mistake. It was a trick I’d learned from years of being a model student.

They probably wouldn’t make a big deal out of leftover food anyway. I hoped they’d back off at this point. I wanted to get out of this situation as quickly as possible.

But it was short-lived.

Soon, the teacher pointed at the containers on the table.

“Were you eating both of those?”

At that moment, I heard a sharp intake of breath from a corner of the room.

I understand you’re surprised, but please hold it in for a bit longer.

Unable to calm my racing heart, I managed to open my lips.

“Ah, yes. There were two left over. It seemed awkward to call someone else, so I was struggling to eat both, but I’ll throw them away now.”

“Hmm…”

The teacher hummed, looking around the club room.

Their face was clearly full of doubt.

Maybe this was too much to handle.

The awkwardly pulled-out chair, the arrangement of the food… No matter how you looked at it, it seemed more natural to think someone had been sitting across from me. My excuse wasn’t enough to dispel their suspicion.

After a moment, the teacher’s gaze fixed on one spot.

“What’s that?”

“…Pardon? What do you mean?”

I pretended not to know and asked back. I hoped they’d say “Never mind” and leave out of annoyance. Because where the teacher was looking…

Of course, such a hope was unlikely to be fulfilled.

Soon, the teacher pointed at that spot without hesitation.

“That human shape behind the screen. Who is that?”

For a moment, it felt like the air had stopped.

From behind the screen, I thought I felt a faint trembling.

Behind the large screen hanging on one wall.

That was where So-yul was hiding.

It’s a huge screen that reaches the floor. Someone as small as So-yul should be completely hidden there.

This assumption wasn’t wrong; from where I was sitting, I could barely see So-yul’s shoes.

But from the teacher’s point of view, it might be different.

If the screen was somehow protruding, and that protrusion looked like a human shape… Plus, with one chair pulled out and food placed there…

It’s natural to assume someone is hiding there.

“…A person?”

I forced my dry lips apart.

Whether we’re caught this way or that, it’s clear there’ll be trouble. All I could do now was struggle. The only option was to beg them to give up and leave at this point.

Despite these efforts, the teacher took one step after another into the room.

Click, click. With each echoing footstep, I felt my heart beating even harder.

Finally, reaching my side, the teacher grabbed the left edge of the screen.

Then, in a sharp voice tinged with anger, they said:

“You know dating is forbidden at our school, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Then, you don’t need me to explain what would happen if there was a girl here right now, do you?”

“…”

The teacher asked in a light tone, as if making a joke.

As if burning with a sense of justice to stop students from misbehaving. Or as if feeling joy at catching another wrongdoing.

At this point, I couldn’t help but think they seemed like a psycho.

Ignoring my lack of response, the teacher slowly moved their hand. They were about to peek behind the screen.

And finally, the teacher stuck their head into that small space behind the large screen to check the identity of the ‘human shape’…

“…What?”

With a voice full of disappointment.

“It’s a mannequin?”

They muttered this.

So that’s what it was.

The human-like shape the teacher had seen was just a mannequin. A mannequin probably used as a prop for films. No wonder it caught their eye, hidden behind the screen like that.

So-yul was hiding on the right side of the screen. When the teacher grabbed the left edge of the screen, I already realized there had been some misunderstanding.

After all, So-yul is small in height, body, and… chest. There’s no way she’d be visible sticking out from behind there. For once, I was incredibly grateful for So-yul’s petite figure.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I explained:

“Ah, I think that’s something they bought to use in a film and stored here.”

“Is that so?”

The teacher snorted and let go of the screen.

“Anyway. Quickly throw away what you were eating. Don’t eat in places like this from now on. And you’re in the academic track, right? Hurry back to the dorm and study.”

“Yes, I understand.”

I didn’t want to drag this out any longer. I bowed my head and answered immediately.

The teacher made a slightly dissatisfied face, but it didn’t last long. Soon, they walked out of the club room.

After the sound of the door closing, the clicking of heels continued.

When that sound finally stopped, I approached So-yul, who was still hiding.

“…Hey, you can come out now. The teacher’s gone.”

As soon as I finished speaking, So-yul burst out from behind the screen.

“Huu, haa, huh…”

Disheveled hair. Pale cheeks drained of color from fear. Her eyes were half-glazed over, and her whole body was trembling.

Her unkempt appearance and rough breathing seemed oddly stimulating.

“Th-the teacher really left, right?”

Naturally, her voice was shaking too. I answered, forcing strength into my throat:

“Yeah. They left a while ago, and we can’t hear the footsteps anymore, so it should be fine.”

“O-okay…”

So-yul muttered, clutching her chest with both hands. She didn’t seem to care that her clothes were disheveled.

She must have been terribly scared; she was biting her lip hard, and her face was so pale it looked almost white.

Seeing her like this actually made me feel more relaxed.

I chuckled and pointed out:

“How are you going to feel any thrill if you’re this scared?”

“What?”

So-yul replied in a tone full of complaints:

“I-I couldn’t help it. I thought my heart was going to drop when I was hiding…”

“Well, I guess. You did well just now. It was a really dangerous situation, so thanks for hiding so well.”

If it weren’t for So-yul’s quick reaction, we would’ve been caught for sure. I can’t even imagine what the consequences would have been. At least for today, it was right to praise her efforts.

I smiled and patted So-yul’s back.

At the same time, a look of surprise appeared on So-yul’s face.

“…Wh-what are you doing?”

“What?”

When I asked briefly, So-yul let out a bewildered laugh and said:

“You’re touching my body right now.”

“Oh.”

Only then did I quickly remove my hand.

I was so out of it that I didn’t even realize what I was doing. Without thinking, I had put my hand on So-yul’s body. Seeing her trembling and scared right in front of me, I unconsciously…

As I stood there with my mouth hanging open, So-yul chuckled and said:

“You complain about being my boyfriend, but it seems when I’m trembling in front of you, you want to comfort me.”

“That’s not it.”

I knew she’d tease me like this. I denied it, waving both hands.

“That was just a mistake.”

“Do you usually touch girls’ bodies by mistake?”

“Well, no, not really.”

“Then?”

So-yul tilted her head and said:

“I wonder what that meant just now~?”

She drew out the end of her sentence and started grinning.

She always pokes at any opening like this. From now on, I’ve decided not to respond to these things, so it’s better to ignore it completely.

I kept my mouth shut and turned around to clean up the food on the table. Seeing no reaction from me, So-yul seemed to lose interest and soon followed suit, helping to tidy up the table.

Finally, after looking around the neatly organized club room, I spoke to So-yul:

“If we leave together, someone might see us, so you go first. I’ll dispose of the leftover food and head back to the dorm a bit later.”

“Okay.”

So-yul nodded firmly. Her trembling seemed to have stopped by now.

I thought she’d leave quietly now, but for some reason, So-yul looked up at me and added:

“Today was fun too. Right?”

What a ridiculous thing to say.

“You were shaking so much earlier, how can you say it was fun?”

“The scarier it is, the more fun it is.”

“Are you a masochist or something?”

“Why? It’s the same with roller coasters.”

“Thanks to you, I thought I was going to throw up earlier.”

I wanted some excitement, but I didn’t want to live such a spectacular life. These days, every day is a series of nerve-wracking events. If something like today happens again, I feel like I might lose a few years off my life.

As I was lost in these thoughts, So-yul chuckled and then asked:

“But it was fun, wasn’t it?”

Well, I can’t say it wasn’t.

If I really found it unpleasant and not fun at all, I could quit anytime. The sense of purpose is vague, and my connection with So-yul is even more tenuous. It’s just a fake relationship to do bad things together. There’s no deeper meaning between So-yul and me.

Anyway, the fact that I’m hanging out with So-yul…

It probably means I’m vaguely enjoying breaking rules with her.

“…Well.”

So-yul seemed to catch the implication in my vague answer.

Then So-yul smiled brightly and said:

“Then, I’m looking forward to more. Boyfriend.”

After saying this, she slowly walked out of the club room.

Honestly, I don’t think either of us is in our right mind.

—