Chapter 140: Side Story – Modern IF (1)

Chapter 140: Side Story – Modern IF (1)

Bba-bba-bba bba~ Good morning~ Ding ding ding~

“Kkkkkkkk…”

A terrible alarm sound pierced my ears.

I trembled and grabbed my vibrating phone.

It had a short message: ‘Wake up!!!’

And three missed calls.

Looking at the time, it rang about 10 minutes ago.

‘What time is it now…’

Fortunately, the clock showed 6:40.

Not bad. Considering I usually wake up at 7, that’s 20 minutes early.

I chuckled to myself and got out of bed.

“Haaah…”

My eyes felt so heavy, probably because I just woke up. My head felt a bit foggy too.

By the way, the fact that I got a call means…

‘She’ must have arrived near my house.

If I leave it like this, she’ll wait for hours, so I quickly picked up my phone.

And then I called the contact saved as ‘Shin Gaeun.’

Tturururu, tturururu-

A dry sound effect echoed.

– Hello?

Then, a slightly excited voice came through.

I mumbled and spoke languidly.

“Hello… Where are you…?”

“Near your house. Did you just wake up?”

Even though it was over the phone, I could tell her tone was dripping with honey.

Gaeun is someone I became friends with when I entered high school.

She helped me when I was lost and wandering, and ever since then, she’s shown me extreme affection.

I don’t know why she’s so affectionate towards me,

But as they say, good things are good, so I decided to accept it as a form of friendship.

“Uung… I just woke up to the alarm..”

– You woke up quite early today. Can I come in for a bit?

“Come and wake me up… I’m sleepy..”

– If you don’t get up soon, you’ll be late. Wait a moment. I’ll be there soon.

Gaeun hung up with a chuckle, saying “Okay.”

I buried my face in the pillow and wiggled my legs.

My legs sticking out from under the cotton blanket caught my eye.

Tok tok-

How long was I dawdling like that?

I heard someone knocking on the door from outside.

“Come in…”

Since she knows the door lock password, I said it casually.

My parents are away on business, so I live alone in Seoul.

Because of that, it’s not a bad environment to call a friend over in the morning.

Bbi-k, bbi-k, bbi-k, bbi-k, bbi-k, bbi-k.

Then I heard the door lock sound, and the door opened.

“Coming in.”

Gaeun entered the hallway after a brief remark.

As I slightly opened my eyes, her distinct red hair caught my sight.

Her long, straight hair, which fell with luster, gave her a pure look.

It’s not dyed; it’s naturally red, which is very unusual.

She told me she had a lot of trouble because of it when she was young.

Ever since I told her once that her hair was pretty, she seems to have gained confidence in her hair color.

“Gaeun-ah… Hurry and wake me up..”

I stretched out my arms towards Gaeun, who had approached my bed.

Then, Gaeun chuckled and sat on the edge of the bed.

She stared at my face and leaned her body forward sharply.

Her red hair cascaded down, and her face came close.

A faint rose scent wafted to my nose.

“Did you… change your shampoo..?”

“Yes. You said you liked the rose scent. So I tried it.”

“Hehe… It smells good…”

She seemed quite pleased with my reaction.

She covered her mouth with her hand and giggled, then slipped her hand behind my back.

Then, she spoke in a soft voice as she helped me sit up.

“Let’s get up now. We’ll be late for school.”

“I want to sleep a little longer…”

“Shh. You were late last time too because you were dawdling. If you keep doing this, you’ll get scolded?”

“Okay…”

Despite waking up early, dawdling made me even sleepier.

But thanks to Gaeun’s urging, I finally got out of bed.

It’s rude to make a friend wait after calling her over, so I finished getting ready as quickly as possible.

After putting on my school uniform, it was already 7:10.

School starts at 7:40, so I had plenty of time.

I guess I can go to school at a leisurely pace for the first time in a while.

“Okay, if you’re ready, let’s go.”

“Yeah. Do you want to grab something to eat on the way? I’ll buy it for you.”

“Why are you going to buy food without eating breakfast…?”

“Hey… What’s the big deal? Westerners eat bread for breakfast, right? Let’s go quickly. Huh?”

“Their eating habits are…”

“Don’t say that…”

I grabbed Gaeun’s hand, which seemed a bit indifferent, and quickly headed to a nearby convenience store.

Gaeun didn’t seem too pleased with me snacking,

But when I held her hand tightly, she didn’t say much.

Holding hands is too much of a cheat, so I don’t do it often.

However, I do use it occasionally when I want to pester Gaeun.

Beep.

“That will be 5,900 won.”

After finishing the payment, we both headed to school.

Gaeun chose a sandwich, and I chose my favorite cream bread.

“Hehe… Delicious…”

“You like it that much?”

As I took half a bite of the cream bread and giggled, Gaeun looked at me with a pleased expression.

I nodded vigorously at her gaze.

Indeed, cream bread in the morning is the best.

“…Sewon-ah. You have cream on your mouth.”

As I was munching on the cream bread and walking to school, Gaeun tapped her lips.

Wondering if something was on my face, I moved my fingers around, but no cream came off.

As I tried to wipe my mouth with my sleeve, Gaeun’s hand stopped me.

“Uum…”

“This kid… you’ll get cream on your sleeve. Look here for a moment. I’ll wipe it for you.”

‘It’s bothersome…’

Can’t I just wipe it quickly and wash it later?

Even as I thought that, Gaeun’s hand was already gently cupping my face.

I felt her touch on my cheek, and her blue eyes gazed at me.

She’s really pretty when I look at her like this.

One of her parents is Western, so she has a very unique appearance.

Indeed, mixed-race people are the best. Her distinct features and fair skin.

Sseuk-

Lost in thought for a moment, Gaeun wiped my mouth with her finger.

And then, she glanced at the cream on her thumb,

And slowly licked it away with her red tongue.

“W-what, what are you doing?!”

Startled by that sudden action, my voice involuntarily rose.

At the same time, a wave of heat rushed up.

I don’t know why this is so embarrassing.

Then Gaeun tilted her head, as if she didn’t understand.

“Why?”

“Th-that is… why are you eating what’s on someone else’s mouth…”

“There’s nowhere else to wipe it. And I can’t just rub it anywhere.”

“That’s true, but…”

Seeing her lick her lips makes me feel a bit strange.

I cleared my throat and deliberately looked away from her.

“Ahem… Ah, anyway. Thanks… Let’s go quickly. We’ll be late for school.”

“We’re not that late. It’s only a 10-minute walk to school.”

“Anyway! Let’s just go…”

Even when I tried to change the subject, it didn’t work.

Seeing her subtly smiling, it seemed like she was teasing me,

But I can’t resist Gaeun’s occasional charming moments.

“Your face is red. Are you embarrassed?”

“No… Come to think of it… Where are Raewon and Yeonseo? They should be going to school together at this hour.”

“Right. They must have overslept.”

I tried to change the subject and pretended to be nonchalant.

Fortunately, Gaeun went along with my attempt to change the subject.

“If they’re waiting in the classroom, they’ll come on their own. Come on, let’s go quickly! I feel so energetic today!”

Fearing a follow-up might come, I grabbed her wrist and moved towards the school as if running.

After a brief greeting with the teacher at the main gate, we quickly arrived at the classroom.

There, two familiar faces were chatting with each other.

They were the ones I thought would be late.

“Oh, you guys came really early today?”

The first to react when I spoke was the blonde girl.

She’s very tall and has a generally mature aura.

In contrast, the child next to her is surprisingly small.

She’s about 140 cm tall and has a slightly grumpy expression.

Yeonseo and Raewon.

They’ve been inseparable since childhood and commute to school together every morning.

The blonde is Yeonseo, and the small child is Raewon.

“Haa… I was dragged here by that bitch Yeonseo. She’s been going crazy since dawn about eating fish-shaped bread… like… fuck…”

Just as Yeonseo was about to say something,

Raewon beat her to it and unleashed a torrent of curses.

Ah, so that’s why I didn’t see them on the way to school.

They weren’t late; they just arrived earlier.

‘Was it the limited edition fish-shaped bread they sell every morning…?’

It’s a hot topic these days, fish-shaped bread.

They say it’s like they put drugs in it, because the more you eat it, the more you want it.

I don’t particularly like fish-shaped bread, so I wasn’t very interested.

“I’m sorry… But you enjoyed it too, right?”

“You ate five out of the six yourself…”

“Hehe… I-I’m really sorry…”

Although she sounded very angry from what I heard, she looked like an angry red panda due to her small stature.

Yeonseo seemed to agree, hugging Raewon tightly and gently comforting her.

The most fortunate thing is that Raewon’s ‘happiness threshold’ is quite low.

Raewon grumbled but gradually softened her expression.

Yeonseo’s maturity and Raewon’s personality were a perfect match.

This might be the driving force behind their 17-year friendship.

“But… why did you guys come so early? You’re always late because you have to put up with her dawdling.”

Raewon, sitting on Yeonseo’s lap with a languid expression, asked.

Then Gaeun smiled brightly, making a V-sign with her hand.

“I woke up early today! I brought the dawdler with me.”

“Wow… You’re really something. If it were me, I would have exploded with anger and died long ago.”

“Hey, it’s not that bad…”

Raewon frowned and expressed her disgust, making me feel wronged.

That’s unfair. Of course, Gaeun has been late a few times because of my oversleeping.

But lately, I’ve been reflecting and trying hard to wake up.

Thus, we spent time bickering.

Time passed slowly, and students gradually started arriving at school.

As everyone took their seats and began preparing for the first period,

Creak-

The classroom door opened, and a well-built teacher entered the room.

“Alright… Good morning, everyone. I’m going to call attendance, so please be a little quiet.”

He was tall and his face looked a bit tired.

It was the physical education teacher, Yoo Tae-jin.

The scar on his face was very noticeable, and no one knew its origin.

That’s why he was selected as the ‘Teacher with the Most Secrets’ by the student council.

“Se-jin, this one is absent because she said she was sick… Yu-jin, why isn’t she here yet?”

“She said she was going to poop. She’s probably in the bathroom right now.”

“Ha… Understood. I’ll call attendance.”

With Tae-jin’s faint sigh, the somewhat chaotic day began.

It’s been about a month since I enrolled in this school,

But there haven’t been many significant changes just because I entered high school.

I just study subjects as scheduled, eat lunch, and prepare for the next class.

The only thing that helps this monotonous cycle is, of course, my three friends.

Time passed, or perhaps it didn’t, and dismissal time arrived.

Except for the homeroom teacher delaying dismissal by about 30 minutes with his rambling, it was a good day.

As usual, I walked home with Gaeun, sticking close to her.

Yeonseo and Raewon had disappeared somewhere, saying they had somewhere to go separately.

And since we had planned to have dinner at my place during lunch break, Gaeun was following me closely.

“Hmm… By the way, do we have the ingredients at home?”

“Yes, I bought them. I went grocery shopping yesterday.”

“Why didn’t you call me when you went grocery shopping? I could have gotten you good ingredients.”

Gaeun looked disappointed at my answer.

I had entrusted her with grocery shopping once before.

And then, about 800,000 won worth of beef, tuna, etc., were delivered in bulk, so

I decided never to ask Gaeun to shop for groceries again.

She’s an incredible gold-digger, and it’s clearly evident here.

She doesn’t seem to understand what the problem is,

But spending this much money on someone she’s only known for a month… I thought she was easily taken advantage of.

“I just like cheap pork neck… Gaeun, you spend too much money on ingredients.”

“Don’t people usually spend this much? I heard you should eat a lot at this time of year.”

“It’s too much that it’s a problem…”

She just doesn’t understand.

It’s strange, but she was desperate to feed me expensive ingredients.

We arrived home, clashing over our views on food.

“Haa… Home…”

As expected, home is the best.

Familiar scents and sights relaxed my expression,

And then I quickly took off my clothes and opened the closet door.

At the same time, Gaeun flinched and took a step back.

Ah, right. Gaeun was here.

I was so happy to be home that I took off my clothes out of habit.

But since I’ve already taken them off, what can I do?

I quickly changed my clothes and smiled at Gaeun, whose face was slightly red.

“Sorry… I took them off out of habit. Are you hungry? Let’s make dinner quickly.”

“Uh, uh-huh… Are the ingredients in the fridge? I’ll get them.”

Gaeun swallowed and immediately headed to the refrigerator.

The expression she had just shown was one I had never seen before,

But since it was a mishap caused by my carelessness, I set up the cooking utensils without thinking about it.

Tonight’s dinner is curry.

It’s simple, can be made in large quantities, and is a very good dish to eat over time.

We quickly finished making the curry and had a happy time together.

After eating and buying snacks at a nearby convenience store,

We watched a romance movie we impulsively bought, sticking close together.

We blushed and felt shy during the sex scenes,

And we sniffled during the touching moments.

We were so engrossed in the movie that time had already reached 8 PM.

It’s a bit disappointing, but it’s time to part ways.

Buseureok-

“Are you leaving already? Should I walk you home?”

“No, no. It’s only about a 10-minute walk to my house. It’s getting late, so you should rest.”

“Then… I’ll walk you to the front of your house.”

“I really don’t mind…”

“I want to do it. Come on, don’t argue. We’ll be even later.”

I smiled at Gaeun, who was packing her things, and put on my coat.

The April night air is chilly. I might catch a cold if I’m not careful.

Chatting with Gaeun, I walked her to the main road, which was crowded with people,

And then waved my hand gently.

“Well then, I’m heading in. Today was fun.”

However, Gaeun seemed to have something to say.

Normally, she would have smiled brightly and said goodbye.

But today, she seemed hesitant, moving her lips.

Wondering if something was wrong, I tilted my head.

“…Is something wrong?”

“Huh? Uh-huh… No. I was just thinking about something else. I had fun too. Can we have dinner together again sometime?”

“Of course. Come anytime.”

“Hehe… Okay. See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Go home safely.”

Seeing Gaeun smile happily, I smiled along.

After a final brief farewell, we went our separate ways.

Gaeun’s back as she walked home seemed to hold many unspoken words.

And I realized the reason for her hesitation two months later, in early summer.

After spending time with her every day, her confession came a week later.

That was the beginning of my real school life.