Chapter 37: Awkward

Shared classes with arts track students were usually packed with low-priority subjects. Music, art, and physical education fell into this category.

Well, saying this in front of So-yul might make her upset…

Though it probably didn’t matter anyway.

She was already upset with me now.

After that incident Thursday morning that left So-yul disappointed, we didn’t exchange a single word until Monday came around after the weekend.

Nothing strange about that. We hadn’t been meeting every day anyway. We’d even gone plenty of days without contact. With the risk of getting caught by teachers, laying low for a while was actually the right move.

Yet what kept bothering me was:

So-yul constantly shooting sharp glances my way.

Sitting in her usual front row seat, she’d send dissatisfied looks during every break. But whenever our eyes met, she’d immediately turn away.

Even when I tried sending KakaoTalk messages, she’d only reply with things like “Don’t know” or “Hmph.” I had no way to figure out what she wanted.

Though pouting So-yul was cute too, this felt more like being hated. It wasn’t pleasant getting cold looks from someone you cared about. Feeling down about it was inevitable.

I wished this awkward atmosphere would clear up somehow…

While harboring these hopes without any real solution, a good opportunity finally arrived.

The last morning class on Monday. Though the schedule clearly said art, for some reason our homeroom teacher came in instead.

Question marks naturally appeared above everyone’s heads.

“Teacher, this is supposed to be art class.”

“I know.”

After waving their hand at someone’s comment, they continued:

“Hey, you all remember the school trip is in three days, right?”

School trip?

Of course I didn’t remember. Forget remembering – I’d never even heard about it. Seeing question marks multiply above everyone’s heads, it seemed I wasn’t the only one who’d forgotten.

Looking around the classroom, the teacher soon scratched their neck and:

“Ah~ Looks like I forgot to mention it.”

What an absurd statement. As the whole class let out incredulous laughs, they continued with an apologetic gesture:

“You know from last year anyway. Our school trips are just overnight field trips in name only. This time too we’ll have inter-class recreation activities. Eat bad food. Write letters to parents by candlelight in the evening. Something like that. Probably won’t be fun.”

Was that something a teacher should say?

Well, they weren’t wrong. The school trips here were just a waste of time with no fun or meaning. Worse, they made it mandatory as part of the curriculum so we couldn’t even skip.

Last year we’d struggled hiking up some mountainside. This year seemed set to be a boring overnight trip. That was almost a relief.

“So with that in mind.”

After this brief opening, the teacher sighed and:

“Sorry but this period I need you to submit trip plans by group. You’re probably wondering why we need plans when we’ll just follow the schedule? Anyway, write at least a few lines. I’ll show the group assignments on screen~”

As soon as they finished speaking, the group assignment list appeared on screen.

The school must have ordered this, I guessed. If the teacher had to follow orders, we’d just have to go along too. After this mild complaint, I looked at the screen.

Let’s see, my group was…

And so the classroom arranged into groups of four.

Surprisingly, So-yul and I were in the same group.

“Oh, we’re with So-yul?”

“Ahaha, yeah. Hi.”

So-yul responded to the arts track girl’s greeting with a bright smile. As always, she looked prettiest when smiling. Though lately I couldn’t see it since she was always upset.

Then she turned to face our academic track friend.

“Hi. We have morning classes together but never get to talk, so this is nice.”

“Ah, yeah.”

So-yul waved with a gentle voice. Just that seemed enough to entrance our friend already. Really, her sociability could be too much sometimes.

Finally So-yul’s eyes rolled toward me.

“And.”

Meeting my gaze, So-yul hesitated slightly then:

“…Hi to you too.”

She gave just this ice-cold greeting before turning away.

Though I understood how she felt, treating only me coldly was perfect for raising suspicions. Sure enough, the arts track girl’s eyes started darting between So-yul and me.

Soon she opened her lips carefully:

“Oh my. I’ve never seen So-yul treat a friend like this before?”

“W-what?”

And visibly panicking only made it more suspicious.

Thanks to this, the arts track girl’s gaze flew to me too.

“Are you maybe in some kind of relationship with So-yul?”

“We just take morning classes together.”

“And?”

“That’s it.”

“…Really?”

When I deflected without changing expression, the arts track girl seemed to give up. No, more accurately, she just gave up getting information from me. Her target soon shifted back to So-yul.

“Come to think of it So-yul, haven’t you been staring in one direction lately? I think it was around his seat?”

“W-what? No I haven’t!”

So-yul denied this while hanging her head and fidgeting with her fingers.

It was amazing we hadn’t been caught yet when she was this bad at lying. Why not just admit it?

“Then?”

When the arts track girl asked with a huge grin, So-yul barely answered while pushing out her lips:

“…I-I don’t know.”

“Oh, really.”

The arts track girl watching So-yul jumped up from her seat.

Then quickly moving to So-yul’s side… she wrapped that tiny body in a tight hug.

“Why is our So-yul just so cute?”

“Can’t breathe, stop it…”

So-yul whined while flailing her hands. Finding even that cute, the arts track girl hugged her tighter.

I knew she got along well with classmates, but seems her friends treated her like a doll or little sister.

Well, if I were a girl with a friend like So-yul, I’d probably want to dote on her the same way. Nothing unusual about it.

Showing no signs of releasing the struggling So-yul, the arts track girl laughed “huhuhu.”

“Well So-yul is quite the tease. If she likes someone she probably wouldn’t just watch but go tease them instead.”

“T-that’s not…!”

So-yul stammered trying to stop her friend. Her tone absolutely radiated embarrassment.

Well, I wasn’t so sure. So-yul had a playful nature. She probably teased people she didn’t particularly like too… Just look how she’d been teasing me since shortly after we met.

As I was accepting this explanation, our quiet academic track friend tapped my shoulder.

When I turned, they immediately asked in a hushed voice:

“Hey, what’s really going on between you and Han So-yul?”

“Why are you asking too? There’s nothing between us.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

Finding my continued denials unconvincing, they finally let out a skeptical “Eh.”

What more could I do? I pretended not to hear and just idly cleaned my ears.

Soon after escaping her friend, So-yul caught her breath. Whether her red face was from being squeezed or from being flustered by suspicion – I had no way to know.

Then straightening her uniform, she quietly declared as if settling things:

“Anyway, we’re nothing to each other.”

It sounded completely unconvincing even to me. It probably sounded even less convincing to her arts track friend.

Soon that friend was poking So-yul’s fair cheeks and:

“Okay okay, I’ll pretend to believe that for now.”

“You don’t need to pretend…”

“Alright, alright. Our So-yul’s such a good girl, right?”

“…I’m not good.”

So-yul grumbled with a sulky face.

Even that just made her friend poke her cheeks harder.

How to put it? At this point it seemed less like treating her as a sister and more like a daughter.

Anyway, seeing So-yul so loved by her friends was cute in its own way, and I barely managed to swallow a smile that tried to form. Smiling here would definitely invite more questioning.

Just then, an announcement came from the teacher’s desk:

“Alright, submit in 5 minutes. Wrap it up quickly.”

Had that much time passed already?

All we’d done was watch So-yul and her friend snuggling. We hadn’t written a single word, completely wasting our time.

But we couldn’t exactly submit a blank page.

I tapped the desk and said:

“Let’s stop chatting and write the plan. We need to put something down.”

“Y-you’re right.”

So-yul agreed with me.

Though both the arts track girl and academic track friend shot us strange looks, that didn’t last long. They eventually followed my lead and picked up their pens.

“So let’s talk about what to write in the trip plan.”

At the arts track girl’s words, everyone crossed their arms and started thinking.

Nothing could be more pointless than planning a trip where both destination and schedule were already set. It was puzzling what the school even wanted us to write. Nothing came to mind.

After a long silence fell over our group of four, a thin voice emerged:

“At night, secretly…”

It was So-yul’s voice.

“Secretly?”

The arts track girl looked at So-yul, urging her to continue. Her expression showed she couldn’t even guess what might follow.

Of course, I had a vague idea.

As everyone focused on So-yul’s lips waiting, she finally parted them slowly.

Then in a tiny voice like whispering in someone’s ear:

“…Never mind.”

She added this while glancing up at me.

Naturally, another question mark appeared above the other two’s heads.