Chapter 46: Midsummer Night (1)

“What do I do… The girls’ dorm emergency exit suddenly won’t open…”

I froze for a while after reading So-yul’s message.

From her desperate tone, it seemed she used the emergency exit like I did. Though I didn’t know the exact layout, there must be similar emergency stairs somewhere in her building.

And now that exit door had suddenly locked.

In other words, she couldn’t get back into the dorm.

Could the boys’ dorm be locked too? I checked the door in front of me, but it opened fine.

There was no reason they’d only lock the girls’ dorm – the door must have just malfunctioned.

I’d worried the school discovered us sneaking out and deliberately locked it. Fortunately, that fear was premature.

No. This wasn’t the time to feel relieved.

Whatever the cause, the girls’ dorm door was locked. So-yul had no way back until morning when the main entrance opened. She’d have to wait outside all night.

What to do…

“What should we do?”

“Eek!”

The sudden voice made me yelp in surprise.

Turning around, there stood So-yul. Though we’d only parted minutes ago, the mood felt completely different. Her whole body trembled, probably from shock, and her gaze stayed fixed on the ground.

She must have come looking for me after realizing waiting by the locked door was pointless. Well, she had no one else to turn to in this situation.

Since we were near the dorm, I lowered my voice to ask:

“It really won’t open?”

“No…” So-yul answered faintly.

“I tried pushing and pulling a few times just in case, but it won’t budge… And if I keep making noise at the emergency exit, the dorm supervisor might come check…”

Her voice sounded like she might cry any moment. With leftover warmth from earlier still lingering, I had to resist the urge to embrace her.

Even if that was allowed for a fake boyfriend, which it wasn’t, now wasn’t the time. Openly hugging in front of the dorm would be like advertising our relationship.

Above all, comforting her wouldn’t help solve this crisis. Words of comfort alone were useless.

Really, what should we do?

Early summer nights were still cold. I couldn’t leave So-yul outside all night in short sleeves.

I could stay out with her, but that would just mean both of us suffering since I wasn’t dressed warmly either.

As I pondered silently, I felt a gentle tug on my t-shirt.

Looking down, I saw So-yul gripping the hem of my shirt.

She kept pulling at it as if begging me not to leave her alone. She seemed too apologetic to look me in the eye, but her other hand pressed against her chest betrayed her fear.

Such fragile gestures would trigger anyone’s protective instincts.

When someone I cared for relied on me this much, who could possibly abandon them?

I gently took her thin wrist and removed her hand. So-yul lowered her head even further, now practically staring at her feet.

Placing my hand on the emergency exit handle, I spoke:

“Hey.”

“…It’s okay. You can go in. Sorry for holding you back.”

She apologized before I could say anything. She must have interpreted my actions as rejection.

Really. She could be so mischievous normally, yet in situations like this, she transformed into someone incredibly innocent and delicate.

The fact that my heart raced every time I saw this side of her – I wished she’d realize it already.

“That’s not what I meant.”

When I added this awkwardly, So-yul slowly raised her downcast eyes.

Her doubtful expression was clear even just from her gaze. Maybe she’d already guessed what I was about to say.

Of course, it didn’t matter to me either way.

Meeting her eyes directly, I continued:

“Just for tonight, stay in my room.”

So-yul’s eyes went wider than I’d ever seen them before.

◎

So-yul adamantly shook her head at my suggestion. She said she didn’t want to trouble me. Plus if we got caught, it wouldn’t end with just regular punishment.

I didn’t care. I was more worried about her spending the night in the cold. She had the competition coming up – this could negatively affect her condition.

And about getting in huge trouble if caught…

“We’d both be done for if we got caught anyway, even normally.”

That one line neatly settled it.

With this reasoning, So-yul finally accepted my offer.

We decided she’d spend just this one night in my room.

When I opened the emergency exit door, So-yul followed behind me while holding onto my shirt hem.

Though I’d been through these emergency stairs over ten times, it felt dozens of times more tense than usual.

I worried about the dorm supervisor watching CCTVs when we entered the hallway. But thinking about it, they hadn’t caught me sneaking into the machine room all this time either. It was needless worry.

And so, the place So-yul and I arrived at was…

“…So this is your room.”

“…Yeah.”

Naturally, it was my dorm room.

“Come to think of it.”

When I suddenly spoke, So-yul tilted her head awkwardly.

“What?”

“No, well. Even though it’s a dorm, it’s still a guy’s room. Aren’t you worried about something weird happening?”

She was already troubling me. We’d be in huge trouble if caught. It wasn’t entirely unreasonable concern, but shouldn’t she be wary of me first?

But So-yul had followed me without showing any sign of suspicion. She showed absolutely no sense of caution.

Hearing my question, So-yul just blinked for a moment, then:

“Are… are you going to do something weird…?”

“No. I won’t. Absolutely not.”

Frantically waving my hands at the “just in case” implications, So-yul covered her mouth and giggled.

Then in an infinitely gentle tone:

“I know. You’re not the type to have those kinds of thoughts. That’s why I trusted you and came.”

She answered like this.

She followed me because she trusted me. Just hearing those words made my ears tingle. It made me so happy I wanted to reach out and hug her. …I’d betrayed her expectations in mere seconds.

Soon after, So-yul started walking around with her hands behind her back. She seemed to be satisfying her curiosity, poking her head into different corners of the room.

Having So-yul wandering around my private living space – it felt like a dream.

Soon she turned to face me.

Her finger pointed at the notebook on my desk.

“Looks like you’re still studying hard?”

“Of course I have to. What piano is to you, studying is to me.”

“Hmm, really? I thought you’d decided to take it easy.”

“What made you think that?”

When I asked bluntly, So-yul gave a fresh smile and:

“You used to tell me not to disturb your studying. But lately you haven’t said that at all.”

“…”

“What changed?”

She asked again as if trying to probe my true feelings.

Her voice carried just a hint of sweetness.

Because something far more important than studying had appeared.

I couldn’t exactly respond like that.

“Who knows.”

“Hmm~”

At my obvious evasion, So-yul made a dubious sound and moved her feet again. Thankfully she didn’t press the issue further.

After looking around broadly, So-yul said:

“But you clean regularly, huh? Even though I came unexpectedly, it’s not dirty.”

“Really? It doesn’t seem clean to me. There’s paper piled in the corner. Clothes draped on the chair.”

“This is better than I expected. Than I expected.”

Emphasizing it was better than expected – did that mean she had no expectations of me? Well, it was still much better than the mess in my old apartment.

Anyway, we should probably try to sleep now.

Though having So-yul stay in my room made my heart race and would likely be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it was already late. If we kept talking, sound might leak into the hallway and bring the dorm supervisor.

“Should we go to sleep?”

When I asked quietly, So-yul gave a slight nod then:

“Um, maybe…”

She hesitantly began.

I wondered what she was trying to say. I thought she might tease me with something strange again, but that didn’t seem to be it.

I questioned with my eyes and waited for her answer. After quite a while, So-yul finally whispered briefly:

“…Do you have any… clothes to change into?”

“Clothes to change into?”

“Yeah.”

So-yul answered with an embarrassed look.

Clothes to change into.

If she wanted to borrow my clothes, I wouldn’t refuse. Except for what I was wearing and the laundry I’d collected, she could wear whatever she wanted, but…

“Won’t the size be wrong? There’s over a 20cm height difference.”

“Yeah. So I was planning to keep wearing my, um, underwear and pants. But my t-shirt got sweaty and dirty…”

“Hmm.”

There was no reason to refuse when she explained it like this.

Though I doubted it was that dirty from just sweat. But well, she’d said from before coming to my room that she didn’t want to trouble me, so this was probably an extension of that.

Plus in this situation where showering was difficult, this was at least a way to feel less grimy. Though it felt strange thinking about So-yul wearing my everyday clothes… it wouldn’t be the first time anyway.

“Okay.”

After giving this brief answer, I turned around.

“I’ll step out for a bit, so open the closet and pick whatever you want. Knock once when you’re done changing.”

“Okay…”

A faint answer came from behind.

Making eye contact now would probably make us both awkward. Better if at least I pretended to be nonchalant.

Making this judgment, I stepped out without delay. I didn’t look back at all.

After slipping into the dim hallway and quietly closing the door, rustling sounds soon came from inside.

Following were sounds of the closet opening and closing, fabric brushing. And finally, a fragile sigh of “whew.”

It contained everything needed to stimulate a man’s imagination.

Then a knock came from inside the room.

Just in case, I counted to three in my head before opening the door.

In the dim room, lit only by weak moonlight through the window, So-yul stood wearing one of my regular t-shirts.

She seemed somewhat shy, her cheeks tinged red, gaze cast down at the floor.

As expected, the t-shirt was much too big for So-yul’s frame. The top revealed down to below her collarbone, while the bottom was long enough to hide her shorts completely.

Either way, there was no avoiding that it looked somewhat suggestive.

“…Is it uncomfortable?”

“…No.”

How even the simplest question and answer became awkward.

In this situation where even breathing felt difficult, the only escape was into dreams. Walking to the closet, I said:

“Anyway, let’s sleep.”

No answer came.

Fortunately, I had extra bedding and pillows. I’d prepared them for spring and summer use, but never dreamed I’d use them for two people. Much less with So-yul.

When I took them out of the closet, So-yul slowly backed away. As I spread the bedding on the floor, my sleeping space quickly took shape.

“What are you doing?”

So-yul asked as if confused while I prepared the bed.

I found that rather puzzling. I was laying out bedding and setting up pillows on the floor. Why ask what I was doing? Could it be she’d only ever slept in beds and didn’t understand?

Anyway, I explained:

“I’ll sleep on the floor, you take the bed. The blanket on the bed is thinner so it’ll be cooler.”

“No, that’s not…”

So-yul mumbled, trailing off.

That’s not what? I had no idea what she meant. Feeling like we completely weren’t communicating, I looked up at So-yul.

She must have felt similar, as our eyes met directly.

So-yul’s face showed clear signs of hesitation.

As we just exchanged glances.

Soon So-yul said in an extremely timid manner:

“…Weren’t we… going to sleep in the same bed?”

She asked this outrageous question.