Chapter 55: Take Care

“Hi.”

“Oh, you’re here.”

Evening, just days before the competition.

Opening the club room door, I found So-yul crouched on her carrier welcoming me.

So-yul was busy with competition practice, and I was busy studying for finals. With everything going on, it had been quite a while since we’d met alone.

Fortunately we’d kept in frequent contact to avoid suspicions of cheating. Even meeting after so long, there shouldn’t be any awkwardness between us…

…or that would be normal.

“…”

“…”

Somehow So-yul and I were keeping our mouths shut tight while avoiding each other’s gaze.

It wasn’t because we hadn’t been alone together in a while. We’d gone days without contact before due to exam studying and arts festival preparation. Plus we saw each other’s faces in class anyway. There was no reason for awkwardness.

Well, if I had to pick a reason.

“…I didn’t expect my boyfriend would come say goodbye before I take the plane.”

That was probably it.

I looked around.

The club room scenery hadn’t changed from before. Table, chairs, and that inexplicable mannequin. Maybe there were a few more props, but only Juho would care about that.

This place was already marked as a primary target by the head of student affairs. Since the teacher had barged in every time I met So-yul here, I thought I’d never come here with her again.

“Didn’t you say So-yul’s leaving tonight? Don’t you want to meet her?”

Until Juho asked this question during dinner.

While chewing and swallowing my food, I answered:

“She’s just my fake girlfriend, so what. She’ll be busy and tired, I don’t want to waste her time. Plus we’re running out of places to meet secretly. I’ll just call her later when she’s on her way.”

“Hey, you still should say goodbye in person when you won’t see each other for days. You two seemed so lovey-dovey last time.”

“…We weren’t that lovey-dovey.”

My meaningless protest was thoroughly ignored.

“Want to borrow the club room if you need it?”

“You barely saved us when we got caught there together. Going there again would be insane.”

Though I questioned in disbelief, Juho just shrugged. Far from being discouraged, they answered without hesitation:

“Why? You’ve got an excuse ready to use.”

“An excuse?”

“Yeah.”

Then waving their chopsticks:

“Pre-review meeting to discuss editing direction for the movie we filmed. Just make up something like that.”

“Hmm.”

Hearing it, it was quite a good suggestion.

In the end, I got to briefly say goodbye to So-yul before she left for the competition.

Juho agreed to keep watch near the club room in case of emergency. He said he’d pretend they were just coming back from the bathroom if they ran into the teacher.

They even joked it was atonement for the kiss scene incident. Sorry, but that’s not enough atonement.

Still, thanks to him I got time to say goodbye. As So-yul said, it was unexpected.

“When you didn’t specially contact me even though I’m leaving today, I thought I’d just have to go.”

“I was originally just going to call. I didn’t want to interfere before such an important competition.”

“What do you mean interfere.”

So-yul smiled slightly and shook her head. Like she was saying it was nonsense.

“Isn’t it interfering?”

“Of course not.”

When I asked shortly, So-yul hid her face between her gathered legs and:

“Rather… I’m really grateful.”

Her warm words came back with a gentle smile.

As I stared blankly at this sight, So-yul hastily waved both hands.

“N-no. I mean I’m grateful you made time even though you’re busy with exam studying. Nothing else…”

“I understand roughly so it’s fine.”

“O-okay.”

So-yul closed her mouth after answering so faintly it was barely audible.

No wonder the atmosphere became awkward.

A relationship for enjoying thrills while pretending to be lovers. This summarized So-yul and my connection.

That’s why we deliberately acted like lovers every time we met.

But today was different. This was a meeting to say goodbye to So-yul who was leaving for a far country.

Plus Juho was keeping watch outside. We didn’t even feel the thrill of possibly getting caught.

In other words, we met just to talk alone, with no connection to fake lover pretense.

It was natural to feel awkward yet ticklish, different from usual.

But at this rate I’d just be wasting So-yul’s time without even saying goodbye. Better to try making conversation since we’d met.

I searched for topics while rummaging through my head.

“Oh, um, well. What happens if you miss exams because of the competition?”

What finally came out of my mouth was a completely useless question.

Yet somehow So-yul suddenly raised her head. Her shy demeanor from earlier had vanished somewhere as her eyes immediately started shooting dissatisfied looks.

“Right. I wanted to talk about this. I really don’t know how the competition and finals ended up exactly overlapping.”

So-yul expressed her complaints with arms crossed over her knees.

Seems the topic I carefully chose worked well somehow. I continued with relief:

“Do you get straight zeros if you miss the exams?”

“No. Since it’s an excused absence, they calculate the score as some percentage of the total average? Probably something like that.”

“That’s somewhat fortunate at least.”

“It’s not fortunate. I’m confident I could do much better if I took the exams myself.”

So-yul pouted while grumbling thoroughly. Did she pick the wrong person to complain to? I wasn’t a teacher, complaining to me wouldn’t help anything.

Well, it was a hundred times better than the awkward atmosphere from earlier. I accepted it with a snort.

I understood So-yul’s feelings. She’d thoroughly played the role of model student all semester. I’d heard her grades were nothing to be ashamed of either.

She’d even studied for midterms with me. But unfortunately overlapping with finals meant an unsatisfying end.

“Still, grades are just secondary. Piano is your top priority. The teachers all know you always focus during class even if you’ll miss the exams.”

“…Yeah.”

So-yul barely answered while playing with her protruding lips.

Seems she couldn’t help feeling regret no matter how much I said not to mind.

“Exams end Friday then graduation ceremony Saturday before everyone goes home. If you miss all the exams, do you not come to graduation either?”

“No. I should arrive at school the night before graduation? I need to move out of the dorm anyway so I have to come early.”

“Then we can at least say goodbye before break.”

Even going for the competition meant just leaving school for about a week. But summer break easily lasted over a month. If she didn’t return for graduation, it meant not seeing each other for almost two months. Thank goodness.

So-yul whispered with a gentle smile:

“The competition, and break too. It’s our first time being far apart since dating.”

“…Well, aren’t we just dating to feel thrills at school anyway.”

“True, but.”

At my words, So-yul smiled slightly and:

“Even if we’re far apart, you’ll still cheer for me, right?”

She asked with eyes holding slight expectation.

No need to even ask. I answered with raised lips:

“I’ll cheer. Internally.”

“Don’t just cheer internally. I’ll send you the YouTube link for the competition broadcast, so watch while sending me energy.”

So-yul said with hands on her hips.

Come to think of it, So-yul had mentioned this competition would be broadcast online. Though I didn’t know how to send energy, I could definitely watch the broadcast.

Though I wondered if my watching would give any strength to So-yul in that far-off land… Well, these things were about mindset anyway.

“Okay. I’ll watch and cheer for you.”

“Really? You promise?”

So-yul covered her mouth and giggled, seemingly delighted.

Seeing this, I smiled slightly and spoke:

“Yeah. I promise, so do well. No, you’ll definitely do well. So wonderfully you’ll think you didn’t need to worry.”

“Hmph, saying such cheesy things just because you’re my boyfriend.”

Though I gave warm encouragement, So-yul just returned laughter that seemed to be making fun of me. Really, did she get a rash if she didn’t tease me for even one day?

Soon So-yul hopped up from her seat. Probably about time to leave for the airport.

Then she slowly approached right in front of me. Standing directly facing me and looking straight up, she finally gave a sweet smile.

“How can you be so sure I’ll do well when you don’t even really know piano?”

What followed was a statement disguised in an incredibly playful tone.

But at least to me, it felt like So-yul expressing the anxiety growing in her heart in her own way.

Of course she had to be anxious.

Going alone to face countless competitors from around the world. Even her parents wouldn’t take her side, just sit in the audience to judge her. It would be abnormal not to feel fear.

But I wasn’t anxious at all.

I believed she’d definitely do well even without needless worry.

The reason was simple.

“Like you said, I don’t know piano well but.”

Then shifting my gaze to the corner of the club room:

“…I’ve come to know you well.”

One word of encouragement delivered with sincerity.

At the same time, I heard a held breath from across from me.

I had no way of knowing what meaning that reaction held.

I knew nothing about piano. So ignorant I’d get confused which keys made do-re-mi. You could fairly call me completely uninformed.

But I was confident about So-yul.

Because I’d stuck close by playing fake boyfriend for a semester. Because I’d heard all the circumstances she couldn’t tell anyone else, all the worries she’d kept locked away alone.

Plus… I’d clearly realized she always gave her all without fail.

Soon only silence filled the club room.

The atmosphere that had finally lightened hardened again. Moreover, this time it was entirely my fault.

The guilty stay silent. I just hesitated, unable to open my mouth or meet So-yul’s eyes.

“Ahaha.”

After a while, So-yul was the one who broke the silence.

“Even my stoic boyfriend says nice things sometimes.”

“I don’t know. I don’t think I’m particularly stoic.”

“You’re stoic for a boyfriend.”

Well hearing it that way, it didn’t seem wrong. Since I often backed off saying I was just a fake boyfriend, thinking about it, I probably hadn’t shown my true feelings much.

With these thoughts, I finally turned my eyes to So-yul.

So-yul’s cheeks were flushed pink.

As if wanting to hide this, she immediately turned her back. Her feet pointed toward the club room door.

“I really need to go now. I might miss my plane at this rate.”

“I see. Well you need to manage your condition after arriving too, it would be bad to miss the plane.”

Though I gave a reasonable response, So-yul just made a “hmph” sound.

“Why?”

“Wondering if you won’t give me one last cheer.”

“What kind of cheer?”

When I asked shortly, So-yul giggled and:

“Won’t you say ‘Since your boyfriend will be watching and cheering hard even from far away, do your best, our pretty So-yul’?”

“…What?”

She must not be in her right mind.

I don’t know why her request was so specific. Plus “our pretty So-yul”? Even if we were really dating, wouldn’t it be hard to say such ticklish things easily?

So-yul playing around even right before leaving on a long journey. Though it was good to see her being herself, it was too much to go along with completely.

“Sorry but fake boyfriends don’t say things like that.”

“Hmm~”

When I flatly refused, So-yul made a meaningful sound then:

“…Then, can I hear it if you’re not a fake boyfriend anymore?”

“…”

So-yul’s counter left me speechless for a moment.

As if aiming for this reaction, So-yul burst into loud laughter with her back turned.

“What? I was joking. Did you get excited?”

“…Hey, you really.”

“I’ll miss my plane. I’m going now.”

Ignoring me trying to retort angrily, So-yul pulled her carrier toward the club room door.

How could she say things like that even as a joke? Really teasing and playing around manipulating people’s hearts until the end. Doing this stuff all the time, my heart was getting sore.

As I blankly stared at her receding back like that, So-yul soon glanced back at me.

“…Well, take care. Boyfriend.”

So-yul waving lightly like this.

Her face wore such a shy and delicate smile that.

I couldn’t say anything, just waved back.