Chapter 85: Happy Birthday (3)

“…What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

A sharp scolding flowed from inside the piano room.

Though disguised with a refined tone, anger permeated the speaker’s voice. The thundering voice was so loud it echoed through the entire corridor, enough to make even me flinch for a moment.

I had heard it several times before. There was no need to question whose voice it was. This was undoubtedly So-yul’s mother shouting.

Then the person being scolded in the piano room must certainly be…

My heart sank in an instant.

Saturday morning. This was a time when So-yul’s mother shouldn’t be at school. So why was So-yul being reprimanded by that person?

Standing there wondering wouldn’t help anything.

I approached silently and slowly peered inside the piano room.

As I’d suspected from the corridor-filling voice, the piano room door was slightly open for some reason.

Had she deliberately left the door open so others could hear? She was truly a nasty woman.

Through that small gap, So-yul’s figure came into view.

So-yul was bowing her head, holding a paper party hat in both hands.

With her gaze cast downward and lips tightly closed, she looked utterly dejected at first glance.

The sight stung my heart so much that I had to bite my lip to endure.

“I was moving about for work and just stopped by to see if you were practicing properly. And here you are, wearing some strange hat and standing around blankly. What on earth were you doing?”

“…”

So-yul couldn’t utter a single word in response to her mother’s questioning.

She seemed to be searching for a plausible excuse, as she obviously couldn’t say she was preparing a birthday party for her boyfriend.

But So-yul’s mother appeared unwilling to give her even a moment’s reprieve.

“The head of student affairs also pointed it out. That you’ve been acting strange lately. He said you still seem to be flirting with some boy. Have you been corrupted by some bad influence?”

“N-no, I haven’t.”

“Then why are you like this? I told you to play the piano with restraint, without unnecessary body movements, but you stubbornly ignore me and move however you please.”

“T-that’s just a habit I have…”

“Is ‘habit’ supposed to be an excuse? …Really, you just had to take after him in all the wrong ways.”

A muttered snide remark.

As I was trying to grasp the meaning behind it, So-yul’s mother added in a sharp tone:

“Or are you rebelling against me right now?”

So-yul, who had been trying to speak with trembling lips, jerked her head up.

Her wavering eyes were filled with shock.

“N-no, I’m not rebelling…”

“Then why are you really acting like this? From the start, I left you alone to practice by yourself, and you’re standing around wearing this ridiculous hat—isn’t that rebellion?”

“T-that’s…”

“That’s what?”

So-yul’s mother kept questioning with a raised voice.

“…Ugh.”

Finally, So-yul’s mind seemed to go blank under the relentless pressure.

Unable to steady her rough breathing, she bowed her head deeply again, her posture conveying deep despair.

When I saw So-yul like that, I unconsciously clenched my fists.

The noise in my ears faded, replaced by a loud ringing.

I couldn’t breathe, my heart pounded heavily. I even tasted a hint of blood from my molars, which I had unintentionally clenched too hard.

I almost lost my self-control and burst into the piano room.

I nearly forgot that So-yul’s dream was to gain recognition from that awful mother of hers. I wanted to immediately rush in and shut that mouth.

As I barely held on to my last thread of reason, a deep sigh eventually flowed from inside the piano room.

“For now, I have my own schedule to keep. We’ll continue this discussion in the afternoon. Until then, sit down properly and practice.”

“…Yes.”

So-yul answered in a voice that was barely audible.

Did she not care that her daughter seemed on the verge of collapse? So-yul’s mother began walking toward the piano room door, her heels clicking sharply.

If I were discovered now, things would become a complete mess. I quickly ran and hid beneath the emergency staircase.

Only after confirming that So-yul’s mother had boarded the elevator did I feel safe enough to step back into the corridor.

From the piano room where harsh words had echoed endlessly just moments ago…

I could hear what sounded like faint sobbing.

◎

Only after collecting my complicated emotions did I finally enter the piano room.

So-yul, who had been biting her lower lip with her head bowed, suddenly looked up. She must have been waiting for the sound of my footsteps. Her clouded expression immediately brightened.

“Oh, you’re here?”

So-yul greeted me brightly as if nothing had happened.

That only made my heart ache even more.

“Sorry. I was going to write ‘Happy Birthday’ on the wall and put it up, but I forgot. I even prepared paper chains in advance—should I put them up now?”

“…”

“Ah, I also prepared matches, but I thought it might be dangerous to light the candles. Maybe it would be better if I just pretend to light them and you blow them out. Oh, I should have mentioned that later.”

“Han So-yul.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

So-yul tilted her head slightly with a smile in her eyes as she asked.

She seemed to be deliberately acting cheerful to hide her depressed mood.

Perhaps not just this time, but all along, So-yul had been hiding her pain and concealing her wounds when dealing with me.

What kind of boyfriend was I not to have noticed something so obvious?

Suppressing the guilt boiling inside me, I slowly said:

“You don’t need to pretend you’re okay. I heard everything from outside.”

So-yul’s eyes widened in surprise.

But when she opened her mouth to speak, her eyes had transformed back into a smiling expression.

“Ahaha, so you heard… You don’t need to worry too much. I just got caught by my mother because I was too excited and put on the hat early, that’s all.”

Then she added with a faint smile:

“I’m sorry. It’s your birthday, and I’ve only made you worry…”

So-yul scratched her cheek with an awkward “hehe.”

Why was she apologizing to me?

So-yul had nothing to be sorry for. If anyone was at fault, it was me for not stopping her when she said she would celebrate my birthday. In our current situation, we couldn’t even freely celebrate each other’s birthdays.

I didn’t want to see So-yul forcing herself to smile anymore.

I wished this moment would end as quickly as possible.

With a bitter smile, I said:

“Thanks for preparing so much, but I don’t want to make you go through unnecessary trouble. Would it be okay if we just went straight to the present?”

“Hmm. That’s fine with me, but are you sure? Wouldn’t a fancy birthday party be better if possible?”

“It’s enough just knowing my girlfriend made an effort for me. I’m already so happy I could go crazy. Besides, I’ve been so excited about the gift that I haven’t slept all week.”

“Hehe. Don’t lie.”

So-yul let out a small laugh at what I’d intended as a joke.

I was relieved that my humor had helped her recover her spirits, even if just a little.

Soon after, So-yul cleared away a bag from the corner of the piano room, revealing a cake box.

As she walked toward me with the box, her expression was filled with delight.

“Ta-da! What do you think?”

Soon, So-yul held out the box and exclaimed loudly.

Even though I had already figured it all out, I felt I should play along, so I tried my best to act surprised.

“Wow!”

“…What are you doing?”

I failed.

So-yul snickered slightly as she took the cake out of the box to show me.

“As you probably guessed when I asked what flavor you liked before, I made a cake. It was hard getting permission to use the cooking room from the culinary club. I kept failing while making it and had to try again several times.”

“You went through a lot of trouble.”

“Yes. This really was a lot of work.”

“I see.”

Indeed, even at a glance, it was apparent how much effort had gone into it.

A round chocolate-colored cake. Although the shape wasn’t perfectly neat, that very aspect gave it the charm of being homemade.

The slightly crooked writing in the center saying “Happy Birthday. From your girlfriend.” was incredibly cute.

“I made it chocolate flavored since that’s what I like—is that okay?”

“My goodness, are you planning to eat it all yourself?”

“Well, someone said, ‘I like what my girlfriend likes,’ so I had no choice.”

“Pfft.”

“Hehe.”

We shared a laugh while exchanging jokes. It felt like warm air was filling the space that had been frigidly frozen just moments ago.

After a while, So-yul placed the cake on the desk and decorated it with the candles she had prepared. It seemed she wouldn’t be satisfied unless she properly placed the candles, even if we wouldn’t light them.

Then she immediately turned to me.

“Now that the cake is ready, I should sing for you.”

“Sing?”

“Yes. The Happy Birthday song. I’m not very confident in my singing, even if I can play the piano…”

So-yul answered with a somewhat awkward smile.

Come to think of it, I had never seen So-yul sing before. Given her excellent piano skills, I thought she might sing well too, but upon reflection, they were completely unrelated abilities.

So-yul singing for me—I was a little excited about it.

So-yul cleared her throat with a “Khm,” then:

“I’ll sing now.”

“Okay.”

After I nodded lightly, So-yul gently closed her eyes with a soft “hoo” sigh.

“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you…”

Her voice trembled slightly, perhaps from nervousness. Still, her pitch and rhythm were perfectly accurate. Had her body stiffened because this was her first time singing in front of her boyfriend?

“Dear Woo-jin…”

Then So-yul paused slightly.

“Happy… birthday… to you.”

She finished the final line with a voice full of trembling.

This wasn’t due to nerves, or shyness about singing for her boyfriend.

It was because the tears she had been holding back in her heart for so long had finally burst forth.

A tear streamed down from So-yul’s tightly closed eyes.

It didn’t take long for it to become two streams, then three, until all the sadness she had been suppressing was finally released.

Her lips quivered. Though she tried to cover her mouth as if to stop herself, she eventually couldn’t hold back and started sobbing.

She looked so fragile, so delicate and distressed. I pulled the sobbing So-yul into my arms and held her tightly.

“It’s okay. With me, at least with me, you can be completely honest and share everything.”

“…But today is…”

“I don’t care if it’s my birthday or whatever. I just want my girlfriend to be honest about her sadness.”

“…But still.”

“It’s okay.”

With those firm words, I pulled So-yul’s head against my chest.

Hoping she would empty all the emotions she had been hiding. Wishing she would find even a little comfort in my embrace.

The moisture seeping into my chest represented So-yul’s sorrow.

Outside the window, heavy rain and fierce thunder and lightning were now pouring down.

After a moment, I heard a tearful voice from my chest.

“…I just wanted to celebrate my boyfriend’s birthday.”

As if trying to release all the frustration she had been holding alone for so long.

“I want to brag to others about how well we’re dating.”

As if trying to express her suppressed sadness and rising sense of injustice.

“I want to… hold hands and walk together in the sunlight.”

As if trying to reveal all the truths she had hidden for so long.

“If it were a normal school, we could have done it. If it were a normal family, they would have allowed it…”

As she spoke, So-yul embraced my back even more tightly.

Perhaps she desperately needed someone to support her as she was falling apart.

Then she whispered in a voice that seemed about to vanish:

“I like you this much… why do we have to date in secret…?”

A sincere statement delivered through fragile sobs.

This was something I had also repeated to myself hundreds of times.

Oppressing students with ridiculous school rules. Even forbidding dating and making it impossible for couples to meet.

They even went so far as to vigilantly search for boys and girls walking closely together.

And that wasn’t all. So-yul’s mother nitpicked every little thing and pressured So-yul. She behaved as if she didn’t care what happened to her daughter as long as her goals were achieved.

On top of that, she did all kinds of absurd things to break So-yul’s will.

In such a burdensome situation, could we endure for more than a year until graduation?

Perhaps the countdown before us was reducing numbers faster than we thought.

If we remained still forever, only a bad ending might await us.

Before the school discovered us, before So-yul collapsed, we needed to confront this somehow.

I embraced So-yul, who was in my arms, even more tightly.

Her body, with its subtle trembling, seemed to be slowly calming in my embrace.

Her restrained sobbing and shoulders that shook as she sniffled were also gradually regaining stability.

As I gently stroked So-yul’s back, I sank into deep thought.

What could I… as So-yul’s boyfriend, do for her?

There was only one answer that came to mind.