episode_0032

Before entering the classroom, Ise-ah, who had resolved her worries, called out to Seong Yurin.

“Yurin.”

Seong Yurin’s voice trembled at Ise-ah’s determined attitude.

“Um…?”

“To Jiwoo, I’ll speak first. You wait for now.”

Seong Yurin met eyes with Ise-ah and nodded slightly.

* * *

Until lunchtime ended, we couldn’t contain our anxiety.

Hong Yeonseo’s trembling legs were probably the evidence.

Moreover, that guy surprisingly only ate two bowls of rice today.

“There shouldn’t be anything wrong.”

“Yeah. What on earth is going on with him?”

Everyone was scratching their heads.

In the midst of it all, Yoon Jiwu entered with a serious expression unlike his usual self.

“Hey, Jiwu.”

“…. Yes?”

“Is something wrong with you too? Why the expression?”

“Ah… No. It’s nothing.”

Yoon Jiwu’s awkward response was strange.

I debated whether I should pry further, but I didn’t want to worry about Yoon Jiwu when my head was already hurting from Ise-ah and Seong Yurin’s relationship.

“Ugh. I was looking forward to studying today, but what’s with this since morning?”

Hong Yeonseo scratched her head.

Beside her, Lee So-yoon agreed with a gloomy expression.

They were in a position where they knew nothing and could only watch from the sidelines, so it was understandable.

“Still, I hope they make up…”

That’s right, So-yoon. I hope so too.

Simultaneously sighing, we finished our meal and returned to the classroom.

They still hadn’t returned to the classroom.

If we just waited in silence like that, Ise-ah and Seong Yurin returned to the classroom together.

….

Their expressions… don’t look that bad.

We glanced at them briefly, trying to read the situation.

Tense.

As I looked at the others, I realized all eyes were on me, so I decided to confront the situation.

I cautiously spoke to Ise-ah, who had taken her seat.

“…. Um, Ise-ah?”

“Yeah.”

“Um, how… did you two resolve things?”

“…. Yeah. Sorry for worrying you. Yurin and I resolved things.”

At her words, Yoon Jiwu, Lee So-yoon, and I all breathed a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Hong Yeonseo and Seong Yurin seemed to be having a good conversation.

“Yeah. Don’t fight and get along. But if I ask what happened…”

“That.”

Ise-ah interrupted me, took a deep breath, and said, “I’ll tell you later.”

I nodded slowly at Ise-ah’s words, indicating that I needed to prepare myself.

“…And Jina?”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yeah. Can we talk for a moment?”

What’s this, is it my turn now?

It’s not like we’re in the military.

As I followed Ise-ah out, I saw other kids looking puzzled behind me.

* * *

Ise-ah stopped walking in a secluded corner where no one was around and turned to look at me.

I met her gaze and watched quietly.

“About yesterday.”

“Yes?”

“…We were with Jiwoo, right?”

“Is that so?”

“That. It’s not like we were on a date or anything like that.”

As I continued to express doubt, Ise-ah slightly lowered her head and spoke.

“I hope… you don’t misunderstand.”

“…Misunderstand?”

“I’m not dating Jiwoo or anything like that.”

“…Huh?”

“That’s why I… I’ve never gone out with you since middle school. Ah… I let my guard down yesterday. I came out thinking we’d hang out with the classmates.”

Seeing Ise-ah blaming herself didn’t sit well with me, so I quickly tried to reassure her.

“Um. Okay. I understand. I don’t like jumping to conclusions, right?”

“…Phew. Yeah. Right.”

Isa, who let out a sigh, grabbed my hand.

From the hand we held together, I could feel warmth along with softness.

“So, you shouldn’t have any strange thoughts, okay?”

I wasn’t sure what strange thoughts she was talking about, but I nodded my head anyway.

As a result, Isa, who had relaxed, regained her smile.

“Yeah. That’s it.”

“So, to summarize… You and Sung Yurin made up, and you don’t have that kind of relationship with Jiwu, right?”

“There won’t be any more of that kind of thing with Jiwu in the future.”

Huh? What is she talking about now?

“Um… in the future?”

“Absolutely.”

“Absolutely?”

“Yeah.”

Huh.

I didn’t expect Isa to make a declaration that she wouldn’t date Yoon Jiwu.

Just yesterday, they seemed to be getting along well, so this was a completely unexpected scenario.

Although I was still puzzled, it was hard to find any falsehood in Isa’s firm attitude.

‘Something seems to be really tangled up.’

Conflict arising between heroines who should get along, and a heroine who has no intention of having a good relationship with the protagonist.

Indeed, the original work seems to have failed a long time ago.

I decided to completely erase the thought of the original work from my mind.

No, thinking about it now, maybe I should have done that from the beginning. My very existence symbolized the collapse of the original work.

…From now on, I don’t know what kind of story will unfold.

It will be a story that we create, not a predetermined future.

* * *

Thanks to Isa, who skillfully mended our relationship on the verge of breaking, we were able to return to our original state.

…Actually, there were some changes.

First, Isa’s behavior was a bit strange.

It seemed like she was showing that what she said was not just empty words.

Although I had only observed it for a short time, Yoon Jiwu seemed to be reducing his minor interactions with Isa since the morning.

Yoon Jiwu, who seemed to have noticed this, was also acting differently.

Next, although Isa had resolved it well, Sung Yurin still seemed to have a tendency to be hesitant.

She tried to act as usual, but especially had a hard time making eye contact with Isa.

Although Isoyun was trying hard to comfort Sung Yurin, that state would probably continue for a while.

“Junior.”

By the way, I had an instinctive feeling that there might be some connection between the reason Isa and Sung Yurin fought and the reason Isa was pushing Yoon Jiwu away.

Why did Isa look so flustered when she saw me yesterday?

Why did she call me separately and say those things?

Could it be…

“Junior!”

“Oh. Yes?”

“What are you thinking that you don’t answer when I call you? I’m mad at you!”

“Ah. I’m sorry.”

Even though the manager’s words were like that, she puffed up her cheeks in a playful manner, pretending to be angry.

I stopped my contemplation and turned my attention to the manager.

“Why did you call me?”

“I wanted to let you know that Seol will come to the club next week. I was going to tell you that.”

“Ah.”

Seol, huh.

She was a senior named Yuseol with that white image that the manager had shown me in a photo.

“It seems like Senior Yuseol is interested in subculture too, right?”

“Well, she wasn’t originally. I introduced her to it!”

…

“Why do you see it that way?”

…

“Benefit. Seol liked it too!”

“Ah. Yes.”

After that, I got scolded for looking at the manager with disrespectful eyes.

* * *

“I did clean up, but… sigh. Never mind. Come in.”

I opened the door to my house.

I had already come this far, so there was no turning back now.

“Wow!”

Yoon Jiwoo, Lee Se-ah, and Lee So-yoon entered quietly as they had been here several times before, but Hong Yeonseo came in with a lot of fanfare.

Seong Yurin, still looking a bit down, didn’t show any expression, but looked around cautiously, marveling at the surroundings.

“Wow! It’s so clean. Impressive.”

Hong Yeonseo, who had entered the living room ahead of me, looked around the house and unpacked the large plastic bag she was holding.

The contents of that bag were snacks she had bought from the mart before coming to the house.

We didn’t come to my house to study, kids.

On our way to my house, we were dragged to the mart by Hong Yeonseo, and we had no choice but to fill the cart with snacks and bread.

…Well, except for me. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it.

Whoever it is, if you spill snack crumbs, you won’t get away with it.

“Well then. Let’s begin the 1st Saebok High School Friendship Study Group~”

“Who’s arbitrarily assigning session numbers…”

The kids, pretending not to hear me, busily moved around the house setting up their spots.

Everyone threw their bags in the corner of the living room and showed quick movements.

Yoon Jiwoo brought out a large low table that had been stored in the warehouse since living alone,

Lee Se-ah and Lee So-yoon wiped the dusty table with wet wipes,

Hong Yeonseo and Seong Yurin organized the snacks….

Everyone except me seemed to have divided the roles so quickly that I wondered if they had planned it beforehand.

In the midst of my surprise, the snack table was already set up.

“Oh.”

Before I knew it, I was sitting in the living room, holding a cup and drinking the juice that Lee So-yoon poured for me.

When did she take out the juice from the fridge?

“Oh. Thank you.”

Seeing me flustered, Yoon Jiwoo spoke up.

“Let’s study a bit later.”

Saying that, Yoon Jiwoo crinkled open a pack of snacks.

Shouldn’t you be the one studying the most?

…Still, I decided to enjoy this situation.

Amidst everyone’s excitement, it’s not cool to be the only one feeling out of place.

“…Don’t just spill crumbs everywhere.”

I still had to say it.