20
“And also, take care of me from now on, Jihoon.”
“I’ll take care of you too, Seoa.”
“I love you!”
“Yayyyy!!!”
On my way back, I shouted loudly in celebration.
“hehehehe…”
Once again, Seoa and I started dating.
“No…”
It’s true that she accepted, but she told me to prepare properly and confess to her again.
Actually, she probably wouldn’t mind if I didn’t do it, but I don’t think that way.
Seoa is experiencing her first confession, and I can’t let it pass by so casually.
“…So now, do I need to prepare lines for confession?”
“Do…do I need a ring?!”
“And…a gift.”
Come to think of it, when she confessed to me a long time ago, we kissed… Should I do it too?
No, I shouldn’t approach rashly just yet.
I should stay within the boundaries of what she wants.
Not what I want, but what she wants.
With that determination, I walked home.
“Ugh… Is it morning already?”
I rubbed my eyes and got up, looking out the window.
The sun had risen, but I still wished it was night.
“But I still have to go see Seoa.”
To see Seoa, I prepared again today.
I put on clothes, didn’t just grab a piece of bread, and ate the rice and soup I had prepared.
Then, I left the house.
It was still early to go to school, but I left early.
I walk the streets, cross the bridge, and when the cool breeze brushes past me, I arrive at school.
It’s still far from the time to go to school, so there are only a few students to be seen.
I walked along the road, entered the school, and went up to the floor where our class is.
Since it was locked when I went to the classroom, I stopped by the office and greeted the teacher, then brought the key and opened the door.
There was a quiet classroom with no one in it, and I felt something.
I put down my bag and went to the classroom where Seoa was sitting.
“Heeheehee~”
I went to Seoa’s class, singing a little tune, and I could see Seoa reading a book borrowed from the library.
But there were other students, so I couldn’t just open the door and call Seoa. I had to be careful.
If we were just friends, I could call her name and she would come out, and no one would pay attention. But it was different with Seoa, who was the most famous person at our school.
If I went in and called Seoa, well… I would definitely attract attention.
At that moment, Seoa and I made eye contact, and I smiled.
Swoosh
From Noble mtl dot com
“If you came, you should have said so…”
“Well, it’s just that I didn’t want to disturb you reading.”
“Or is it because you were embarrassed and couldn’t open the door and say it?”
Feeling embarrassed,
“Oh, no, it’s not like that. I’m not embarrassed.”
“hehehe, then should I open the classroom door right now and shout, ‘I’m dating Jihoon’?”
Saying that, Seoa tightly pulled my arm.
“Ah… No, that’s not it… I lost, and it’s embarrassing. And if people start paying attention, it might not be good for you either.”
“For me?”
“Yeah, because people see you as an idol, there are fans at school, you know?”
“…Ugh, that’s a bit uncomfortable.”
Thank goodness. I was thinking about joining that fan club.
“But you definitely shouldn’t join.”
“O-of course not.”
I nodded, hiding my stinging heart.
“Anyway, what if those guys say something?”
They came to congratulate me like they do in some anime, but it’s just annoying.
“Aren’t you worrying too much?”
“But…”
“It’s fine. We’re together every day, so rumors have already spread. They won’t make a big deal out of us dating.”
Seo-ah waved her hand, assuring me it was okay.
“…Seo-ah, if you say so, I understand.”
We decided to walk and talk in the corridor, and Seo-ah and I started walking cautiously.
“That’s why it’s strange.”
“What?”
“When we first met, we didn’t even know each other. Oh, isn’t it Jihoon?”
“Cough… Well, there aren’t many people who don’t know you.”
At least one person in each class must have talked about it.
“But now you’re trying to become lovers, right?”
Seoa, who brings up yesterday’s conversation without forgetting.
“Well… have high expectations.”
I don’t know what I should do, but I want to confess without any regrets.
“Don’t try too hard, just do it moderately.”
“Got it.”
“Uh…yeah.”
Except for when Seokho met us in the middle and quickly ran away after seeing us.
“Hah…what are you trying to do in class again?”
If I go back to class after being here, I must be hanging from the ceiling.
“hahahaha, Seokho is such an interesting friend, isn’t he?”
“Well… he’s been by my side all the time.”
Even later, when Seoa and I got married, Seokho was the first one to come and congratulate me. He was a grateful friend.
“Oh… right!”
Come to think of it, I told that guy that I could never date Seoa, didn’t I?
“Why are you like that?”
“hehehehe, Seoa, I’ll treat you to a meal later.”
“Huh? Uh… yeah.”
Seokho, you deserve punishment for your sins.
No matter how grateful I was for my friend, we were still just friends.
“???”
Seoa just stared at me blankly.
“Well, see you later.”
“Yeah, you too, Seoa.”
We wanted to walk a little more, but more people started to gather, and we had to go back to our respective classes to prepare for lessons.
Sigh.
“Let’s start the class.”
I saw hell.
“aaah!”
“Master! This guy won’t speak.”
“You idiot, he’s clearly speaking.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Oh?”
“No! What does it matter if I’m close to Seoa?!”
“What did you say!?”
“Execution, it’s execution!!”
“Hey, the teacher is coming!”
“Run!”
Finally, somehow managing to escape, my friends came over during the next break.
“hahahahaha, how ridiculous! If being happy means losing, then so be it.”
Amidst his laughter, Seokho teased me,
“You won’t be alone for the rest of your life, will you?”
“…No, hyung. I will be your shield.”
Is this really enough?
“Are you jealous?”
“You bet I am. Seeing you sticking together earlier, I thought you had resolved it.”
Seokho cautiously asked if I had been worried all this time, and I nodded with a smile.
“Ha… Do you know how difficult it is for me when I’m with you guys?”
“Yeah, thanks, buddy.”
“Anyway, don’t have your lover’s quarrels in front of us. It’s really awkward.”
“That’s not it.”
Anyway, while chatting with Seokho like that, we went to meet Seoa, attended classes again, played with friends, and when it was lunchtime, we went to meet Seoa.
“Jihun~”
“Seoa~”
“Looks like you two are getting along well?”
“Huh?”
Park Seohyun said that and laughed.
“You said you were going to confess at the festival, and yet when I see Seoa, it seems like you did it yesterday?”
“No… I haven’t done it… yet?”
“What’s wrong then?”
Well… it’s like, kind of being in a relationship, but not really in a relationship, you know?
“Well, Seohyun, even if we say we’re dating, you’ll still be my friend.”
Seohyun didn’t say anything more in response.
“Okay, got it. And Seo-ah, be good. If you hurt her, I won’t just stand by.”
Wait… you’re Seo-ah’s mom?
“Come on, let’s go eat. Don’t act like my ex-boyfriend.”
“What!? Come over here!”
“Woah!”
“They always act like that.”
“That’s why they’re like oil and water.”
“hehehe, is that so?”
After eating, chatting, and attending classes, the final school bell rang.
“Ugh… today was tough.”
“I’m pretty sure we had a test last time, why another one?”
“Remember that we’re high school students. High school students have no human rights.”
“Yeah…”
With that, I immediately ran to meet Seo-ah.
“Oh?! Oh, Jihoon?”
“Huh? Seo-ah?”
Seoa and I looked at each other for a moment and spoke.
“Did you come to meet me, by any chance?”
“Yeah… You too?”
I nodded.
“Shall we go then?”
“Sure.”
So Seoa and I went to the library together.
“Hey.”
“Seoa.”
Oh, I forgot about the two of them.
“Ahahahaha… Seohyun, you know what’s in my heart, right?”
“I feel like I cheered for no reason.”
“Are you going to leave us too?”
Park Seohyun and Seokho glared at us, and I said,
“Ehe~”
“What’s ‘ehe’ supposed to mean?”
And so, all of us went to the library together.
“Alright, if we study hard this week and next week, we’ll be ready for the exam.”
“It feels somewhat similar to last time.”
“But better than that, right?”
We were doing better than we thought, compared to two weeks ago when we had an exam.
Last time, I didn’t prepare properly because I came from the future or something, but this time it’s different.
“How’s Jihun? Any parts he doesn’t know?”
“Well… No, I don’t think so. You explained it well.”
“Oh, really? That’s a relief.”
“After the exam this time, where are we going?”
Park Seohyun asked me, but Seokho answered first.
“After this, there’s a festival, right? We have to prepare for the festival.”
“Oh…”
Our school has a festival around this time every year, where each class sets up booths like a Japanese school.
It’s bigger than I thought, so people even come from other schools, but because it’s our school’s festival, outsiders can’t come in.
“Well… then we have to work hard on festival preparations, right?”
“Yeah, but before that, we have to take the exam first so we can enjoy ourselves without worry.”
We all nodded at those words.
“Well then, let’s study hard for the exam and enjoy the festival.”
“Yeah!”