Facing Each Other (5)
In the end, we never did see Sebin noona at the club room.
So the two of us just held down the fort by ourselves.
But as it turned out… without anyone there to handle the planning, all we could really do was watch Nari draw.
Of course, I could have handled the initial setup and implemented everything we'd planned so far — but that wasn't something I could do from where I was sitting. I was the kind of person who only worked on the computer at home. For some reason, I had this compulsion about it.
I could have worked on the club room computer if I'd wanted to, but the thought of dealing with settings different from my own setup was already giving me a headache. And if I went ahead and pushed the planning forward on my own, that would have been disrespectful to Sebin noona.
Still — what on earth was going on with her? Why wasn't she showing up, without so much as a word?
"Aren't you going to work on anything? You keep just staring at my drawings."
"Ah… it's a little hard to get anything done here, so…"
"Really? Then where do you work?"
"I'm the type who only works at home."
"Pickly, aren't you… Fine. Then let's go to your place right now."
"Huh…?"
What did I just hear? Work at my place? Right now?
The sudden proposal left me completely flustered. Of course it did. What Nari was suggesting was that the two of us go to my apartment alone… and that wasn't exactly a simple thing to just do.
Aside from Seoa, no girl had ever set foot in my place — and this would be just the two of us. It was the kind of situation you couldn't help but be conscious of, even if you didn't want to. No matter how oblivious Nari usually was, shouldn't she at least care about something like this?! She was a girl, after all…
"W-wouldn't that be a little weird, though?"
"Why? If we just sit here, you're basically wasting your time. Normally it wouldn't matter since you'd be helping with the planning, but it doesn't look like unnie's coming today either."
"That's true, but… still, it's a guy living alone. Are you okay with that?"
"……What are you even thinking? I said we're going to work."
Nari said it without so much as a flicker of change in her expression. She looked so thoroughly unbothered that I almost felt like I was the one making a big deal out of nothing.
R-right. We were going to work… I should keep the personal and professional separate.
And just like that, we actually ended up at my place.
Honestly, I hadn't expected to invite anyone over this out of the blue, so I couldn't quite hide how thrown off I was. And something else weighed on me… the fact that I hadn't been able to bring noona here with me. Thinking about it, she was the first person who'd ever said she wanted to work at my place. Back then, I'd turned her down cold.
And now here I was, casually bringing Nari home instead. It sat wrong with me. I felt a little guilty toward noona. Maybe I should have invited her first.
"Hmm… something smells a little musty in here."
"Ah… sorry. I'll open a window right away."
The moment she stepped inside, Nari said it smelled. Was that really the first thing you said walking into someone else's home? Then again, it must have been that noticeable. I hadn't smelled a thing… but apparently the cigarette odor still hadn't fully cleared out.
Nari promptly threw herself onto my bed.
"Hey—?! You're lying down in the clothes you were wearing outside?!"
"Hmm? Why… I just want to lie down for a bit. Where else am I supposed to be?"
"You could sit on the floor. There's a table over there…"
"Don't care. I just want to rest a little."
I pressed a hand to my forehead. My head was starting to throb. We'd come here to work, and she was just flopping down?
Leaving her to it, I sat down at my computer and powered it on. At the very least, I figured I should start working. And… if I didn't do something, the atmosphere was going to get weird.
In this quiet room, with nothing but the sound of our breathing — it was the kind of silence that would make you hyperaware of each other. I needed something to keep my mind occupied.
About ten minutes must have passed. Nari, who'd been lying on the bed fiddling with her phone, seemed to be getting up. She was probably about to start working too.
"Huh?! What are these cigarettes?"
"Wha—?!"
I jolted, ripping my eyes off the monitor. And sure enough, in Nari's hand were the cigarettes I'd been smoking. I'd completely forgotten they existed. They must have been sitting right there on my desk, plain as day. Honestly, it would have been stranger if she hadn't found them.
"You smoke?"
"……."
Should I deny it… or just be honest? I was still deliberating when my silence seemed to answer the question for her.
"Ugh. It doesn't suit you. You, smoking? I'm confiscating these. Don't even think about lighting up again."
"Yeah… I was planning to quit anyway."
Nari tucked the cigarettes behind her back as she said it. Well, I really had been planning to quit, so it didn't particularly matter.
"Don't tell me… you started smoking because of that girl? Because it was hard?"
Kh— Her words hit the bullseye so cleanly that I actually made that sound, coughing into a dry laugh.
"Unbelievable…"
Nari looked at me like I was genuinely pathetic.
You don't have to look at me with that merciless expression. I already know how pathetic I was back then…
After that, Nari wandered around my room on her own, poking into this and that. There shouldn't have been anything else left to find, but I was still on edge. How could you not tense up watching someone so openly hunt for prey?
And then… she really did find something, letting out another loud exclamation.
"What's this? A photo?"
"Ah!! Wait—! Not that!!"
Don't tell me… was it the old photo of me and Seoa together?
At that thought, I scrambled up to snatch it away. And maybe that frantic movement was the culprit — my foot caught on the corner of the desk, and I went sprawling forward. It was the kind of scene you'd only ever see in a comic. Cliché. Completely predictable.
But when it actually happens to you, you realize those things aren't just confined to the pages of a manga.
As I toppled forward, Nari naturally went down with me, and we ended up stacked on top of each other. Fortunately, the bed was right behind us, so no real damage was done.
Yes — that part was definitely fortunate. What came after, however, was anything but.
Nari, pinned beneath me, looking up. Me, looking down at her.
I planted both hands by her head to push myself up. And that only made the whole thing look even more suggestive.
"A-are you okay…? Sorry. My foot just caught without me realizing."
"Yeah…. I'm sorry too. I didn't know it was a photo I wasn't supposed to look at…"
Honestly, I'd expected Nari to get angry in this situation. No — I'd almost wanted her to. Then I could just take the scolding and be done with it.
But… contrary to my expectations, Nari was curled in on herself, looking up at me. Apologizing, even, like she was the one at fault. And her eyes wouldn't stop trembling.
"S-should we just start working? Could you get off…?"
"Ah, r-right. Let's get to work…"
Nari was the first to say it, trying to extract herself from the situation. And I, snapping back to my senses a beat late, hurriedly moved aside.
That had been close… a seriously dangerous moment.
R-right. Time to focus on work.
I tried to soothe my heart, which was hammering like mad.
From then on, we both quietly buried ourselves in our work. We probably both knew we had to.
"Minjae, I finished one of the characters. Want to take a look?"
"Yeah."
Eventually, Nari called me over, wanting to show me the finished piece. I slowly pushed my chair back and stood up.
Sitting beside her, I studied the drawing carefully.
As expected… Nari really was incredibly talented. At least as far as I was concerned, she was the perfect partner. She caught exactly what I wanted and put it on the page.
Whether she'd drawn it knowing what I wanted, or whether her own vision had simply lined up with my tastes by chance — I didn't know. Even so, her work felt as satisfying as if we'd been thinking the same thing the whole time.
"Wow… this is genuinely breathtaking… I love it. The detail on the tail here, and the way the navel peeks through just a little — all of it."
"Really? That's a relief. Uh, but could you move your head a bit?"
"Huh…? Ah… sorry."
Without realizing it, I'd gotten so absorbed in the drawing that I'd leaned in until my head was practically pressed against hers. Apparently that had been a little much for her. For someone who was usually so oblivious, she sure noticed this kind of thing.
Or maybe… she was just more conscious of it after what had happened earlier.
"Alright, I'll call it here for today. It's getting pretty late…"
"Yeah. Good work."
Nari packed up her things with a look of quiet satisfaction, clearly pleased with what she'd drawn. I went out with her. Somehow, just sending her off from inside the apartment felt rude — I figured I should at least walk her out.
"You don't have to come any farther. I'm not a kid. I'm heading out now."
"Okay. Get home safe."
She gave a light wave and left. Nari was gone — but back inside my apartment, her scent still lingered.
Maybe I was facing yet another kind of feeling.
The next day.
I was sitting through class as usual. And this time, unlike yesterday, Seoa was in the seat next to mine.
She really was wildly unpredictable. I'd given up on trying to figure her out. There was no point being curious when she was a different person every single time.
I was listening to the professor with a blank face when, from the seat beside me, she scribbled something on a small scrap of paper and slid it onto my desk.
Seoa had written me a message. I wasn't particularly invested in her, but this note — I couldn't suppress the curiosity. I had to see what it said.
I have a favor to ask.
That was all it said. Leaving the actual request for a second note — some kind of advanced psychological warfare? Naturally, my eyes drifted over to Seoa.
She handed me another scrap.
Mom wants me to bring you along for dinner… Could you come with me?