Treasure Hunt in the Library

Stick Pepero Day.

A commercial holiday invented by corporations to boost sales of their own products.

People grumbled that it was nothing but corporate scheming, but the one positive thing about it—the idea of sharing your feelings along with a chocolate stick—still held true.

For students living identical days in the monotonous, holiday-free stretch of November, an occasion like this was an especially welcome guest.

It was the day after Yeoncheong had spent two days helping Nayun prepare for the library event.

Yeoncheong, who normally raced her homeroom teacher down the hall to class, was, for once, already at school and waiting.

"Get your chocolate sticks here!"

Watching her toss out sticks of Pepero in front of the teacher's desk was like seeing an early Santa Claus.

"Whoa! Thanks, Yeoncheong!"

"Our class president is the best!"

Who wouldn't be happy about free snacks? The kids in class swarmed around Yeoncheong, chattering noisily.

Nayun, who had missed her bus and arrived later than usual, could only stare at the scene in bewilderment.

"Hasol. What's gotten into her?"

Left hand, right hand.

Hasol, who had been balancing a box of chocolate sticks on her palms, looked up.

"Ah, she said she had some leftover money, so she's handing it out."

"Leftover money?"

When her friend tilted her head in confusion, Hasol explained a little further.

"Yeoncheong lives on her own, right? Apparently her allowance from her parents builds up a little at a time, so she's spending it on this."

If you have spare money, you save it. Nayun clicked her tongue at how naive her bright-eyed friend was.

"Seriously, she's fascinating. Was she like this back when she was a guy, too?"

"I actually asked her that."

"What'd she say?"

"She told me not to say crazy stuff."

Yeoncheong had merely pointed out that her gifts had gone over well on White Day, and insisted she'd never once given anything like that to another guy before.

Of course, she also had the ulterior motive of scrubbing away the Daengcheongi image that had taken root among her classmates, but she hadn't gone so far as to mention that to her friend.

Hasol went on watching Yeoncheong surrounded by their classmates.

"I think being around girls all the time has rubbed off on her quite a bit."

Setting any scheming aside, Hasol's words were true.

She might not exactly welcome hearing this, but she'd spent her middle and high school years at all-boys schools without the faintest clue how girls worked.

Now that same girl mingled effortlessly with girls her own age. It was a change that Yeoncheong herself—who assumed she only matched her classmates' thinking because she sat in the same classroom—could never have dreamed of.

"I mean... compared to back when she ran away whenever girls came near her, this is way easier on the eyes."

Just then, Yeoncheong, standing at the front of the room, swept her gaze across the classroom.

"There's not much left. Nobody's gone without, right?"

"Hey! I—I've still got one!"

Nayun flung her bag onto her desk and bounded forward.

Yeoncheong grinned at her friend hopping up and down in the back.

"I set yours aside."

"What's all this racket about?"

As always, arriving right on schedule, Teacher Jisu eyed the crowded teacher's desk.

"Teacher, over here!"

Jisu caught the chocolate stick that barely made it through the crowd of students and smiled.

"Oh my, thank you. Yeoncheong, don't you girls have anything to give me?"

"You already got one, Teacher!"

"That's right. And our hearts are in it too!"

"You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠little rascals, if only you were this good with words..."

Yeoncheong handed the teacher a chocolate stick as well, conjuring up a warm, cozy atmosphere.

Meanwhile...

'How long is she going to keep that up?'

'There's no way I can give it to her now.'

Seoha and Suyeon watched Yeoncheong surrounded by her classmates, straining to hide their impatience.

***

At lunch, Yeoncheong skipped her usual walk around the athletic field and headed straight back to the classroom. Rarely, Seoha and Suyeon came along too.

Nayun, seated at her own desk, and Hasol, who had commandeered Yeoncheong's, spotted their friends walking in.

The two of them, nibbling their chocolate sticks like squirrels, exchanged a casual nod.

"What, you're not doing your field laps today?"

Yeoncheong naturally headed for Hasol's desk, and Suyeon and Seoha followed her as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Hey, did you forget? Seobin invited us to the library event today."

"Of course I remember."

Nayun puffed out her shoulders and handed one chocolate stick to each of the three newcomers.

As they popped the sticks into their mouths, Nayun went on.

"Wasn't the plan to come after school? Seobin said she wouldn't be there during lunch."

"She said the lunch event and the after-school one were different. Let's just go watch for a bit."

Suyeon and Seoha had come back with Yeoncheong harboring the same thought: they could sneak their gifts over in the library.

Which meant both of them were praying Nayun would turn the idea down...

"Sure, let's go take a look."

If not now, when would she ever check out the library? With that, Nayun rose from her seat.

And when Hasol chimed in that she'd be bored sitting alone, Suyeon and Seoha quietly concluded that this round was lost, too.

***

"Seobin was worried no one would show up..."

"Turns out it was worry for nothing."

Their two days of blocking all student access to prepare had apparently stoked everyone's curiosity.

The library buzzed with life, as if its usual quiet desolation had all been a lie.

"Whoa. They really did a great job."

Warm, sunlit-orange lights hung strung between the bookshelves.

"And that looks like a Christmas tree."

In one corner of the once-empty library stood a book tree built from old volumes, radiating the feel of winter. Decorated with bookmarks of every shape and color, it conjured the illusion of stepping into a kingdom made of books.

The friends wandered through the library, drinking in its transformed atmosphere.

Yeoncheong and Nayun, who had helped set it all up, wore smug, quietly proud grins.

Just then, a vaguely familiar girl approached Yeoncheong and her friends.

"Um. We'll be starting the treasure hunt soon. Would you like to join?"

"Oh, you're..."

Yeoncheong strained to place the half-familiar face in her memory. But it never quite came.

Instead, Seoha beside her remembered who the girl was.

"Chae-rin's friend, wasn't it? In the same class."

"Yes, I'm Soyul. Chae-rin and I are childhood friends."

Soyul bowed her head politely in greeting. Only then did Yeoncheong remember—the girl always hovering at Chae-rin's side.

To think she was in the library club with Seobin. It was strange that Yeoncheong had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠never seen her once while helping prepare the event.

Soyul's gaze moved from Seoha to Yeoncheong to Suyeon in turn, then she returned to the matter at hand.

"...Anyway, the treasure hunt is about to start. If you have the time, would you like to participate?"

"We can just join in?"

"Yes, it's a simple game—just find the slips of paper and chocolate sticks tucked between the books."

According to Soyul, the event had been planned as a way to encourage everyone to explore the remodeled library from corner to corner.

There was no entry fee, and with nothing else pressing to do, Yeoncheong and her friends decided to take part.

***

The only day of the year the library—perpetually under-populated, hushed, and bound by rules of silence—was allowed to be loud.

Amid the peculiar murmur that only a crowd can create, the library club students who had worked so hard on the preparations gazed at the scene with pride.

Soyul stepped forward to explain the rules.

"You'll have twenty minutes. The prizes are chocolate sticks and the notes hidden here and there. That's all."

At that point, a library club member beside her whispered in a small voice.

"Soyul, the safety notice. The safety notice!"

"Ah, right—and please, no wrestling matches. If a bookshelf topples over, we're all in trouble."

The little comedy bit loosened up the mood. Then, at the signal from a club member holding the timer, the students scattered in every direction.

Those who believed the darkest place is under the candlestick and searched nearby first, those who methodically swept the far corners—everyone roamed the library according to their own strategy.

Hasol, who had been browsing the books at her leisure, extended her index finger.

"Oh, another chocolate stick."

She smoothly pulled the box wedged between the books free. The outer box, disguised as a real book with a printed cover glued on, was so carefully done you'd walk right past it without a thorough look.

Beside her, already clutching a chocolate stick in each hand, Nayun grumbled.

"It was there the whole time?"

"You're the one who blew past it too fast to see, Nayun."

"No. I'm going for a bigger prize than chocolate sticks."

Wounded pride blazing in her eyes, Nayun hunted for a note.

"Look! I found one too!"

And as if hard work never betrays, Nayun soon dug a note out from between the books.

But as she unfolded the crumpled paper, her expectant face turned frosty in an instant.

"Huh? Hasol, what even is this?"

Nayun tilted her head as she showed the note to Hasol.

"Oh, and I forgot to mention—of course there are duds too. They've written famous lines from novels along with the titles, so if you ever get the chance, I'd recommend reading them."

"Hey! Why are you only telling us this NOW? You're just messing with us!"

Nayun blew up at Soyul, who had once again delivered vital information far too late.

One by one, the students uncovered notes with real prizes, while Nayunnie kept digging up duds scrawled with literary quotes and grumbling the whole time. The students swam earnestly through the sea of books in search of treasure.

And Suyeon and Seoha, seizing the unexpected opportunity, were pursuing a target of an entirely different kind.

"Wow... they must've sent off everyone who helped and hidden these themselves."

Yeoncheong, too, wandered around grumbling like Nayun, searching for notes and chocolate sticks.

The moment she stepped into a deserted stretch of shelves, Suyeon and Seoha moved in unison.

"Yeoncheong!"

"Yah! You scared me... Suyeon, what is it?"

But Suyeon had been a beat faster than her rival.

Seoha had no choice but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to hide behind the bookshelf, waiting for Suyeon to finish her business and leave.

Checking for signs of anyone nearby, Suyeon carefully pulled out the gift she'd been carrying.

"Ta-da!"

"What's this? You found a treasure hunt prize too?"

Given the circumstances, Yeoncheong could hardly be blamed for the misunderstanding. If this were the old days, Suyeon might have used it as an excuse to slip her the gift underhandedly...

"Nope. This is a gift from me."

With nothing left to hide, she was bold.

"A gift...? From you?"

"Open it."

Flustered, Yeoncheong instinctively glanced around them anyway.

Seoha swallowed hard and pressed herself even tighter against the bookshelf.

"It's a chocolate stick."

Since today was Stick Day, in a way it was the most fitting gift possible.

"Mm-hm. Homemade. I made it myself."

But it wasn't a store-bought product. It was a chocolate stick Suyeon had made with her own hands.

As if to show her feelings for Yeoncheong outright—a sleek layer of chocolate coated the long stick in a smooth, even sheen, and a scatter of rainbow sprinkles dusted the top.

A finish that could've held its own on store shelves. One glance was enough to tell an ordinary amount of care hadn't gone into it.

"I... um... th-thank you..."

Perhaps flustered, Yeoncheong's face flushed deep red as she stammered out her gratitude.

The smile of a friend overcome with embarrassment.

That one reaction—knowing Yeoncheong was conscious of her—was all Suyeon had wanted, and she flashed a grin.

"Falling for me? Does your heart flutter, just a little?"

Suyeon playfully jabbed her friend in the side.

Her own birthday had already passed, and Yeoncheong was the one used to giving gifts, not receiving them.

Here, in a corner of the library, at lunchtime, with plenty of other students around. Completely caught off guard, she could only burn red and fail to string together any proper reply.

"Five minutes remaining! There are still prizes out there—search harder, everyone!"

The voice of the library club member checking the timer at the center of the room.

"...I should get back to the treasure hunt."

Out of things to say, Yeoncheong used the treasure hunt as her excuse, slipping past Suyeon and fleeing toward another bookshelf.

Suyeon, calling after her to try one and tell her what she thought, faded into the distance—and a moment later, Seoha, who had been holding her breath this whole time, finally inhaled deeply.

'You really... did a good job on these.'

Even at a glance, Suyeon's homemade confection was superb.

Naturally, her gaze drifted downward—to the gift hidden against her chest. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ For Seoha, who had literally never so much as wet her hands in the kitchen, it was the best she could manage in a short time. But compared to Suyeon's, it was a quality she felt embarrassed to even hand over.

If only she'd given hers first, wouldn't she have been spared this hesitation?

Seoha buried the gift deep in her coat and kneaded the stiffness out of her face with her own hands.

"Haa..."

What was she supposed to do now?

Seoha's sigh mingled with the library's peculiar air of settled dust.