A Lucky Day...?
After final period let out, students gathered their things one by one and trickled out of the school.
"Guys, we've gotta eat first. Where should we go?"
Yeoncheong, hopping lightly over a puddle, was in unusually high spirits.
For a moment — just a brief moment — she'd been unshackled from the ball and chain called studying. Sometimes people deliberately act extra energetic like this to shake off the lingering regrets and what-ifs of a finished exam, to burn off the accumulated stress and fatigue...
"She did take the same exams as us, right?"
"I... think so?"
But the Yeoncheong in front of them was on a slightly different wavelength than all that.
Purely overflowing energy. Purely genuine delight.
The energy could be chalked up to taking her exams with a light heart, confident she only needed to avoid remedial classes — and as it happened, she had one very good reason to be in a good mood.
Hoping to confirm her hunch, Suyeon wet her lips.
"Your scores aren't even out yet. Acting like you've already won is a bit much, don't you think?"
"Aww, come on, no it's not. Exams are over, and we get to celebrate Hasol's birthday. Double the good news, double the energy."
The words flowed out smooth as water, and there was real sincerity in them — but not a single one of her friends believed that was the whole story.
That said, an excited Yeoncheong wasn't a bad thing in itself.
If the odds of the bet had been stacked against her, she'd have been sulking instead.
Just like she'd said — beyond shaking off the fatigue of finals, this was a day to celebrate Hasol's birthday.
When everyone's bodies were still heavy with the aftereffects of exams, having at least one friend out front lifting the mood was a necessity.
And as a bonus, they could gently sweet-talk their cheerful friend into treating them to a free lunch.
"Yeoncheong, thanks for the meal~"
"Man, nothing beats food someone else pays for."
"Yeoncheong. Thank you."
"Yeah, thanks."
Was it because their friend had racked her brains so hard, or because it was free?
The comfortably full friends filed out of the restaurant first, and Yeoncheong emerged after settling the bill, glancing back and forth between the receipt and the girls.
"Hey... do you guys normally eat this much?"
At that, Suyeon and Nayun flinched.
The two of them raised their voices in protest on purpose.
"H-how much do you think we could possibly eat?!"
"Yeah! Saying girls eat a lot?!"
Honestly, they had eaten quite a lot. But with Yeoncheong already strutting around like she'd won the bet, they figured it was the least they could do to offset the damage she was about to inflict on her wallet.
"If it's too much of a burden, we could split it even now."
Could the total have been far bigger than she'd expected?
Suyeon reached out a hand, saying she wanted to check the prices, but Yeoncheong immediately crumpled the receipt into a ball.
"You're the ones who told me to treat you, and now suddenly this? Forget it. I'll just think of it as my treat in honor of Hasol's birthday."
With an air of magnanimously cutting her friends some slack for Hasol's sake, she waved the whole thing off — and today, of all days, that breezy generosity was extra irritating to watch.
Let the record show: Suyeon was not some twisted creature who delighted in others' misfortune and envied their happiness. Nor was she the type of nasty soul who lived for watching her friends flounder.
But so much was riding on this grade bet — and watching Yeoncheong act like she'd already won before the results were even out was simply more than she could bear.
"Hey, guys. Want to hit the bowling alley?"
With lunch in her, some of her energy had recovered.
Suyeon proposed their next destination, framing it as stress relief and a chance to get their sluggish bodies moving.
It wasn't as if everyone had come out just to celebrate the end of exams, though — so the friends' gazes naturally turned to Hasol.
"Sure, anywhere's fine with me."
With the guest of honor's blessing, Yeoncheong and the rest set off.
It being a weekday afternoon, the bowling alley was relatively empty.
Yeoncheong had bowled once or twice before — but then, that was all back when she'd been a guy. As she deliberated over the weight of the ball, Suyeon wet her lips at her.
"Just playing for fun is boring, so how about a penalty? Forehead flicks?"
"Sure. Only for last place? Or everyone but first?"
Suyeon had been hoping to set up a bet, wondering if Yeoncheong would take the bait if she offered one. And she'd accepted without a moment's hesitation. When asked about the exact penalty rules, though—
Answering right away would make it obvious she'd prepared for this, so Suyeon paused for dramatic effect.
"Hmm... First place gets to flick second through last. Second place gets third through last. You get the idea?"
In other words: the lower your rank, the more flicks you took.
By then Yeoncheong had already grabbed her ball and swapped into rental shoes, and she stared hard at Suyeon.
It felt strange for her to be the one proposing a penalty game out of nowhere.
She hadn't said it outright, but she was positively radiating the desire for someone — anyone — to take as many flicks as possible.
Come to think of it, Suyeon had suggested the bowling alley, and Suyeon had suggested the penalty. And the whole flow of it had felt suspiciously smooth.
Like she'd been lying in wait for her.
"Suyeon... you must really hate me today, huh?"
"Th-that's not it! So are you in or not?"
Her friend's transparent reaction to being hit dead-center drew a snort of laughter out of Yeoncheong.
Even the question on the way over — have you done this a lot? — had been part of the setup.
She wanted nothing more than to accept the terms right then and leave her own red mark on her shameless friend's forehead in return. But the penalty wasn't something she could decide on her own.
Yeoncheong turned to the others.
"What about you guys? Are you okay with these rules?"
"Yep."
"Fine by me. That's what makes it exciting."
With Hasol and Seoha's approval secured, all that remained was—
Thud.
—the answer of Nayun, who had already thrown her ball and was watching the pins.
A moment later, the pins toppled with a satisfying clatter, and their friend gave a thumbs-up over the lane with just two left standing.
"Called it!"
Apparently she was feeling her groove today, too.
Yeoncheong was something else, sure — but Nayun was no slouch either.
...Another fiercely contested game came to an end.
Thwack! With a crisp, ringing sound, Suyeon's whole body shuddered.
"Gaaaah! Ow! OW! I said it hurts!"
Rubbing her mottled red forehead with her palm, Suyeon glared daggers at Yeoncheong.
"Why are you taking it out on me? Am I the only one flicking you?"
"You flick the hardest, that's why!"
Not only was hers the strongest, but she kept landing it on the exact spot that had just been struck, making the pain beyond description.
Yeoncheong deftly dodged the opposite arm swinging at her like a whip and giggled.
"Anyway, we still have to go pick up Hasol's birthday present. Should we call it here?"
"No! Just one more game!"
Why had Suyeon picked the bowling alley in the first place?
Nothing grand. Just this: to deliver a forehead flick with her own two hands. One flick would have been enough — but she hadn't even managed that one yet.
At the very least, if her opponent were good at the game, she could have given up without regrets. But what was with today's luck?
A ball that had been veering straight for the gutter would suddenly catch spin and come back to life. A pin on the opposite side, one that had nothing to do with her throw, would topple over all on its own. And in the final game, Yeoncheong strung together strike after strike to dodge last place.
The tail that was always within reach yet never quite caught only inflamed her temper further.
"Hasol! We're doing one more game, just the two of us. I want to hit her forehead."
At this point she didn't even bother hiding her true feelings anymore.
Did she really want to flick her that badly?
Granted, she'd been mercilessly teased before...
'Oh my~ your forehead's so red all over I can't even tell where to flick~'
'Aw, so close. Three more pins and you'd have been first and me second.'
'Again? Ahh... my fingers are getting sore...'
Come to think of it, she did have a little... just a little bad karma to work off?
Yeoncheong stole a glance at Hasol, and the moment approval came back, Suyeon wet her lips.
"This really is the last one?"
"Obviously!"
And fittingly for a finale, the head-to-head was played for a bold five forehead flicks apiece...
"Aaargh! What is with me today!"
With the goddess of fortune at her side to the very end, it was Yeoncheong's victory.
"Suyeon, hair up."
"Y-Yeoncheong? Five is really kind of a lot... can't we talk about—AAAH!"
Determined to make it short and brutal, she delivered five flicks in a row, and Suyeon's screams rang out across the alley.
The summer sun still hung overhead, but the hour of parting was drawing near.
"This is really all you need?"
In answer to Yeoncheong's question, Hasol gave the shopping bag a little shake to emphasize its heft.
"Mm-hm. I was almost out of everything I use anyway. Thank you."
Yeoncheong had told her to skip the gift and put the money toward outings instead, and Hasol had been perfectly content with just a few of her nearly-used-up cosmetics being replaced.
Moved by that angelic temperament, Yeoncheong pressed her palms together and licked her lips.
"I knew it. The nicest one among us is you, Hasol."
Maybe — just maybe — she'd been tainted by Seoha and Suyeon? She repented, calling her earlier worry foolish.
Then she shot Suyeon a sidelong look and kept going.
"Whereas some people sweet-talk their way out of paying for lunch alone, then come charging in desperate just to flick my forehead once, then whine at me to buy them balm because their forehead got all red from flicking me."
"Who's whining?! Who are you calling a whiner?! You bought it because you felt bad!"
Even without anyone being named, Suyeon erupted, growling at the top of her lungs.
From exams that left a lingering unease despite seeming fine, to a Yeoncheong already strutting around like she'd won, with luck trailing her all day long.
Unlike Yeoncheong — whose day this supposedly was — Suyeon, the poster child for a day when nothing goes right, sputtered out a tirade of nonsense curses.
"You... you used up all your luck today, got it? From now on you'll hit a red light every time you cross the street. You'll put on your shoes and only notice you've got mismatched socks after you're out the door. You'll think you turned on the hot water and get blasted with cold. You'll climb into bed and remember you forgot to brush your teeth. Um... and... and..."
The curses were all so petty and cute that calling them curses felt like a stretch, and she had to fight back a laugh that kept escaping.
Then even that material ran dry. After groaning for a moment, Suyeon licked her lips again.
"Anyway! Now it's my turn. No wait... our turn. Even if we win the bet, you're absolutely not getting out of it. So you'd better remember that and tremble! Hmph!"
"Wouldn't dream of it. Have I ever lost a bet and tried to weasel out? If you guys win, I'll make it worth your while."
The spectacle got her fired up, and before she knew it, Yeoncheong had fired back.
After saying goodbye to her friends, Yeoncheong headed home.
Ha... why do I feel so uneasy all of a sudden.
Just as Suyeon's curse(?) had foretold, she kept getting stopped by red lights at every crosswalk, and her friend's words kept echoing in her ears.
Luck, in the end, was nothing more than a string of improbable coincidences lining up in a row.
Even as she reassured herself of that, she resolved to be careful, turning each of Suyeon's warnings over in her mind.
Mismatched socks. Hot water, cold water. Brushing my teeth... that's all of them, right?
"Nyaaang~"
"There you... nyaa... nyaa?"
At the familiar cry, Yeoncheong looked around — and spotted the jet-black cat staring at her from a distance.
"It's you!"
The same creature that always let her greet it first, only to run away every time.
"Huh...?"
But for whatever reason — had some wind changed? — the black cat padded over to her on silent feet and, in a display of pure affection, rubbed itself against her legs.
"So you finally appreciate everything I've done for you, huh."
All the minor misfortunes from earlier flew clean out of her head.
She'd be washing up the moment she got home anyway. Her mood thoroughly lifted, Yeoncheong crouched down to play with the cat.
After all those curses about how miserable she'd be... in the end, she'd gotten to pet an adorable black cat, too. What a lucky day it had been.
