Preparation for the Performance Evaluation (3)
“Huh? Yeah?”
Jin Soyeon blinked her eyes in confusion, her face looking completely flustered as she kept glancing between me and Yu Seolhyeon.
Her expression screamed that she had no clue what was going on.
That made sense, though. After all, why on earth would Yu Seolhyeon want to team up with me?
“So… was that a joke?”
Her voice trailed off at the end as she subtly turned her head my way and started moving her lips in little bursts.
Her eyes demanded an explanation.
“A joke? You can’t be serious.”
Yu Seolhyeon answered with a light smile, and Jin Soyeon’s lips pursed in clear displeasure.
“But your grades are really good.”
“Yeah, so?”
Yu Seolhyeon smiled sweetly and nodded, urging her to keep going.
“Jinhyuk’s practical scores aren’t great and his training results are just average. Why force it? Wouldn’t it be better to team with the others instead?”
“Aha. Yeah, that does sound right.”
She gave me a quick glance, then started speaking slowly, lips forming words with a faint smile that felt almost cheerful.
“But since middle school, no one could ever keep up with your theory.”
“Jinhyuk’s theory is pretty strong… but it’s unnecessary.”
Whoa, Jin Soyeon.
You’re talking way too much.
“Our team only needs me and Nari. We just found one more person to handle the theory part. We don’t even know what kind of exam it is yet.”
“Oh, really?”
Jin Soyeon nodded, but her eyes looked a little uneasy as she glanced at Yu Seolhyeon’s face.
Yu Seolhyeon simply returned the smile without saying anything else.
“By the way, Soyeon, why did you want to team up with Jinhyuk?”
“Huh? Ah, well…”
She stole a sidelong glance at me, her lips twitching twice.
“I just wanted to look out for him. Look at how he trains. Who else would take him on as a teammate?”
“……You’ve been talking nonstop today.”
I let out a dry complaint, and Jin Soyeon broke into a grin before launching into a cheerful rant.
Given that smile, it looked like she was about to drag up some old story again.
“Aww~? Who was the one who rode the bus during that practical exam back then? If it wasn’t me, you would’ve failed, right?”
“And every time for the written exams you’d nag me to help study.”
“Me? When?”
“When you crashed the written test again, you said your allowance would be cut off if you didn’t pass, so you cried and begged me to help all day…”
“A-ah! I can’t hear this!”
Jin Soyeon clapped both hands over her ears and shook her head vigorously.
Not a kid, she’s acting like a child.
“Hehe.”
Yu Seolhyeon let out an inexplicable smile at our bickering.
“You two seem really close. I heard you broke up.”
“Yeah, well…”
Jin Soyeon’s words trailed off as she shot me a sidelong look.
“But who asked for the breakup?”
“……Why are you even asking?”
“Oh, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. If I offended you, sorry.”
“……”
Jin Soyeon’s eyebrows twitched slightly, as if she was genuinely upset.
She was clearly poking at her on purpose.
“Anyway, you have a terrible personality, Yu Seolhyeon.”
“Ah. Time’s already up? Then I’ll head out first.”
Yu Seolhyeon checked her watch for a moment, then gave me and Jin Soyeon a quick glance as if everything had been said.
“See you later. Jinhyuk, Soyeon.”
With that, she turned on her heels and walked off, followed closely by Seo Nari, who had been silently listening the whole time.
Jin Soyeon stared at their retreating backs.
Then she whipped her head toward me.
“You… seem pretty close to her.”
“Close? We just talked a few times.”
“Is that so?”
She grumbled in her usual blunt tone.
“Still, you seem way too friendly for just a few conversations. What exactly happened between you two?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Hmm.”
“But is Yu Seolhyeon acting weird? Did she do that on purpose?”
“What?”
“I mean, you know…”
When I pretended not to understand, Jin Soyeon looked annoyed and let out a long sigh.
“Sigh… whatever. It’s nothing.”
She muttered to herself in a quiet voice, something about how she had no sense of what was going on. Who doesn’t have a sense of what’s going on?
“She doesn’t seem to get along. Spreading rumors like that.”
“It wasn’t rumors.”
Jin Soyeon glared at me sharply.
“Then is it jealousy? This is ridiculous. This popularity thing.”
“Hah. What are you even saying?”
Jin Soyeon snorted with an incredulous look, then ran her fingers through her hair irritably.
“Jealousy my ass.”
“Or not? Why so sensitive?”
“Because you say such weird things.”
I frowned and answered curtly.
I was starting to think she was more bothered by Yu Seolhyeon than I thought.
“By the way, how are things with Siwoo lately?”
“How are things?”
“I heard you two are getting along lately.”
“What?”
Jin Soyeon bit her lower lip for a second.
“That’s just nonsense. That can’t be true.”
“Really?”
“You’re not actually believing those rumors, are you?”
She muttered while glancing at me, and I shrugged.
“Not really.”
“Oh? Well, that’s good.”
Jin Soyeon stared at me with a strange expression in her eyes, then nodded quickly.
She seemed closer now than during middle school, but there was still a long way to go.
Alright. If that was the case, there was nothing I could do about it.
Maybe I should give her a little more space so she could spend more time with Siwoo?
***
Jin Soyeon’s dream was to become a hero.
That dream had followed her since she was little and had never wavered or changed even as she reached the academy.
The day that dream was planted in her heart was what had turned her into the hero she would become for the rest of her life.
That day would never be forgotten, even after her entire life.
With that dream in her heart, Jin Soyeon and her childhood friend Jinhyuk had both passed the entrance exam to Union Academy together.
To be honest, I had been nervous that Jinhyuk wouldn’t pass, but he had accepted it with perfect composure, even though he had barely squeaked in through the supplementary notice.
Still, passing was what mattered.
Jin Soyeon was genuinely overjoyed.
She was going to attend the academy with him.
Union was the highest-level hero training institution in Korea, so the school life would be tough, but being able to get closer to her dream by his side made her happier than anything else.
She had always believed things would stay like this.
But…
“Let’s break up.”
Jinhyuk’s sudden words.
“When we graduate from the academy, our school life will be over. We should at least have a proper boyfriend-girlfriend experience.”
Jinhyuk had spoken lightly, and Jin Soyeon had been stunned for only a moment before she could agree.
After all, they had been together for over ten years as childhood friends.
In elementary school they had gone cherry blossom viewing, and on summer nights they held hands and watched fireworks.
They had secretly drunk makgeolli together and gotten scolded, and they had stayed up all night talking and laughing at home.
Those ten years of accumulated closeness wouldn’t disappear just because they stopped being fake lovers.
They had been together since they were tiny, and they would keep being together.
In a way, Jin Soyeon and Jinhyuk were like siblings.
So it should be fine.
That relationship would never change.
She had thought that.
But…
“Jinhyuk, let’s go grab something from the vending machine~ I’ll buy the bread.”
“I’m busy right now. Siwoo looks free. Let’s go with him.”
From when had it started?
“Let’s go eat. Today they have steak!”
“Ah, my stomach’s a little off today. I’ll be fine. Go with the others.”
Jinhyuk started refusing invitations.
“Do you want to play a game after the academy ends?”
“I have a lot of homework today. Let’s do it next time.”
The number of times he turned her down had been increasing lately.
Back in middle school he had been with her every day.
Was there something wrong?
But his tone and behavior were exactly the same.
The moment I approached him, he would happily joke around, so there was no reason for him to be upset or hurt.
Then what was it?
While I was pondering this, the homeroom teacher announced that we needed to select team members for the performance evaluation.
Team members, team members…
Jin Soyeon smiled inwardly.
Who else but her would look after that guy?
After all, he was terrible at practical tests.
If she teamed with him, he would surely be grateful.
She had no problem teaming with him either.
They had known each other for a long time, and their chemistry was excellent.
Performance evaluations were important, but teamwork was even more so, right?
She approached him with that thought, but…
“We’re on the same team.”
Yu Seolhyeon answered with a bright smile.
Jin Soyeon had no idea why Yu Seolhyeon had chosen Jinhyuk, but if it was someone like her, he probably wouldn’t fail the performance evaluation.
Still, after that day, their conversations increased a lot.
Next week was the performance evaluation, so they had to discuss a lot as a team, but Yu Seolhyeon’s attitude kept bothering her for some reason.
It was impossible to point out, but there was a strange unease.
Was she secretly smiling?
Or perhaps she was brushing off her shoulder and giving casual skinship?
And Jinhyuk just laughed that carefree laugh.
“……”
While lost in thought, she suddenly remembered a new café had opened near the terminal with an opening sale.
She should take Jinhyuk there and stuff herself with sweet cake to relieve stress.
Sweet food was the best cure for stress.
She wouldn’t hold back today.
“There’s a new café near the terminal. They’re having a discount this week. Let’s go together on Saturday.”
“Ah, this Saturday? I don’t think I can make it.”
“What? Again?”
“Sorry, sorry. I have plans. And besides that, this week’s performance evaluation has me busy. There’s a lot of research I need to do.”
“Yeah, right.”
She still had time to hang out with Yu Seolhyeon.
“Anyway, I’m sorry. See you on Monday.”
“Wait.”
Jinhyuk rushed out the moment class ended.
Jin Soyeon stared at his back with dissatisfaction and bit her lower lip. What urgent thing could he have that he was running off like that? Did he not want to talk to her?
“Well, whatever.”
Jin Soyeon snorted, then headed alone to the café.
She was going to relax a little and treat herself to something sweet.
She stepped inside the café.
And…
“Huh?”
She saw familiar faces inside.
“……Why are they here?”
It was Jinhyuk and Yu Seolhyeon.