Starting Today, This Is My House
After school, during homeroom. “Next Monday is the club recruitment deadline. You all know that, right? School policy requires everyone to join at least one club, so if you haven’t decided yet, make sure to pick one by then~” The teacher standing in front of the lectern swept her gaze across the whole class as she spoke.
She had said the same thing last week and the week before that. The fact that she kept repeating it suggested it really was important. The part about every student having to join a club, specifically.
Club. I really should decide on one soon….
There wasn’t anywhere that particularly caught my interest, so I hadn’t been able to choose. It would be nice if there was a club that simply let you do whatever you wanted during the club activity period that came around every two weeks.
“Have you decided on a club?” Jihoon, sitting in the desk in front of mine, turned around and asked casually.
I shook my head. “No, not yet.”
“Want to join ours?”
“What do you guys do?”
“It’s the anime appreciation club. We get together and talk about anime.”
“Ugh, are you kidding me….”
“Why? You like anime too.”
“Like? I’ve only watched a few because you kept pushing me to…. Ah, but wait a second.”
“Wait for what?”
“If I join, do they give us free time?”
“They do, but every two weeks you have to watch one anime all the way through and write a reflection paper. The club basically fills its activity quota by having the advisor correct our papers.”
“…Really?”
So if I just turned in a reflection paper, everything else was free time.
“Teacher. What about Tachibana’s club situation?” Just as I was seriously weighing my options, someone threw out the question in a loud voice.
“She only transferred here yesterday, so she still doesn’t know much about the clubs.”
“Shouldn’t we give the transfer student a little more time?”
“Ah, yes. I was just about to bring that up. The transfer student is also required to choose by next week with no exceptions. I’m sorry, Tachibana. I still don’t have enough pull to speak up during the teachers’ meeting….”
“Ah….”
“That’s too bad….”
A few kids turned their heads with sympathetic expressions. The rule that people without seniority can’t voice opinions seemed to be universal. Because our homeroom teacher lacked influence, an innocent transfer student was about to take the hit.
Still, well….
It wasn’t that worrying. She had already gotten this close with everyone in a single day of transferring. If it came down to it, the other girls would probably drag her into one of their clubs.
I rested my chin on my hand with little enthusiasm. I just wanted homeroom to end quickly so I could go home.
“Um, teacher?” Hana raised her right hand slightly.
“Ah, yes. Did you have something to say?”
“There’s one favor I’d like to ask.”
“A favor…?”
“Yes. It’s nothing special, but since I only transferred today, I don’t really know what clubs are available, right?”
“Mm, that’s true, isn’t it?”
“So I was hoping someone could show me around the clubs and the school at the same time….”
She glanced sideways. Hana turned her gaze in my direction. It might have been my imagination, but I had the feeling our eyes met while I sat there with my chin propped on my hand.
“Ah~! Yes, I understand.”
Clap! The teacher clapped her hands lightly.
“Ijun. Could I ask you to handle this?”
“Sorry? Handle what?”
“What else? The club and school tour~”
“……Me?”
“Yes!”
Why should I have to do that…. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I clamped my mouth shut. The instant I started to speak, I could feel every pair of eyes in the room— the teacher, the entire class, even Jihoon—fixed on me with perfect unity.
──Who else would do it if not you?
“You haven’t decided on a club yet either, Ijun. Showing her around the school and looking at clubs together would be perfect. Don’t you think?”
The justification was flawless. ‘Since you haven’t picked a club yet, you might as well look around together…’ There was no escape.
……Ah, fine. It was obviously going to land on me anyway. Instead of making a fuss, I might as well protect my reputation.
“Yes. I understand. I’ll do it.”
“Oh my, really? Thank you so much~! Then it’s decided—Ijun will be the guide!”
The teacher gave me a bright, cheerful smile. It was a genuinely warm expression, but as the person who had just been voluntold, my feelings were decidedly mixed.
“……Heh.”
“…….”
Why was she smiling at me again? When we got home later I would have to explain in detail exactly how I had figured out she was L.J., yet she didn’t seem worried at all.
“All right, next we’ll talk about the off-campus competition scheduled for mid-April…”
Homeroom finally ended. It took another twenty minutes before every announcement had been delivered. The core information from today’s session boiled down to two things: the upcoming dance department performance at Sangmyung University’s dance festival and the Ewha Kyunghyang designated-piece competition. The festival was exactly what it sounded like—an event put on by the dance majors—while the competition required participants to perform a specific piece chosen by the hosting Ewha Kyunghyang organization.
Anyway, there was no need to dwell on it. Both were events that had nothing to do with me. I was in the art department, after all.
“Hey. Want to come check out our club?”
Jihoon spoke while stuffing things into his bag. I had been about to stand up from my seat when I turned toward him.
“Check out the club?”
“Yeah. It’s the official club promotion period until the end of this week. The president said I could bring anyone who seemed interested…”
Jihoon, who had been talking, suddenly looked past my shoulder and stopped mid-sentence. Wondering what was going on, I turned around too. A girl was standing there.
……Ah. You scared me.
Tachibana Hana. She had approached so quietly that I hadn’t noticed her behind me at all.
“Ah…. I’m sorry. Did I interrupt you, Jun?”
“……You did. Quite a lot, actually.”
“Mm. I see. I’m sorry, Jun….”
“Hey. Why are you using that tone with your girlfriend?”
She had suddenly appeared and stood behind me, so I made a remark, but Jihoon ended up scolding me instead. I frowned deeply, feeling betrayed by my closest friend’s betrayal(?).
“Are you taking her side right now?”
“How is this taking her side? I’m just stating an objective fact.”
“Wow. You. When I heard the same thing from someone else you stayed quiet…”
“Jun. I’m sorry. Please don’t fight…!”
Grab—! She slipped her arm through mine and gave a light tug. The sudden contact made me freeze, and Jihoon stared at me with an utterly unreadable expression.
“You definitely saved a country in your previous life….”
“……No, you’re misunderstanding the situation. Between me and her—”
“Jun. The bus arrives in ten minutes. Shouldn’t we get going?”
Hana pulled out her phone with her other hand. Curious, I glanced at the screen. The bus arrival app showed that the bus I usually took would arrive in ten minutes.
“Huh. It really is?”
“The intervals on this route are long, right? If we don’t leave now we’ll end up waiting nearly twenty minutes, correct?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Hey. Sorry, man. Let’s check out the club another time.”
“Sure. Go on. Go. And don’t come back.”
Leaving Jihoon waving his hand dismissively behind us, I exited the classroom with Hana. Maybe I was in too much of a hurry. I even forgot for a moment that I was walking arm-in-arm with a girl as I hurried my steps. It took roughly five minutes to reach the school gate. Since the stop was only a two-minute walk from school, Hana and I managed to board the bus with barely any time to spare.
……Once I was actually on the bus, two thoughts occurred to me.
But shouldn’t we be taking the bus that goes to her house instead of the one that goes to mine?
And how on earth did she know which number I rode?
“Hey.”
“Not ‘hey.’ Hana.”
“Is that really what’s important right now…”
“If you don’t call me by my name, I won’t answer.”
“Ah…. Fine. Hana. Happy now?”
“Yes. Jun. What is it?”
“……Why do you keep calling me Jun?”
“Why? It’s cute. Jun.”
“It’s not that it isn’t cute—it’s weird. We’re not close enough to be using pet names like that.”
“We’re going to be married soon, so what’s weird about it?”
“No, who decided that we’re getting married…”
-Pfft…. The sound of suppressed laughter made me snap my mouth shut. Only then did I realize that the other passengers were glancing repeatedly at me standing by the door holding the handrail and at Hana, who still had her arm linked with mine. It wasn’t just glances, either; I could hear murmurs of “how cute,” “so fresh,” and “they’re having fun together.”
Our serious exchange apparently looked like an ordinary lovers’ quarrel to everyone else.
……Ah.
Having finally caught up with the situation, I closed my mouth. I took this bus at the same time every day. There were even a few familiar faces I sometimes saw.
Sigh. This is embarrassing….
“……Heh.”
“…….”
She was laughing again?
“How did you know the bus number I take?”
“I didn’t?”
“Don’t lie. I saw the app earlier—you had 163 bookmarked…”
“I bookmarked 163 because it stops in front of both our house and the school. There’s no other reason.”
“Where is your house?”
“Near Yonsei University.”
“……For real?”
“Yes. Why would I lie? You’ll find out soon enough anyway.”
“…….”
Wait. Was she telling the truth…?
“Ah, sorry. I must have misunderstood—”
“Main character syndrome.”
“……What?”
“What do you mean? I didn’t say anything?”
“You literally just called me someone with main character syndrome.”
-This stop is Yonsei University, Yonsei University….
“Oh? We’re here. Driver, we’re getting off~!”
“……Hey. Wait!”
Hana and I, who had gotten off at the stop, continued walking straight down the street. According to her, if we kept going for about ten minutes we would reach the house where she lived.
But by a strange coincidence, the place where I lived was also a ten-minute walk from the same stop. My apartment was a studio near Daehak-ro. Of course it wasn’t an ordinary studio; it was a high-end residential officetel with two bedrooms, a dressing room, and a private bathroom—definitely on the expensive side.
Anyway, once we turned the next corner we would be right in front of my building.
Is she also living alone around here…?
If that was the case I could understand it, but the route we were taking felt far too strange….
“Are you sure this is the right direction?”
“Yes. We’re almost there.”
“You’re certain?”
“I’m certain. It’s this way.”
Hana, speaking with complete confidence, turned the corner. My officetel was right ahead. I glanced at the building I lived in, then shifted my gaze sideways.
“Around here?”
“No. Right here.”
Hana pointed at the building directly in front of us with her index finger.
“Here?”
“Yes. This building.”
Hana walked briskly forward, entered the entrance passcode with quick beeps, and stepped inside. I followed a beat late, intending to say something, but she continued up the stairs without explanation and entered the second-floor hallway.
“This is my house.”
Hana stopped in front of room 201. I was completely dumbfounded.
“This is your house?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“……Hey. This is—”
My house. The words died in my throat as an unbelievable statement reached my ears.
“From today onward, this is my house.”