A Strange Sense of Incongruity
"...It is a bit chilly."
To Yoon Seolah, the May night still felt cool.
"Glad I wore my hoodie."
She had considered just wearing a white T-shirt and three-striped track pants because of the daytime warmth.
But wearing the oversized zip-up hoodie was definitely the right call.
"I wonder if he's inside the convenience store."
Seolah pulled her phone out of her pocket.
Come to think of it, she hadn't replied to Jeong Jisul yet.
"...What if he just hands me the sheet music and leaves?"
She wanted to kill time until at least ten o'clock.
"Not like we have anything to talk about, anyway..."
Honestly, she had nothing to talk about with Jeong Jisul.
Their only common interest was music.
Seolah stared blankly up at the dark night sky.
Back when she was young.
Back when her family wasn't poor, time flew by just looking at the stars in the sky.
Now, looking up at the night sky, there were barely any shining objects to be seen.
Her lips curved down slightly in disappointment.
"..."
Jisul's thoughtful consideration comforted her.
She had felt it while texting him earlier, too...
"...He's a total heart thief."
Jeong Jisul was a major heart thief.
She muttered to herself with a smirk, and before she knew it, the convenience store came into view.
"You're here?"
Seeing Seolah approach from a distance, Jisul waved his hand slowly.
Seolah gave a gentle wave back.
Soon, the distance between them closed.
"Here."
Jisul reached into the bag slung over his shoulder and pulled out the sheet music.
"I just stapled it, so you should put it in a folder so it doesn't get crumpled."
Zipping his bag back up, Jisul stared at Seolah.
A moment later, he pointed toward the convenience store door.
"Shall we go inside and talk? Aren't you cold?"
Jisul was the first to lead the way into the store.
Seolah followed closely behind him.
What? How did he know?
The thought crossed Seolah's mind as she followed him.
She had prepared for the worst-case scenario where they would part ways right after she got the sheet music.
How did he always say exactly what she wanted to hear?
Just then, Jisul stopped in front of the refrigerated coffee display.
He opened his mouth to speak.
"Is there something you want to say?"
Written down, it might have sounded confrontational.
But his tone was quite gentle.
"I'm asking because it didn't seem like you contacted me just to get the sheet music."
"..."
Seolah was caught dead-on.
Her conscience pricked.
How should she explain this?
After a brief hesitation, Seolah spoke.
"...I was bored."
Calling someone out while they were working just because she was bored was a bit much, but...
She couldn't say anything else.
She couldn't say, "Because I get lonely easily."
Nor could she say, "Because I want to kill time until my dad gets home."
"Ah, I see."
Jisul nodded calmly.
He didn't press further.
...Why?
Even if he didn't ask for details, she thought he might bring up their friends.
She was prepared to answer questions like, "What about Dain? What about Saeron?"...
As Seolah fell into thought, she felt a cold sensation in her hand.
"You're drinking this, right?"
It was the canned cafe mocha Jisul had handed her.
"...Yeah."
Seolah's mind was filled with questions.
Why was he being so nice?
How did he know she would drink cafe mocha?
There were many questions.
But she decided to stop thinking about it.
"Heart thief" might sound like a dramatic term, but in reality, Jisul was just an incredibly observant guy.
There was no deep reason for someone to be considerate; they were just born that way.
"Not getting anything else?"
Before she knew it, Jisul had picked up a cup of instant ramen.
"...Are you buying?"
"Yeah, my treat. Vocalists need to eat well."
The more they talked, the more she felt like a terrible person.
Calling out a friend who was working just because she was bored...
And now she was getting free food and coffee...
No matter how little Seolah cared about what others thought, she couldn't help but feel self-conscious in this situation.
Of course, she could always refuse.
She could, but...
She was far too hungry to refuse.
So, Seolah picked up a triangle kimbap.
Just one.
Since he was buying, she figured she should keep it modest.
"Is that enough?"
"Yeah."
"Really?"
"...Yeah."
Do I look like a big eater?
It was true that a single triangle kimbap and a coffee wouldn't fill her up, but...
"It's not like I eat that much anyway."
A slight embarrassment washed over Seolah.
Before long, the two of them finished paying.
They sat down at a table and set out their food.
As she took a bite of the savory tuna mayo kimbap, the corners of Seolah's mouth curved upward.
"Doesn't look like one is going to be enough."
Jisul chuckled as he watched her.
It was because Seolah had already finished her kimbap before his ramen was even done steeping.
"..."
Seolah snapped her head up to glare at Jisul.
But her gaze quickly drifted downward.
...That looks good.
Her eyes locked onto Jisul's ramen.
The cup of ramen slowly slid toward Seolah.
"Do you want it?"
Seolah pushed the ramen, which had arrived right in front of her, back to Jisul.
"...I'm going to get a small cup."
She wouldn't even be able to finish a large cup.
...Well, she could, but.
She didn't want to show him her devouring a large cup of ramen on top of a triangle kimbap.
...I really don't eat that much.
"Man, I'm tired."
Surprisingly, he had a lot to talk about with Yoon Seolah.
They talked about the band.
They talked about their debut.
After chatting about this and that, he hadn't gotten home until around eleven.
Maybe that was why he kept yawning on his way to school.
"Maybe I should sleep at school."
He hadn't dozed off at school since becoming a high school student.
But today, he felt like he really needed some sleep.
"Oh."
The classroom scene had returned to normal.
A sleeping Yoon Seolah and an awake Kwon Dain.
As expected, those two...
"Wait, what?"
"What is it?"
"Why is Choi Saeron here so early?"
There was one more person in the picture.
"She said she left her bass here yesterday, so she came early."
"So she's using her bass as a pillow right now?"
Using the instrument she cherished so much as a pillow...
My eyes narrowed slightly.
"I don't think she's doing it on purpose."
"Then?"
"She fell asleep while petting it. She must have been tired from coming in so early."
"Ah."
...That made sense.
It was definitely very Saeron-like.
I put my bag down and continued talking to Kwon Dain.
"About the electric guitar. What happened with that?"
I had planned to ask her about it last time.
But we had parted ways in a hurry due to an unexpected accident, so I hadn't gotten the chance.
"...Why?"
Dain asked, looking as if she wondered if she had done something wrong.
"Just wanted to say thanks. You saved me a lot of money."
So what did you tell the agency?
When I added that, Dain hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Well... the three of us were hanging out last time, and the topic of guitars came up..."
She explained how the electric guitar had made its way to me.
To summarize her explanation:
While the three of them were hanging out, Choi Saeron brought up the electric guitar.
Dain listened quietly and then mentioned it to her mother at home.
Seong Haein, realizing the situation and knowing I was in the band,
personally informed the agency that I needed an electric guitar.
Thanks to that, the agency sent one over to me. That was the story.
"...Why? Is the guitar not good?"
"No, it's amazing. I was just curious about how it happened."
I thanked Dain once again and covered my mouth.
A yawn escaped me.
"I'm so sleepy."
Maybe I should have gone straight to sleep when I got home last night.
But ideas kept popping into my head, so I worked a bit before sleeping, which kept me up until dawn.
"Wake me up when the teacher comes, okay?"
I asked Dain and buried my face in my desk.
...Man, this is really uncomfortable.
As I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to come...
Poke. Poke.
I felt a light poking in my right side.
I raised my head and looked to my right. Yoon Seolah was holding something out to me.
A pillow.
"Oh."
Come to think of it, Seolah always carried an extra pillow around.
I remembered clearly because she sometimes used two.
"Thanks."
But wasn't she sleeping?
How did she hand me a pillow at the exact moment I needed one...
Well, she probably couldn't sleep.
I figured she was in a similar state to when she heard about my contract.
I cleared my mind and buried my face in the pillow.
It was incredibly soft.
There was even a slot in the middle of the pillow to slip your arm through for comfortable desk-sleeping.
Very ergonomic.
I closed my eyes in satisfaction.
A pleasant scent drifted up from it.
It wasn't fabric softener... just the smell of fabric deodorizer.
It was a gentle scent that seemed like it would help me drift off easily.
Dain quietly watched Jisul.
She wanted to thank him for helping her that day.
She felt bad that they hadn't been able to talk about it.
...My mind has been so messy lately.
Maybe it was because she had so much on her plate these days.
Normally, she would have thanked him right away.
He must be really exhausted.
Over the past month and a half, she had never seen Jisul sleep in the morning.
Yet the moment he laid his head on the pillow, his breathing became soft and even.
Maybe I'll thank him tomorrow...
Or maybe she could meet up with him separately later to express her gratitude.
Having made up her mind, Dain turned back to face the front.
Or rather, she tried to.
"...?"
Before she could even turn halfway, her gaze locked onto Yoon Seolah.
"You're still awake? Aren't you sleepy today, Seolah?"
Seolah's eyes were fixed intently on Jisul.
And since Jisul was facing right, she was staring right at his sleeping face.
"I'm going to sleep soon."
Seolah gave a half-hearted reply, her eyes still locked on the boy to her left.
The conversation died there.
"..."
A strange sense of incongruity hung in the air of the classroom.