Reasonable Doubt
"...Wait, no."
I specifically asked them to wake me up when the teacher arrived.
When I opened my eyes, the classroom was completely empty.
Not a single soul was left.
"It's not like everyone went home early."
I quickly checked my phone, and thankfully, the mystery of the empty classroom was solved.
It was 12:10 PM.
Everyone had gone to eat lunch.
"I slept for almost five hours."
I didn't know exactly when I fell asleep last night, but judging by how long I slept, it must have been past three in the morning.
...Should I get myself one of these pillows?
No matter how I looked at it, I had slept like a baby thanks to this thing.
"What about lunch...?"
If I ran to the cafeteria, I could probably still get some food. But...
"Let's just grab something from the snack bar for once."
Maybe it was because I slept so long, but I was craving something with a strong, salty kick. Having made up my mind, I stood up and headed for the back door...
"Wait, what?"
The classroom wasn't completely empty after all.
Yoon Seolah was sleeping.
"Well, she doesn't usually eat lunch anyway."
It wasn't particularly surprising since she rarely ate lunch.
Once I make a bit more progress, I might be able to help her out.
My memories of the original story had faded significantly, but I was still well aware of the fact that Yoon Seolah's family was poor.
She would eventually escape poverty after being scouted by a small agency. She would go on to make a successful debut and be hailed as a miracle from a minor label.
However, that wouldn't happen for at least another two years. If possible, I wanted to help her before then.
Of course, wanting to help didn't mean I could just plug her into my agency right away. I was still a rookie myself.
I was basically just one of Bae Sol's favorite projects; my authority within the company wasn't that high yet.
I'll probably need to complete at least three more projects before I can even make a suggestion.
Lost in thought, I stared blankly at Yoon Seolah. She was already a near-complete vocalist. Although she still had things to learn as a professional, her skills were already at an active industry level.
...The blanket.
As I stared, I quickly averted my eyes. The moment my gaze drifted even slightly from her face, her figure was laid bare to my eyes.
So that's why she wraps herself up so tightly in a blanket.
I gently pulled the blanket, which had slipped down to her waist, back over her shoulders. I even fastened the button at the top.
It looked like one of those blankets designed to button up so it wouldn't fall off.
"Time to go."
It felt like it had been almost two weeks since I last visited the snack bar.
"I'll get a lemon green tea and two hamburgers."
"Ah."
This is seriously delicious.
Junk food is called junk food for a reason. It had a sharp, savory kick that school lunches couldn't dream of matching. I devoured the two hamburgers in less than ten minutes.
"Hey, Jisul!"
"Hey."
"Hi, Jisul!"
"...Hey."
The once-quiet snack bar was gradually filling up with students. It was about time for everyone to finish their lunch.
But that was besides the point.
"Where are the others? Weren't you always hanging out with those girls?"
Who was this? It was a face I genuinely didn't recognize.
Even after checking the name on their nametag, I couldn't recall any connection.
"They're over there."
Spotting Kwon Dain and Choi Saeron in the distance, I pointed toward them. Immediately after, I slipped out of the snack bar.
"Hey."
I tapped her shoulder. Kwon Dain spun around instantly.
Her face was tense with wariness. Her eyes were sharp, and her lips were pressed into a straight line. But the moment she realized it was me, her expression softened.
"...Oh, Jisul. It's just you?"
Dain let out a long sigh. But that wasn't the important part right now.
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
I had clearly asked her to wake me. We even had PE class in the middle of all that. How on earth did I manage to sleep straight through for five hours?
"I did try to wake you, but you wouldn't budge."
"I did?"
I had absolutely no memory of waking up. I turned my gaze to Choi Saeron.
"Did she really try to wake me?"
"Well, she did try. She just didn't put much effort into it."
"...What's that supposed to mean?"
"Dain said you looked too tired, so she didn't try very hard. She just gave your shoulder a light shake, that's all."
As Saeron casually spilled the beans, Dain's ears flushed bright red.
"...I just thought you looked really exhausted. I took notes for all the classes, so I'll show them to you later."
Her voice was barely a whisper, a far cry from her usual confident tone.
What's with her?
I wondered if she was just embarrassed about being caught meddling.
"Could you just take photos of the notes and send them to me later?"
"Yeah, I'll do that."
I naturally joined their group as we walked.
"Where's the class president?"
"He said he was heading to the music room early."
Why the music room? Today wasn't even a scheduled practice day...
"Ah, today is club day."
"You forgot?"
Saeron tilted her head in disbelief before continuing.
"You know we have to practice after school today too, right?"
"Yeah, I know."
Realizing today was club day triggered a chain reaction of forgotten tasks in my mind.
"We need to upload a YouTube video."
We had created the YouTube channel, but we hadn't uploaded a single video yet.
The reason was simple: our skills weren't quite at the level to be shown off yet.
To be precise, the class president and I were fine, but Saeron and Seolah were the issues. Neither of them was fully comfortable with their instruments yet, and they would occasionally stumble during ensemble practice.
"Let's aim to master this song today. You guys can play it without looking at the sheet music now, right?"
Fortunately, thanks to all the practice we had put in, they had the song down pat.
"Okay!"
Saeron clenched her fist, burning with determination. It was really nice to see how genuinely passionate she was about the band.
"Saeron seems really excited."
Perhaps she had pumped herself up too much, because Saeron was already running ahead of us toward the classroom.
"It's nice to see."
Dain watched Saeron run off with a warm smile.
"Well, just watching someone burn with passion lifts your mood."
"...Yeah."
Suddenly, Dain stopped in her tracks.
"Jisul."
Her voice, stripped of its previous warmth, called out to me.
"Thank you for helping me back then."
Dain tended to be incredibly serious for her age. It was probably because she had to grow up fast.
"You don't have to thank me that much."
I offered her a gentle smile.
"Did you have a specific reason for letting me sleep because I looked tired, or for offering to show me your notes?"
Perhaps because Dain was so mature, standing before her made me adopt a similar mindset. It was the same right now.
"You did it simply because we're friends, to help and look out for me."
"...Yeah."
"It was the same for me. I just helped a friend. It's only natural."
"..."
Dain remained silent.
However, it wasn't a negative silence. The air between us felt slightly ticklish.
It wasn't an atmosphere born of romantic attraction or affection, but rather a pleasant warmth sparked by a deep, meaningful conversation.
"We'll head out first. Wake Seolah up when lunch is almost over and send her over."
In the classroom, with about twenty minutes left of lunch, Jeong Jisul and Choi Saeron grabbed their bags and left for the music room.
The only band member left in the classroom was Yoon Seolah.
Dain's mission was to wake her up in twenty minutes and send her to the music room.
...A tree.
Dain's impression of Jisul remained unchanged. He was like a sturdy, deep-rooted tree, possessing a gravity that belied his age.
He really is... like a protagonist.
When she thought about it, it was true. His looks went without saying, and his career was already leaving an incredible mark despite his youth. On top of that, he was smart, popular, athletic, and had a great personality.
If he wasn't a protagonist, who was?
And yet, he doesn't have an overbearing personality...
Even though Jisul was a guy, being around him brought a sense of comfort.
That's probably why Seolah...
If Seolah had to be compared to something, she was like a cat. Completely unpredictable.
The fact that someone like Seolah had opened up to him was proof enough of what a good person Jisul was.
Dain's gaze naturally drifted toward Seolah.
As she continued her train of thought...
...Huh?
She noticed something strange.
Seolah's pillow had changed.
That morning, she had definitely been using her favorite navy-blue cat pillow. But now, she was resting her head on a pink cat pillow.
The problem was...
That's the one Jisul was using.
She knew for a fact that Jisul had been using that pink pillow until lunchtime.
...Why?
Dain's mind filled with questions. There was no reason for them to swap pillows. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn't understand Seolah's reasoning.
Come to think of it...
Seolah's makeup seemed a bit more pronounced than usual today. Normally, she only did the bare minimum or skipped it entirely, often wearing a mask to school.
...No way, right?
A mountain of clues pointed toward a single hypothesis.
Just then, Seolah sat up.
"Nnngh...!"
She let out a long stretch.
"*Smack*... Where is everyone?"
She casually tossed the question to Dain.
"They all went to the music room."
Dain replied, acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
Sure, she could have just decided to wear makeup. They were high school girls, after all. It was only natural for girls their age to want to look pretty. But the pillow was a different story.
So, Dain decided to probe a little.
"Where's your usual pillow?"
"In my bag."
"You're not using it?"
"Just... because I like this one better."
Dain felt that asking any further might seem suspicious, but...
"Jisul must use a really nice shampoo. It smells good, so I swapped them."
Fortunately, Seolah volunteered the explanation herself. However, the explanation only made the situation more complicated.
Saying she swapped it because it smells good...
That was practically admitting she had sniffed his pillow.
And that kind of behavior, at least to Dain, was far beyond the boundaries of a "just friends" relationship.
Dain asked once more.
This time, it was a direct question.
"Seolah."
"Yeah?"
"...Do you like Jisul?"