Scent
At least, as far as Kwon Dain was concerned, the ripples of this emotion were not that large.
It was merely the introduction of a variable named Jeong Jisul into her otherwise dry, monotonous daily life.
Spotting his back a little faster than others.
Unconsciously turning her head toward the sound of his voice. That was the extent of it.
‘...Even puppies run over when they hear the sound of treats.’
She didn't particularly like comparing herself to a dog, but...
...her current state was close to that.
The influence Jeong Jisul had on her...
...was on par with the influence of a treat on a puppy.
‘I wish we could spend just a little time together.’ It was that kind of feeling.
Since she always had to be conscious of others' eyes when she was outside...
...she couldn't help but feel drawn to Jeong Jisul, who made her feel at ease.
Yes, it was exactly that much.
A simple fondness.
It wasn't the kind of feeling where she wanted to confess and date him.
She had clearly defined it in her head, but...
"I think you could sing a bit more like a whisper here. Open up your vocal cords a little more and let some air through."
The mind and the heart were separate domains.
Even if this feeling wasn't grand enough to be called love...
...it was the first time in her life she had felt attracted to a member of the opposite sex.
She couldn't stop her heart from racing.
‘...Honestly.’
Her racing heart wasn't solely due to this new emotion.
It was surely because she was flustered on top of it.
Tomorrow, things would return to normal, and this fondness would eventually fade away.
Kwon Dain reached her conclusion.
The recording was finished, and the mixing was completed in the blink of an eye.
Partly because he had already planned out the mixing before they even started recording...
...and partly because Yoon Seolah had followed his directions so perfectly.
Jeong Jisul didn't need to exert much effort on the mixing.
"Should I play it once for you to hear?"
"Absolutely! Play it, hurry!"
Choi Saeron's eyes sparkled.
She had been the most excited person in the recording studio for a while now.
‘Should she... become a manager for a singer later or something?’
The thought crossed Jeong Jisul's mind.
He knew she liked music...
...but her level of passion was far greater than he had anticipated.
In contrast, Yoon Seolah...
‘...is quieter than I expected.’
He figured she was probably nervous.
He could clearly feel that her body was stiffer than usual.
Jisul tapped his ear with his index finger.
"You should take off your headphones."
Because Seolah was just staring at him with her headphones still on.
Only then did Seolah take them off.
Jisul switched the output device to the speakers and played the mixed track.
Seolah's voice was the only one heard in the song.
Originally, Jisul was scheduled to participate as a sub-vocalist...
...but after feeling how Seolah's vocals completely filled the song, he changed the plan.
"How is it? Sounds good as a finished track, right?"
"So good...!"
"It's nice."
"Yeah, it's great."
All three of them responded to Jisul's question.
‘Now, slowly...’
Since the recording was done.
All that was left was to upload this song to YouTube.
"Shall we grab some food and wrap up?"
However, he wasn't going to upload it to YouTube immediately.
So, Jisul spun his chair around and asked.
"Ooh...!"
What would be the best menu for one guy and three girls to eat?
If we were adults who could drink, we would have just gone for drinks...
...but we were, after all, high school students.
In the end, the place we arrived at was...
"I'm so glad we added extra cheese!"
...a tteokbokki place.
A destination chosen without a single shred of my input.
But I had no complaints.
I had decided to go along with them from the start anyway.
It's not like I could drag them to a place that sells pork cutlets, spicy stir-fried pork, or rice soup just because I wanted to eat it.
And above all, I didn't dislike tteokbokki, so I just followed along quietly.
"Mmm...! It really is delicious!"
Saeron was busy devouring the tteokbokki, while Seolah...
"Sss..."
...Is it a bit spicy for her?
‘She didn't object when we suggested ordering the original flavor, so I thought she was good with spicy food.’
She looked a bit struggled, but like Saeron, she was enjoying her meal.
However, Dain...
"Aren't you eating?"
"Oh, I will in a second."
She showed no signs of picking up her chopsticks.
Was she not hungry?
I pondered for a moment and figured out the reason why Dain wasn't eating.
‘Ah, she's wearing white.’
She was probably worried about the red sauce splattering onto her clothes.
Given Dain's background, her clothes were likely incredibly expensive, so she had to be even more careful.
I walked over to the counter and called the owner.
"Excuse me, do you have any aprons?"
"Aprons... We usually have them, but there was an issue with the laundry service, so we don't have any right now."
"..."
Indeed, if there had been aprons, Dain would have already grabbed them and handed them to us.
‘It's really uncomfortable having only one person not eating.’
It bothered me that while everyone else was eating busily, one person was left out.
Returning to the table, I thought about it for another moment.
‘That should work.’
I pulled off my hoodie and handed it to Dain, who was sitting next to me.
"...Huh?"
"Weren't you avoiding eating because of your white clothes?"
"Ah, yeah... that's right."
"Wear this and eat. It's cheap anyway, so it doesn't matter if you get something on it."
"...But this is white too?"
"It's fine. Besides, I was getting a bit warm. Oh, does it smell or anything?"
"...It doesn't smell."
"Then just wear it. I don't mind if it gets stained."
I disliked the idea of Dain sitting there hungry more than the prospect of staining a single hoodie.
She clearly looked hungry.
"..."
Dain glanced up at me, then slowly began to slip the hoodie on.
Perhaps because it was a size she had never worn before, it took her a moment to get it all the way on.
After a brief struggle, her head popped out of the top of the hoodie.
"Thank you."
Dain gave me a soft, beaming smile.
Only then did she start putting the tteokbokki into her mouth.
As the meal continued...
"Ah...!"
Dain suddenly let out a small gasp, drawing everyone's attention.
"Did you get pricked by a bone or something, Dain?"
Saeron asked with concern.
Seolah started rummaging through her bag to pull out a band-aid.
"No, it's nothing like that. I'm not hurt..."
Dain slowly turned her head toward me.
And tapped...
"...It ended up splattering."
She pointed a finger near her chest.
A drop of tteokbokki sauce had stained the fabric.
"It's fine if it splatters."
"Still..."
Even though I had told her it was fine to stain it when I gave it to her...
...Dain was still Dain.
Someone who couldn't stand being indebted to others.
"If it bothers you that much, you can just pay for the laundry bill later."
I offered her a reasonable compromise.
Her response was:
"The laundry bill... I'd rather wash it myself and give it back to you on Monday."
She insisted on taking responsibility for washing it herself.
"Sure, let's do that."
I had no reason to refuse.
That was probably the most comfortable option for her.
"I'm home."
From the recording to the meal.
The time spent was barely three hours, but...
‘...That was exhausting.’
As far as Dain was concerned, today's schedule had been incredibly taxing.
Not physically, but mentally.
"Why does he keep..."
...taking such good care of me?
Of course, Dain knew.
She knew that Jeong Jisul was naturally a very good person.
Even so, the degree to which he looked after her...
"He's so observant, too..."
She almost wished he were oblivious.
Saying exactly what she wanted to hear at the perfect moment.
Handing over what she needed right when she needed it.
Jeong Jisul was incredibly sharp.
"Sigh..."
She had been under a lot of stress lately.
It had been a month since Seong Haein's comeback, but the buzz at school hadn't died down.
Strangers coming up to ask, "Can you get me an autograph?"
People she had barely spoken to whispering nonsense like, "She's not even a celebrity, but look at her acting all high and mighty just because her mom is one," was a daily occurrence.
"My debut..."
She even felt a sense of urgency seeing her friends run toward their dreams.
Jisul was already highly recognized in the industry, and Seolah was steadily preparing to become a singer.
"So annoying."
A phrase that had become a habit whenever she returned home.
Dain was in a position where she couldn't complain like this outside of her home.
The only time she could relieve her stress was when she met her friends.
Saeron, Seolah...
...and Jisul, whom she had gotten much closer to recently.
The difference between them and other people...
...was that they looked at her for who she was.
"I shouldn't complain since I was born into a good environment, but..."
Still, the complaints kept slipping out.
It was because she wanted to be recognized as 'Kwon Dain', not just Seong Haein's daughter.
That was why she wanted to debut quickly.
"Aunt Sol..."
She had gone to see Bae Sol on the same day Jisul did, hoping to debut even without her mother knowing.
But Bae Sol's response was, "Ultimately, Haein has to give her permission for me to help you."
Once again, her thoughts tangled into a messy knot.
She wanted to calm down, but she didn't want to talk to her friends while feeling like this.
That was when something caught her eye.
"...No, this isn't right."
The white hoodie hanging on the rack.
A man's clothing that would cover half of her thighs if she wore it.
"I really shouldn't..."
As if possessed, Dain slipped into Jisul's hoodie.
"..."
Inhale...
She took a quiet sniff of the scent.
There was no other meaning behind it.
Definitely not.
She could say with absolute certainty that there wasn't.
She was only smelling it to figure out what kind of fabric softener she should use to match the scent he usually wore.
"I can't really tell from just one sniff..."
Just one more time...
"...Ah."
When she snapped out of it and looked at the clock, Dain was genuinely flustered.
It had definitely been 3 PM when she got home.
"I-I only meant to smell it one more time..."
But by the time she came to her senses, it was already dinner time.
"Kwon Dain, you idiot...!"
She had clearly resolved to keep her distance and let time cool her feelings.
"..."
At this rate...
"There's no way this feeling is going to fade..."