Chapter 36: Duality (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 36: Duality (4)
······The clock rewinds to last night.
“...”
It was late evening.
Lee Sol sat at her desk, her pencil tapping rhythmically against the wood.
With final exams about a month and a half away, she needed to start preparing step by step. Since she wasn't the quickest learner, she had no choice but to get a head start.
She wondered how long she had been at it...
······A mere thirty minutes had ticked by.
“Uuuugh...!”
Sol let out a long, deep stretch. Her arms trembled with the effort, and her chair tilted precariously backward.
“Haaaaa······.”
Feeling a wave of fatigue wash over her, she gently rubbed her eyelids.
“Maybe I’ll rest for just ten minutes······.”
She threw herself onto the bed and rolled around on top of the covers.
“...”
She picked up her phone. She figured she’d browse Instagram during her break. Her thumb flicked across the screen, scrolling through the feed.
‘Oh. It’s a photo from the school trip.’
Sol spotted herself in a post uploaded by Shin A-young. Lee Seung-ho and Ji Nuri were there as well, of course. Looking at the photos made a warm feeling bubble up inside her.
“...I want to go again.”
It really had been fun.
“Mmm...”
Sol shifted her body slightly, turning over onto her stomach.
A-young had posted quite a few photos. Among them, Seung-ho’s face appeared fairly often. Some were blatant shots of them together, while others were just glimpses of him in the background.
“Hmm.”
She pinched the screen to zoom in. The blurry image of Seung-ho behind Shin A-young grew larger. Sol rested her chin on her hand and stared down at the screen.
He looks really good in this.
Tap—
She hit the 'Like' button.
“...”
Sol blinked slowly as she stared at the screen. Her mind went blank for a second. Startled by her own impulsive action, she bolted upright, but then—
“...Oh.”
She realized the 'Like' had been on Shin A-young’s account, not his. She slowly lay back down.
...She’d panicked over nothing.
‘...Wait, it’s not like I can’t like a photo.’
It wasn’t like hitting 'Like' was a confession or anything. Surely she was allowed to do that much?
Of course, of course.
“...”
Sol immediately navigated to Lee Seung-ho’s account. He didn’t have many posts, but she gave a few of them a 'Like' anyway.
“Phew.”
See? It was nothing.
The corners of her mouth curled upward. She felt a small sense of accomplishment.
...As she continued to browse Seung-ho’s Instagram, a thought occurred to her. Finals were coming up soon.
“...Should I ask him...?”
She wanted him to help her study, just like he had for midterms. If he helped her, she felt confident she could get really good grades.
Sol gripped her phone tightly with both hands. Her fingers fidgeted as she sank into thought.
“Just casually...”
Right. She’d just ask.
Tap, tap, tap—
[Do you have time now?]
Sol typed rapidly, then—
[Do you have ti—]
Click, click, click.
She deleted it.
‘...The tone is too stiff.’
She didn’t like it. Her lips pursed as she looked back down at the screen. She thought it might be better to include an emoticon.
“...”
Sol scrolled through her emoticon list. She had bought plenty of them since they were useful for when she was too lazy to type.
[(Emoticon of a hamster rolling around)]
[What are you up to?]
“...This should be...”
It seemed okay.
“...”
Her fingertip slowed down in front of the screen, hovering just above the surface...
Flick—
She hit send and immediately flipped the phone over. Then, she scrambled out of bed. She scurried over to her desk and plopped down in her chair.
“Phew...!”
Don't think about it for a bit. Just focus.
It was time to start studying again.
······.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Taaap······.
“Mmm.”
Sol tapped the tip of her mechanical pencil. Every time she did, a smudge of graphite appeared on her worksheet.
“Uuugh...”
Her eyes kept darting to the side—toward the phone lying face-down on her desk.
“Hmm...”
Sol rested her chin in her hand and fixed her gaze on the device. Eventually, she was practically glaring at it.
‘...Is he doing something else? Is he really busy?’
Sure, he could be busy. Maybe he fell asleep. Or he could be eating, or showering. Or maybe he was studying for exams too.
If not that... was he playing games with A-young?
Sol picked up her phone and quickly searched his match history.
“He’s not.”
That wasn't it. Then why hasn't he...
Ding!
A notification rang out. Sol’s shoulders flinched.
“...Ahem.”
Sol rolled her stiff neck from side to side. She deliberately waited a beat before casually picking up the phone.
Let’s see what he said.
— [Lee Seung-ho: Just showered and laid down.]
Seeing that, Sol’s expression softened.
‘I had a feeling.’
She had worried he might be busy with something important. She would have felt bad if she’d texted him at a bad time.
— [Lee Seung-ho: Why?]
Sol typed her response slowly, checking her spelling to make sure there were no typos.
— [Lee Sol: Because finals are coming up.]
— [Lee Sol: Do you want to do a study group like we did for midterms?]
The reply came back quickly.
— [Lee Seung-ho: Sounds good.]
So far, everything was going according to plan. However...
— [Lee Seung-ho: Hold on, I’ll invite the others to the chat.]
Seung-ho intended to call the others, just like the midterm study group.
— [Lee Sol: Ahh]
“Ah!?”
In her haste, she made a typo. She sent the message anyway and then—
— [Lee Sol: How about we just do it one-on-one?]
Delete, delete.
She immediately deleted the typo above it. It was fine. She’d removed it so fast he probably hadn't seen it.
— [Lee Seung-ho: Just the two of us?]
— [Lee Sol: (Emoticon of a hamster making an 'O' with its arms)]
— [Lee Sol: The material covers a lot, so I haven't made much progress yet.]
— [Lee Sol: (Emoticon of a hamster wailing)]
“Phew...”
After sending those messages, Sol froze. No reply yet. Time suddenly felt like it was crawling. She stared intensely at the top of the screen.
How long did she wait...?
Ding—
A small notification sound.
— [Lee Seung-ho: Sure.]
A short but definitive answer followed. Only then did Sol let out a long, relieved breath.
“...Nice.”
She pumped a small fist in the air.
······And that was how the one-on-one study group was formed.
Fast forward to today.
“...”
I stood up and checked the clock. It was a bit earlier than usual, but it was late enough to head home.
“Well, we’ll be going now.”
At my words, Sol followed close behind me.
“Oh, see you tomorrow~”
Senior Min-ji gave a lazy wave. She let out a massive yawn, looking like she couldn't care less.
— “Huh? Wait, you’re really just leaving? For real?”
Shin A-young’s Mini-Me paced back and forth. Her jaw dropped in disbelief.
— “I mean, what kind of 'studying' is this... Hah, seriously...”
The Mini-Me’s cheeks puffed out. She looked like a time bomb about to explode.
Even seeing that, I didn't have much to say. After all, Sol had made the appointment first.
— “Hehe.”
Sol’s Mini-Me let out a tiny giggle. She straightened her back and threw her hands up in the air in a triumphant pose.
“...”
I’d better get going. There was no point in lingering and making things worse.
*
We had left school and were almost at our destination when Sol spoke up.
“But is it really okay for me to just show up like this?” she asked, peeking her head toward me.
I knew what she was worried about. The place we were going to study was none other than my house.
We were originally supposed to study at Sol’s place, but her mother had a guest over, so we had to change locations. That location ended up being my house.
“My parents are at work, and only my sister is home. I just need her permission... See? She says it’s fine.”
I held up my phone to show Sol the chat.
— [Lee Seung-ho: I’m bringing a friend over.]
— [Lee Seung-ah: The one from last time?]
— [Lee Seung-ho: Yeah.]
— [Lee Seung-ah: Ok.]
“...”
Sol’s expression grew even more tense.
— “I’m getting kind of nervous...”
Her Mini-Me took deep, shaky breaths.
Beep-beep-beep-beep— Click.
I unlocked the door and walked through the entryway into the living room.
“I’m home.”
Lee Seung-ah was sitting on the sofa. Usually, she’d be lying down, but she looked like she had been waiting for us.
“Hello.”
She gave a slight nod.
“...O-oh, hi.”
Sol raised her hand stiffly. I thought she was a robot for a second.
— “She’s cute.”
Lee Seung-ah’s Mini-Me let out a small smirk while looking at her. Seeing that Sol had apparently passed her inspection made me feel even more uneasy.
“We’re going to study in my room, so try to keep it down.”
“Sure.”
Seung-ah nodded, looking indifferent.
— “...Maybe I’ll sneak a peek later to see what they’re doing?”
On the other hand, her Mini-Me had a mischievous look on her face. Since her inner thoughts were completely different, I narrowed my eyes and warned her again.
“Don’t even think about peeking.”
“...I wasn't going to?”
She tilted her head as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
— “...His intuition is annoyingly sharp.”
Seung-ah’s Mini-Me clicked her tongue and grumbled.
“Make yourself at home.”
“Y-yeah.”
Sol was still acting like a glitching machine in response to Seung-ah’s greeting.
“Come in.”
“...”
Sol gingerly sat down on the floor. Her posture was much more demure than usual. She lightly brushed her hand against the floor.
— “...Is he cleaner than I am...?”
Her Mini-Me said, her eyelashes trembling. She seemed shocked by the revelation.
If I didn't clean my room, my mom’s Mini-Me would nag me incessantly. I didn't have much of a choice. Consequently, my room was unintentionally quite tidy.
“Hup.”
I brought a small folding desk from the living room and set it down.
“Shall we start right away?”
······
“...”
“...”
Sol swallowed hard, her throat bobbing. Her eyes followed the pages as they turned.
Thud.
I closed the worksheet and spoke.
“Alright, let’s take a ten-minute break.”
“Huaaaa······.”
Sol let out a long sigh. With a natural movement, she flopped down onto the bed.
...Uh.
...That’s my bed.
“...”
My eyes twitched as I watched her. I was internally flustered.
— “...Ah.”
Sol also realized what she had done and let out a silent scream.
— “...I laid down out of habit...!”
Her Mini-Me’s pupils dilated. She started moaning about what she should do now. Sol froze in her lying position. She had decided that since it had already happened, she would just stay still and pretend nothing was wrong.
“...”
I should probably go to the bathroom. She’d probably be back on the floor by the time I got back. I awkwardly started to stand up.
Creak—
The door swung open.
“Have some snacks while you study······.”
Lee Seung-ah stopped mid-sentence as she entered the room. Her eyes darted rapidly between us. Sol lying on the bed, and me frozen mid-stand. Her gaze drifted between the two of us.
And then······
— “Wow... this girl is a total fox.”
Seung-ah’s Mini-Me narrowed her eyes and let out a low whistle of admiration.