7. The Seed Always Awakens Underground (2)
7. The Seed Always Awakens in the Soil (2)
"I'm looking forward to working with you, sunbaenims!"
Choi Ha-na greeted them cheerfully, smiling brightly as she looked at So-jeong and Baek-seol.
"......How did you know we're your sunbaes?"
Baek-seol asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.
Her voice was quite sharp, but Ha-na responded with the same bright tone as if it didn't matter at all.
"I'm a first-year, and I'm friends with everyone in our department's first-year class. So I know you sunbaenims aren't from our year."
With that single remark, Baek-seol roughly understood what kind of person Choi Ha-na was.
The law department at the university Baek-seol and So-jeong attended was quite large. Being friends with everyone in a single year of such a department meant she had unbelievable social skills.
In short, she was an extreme social butterfly.
"Ah, umm......"
Unlike Baek-seol who was scrutinizing Ha-na, So-jeong avoided Ha-na's sparkling gaze and hesitantly managed to speak.
"Ah, helloo......"
"Kyaa~ I'm so happy to meet you, sunbaenim!"
Ha-na showed an unusually excited reaction to So-jeong's greeting.
"I know it's a bit much to say this since we just became group mates, but I've wanted to become friends with you, sunbaenim, for a while now!"
Ha-na completely failed to see Baek-seol's eyebrow twitching.
"Eh, m-me? Why......?"
"I just can't help myself when I see pretty people, and you, sunbaenim, are just so my type and so pretty! You are Han So-jeong sunbaenim, right? Can I call you unnie......"
"We have to get to class now."
Clatter.
Baek-seol stood up from her seat more roughly than usual, cutting off Ha-na's words.
"Let's go, So-jeong-ah."
"Eh, eh?"
Before So-jeong could say anything, Baek-seol grabbed her wrist and left the classroom.
"Ah, I must have been bothering you."
Ha-na called out after So-jeong and Baek-seol.
"Then let's talk about the group project next time!"
Thud.
As the classroom door closed, Ha-na sighed, "Phew," and scratched her head.
"Ugh, did I get carried away again without realizing it? Baek-seol sunbaenim seemed kinda angry."
Muttering as if scolding herself, Ha-na's eyes remained fixed on the classroom entrance So-jeong had just exited. Then, a smile slowly spread across her lips.
"But So-jeong sunbaenim, talking to her, she seems way cuter than just looking at her. Uuugh~ I'm so lucky!"
***
"Baek, Baek-seol-ah."
The hallway bustling with students heading to class.
"Baek-seol-ah, wait a second......"
Only after hearing So-jeong call her name did Baek-seol realize she had been dragging her wrist too roughly.
"Ah."
Baek-seol let go of So-jeong's hand as if she'd gotten an electric shock.
"Sorry."
She apologized quickly, but regret and self-blame were already flooding into Baek-seol's heart like a tidal wave.
What am I doing right now.
How long had it been since she had reaffirmed her resolve to help So-jeong socialize normally, to help her find her own life apart from herself?
Just because a friendly underclassman made one approach, Baek-seol had been consumed by jealousy.
'You idiot.'
This kind of wariness was only useful as a thorn when there were trashy people around So-jeong. But Choi Ha-na, although she lacked a sense of personal space to a slightly excessive degree, didn't seem like a person with malicious intent.
And precisely because of that, the fact that Baek-seol had reacted even more sensitively made her blame herself all the more.
"Mmm, it's okay."
So-jeong gave a hehe laugh and adjusted her backpack.
"I was just a bit surprised because that person suddenly came on so strong."
So-jeong, who had moved closer to Baek-seol, looked up at her slightly.
"What about you, Baek-seol? You don't really like people who get too close too fast."
"......You, So-jeong-ah."
Baek-seol deliberately avoided the question.
"Um, it was a bit burdensome, but she doesn't seem like a bad person. She talked to me first too. Phew...... This group project probably won't be too hard. You're here too, Baek-seol-ah."
As she said that, So-jeong seemed to remember something and suddenly burst out laughing, "Hoo-hut."
"But that person, she's not bad, but her taste seems a bit weird."
"Why?"
"You heard her too, right, Baek-seol? She said I'm her type. That I'm pretty."
So-jeong laughed again as if she'd heard a funny joke.
"......"
Baek-seol couldn't laugh along with So-jeong's words.
Perhaps because there had been no one around to tell her until now, So-jeong's self-assessment of her appearance was extremely low.
But her slightly petite height, her long, glossy hair flowing smoothly down, and her eyes that seemed to hold dewdrops sparkling in the morning sun objectively created a considerable beauty.
"......You are pretty."
The words slipped out of Baek-seol's mouth unexpectedly.
As if to emphasize that there was more than one person who thought So-jeong was pretty.
"Huh?"
But So-jeong just took Baek-seol's words as a light joke too.
"Aww, me, pretty? You're the pretty one, Baek-seol-ah. I wish I were tall like you and had a good figure too."
At those words, Baek-seol reflexively opened her mouth, but soon closed it again without saying anything.
She wanted to say it. She wanted to make her know.
How pretty So-jeong was, how lovely she was.
And how much she herself could love such a So-jeong.
But that would be crossing the line Baek-seol had drawn for herself.
"......Let's just hurry to our next class."
So, as always, Baek-seol changed the subject and moved her feet.
***
After their first meeting, Choi Ha-na sought out So-jeong and Baek-seol to talk to them every class.
Perhaps she wasn't completely oblivious, as Ha-na didn't approach So-jeong and Baek-seol like a runaway train as she had during the first greeting.
A bit more politely to Baek-seol, a bit more familiarly to So-jeong.
Ha-na would briefly chatter about the day's weather or the professor and then quickly dash out of the classroom with light, tapping footsteps.
Perhaps her approach worked.
So-jeong, who couldn't even make eye contact with Ha-na at first, gradually progressed to the point where she could return Ha-na's greetings.
"So-jeong unnie, Baek-seol unnie. Hello!"
"Ah, yes. Hello......"
So-jeong answered in a small voice, and Baek-seol nodded her head in acknowledgment. They had already gotten used to Ha-na calling them 'unnie'.
To avoid repeating the incident from their first meeting, Baek-seol tried her best not to show wariness towards Ha-na.
While being friendly was too much for her original personality, she showed her own form of goodwill by quietly listening to her conversations with So-jeong or giving short answers to her questions.
"Ah, unnies. By the way."
Unlike usual, Ha-na called out to the two of them with a slightly serious face.
"Can we meet this weekend?"
At Ha-na's sudden suggestion, Baek-seol raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Why?"
"As you unnies know, the professor set the deadline way too tight."
Ha-na puffed out her cheeks with a dissatisfied expression.
"And this is my first group project, so I don't really know how to do it either...... So could we meet up once and you teach me? I'll buy you meals in return!"
"......"
Baek-seol rolled the request around in her head for a moment before asking So-jeong.
"Do you have time, So-jeong-ah?"
"Huh? Ah, yes......"
As So-jeong nodded, Ha-na's face lit up and she clapped her hands.
"Yay! Then Saturday? Is Saturday okay? Where should we meet? I know a really nice cafe."
"Whatever you think is good."
"'Kay~! Hehehe, unnies, can I give you my phone number before you go today? I'll send you the place and time later, and we can talk more then!"
With a face happier than if she'd just made a date appointment rather than a group project meeting, Ha-na saved So-jeong and Baek-seol's phone numbers and dashed out of the classroom with even more energetic steps than usual.
"......Did I decide too arbitrarily?"
Baek-seol had the belated thought.
"If the cafe is a crowded place, will you be okay, So-jeong-ah?"
"Yes."
So-jeong clenched her fist in front of her chest as if psyching herself up.
"I'll try...... my best. I can't hide forever, right?"
At So-jeong's words, Baek-seol nodded silently.
Right, asking So-jeong about every little thing like this might be overprotective by now.
Maybe So-jeong was already prepared, and she was the only one getting needlessly scared.
Perhaps this group project with Choi Ha-na could be an opportunity for So-jeong to step forward among people.
Baek-seol repeated this to herself several times internally, as if scolding herself.
"So-jeong unnie! Unnie unnie! Over here, over here!"
A few days later, on the weekend. As they entered the cafe on a sunny afternoon, they saw Choi Ha-na waving her hand vigorously from afar.
"I'm looking forward to working with you today, sunbaenims!"
Baek-seol waved her hand dismissively, looking annoyed at Ha-na's formal bow.
"Whatever, I'll explain how to do it roughly, so listen well so I don't have to say it twice."
Baek-seol gave a brief explanation about the group project's theme, what kind of content to research, how to write the report, and how to prepare for the presentation.
"Ah, since it's this professor, it might be good to cover this too......"
Perhaps because it was an academic conversation rather than just idle chatter, So-jeong also quite skillfully supplemented Baek-seol's explanations here and there.
"Waa...... Unnies are really amazing."
After listening intently to the explanation, Ha-na admired them with a look as if gazing up at heroes.
Even as she said that, Baek-seol thought Choi Ha-na was also quite smart.
Law is a subject as difficult and daunting as a foreign language for first-time students, but she accepted the explanations from Baek-seol and So-jeong well without much trouble.
Thanks to that, the meeting ended earlier than expected, and Baek-seol stood up first to leave, saying,
"We can do the actual data research slowly. Well, we're off."
"Ah, wait a minute!"
Ha-na hurriedly called out to stop Baek-seol as she tried to leave.
"Why?"
Uncharacteristically, Ha-na hesitated, going "Umm," before finally seeming to make up her mind and saying, almost shouting, as she looked at So-jeong and Baek-seol.
"If, if you have time, do you wanna go clothes shopping with me?"