Changes (2)
"How long does it take to get to Hyeseong's kindergarten?"
"Hmm... about fifteen minutes on foot?"
"Fifteen? That's closer than I thought."
Fifteen minutes from here was definitely close enough that Kim Hyewon could reasonably walk over and pick him up without it being a chore. Even factoring in the stop at the kindergarten on the way home, it wouldn't eat up that much time.
There was just one thing I didn't get.
"Okay, so I get that it's close. But why are you the one going to pick him up? Doesn't the kindergarten run a shuttle bus or something?"
I was genuinely curious why she went out of her way for it. Thinking back to them walking to school together that morning, it didn't seem like she was the one dropping him off—so why the pickup duty?
"They do run one. But if Hyeseong takes the bus, he has to wait by himself in the apartment complex."
"Huh?"
"The kindergarten bus schedule doesn't line up with when Mom gets off work. And it doesn't match mine either. But that dummy can barely manage to walk into the house on his own, so leaving him waiting alone out there is dangerous."
I let out an awkward little laugh watching her call her own brother an idiot.
"He's still young. That kind of thing's normal. Go easy on him."
"You think so?"
"Probably."
Little kids losing their way near home happens all the time—it's not like it was beyond understanding. If anything, hearing that Kim Hyeseong was like that made me curious about what Kim Hyewon had been like as a child. Did she get lost often too? Did she bawl her eyes out over it?
Kim Hyewon, wailing her heart out with that stone-faced expression of hers...
Hm.
"So the way it works is, when you finish school, you go get Hyeseong yourself and the timing lines up?"
"Yeah. So sometimes I go pick him up. Or he waits a bit at the kindergarten, and Mom grabs him on her way home from work."
"So yesterday must've been one of your pickup days?"
"Right. That's why I lost him—I had Hyeseong with me while I was shopping."
Ah, that made sense.
Then, all of a sudden, a question occurred to me.
"By the way, what about your father?"
She hadn't mentioned him once, after all.
And then—
"Dad passed away."
"...What?"
I'm sorry... what?
"He passed away."
The moment the words landed, cold sweat broke out down my back. No—really, I had no idea she'd lost him like that.
I realized immediately that I'd asked the wrong question and regretted it on the spot. There was a reason she never brought him up, so I should have just kept my mouth shut.
Now I'd accidentally dropped a landmine on a friend. A friend I'd only just started getting close to, no less.
The realization that I'd stepped on a live grenade made my head swim.
"You don't have to panic like that. Dad passed away when I was little, so I don't really feel much about it."
"...Oh. Okay."
"Mm. That's why Hyeseong has no memories of him at all. Neither do I, really."
"...I see."
I felt terrible. She was speaking like it truly didn't matter, but there was no way it actually didn't. She must have carried some sadness over growing up with only one parent—I'd just gone and prodded that exact sore spot.
I was just about to offer an apology—
VRRRRRRM—!!
"Look out!"
I grabbed her shoulders and yanked her back just as a car whipped past right in front of her at breakneck speed. A curse rose up in my throat at the thought of how close that had been to a real accident.
Seriously—the light was green for pedestrians, which meant it was red for them. Who runs a red light at that speed? In front of a school, no less, where kids were crossing? Were they driving with their eyes glued to their phone?
"Kim Hyewon, you okay?"
"...Yeah."
"Are they out of their mind? In front of a school, of all places?"
The curses kept coming as the moment replayed in my head.
But then.
"......"
Kim Hyewon's reaction was somehow... off.
"...Um."
"Yeah?"
"...You're too close."
Too close?
"......?"
"...Thanks for saving me, but."
She let the sentence trail off and darted her eyes downward.
Only then did I register the fact that my arms were wrapped around her, holding her against me. Pressed so tight into my chest that, well, everything was very much flattened—she was quietly averting her gaze, her face going red.
"...You can let go of me now."
Something's off with Seojun.
That was the conclusion Kim Chaeeun had reached, watching him since this very morning.
What kind of person was Baek Seojun, her childhood friend?
They ate meals together. They walked to school together. They walked home together. Whenever there was somewhere fun to go, they always went together. He was, quite simply, the childhood friend of a lifetime—the kind you only ever got once.
And yet, what had he been like today?
...He didn't do a single one of those things with me.
Strangely enough, Kim Hyewon was always at his side in her place. In the morning. At lunch. And now, even when the final bell rang and it was time to head home. That girl Kim Hyewon—whoever she was, when had they even gotten close? And the oddly stiff way he'd been talking lately was a whole other thing on its own.
...Not that Seojun is my property or anything.
She knew that. He was his own independent person, so if he spent his day with someone else, she had no right to say a word about it. For that matter, even if she and Baek Seojun were dating it might be a different story—and they weren't. She was the one who'd turned him down when he confessed, after all. She still remembered that moment vividly.
Which was why her relationship with Baek Seojun was defined as simply being very close childhood friends. And like they say, ground packs harder after the rain—she'd believed that ever since the confession incident, he'd sorted out his feelings cleanly, and their friendship had only grown stronger for it.
And yet.
"...Something's off today."
Somehow, today of all days, her mood was foul. Her energy had cratered straight through the floor into the basement.
...Is it because I'm walking home alone and feeling weird about it?
Baek Seojun had left, saying he had plans with Kim Hyewon, and Yang Jinhyeok had gone off with another girl too. So was she just lonely from being by herself?
But that didn't quite add up... she'd walked to and from school alone plenty of times before, and it had never felt like this.
Which meant there had to be another factor at play...
...Because Jinhyeok left with another girl?
On reflection, that seemed like it should be the biggest one. The boy she liked had chosen someone else and walked off, after all.
And yet.
"...I'm a little disappointed, but honestly? It doesn't bother me that much."
Disappointed, sure—but not to the degree of this stabbing ache in her chest, not to the point where her mood refused to climb back up.
Whereas... whenever she pictured Baek Seojun walking off with Kim Hyewon, that stabbing feeling only sharpened.
...Why?
She was just starting to puzzle over the feeling when—
As she stepped out of the school gates, her eyes landed on a couple locked in each other's arms.
At first, she had no idea who they were. She couldn't tell, but she thought—wow, what a bold couple, hugging like that right in front of the school. She even caught herself thinking she wished she and Yang Jinhyeok could be like that someday.
But then.
"...Seojun?"
The person standing there was none other than Baek Seojun—the one person who was supposed to be closer to her than anyone.
And the one clinging to him... gray hair.
His figure blocked most of the girl's face, but there was zero difficulty guessing who it was. After all, the only gray-haired person who'd ever be anywhere near Baek Seojun was Kim Hyewon.
Staring at the two of them, a single question formed in her mind.
"...Why?"
Why were Baek Seojun and Kim Hyewon holding each other like that?
The moment she saw it, her heart seared with a heat so violent it defied explanation.
"......"
"......"
Silence.
A delicate silence hung between Kim Hyewon and me.
She stole a glance at me—
...No idea what she's thinking.
After unintentionally wrapping her up in my arms, I'd let her go as fast as I could. Since then, she hadn't said a single word.
Is she self-conscious about it?
Well, yeah. Anyone would be after being held like that. She'd literally gone red in the face.
Even I could still feel the ghost of Kim Hyewon's warmth from moments ago, flickering back unbidden—no way she was any different.
...They were big.
Those 'large sentiments' of hers that had pressed and flattened against my chest, and her faintly sweet scent. Thinking about it now, I suppose I really was a teenager after all, getting all worked up over one hug. Not that being aware of it meant romantic feelings were suddenly sprouting or anything.
Still, a guy was a guy, at the end of the day.
"We're here. That's Hyeseong's kindergarten."
"Looks like they're already out waiting."
"Mm. Since I come so often, they know my timing, so they come out and wait for me."
"Ah, I see."
So it really was a whole routine.
As we approached Kim Hyeseong and the kindergarten teacher beside him, both of them looked up—and Hyeseong's eyes went wide the instant he spotted me.
"Oh! It's the handsome hyung from yesterday!"
"Hey, Hyeseong."
"Hi!"
Energetic little guy. And to be so friendly after just one brief meeting yesterday—clearly, Kim Hyeseong had a born social butterfly's temperament.
While that was going on, Kim Hyewon exchanged greetings with the teacher beside us.
"Hello. I'm here to pick up Hyeseong."
"Ah, his sister's here."
"Were you waiting long?"
"Not at all. We came out together once I saw it was about your time."
"That's a relief."
Kim Hyewon gave a small nod. In the meantime, the kindergarten teacher kept sneaking glances my way—the unfamiliar face tagging along clearly piqued her curiosity.
I was about to introduce myself first when—
"By the way, the student who came along with you—is he perhaps your boyfriend?"
"...I'm sorry?"
"Huh?"
Before I could even get a greeting out, I'd been mistaken for Kim Hyewon's boyfriend.