Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Reunion After a Long Time
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The second semester finals were finally over.
Thankfully, the 23-year-old army vet had managed to crush the 14-year-old prodigies without a hitch.
He'd claimed first place in the entire school for four straight exams, successfully defending his pride.
"Haneul got first place again?"
"Yeah."
"Haneul's amazing...!"
Watching Seol-i praise me with her sparkling eyes made my conscience twinge.
No matter how I thought about it, I'd turned into a real jerk. And honestly, I was one. A 23-year-old army vet sneaking into middle school exams to snag first place?
Still, I stood tall. I'd studied three to four hours a day and even crafted practice problems mimicking what the teachers might throw at us.
It was the experience of a 23-year-old army vet combined with a 14-year-old middle schooler's effort, so yeah, I was proud.
Even so, Seol-i's "amazing" praise hit me right in the conscience from every angle.
It felt like she was even praising my rationalizations and the slight shame buried in my heart.
"It's not that big a deal."
"It is...! You did it while taking care of Dasom too...!"
That much was true.
I didn't know how much longer Dasom's deep sleep phase would last, but lately, she'd been waking up in the early hours.
Because of that, we'd ended up with a rotating night watch between me and my parents.
It wasn't exactly a full night watch for me since I slept a decent amount.
I went to bed early at 9 p.m. and woke around 5 a.m.
Mom, who'd been watching Dasom until then, would go sleep, and I'd soothe her if she woke up, cradling her back to sleep.
For reference, Dad handled 1 to 2 a.m., and Mom sacrificed the hours in between.
I'd initially offered to take the middle shift. Army life taught me the middle watch was the toughest, while the first and last were easiest.
But Mom and Dad insisted a growing middle schooler couldn't afford interrupted sleep, so they stuck me with the last shift.
They hated the idea of me waking at dawn anyway, so I couldn't push back further.
Anyway... after all that hardship caring for Dasom and studying my butt off to get first place, I felt a bit proud of myself.
Of course, that was separate from accepting Seol-i's praise at face value. Self-pride and her words were two different things.
To dodge this awkward topic, I steered the conversation elsewhere.
"You're amazing too, Seol-i."
"Me?"
"Yeah, your grades went up even more, right?"
"Hehe... It's all thanks to Haneul teaching me so well."
Seol-i had started middle school in the upper-mid tier.
Now, she was solidly top-tier.
She was on par with Kim Do-yun from the novel—the guy treated like a study genius.
The novel's Seol-i wasn't anywhere near that level, so it had to be my influence.
She came over to our house and either studied or played with Dasom—nothing else—so her grades improving was inevitable.
"Wanna grab something to eat together today?"
"Yeah! I know what I want!"
What Seol-i craved was, surprisingly, Seung-ah's family's snack bar.
Seol-i and I had devoured their tteokbokki, sundae, fried goodies, and fish cakes for all six years of elementary school.
Their food matched our tastes even better than Mom's cooking, maybe.
And now she wanted that.
"Hmm~ Since we're going, should we invite Seung-ah and Ye-eun too?"
"Seung-ah and Ye-eun too!?"
Seol-i nodded furiously, her face brimming with longing for her friends.
Come to think of it, she'd visited our neighborhood a ton to see Dasom but never crossed paths with Seung-ah or Ye-eun.
She probably hadn't had time to meet them separately.
With the topic fresh, I fired off a KakaoTalk to Seung-ah.
[Hey]
[Seung-ah: ?]
[Seung-ah: What's up?]
[Not what's up, what's with you]
[Seung-ah: Get out ㅗㅗㅗ]
Her so-very-Seung-ah response nearly had me nostalgic too.
Not that it mattered.
[Taking Seol-i to your tteokbokki place today]
The chat went silent for about a minute after that.
Then the replies exploded with Seung-ah's excitement.
[Seung-ah: For real?]
[Seung-ah: You're really bringing Seol-i?]
[Yeah yeah yeah]
[Seung-ah: Lie and you're dead]
[Yeah yeah yeah yeah]
I was too lazy to type words, just spamming 'yeah's.
[Seung-ah: Ye-eun says she'll kill you if it's a lie]
Good thing Ye-eun was there too. No need to message her separately.
[Be there in an hour]
I gave the ETA, then shared the good(?) news with Seol-i.
"Seung-ah and Ye-eun are both waiting."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Hehe... I wonder if they're doing well...?"
"They're doing great, I'm sure."
Her lively KakaoTalk replies said as much—they were still thick as thieves.
With that settled, before heading to our neighborhood, I stopped by Seol-i's house.
To drop off her bag.
Her slightly heavy bag slotted perfectly into her room, and after a quick greeting to her aunt, we headed out.
We hopped on the bus straight to our neighborhood and went not home, but to the snack bar full of our memories.
The moment we stepped into the familiar shop, the two girls at a table whipped their heads toward us.
"Seol-aaaa~!"
"It's really Seol-i, really her!!"
"Seung-ah! Ye-eun!!"
Seol-i dashed over and threw herself into Seung-ah and Ye-eun's arms.
But... saying this might be rude...
...had Seol-i always been this much shorter than them?
She was about 150 cm now, while Seung-ah and Ye-eun looked close to 160. Ye-eun had probably passed it already.
Seol-i seemed to notice too, puffing her cheeks as she looked up at them.
"...You two grew way too much."
Seung-ah and Ye-eun burst out laughing at her adorable complaint and hugged her tighter together.
"It's 'cause you're too cute~"
"Seol-i's so cute~"
"Let gooo...!"
"You hugged us first!"
"No way! Never!"
"Waaaaah...!!"
Less than a minute in, Seol-i started squirming, while the Seung-ah-Ye-eun duo clung on for dear life.
I asked the uncle for tteokbokki, sundae, fritters, and fish cakes.
Since it was a reunion, I planned to treat all four of us myself.
He tried to refuse, but I'd mooched plenty before—this time, I insisted on paying.
After handing over the cash and sitting down, I started catching up with Seol-i and the two.
"How've you two been?"
"Me and Seung-ah? Pretty good~"
"Right. Ye-eun got a boyfriend?"
"Hey, why'd you say that!?"
"What? Everyone knows from your KakaoTalk profile pic anyway."
What? Really?
I pulled out my phone to check KakaoTalk.
Sure enough, there was Ye-eun's photo with some guy.
Seol-i congratulated her right away.
"Congrats, Ye-eun...!"
"Thanks...."
Ye-eun, who might've shot back "What?" at me, immediately thanked Seol-i.
Seol-i really had that magic touch, smoothing everyone over.
Then Seung-ah looked at me and spoke up.
"Oh yeah, Haneul."
"Yeah."
"You're treating today, right?"
"Well... yeah?"
"I want a drink. Go to the convenience store next door and get some. Dad, that's cool, right?"
"Go wild~"
Really cool?
I glanced confusedly between the uncle and Seung-ah before nodding.
"...I'll grab some cola or whatever."
"Yup~ Zero sugar~ My dad's a taste noob, so we don't have zero cola."
"Got it~ Got it~"
"Haneul, wait, come with...!"
Seol-i started to stand, but I shook my head.
"Nah, you haven't seen them in ages. Stay and chat."
"...Okay, thanks."
She nodded and sat back down.
I nodded back at her and headed out.
...Was there a convenience store right next door?
Thinking about it, it was in the next building over.
Seung-ah, you sneaky punk—you tricked me.
Zero cola, huh? Fine, yours is definitely getting the nasty zero-sugar one. Just you wait.
Finally, Seol-i's guardian was out. The store's in the next building, so generously estimating, we've got about five minutes.
This was our chance.
"Hey, Seol-i."
"Yeah, Seung-ah?"
"...Did you confess to Haneul yet?"
A golden opportunity to pry into my one and only precious friend's love life.
Of course, our tiny, cute Hyun Seol-yang responded with...
-Shake shake shake shake
......
Still in the middle of her one-sided crush.
Ugh, Haneul, you dense idiot. How do you not notice this pretty, kind, adorable girl trailing after you for years?
If you two actually start dating, Haneul's getting beaten to death by me and Ye-eun.
We'll whale on him so bad he'll think he's dead for a day. For real.