Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Dating Advice
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I had a blast on the first day of high school with Seol.
I'm not sure if "blast" is the right word, but it definitely wasn't boring.
Except for the placement test, we explored every corner of this new school together for the first time, and sitting in on all sorts of classes didn't feel dull at all.
And on top of that, watching Seol's reactions was pretty fun.
"Whoa... Haneul, check out the cafeteria food...!"
"Cafeteria food? Why?"
"It looks tastier than what we had in middle school!"
Seol, wide-eyed in awe at the cafeteria food, was the picture of cuteness.
And that wasn't all.
"The AV room... it's huge... "
"Yeah, it really is."
"They even have ping-pong tables."
"Oh, for real?"
"...Haneul, you're gonna wanna come here every day to play ping-pong."
The way she eyed the ping-pong table with this weird jealousy perfectly captured what "Seol's cuteness" really meant.
The moment I saw that jealous look, I shut it down flat.
"I couldn't even play ping-pong in the first place."
"Huh? Why not?"
"The upperclassmen from second and third years will hog them. So no ping-pong for us."
"...You think I don't know you went to play soccer every other day in middle school? And if not soccer, you were always shooting hoops."
"Don't I have to make friends first to even do that?"
"You make friends just fine."
Even her pouting was adorable. I couldn't believe she was a high schooler.
I spent the rest of the day wandering the school with her like that.
And around 4 p.m....
"See you all tomorrow~ Now, temporary class rep, greetings."
"Attention! Salute!"
"Thank you~"
With the class rep's farewell, the day's schedule was finally over.
Seol grabbed her bag and came running over to me.
"Haneul, let's go together...!"
"Yeah, together..."
I was about to say "together," but then I spotted them.
Yoo Seung-ah and Ji Ye-eun, standing outside the classroom and staring right at us.
"...Hey, Seol-ah."
"Yeah? What's up?"
"I don't think we're heading home together today..."
"Why...?"
Seol's face fell a bit, but I pointed toward the hallway outside.
The second she saw them, she totally got what I meant.
"Oh..."
"If you ditch them to go with just me again today, they're gonna be super pissed."
"Ahaha..."
Seol let out a small, awkward laugh like she was gauging the situation, but it didn't help me out at all.
Anyway, it was settled—she was going home with those two today.
"You could just go with Seung-ah and Ye-eun."
I shook my head right away.
This might sound weird, but friends of the same gender are super important.
There are things you can't tell opposite-sex friends that you can share freely with same-sex ones.
Especially if it's those two who adore Seol?
She could talk to them without any pressure.
I could say with confidence: I'm the closest person to Seol. No one in this world has built up more trust and intimacy with Hyun Seol than me—family aside.
But even so, I'm still an opposite-sex friend.
There are things opposite-sex friends can and can't say, and taking that into account, Seol should go home with Yoo Seung-ah and Ji Ye-eun today.
"Girls might have stuff to talk about among yourselves, so go on."
"Still..."
"I'm really fine."
If I were actually a 17-year-old kid, I might've felt a little bummed. If the girl I'd been hanging out with almost every day suddenly went off with her same-sex friends.
But I'm a 23-year-old army vet deep down. And on top of that, I've lived another 10 years or so in that state.
I believe "mental age doesn't change," but you can't ignore the weight of experience, right?
I won't overthink it 'cause it'd just make me feel like I'm losing, but the point is, it doesn't really bother me.
I took Seol over to Yoo Seung-ah and Ji Ye-eun.
"Take good care of Seol."
"Sure~ Sure~"
"Go on. It's girls' time."
"Yeees~"
I waved casually and slipped away from the spot.
"Haneul, see you tomorrow...! Get home safe...!!"
Hearing her voice as I left.
After Haneul left, Seung-ah and Ye-eun started giggling.
I didn't know what to make of it, but it sure wasn't a good vibe.
"Hey, Seol-ah."
"Yeah...?"
"Didn't you miss us?"
That question got under my skin, so I shook my head vigorously and answered right away.
"Of course not...!"
"Then you could've hung out with us for at least one day. Back in middle school."
She had a point—nothing I could say to that.
Sorry to them, but I like Haneul way more than these two, and Dasom way more too. Time with them feels more special, more precious.
These two matter too, but those two are more important, more precious.
That's why I always chose time with Haneul and Dasom over them.
So the only thing I could say right now was this.
"Sorry..."
I bowed my head, and they instantly switched up their expressions to stop me.
"N-No need to apologize that much..."
"Yeah... We were just kidding..."
Seeing them backpedal so fast made me chuckle despite myself.
Three years later, they were still the same two I remembered.
"Since we're all here anyway, wanna hit up a café?"
"Café? Sounds good~"
"Café...! Yeah! Love it!"
I followed Seung-ah and Ye-eun to a café.
They seemed to know all the spots around here—no hesitation as they led the way, and I trailed after them like a lost puppy.
The second we got there, we headed to the kiosk and ordered our drinks.
Seung-ah and Ye-eun got iced Americanos; I went for iced chocolate.
"Seol, you don't drink iced Americanos?"
"Nah, not really my thing..."
I said it wasn't my taste, but truth be told, I just can't handle the bitterness.
I could never understand why anyone drinks something that bitter.
Especially Haneul—I really don't get it.
He's been chugging iced Americanos since middle school like it's nothing. What could he possibly taste in that?
"So cute..."
"Seol's always been cute, and she still is."
"Cute...?"
It was embarrassing. Friends treating you like their "cute one" is unavoidable, I guess.
But they didn't stop there.
"Your figure, though... it's insane."
"Right...?"
"W-What...?"
"No, your height hasn't changed that much from before... you know?"
The girls were beating around the bush, but I knew exactly what they meant.
So I just blushed and stayed quiet.
They saw that and started giggling, teasing me even more.
"Seol, you've turned super alluring."
"Totally."
"Ughhh... Don't say that..."
I was dying of embarrassment. But weirdly, it felt kinda nice too.
These two always treated me like their cute little friend, so this was a first.
"So, you two still haven't started dating?"
"U-Uh... Yeah..."
"Wow, I just don't get it."
"Seriously, what's Haneul missing that he hasn't gone for you yet?"
"Guys..."
I tried to protest since I had no comeback, but they dove straight into gossiping about Haneul.
"His tastes are kinda weird, right?"
"Maybe he likes girls."
"Or he goes for older women."
"Even if it's older women, with your cuteness, wouldn't he have looked your way at least once?"
"Hmm, true."
"No matter how you slice it, Kang Haneul's just way too oblivious. Waaay too good for him."
I had to defend him against that.
"N-No...! Haneul's so cool and sweet...! He's... oblivious, yeah, but..."
I wanted to refute everything else, but the oblivious part? No way around that.
Hell, even Dasom, who's only four, probably knows I like Haneul.
Pretty sure everyone around me gets it—except Haneul.
"At this point..."
"Seol-ah."
"Yeah...?"
Frustrated, I took a sip of my iced chocolate.
That's when they looked at me with dead-serious voices.
"Let's go all out and seduce Haneul."
"H-Huh...?"
"Yeah. If you really try, he'll fall for it."
"You wanna date Haneul, right? Then seduce him."
"Uuu..."
The word "seduce" made my confidence evaporate. I never saw that coming.
And...
"If I'm too obvious... won't Haneul hate it...?"
"Nah, no way."
"He might not even notice if you're super obvious."
Hearing that, I hated how much I agreed.
With Haneul's obliviousness, he really might not pick up on it.
"W-Well... how do I do it...?"
They jumped in with eager advice.
Stuff like casual skinship, or acting vulnerable on purpose...
Listening to them, one thought hit me.
These two have way more dating experience than me.
Could I actually learn from them and get my feelings across to Haneul properly?