Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Let's Stay Together Until Night
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A week or so passed, and the teacher began taking volunteers.
What kind of volunteers?
"Anyone planning to do evening self-study this semester? If you want to, just write your name on the application form~"
Evening self-study... more commonly known as night study volunteers.
After morning homeroom ended, Seuli came trotting over to me.
"Haneul-ah, are you going to do night study, Haneul?"
Do night study... huh...
I wasn't sure.
In my previous life, I had done it. The school even provided dinner, and it was a good excuse to avoid looking after the kids.
But this life was different.
This school didn't provide dinner, and if I skipped night study, I'd have to look after the most adorable person in the world—my little sister.
There wasn't much merit to it, really.
Besides, when I studied at home, Dasom never bothered me. It was like she knew not to disturb me when I was focusing.
So studying at home wasn't a big deal...
"...Probably not?"
"You're not...?"
"Yeah, probably. What about you, Seuli?"
Seuli shook her head at my question.
"I'm not sure."
In the novel, Seuli went to her academy on days she had classes there, and on off days, she did night study to build a connection with Kim Doyun.
But the current Seuli was a completely different person from that one.
She didn't like Kim Doyun anymore, and they weren't even at the same school to begin with.
So how would she act now?
The most plausible prediction was that she'd skip night study altogether and just go to her academy.
Of course, it was just a prediction—I had no idea exactly how her behavior might change.
"I need to think about it."
"Think... Let's both think about it."
"Yeah...!"
Seuli nodded vigorously and changed the subject.
It was about a puppy short she had seen the night before. Seuli really did love cute animals.
I should consider going to that dog cafe with her again soon. Even if she went often, going together felt different.
*
That night, as soon as I got home, I called out for Dasom.
"Dasom-ah~ Oppa’s home~"
"Oppa~!"
Dasom came running—thud thud thud—and flew into my arms with them spread wide. I hugged her tight, basking in her enthusiastic welcome.
"What was our Dasom up to?"
"Studying!"
"You were studying~ Our Dasom~"
I glanced at the living room where she had come running from.
There was Seuli's little folding desk and some Korean alphabet workbooks. Mom must have made her study.
"Let's see how hard you studied."
"Dasom studied su~per hard!!"
Seeing her giggle made all the fatigue in my body melt away.
"You studied so hard~"
"Eung! Hehehehe!"
Dasom's burst of laughter was, without a doubt, the cutest thing in the world.
I hugged her tight and headed inside, greeting Mom who was cooking.
"Mom, I'm home."
"Haneul-ah~ Good work~ And Dasom-ah~ Oppa’s heavy, come down~"
"Nooo~! Oppa’s not tired!"
Dasom-ah, how do you know if Oppa’s tired or not?
Of course I wasn't. How could I be, with such an adorable little sister begging for a hug?
And—this might sound weird—but Dasom had been growing lately, putting on some proper weight.
Because of that, just holding her felt like a decent strength workout.
Low-intensity, high-rep training, maybe?
I looked at giggling Dasom and headed to my room for a moment.
Then, with one arm holding her, I took off my bag.
When I came back out, Mom was watching us.
"Kang Dasom~"
"Yees...?"
I carefully set down the suddenly mopey Dasom, who slipped out of my arms and went straight to the living room.
She sat down and started studying again.
I watched her for a bit, then turned to Mom.
"Mom, was Dasom studying hard?"
"Of course~? She studied diligently the whole time until you got home."
What a proud story. She might even end up studying better than her big brother someday.
As I watched Dasom diligently working on her Korean alphabet, something suddenly occurred to me.
"Oh, right, Mom."
"Yeah, son?"
"Starting next week, the school’s doing evening self-study."
"Night study? Did you sign up?"
"Not yet."
Then I shared my dilemma with her.
Staying at school to study versus coming home to look after Dasom.
Mom listened quietly and then spoke.
"Son, I know how much you cherish and love Dasom. But that doesn’t mean you need to skip night study just to watch her."
"..."
I wasn’t planning to skip it on purpose. It was just that if there were two or more people to look after her, Mom and Dad would have it easier too.
"Besides, you know how well-behaved Dasom’s been lately? She’s studying so quietly right there. You don’t need to come home just for her, Haneul. Even if you study at home, it’s fine. I’ll make sure Dasom doesn’t go into your room at all."
I nodded at Mom’s confident words.
Thanks to that, I could mull over my decision without Dasom weighing on my mind.
Was studying at home better, or staying at school?
*
In the end, I couldn’t decide and just went to school.
But there was one person who could help me think it through.
"Seuli-ah. Good morning."
"Yeah! Good morning, Haneul!"
Seuli, waiting for me as usual, waved with a bright smile.
I waved back and asked,
"Seuli-ah, I have a question..."
"Yeah! What is it?"
"...Should I do night study? Or just study at home?"
"Huh...?"
Seuli tilted her head with a question mark practically floating above it, so I explained the situation.
I didn’t need to watch Dasom, and even if I studied at home, she wouldn’t bother me. So there wasn’t much difference in efficiency between home and school.
That’s why I was torn...
"...Haneul-ah, still, I think you should do night study."
Seuli answered very firmly.
"Seuli-ah...?"
"Even if Auntie stops her, Dasom’s sneaky stubborn and super cute with her aegyo. She might sneak into your room and bother you while you study. Plus, there are way more distractions at home. And..."
She listed off all the reasons why studying at home wasn’t ideal, then concluded.
"...So, I think studying at school would be better."
"I... see. So what about you, Seuli? What are you going to do?"
At my question, Seuli bowed her head and answered right away.
"I... um... I’m going to... do night study... every day..."
"Got it... Yeah, okay."
Looking at her quiet response, I made up my mind.
"I’ll do night study every day too."
"Every day...?"
"Yeah, every day. Wait, no—except Fridays. I want to take one day off."
If I was going to do it, better to be consistent. And since Seuli was doing it every day too...
Wouldn’t it feel less lonely with a friend along?
Seuli beamed at my answer.
"...Looking forward to it, Haneul-ah."
"Yeah, me too. Seuli-ah."
After that, Seuli and I went up to the classroom and wrote our names side by side on the evening self-study sign-up sheet.
Monday through Thursday for me, and the same for Seuli.
...Didn’t she say every day earlier?
No big deal. She might want a day off too.
If anything, it was a relief. I’d get to spend the whole night study with Seuli.
It was bound to be fun.
*
"...So, you’re doing night study with Kang Haneul?"
"Yeah, Monday through Thursday..."
At my answer, Seung-ah and Ye-eun, sitting in front of me, clapped and celebrated with each other.
"Finally, our Seuli... Seung-ah... we did it..."
"Yeah... Our Seuli’s growing up..."
"Growing... What do you mean growing..."
"Basically, you tricked Kang Haneul into doing night study."
"Trick... Tricked him..."
I wanted to argue with Ye-eun, but I had no comeback. She was right.
I’d coaxed Haneul into doing night study because I wanted to be with him.
And he fell for it, agreeing to do it with me.
"Now, get even closer during night study!"
"You can do it, yeah!"
The two cheered me on, and I nodded, looking at them.
Yeah, I’d tricked him fair and square, but I had to seize this chance.
I’d grab this opportunity and get closer to Haneul. No matter what.