The Magical Churu
Still, we were on cleanup duty, so we had to clean.
"Let's start with the cleaning. I'll sweep—want to mop?"
"Y-yeah. Okay...!"
Han Yeoreum bolted for the lockers and snatched up a mop. I grabbed a broom and dustpan and started sweeping from the back row of the classroom.
Swoosh, swoosh.
I led the way, sweeping dust into neat piles as I went.
Shuff, shuff.
Han Yeoreum trailed right behind me, mopping the floor in my wake.
Except this kid—
Thud.
"Ah."
Trying to follow the exact path I'd just swept, she jammed the mop straight into a desk leg.
Thud.
"Ugh."
This time it snagged on a chair leg, and she stood there completely stuck.
What was she even doing?
I glanced back and barely managed to swallow a laugh. The second she noticed me looking, Han Yeoreum's face went tomato-red. She grunted and twisted until she finally wrenched the mop free.
"Take it slow. No rush."
"O-okay..."
She really was like a baby duckling waddling after its mother. We hit a few more "speed bumps" along the way, but we more or less finished mopping the classroom floor.
"Whew."
All that was left was emptying the trash and sorting the recycling. I picked up the two big recycling bins at the back of the room—one stuffed with paper, the other with cans and plastics—one in each hand.
"I'll take these two. You just grab that regular trash bag and follow me."
"Ah... y-yeah!"
Yeoreum hugged a trash bag nearly as big as she was with both arms, grunting as she shuffled along behind me. We left our second-floor classroom and headed down the stairs toward the recycling area at the back of the school.
"............"
"............"
Walking in total silence made things awkward all over again. By the time we reached the recycling area and finished dumping everything out—
Mrrrrow~
A tiny, pitiful meow drifted out of the weeds behind the bins.
"Hm?"
I turned my head. A plump, cheese-colored stray cat came ambling out of the grass. It must have gotten used to students, because it didn't run—it just wandered over and started sniffing around us.
"Oh...!"
Behind me, Han Yeoreum's shoulders jerked. When I glanced back, her eyes were sparkling. Her gaze was locked completely on the cat. You could practically read I want to pet it so bad written across her face in giant letters—but she stayed frozen in place, only fidgeting her feet, too self-conscious with me standing there.
Looking at that desperate expression, I suddenly remembered something from the morning of the opening ceremony.
"Oppa! Take this!"
"What is it?"
"There's a whole bunch of strays under the wall on the way to my school, right? You might run into some on your way too, so make sure you feed them!"
Se-ah had shoved something into my uniform pocket mid-breakfast. It hit me all at once.
Whoa. I totally forgot about that.
And it was going to come in handy like this? Thanks, Se-ah, you little angel.
I immediately stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out a long stick-shaped packet—the undisputed king of cat treats: a Churu.
"Hey, Han Yeoreum."
"Eek!"
The second I called her name, her gaze snapped from the cat to me and she jumped all over again. Without a word, I held the Churu out right in front of her face.
"Huh...?"
"Want to give it to her?"
Yeoreum looked at me, then the Churu, then the cheese cat loafing at my feet like a little loaf of bread. The fierce internal war between her shyness and her curiosity about the cat was written all over her face. The fight didn't last long.
"Th-that... c-can I really give it to her...?"
"Yeah. For the record, my little sister stuffed it in my pocket just in case I ran into a cat."
"I-I see."
With trembling hands, Yeoreum carefully accepted the Churu I'd held out. Then she approached the cat—slowly, very slowly—and crouched down.
Rustle.
The moment she tore open the wrapper, the cat zeroed in on the scent and padded straight toward Yeoreum's knees.
"Ah...!"
Lick, lick.
The cat stuck out its tongue and started lapping at the Churu. Just like that, the tension melted right off Han Yeoreum's face.
"There you go, there you go. Is it good? Eat nice and slow..."
She was completely disarmed. If only she'd look that relaxed in front of me, too.
"Wow... she's really going for it... and her fur is so soft..."
Yeoreum kept murmuring in wonder as she gently stroked the cat's head with her free hand. I stood behind her with my arms folded, just watching.
Huh. She looks way better when she smiles.
I was used to seeing her with her forehead planted on the desk or hiding behind Seo Nari. Watching her smile so openly like this made me feel good, too.
"You really like animals, huh."
I tossed the comment out casually, and Yeoreum—still totally absorbed in the cat—answered without thinking.
"Yeah... dogs are great, cats are great... just looking at them is healing..."
"No pets at home?"
"My mom says the fur would get everywhere, so she won't let me... so the only thing I can do is go to cat cafés with Nari sometimes..."
Yeoreum chattered away as she squeezed out the last of the Churu. Oh. This kid had absolutely no idea she was just casually talking to a guy.
"Ah, she finished it. I should throw the empty packet away..."
Yeoreum carefully gathered up the empty Churu wrapper and stood. Then she turned her head toward me.
Swoosh.
Our eyes met dead-on.
"............"
"............"
Three seconds of silence. Yeoreum's eyes slowly went wide. She must have just realized she'd made eye contact with me and carried on a perfectly natural conversation.
Small talk with unfamiliar male detected!
Alert level rising rapidly!!
Her face flushed so hard it looked ready to explode, and her shoulders started trembling again.
Ah. She's about to bolt again.
I could see her lips moving as she started edging backward. One more step closer and she'd take off for sure. I quickly looked away and picked up the empty recycling bins from the ground.
"If you're done feeding her, let's head back up. We still have to put the dustpan away and grab our bags."
I said it as casually as I could and started walking first.
"Ah... y-yeah...!"
Having lost her window to escape, Yeoreum hesitantly fell into step behind me.
Thud, thud.
As we climbed the stairs, a small voice came from behind me.
"U-um..."
"Yeah?"
"Th-the treat... thanks..."
Her voice still sounded like she might pass out any second, but the pronunciation was a lot clearer this time. Without looking back, I snorted a quiet laugh and answered.
"I'll tell my sister you said thanks."
The next morning.
The sky was unusually clear, and the morning air felt genuinely refreshing. My steps toward school felt lighter than the day before.
She won't run today, right?
Yesterday at the recycling area, a single Churu had put me and my desk partner on pretty decent terms. At the very least, she wouldn't take one look at my face and go "Eek!" anymore.
Thinking that, I opened the back door of the classroom.
Rattle.
As I walked toward my seat, I spotted Han Yeoreum already sitting by the window. As always, she had both hands neatly folded on her knees, shoulders locked up tight like she was under enormous pressure.
Is she reciting that "Inssa Han Yeoreum" mantra again or something?
I snorted to myself and walked over, pulling out my chair.
Screech.
Flinch!
At the sound of the chair scraping, Han Yeoreum's shoulders jumped like a conditioned reflex. Then—
Swoosh.
She slowly turned her head and met my eyes. Same as always. Her pupils were still trembling like an earthquake, and her lips were quivering. But she didn't look away.
She clenched the hands resting on her knees, then drew in a big breath like she was steeling herself.
"G-goo...!"
Her face turned as red as a tomato.
"G-good morning...!"
It was barely louder than an ant's footsteps—but it was unmistakably a greeting. From Han Yeoreum. That iron-walled little squirrel had greeted me first!
Well, I had to return it.
"Yeah. Morning. Nice day."
I hung my bag up and sat down like it was nothing.
Huuuuu.
From beside me came the sound of Han Yeoreum letting out a huge sigh of relief. Then she gave a tiny, proud little smile.
Oh. She looks really happy.
Not bad. At this rate, we might even be able to talk about the weather by next week.
I was basking in that pleasant little daydream when—
Huuuush—
The noisy classroom suddenly went quiet.
"...Yo. You hear that?"
"Yeah. Unless I'm hallucinating..."
"Han Yeoreum just said hello first!?"
Every pair of eyes belonging to the guys who'd been chatting nearby snapped toward us at once. And before I could even sense the impending doom—
"Ooooh!! Han Yeoreum!"
"Morning! Great morning to you too!"
"S-say hi to me too!"
Clatter-crash!
Three or four guys came stampeding over to our desks.
Oh no.
I whipped my head toward the seat next to me.
Multiple unfamiliar males approaching!
Encirclement complete!
Danger level: MAXIMUM!!
The proud little smile Yeoreum had been wearing seconds ago drained completely white. Her eyes had already lost focus and were spinning in circles.
We were so screwed.
"Uh... I-I-I, ah, ah, ah...!"
"Hey, don't push! I'm saying hi first!"
As a wall of dark-haired guys crowded in with sparkling eyes, Yeoreum's breathing went ragged. And then—
She shot up!
"B-b-bathroommmmmm!!!"
Dadadadadadadak!!!!
Han Yeoreum practically hurled her chair backward and sprinted full-tilt for the front door of the classroom. She was so fast the waves in her hair left afterimages in the air.
"............"
"............"
The guys left stranded in the classroom. Silence settled over the wreckage like a storm had just blown through.
"Uh... we just wanted to say hi."
"Did we do something wrong?"
"Did we come on too strong...?"
Scratch, scratch.
They stood there awkwardly, scratching the backs of their heads—until every last one of those gazes swung toward me.
"Yo, Ryu Taekyeong!!"
Ah. This was going to be a pain. I sighed and propped my chin on my hand.
"What the hell are you?! How'd you do it?!"
"What did you even do during cleanup duty yesterday?!"
"Spill the secret already!"
"If I'd known, I would've taken duty myself!!"
They leaned on my desk and fired questions at me nonstop. Why are you guys coming after me? Under the barrage of questions, I just shrugged with maximum casualness.
"Beats me~"
"Come on, please, just tell us, hyung!!"
"Spit it out right now, Ryu Taekyeong!"
The classroom was noisy from the crack of dawn. Well—this much chaos wasn't so bad.
Still... I wonder when our desk partner is planning to come back from the bathroom.