006. She Truly Believed That
"Yes! I, the pretty one, will be vice class president!"
The hand that shot up into the air belonged, thankfully, to Kim A-young.
At the sight of A-young beaming as she raised her hand, the teacher studied her for a moment before nodding.
"Alright, then you do it."
……It seemed the teacher had actually been talking about Baek Seol-ah, not Kim A-young, but it apparently wasn't a big deal either way. The plain truth was that Baek Seol-ah and Kim A-young were both equally pretty.
And judging by how she'd volunteered anyway, A-young must have realized the teacher hadn't meant her — and raised her hand regardless.
Hehe.
As she flashed a quiet V-sign in my direction, smiling in a way Baek Seol-ah couldn't see, I let out a hollow laugh — and at the same time, a sigh of relief.
Temporary or not, if Seol-ah had really become vice class president, things could have gotten tangled up in a headache-inducing way.
Right as that thought crossed my mind, I felt Seol-ah's eyes meet mine for the briefest moment.
There was something lingering in her gaze — something like regret — and I turned away first, leaning my back against my chair.
Honestly.
I can see exactly what Baek Seol-ah is thinking.
I spent years by her side, always reading her eyes, her expressions.
She probably wants to go back to being friends with me.
'Well, that's not happening on this end.'
No matter how Seol-ah might feel, I have no desire for that.
Soon enough, once today is over, she'll be hopelessly smitten with the protagonist and won't spare a single thought for someone like me.
And as I've said before, I had no intention of watching Baek Seol-ah fall for the protagonist.
Of course, with things the way they are, some of it was bound to reach my eyes — but I had zero confidence in standing by and watching it up close.
"Temporary class president, huh? Look at you, climbing the ladder."
"……Shut it."
At Woo-jin's sly remark, I shot back a short reply and glared at him. Catching my look, Woo-jin snorted and shrugged his shoulders.
A-young, meanwhile, acted as if nothing had happened at all, chatting away with Baek Seol-ah with a sunny grin on her face. Seol-ah was talking with her just as warmly.
I had no idea what they were saying, but A-young had probably redirected Seol-ah's attention somewhere else.
I'll have to buy her a drink at the school store later.
It was obvious she'd done it with my relationship with Seol-ah in mind.
……Though honestly, she's surprisingly hard to read sometimes.
After school.
I met up with Woo-jin and the others, and we were heading downtown together.
"Did you get taller again?"
"……Huh? I guess?"
At Han-na's question, I answered slowly, blinking. I was in the middle of a growth spurt, so getting taller wouldn't be strange.
"Well, I haven't measured, so who knows."
"……Cut it out already."
"Like you can control that……"
I'd always been fairly tall, but now the gap between Han-na and me had grown to more than a full head. While I was already pretty big for a first-year in high school, the real cause was probably that Han-na was a little on the short side.
"What was your height again?"
"176, the last time I measured."
"Wow. A giant."
When I shrugged at Woo-jin's question, Han-na wore a mischievous look and jabbed me in the side with a thump. Not that it did much damage — she wasn't actually trying to hurt me.
"You're one to talk, An Woo-jin."
That's true.
From Han-na's perspective, Woo-jin and I were both equally guilty. His last measurement was in third year of middle school, and he was probably a bit taller by now too.
At this rate, he really might close in on 190.
"How's the air down there? Nice and breathable?"
"Ha! Being tall as a beanpole — what's so great about that?"
"There, there. You'll never get to breathe the air of the upper reaches, little one."
"Get over here."
I watched Han-na charge at him with murderous eyes over Woo-jin's smug teasing, a small smile tugging at my lips.
"I'm carrying this game today."
"……Come back to me when you can play top, then we'll talk."
Yo-han and Tae-joon, treating the two of them like a daily occurrence, walked alongside me deep in their own conversation.
"No, you should come to bot. Grow your prince, my ass."
"The prince is right here. Behold, his spoon."
"Silence, you miscreant."
I waded into the middle of it and joined the chatter, and naturally we split into a group of three and a group of two as we walked. Woo-jin and Han-na roughhoused for a bit but soon rejoined us as well.
Woo-jin, thoroughly beaten up by Han-na, shuffled over clutching his side and put a hand on my shoulder.
"Save me."
"That's your own karma, buddy."
"Shut up."
Well, who told him to tease Han-na about her height?
Unlike Woo-jin, who looked half-dead, Han-na came strolling over with the refreshed face of someone who'd just blown off some steam.
"Bot duo with me. Unnie's roams will be insane, I promise."
"You're a utility support. Why are you obsessing over hook plays?"
"Excuse me? You saw my hook yesterday, didn't you? It was straight-up Mera-tier, I'm telling you."
"Mera-tier my ass…… It was a catastrophe. Do you not remember pulling their Malphite in and getting us all wiped in the teamfight?"
At some point Han-na had squeezed in between Tae-joon and Yo-han's conversation to heckle, and now Tae-joon's comment left her making a face like she was about to cry as she looked at me.
"Jihun, tell them I don't suck."
As my bot-lane duo, she was basically demanding I take her side. I had no choice but to quietly avert my eyes.
She's good, sure. But her hook-support play is… a different story.
"Pfffthahahaha. Even Jihun says hook supports aren't it for you?"
"Grrr, HAN JIHUN!! You're not taking my side?!"
Han-na bouncing around in outrage, Tae-joon laughing at her, Yo-han smiling quietly as he watched, and Woo-jin cracking up without even trying to hide it.
Watching them, I couldn't help but snort a laugh of my own.
This was my everyday life now.
My everyday life — without Baek Seol-ah.
"Hey! Stop laughing!"
"Hehah, sorry. Sorry, Han-na……!!"
Class president, vice class president.
'If she'd been the one chosen, maybe she'd have had at least a little time to talk to Jihun.'
Baek Seol-ah understood perfectly well, too.
She knew exactly why Kim A-young had stepped forward first and volunteered herself as vice class president.
A-young had known that both Han Jihun and Baek Seol-ah would find it awkward, and had stepped in to cut off that whole atmosphere before it could start.
But for Baek Seol-ah, who wanted to grow close to Han Jihun again, she couldn't help feeling it was a little bit of a loss.
No reason for them to ever be entangled.
With Jihun avoiding her one-sidedly, the chance to have even the smallest connection with him had simply vanished.
"Seol-aaaaah."
"Hm?"
"Let's go downtown, come on! The Aelyoung store is having a sale……!!"
"Ah……"
Baek Seol-ah, gathering her bag at dismissal, gave a slightly awkward smile at Kim A-young's words.
For her, too, this was an unbroken stretch of unfamiliar days.
She'd always walked to school with Han Jihun. She'd always walked home with him, too.
After school, whenever she needed something, the two of them had always gone around together — a daily life without him was still deeply strange to Baek Seol-ah as well.
'……I thought I'd gotten used to it.'
Two weeks.
She'd believed that, over that time, she'd grown accustomed to a daily life without Han Jihun.
But the moment she stepped outside like this, she couldn't help realizing she hadn't gotten used to it at all.
"You're not coming?"
"Oh, that's…"
At the aegyo-laced question, Seol-ah had just drifted off into thought when—
"Jihun! Jihun!"
At the sound of a familiar voice, she found her gaze turning toward it before she could stop herself.
'……Kang Han-na?'
Han Jihun's friend Kang Han-na was striding right into the classroom, and Seol-ah's eyes followed her further in.
"Come on! Unnie will carry you!"
Standing tall as she looked up at the much taller Han Jihun and declared it so confidently — An Woo-jin snorted a laugh, grabbed her by the shoulders, and steered her back out the door.
"Don't barge into other people's classrooms."
"Wh-addya mean, 'other people'? We're not strangers!"
Watching Han Jihun smile at the sight and follow them out, Baek Seol-ah blinked slowly.
'They must be headed to the PC room.'
When Han Jihun hung out with that crowd, it was almost always at a PC room downtown.
When he'd been with Baek Seol-ah, there'd rarely been much time to meet up with them — but whenever something came up with her, he'd always gone to the PC room with them afterward.
Remembering that fact, Seol-ah found her fingers fidgeting without her meaning to.
"Hm~? Seol-ah, let's go together~"
"Right, let's."
Unable to resist Kim A-young grabbing and shaking her shoulders, Baek Seol-ah let out a small sigh and nodded.
"Really?! So we're going?"
"Yeah, sure. Let's."
'There are things I need to buy too, after all……'
If it was the Aelyoung sale Kim A-young was talking about, there would be things Baek Seol-ah needed as well.
She still had a little left, so it wasn't urgent — but stocking up early wouldn't hurt.
Thinking that, Baek Seol-ah found her eyes drifting, without her noticing, to the back door of the classroom Han Jihun had disappeared through.
"Come on, hurry. If we're late it'll be packed."
"Yeah. Let's go."
At the sight of Kim A-young linking arms with her and urging her along, Seol-ah gave a faint smile and started walking beside her.
They might, by some small chance, run into him.
She didn't let herself think that.
No — even if they did cross paths, Han Jihun would just move out of the way.
The fact that someone who'd been so close to her was now avoiding her sat somewhere uncomfortable in her chest, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.
'We can be close again.'
That was what Baek Seol-ah believed.
Of course she did — they'd been closer than anyone, gotten along better than anyone.
She truly, genuinely believed that.