What Kind of Books Do You Like?
After enjoying ice cream together, Soye and I somehow ended up walking side by side through the downtown streets.
Whatever little sulk she'd been holding onto while eating her ice cream seemed to have completely melted away. Her face had already brightened.
"Sunbae, thank you for the ice cream. It was delicious."
"The expensive stuff tastes better, though, right?"
"Yes, but from now on, just buy me the dollar ones from the ice cream discount shop. I love those sooo much too."
"I don't think you love those in particular. I think you just love all ice cream."
"Ehehe..."
Even the way Soye let out that tiny, embarrassed laugh was adorable.
At this rate we were going to talk about nothing but ice cream, so I decided to gently steer the conversation somewhere else.
"Soye, did you come out today to buy books?"
"Yes. I like reading."
"Couldn't you just borrow them from the library? Our school library is huge."
"That's true, but if you request a book you want, they say it takes a month or two. I can just buy them with my allowance. Besides, books have collectible value too."
She had a point.
"Even if collecting is the goal, isn't it more convenient to just order from an online bookstore instead of coming all the way out here?"
"I really, really love the smell of new books. You know that smell you get the moment you walk into a bookstore? Being in a place filled with that smell, buying the books I want, browsing the ones the staff recommend... I just love that time so much."
Once she got going, Soye launched into a whole cascade of reasons she went to bookstores to buy books in person. Beyond everything she'd already said, there was "It's like going on an outing!", and "Sometimes I stumble onto a book I never expected to fall in love with!", and even "This place is like a playground to me!"
The more I listened, the more I felt myself falling for her. How to put it — it was like discovering a whole new charm of Soye's. One thing was certain: when she talked about something she loved, Soye sparkled. Just like she was doing right now.
"I only meant to buy one book today, but I ended up buying three!"
Soye pulled the books out of her shopping bag and showed them to me. Every one of them was a novel, and every one of them was a completely different genre. A mystery, a suspense novel, a romance. Looking at that mixed bag, Soye just seemed like someone who simply loved books, full stop.
These were new facts about Soye that I'd never found in the web novel I'd read. Hearing them, I found myself asking her something I'd suddenly grown curious about.
"Soye, I've got a question."
"Yes? What is it?"
"...If you like books that much, wouldn't it have been better to join the library club? Why'd you join the Drama Club?"
I already knew the answer, actually. What I really wanted to know was why she'd chosen theater over books.
Soye probably didn't grasp the real intent behind my question, but she still gave me something close to the answer I wanted.
"Hmm... Between books and theater, I like theater more. The reason I even started liking books in the first place was because of movies and plays."
"I see."
Watching me nod, Soye — who'd been speaking a little shyly — fired a question right back at me, as if she were launching a counterattack.
"Sunbae, why did you join the Drama Club?"
"Why I joined the Drama Club?"
"Yes."
"Hmm... Don't laugh when you hear this."
"I absolutely won't!"
The reason I'd joined the Drama Club — a reason I myself hadn't even known — was something I'd learned thanks to that chatterbox, Kim Haneul.
And what was that reason?
"...Soye, do you know what year every member of our club is in?"
"All of them... yes, I know all of... ah."
Soye thought for a moment, then seemed to find the answer. That's my smart Soye.
"There are fewer second-years than first-years or third-years."
"Yeah. Last year the Drama Club didn't have enough members. Kim Haneul begged me to at least fill the numbers, so I got drafted."
"Then why did they get on your case about being a ghost member?"
...Now that she mentioned it, she had a point.
I felt a little wronged, but I couldn't exactly take that out on sweet, kindhearted Soye. I dressed it up as handsomely as I could and told her.
"True. I was a ghost member, that's a fact. But once you're in, you have to give it your best."
"Sunbae, you're so dedicated."
"I've always been pretty dedicated."
"Pffft."
Soye's adorable smile burst out.
That smile unique to Soye had a way of turning a person all warm and soft inside. Just looking at it made you happy. Just looking at it made a smile tug at your own lips.
Wasn't that smile the reason the protagonist had taken a liking to her, too? The problem, if you could call it one, was that those feelings had never crossed over into romantic ones.
As we walked on, this time Soye was the one to ask a question first.
"Sunbae, do you like books?"
"Books?"
"Yes."
If someone asked me whether I liked books... well, if I had to say...
"I like reading books."
"Reading them?"
"Yeah. But I don't really like buying them."
"Why not?"
Soye tilted her head, as if that made no sense in her worldview. Even the way she tilted her head was impossibly cute.
To that unbearably cute Soye, I gave her a suitably dressed-up story.
"It's like... I'm curious about what's in the book, but rather than buying it, I just prefer borrowing from the library."
"Ah, I see..."
As I just said, that was a lie.
The real reason I didn't buy books was very simple. They cost money.
A book ran at least ten bucks a volume. Manga might go for five or six, but as a rule of thumb you had to budget at least ten per book. And once you bought one? Even if you took your time, you'd finish it in a week. How was someone in my situation supposed to buy books? Better to just borrow them from the library.
And even if I did buy one — where was I supposed to keep it? I didn't even have a place to store books. It was a problem that came before money.
For all those complicated reasons, if I had to choose, I preferred borrowing from the library over buying.
Yes. I preferred it.
"But now I'm thinking I might try buying a book myself."
"Why?"
"Because I realized collecting books has its own kind of charm."
Soye beamed, having no idea that she was the one who'd given me that realization, and nodded vigorously.
"I think that's a great idea!"
"Right?"
"Yes! Then what genre of books do you like, Sunbae?"
"What do you think?"
"Hmm~ Sci-fi? Modern fantasy? Or regular fantasy?"
"So that's the vibe I give off."
"Most guys like those genres."
She wasn't wrong. I'd liked modern fantasy and fantasy genres at first, too.
But now...
"I like rom-coms and romance. That kind of thing."
I just liked the sweet stuff.
"...What? Really!?"
"Yeah. Rom-coms and romance have that sweet flavor, and they're easy to read, too."
"Right, right! And there's this happiness you feel when the couple you're rooting for gets their happy ending!"
"Exactly."
That's why I rooted for you, too. I wanted you to end up with that Seon Woobin guy.
But you never did. You didn't just fail to get together with him — you were abandoned by the book, by the author.
You don't know that, of course. You have no idea. That's a future you don't know — because you're you, and yet you're not... you're a you from another world.
"I don't really like it when the protagonist ends up with someone I wasn't rooting for, though."
"Hmm~ I'm a little different."
"Why?"
"Because I believe there's a reason for it."
Soye grinned bashfully.
She probably had no idea that the reason she never ended up with Seon Woobin was nothing more than the author's selfishness — that a Filler Heroine simply couldn't be allowed to get the guy.
If she ever found that out, even a kind girl like Soye would fly into a rage, wouldn't she?
......No. She wouldn't. Soye wouldn't get angry. She'd be sad, but she'd accept reality.
I want to give that Soye a happy future. A future where Soye can smile brightly. A future where she's so happy she can laugh every day. A future where not a single tear of sorrow falls from her eyes.
Giving her that future is my goal.
"Do you like the romance genre too, Soye?"
"Yes, I love it. Sooo much. It's my favorite genre!"
"Then between pure love and harem?"
"Pure love, no question!"
"Same as me."
"Romance is best when it's pure love!"
Chatting about those little things, Soye and I wandered the downtown streets together with no particular destination.
Of course, the books she was carrying looked far too heavy, so before long I sent her home and headed home myself.
Even so, it had been an incredibly satisfying day. I'd only gone out to buy a workbook, and I'd come away feeling like I'd stumbled into the greatest stroke of luck.