Night Study Together
The next day was April 1st — April Fools' Day.
And April Fools', I have to say, is a truly wonderful occasion. A day when even a lie can be forgiven.
With that thought in mind, I tried a little prank on Soye after school.
"Oh, right, Soye. I decided I'm not doing night study."
"What…?"
The moment the words left my mouth, Soye's eyes went wide as she looked up at me. A mix of betrayal and bewilderment sat on her face, and the second I saw it, I took it all back.
"I'm kidding. It's April Fools' today. I'm doing night study Monday through Friday."
"……"
Soye didn't say a word. She just pressed her lips tightly together, as if my joke had actually hurt her.
"Uh… hey… Soye…?"
"Actually, I didn't sign up for night study. I forgot…"
"Huh…?"
Wait. That's a twist.
Hold on… hold on a second…?
Come to think of it, I don't believe the original ever mentioned Soye doing night study at all.
……
No. Let's look on the bright side. I was going to study anyway. Yeah — I'll just treat this as a good opportunity.
"Uh… yeah. That happens."
I offered her that halfhearted answer, and then—
"Pffft… I'm kidding, I'm kidding. That was my April Fools' joke too, sunbae."
Getting blindsided by Soye's prank, I could only blink. She seemed to find my reaction hilarious, because she burst into a bright, ringing laugh.
"That's revenge, sunbae."
If this is revenge, I want to be on the receiving end every single day. Where else in the world do you find revenge this cute?
Maybe this is just Soye's idea of a mischievous prank. And if it is, I want more of it. Either way, this moment — Soye being this familiar with me — is just too much fun. It makes me feel like we've gotten that much closer.
Worried the conversation might stall, I tossed her a random question.
"Come to think of it, did anyone pull an April Fools' prank on you today?"
"An April Fools' prank? Hmm… oh, Chorok did play one on me."
"What kind of prank?"
"Well… uuum… it's a little hard to say…"
"Ah… I see. A pretty mean one, then."
"Ahaha… yeah. A little… a lot mean, actually."
Why did that last line of hers sound so chilling?
Is Lim Chorok even still among the living?
Just in case, I figured I should at least check on Lim Chorok's status — alive or otherwise.
"So, come to think of it… you're pretty close with Lim Chorok, right?"
"Yes. She's my best friend."
"Got it… so you two don't do night study together?"
"Hmm…"
Soye thought about it for a moment, then suddenly started warming up her throat.
And then—
"I'm not friends with studying!"
She delivered Lim Chorok's line in the brightest, most energetic impression of her voice she could manage, recreating it word for word. I clapped at that incredible Lim Chorok impression, and Soye ducked her head.
"Why are you suddenly clapping…"
"Because that was really good?"
"I just… copied her tone, that's all…"
"No, I could picture Lim Chorok perfectly."
"Really…?"
"Yeah, really. You're a great actress."
"Ehehe…"
Watching Soye grin like that put me in a good mood too. It's something I always notice — Soye's smile is genuinely beautiful. The kind that lifts the spirits of anyone who sees it.
"Anyway, we should head to the library soon… what are you doing about dinner?"
"Dinner… Mom did give me her card and told me to buy something, but… I was probably just going to go to the convenience store in front of school…?"
"Then let's go right now. We'll just drop our bags at the library first."
"Okay…!"
Soye bobbed her head, and together we headed straight to the library, left our bags on a desk by the window, and headed back out. From there we went straight to the convenience store in front of school, where—
"Um… sunbae…"
"Yeah."
"There's… nothing to eat…?"
There really wasn't much worth eating. More precisely, anything that could pass for an actual meal was already gone, and all that was left were things a little too iffy to count as dinner. A few breads looked decent enough, though…
"How about bread?"
"Bread's fine, but… are we just going to eat bread…?"
"If there's nothing else, bread it is—"
I was about to say we'd just have to settle for bread when I opened my mouth and let my heart do the talking instead.
"…It is a little light, though. Want me to get us some tteokbokki?"
"Tteokbokki?"
"Yeah. There's a snack shop nearby."
"But I can't just keep letting you treat me…"
"If I order one serving of tteokbokki and sundae, it's a lot even for me. Sharing it would be just right."
"Ugh… uuuugh…"
Soye seemed to be wrestling with it from every angle. Fair enough — she'd already let me buy her ice cream, so taking tteokbokki on top of that would feel like a lot.
"It's just… I already let you buy me ice cream last time… getting treated again feels…"
"Sorry. I wasn't being considerate enough."
"No, that's not it. You were trying to look after me, sunbae."
Watching Soye shake her head, I started to wonder if I really had been too inconsiderate toward her. Meanwhile, she was staring at the few remaining breads, trying to decide what to eat, and I stood beside her and started picking out whichever ones looked halfway decent.
Yeah. Some days you just eat like this.
"Hehe, thanks for the food~"
"Thanks for the food~"
Soye and I started in on the bread we'd bought. She had gone with a chocolate cream bun that was still in stock; I'd picked a peanut butter sandwich.
She held the chocolate cream bun in both hands and nibbled away at it, looking for all the world like someone who loved chocolate cream buns more than life itself. That's our Soye. A sugar hunter through and through.
"You like sweet stuff that much?"
"Yes. I picked it partly because chocolate cream buns are pretty big, but also because they're just really good."
She kept eating, smiling from ear to ear.
"Why did you pick that sandwich, sunbae?"
"It's filling. Your brain works better when you're reasonably full."
"Too full and you get sleepy, but reasonably full is when your head really starts turning!"
Soye nodded vigorously in agreement, then took another bite of her bun and gulped down the strawberry milk she'd been holding.
Maybe Soye had actually been pretty hungry. In that case, should I have just dragged us somewhere for a real meal no matter what? That thought was occupying my head when Soye, as if she'd read my mind, made a rather welcome suggestion.
"Sunbae."
"Yeah?"
"If it's all right with you… maybe we could go to an actual restaurant together sometimes…? Hamburgers or tteokbokki or whatever is fine."
"…You're pretty hungry, huh."
"Uuuugh…"
Soye ducked her head, her face flushing red with embarrassment. Watching her cuteness multiply before my eyes, I couldn't help the dad-smile that spread across my face. She's a smile factory, this girl.
I tore off a piece of my sandwich and held it out to her. I'd deliberately peeled away the dry outer bit with my fingers, leaving only the soft white inside.
"Want to try this?"
"Sunbae, you said you didn't have enough."
"I never said I didn't have enough."
Soye listened, then nodded.
"That's… true, I guess…"
"Just one bite."
"I've never had a peanut sandwich before…"
"You never know. You might discover a new favorite."
"Uuum…"
She thought it over deeply, but the deliberation didn't last long.
"Ah…"
"Ah."
The piece of peanut sandwich slipped right into Soye's mouth. She chewed it slowly, then blinked, like she'd just discovered a brand-new flavor.
"…It's really good!"
"Right?"
"Yes! It's a little dry, but it's so sweet and nutty!"
"Try one yourself next time. Sandwiches are pretty big, so they're filling."
"Yes! I definitely will!"
With Soye nodding along, we finished off the rest of the bread and headed back to the library.
By the time we returned, the students who'd signed up for night study had already gathered inside in a fair-sized group…
"Definitely fewer than I expected."
"Yeah."
Even counting everyone, it looked like fifteen to twenty people at most. Figures. When it's completely voluntary, not many people actually show up.
"Sunbae, let's go to our seats."
"Let's."
Soye and I went to our spots and started opening our study books. The funny thing was…
"…Our books are the same."
"They are…"
Our books were identical. Even though we were in different grades.
"If I have something I want to ask while we're studying, can I just sneak a question over?"
"Ah… yes! Ask me anything!"
Soye clenched both fists and struck a fighting pose. Even this is cute. Every version of Soye is cute.
The more time I spend with her, the more I wonder. How could that idiot have kicked a girl like this to the curb?
Seon Woobin, I think I need to kick you instead. That feels a lot closer to justice.
I was thinking that when night study officially began. Soye and I switched off chat mode and started studying on our own.
The scratch of mechanical pencils and ballpoint pens was the only sound in the room. I wrung my brain dry and started working through every problem I knew, but…
Yeah. The ones that don't click just don't click.
I was about to sneak a question over to Soye when I realized I couldn't.
"Mmmmm…"
There she was, working through a problem in the deepest concentration, her pen whispering across the page. I couldn't interrupt her when she was studying this hard.
So I'd just have to solve it myself.
I clutched my head again and turned the problem over every which way, and luckily enough, an answer did come out. Whether it was the right one, I had no idea.
We kept at the problems, and then…
"Break time~ Anyone who needs the restroom, go now~"
It was break time.
An hour already? Seriously?
Studying might secretly be a time machine.