Let's Keep Doing This Together
"Hello, sunbae."
"Hey, Soye. Hello."
The next day was Friday.
I ran into Soye by chance at school—literally by chance, but before I knew it, we were walking side by side, conversation flowing easily between us.
"Did you get home okay last night?"
"Mm, I did."
After the claw machine event ended yesterday, we'd each gone back to our own groups of friends. Soye's friends had left the arcade first, so that's how we parted ways—honestly, I'd been a little disappointed about it.
It felt like that fun stretch of time I got to spend with Soye had come to an end, that's all.
"Soye, have your grades started coming out yet?"
"Yes, the teachers already finished grading. What about you, sunbae?"
"Ours seem to be taking their sweet time."
Thanks to that naturally prompted talk about exams, we slid straight into the subject of studying.
Or more precisely…
"Sunbae, are you doing night study this month?"
Talk about night study.
At our school, a new survey was taken every month to see who'd be doing supervised evening study. With today wrapping up and May beginning next week, they were running the sign-up again.
"Hmm… I'll probably do it."
"You're so diligent, sunbae…"
"Seeing my grades this time made me feel a little urgency, I guess. What about you, Soye?"
"Me… hmm… I'll probably do it too…? I wasn't planning on going to a cram academy or anything."
Soye maintains top-tier grades without even attending a cram academy.
Impressive in so many ways, I thought.
After that, I found myself racking my brain for more things to talk about as we kept walking together. But the moment I actually tried to think of topics, I realized my interests and Soye's didn't overlap nearly as much as I'd assumed.
To put it precisely: I could bend my interests to match hers, but they weren't exactly the same, you know?
Maybe that was why—it felt like, since things had already come to this, I might as well just fully align my interests with Soye's. Couldn't hurt.
"Hey, Soye."
"Yes, sunbae?"
"So, um… now that exams are over, I was thinking of reading some novels. Do you have any recommendations—romance or mystery, maybe?"
The instant she heard my words, Soye's expression transformed completely.
How should I put it? Like the face of a grizzled veteran who's just spotted a delicious fresh newbie.
I never expected to feel fear toward Soye, and for a moment I just stood there, stunned.
"Sunbae, first of all, about books—!"
Soye tried to say something, but alas, her words were never allowed to continue.
Ding~ dong~ deng~ dong~
A loud chime rang through the hallway.
The warning bell for class.
Soye made a genuinely disappointed face, while I wore the same disappointment outwardly, even as I breathed a quiet sigh of relief inside.
Well, I was disappointed for real, too. Watching Soye happily chatter away about books was its own kind of healing—and honestly, it was adorable.
"Sunbae, I'll tell you all the books worth reading later, I promise!"
"Sounds good. I'll be counting on you."
"Hehe, see you later…!"
And with that, Soye scurried off to her classroom.
Unlike her, I ambled back at a leisurely pace.
Why, you ask?
Because our next period was math, and the math teacher always strolled in five minutes late.
Thank you, math teacher. Because of you, I won't be late.
…Or so I thought, but apparently the post-exam lull had him moving fast for once. He was already there.
Which meant I got to enjoy the indignity—no, the indignity—of standing at the back of the classroom while everyone settled in.
This is too much, sir. How can you throw a variable like this at me?
*
And so the morning classes all came to an end, and afternoon arrived.
The moment afternoon classes were dismissed, everyone stampeded off to lunch, myself included.
After a satisfying lunch and a lazy stroll around campus, I soon found myself drifting toward the library.
My feet had just carried me there naturally, and since they'd already done the work, it seemed perfectly fine to actually step inside.
Naturally—because Soye would be coming.
I was inside the library, browsing through this book and that, when—
Tap tap tap.
Someone touched my arm.
Impossibly small, soft fingertips.
I didn't need to look to know who those fingers belonged to.
"Sunbae… hello…"
"Hey… hi…"
Soye, murmuring in that tiny, hushed voice of hers.
I nodded along as I listened, and Soye beamed, then turned her gaze straight to the books I'd been browsing.
"…Korean literature, huh."
"Figured I'd see if there was anything good."
"Our school library doesn't really have many books in the genre you like, sunbae. You're more of a fantasy reader, and since this is a school library, there's barely any of that here."
"Shame."
"But! We have quite a lot of books similar to what you asked me to recommend last time. I'll pick some out for you."
With a slightly buoyant note in her voice, Soye beckoned me over, and I followed her to a quiet corner of the library.
Once there, she rose up on her tiptoes and started flapping her arm at the shelf.
She was apparently trying to grab a book from the very top of the shelf, but it looked like she was just a bit too short.
I took a moment to appreciate the adorable sight, then reached over and pulled the book down for her.
"This one?"
"Yes, that one. Thank you…"
Soye gave a small bow, then held the book I'd handed her up for me to see.
"This book is about a male lead who's a detective and a female lead who works at a hotel—it's a mystery with a little romance layered on top. The romance is fairly light, but it's there. I think it'd be a good, easy read for you, sunbae."
"I see. I'll have to borrow this one, then."
"Great choice. And while the school library doesn't have it, there are two more books in the same series, so it'd be worth going to a city library later to read the rest."
I nodded and took the book from her.
Now I just need to check this one out… hmm… I'd like to borrow one more, too.
Two books per person, after all.
Whether she read my expression or not, Soye waved me over.
"Sunbae, please come this way."
"Sure. What's up?"
"I want to introduce you to this book too."
Soye crouched down and started introducing me to one book after another.
Listening to everything she had to say, I came away with two impressions: every book Soye recommended sounded genuinely fun to read, and…
Soye, animatedly rambling on about stories she loved, was extremely cute. That about covers it.
She really was adorable, chattering away about her favorite books like that.
"Sunbae, out of all of these, this is the one I'd recommend. I think it'll hit home for you the hardest."
"Okay, then I'll borrow this one along with the first book. Two total."
"You're definitely going to love it. But just in case you don't—"
"There's no way I won't. You explained it so enthusiastically that I already like it."
"Ah…"
Soye's face flushed at my words.
Watching her made something in me go soft and fond, and of course, the urge to tease her a little came right back.
"Honestly, you explained everything in such detail I was starting to worry you'd spoiled it for me."
At that, Soye shook her head furiously.
"I would never spoil anything, please believe me…!"
She swore up and down, as if spoiling a story were some unforgivable sin, that this—of all things—she would never do. How could I not believe her?
"Okay, okay. I believe you."
"I never spoil stories. That's a crime."
Soye glared at me, cheeks puffed out round and full.
How was it possible for even that expression to be as cute as a fresh steamed bun?
Just then, my eyes landed on the book sitting beside me.
Its title was Lesson of the Evil—and honestly, the name alone looked intriguing.
I pulled it off the shelf and held it out to show Soye.
"Soye, have you read this one?"
"That's…"
The moment she saw the book, Soye hastily snatched it from my hands and shoved it back into its place on the shelf.
"Th… that book—you can't read it yet…!"
"Hm…?"
"Wh… why is a book like that… even hereeee… haaaauuu…"
Her cheeks turning far redder than before, Soye ducked her head and squirmed in a flurry of embarrassment.
What on earth was that book, that it made her react like this? What could possibly be inside it, that Soye would show me a face this adorable and this flustered all at once?
I was curious, but I didn't press. I figured I'd find out naturally someday.
"Well then, Soye, I'm off to check these two out."
"Ah… yes… yes, of course… let's do that…!"
She nodded and scrambled to escape the spot as quickly as possible, right alongside me.
I really couldn't tell what that book was, to embarrass her this badly. I'd have to sneak a peek at it sometime.
Anyway, after checking out the books with Soye, we stepped out of the library and she gave me a small, polite bow.
"Sunbae, I'll see you at night study tonight…!"
She said it just as the time for class was about to start.
I nodded to her.
"Yeah, let's do that."
And with that, we each headed off to our own classrooms and faithfully sawed away at our school lives…
…until—
"No night study today. Exams just ended—what kind of maniac studies now? Take the day off and have fun."
Thanks to this one-sided decree from the Night Self-Study Supervising Teacher, our evening had just opened up into a great, empty void of free time.