A Pleasant Coincidence
It was the last Saturday of March.
It was an incredibly good day, but I wasn't feeling particularly good about it.
"Haaah..."
This was a downtown bookstore about a 20-minute bus ride from my house.
The reason I was at this bookstore was to buy books for studying.
I never thought I'd end up studying high school again...
But if I'd decided to do it, there was nothing I could do about it.
Suppressing another sigh that was about to burst out, I headed to the problem book corner.
The problem book corner had an unimaginable amount of problem books, and among them, the ones I was buying were the problem books recommended by Soye.
The problem books from my previous life and this world wouldn't differ much, but actually, I hadn't solved any problem books in my previous life.
Even if I had, they were only very basic difficulty ones.
Thanks to that, I had no idea which problem books were good where or what difficulty level they were.
In that sense, the problem books recommended by Soye were like salvation to me.
I just needed to buy all the problem books she recommended.
So, let's look for some problem books.
Walking around the problem book corner, I started checking out the problems.
There were really a lot of problem books.
Among them, there was a problem book with a very ominous black cover.
That one would be super hard, right?
I picked up the book, read a problem from it, and immediately closed the book.
If those problems appeared on the exam, I'd definitely fail. It was that difficult.
"Puuu..."
Letting out another big sigh, I started looking for the problem books recommended by Soye.
After a few minutes...
"I found Korean and Math... Now only History and English left."
I successfully found two problem books.
Now I just need to find History and English. By the way, for Social Studies and Science, since I'm in 2nd year now, I just need to study the detailed subjects, so I don't need to buy integrated ones.
Originally, since I'm in the liberal arts track, I didn't need to study science anymore.
It's fortunate I'm in liberal arts. If it were science, I wouldn't even have the courage to study.
Having found the History book and the English book, I looked at the four problem books and thought about the prices.
"The prices... wow, they're over 100,000 won."
100,000 won is a price that really takes your breath away.
The biggest problem was that I had to finish all these books within two months.
If I finished them all within two months and built a minimum foundation, I could catch up in the second semester of 2nd year.
Originally, I had to abandon the CSAT completely. I don't know how my first year grades will be, but based on the reactions around me, it definitely won't be good.
In that sense, I didn't really need to be too anxious. I just needed to study at my own pace.
Comforting myself and rationalizing at the same time, I headed to the register with the books.
But...
...the girl in front of me hugging two books tightly.
She looked very familiar.
I thought it was impossible, so I called out to the person in front of me in a small voice.
"Excuse me..."
"Hwaak!?"
The girl turned her head with a start and our eyes met. At that moment, I could confirm the déjà vu I had just heard.
"... Soye?"
"Sun...bae nim?"
The person in front of me was Soye.
*
After paying for all the books, Soye and I came out of the bookstore together.
"Senior, you came to the bookstore too."
"Yeah, you were at the bookstore too?"
"Yes, because I wanted to read some books."
Soye, who was smiling softly while looking at the books she bought, was still cute. Too cute. It was enough to make my heart ache.
"What kind of books did senior buy?"
"Didn't you see earlier?"
"Th... yes, I was a bit surprised..."
Yeah, it was surprising. Thinking about the reaction I had when I turned around earlier, I felt guilty.
"Want to see?"
Soye nodded her head.
I showed her the books I bought to Soye.
Soye, who had a nervous expression, soon showed a surprised expression.
It's a talent to show emotions on your face.
"This... these are the books I recommended, right?"
"Yeah, I came today to buy them because you said they'd be good for studying."
"Th... that's not something you can believe so much..."
Looking nervous, Soye was rolling her eyes around.
Smiling softly at such Soye, I said a somewhat mischievous word. A playful word.
"Soye. Do you know that the reliability is super high just based on the grades I saw before?"
"Sunbae...!"
Soye was annoyed by my joke.
Of course, Soye was annoyed, but to me, it looked like she was pouting.
The kid couldn't even get angry properly, she was really a pure-hearted girl.
"Sorry, but it's not a joke, it's the truth. I believe in you."
"Uuuuu..."
Even Soye's reaction that it was more burdensome was cute.
Leaving behind that cute Soye, now it was time to see an even cuter Soye.
"Soye, what are you going to do now?"
"Um... I'm going home."
"Then I guess I have to wait for the bus."
"Yes."
"Then, shall I buy you ice cream?"
"Ice cream?"
Soye tilted her head, but my eyes couldn't be fooled.
The word "ice cream" made Soye's eyes sparkle.
"We met outside school, so as a senior, I should buy it."
"You don't have to buy it...!"
Soye shook her head vigorously.
Probably her refusal was sincere. Soye really hated owing anyone.
There were two things I could say to such Soye.
Of those, the one that would be less burdensome to Soye was this one, of course.
"Since I received help buying the books, let me give you a small thank you."
"A thank you...?"
"Yeah, a small thank you."
"Th... then..."
Soye nodded her head a couple of times, it would be going to eat ice cream together.
I threw another joke at such Soye.
"Ah, you can't buy expensive ones...!"
"Senior, don't worry. I actually like cheap ice creams more!"
From Soye clenching her fists with both hands, sincerity was felt.
If I did that, I'd want to buy expensive ice cream again.
Hmm...
Soye looked around. Probably looking for a convenience store or ice cream discount store.
Can't do that. Today, I had to make Soye eat delicious ice cream.
"Soye, let's go there."
"There? Wait, senior. That place..."
"Let's go."
"Senior? Senior, wait a sec...!"
As I walked ahead first, Soye came running towards me in a hurry, very flustered.
Anyway... yeah, the place I was going.
It was Baskin-Robbins 32, an ice cream specialty store.
*
As soon as I entered the store, Soye was still flustered following me.
I said to such Soye very brazenly.
"Choose the flavor you want to eat. You must have tried it before."
"I ate it a few times because unnie liked it, but it's expensive here...!"
It was expensive, but not as expensive as Hagen Dazs.
"Hey, it's not expensive. Not at all."
"It's expensive."
"Not expensive."
"It's expensive!"
Soye puffing out her cheeks was glaring at me, clearly showing 'She's pouting!'
I hadn't seen Soye puffing her cheeks before, but she was incredibly cute. It seemed like I'd get used to making Soye pout.
But I couldn't get used to it. Then I'd be a bad senior.
"The cone can be dropped, so let's buy in a cup. Can you eat a Single King or so?"
"... I'll buy the smallest size."
Soye firmly decided to eat the smallest size.
After that, Soye looked at the ice creams and chose the most popular menu.
"I'll have Mother Is An Alien."
"You like it?"
"Yes, I like it because it's the most sweet and the chocolate is crispy."
Yeah, it's a bestseller.
I chose two Single Regulars and two Mother Is An Alien on the kiosk.
"Do you like it too, senior?"
"Isn't it the best taste? Besides, I really like chocolate."
"I do too...!"
Soye, who was trying to smile faintly, soon lowered the corners of her mouth as if trying to calm them, looking somewhat unnatural.
Did she remember that she was pouting? If so, that was a pretty cute reason. Probably she was trying to lower the corners of her mouth for that reason.
Before long, two ice creams in small cups were brought out, and I handed one to Soye.
"Senior, I'll eat it well..."
Soye, holding the ice cream with both hands, scooped it up with the small plastic spoon and...
"Huiii..."
She started smiling bashfully. Very cutely, very lovably.
Even the soft, white cheeks moving was literally a feeling of cuteness multiplied several times.
"How is it? As expected, it's delicious?"
"... You're so mean, senior."
"I was mean from the beginning."
I laughed lightly.
Looking at me, Soye couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.
Very softly, but still cutely.