Lingering Connections
The moment I checked my phone, my body seemed to stiffen. More than anything else, it was pure bewilderment. I even wondered if I had misread it. After all, a message had suddenly arrived from Seo Hye-in. Maybe she had lost some kind of game and this was the penalty. While I kept my eyes fixed on the screen with that thought, the display recognized my face and unlocked itself, revealing the full message that had only shown the sender before.
[Come home and let's talk for a bit.]
What the hell… This pitiful message from my ex-girlfriend. And saying "come home" made it sound like we were living together or something. More than that, how could she send me a message like this so casually…? We weren't the kind of people who could just chat like that anymore.
"Something wrong…?"
When I stood there holding my phone like I'd been stunned, the senior spoke up. Thanks to her, I managed to pull my mind out of the trap it had fallen into.
"Ah, no. It's nothing."
As I said that, I slipped the phone into my pocket. Yeah, I was just going to ignore it. What was there left to talk about with her now? Hye-in might have things she wanted to say, but I didn't.
"Did I… interrupt something?!"
The senior had taken a seat on the sofa across from me.
"Interrupt what? Not at all!"
"I was wondering if I got in the way of you walking home with that girl earlier…"
"Ah, Do Yu-hwa?"
"Yeah. Didn't you just get a message from her?"
The senior seemed to think the message that had just rattled me was from Yu-hwa.
"Haha, no need to worry. I wasn't on my way home with her."
"Really? That's a relief, then."
The senior tore open the extra snacks she had brought earlier and popped one straight into her mouth. She looked satisfied.
"Is there anything else I can help with while I'm here?"
"Mm, it's fine now. The rest is really the club members' job."
After that, the senior stood up and seemed to be looking for something to drink. She picked up a paper cup from the clubroom supplies, took a beverage out of the small fridge, and filled the cup with the cold drink.
"Here. Drink this too."
She held out the paper cup full of beverage toward me.
"Ah, thank you."
I took it and drank right away. Glug glug. Truthfully, I had been thirsty, so I was grateful. After emptying the cup in one go, I turned my head to look for the trash can.
"It's fine, I'll throw it away. Give it here."
The senior reached out as if she had noticed what I was about to do.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
I handed her the empty cup, and she took it. Then she poured another drink into it. Was she planning to give me a refill? I watched the cup fill up with that thought.
"Want more?"
"No, I'm good."
"Yeah?"
After asking and hearing my answer, she drank the now-full cup herself.
"Kyah—!"
With that sound, she seemed to have emptied the entire cup refreshingly. One hand on her hip while making that noise gave her a strangely middle-aged man vibe. But somehow, the sight was incredibly cute.
"By the way, that's the part I drank from."
It was enough to make me want to throw out that kind of jab on impulse.
"Hic—!? Really? I thought I drank from a different spot…!!"
The senior was startled and didn't know what to do. Of course, even I didn't know exactly where I had put my mouth.
"Sorry, was it… unpleasant?"
She asked carefully, watching my reaction.
"No, if anything, I was worried you might find it unpleasant."
"I'm… fine."
"Then I'm fine too."
"You're really okay? You're not just saying that because you're being considerate…?"
Even after my answer, the senior still looked doubtful. Maybe she was worried I secretly found her disgusting. It had only been a joke. She might be the type who cares a lot about what others think, surprisingly.
"I really am. I don't care about that kind of thing at all… If anything, I'm glad you said you're okay too."
"Th-then you drink it again."
With that, the senior poured more beverage into the cup with loud glugging sounds. Soon the cup was back in my hands. By now the paper cup had lost its durability and felt soggy.
"Drinking it will prove it, right?"
"Yeah…"
A faint trace of the senior's tint remained on one part of the cup. I deliberately turned it so the tinted spot faced me.
"I'm drinking?"
"Kuaa!! Wait! It's fine! You've already proved it. Yeah…."
When I tried to drink from the spot with the tint, the senior hurriedly stopped me.
"Huh? I'm really fine though…"
"Ah, no! You don't have to go that far!"
"Then… well, all right."
The senior snatched the cup from me and immediately chugged it down.
. . .
"Should we head out now? You were on your way home, right?"
After spending some time with the senior in the clubroom, it seemed like it was time to part ways. When I came to my senses, quite a bit of time had already passed.
"Yes. Are you heading home too, sunbae?"
"Yeah."
We left the clubroom and went down the stairs. The senior jumped down one step at a time with her feet together. Maybe the walk home was that exciting for her.
"Your knees… don't they hurt?"
"Don't tell me you're treating me like an old person…?"
"Ah, that's not it."
After coming all the way down the stairs, we naturally walked the route home together. The sun, slowly setting, cast a warm glow over everything.
"Ah, right. About the Do Yu-hwa thing… I decided to put it on hold for now."
"Thank you. That's a relief."
"Yeah. It's really not true, right?"
"Of course."
Part of me wanted to ask how the disciplinary committee had heard about it. Whether it had just spread through rumors or if someone had specifically reported it. But… no matter how much I asked, she probably wouldn't tell me. It would only put Nabi sunbae in an awkward position.
"Which way are you going? Do you take the bus or something?"
"No. I just walk straight down this road."
In front of the school gate, it seemed like we were about to part ways. From here on, our paths diverged.
"Well then, see you!"
The senior waved lightly first and started walking.
"Ah, Nabi sunbae!"
And it seemed I still had something left to say. It didn't feel particularly important, but still.
"Yeah?"
She turned around and looked at me.
"Um… will you be at that bench tomorrow during lunch too?"
If I thought about it carefully, in the original story she was always there, so there was no need to ask like this. But I still wanted to ask. Having a direct conversation felt a little different.
"Yeah, but why?"
"Ah… I was thinking I might come too, if that's okay."
"I don't have any more to pull out though…?!"
The senior looked at me curiously.
"It's not that. I just thought we could watch soccer together. I like soccer too."
"Really?!"
The senior showed an excited reaction. It looked like pure emotion.
"Yeah, it'll be more fun if we watch and chat together."
"Great, then see you tomorrow!"
***
After parting with the senior like that, on the way home. The sky that had been painted with sunset was now pitch black. I took the elevator and pressed the button for the 7th floor. The doors opened. And… I froze in place. I couldn't bring myself to step out.
"What took you so long?"
Yeah, because Hye-in was standing in front of our apartment.
Inwardly, I even considered riding the elevator back down.
"Perfect timing. I was just about to ring the bell anyway."
That seemed to be why she was standing in front of our place. It just happened that I came up at the right moment. Coincidence… probably. For now, I quietly walked out of the elevator. She had already seen me, and I needed to go home anyway.
"Did you come from hanging out with Do Yu-hwa?"
I didn't give any reply, but Hye-in stubbornly continued saying what she wanted to say. And her voice was still normal so far. I got closer to our front door. That meant I was getting closer to Hye-in too. I figured that once I stood in front of the door, Hye-in would move out of the way.
"Hey, did you not see the message I sent?"
But Hye-in had no intention of moving away from our front door. Still… I had no intention of backing down either. I forced my hand in and touched the door lock.
"Hey! Why are you being so pathetic?"
Hye-in's voice rose. The enclosed hallway echoed loudly with it.
"Can you stop? I'm tired."
Finally, because of that loud voice, I had no choice but to say something. At the same time, I tried to quickly enter the code on the door lock. But Hye-in desperately grabbed my wrist. Whenever the door lock was ready to accept the password, she deliberately pressed random numbers to interfere.
"Why is this kid acting so childish and pathetic!!"
Once again, that angry shout echoed through the hallway. Looking at this situation… I wasn't sure who was being more childish.
"Hey, just because I said that… you're sulking over something so small and acting like this?"
"……."
I thought calling it "something so small" was inappropriate. For the record, I wasn't sulking either.
"A guy being so narrow-minded… If you have complaints, just say you have complaints. You said you understood, but then you immediately stuck to Do Yu-hwa, grinning and deliberately rubbing it in my face. Isn't that right?"
Complaints…? I had never thought of it as complaints. At least when it came to Hye-in cutting ties with me, I had no complaints. The original protagonist would have naturally had complaints, but at least I didn't. If anything, I had tried to understand Hye-in's position.
"Now you're even taking Do Yu-hwa's side? It's really ridiculous…. I was going to just leave it alone, but seeing you two like that was so damn annoying that I had to say something."
Hye-in's breathing was a bit rough. She seemed quite worked up. The fact that she was even swearing…. Anyway, it seemed like she was misunderstanding something a bit. That hadn't been my intention at all. If anything, back then I had basically been Yu-hwa's shuttle. Well… there was no point in arguing about that now.
"So, are you done talking now?"
"What? That's what you have to say in this situation?"
"Sorry, but I don't have any ill feelings toward you. So there's nothing for us to talk about either. If you're done saying what you wanted to say, I'm going in now."
After saying that, I tried to press the password on the door lock again with more force. Hye-in seemed to be catching her breath for a moment. Or maybe, just like she said, she was so dumbfounded that she was at a loss for words. Either way, it didn't really matter.
"Still pretending to be the good guy till the end. Hey… do you really think Do Yu-hwa considers you a real friend? That's a huge misunderstanding…"
After staring at me for a while, Hye-in opened her mouth. And after hearing those words, I felt a bit irritated too. Because I had the feeling that the person who had reported to the disciplinary committee was Seo Hye-in. For some reason, after hearing what she just said, it felt that way.