Chapter 8. This year for sure! (5)
Until I was in elementary school, I used to play with various friends during summer vacation.
Actually, there were hardly any days where I was holed up at home.
My personality preferred just spending time leisurely in a house with the AC blasting, but Soi wasn't the type to stay home during a summer like that.
We'd excitedly run around the neighborhood, and of course, go play at the pool and the beach.
In my past life, my skin was very fair even in midsummer, but in this life, just by following Soi around, I ended up with tanned skin.
Chaeyi, too.
However, this summer vacation wasn't like that.
Because there were almost no kids looking for Soi. Only Chaeyi came to play every time, and Jihye and Mirae rarely contacted us first.
Still, the three of us, including Chaeyi, did go to the beach. Soi's parents drove us there, so there weren't any major difficulties.
Normally, if minors go on a trip by themselves, using a lodging facility tends to cause all sorts of problems, but if the place you're staying isn't a lodging facility, there's no legal issue. Anyway, the place we stayed was a house lent to us by Yujin-ajumma's friend.
Apparently, the person who used to spend their time leisurely looking at the beach suddenly had work come up and moved their residence to Seoul.
The house was old, and even though it was by the beach, it wasn't a very famous tourist spot, so the house didn't sell right away.
"Come to think of it, you guys will meet this person later, too."
That was what Yujin-ajumma said after dropping the three of us off.
"Don't worry too much. They might look a bit strict on the outside, but they're a very soft-hearted person on the inside."
......Is there any reason for us to be worried about someone whose face we don't even know?
When we made confused expressions, Yujin-ajumma chuckled.
"That work is the position of Academy principal. The previous principal retired."
"Ah."
......But do you really see the principal that often?
I don't think I ever had a reason to meet them separately in elementary or middle school.
They didn't leave a very deep impression in the original work, either. Then again, in an Academy novel, the only faculty members who leave a deep impression are usually just the heroines.
In a harem story, if they aren't a heroine, there's no reason to even bother giving a teacher character a name, right?
So, I just heard the name Seol Hee-won and let it slide.
......Well, anyway.
Isn't it most fun to play without adults when you're a minor?
During the 4 nights and 5 days we rented that house, we had a really fun time. There was internet, so we didn't get bored after playing at the beach. We gathered together to play games and read manga. It was as if we had forgotten all about things like school.
Though I did break a sweat trying to escape from Soi or Chaeyi, who kept trying to change clothes with me.
Whether the owner was single, there was only one bed.
I tried to let Soi and Chaeyi sleep on the bed while I slept on the floor, but when I came to my senses, I was squeezed tight between the two of them.
Both of them were lying down using my armpits as pillows and clinging to me, so I couldn't really sleep comfortably.
The breathing of the two who were fast asleep kept touching the nape of my neck, and I didn't know what on earth I should do.
For all 4 nights of the 4 nights and 5 days, I stayed up all night with my eyes more or less open.......
*
The first year passed by reasonably smoothly.
The kids didn't talk to us first anymore, and Soi was a bit more alienated than before, but still.
There were no kids who openly bullied us or tried to do bad things.
There was nothing particularly wrong with Jihye and Mirae, either.
So, I thought that if time just flowed like this, the 2nd and 3rd years would just end smoothly as well.
But the 2nd year.
From around the end of March, the way the kids looked at us changed a little.
If it had been intentional ignoring as if trying not to pay attention until then, now it was...... how should I put it.
They whisper whenever they see us.
It might have been fine if I didn't even know the content.
It was like they wanted us to hear it, in the form of backbiting, but also as if it wasn't really that.
"But aren't those two sticking together too much?"
Like that.
......Shall I be honest?
If you want to get technical, we were sticking together.
Because Soi would often climb on top of me for all to see.
The direction hadn't changed much yet, but Soi, who until recently would sit on me as if using me as a chair, was now sitting sideways.
With the somewhat bizarre logic of 'Isn't it fine as long as I'm being held?'
Using my thighs as a chair and sitting turned 90 degrees toward me, so in a way, it was a posture like being held in a princess carry while sitting.
I was even supporting her with my arms so Soi wouldn't fall backward.
I...... I had thought it was fine. As I said before, I had occasionally seen kids overlapping and sitting like that as a joke.
There were no kids who buried their faces in chests or anything, and even if they sat like that, it was just sitting playfully for a moment; there were almost no cases where they kept sitting until their legs went numb.
And it wasn't even like the heat had gone away yet.
"But, aren't they sisters?"
"Is it because they aren't blood-related?"
"......Chaeyi is like that too. Could it be the three of them......."
Soi doesn't show it. Since it was loud enough for me to hear, Soi must have heard it too.
Instead, the more she hears things like that, the more confidently she holds her head high.
......But you know.
I have known Soi for almost my whole life. At least in this life, that is.
So, I could tell right away just what kind of feelings Soi was feeling.
She is definitely getting hurt. But even while doing so, she is trying to ignore those stories by tilting her chin up confidently as if she is fine.
In the first place, her being held by me like this is for my sake.
"......"
And, I felt an unfamiliar emotion once again.
No, in a sense, should I say it was familiar?
Why, isn't it the case that people sometimes get angry for no reason when they see someone better off than themselves?
Actually, until I became a middle schooler, there was no reason to feel that kind of emotion in this life. Soi's house was a well-off house, I was living in that house, and even though I didn't call Yujin-ajumma or Dohyun-ajusshi mom and dad, the two of them treated me just like their own daughter, exactly the same as Soi.
They never discriminated against me, so to others, I was just a daughter of a well-off family.
I was a bit timid so I wouldn't talk first, but I was pretty and quiet, so I could say I was reasonably popular. That was probably because Soi was next to me, though.
So, at least there was no reason to feel anger toward the world itself.
My past life is different. I was a human with not a single outstanding point, for whom life was guaranteed to be difficult if I didn't work like crazy. Even just to put food on the table, I had to live diligently, often working overtime at a workplace where I couldn't even take leave as I pleased.
Seeing people like that, who have money overflowing even if they live roughly and women fall into their arms on their own, I couldn't help but feel disgusted.
So, I had felt anger. A very long time ago. Even so long ago that it could be called 'before this life'.
So, that emotion called 'anger'. Which is unfamiliar yet somehow familiar.
It's quite funny.
Even though I get terrified to the point my body stiffens when I think of that witch who drove me to this point. I'm feeling that emotion toward kids who are easy targets if I just make up my mind.
What's funnier is that those kids are the same. Kids who would be trembling and unable to say a word if the witch were actually in front of them, are saying things like that, lumping me and Soi together, because Soi, who actually fought for them, is an easy target.
I am fine. My suffering is...... no, even if I can't say I'm completely fine, it was still bearable.
But Soi being like that is not okay.
The fact that I can live like this is all thanks to Soi.
My life in this current existence was a life destined to fall into hell no matter which direction it rolled, but it could be okay because Soi was by my side. When I went to that house, even if Soi had only said she hated me, or only bullied me, my life could have become hell.
And yet, Soi accepted me, smiling brightly just like Yujin-ajumma and Dohyun-ajusshi.
Even though they have such a misunderstanding—
No, it wouldn't be a misunderstanding.
It would just be them saying it on purpose to make us feel bad.
"......Lua?"
It seems I had been staring at those kids too intensely.
Did a breeze blow through the hallway? The window next to the kids who were sitting near the window completely opposite to us was shaking slightly.
Realizing something was wrong a bit late, those kids also jumped up from their seats and were looking toward me.
No, not just those kids, the whole class.
With wide-open eyes.
"......Yes?"
I reacted to Soi's words a bit late.
When I blinked and looked at Soi, Soi was looking at me with worried eyes.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah, yes."
It's okay.
Because nothing happened yet.
It seems someone was running excitedly in the hallway. It's middle school. Boys are naturally full of energy, and girls are the same.
So, a weak breeze blew, and that window could shake a bit.
Would it shake just because it was the place where those girls were?
If it had broken, a big incident would have occurred, but it didn't really break.
So, yes. It's okay.
The smooth sensation I felt at the tips of my fingers must have been the feeling of touching a well-wiped desk, not glass.
"......"
Soi didn't bother to dig deeper either.
It would be troublesome if we misunderstood things for no reason.
Yujin-ajumma or Dohyun-ajusshi would be troubled too, and, um.
So, we just need to live normally and quietly. It would be nice if people around us didn't interfere.
Right?
As I smiled slightly toward those kids, they quickly averted their gazes.
The other kids, too.
Even though it was a slightly shy smile that was no different from usual.
.......
It will be okay, probably.
*
It was not okay.
Before the 1st semester of the 2nd year was even over, I heard the news that the witch had escaped from prison.