A Lucky Day (5)
After that, Gu Jinho stopped coming to school.
From Monday all the way through to today, Friday.
By this point, honestly... it didn't even strike me as strange anymore. When someone doesn't show up for that long and nobody around them says a word about it, you start to think that's just how it is.
Even so, a small knot of unease sat in my chest. Whatever the reason, it really did seem like he wasn't coming because of me.
He'd enrolled in this school to chase his dreams, same as I had. If anything, he'd started walking that path—insisting he was going to make it in music—even before I had. And he'd been genuinely serious about it, too.
I didn't know much about music, so I didn't really know what Gu Jinho was working on. But I knew, at least, that he was preparing hard.
And more than anything, I was busy with my own stuff. I still had auditions coming up... I was still preparing. I didn't have the bandwidth to worry about anything else.
......
Enough. Stop thinking about it.
Right. I should focus on my own work. I was busy enough as it was.
The people from the recent audition had gotten back to me. They wanted to shoot a few preliminary cuts before principal photography started—just a handful of test shots, that kind of thing. It was basically as good as being cast.
So I should just focus on my own work. He'd... figure things out on his own.
And it's not like anyone told him to do this, right? He's the one who just decided to stop showing up. I didn't tell him to. If anything, I'd been the one who wanted to talk it out. And he's the one who blocked me.
Fine. Whatever.
"Ahyeon, should we throw a pig party today?!"
On the way home from school with Sohee, she said it in a voice brimming with excitement.
Right. We'd decided to have a party at my place tonight. We'd gone back and forth on when, and figured a Friday would be best since the next day was a day off. Which naturally led to Sohee saying she'd sleep over.
Well... honestly, when I was alone I tended to drown in stray thoughts, so having Sohee at my place was actually better.
"Hehe, let's do it!! Tteokbokki... the honey-butter chicken combo... pizza..."
"And ice cream for dessert! Chocolate ice cream!!"
"Kyaa—! I love it. I'm so excited—!!"
We clapped our hands together, bouncing with the thrill of it.
In a corner of my mind, there was a little worry about whether I should really be eating that much. It wasn't the actual shoot yet, but they were going to film preliminary cuts. But... yeah. One day would be fine. I wanted to hang out with Sohee like this. I wanted to get even closer. The weight... I could just run it off later with some intense cardio.
Running....
The thought of that left a faintly sour look on my face. Like a splinter of fishbone still stuck in my mouth that I wanted to spit out.
I mean... I can just run by myself. Why am I even thinking about this? It's not like I can't run alone.
And so we arrived at my place.
Honestly, the scene felt a little awkward. Just the two of us in this house. It wasn't like it was some special situation—it just looked unfamiliar to my eyes, that was all.
"Can I have some water?!"
"Yeah, there's cold water in the fridge."
The moment we got home, Sohee went looking for water, so I told her to just grab it from the fridge herself.
"Wow—your fridge is so organized. Do you always keep it this tidy?"
Sohee opened the fridge and said it with genuine admiration. Honestly, I had no idea what she was talking about. Organized...? Was there even anything in the fridge worth organizing? Wasn't everyone's fridge like this?
"Huh...? Really?"
"Yeah, it's super neat. Everything sorted by type. But you've got a ton of meal kits?"
Her eyes seemed to drift in that direction as she said it.
Meal kits.... Well, yeah, there were a lot of those. Gu Jinho had bought them and stocked them.
"They're convenient..."
That was all I said. Well, that was actually why Gu Jinho had filled the fridge with them in the first place.
"Yeah? Wait, Ahyeon, do you cook too?!"
Then came that completely random question. Cooking... I didn't know how to cook a single thing. What on earth was she looking at to say that?
"Huh...? Cooking?"
"Yeah, there's a bunch of ingredients... and sauces and stuff. I figured you must know how to cook. I've been trying to make things on my own lately... it's so hard!"
"...I think those were Gu Jinho's."
In the end, I had to spit out that name. A name that, in this moment, I wasn't particularly happy to say.
"Jino? Jino cooks too?!"
The name that had come out of my mouth with a bitter taste burst from Sohee's like a welcome one. That wasn't why I'd said it.
"Yeah... he did a bit."
"For real? Oh my god. I had no idea Jino could cook."
"I-it's not like he's that good at it."
"Still, there's something cool about a guy who cooks."
"Cool... that's just a fantasy, Sohee."
Honestly, I did think Gu Jinho was a good cook. My taste buds, at least, had found it delicious. And watching him cook hadn't been "cool" exactly, but it had made me think of him as a naturally warm person. And yet here I was, saying the opposite to Sohee. A little twisted, like that.
"I want to try Jino's cooking too..."
After chatting away so freely, Sohee suddenly said it with a disappointed face and voice. That was probably because Gu Jinho hadn't been coming to school lately... that's why she looked like that. Which made it awkward for me to respond.
"Ahyeon, have you tried Jino's cooking?"
Even though I hadn't answered, Sohee went and asked that, putting me in a pretty uncomfortable spot. Honestly, the first thing that came to mind when I heard that was....
The pasta I'd eaten the night before the audition.
Retracing that memory couldn't possibly feel good. Because after that, things had ended up like this. And... looking back on that day this way, honestly, something in a corner of my heart felt like it was being poked and poked. Even just that day, he'd been like that. And even just that day, things between us had been so good. Thinking of myself smiling so brightly in that moment, my chest tightened—a sudden, suffocating feeling. Because that moment had changed overnight.
In the end, we ordered a mountain of delivery for dinner. We knew we couldn't finish it all, but ordering everything was the whole point of a pig party. You get to take at least one bite of everything you want.
"Wow—this is insane."
"I know, ugh, I'm supposed to be watching what I eat!!"
I complained, not really meaning it, my eyes locked on the spread of food.
"It's fine. You can eat like this for one day!"
"Right? Today's a party, after all?"
"Yeah! Let's take a picture!!"
We took selfies together, then ate everything, deliciously. We chattered endlessly. We spent the time laughing, giggling, cackling. Especially the hard parts of preparing to be an actress—each of our struggles, all of it. Being able to talk about those things together felt so good. We empathized with each other. We cheered each other on for what was coming. It made me think that I'd found the person I needed most, the one who fit me best, right by my side.
"Anyway... congratulations! So this is your debut, then?!"
"Yeah... I guess so. Honestly I'm sooooo nervous."
"You'll be fine. You can do it. I need to start prepping for the second-half auditions soon too..."
"You'll definitely make it, Sohee! You're way better than me!!"
"Come on, no way. You're the one debuting first?!"
"I just got lucky. And that was because you helped me, too."
As the conversation flowed, it naturally drifted to....
"It would've been nice if Jino could've partied with us like this too."
That name came out of Sohee's mouth. It was a natural progression. Especially since Sohee still didn't know what had happened between me and Gu Jinho.
"Well... it can't be helped."
Even after chatting so happily, the moment that name came up... I couldn't keep my expression in check. A sudden drooping feeling. It was almost startling, how much my emotions shifted over something like that.
"But... he hasn't come to school this whole week..."
And yet Sohee kept saying things like that, completely oblivious, putting me in a really awkward position. But it wasn't Sohee's fault. It was because I hadn't said anything. She didn't know a thing, so of course she'd think that.
Occupied with those thoughts, I sat there without saying a word for a moment. And in that gap, Sohee slipped another question in.
"Ahyeon... did something happen with Jino?!"
Just like that. She really went and hit the bullseye this time. Up until now it had seemed like she'd been dancing around it pretty well, but finally.
"Why...?"
The bullseye struck so cleanly that, like a doll that makes a sound when you press it, the question came out of me reflexively.
"I don't know, you're childhood friends but you don't seem to care at all. He's been out for days."
"Ah... really? I mean... I just figured that's how it is. It's not like I need to stick my nose into him not coming to school."
I dodged it again. Honestly, saying the whole story out loud myself felt a little... off. It wasn't exactly something to be proud of.
"Come on, that's so mean. Jino cares about you so much. He pays so much attention to you."
"...That's true, I guess."
When I said that in a somewhat dejected voice, Sohee seemed to think about something for a moment. Then she turned her gaze elsewhere, looking off into the distance, and said it without even looking at me.
The atmosphere of those words arrived in a strangely cold form. It was only for a brief moment, but the tone and voice were dripping with a chill. It didn't feel like something the Sohee I knew would ever say.
"Huh...? What do you mean..."
"Hehe, never mind. I was just curious."
.
.
.