Chapter 11
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Sickbed Visit
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“Im Rua?”
“Hi… Is your finger okay?”
Im Rua, who had entered my house for the first time in years, casually asked about my finger as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
I nodded as I replied.
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
“For someone who says it’s fine… you’ve got a cast on it…”
I tried to hide that finger as I spoke.
“...They said it’ll be about two or three weeks.”
A natural-sounding lie, but it didn’t fool Im Rua.
“Two or three weeks, and you’d just be wearing a brace.”
“Ahem…”
As expected, Im Rua was sharp enough to see right through my lies without even trying.
“...Is it hard to use your finger?”
“A little…? But I’m not really sure yet.”
At my vague response, Im Rua just glared at me.
“I really don’t know. I haven’t tried using it properly yet.”
“I see…”
Im Rua nodded and looked around my room.
“Your room… hasn’t changed at all.”
“No reason it should have.”
Compared to when I was a kid, my room was pretty much the same.
The differences were just the computer, monitor, bed covers, and maybe the school uniform hanging up.
Nothing major or important had changed. Like the wallpaper or light fixtures.
“...When was the last time you came here?”
“Second year of middle school… I think.”
“I see.”
That made it nearly three years.
Three years was plenty of time for nothing to change.
“You’re using dual monitors now on your computer. I remember it used to be just one.”
“I upgraded the PC too.”
“...Yeah, makes sense. The old one probably couldn’t handle games.”
Her words brought back an old memory.
There was this game where you hit opponents with water balloons and then popped them.
It was all the rage back then, and Im Rua and I had played it together.
We’d sat right at that desk.
“Other than that… just comics, novels, stuff like that.”
“Pretty much.”
“Not complaining. My room’s the same.”
“Yours probably has workbooks scattered everywhere.”
Maybe annoyed by my comment, Im Rua grumbled in that soft, clear voice of hers.
“Not really. I don’t study that hard.”
“Liar. You’ve never been outside the top three in the whole school.”
“You just need to be good at school stuff.”
“We call that talent.”
“...Guess it is talent.”
Her quick admission somehow felt off.
Like I’d picked a fight with her for no reason.
“...So, why’d you come?”
“I was worried about your finger.”
“Aren’t you busy? Like with cram school?”
“I don’t go to cram school. Don’t have time.”
No time? Was she doing something else?
Honestly, Im Rua could excel at anything. I’d downplayed it earlier, but I knew how hard she worked.
“Anyway, I’ve got stuff to do, so I need to head out before eight.”
Eight o’clock. Come to think of it, I had something at eight too.
“What a coincidence. I’ve got stuff at eight too.”
“Stuff? What kind?”
“...Work stuff. Things to do.”
I brushed it off vaguely, and Im Rua nodded as if respecting my privacy.
“What about you? What’s your thing?”
“...I’ve got stuff too.”
And with that, our conversation ground to a halt.
Probably because neither of us had shared what our “stuff” was.
We could’ve talked about it if we had, but both of us kept our mouths shut about our own business.
The silence grew awkward.
Right then, our savior arrived.
“I brought some fruit~ Rua, this isn’t too expensive, is it?”
“No, it’s fine. Jinwoo got hurt protecting me. This is cheap.”
Im Rua replied neatly in that clear voice, without missing a beat.
Mom smiled warmly at her, then said—to Im Rua, but really for my benefit.
“Thanks for looking after him so well, even after all these years.”
Looking after me? No, absolutely not.
We’d drifted apart around third year of middle school, and as high schoolers, we barely talked.
Only this year, being in the same class by chance, then next to each other, had we started talking again.
For us, Mom’s words stung in all sorts of ways.
“...Rua, want to stay for dinner?”
“No, my parents are waiting. I’m good.”
“Alright, then get home safe when it’s time.”
“Thanks for the fruit.”
Mom beamed and waved as Im Rua spoke.
Then, as she closed the door…
“Just in case, you two better not do anything weird~?”
...she said something even weirder herself.
-Creak
-Bang!
The door shut firmly, and Im Rua stood there, face red, speechless.
I grumbled at her.
“...Why do adults always assume stuff when a guy and girl are together?”
“Right…? The health teacher today too. Why do they all think that way?”
I knew why. At our age, guys and girls hanging out closely wasn’t common.
If they did? Nine out of ten were dating. The last one were “friends,” but one usually had a crush.
The rare pure cases? Out of a hundred, maybe one. Seriously.
Adults had gone through it too, so they jumped to conclusions.
Im Rua and I were just childhood friends—who’d grown distant.
Im Rua speared an apple piece with a fork and held it out to me.
“Ahh.”
“...You don’t have to feed me.”
“Ahh.”
She wasn’t backing down, just insisting I open up. So I did, a little.
-Pop
The apple slipped into my mouth, and I closed it, biting down.
-Crunch!
The crisp apple filled my mouth with its flavor and texture as I chewed and swallowed.
“...This is expensive apple.”
“Nah, compared to you saving me, it’s nothing.”
“I doubt it…”
“It is. What if your glasses broke? Or your eye got hurt? That’d be real trouble.”
Unlike this morning, Im Rua was now praising me like I’d done something heroic.
“...This morning you were asking why I saved you, why I didn’t just leave you.”
“That was then… And… I’m sorry. You got hurt because of me.”
Hearing that, I was sure.
Im Rua was still kind, just like I remembered.
She seemed a bit blunter now, but that was just her growing up, in her own way.
“...Don’t apologize. Even if time turned back, I’d do the same.”
“The same?”
“Yeah, reach out my hand.”
“...If time turned back, I’d have swatted it away first.”
“What? You couldn’t, that’s why you almost got hit.”
“No way. Without you, I’d have flicked it off myself.”
Watching her wave her hand around reminded me of the old Im Rua.
A bit childish, lively, always smiling brightly.
“No, you couldn’t flick it. You’d get hit in the face, cry, and whine it hurt.”
“No way~”
“Then the girls would swarm you, comfort you, and curse out the thrower.”
I said it offhand, but I really thought so. Girls would do that.
Im Rua disagreed, though.
“...Nah, not really. They might worry a bit, but that’s it.”
Her flat tone startled me into a double-take.
“...Not really?”
“Yeah, no way. I’m not popular with girls.”
Not popular? Im Rua?
Thinking about it, yeah, she didn’t hang out much with other girls. Almost never.
Just greetings, nothing more.
Why? She was pretty, smart, kind.
A little stoic, but not enough to be unpopular.
The more I thought, the less sense it made. Beyond my common sense.
Im Rua shook her head casually and stood up.
“I should head out.”
“Already?”
“Already? It’s seven now.”
I glanced at the clock. Seven already. She’d come late to begin with.
“...I’ll come by sometimes. And I’ll help with notes or anything you need to write.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
Grabbing her bag, she looked at me.
“See you tomorrow, Jinwoo.”
“...Yeah, get home safe.”
She burst out laughing.
“It’s the apartment right next door~”
That was the brightest I’d seen her in days.