School Closure # 2
School Closure # 2
"KYAAAAA! Geun-cheol, what are you watching?!"
The scream burst out on its own!
"Wha, what? Si-hoo, you little shit, what the hell?"
"Turn it off! Why are you watching this channel?!"
This lunatic turned on an adult channel?!
Did he do it on purpose—
No. It isn't that. Kim Geun-cheol doesn't have that kind of sense, and there's nothing for him to gain from pulling something like that. He definitely just flipped it on because he walked in.
Exactly the kind of thing a guy his age would do.
"Dude... isn't turning this on first thing when you get a place like this an unwritten rule? Ha. You little shit. You really don't know anything, do you? Fine, man. I'll turn it off."
Grumbling, Kim Geun-cheol turned off the TV.
"Haa...!"
Lee Si-hoo felt heat rush back into her face.
In this kind of situation, you can't help being conscious of things. But that channel of all things? It's bad for the heart.
—Ba-dump, ba-dump.
It was worse than bad—her heart pounded like it might explode.
"Hey. Freaking out just 'cause I put on an adult channel? Why're you so shocked?"
"I'm obviously gonna be shocked! It's a channel minors shouldn't watch!"
"I mean, you're not wrong, but... ha. Can't argue with that, can I? Fine. Let's just watch the news."
—Click.
Geun-cheol turned the TV back on and changed the channel.
The school was on the news. The dungeon gate had appeared, so soldiers were managing the site, and heroes and hunters had gathered in numbers.
—They say Sovereign Commander is on his way!
—Of course he's coming! The school's turned into this mess!
—Somebody stop Chairwoman! Instructor Lee So-ra!
The atmosphere was really chaotic.
"Whoa. An S-rank Awakened coming. Somebody like Sovereign Commander'll smash a dungeon or whatever, no sweat."
"Y, yeah."
Eyes on the TV, Geun-cheol said it so casually.
I'm this tense.
He's acting like the adult-channel thing a moment ago doesn't even register.
Geun-cheol is a super considerate guy, but he also has this oblivious side.
He offers to check out my swordsmanship and then tries to learn from Yu-ri for no reason. Goes all smiley every time he sees Leona. A guy with lots of good points but plenty of flaws, too.
Would he treat me differently if he knew I was a girl?
"Hoo."
The thought came to her for no reason.
"Si-hoo, you little shit, you still hung up on that adult channel? Just lie down already, man. You gotta recover your stamina fast."
He really said it like it was nothing.
Right.
To Geun-cheol, she's just a close guy friend. Guys at this age obviously can't help liking adult channels. Trying to watch one with a friend... is that normal? Do guys usually watch adult channels together? She wasn't sure, but the way Geun-cheol did it without a second thought, it must be.
She couldn't do anything but accept it.
"Alright. I'm fine now, so stop giving me crap."
"Gotcha."
—Shff.
She slid under the covers right away. She's genuinely exhausted. Still, being under the blanket settled her heart. Having her body concealed was the biggest reason, but the biggest reason was something else.
Good.
Well played.
She seized the bed.
If she grabbed the bed first like this, Geun-cheol, being who he is, would insist on sleeping on the floor with a blanket. He'd make a big show about being grateful for her help in today's fight and so on.
Wait, but why is there only one bed? Sure, it's big enough for two people... but still, two?
The thought came to her for no reason.
'Ngh!'
Lee Si-hoo felt like she might go crazy. She's going to sleep in the same room, the same bed, as a guy friend.
"Whoa. This bed is freaking huge, though."
"Huh?"
What...?
"Kinda sucks there's only one, but it's so big it won't matter, right? I'll lie down next to you."
"Wh—what?! Geun-cheol!"
"Dude! What now!"
"Geun-cheol! Two guys sleeping together in the same bed is kind of weird, okay!"
Geun-cheol suddenly tried to lie down next to her, and Lee Si-hoo, absolutely shocked, managed to get those words out on reflex. Even she thought it was a decent excuse. With this, Geun-cheol would give up.
"Well, yeah, but right now there's only one room, isn't there?"
"Th, that's still!"
"Man. You don't know about the military? The military?"
"The military?"
"In the military, you sleep packed tight right next to the guy in front of you or behind you, bodies practically glued together. That's the world we live in, so what're you making such a big deal about?"
"What are you even saying?"
What?
"You don't know? Anyway, you military-exemption case. Hey. Even at basic training, thirty big grown men cram in tight on one platform and lie down in a row, bodies stuck together. Compared to that, this huge bed is heaven, man. Stop bitching and scoot over. We're splitting it in half."
Basic training.
She's exempt from service anyway, so she'd never really thought about it. Lee Si-hoo briefly tried to imagine the sight of thirty big men lying crammed together on one platform.
"..."
There's no way that scene could exist. No, more than that—once he'd said that much, she couldn't even argue back.
—Shff.
Geun-cheol came over to the side and lay right down.
"...!"
This is bad.
This is really bad.
Do I seriously have to sleep in the same bed as Geun-cheol starting tonight? Like... a married couple?
'This makes us basically like a married couple...!'
Ridiculous! Married to Geun-cheol! It's unthinkable! Lee Si-hoo screamed internally, completely at a loss, and clutched the blanket. Even as she lay there, seconds of 'bedtime with Geun-cheol' ticked by...!
'This isn't some kind of honeymoon, what is this?!'
Being in this situation, she couldn't help constantly realizing she was a woman. No. It wasn't something she could deny in the first place.
If only her heart, too, could've become a man's—but it couldn't.
Lee Si-hoo's heart had never once been a man's.
"Ugh, hey."
Suddenly, Kim Geun-cheol turned his body toward her.
"Hup...!"
She barely managed to choke back the scream that almost burst out. He was so close it was hard to bear it. She wanted to kick off the covers and bolt out of bed right now.
"Geun-cheol...?"
"Hey. Get up. On second thought, we don't have time to catch some shut-eye. Come down and sit down."
—Whump.
Saying that, Kim Geun-cheol threw off the blanket and climbed off the bed.
What in the world?
"Geun-cheol? Why all of a sudden?"
"We've gotta write that Doppelganger Slime report, don't we? We couldn't report it earlier. There's a computer here, so let's draft something quick and send it to Instructor Lee So-ra."
Oh, right.
That.
The Doppelganger Slime we saw earlier was extremely surprising, but to Lee Si-hoo, it didn't seem as important as this moment. So she'd briefly forgotten about it.
"I figure we need to at least take that kind of measure. This is really important. We've gotta get the report up fast so the adults can do something about it. Right?"
"Yeah. You're right. Let's write it fast."
—Shff.
Lee Si-hoo also got up, went straight to the computer, and sat down. Together with Geun-cheol, she wrote the report.
'How much longer do I have to go on like this?'
Everything ahead looks pitch-black.
* * *
Si-hoo, man, he's surprisingly finicky. Going somewhere on a trip with him later sounds like it'd be kind of tough. He's not the type who can just crash somewhere and hang out.
—Tap-tap-tap.
Anyway, Si-hoo and I put together the report on the Doppelganger Slime.
Putting our heads together, we went back over our memories and filled in the details. We've gotta include everything we saw so the government can do something about it.
"So, Si-hoo. How much stronger did you get?"
"Mm, who knows? I think I need to test it, but I'm tired right now. I'll check tomorrow and let you know."
"Gotcha. But, man, I feel like my skills have gotten a little better, too."
"You, Geun-cheol? Well, you fought hard. Wanna test it out at the training grounds next time?"
"Let's do that."
What's this?
He's suddenly back to normal?
Just a moment ago he had this weird vibe like he couldn't settle down, but it looks like he's calmed down some now. He was definitely mentally messed up because of the Doppelganger Slime. Needs some stability.
Better keep it quiet for now.
—Buzz.
Right around then, a message from Leona came in.
"Yo, Si-hoo."
"Leona messaged."
"What's she say?"
"She says come out to eat. Hell yeah! Chow time!"
If Leona's buying, the food's bound to be insanely good! I shot up with a yell and headed for the front door.
"Si-hoo. Nothing to grab?"
"Yeah. Let's just head down."
"Let's do it."
—Shff.
I shoved my feet into the slippers by the door and opened it.
"Oh my, you're in a robe?"
Leona was standing right outside the door.
"Heh-heh, yeah. This thing's nice."
"Now that I think about it, we snatched you up in such a hurry, we didn't grab any clothes for you."
Clothes?
"Seeing the robe just made that click. Should I go and grab you some clothes?"
"Nah, no need."
"Why not? You're not gonna live in just that. Don't refuse—let's go grab you some, yeah?"
"Nah. It's fine. Even if I tried to grab clothes, I don't have any to begin with."
I'll just make do wearing this for now.
I literally don't own any clothes.
"Excuse me? What did you say?"
"I said I don't have any clothes to grab. This robe's plenty."
"Huh? Huh?"
"What's with 'huh'?"
At that moment.
I saw Leona's face go blank and realized.
"No! Leona, hold on! Wait! You don't seriously right now—"
"Clothes...! You don't have clothes...?! Sniff!"
There it goes again!
Tears are welling up in Leona's eyes!
"Why don't you have clothes!!!"
"I mean, you see!"
"I see! The person who really needed charity was you, Kim Geun-cheol!"
"Please wait! Listen to what I have to say!"
"I'll send you some clothes...!"
Leona had already shifted into full charity mode; my words weren't reaching her at all! Fine, I get it, she thinks I'm some kind of pity case!
Honestly I am a little bit of a pity case, but I'm not actually that pathetic, okay?!
"I said it's fine! I get my stipend! I'll buy some!"
"You said you need that for food! I'll send you some clothes, so just wear them, okay?! I guess that's why you were always only wearing your school uniform! You one-suit-wonder Geun-cheol!"
"You only see me at school, so of course I'm only in my uniform!"
I'm losing it!
"Kim Geun-cheol, stop being stubborn!!!"
This is hopeless...!
Now that it's come to this, she'll send me clothes no matter what. Guess I'll just take 'em and keep stacking up those charity points.