Banana Milk
"...Why on earth is there banana milk?"
She took the bait.
At Jo Bitna's question, Jiwoo sat herself on the edge of the desk with practiced nonchalance.
"Oh, this? Someone's been leaving it for me every day since I came back from my leave. It's honestly a little embarrassing."
She fiddled with the banana milk as she spoke, flashing a sheepish, put-out sort of smile.
Jo Bitna, who had been staring at her intently, flipped her hair back as she sat down at the desk in front of hers. The smile that had vanished earlier was back in full, as if it had never left.
"Hankyeol's always like that."
"Always?"
"He's just that kind. He treats everyone well, without any prejudice. He can't pretend not to notice a kid who's drifting on the edges of school life. Which is why quite a few people end up fooling themselves into thinking they're special to him..."
Jo Bitna glanced pointedly at the banana milk and added,
"Pity the ones who think that way. Hankyeol is nice to everybody — if you think you're the only exception, that's just an overactive imagination."
"I see. So you've gotten some too, then?"
"...Gotten some? Gotten what?"
"Banana milk. You just said he gives it to everyone."
When Jiwoo waved the carton right in front of her, Jo Bitna's lips pressed into a pout.
"...I told you. Hankyeol's too kind to ignore kids who don't fit in. It's charity for the pathetic ones."
Jiwoo, who had been listening quietly, rested her chin lightly on her hand.
"Then why hasn't he ever given you one?"
"...Excuse me?"
"From where I'm sitting, you seem plenty pathetic to me."
A hairline crack split instantly through Jo Bitna's immaculate smile.
Jiwoo gave a careless shrug.
"Just kidding. Although, seeing you react that strongly—"
"..."
"You wouldn't happen to like Bae Hankyeol, would you?"
Jiwoo deliberately raised her voice a notch. Clear enough to carry easily to the classmates who were already straining their ears toward the conversation.
"Jo Bitna likes someone...?"
The murmur through the classroom swelled.
Flinch. Jo Bitna's shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly.
"No way. Bitna, you were dating Gu Minjae until like a week ago."
"They broke up, so who knows."
"I heard she's got a thing going with a third-year senior."
"Whoa... I thought she was only the one receiving confessions. So Jo Bitna gets pined over like everyone else?"
Under the converging attention, Jo Bitna fought to keep the corner of her mouth from twitching.
"Liking Hankyeol? Where's this even coming from?"
"Just felt like asking."
"Hankyeol's a great guy, sure, but I've never thought of him that way. We've been friends forever, that's all."
"Really? Then why are you so interested in the banana milk? If he really gives these out to everyone like you say, you wouldn't have needed to ask me about it at all."
"...That's—"
"You do have a thing for Bae Hankyeol, don't you?"
"No, I don't..."
"Why not? He's handsome, isn't he? Tall, amazing at sports, kind-hearted. If I were you—"
"I said no!"
Slam!
Jo Bitna shot up from her seat.
"Stop saying such ridiculous things. I do not like Bae Hankyeol. Why would I go after a guy like him when I've got people tripping over themselves for me already?"
Ssshh...
Silence settled over the classroom.
And it wasn't only because of the sharp, unseen edge they'd just witnessed in Jo Bitna.
"Uh... Hankyeol."
Flinch.
Shoulders jerking, Jo Bitna turned her head with a wooden creak of stiffness.
By the open back door of the classroom stood Bae Hankyeol — the boy who had left just moments ago — blinking wide-eyed.
"Ah, sorry. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, I swear..."
Hankyeol scratched the bridge of his nose, looking awkward.
"I found a study guide in my bag — turns out you'd packed it in there for me. I didn't end up needing it, so I came to return it. Yeah."
He crossed the room quickly, handed the borrowed study guide back to Jiwoo, and wheeled around to leave.
Jo Bitna caught him by the arm in an instant.
"H-Hankyeol. What I said just now—"
"I know, Bitna. You and that third-year senior are doing well, right? I'm rooting for you. Wouldn't want people getting the wrong idea about you."
"No — no, I—"
In front of her flustered stammering, Hankyeol beamed. Then he gently — but firmly — peeled Jo Bitna's hand off his sleeve.
"I'm fine. Really. This kind of stuff doesn't bother me at all."
It doesn't... bother him?
"Anyway, see you."
Click.
Jo Bitna stood staring blankly at Hankyeol's retreating figure as the door slid shut behind him. She was frozen, utterly motionless. But Jiwoo saw it clearly — that profile on the verge of crumbling apart.
Unable to even glance in the direction Hankyeol had gone, Jo Bitna's shoulders were shaking, ever so slightly.
Jiwoo picked up the banana milk from her desk and pushed it across toward her.
"Judging by that face, this one's yours. I don't even like the stuff anyway."
"..."
"Oh, and one more thing."
Still holding the carton out, Jiwoo murmured in a voice pitched low enough for Jo Bitna alone to hear.
"Never try to scratch me again. There won't be a second time."
Across Jo Bitna's face — where the hairline crack had already spread — a perfect, jagged fracture tore open.
Moments later, the bell rang for class.
Jiwoo sat down with a satisfied smile and...
"Jo Bitna, why aren't you in your seat?"
...didn't budge from her spot until the teacher walked in.
Both hands clenched white-knuckle tight around the banana milk.
* * *
The afternoon class was basic Core conditioning.
It was a mobile class, held not in the classroom but in the training hall. When Jiwoo returned to the classroom afterward, she stole a glance toward the neighboring row.
Since the incident that morning, Jo Bitna hadn't met her eyes once all day. More than that, she had been strangely, unnaturally quiet.
Apparently, Bae Hankyeol carried far more weight with her than Jiwoo had estimated.
Even so, she didn't seem the type to let things slide this easily...
Jiwoo's instinct wasn't far off the mark.
'What the—'
The moment she picked up her bag to prepare for the next class, something felt wrong.
—It was gone.
The butterfly-shaped keychain that had been hanging from her bag.
The one Jihyo had given her as a gift.
'Where did it go?'
Her stomach dropped. She swept her surroundings, half hoping it had snagged on something nearby, but it was pointless.
'Did I drop it on the way to school?'
Ordinarily she would never have made a careless mistake like that. Not with something like that.
'...Is this Jo Bitna's doing?'
The thought came with a natural, sliding certainty. During the mobile class, every student had been out of the room. If she'd wanted to, she'd have had plenty of time to steal it.
...But there was no proof. Even if she confronted Jo Bitna right now, the girl would simply play dumb. And even if a witness did exist, no one was going to take the side of "Seol Jihyo" over Jo Bitna.
'Let me look around a bit more first.'
She sprang up from her seat and hurried out of the classroom.
"..."
In the corner of the room, Jo Bitna — who had been studying herself in a hand mirror — flicked her eyes toward the retreating figure.
Time passed, and the day's classes came to an end.
"Yujin!"
After school, Hankyeol came looking for Class 1-2 — because his best friend, Moon Yujin, was in it.
And so was she.
"Huh? Where's Jihyo?"
He opened the back door and made his way naturally toward the last row, but somehow the face he was looking for wasn't there. Instead, Yujin looked up and answered.
"She bolted out during break and never came back."
"Huh? Bolted out? Where'd she go?"
"No idea."
"...Don't tell me she went to see Somi early?"
Hankyeol muttered under his breath. Yujin, gathering his bag, glanced sideways at him.
"Somi?"
"Oh — I never told you? There's a stray puppy behind the dorms we've been taking care of."
"You?"
"Mm, well, Jihyo, strictly speaking. I just go and play with the little guy sometimes."
Hankyeol, anxiously biting at his thumbnail, quickly made up his mind and turned to go.
"Something might've happened to Somi. I have to check. What about you, Yujin?"
"I..."
Just as Yujin started to shape a reply—
"Hankyeol."
Someone approached at a brisk pace.
"Uh... hey, Bitna."
"Hi! Are you free right now, by any chance?"
"Ah, I've actually got somewhere to be—"
"It'll only take a second. There's something I really need to tell you."
"Something to tell me? Like what?"
"Yeah."
Jo Bitna sidled naturally up close to Hankyeol, looped her arm around his, and whispered.
"It's about Jihyo."