Swallowed Words
Once they left the school building, the two of them walked along together.
"Hankyul, here, eat this."
Rummaging through her pocket, Jo Bitna pulled out a chocolate.
"Whoa, where'd this come from all of a sudden?"
"I never got to give it to you on Valentine's Day, remember?"
April was nearly over.
It was far too late to be bringing up Valentine's Day, but he accepted it anyway.
"Thanks, I'll enjoy it."
"Want another?"
"Nah, one's plenty."
Hankyul peeled back the wrapper and popped the chocolate into his mouth. Watching him, Jo Bitna quietly licked her lips.
"Hey, about earlier—"
"Ah, don't worry about that. I told you, it doesn't bother me at all."
"......"
"I mean, it's not like it actually hurt my feelings or anything. A pretty girl like you could do way better than me."
"......That's a lie."
"Huh?"
"You've never once thought I was pretty."
Whoooosh.
The wind blew. At some point the two of them had stopped walking and now stood in the middle of the sidewalk.
Jo Bitna quietly curled her fist into her skirt, creasing the fabric.
"You've never thought that. Not even once."
Because her Core didn't work on him. Just like it hadn't worked on Seol Jihyo.
But unlike with Seol Jihyo, Jo Bitna didn't hate Bae Hankyul.
No—if anything......
"Hankyul, I li—"
"Anyway!"
The instant her lips parted without her meaning them to, Hankyul cut her off like a lightning strike.
"Oh, right, Bitna. You said you had something to tell me, didn't you? Something about Jihyo."
The corners of Jo Bitna's mouth stiffened for a flash.
But just as quickly, she answered with her usual sweet, easy smile.
"Oh, that? That was just an excuse."
"......An excuse?"
"I figured if I said that, you'd come along with me. Are you mad?"
"No, I wouldn't get mad over something like that. But I really do have some stuff to take care of......"
"Hankyul."
"Yeah?"
"Do you like Jihyo?"
"......Huh?"
Tap.
The empty chocolate wrapper slipped from Hankyul's fingers. He snatched it back up and stammered, visibly flustered.
"Wh-what? You startled me. Bitna, I think you've got the wrong idea—Jihyo and I are just friends."
"Really? Like us?"
"Yeah. Like us."
"......"
Jo Bitna opened her mouth, then closed it again. Having swallowed something along with the words she'd meant to say, she spoke instead with a smile.
"You're really sure? It just looks to me like you treat Jihyo a little... specially. That's why I asked."
"Specially? Me, Jihyo?"
"Mm-hm. Everyone thinks so."
Gently sweeping her hair back over her shoulder, Jo Bitna slowly turned away from him.
"If it's not that you like her, then you should keep a little more distance from Jihyo from now on. You're kind to everyone, so maybe you haven't noticed, but when someone as popular as you keeps hovering around Jihyo, it only backfires."
"Backfires? How?"
"You came by our class during break today, remember? You gave her a banana milk. It drew a ton of attention, and a few of the girls took it out on her afterward. Of course I stopped them, but... I guess jealousy is just something you can't help."
As Jo Bitna sighed her way through the story, the expression on Hankyul's face changed.
"Wait—is that why Jihyo bolted out of the classroom?"
"Hmm, I can't say for sure, but probably, yeah. She said she didn't need it and was about to throw it away, so I took it off her hands."
Jo Bitna opened her bag and showed him the banana milk.
"She must find the whole thing awkward. I've tried to get close to her too, but... she keeps pushing me away. I don't think Jihyo wants it either."
"......"
"She's probably more comfortable alone. Makes sense, right? If she hangs around with people like us, she'd only stand out more."
Hankyul stood frozen like a stone, silently listening. The empty chocolate shell crushed tight in his hand, and something had gone dark in his face.
Jo Bitna lifted her paused footsteps, slow and deliberate, and added softly:
"I shouldn't have said anything. I only mentioned it because I was worried about Jihyo. You'll keep it between us?"
"Thanks, Bitna."
"...Huh? For what?"
A few steps away, Jo Bitna stopped in her tracks.
"For worrying about Jihyo."
...She stood rooted to the spot.
After several seconds of paralysis, her head turned with a stiff, creaking jerk.
"...Why would that be something for you to thank me for?"
"Well..."
Scratching the bridge of his nose, Hankyul grabbed his bag strap and started walking.
"No idea. Anyway! I gotta get going. And thanks for the chocolate."
Ta-da-dash—
He left her there and was gone.
Jo Bitna, still frozen in place, only ground her teeth together after his back had completely vanished from view.
"......"
Biting at her neatly manicured nails until they cracked, she strode off in great angry steps.
She had been about to head straight up to the dormitory when she stopped dead at the entrance.
"Y-yeah, I always go to the same place."
"Really? Behind the dorms. Want to go together?"
"Sure. I'll come back after class, then."
...Behind the dormitory.
Staring fixedly in that direction, Jo Bitna turned on her heel and headed straight for it.
Not far away, beneath a jumbled pile of stacked boards, something small and snow-white was wriggling.
"Huff, huff."
...A scruffy little puppy.
Jo Bitna looked down, face rigid, at the puppy trotting toward her with its tail wagging.
So this is it.
Because of this one miserable dog, Hankyul met Seol Jihyo here every single day after class.
"......"
Rustle—
Her fingers brushed against the remaining chocolate in her pocket.
As if turning something over in her mind, Jo Bitna toyed with the chocolate between her fingertips while drawing out her phone with the other hand.
"Sunbae, it's me—Bitna. Could I ask you for a favor?"
The chocolate in her left hand.
Her eyes on the tail-wagging puppy.
And a smile curving her lips, Jo Bitna murmured quietly into the phone's speaker.
"Yes. A favor only you can do for me, sunbae."
After class.
Amid the noisy classroom, Lim Lisa quietly packed her bag alone. She stole a glance toward the back of the room, checking the very last row.
Jihyo's seat was empty.
I couldn't even get one proper sentence out to Jihyo today either.
Trudging out of the classroom with a gloomy face, Lisa headed for the dormitory.
After the Core Application class, she had tried her very best to reach out to Jihyo. Jihyo was a good person. Maybe they could even become f-friends.
Jihyo had leapt down the cliff to save her that day, and ever since, she'd talked to Lisa like it was nothing at all.
"Hi. Good morning."
It had been the first time. No classmate had ever greeted her good morning before.
After that, Lisa had taken to following Jihyo with her eyes out of habit. Gaon's enrollment worked like an escalator—students rose through the attached grades automatically—so she had known of Jihyo since elementary school. A shy, passive kid, just like herself. That was all she had ever thought.
But once they entered the high school division and ended up in the same class, the impression was completely different. Jihyo stood up boldly to the kids who tormented Lisa. And she treated even a gloomy, unsettling girl like Lisa exactly the same as anyone else.
Lisa couldn't tell whether that was simply who Jihyo had always been, or whether the accident had changed her. But what did it matter?
I want to be like Jihyo.
Yet even getting a single word out had proven an ordeal.
A few days ago at lunch, Jihyo had been eating with Moon Yoojin and Bae Hankyul. And just the other day, when she'd wrung out every drop of courage to suggest walking home together, Jo Bitna had appeared out of nowhere.
She'd wanted to ask if they could at least go to the library together after class......
"Sorry. I have plans with Hankyul after class."
"Oh... I see......"
It really wasn't easy.
Perhaps because Lisa had looked so deflated at being turned down, Jihyo—who had been staring straight at her—brought up something unexpected.
"This is a secret, but I've been raising a puppy in the backyard."
"...Huh? A puppy?"
"Her name's Somi. Bae Hankyul helps look after her too. She's insanely cute, so come see her sometime."
They hadn't made it to the library together, but Jihyo had shared a secret with her, and that alone had made Lisa happy.
Come to think of it, Jihyo wasn't in her seat for the entire afternoon, was she.
By the time she reached the dormitory, Lisa was still thinking about how Jihyo had vanished during break. She'd assumed she'd be right back, but she never showed up again before class ended.
Had something happened?
...Could it be something about Somi?
The thought came to her out of nowhere. Lisa stopped in front of the dormitory, then stole a glance toward the backyard.
Jihyo had said she met Hankyul after class to look after Somi back there—so maybe she was there right now......
Maybe I'll just take a quick peek?
...Wouldn't that be way too stalker-ish, though?
But what could she do—she was worried. What if Jihyo found it uncomfortable? Still, Jihyo was the one who'd invited her to come see Somi. But what if she'd only said that out of politeness?
"......"
After dithering back and forth near the stairs for ages, Lisa finally made up her mind.
I'll go. Just sneak a look and make sure Jihyo's okay, then leave.
Lisa went down the stairs and headed for the backyard behind the dormitory. But the moment she arrived, her feet stopped dead.
Because of the unexpected people she found there.
...Jo Bitna?
Jo Bitna, a handful of girls from their class, and several seniors who looked to be third-years.