Is the Senior Really That Bad at Sports?
Jinwoo wondered if his senior was truly hopeless at exercise. A full-blown cooking competition seemed too grand for the occasion. They hadn't gone grocery shopping, and his house was just an ordinary family home. The fridge only held everyday ingredients at best. 'I could probably make rabokki.'
He'd seen it somewhere before—Korean high school girls loved tteokbokki and malatang. Eunbyul wasn't a high schooler anymore, but in her school uniform she looked prettier than most actual students, so it should be fine. Above all, tteokbokki was the dish he'd made the most while helping out at his parents' tteokbokki shop. It felt a little like cheating, but among the ingredients they had on hand, it was the most reasonable choice.
'It's warm, so it should help warm up Senior Eunbyul's body too.' Adding rice cakes and fish cakes would provide enough nutrients as well. With his menu decided, Jinwoo began taking out the ingredients.
Eunbyul seemed to have chosen what she would make long ago. She was already pulling several eggs out of the fridge.
“What are you making, Senior?”
“I’m making first-class omurice.”
Eunbyul answered proudly, puffing out her chest. How could even the way she declared her cooking menu be so cute? Omurice made by Senior Eunbyul. It definitely suited her image. Even if it tasted terrible, Jinwoo was confident he could eat it like it was the most delicious omurice in the world.
“For some reason, omurice shows up a lot in manga, doesn’t it?”
“Maybe because it has that feminine cooking image? A girl making omurice always seems cute, right?”
“Huh? Jinwoo, are you saying I’m cute right now?”
“......Ah, the water’s starting to boil.”
He smoothly changed the subject and turned his body. Or at least he tried to—Eunbyul grabbed his sleeve and tugged hard.
“If you don’t answer me properly, I’m going to mess with you the whole time we’re cooking, okay?”
“Umm.”
Jinwoo knew all too well just how mischievous Eunbyul could be. He’d learned that thoroughly while touring the school with her today. If she was seriously planning to follow through… he wasn’t confident he could focus on making rabokki properly. And judging by her bright, beaming expression, she had no intention of letting it slide.
“You already know even if I don’t say it.”
“Hmmm~ I wonder what our Jinwoo is thinking? I have no idea at all~”
Look at her right now. She clearly knew but was teasing him on purpose. Jinwoo felt his face—and even his ears—burning red as he answered.
“I… think you’re cute.”
“Hmmm~ Really? So Jinwoo thinks I’m cute? Even though you’re younger than me.”
“Ah, that’s not what I meant!”
“Yep!! I know!”
Eunbyul nodded happily. Her satisfied face said she’d gotten exactly the answer she wanted. Why did seeing that smile make his face grow even hotter? He’d only said it to avoid being teased, yet he already felt thoroughly played with.
“Hehe! Jinwoo’s reactions are so fun that I keep wanting to tease you without even realizing it.”
But when she said it with that angelic smile, he couldn’t even complain. The real problem was that he couldn’t even get angry in the first place.
“Ah, do you have an apron? I borrowed these clothes, so I’d feel bad if they got dirty.”
“It’s fine. I don’t wear them anymore anyway, so use them however you like.”
“Aww~ Then I’d feel too guilty.”
Jinwoo pulled an apron from the drawer and handed it to Eunbyul. She immediately tied the white apron around herself. It was just an apron, yet somehow the look made her seem even more charming. The saying that the face completes the fashion was absolutely true.
“Umm, something feels off.”
Eunbyul reached behind her back, frowning when she couldn’t manage it.
“Jinwoo, sorry, but could you tie the ribbon in the back for me?”
“Ah, sure.”
Jinwoo quickly moved behind her and tied the strings.
“Hehe! It tickles!”
“Ah, sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. My back is just a little sensitive.”
“…….”
For a moment, his hands trembled slightly from nerves. He knew it was nothing, but he couldn’t help tensing up whenever Eunbyul was involved. Even though it was just tying a knot, it felt like an incredibly long time had passed.
“Hehe! Thanks!”
Apparently completely unaware of his thoughts, Eunbyul immediately focused back on her omurice. Jinwoo shook his head, trying to clear his mind.
'I should hurry up and make the rabokki too.'
He wanted to feed Eunbyul something delicious if possible. Plus, they still had that wish bet on the line. Seeing her cook so seriously, it would be rude to keep having weird thoughts.
'She picked her menu so quickly, it must be something she’s confident in.' No matter how much experience he had working part-time at the snack shop, letting his guard down could mean losing. He needed to take this seriously.
“Whoa, I almost forgot the salt. The fact that I remembered makes me a genius.”
Um… well, it should be fine, right?
*
“Haa~ I’m so full!”
“You really ate it all so deliciously.”
Jinwoo and Eunbyul had emptied both the omurice and rabokki bowls in no time. They’d started out determined to have a serious cooking showdown, but once they began eating, the food tasted so good that neither of them cared about keeping score. Before long, they were happily sharing bites and showering each other with compliments.
“The spicy sauce in the rabokki was absolutely fantastic.”
“Your omurice was delicious too, Senior. You’re really good at cooking eggs.”
“Ahem! Ahem! Eggs are like a best friend to someone living alone. With just eggs, you can make at least ten different dishes.”
Eunbyul cleared the dishes and glanced out the window. Heavy rain was still pouring down outside. A worried look crossed her face.
“Umm, the rain really isn’t letting up.”
“Stay a little longer before you go. There’s no need to head out while it’s pouring like this.”
He could lend her an umbrella, of course. But with rain this heavy, even an umbrella wouldn’t do much good.
“Then I’ll rest a bit more before leaving. Honestly, it feels so cozy that I kind of want to stay longer.”
Eunbyul leaned back against the wall and stretched her legs out. Jinwoo quickly turned his head, suddenly very aware of her long, extended legs.
“Ah, but what should we do about the bet? We still don’t have a winner like this.”
“I thought your rabokki tasted better, Jinwoo.”
“I liked your omurice more, though?”
They both spoke at the same time and burst into laughter. They’d suspected from the start that it wouldn’t be easy to decide a winner this way. But they certainly hadn’t expected each of them to claim the other’s dish was better.
“Umm, still, it feels a shame to end it like this. It’s raining so there’s not much else to do. Want to play some kind of game?”
“A game… would you like to play Nintendo?”
“Oh? You have that stuff?”
“My little sister said she wanted to exercise, so I bought it for her, but she never uses it and it’s just been sitting there collecting dust—”
Jinwoo stopped mid-sentence and looked at Eunbyul again. Her eyes were sparkling, her cheeks flushed. The words “I want to try it!!” radiated from every inch of her body. She looked exactly like a child who’d just received a Christmas present. It was so adorable he almost laughed out loud without meaning to.
“We just ate anyway. Let’s play to help with digestion.”
“Wow, this is going to be so fun!”
The two of them pulled the game console out of its box and hooked it up. When they inserted the cartridge, quite a variety of games appeared. When had they even bought all these? It was amazing that they’d purchased so many yet he could count on one hand the number of times he’d actually seen them played.
“There are a lot of games, but they’re all exercise-related.”
Rather than just pressing buttons, these were motion-sensing games that required the player to move their body. It seemed his sister really had bought them with exercise in mind. Though ironically, that might have been why they ended up stuffed in a box.
“It’s fine! I’ve never played anything like this before. I’m sure anything will be fun.”
“Then how about this one?”
“What is it? What is it?”
Eunbyul’s eyes sparkled as she listened to him explain the games. Just seeing that pure expression made his heart melt. Who would have thought he’d end up playing games at home with Senior Eunbyul? He’d have to give his little sister some allowance money later.
“Let’s go with tennis.”
“You know how to play tennis?”
“I learned a little bit a while ago.”
“……Hmm, going all-out against a beginner. You’re really trying that hard to win? What exactly are you planning to make me do?”
Eunbyul asked with narrowed eyes. Jinwoo, who wasn’t entirely innocent, blushed slightly and quickly shook his head.
“No, it’s not like that. I really just picked it because it looked the most fun?”
“Hmm~ I’ll have to play it first before deciding whether that was a sincere statement.”
“It’ll definitely be fun.”
Honestly, for Jinwoo, just being together like this was enjoyable enough. It felt like his heart was healing all on its own.
The two turned on the game and started playing together. On screen, two human-shaped characters held tennis rackets. The rules weren’t all that different from real tennis. When you swung your arm, the character’s arm moved accordingly, and if your opponent failed to return the ball, you scored a point. Of course, since it was just a game, it wasn’t as difficult as actual sports. All you had to do was swing at balls flying in from a distance. Some people might still find that hard, but it was designed so even children could enjoy it.
At least, that’s how it should have been—
“...Hah! Hyaht!”
Eunbyul swung her arm quickly. She even ran to the exact opposite side the ball was heading.
'This is impressive in a completely different way.'
Surprisingly, Eunbyul’s athletic ability was terrible. Well, there was no rule saying novelists had to be good at sports. Plenty of women weren’t familiar with ball games. And above all, even Eunbyul’s clumsy attempts at exercise had their own charm.
But she clearly didn’t see it that way. She glared resentfully at the handheld motion controller.
“Umm… this is weird. Ah! Maybe there’s something wrong with the game console!”
“I don’t think that’s the case.”
On the other hand, Jinwoo was handling it quite skillfully. There was the difference in gender, and he was already used to moving his body like this.
“Still, it feels suspicious. Let’s switch and try again.”
“Sure, why not.”
They swapped controllers. But the result was the same. The ball Jinwoo had gently sent over as a soft serve, Eunbyul missed ridiculously easily.
'She’s bad at it, but she’s trying incredibly hard.'
Even that looked, through Jinwoo’s lovestruck eyes, like a never-give-up attitude. In truth, Eunbyul really was putting her whole body into it. Thinking her movements were too small, she began swinging with her entire body.
“Ugh! Nngh! M-my arm won’t reach!”
“It’s a game, so doesn’t that not really matter?”
“No! If I stretch this far…! Ah!”
Suddenly, Eunbyul lost her balance. Jinwoo immediately reached out to catch her. But Eunbyul quickly assumed a break-fall position, and their bodies collided as they twisted past each other.
“Ah!”
“Whoa!”
He instinctively twisted his body to catch her. The silver lining was that he’d managed to end up on the bottom. At least falling over probably wouldn’t cause any serious injury.
“Senior, are you okay?”
He opened his eyes a moment later and looked up. And there was Eunbyul, right above his face.
“.......Hmm?”
More precisely, Eunbyul was on top of him. Their eyes met, both of them frozen, unsure what to do. Her hair brushed against his cheek, tickling him. Her flushed cheeks and the faint beads of sweat from all the movement. Every detail stood out crystal clear.
'I-I need to get up…'
His head was filled with the thought that he had to escape this situation immediately. But Eunbyul was blocking him, and he couldn’t move. For some reason, she wasn’t trying to get up either.
An empty room. The sound of raindrops tapping against the window outside. Gulp. Who swallowed first? A strange tension flowed between them as they stared at each other, unable to look away.