An Unexpected Visitor and a Forgotten Notebook
Senior was clearly flustered by this encounter. Jinwoo swallowed hard as he stared at Eunbyul, who was practically pinning him down. It was as if some kind of magic was at work—her eyes held his gaze so completely he couldn't look away. Their faces were only about fifty centimeters apart. A strange heat flowed between them, and he had no idea how to react.
“……”
Eunbyul seemed to be in the same state, her cheeks flushed bright red as she remained frozen in place. The famous web novelist's mind was overloaded, refusing to process the situation. Neither of them had ever experienced anything like this atmosphere before. In a way, it was almost comical. Caught in that awkward, tension-filled silence, the two of them seemed to have lost the ability to speak.
So naturally, the one to break that silence was an outside interruption.
“Kids~ Mom's home! It's pouring out there! The sky's gone completely cra—”
“Hic!”
Eunbyul snapped back to her senses and quickly pulled away. Jinwoo belatedly scrambled to his feet. His stalled brain finally sounded the alarm at the risk of embarrassment, kicking his body into action.
“Oh, Mom's back?”
“……”
Jinwoo scratched his head awkwardly as he spoke. Eunbyul stood beside him with her hands neatly clasped, looking completely lost about what to do. But no matter how quickly they tried to compose themselves, the situation was impossible not to find suspicious.
Eunbyul was wearing slightly oversized men's clothes. A man and woman both flushed and sweaty. The subtly charged atmosphere between them.
Jinwoo's mom, who had been observing them, quietly stepped back behind the door.
“Did Mom interrupt something? Should I come back in thirty minutes?”
“No! It's not like that!”
“N-no, that's not it at all! It's a misunderstanding!”
The two of them shouted in a panic. Of course, their flustered voices only fueled her suspicions even more.
“Hello, I'm Lee Eunbyul, Jinwoo's senior from school. I ended up imposing on you today because of the sudden rain.”
Eunbyul bowed her head politely to Jinwoo's mother, Han Eunsuk, who was sitting across from her.
“Ah~ I see. I was worried my son had spent money on something weird again.”
At his mother's casual remark, the son made a subtle face. Her choice of words was really something.
“What are you even saying in front of a guest?”
“Why? Everyone says VR and AI are all the rage these days. The technology these days is really impressive.”
“Please stop watching weird stuff on YouTube.”
He had a strong feeling her knowledge was extremely biased. How did a middle-aged woman with two kids even know about VR? And she was even imagining her son had created some kind of female character with it. No matter how much of an otaku she was, her trust in her son was truly pitiful. Or rather, in a way, was she actually giving him too much credit? That thought felt strange in its own way.
“I-I'm sorry if I caused a misunderstanding! I kind of forced Jinwoo into it...!”
“Haha, it's fine. I'm sure my son invited you without asking again, right?”
“Uh... again?”
“Our son has always had a habit of poking his nose into everything since he was little. Whenever he sees someone in trouble, he jumps in to help first. You must have been the same, Eunbyul.”
“Hmm~ Yes, I ‘also’ experienced that.”
Suddenly, Eunbyul reached over and gripped Jinwoo's wrist tightly where he sat beside her. The strength in her fingers was surprisingly painful. A slightly dangerous glint flashed beneath her sweetly smiling face. She didn't show it openly because his mother was right there, but anyone could tell she was angry. If this were a manga world, there would definitely be a “Goooo” sound effect rising behind her head.
Jinwoo broke out in a cold sweat for no reason.
“Still, this is the first time he's brought a girl home, so I was really surprised.”
“Huh? Am I the first?”
“That's right. He never brought a single girlfriend home even after starting university, so I was flustered when I saw you here, Eunbyul.”
“Ah, no! I'm the one who should apologize for showing up so suddenly. Hmm~ So that's how it is.”
The strength in Eunbyul's grip loosened. Her expression brightened considerably, as if her anger had melted away. Watching them, Han Eunsuk let out a small chuckle. Only Jinwoo, stuck in the middle of the women's conversation, wore a completely confused expression.
“Sigh, we were even preparing ourselves thinking our son might have unusual tastes.”
“Mom, what are you saying in front of a guest?”
“Please take good care of our son. I don't know how he grew up like this, but he makes me so anxious.”
“Did you have that many complaints about me usually, Madam Han?”
Eunbyul burst into giggles at their exchange. Jinwoo's face turned beet red as he sat between them. Why did they have to tell these stories right in front of Eunbyul, of all people?
“Anyway, since I'm here, I'll drive you home. The forecast says it's going to rain all day.”
“Ah, no! I couldn't possibly trouble you—”
“—It's no trouble at all, don't worry. I have to go pick up my daughter anyway.”
“……Thank you.”
Eunbyul bowed her head again. His mother had said she worried because Jinwoo was always sticking his nose into everything. But Eunbyul felt like she now understood why he had grown up to be such a genuinely helpful person.
“Then I'll go change my clothes first.”
Eunbyul headed into the room. The moment she was gone, Mom smacked Jinwoo on the back.
“What's this! What's going on! How on earth did you meet such a pretty girl?”
“Ow, that hurts!”
Despite the sudden fuss, Jinwoo looked like he'd expected it. If she had stayed calm, that would have been weirder. His mother was not the type of person who could stay composed in front of an event like this.
“My son's quite the capable one, huh? Inviting a beautiful senior like that home to be alone together. And you didn't even tell Mom! You're such a sneaky little pervert!”
Looking at his mother's expression, Jinwoo's mouth twitched. About a hundred excuses had popped into his head. But he couldn't say any of them straight out. If he explained, he'd inevitably have to talk about Eunbyul's job too.
Silverstar doesn't seem to want many people knowing she's a writer.
She even wore a helmet to her own autograph session where only fans attended. No matter what, she probably wouldn't want to be introduced to an acquaintance's parents as an erotic novelist. His parents weren't the type to hold prejudices about that sort of thing, but it was still a matter of her own feelings. If Eunbyul wanted to keep it hidden, Jinwoo wanted to respect that as much as possible.
“It might have looked that way, but nothing happened. We just happened to run into each other in the rain, and her clothes got soaked, so I let her change.”
“You invited her home and nothing happened?”
“Yes, nothing at all.”
“......Sigh, so our son really does have those kinds of tastes. Mom thinks Western guys are pretty nice these days.”
“What exactly have I been talking about with the mother who gave birth to me?”
He couldn't tell if his parents were open-minded or the complete opposite. Just then, the door opened cautiously.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
When she saw Eunbyul after she'd changed clothes, Jinwoo's mom covered her mouth slightly.
“Oh my.”
Eunbyul's face flushed crimson as she belatedly realized what she'd been wearing.
“Ah, no, Mother! It's not what you think!”
Explaining why a grown woman had shown up at her junior's house wearing a school uniform—and what secret meaning lay behind it—took quite a lot of effort from both of them.
*
“Sorry about that. My mom said a lot of weird things, didn't she?”
“No, I actually really liked how lively she was?”
“The problem is that she's a bit too energetic.”
Jinwoo was driving Eunbyul home in his mother's car. She had wanted to go herself, but he'd practically snatched the keys from her. He was worried about what she might say while he wasn't there.
“Hehe, I was a little surprised when she suddenly came in. Does your mother do something else for work?”
“She's an ordinary office worker. She works at an advertising company.”
“Wow, that's impressive.”
Eunbyul smiled softly as she gazed out the rain-streaked window.
“Still, I was a little envious seeing how close you two seemed.”
“Uh... you think so?”
“Yeah. I live alone without my parents. So I get a bit envious of that noisy, lively atmosphere.”
Jinwoo swallowed dryly. What was he supposed to say here? There was probably a similar scene in one of the novels he'd read before. After a short moment where all sorts of thoughts raced through his head, Jinwoo finally spoke with difficulty.
“If you ever want that kind of noise... you can call me anytime. I've got plenty of time, so I'll keep you company.”
“Hehe, then maybe I will?”
Eunbyul answered with a bright smile.
“I might have to call every day so you can't even sleep, Jinwoo.”
“Ah, only to the extent that it doesn't interfere with your writing.”
“You're surprisingly strict about that, huh?”
“Of course. I'm a fan, after all.”
The two of them burst into laughter after speaking. Even as Jinwoo carefully drove along the unfamiliar rainy roads, he thought to himself that he wished this time would never end.
*
After dropping Eunbyul off and returning home, Jinwoo leaned back on the living room sofa. A lot had happened, but precisely because of that, it had been a fulfilling day.
Senior Eunbyul in that school uniform was really pretty.
In the end, he hadn't mustered the courage to take a photo. That was truly a shame, but he'd stared at her all day and somehow managed to burn the image into his memory. In that sense, this school uniform date had been meaningful for Jinwoo too.
......But we'll probably never meet like this again, right?
This school uniform date had only been a special occasion for research purposes. Like a one-time swimsuit event in a manga. There was no real reason or need to meet multiple times. They'd exchanged numbers, so they could stay in touch, but once Eunbyul started writing seriously, she'd probably get busy. In life, it wasn't uncommon for contact to simply fade away.
......What a shame.
Maybe he should have made plans to meet again even if it meant pushing a little. The fact that they might not see each other again. The reality that he didn't know when they'd run into each other next. It made his heart feel strangely heavy.
“Ah, Oppa!! You touched my Switch!!”
......This damn house wouldn't even give him a moment to fall into melancholy. Eunbyul had said she felt lonely living alone and missed that kind of lively energy. If he could give her a younger sister like this, he almost wanted to. Of course, that would interfere with her novel writing, so it was impossible.
Come to think of it, the fact that she hadn't been home today was starting to make him a little angry. What a useless little sister.
“Ah, why are you playing with it without permission!”
“You weren't using it anyway.”
“I was going to start today! If you use it, the game console will rot!”
“Am I some kind of fantasy creature?”
He listened to his sister's rant with one ear and let it out the other. She'd forget all about it anyway if he bought her some dessert she liked.
Now that I think about it, I didn't put the game console away after playing.
If she saw it, she'd just keep complaining, so he should clean it up quickly. As Jinwoo was organizing the game console with that thought, a pink notebook lying on the floor caught his eye.
“......Huh?”
Jinwoo didn't use such a cute notebook. As for his sister, he doubted she even remembered how to read Korean properly. Above all, this was a notebook he'd seen quite a lot of today.
“It must be Senior Eunbyul's.”
It was definitely the one she'd been diligently writing all sorts of things in while observing the school. In a sense, it was a treasure trove of Silverstar's ideas—an object as important to a writer as their very soul.
“……”
She must have been so flustered that she forgot it.
.......I should return it to her.
She might be looking for it right now. Since it was quite a distance to her place, it would be better to contact her as soon as possible and deliver it in person. To leave behind something this important—Senior Eunbyul really was quite the clumsy person.
“Ah, why are you ignoring me! For the price of the game console, at least buy me some choco—ew, gross.”
“What, you brat.”
“Are you crazy? Why are you suddenly grinning like that?”
His sister openly made a disgusted face. Was he really grinning? Senior had left behind her precious notebook. There was no way that wasn't worth smiling about. As expected, his little sister's personality was completely twisted.