The Original Story Moves Faster Than Expected
Hasegawa Asuka — the original novel's sole heroine. Her character traits were unmistakable.
Bright and energetic. Japanese. A faintly mature air paired with the gap moe that cut against it.
And frail.
Asuka had been written with a constitution weak from birth. Nothing so severe as a life-threatening illness, but a condition that kept her from any vigorous movement. The wheelchair she sat in now wasn't because her legs were crippled — she simply lacked the muscle. And lately, she would have been in the middle of rehabilitation.
For that reason, she'd barely been able to go outside until the end of middle school.
She was in the hospital through the end of middle school, yeah…
I just never expected it to be this one.
The novel started in high school, so places like the hospital where she'd been admitted never appeared. I'd figured that once she enrolled at Seonghwa High it would be some nearby hospital — but I hadn't imagined it would be right here.
Their meeting came a lot sooner than I thought.
In the original, the two of them met after starting high school. Right now, they hadn't even graduated middle school yet. Whether this encounter, so much earlier than the source material, would turn out to be good news or bad for the two of them — I had no idea.
It'll be fine.
The atmosphere between them wasn't bad, at least. Yuwon had been pretty rattled ever since he'd seen his own novel, sure — but from the look on his face, he didn't seem to mind.
And then Riya's voice cut in.
"Sihyun. What are you looking at?"
A little colder than usual. How long had it been since I'd heard that tone from her?
No — that wasn't what mattered right now. Leaving Riya sounding like that was a recipe for disaster. Not experience talking. Instinct.
"Yuwon."
"And the person next to him. You were looking, weren't you?"
"No. Absolutely not."
"You were, though?"
"…My eyes went that way, sure, but that was because of Yuwon."
Why was I even explaining myself? The question flickered through my mind, but I didn't let it show. Riya's mood was far too scary for that. And… for reasons I couldn't quite name, my conscience was pricking me a little, too.
"I'll believe you."
Saying so, Riya took my cheeks in both of her cool hands and fixed my gaze in place — so that I was looking only at her. She'd done this from time to time before. Making me look at no one but her. And usually, the end of it was Riya getting embarrassed and letting go first.
"Auh…"
Like that.
She stared straight into my eyes, then her face went red and she dropped the hands holding my cheeks. For something she'd done any number of times, she still seemed hopelessly unused to it — still that shy.
I was a little embarrassed too, though…
And there was something she never seemed to realize, always turning her eyes away in embarrassment like that. Every time she did this, my face burned just as badly. It was a face I saw every day, but locking eyes with her alone like this was somehow a lot more embarrassing than I'd expected.
"…"
Maybe we were both too flustered. For a moment the two of us just sat there with our mouths shut, avoiding each other's eyes. A silence that belonged only to the space between us.
I was the one who broke it.
"Riya, do you have anywhere to be this Christmas?"
Today was December 23rd. Barely two days left until Christmas. It fell on a Wednesday this year, so nothing else was going to collide with it. I'd already made plans with my friends — we were meeting tomorrow, on Christmas Eve.
There were a few reasons I'd set the friend plans for Christmas Eve, but the biggest one for me was simple: I wanted Christmas Day itself left open.
"No."
"Then come over to my place. Your parents won't be home on Christmas, right?"
Riya's parents were away on a business trip for the entire month of December. So they wouldn't be home on Christmas Day. Which was exactly why I'd planned to invite her.
"Spend it with my family."
And there was another reason. Or maybe, for me personally, the reason that mattered more than anything else.
I wanted to be with Riya. On a happy day like Christmas.
"Okay. Let's spend it together."
Riya's answer was short, the way it always was. Someone might have taken it for indifference, or even dislike. But I could read it in her voice, and in her expression. She was happy. Quite a lot, actually.
"Is there anything you want for a present?"
"Mm… not really."
"Then I'll just pick something out for you."
"…You're giving me one either way?"
As if not getting Riya a present was ever an option. A present for Riya, I mean.
"Sihyun."
Someone called my name just then. Not Riya — Yuwon's voice. I turned toward the sound and saw him coming this way, pushing the wheelchair Asuka sat in.
Looks just like the original illustration.
In the source material, there had been an illustration of Yuwon pushing Asuka's wheelchair. The scene in front of me looked so much like it that it was honestly uncanny. Maybe this was the moment it finally sank in — that I had really stepped into this world.
"Hi! I'm Hasegawa Asuka — I'll be starting at Seonghwa High!"
Asuka held out one thin, pale hand — not to me, but to Riya. Riya glanced at the hand, then flicked a look at me, and after a beat she nodded and took it.
"Riya. Abreliya."
"I've never met a Russian mixed-blood before! Nice to meet you!"
"You too."
Riya's reaction didn't seem bad. In the original their relationship hadn't been rough either — Asuka's good nature probably had something to do with it. No reason it would be much different now.
"Nice to meet you too!"
Finished greeting Riya, Asuka held her hand out to me next. Skin pale enough to call porcelain. I reached out to shake it —
"…?"
"Riya?"
— when Riya suddenly stepped in and grabbed that hand herself. Leaving mine hanging in midair with nowhere to go.
Asuka looked startled too. She pulled her hand free and offered it to me again.
"…"
Riya caught that one as well.
What. What was she doing.
"No handshakes."
By the fifth attempt, Riya caught Asuka's hand yet again and said it in a small voice. Why no handshakes? I started turning the meaning of her words over in my head, but before I could finish the thought, Asuka's eyes went wide first.
"Oh my."
Those widened eyes flicked back and forth between me and Riya. Then, as if something had clicked, she covered her mouth with her hand.
"Yuwon, Yuwon."
"…What?"
"Come here a second."
At Asuka's request, Yuwon leaned his ear toward her. She glanced at me and Riya, then whispered something into his ear. I couldn't begin to guess what she was saying.
"Mm… probably?"
"Probably?"
"Yeah, but I've never actually heard them say it properly."
What kind of question got an answer like that. Please let it not have been anything weird.
"Hmm…"
Looking between me and Riya with an intrigued little smile, Asuka had the air of a quiet troublemaker. After watching us a moment longer, she held her hand out to me one more time.
"Alright — nice to meet you!"
"…No."
As if even this last handshake were unacceptable, Riya caught her hand again. Her expression was almost stern. Asuka smiled faintly at that look and withdrew her hand.
"Pff… this is fun."
After that we fell into a stretch of small talk. How long had we been here, how was middle school, what about friends nearby — that sort of thing. We kept it up for a little while, but the sun was starting to go down, so I asked Yuwon,
"We're heading out. What about you?"
"Me?"
Our groups had somehow reshuffled without anyone saying so, but Yuwon didn't comment on it. Because they really had.
"I think I'll stick around a bit longer. Visiting hours are over anyway."
"Yay! Stay and talk with me more. About the novel."
"…Y-yeah, okay."
The mention of the novel seemed to sway him a little, and once Yuwon decided to stay, Riya and I left the hospital as we were.
It was already getting fairly dark out.
"See you next week…"
"See you."
Instead of going straight home, we stopped at a burger place nearby. It was dinnertime anyway, so eating before heading back made sense.
And I wanted a little more time with Riya…
That was a reason I couldn't say out loud. I just didn't want to part with her yet. No proper justification — just how I felt.
We ordered our burgers and ate without much conversation. It might have looked bleak from the outside, but that was just how we were.
We were still trading quiet looks across the table when Riya spoke first this time.
"Sihyun. You've got something on your hand."
"My hand?"
I checked my right hand at her words, and sure enough, there was ketchup on my pinky — so little I hadn't even felt it.
"Ah. Thanks."
I moved to wipe it off — and in that instant she suddenly caught my hand.
My right hand, held tight. She pulled it toward herself, and then —
"…!"
— she stuck out her tongue and licked the ketchup off my pinky.
"…R-Riya!?"
The soft sensation of her tongue traveled up from my finger. A faint stickiness of saliva. That gentle tongue moving as if tasting my pinky. And Riya's blue eyes looking up at me while she did it.
For a second I just sat there, mind blank — then I snapped back and yanked my arm straight back.
"Wh-what are you doing…?"
I'd almost shouted it, but I kept my voice down. Because it was Riya.
"Nngh…"
Riya turned her head away too, her face flushed deep red. Cheeks and ears burning hotter than I'd ever seen them — mortified. But my face had gone even redder than hers.
I could still feel the dampness on my finger. And that sensation was telling me, very clearly, that what had just happened was no illusion.
…What was that?
A dream? Was this actually a dream? And if it was, why wasn't I waking up? My heart was hammering this hard.
I pressed a hand to my chest, where I could feel the pounding even through my palm, and bowed my head.