A Little Delay in Studying Won't Kill Me, Right?
Was it really true that a person wouldn’t die just from putting off studying a bit? While I was blankly pondering that question, one comment from Hari noona was all it took to completely convince me.
“I’m going to teach you, but wouldn’t a reading room or study café be a bother to other people?”
“…Yeah, I guess that’s true?”
“Then let’s go.”
“…Okay.”
I briefly wondered if using a two-person room wouldn’t solve the problem, but I decided to just think positively. When the person you like offers to take you to her own place, there’s no reason to refuse.
‘Does she like me?’
Was there any reason for someone to invite a member of the opposite sex they weren’t interested in to their home?
“Hehe.”
I couldn’t read what was going on behind noona’s smiling face.
“Ah, I’ll carry the coffees.”
“Really? Thanks.”
After taking the two cups from her, Hari noona and I continued walking while holding hands. It felt exactly like we were lovers. The fluttering excitement with every step, the way noona gripped my hand tightly as if claiming me as hers, the subtle atmosphere between us—everything was making my heart race.
If we started dating, I’d get to feel this way every single day. Just thinking about it made me happy, and I found myself smiling without realizing it.
“Noona, so you really came out without a bag?”
“Yep.”
Wow. So this noona had already planned to bring me to her place from the start.
“Where is your place, noona?”
“We’re almost there.”
“Really…?”
There was only one building in this direction. With a sinking feeling, I looked straight ahead. It was strange how few people were staring at Hari noona compared to on campus, but my gaze was fixed on the apartment just five minutes away.
“Is it that apartment by any chance?”
“Who knows? You’ll find out when we get there, right?”
The way she smiled as she said it made me think I was probably right. And sure enough—
“This is where I live.”
Hari noona’s home was an apartment so expensive it made you gasp out loud.
“…Noona, doesn’t this go way beyond the level of a normal place to live alone?”
I asked while riding the elevator of an apartment building that had an overwhelming presence I still couldn’t get used to. This complex was famous in our area. It was expensive, but the quality was supposedly excellent. It easily cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, so it wasn’t the kind of place a regular college student could live in.
“It’s the first house I bought, that’s why.”
“…”
The fact that her first purchase was a place like this left me no choice but to think of Hari noona as a natural-born rich girl. She really was loaded.
Until the elevator reached the floor where noona’s home was, I avoided looking in the mirror. Just thinking about being alone with her in her apartment made my face burn up. It was probably as red as an apple by now.
-Ding!
So I simply followed Hari noona. Feeling the warmth of her hand, I got off the elevator and kept my head down the entire way to her door.
-Beep!
“Hehe. Yeonwoo, come on in.”
The sight of Hari noona unlocking the front door somehow felt like the usually cold noona was finally opening her heart to me. I followed her inside, took off my shoes in the entryway, and took my very first glorious step into the apartment. My mouth fell open without me even realizing it.
“Whoa…”
A nice apartment really was on another level. What I’d only heard about in rumors was completely different from seeing it with my own eyes. The living room was spacious, with pure white walls like fresh snow, a large TV, and a sofa. The kitchen was equally large and white. Four doors to rooms were slightly ajar, and their interiors were also decorated entirely in white. The interior wasn’t flashy, but its simple elegance actually made it look even more luxurious.
“…It’s really white, huh?”
The main base color for all the interior design was white.
“Yeah. I like white.”
It sounded like she was talking about my hair. The thought made me feel self-conscious and embarrassed.
“…I’m going to wash my hands real quick.”
“The bathroom’s over there.”
I set the iced Americano and strawberry latte on a nearby desk, went into the bathroom to wash my hands, and when I came out, I saw noona taking off her denim jacket in one of the rooms. She was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. The comfortable white tee highlighted her natural purity, while the jeans gently hugged her waistline and beautifully emphasized her elegant figure.
“…You look beautiful.”
This was exactly why people called her a goddess.
“Really? Thanks.”
“Is that your closet?”
“Yep. Want to see it?”
“Can I?”
“Of course. I’ll show you while we drink.”
Hari noona, who had gone back to the living room, returned carrying our drinks.
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
I took a sip of the strawberry latte.
‘It’s sweet.’
I liked that. It must have shown on my face because noona asked,
“Is it good?”
“Yes. I like it.”
“I like it too.”
“…”
I spent three full seconds quietly wondering what she meant before realizing and lowering my head in embarrassment.
“Before we look at the closet, let’s go over there first.”
“…Where?”
“My study.”
“You have a study too?”
“Yeah. I kept collecting books and it turned into a study.”
-Creak.
The room smelled like a library. Countless books filled multiple bookshelves. Near the window was a single desk and two chairs, as if inviting someone to work. It was a bit strange to have two chairs in a home where she lived alone, but I let it slide.
“Put your bag down there for now. We’ll study later.”
“Okay.”
There wasn’t much else to see in the study, so we left after dropping off the bag.
“Not much to look at, right?”
“It’s just surprising that you have a study in your house. Do you like books?”
“I like Yeonwoo, though?”
“…”
With a satisfied smile, noona opened the door to her closet.
“Let’s go in.”
I cooled my burning face with the strawberry latte and stepped inside. The room was large enough to prove that she really did own three times more clothes than an average household. There were numerous wardrobes and piles of clothes forming small mountains in the corners. Everything was neatly organized, just like noona’s personality.
“…It’s all clothes, huh?”
“Yep.”
“There’s so many?”
No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t the amount of clothes one person living alone should own.
“Hmm. I like clothes, so I kept buying them and it ended up like this.”
“Can I look around?”
“Sure. Look as much as you want.”
With noona’s permission, I carefully examined the clothes and noticed one common theme.
“These are all from Riha Shopping Mall, right?”
“Yes. Every single one.”
Riha Shopping Mall was an online fashion store that had suddenly become incredibly popular about two years ago. It had exploded in popularity right after I enlisted, so I’d been shocked. Feeling a wave of nostalgia, I looked closer and noticed men’s clothes mixed in here and there.
“…Why are there men’s clothes?”
I asked with a slightly sharp tone. It was impossible not to.
Hari noona gently stroked my hair.
“I bought them for you.”
“…Isn’t this way too many for that?”
There had to be at least several dozen outfits.
“But it’s true. They all arrived in one day.”
“…I see.”
I decided to trust noona. In a world where deliveries came even at dawn the next day, it wasn’t impossible.
“Are you jealous?”
“No. Not really.”
“It might be hard to believe, but I’ve never had a boyfriend before.”
“…Really?”
It was hard to believe coming from Hari noona.
“Yeah.”
“You really bought all this for me?”
“I told you so. Yeonwoo, you get jealous and you have a cute side too, huh?”
“…Not really.”
I didn’t think of myself as cute. I was over 180 centimeters tall—how could I be cute?
“Want to try some on?”
Noona held out several carefully folded outfits to me.
“…Right now?”
“Yeah. There’s a changing room over there.”
Sure enough, there was a simple changing room inside the room. What the heck? Why was there one of those?
“This one and this one.”
“Uh… okay.”
Before I knew it, I was taking the clothes she handed me and stepping into the changing room. They weren’t anything special—just a simple jacket and slacks. Since I only needed to change pants, I quickly switched and came out.
-Clap clap clap.
“You look cool.”
The moment I stepped out, noona clapped for me, which made me feel a little shy. At the same time, she handed me another set of clothes.
“Change into this one for me.”
“…”
“Hm? Just once. Please?”
“…Alright.”
The way she was acting a bit coquettish completely won me over. This time it was a white turtleneck and a blazer. There wasn’t much to change, so I came out right away.
“Yeonwoo, now this one.”
“…”
And so my personal fashion show began.
“This too.”
I felt like I had become noona’s dress-up doll, but strangely, I didn’t hate it at all. After changing several times, I started wondering how she knew my exact sizes when I had never told her.
‘They all fit perfectly.’
Every piece matched my measurements exactly. I could let other things slide, but I had to ask about this.
“Noona, how do you know my clothing sizes?”
“Who knows?”
She handed me the next outfit as if she had no intention of telling me.
“You’ll find out tomorrow.”
“…I’m looking forward to tomorrow then.”
Tomorrow, I would learn all sorts of things related to noona.
“Yeah. You can look forward to it.”
“Hari noona, but when are we going to study?”
My fashion show for noona had already been going on for nearly an hour. It felt like our original purpose of studying had completely vanished.
“Yeonwoo, I don’t think I can focus right now. How about you?”
“Same here.”
“See? When that happens, it’s okay to take a little break.”
That was what noona—who was good at studying—said.
‘It feels like we’re just keep putting it off though.’
As I hesitated, noona delivered the final blow.
“Let’s just stay like this together. Yeah?”
Hari noona looked at me with her eyes wide open. It didn’t seem intentional, but it was incredibly cute.
“…”
Well. There was a saying that if you can’t avoid it, you might as well enjoy it. Coming to Hari noona’s house was already an unavoidable reality, so I might as well just enjoy it.
‘A little delay in studying won’t kill me, right?’
Of course it wouldn’t. I could just spend time playing with Hari noona like this.