A Cringe-Worthy Encounter
I finished the calculations and stepped out of the restaurant.
"I ate well."
"...Yeah."
Was it because of the phone number exchange earlier?
She avoided my gaze awkwardly, as if embarrassed.
'...Can I call you again next time?'
With that serious face of hers, there was no way I could say no.
I nodded naturally, of course.
I wasn't some big deal, and there was no need to turn her down.
It was all good for me to get closer to her.
Honestly, playing with Si-a was fun.
Even if it couldn't develop into a romantic relationship,
it felt meaningful just to be friends with the heroine I liked.
"By the way, Si-a."
"Hmm?"
"You don't have any friends, do you?"
Thinking back, even in the novel, there were almost no scenes of her hanging out with anyone else.
Unless it was like Yoon Tae-jun.
Her flustered reaction to my rude question made her flare up.
"W-what do you mean?! How many friends do I have!"
"I know that too. But not at school. Like, just hanging out casually like this."
"...Yeah, probably. It's hard to match schedules with everyone anyway. On days off, I want to relax without worrying about anyone."
True, there was only one day off a week.
It would be easier on the mind to just be alone for a day.
Given how much attention she already got and how much she had to stay aware of her surroundings, it made sense.
As I said earlier, even if we hung out with the whole class, it wouldn't be comfortable.
"Why don't you hang out with Tae-jun?"
"He's busy on weekends. He's the track team manager."
"Oh, right."
That's how it was.
Yoon Tae-jun had that slender build, yet he was the coach and manager for the track team.
Actually, the position of manager was a bit ambiguous.
The reason Tae-jun ended up in that spot was because of some circumstances.
It was because the track team teacher had requested him after seeing his past achievements.
In other words, it was like casting.
Thanks to that position, he got to connect with Seo Da-eun too, in the original story.
The classic trope of helping with training and sparks of love growing.
"He must be busy. Weekdays at the student council, weekends at the track team."
"He does it because he likes it. Whatever."
That explained Si-a's behavior.
She was just as busy as Tae-jun, and frankly, it was hard for her to make connections with classmates anyway.
In a way, Si-a and the class kids were from completely different worlds.
While others worried about their grades and exams,
she had to focus on choreography and songs, and worry about the monthly evaluation.
From that perspective, it was no surprise she couldn't form much common ground with the class kids.
Unless they were fellow trainees.
Nam Yu-ri was in the same boat.
She kept going to academies on weekends, so she barely had any free time.
Probably hard to match schedules with Si-a.
Thinking about it, it wasn't strange at all that Si-a felt isolated.
It gave me the strange feeling of seeing my own high school self.
With a lifestyle centered more on part-time work than studying, and standing apart from the others.
...There was no stage in life as important as high school for making friends.
Back then, the fact that I was different hit me harder than I expected.
It felt a bit pitiful, so I told her.
"Yeah. If you're bored, call me anytime."
"..."
"After all, I don't have plans on weekends like everyone else. Call me anytime."
I'd just go jogging in the morning and do some studying anyway.
On weekdays too, there was school, club activities, going home, and review sessions.
No need for that tight schedule on weekends.
Even just hanging out with Si-a for a bit wasn't a bad deal for me.
"...Okay."
She bowed her head at that.
But somehow, her body trembled with joy.
Was it because she had made a friend and her mood felt good?
"So, are you going home now?"
"Huh?"
"I paid for the meal. Your business is done, right?"
After all, she had called me to relieve her mind, hadn't she?
I hadn't been thinking about it at all.
After this much, I figured she should feel more at ease.
It wasn't like I'd done anything wrong, and I couldn't do more than this.
Honestly, just buying her dinner felt excessive.
"Ah, yeah. Right. I should go home too. You probably have your own schedule."
She glanced at me with a sidelong look.
But why did it feel like she was holding on a little?
Maybe because it was fun to go out and play around together after a long time.
Without realizing it, I didn't want to send Si-a home just like that.
...It might be my own misconception, but maybe I should play with her a bit more today.
Instead of the grueling practice the agency puts her through all day,
it was important to have at least one day off where I could feel relaxed, like back in high school with a friend.
I started thinking about what I could do with her, and spotted a karaoke room nearby.
"If you're not too eager to leave, want to go to a karaoke place and sing a few songs?"
"Karaoke?"
"Oh, is that not for you? You sing all the time, so maybe it gets boring."
...Then I guess I had to take her to somewhere like a shopping mall.
Of course, she liked singing.
Making her sing on her day off felt a bit much, so I was about to change my mind when
Si-a shook her head.
"No. I like it. Let's go to karaoke."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Singing at practice and singing at karaoke are totally different."
"Really?"
"If I don't have to do well, I don't feel stressed."
True, even as an athlete, running alone by yourself might not feel stressful.
Or a chef cooking alone at home wouldn't either.
The issue was the money involved and the need to perform for results.
"Okay, let's go."
Honestly, I wasn't great at singing or particularly fond of it.
But the image of Si-a that had been stuck in my head was singing and dancing.
So, to let her enjoy it, I had no choice but to head in that direction.
"Welcome. Two of you?"
We took the elevator and arrived at the coin karaoke room.
It was pretty big, I guess.
We received the greeting from the staff in uniform and were shown to the room.
And the room we were guided to was right away
"It looks like a duo room."
"Wow. It's narrower than I thought."
Literal two-person room.
Rooms were sized according to the number of people.
It was just big enough for two people to squeeze onto the sofa attached to the wall.
"I wonder why they say there's an event when we come in and give us free water."
There was always a reason behind free stuff.
There was no such thing as free in this world.
I asked if she was uncomfortable in the too-small space.
"It's fine. If it feels too narrow, we can go somewhere else."
Well, it didn't bother me.
But probably, being this close to a girl like Si-a wouldn't be great for her.
Plus, it would be hard to sing comfortably in this tiny space.
But Si-a took off her cardigan and bag and shoved them into a corner.
She sat down before me.
"Let's just do it. It's annoying to go somewhere else. We were going to sing only a few songs anyway."
"Sure."
And with her laid-back personality, she didn't worry much and started to pay.
I reluctantly took out my card.
"I'll pay. You bought the meal."
"What? Earlier you said you left your wallet."
"Bullshit. You really think I'd believe that?"
Who would come to eat without their wallet?
Maybe if something happened.
After I finished paying and sat down, the distance between Si-a and me felt extremely close.
It was like I could feel the breath she exhaled right next to me.
In that small space, moving even an inch would make our shoulders touch.
...Was it warm and she took it off?
And right when we came in, the cardigan made me look even more.
She wore a crop top with thin straps over her cargo pants, the material clinging to her body.
Her flawless white skin was exposed from her shoulders to her collarbone.
As a man, I simply couldn't stop staring.
"What song should we sing? Umm."
She didn't seem to notice my thoughts.
She manipulated the remote and casually searched for the song she wanted to sing.
She really was a trainee idol.
When it came to singing, she was completely focused on nothing else.
With a good view, I secretly thanked her in my mind.
"Wait a second. I'll look up some playlists. You pick first?"
"Huh? Oh."
She handed me the remote.
I had gone to karaoke without thinking at all.
But thinking about it, it had been ages since I last went to one.
That meant I didn't know any of the popular songs.
...Whatever.
After all, it was just two friends hanging out.
Si-a was bound to win on singing ability anyway.
No need to try hard.
So I tapped the search bar and chose one of the songs I knew.
The intro started, and the guitar melody flowed out.
Yeah. This one.
I felt a chill run down my spine at the melody I hadn't heard in a long time, and I grabbed the mic.
Si-a, who had been glancing at her phone, suddenly looked surprised and stared at the screen.
"...Wow. What song did you pick? This isn't a song from ten years ago?"
Si-a's blunt fact pierced straight into my chest.
My heart ached with sincere amazement.
"Sorry. We parents used to listen to this song all the time."
...Sorry to be old. What am I supposed to do?
I felt a little sad.