Sleep Deprivation
Midterm exam season was right around the corner.
It felt like the semester had barely started, but before I knew it, half the academic year had already slipped away.
"Hey, Seon Woo-hyun. You taking the cluster? I'll go with you."
"Huh? Sure."
The final bell rang, and I walked to the multipurpose room with Yoon Tae-jun.
Since we were headed in the same direction anyway, there was no point splitting up.
"So, how's the cluster with Yu-ri? Happy about it?"
"Happy enough. We meet to study, after all."
"You said you wanted to team up with the cute private tutor, right? That's like making a wish come true."
"Well, it is a wish come true. But Yu-ri... no, I don't know."
It was hard to put it into words.
She gave me this vibe of being Yoon Tae-jun's girlfriend, even though she was obviously attractive.
She was definitely charming, but I figured it would be tough for her to be my romantic partner.
"Why, you don't like her much? Guess you really are Si-a's type?"
"Aw, cut it out already. Come on."
"Why~? Everyone in the class is going nuts saying you two are dating."
"We're not dating! Not even close! Please!"
Thanks to the karaoke incident last time, a rumor had started that she and I were in a relationship.
More precisely, we were about to start dating, or we were secretly dating.
Or we were just in the flirting stage right now.
All those rumors were floating around, but even Yoon Tae-jun and Nam Yu-ri had heard them, and now we got teased about it every single day.
After a while I stopped caring and just accepted it.
Yoon Tae-jun noticed my reaction and chuckled.
"Even so, Yu-ri seems like your type. Sometimes the student council mentions you, saying they like how seriously you take everything."
"Really?"
He went around praising me everywhere.
I'd even heard something similar from Si-a last time.
It felt like a parent bragging about how diligently their well-behaved kid was studying.
"And speaking of you, you've really improved lately. Your body looks better too."
"What?"
You are so full of it.
The teasing tone made my skin crawl.
"Get lost, you damn gay."
I shot him a suspicious look, and he shook his head back and forth.
"Wait, no, it's true. Actually."
"True what?"
"Originally your posture was all slouched and you didn't seem energetic at all."
"Are you seriously challenging me right now?"
Straight-up personal attack.
"But now your face has some spark and your posture is straight. Walking's even improved."
"..."
"Even the puffiness around your eyes is gone, and your body's getting toned up. Are you working out?"
"Yeah, I do. Light running in the morning, nothing fancy."
"Oh, I knew it. I figured. I knew your older brother was in the track club."
It was weird he noticed the tiny differences so quickly, but I guess the guy who'd never worked out before would be extra sensitive to actual results.
"Still, I can barely tell after all this time."
Yoon Tae-jun was from the track club, so maybe that was why.
The changes when someone who never exercised suddenly starts must be super clear to him.
Anyway.
"Yeah, I should head out too. Study hard."
"You too."
We finally reached the front of the multipurpose room.
He went into his own classroom, and I opened the familiar door to Room 102.
"Nam Yu-ri. Hi."
She was probably here first, right?
She never showed up late to class, unlike me.
I greeted her and opened the door to step inside.
For some reason, her usual bright voice welcoming me wasn't there today.
"...Mmm."
I quietly closed the door behind me, and there was Nam Yu-ri lying face-down on the table.
It was so quiet you could hear her soft breathing.
She looked like a sleeping beauty from a fairy tale, completely peaceful.
...Is she sleeping right now?
This was the first time I'd seen her asleep.
I was surprised, so I scanned the area around her.
There were a few documents that looked like student council records.
And today's printouts of my class materials.
The open bag was stuffed full of reference books and homework problem sets from the academy.
The thing that caught my eye the most was the coffee.
It was sitting right next to her, the canned one from the school store.
Not even a can—this time it was a half-empty plastic bottle.
It told me pretty clearly what kind of state she was in.
I should wake her up to take class.
But seeing her like this, I didn't want to disturb the little girl who always looked so energetic.
I knew her life was tough.
She was basically like a corporate employee working overtime every day and on weekends, especially if you thought of her as being picked up by her parents from Daechi-dong to keep her grades at the top.
From elementary school she'd been crushing an insane schedule that included not just regular classes but art, sports, calligraphy, and everything else.
Even at night she squeezed in review because of the academy time crunch.
And since high school, she'd taken on the roles of class president and student council president.
She was even acting as my cluster mentor now.
There was no time or energy left for her.
"...Guess I'll just study alone today."
I muttered to myself so she wouldn't hear.
I didn't want to wake her up after she finally got some rest.
I opened the problem set and started solving it by myself.
"...Mmm."
The sound of pages flipping and something being written reached me.
Nam Yu-ri was really sensitive.
From a young age she'd been trained to watch how she appeared in other people's eyes and how it affected her parents.
She reacted easily to even the smallest noise or presence.
...What was that sound?
She felt her consciousness slowly waking up.
The room was completely silent.
She only knew that someone was making soft scribbling noises right in front of her.
A little drool had slipped from the corner of her lips.
She quickly wiped it off with her hand and only then realized she'd fallen asleep.
'I must have been too sleepy and just leaned over before Woo-hyun came...'
She must have really passed out.
Feeling herself twitch, she looked up to see Woo-hyun smiling as he asked while flipping through the problem set.
"Huh? You're awake?"
The kind tone made her eyes snap open.
...So what time is it now?
She was startled and glanced at her phone.
It was already 6:30.
Cluster class started at 5 and ended at 7, so...
She realized she'd slept through more than half the lesson.
"6:30...? Oh no. Woo-hyun? It's 6:30 now?"
"Huh? It really is?"
Woo-hyun checked his phone too and looked shocked.
From his face, he must have been waiting for her to wake up the whole time.
Guilt and embarrassment hit her at the same time.
'What kind of stupid thing did the teacher do...'
Showing up to class heavy on sleep.
And not even waking up for an hour and a half, leaving him waiting.
Nam Yu-ri felt uneasy thinking she hadn't done her job as a mentor.
Cluster was a program at school that gave some kind of reward, but even if there was no reward, she had agreed to do it properly.
Even more so because there was a reward on the line.
The fact that she hadn't fulfilled her role made her feel like the worst student.
And on top of that...
The harm had gone beyond just her to someone else.
First she had to apologize to Woo-hyun, so she lowered her head.
"S-sorry! I was just too tired and wanted to lean over... I guess I fell asleep like that. You waited a long time. I'm so sorry."
Since he was just a classmate, it was okay.
But if this stupid mistake had gotten back to her parents...
'Namyu-ri, have you lost your mind? I told you your conduct matters. Remember that you're the face of our family.'
She would definitely have been scolded hard.
Her father had always told her how important keeping promises was, whether it was to family, friends, or anyone else.
...What if Woo-hyun was angry or disappointed in me?
I'd always been the perfect mentor to him, so my image might have dropped a lot.
While she was worrying, Woo-hyun closed the problem set and said,
"It's fine. Just peel off the paper scraps stuck to your cheek."
"Huh? Uh... yeah."
"Heh."
It looked like one of the printed sheets had gotten torn when I pulled it out earlier.
Her face flushed even redder with embarrassment.
...What a stupid look I have right now.
In school I always tried not to show anything like this.
I was supposed to be the perfect model student, but one tiny slip and my foolishness was exposed.
"What do I do... the class is almost over... I didn't do anything today... I shouldn't have woken her up..."
"No, you slept really well, so I felt bad waking you."
"What's so bad about that? You couldn't listen to class because of me. Aigoo... no, it's not your fault... it's all my fault... sorry, I'm such an idiot."
If it were me, I'd be more straightforward, but the one who got scolded was me.
Instead of me lecturing him, I felt like I was being lectured by him, and that made me feel even worse.
Woo-hyun just gave me a gentle smile and said,
"...But still."
"Huh?"
"You know, it's normal. Don't worry about it. You're a person too, and if you're tired, you should sleep."
...Maybe he's even kinder than I thought.
Nam Yu-ri thought that while looking at him who seemed completely unfazed, unlike her.