Pretty
"Mmm..."
I yawned, and my eyes, which had been tightly shut, slowly opened.
Unlike the forced awakening from earlier, they opened naturally.
The headaches that had been bothering me a little while ago were gone, and I felt refreshed.
She lightly turned on her phone and checked the time in the dark lecture hall.
6 o'clock.
It was time to head out.
...I slept a little more, and this is how good my condition is.
It seemed like I had been in a bit of a rough state until just now.
After all, I had only had a leisurely 2 hours of sleep, but my head was clear.
The feeling I hadn't noticed because being tired was my daily habit came back, and my mood naturally improved.
"Hmmm."
And right in front of me, the one sleeping.
Seon Woo-hyun.
His breathing was soft and steady.
He was sleeping with a cute little sound, unlike his large build.
I looked at him and felt grateful.
...That's why I told him to sleep. Woo-hyun.
It was a bit embarrassing that the teacher was being taken care of by her student, but
Thanks to him, I had been able to escape fatigue even for a short time.
In the end, I couldn't help but think his forced judgment that he should have let me sleep was right.
I was the one who had to come to that conclusion.
'Woo-hyun. You seem much more considerate than before. Or rather, was it that I just didn't know?'
I hadn't spent a lot of time with him in reality.
When I talked with Tae-jun at school or hung out, or ate lunch together.
This was the first time we were actually spending time together like this since the cluster started.
From that time onward, I felt he was far more caring and sensitive than I had thought.
'At first glance, he seemed like just a guy who was easy to talk to and got along well.'
When I looked at him back then, even though it was embarrassing, that was the kind of thought I had.
Someone completely different from me, maybe on the opposite side.
A guy who lived without a care in the world, but somehow sad.
But when I was with him, what I felt was that
Woo-hyun wasn't just like that.
And lately, he studied hard and went to the gym in the mornings.
'Like the jelly you gave me last time.'
There was an adult-like maturity mixed with a hint of pure innocence.
Nam Yu-ri honestly thought she liked that about him.
It was nice to see him changing.
That's why she had been praising him to the people around her.
...It wasn't because she gave him delicious things as a treat. Yeah.
"By the way, what now. Today's class."
The pace hadn't slowed down.
To be honest, the midterm range seemed close to ending.
It seemed like they were now moving into the pre-study stage.
But that was only because Woo-hyun's class attitude was good and his absorption ability was fast.
It didn't make sense for me, the teacher, to be lax just because he was doing well.
The better he studied, the harder I had to work harder in class.
At least if I slacked off like this today, it would be a loss for Woo-hyun.
'I have to make up for this class somehow. He can't suffer because of me.'
Even though he was kind and let it slide.
She thought he couldn't act spoiled.
This kind of pampering was only until today. From now on, there would never be such a thing.
"Make-up class... Shall we do it this weekend?"
Thinking while looking at him who still wasn't waking up.
Fortunately, this weekend was a day off at the comprehensive academy she attended due to interior problems.
A rare free time in her always tight life.
There were things she wanted to do, but there was enough time to hold a make-up class for him.
...No, does Woo-hyun not want to study on weekends?
Thinking about it, he seemed to have quite a few friends. He could go hang out anywhere.
She had heard he went on a date with Si-a last weekend.
She thought she should ask him once, so Nam Yu-ri gathered her things and stood up.
The time for the taxi to come and pick her up was approaching.
...But this means I will be alone with a man for the first time.
She didn't know where they would meet, but
It was the first time she would see a man alone in private.
Since she had always been tight on time and never stopped studying even on rare days off.
She herself didn't even notice her heart beating faster.
Was she excited?
'It's to study. Study. It's exactly the same as now.'
Only the place and date were different. It was, after all, part of the cluster.
It wasn't that she was enjoying a date with him.
There was no room for romance, but even so, Nam Yu-ri was the type who thought she was too ordinary.
Because she would subconsciously think of someone as her opposite gender for even a small thing.
Many guys were approaching her.
But she hated the overt advances that only looked at her appearance.
And because she had no time, she mostly pushed them away.
There had never been a guy other than study and work in her life.
"Eh. No useless thoughts!"
It was just the cluster. Work. Study.
She whispered the goal to herself and calmed the inexplicable tremor.
***
I jolted awake.
In the dark room, I rubbed my slightly aching head and sat up.
"Woah... What time is it. How long have I been sleeping. Gee."
I groped for the phone beside me and checked the screen.
It was already past 7 o'clock.
"I have to go pick up Min-hyun. Big trouble."
My younger brother Seon Min-hyun.
My older sister was an elementary school student, so she could come home alone.
But Min-hyun was still young, so someone had to pick him up.
It was better than before, but with three kids and Seon Woo-hyun's family not being particularly wealthy.
Mom and Dad worked different shifts and came home late, and because of that, I had to take care of the younger siblings too.
Since the bus arrived at 7 o'clock, I hurriedly packed my things and stood up.
"Has Yu-ri already left?"
I looked around the room, but her figure wasn't there.
It couldn't be that she had gone to the bathroom, since all her things were gone.
She must have woken up around 6 and headed to the academy.
If she woke up, I should have woken him up too.
I rushed out and checked the messages on my phone.
[Woo-hyun. You were sleeping too deeply so I just went ahead.]
[In case it's okay on Sunday? I want to do the cluster make-up class today.]
[I can do the class because the academy is closed due to interior construction that day!]
[If you don't mind studying on the weekend, I want to do it that day. Reply if you can.]
A series of messages that were much more gentle and flowery than Si-a's.
Even cute little emojis attached at the end.
I thought it was just like a message from Nam Yu-ri and pondered it.
"...Hmm. Studying on the weekend. I was going to do it alone anyway, so it doesn't matter."
Lately, I hadn't skipped workouts and studies on weekends either.
So it was just that the schedule with her had changed.
It wasn't that big of a deal.
"But lately, I meet up with girls almost every weekend."
A life I hadn't experienced during my high school days in the previous life.
A strange sense of pride swelled up at the feeling that I was being summoned by girls almost every week.
Of course, it was far from a real date.
If anything, it felt like I was just enjoying my youth.
Honestly, no matter what reason we met.
Meeting up with cute girls and doing something as a guy was an exciting thing.
"Yu-ri. What kind of clothes is she going to wear?"
She thought the heroine from 'Our Romcom' looked best in uniform.
But for some reason, I suddenly became curious about her casual fashion.
***
I arrived at the meeting place.
At the square where I had met Si-a last time, I met her.
Meeting another girl at the same place felt a bit like Casanova.
For some reason, I felt a strange sense of guilt, but
Since we weren't meeting with that intention, I shook my head and told myself not to think useless thoughts.
"Ah. You were already here."
Even though I had arrived 10 minutes early unlike that time.
I could see her waiting for me from far away.
Thanks to her unique appearance, even if you didn't want to look, she caught the eye.
Was this the difference from Si-a?
She was stricter about time commitments and more prepared than I, who used to be a salaryman.
I waved at her and approached.
"Hey. Yu-ri."
Then, from far away, she spotted me and ran toward me.
As she got closer, her figure became more clearly visible.
A light beige linen long dress that was slightly see-through due to the approaching summer weather.
And a vest giving it a point, a light mini bag, and white sandals.
And the mascot-like hairpin attached to her head.
Fresh, innocent, and elegant.
I thought she looked truly like herself in this completely different casual outfit from Si-a's style.
"Long time no see. Yeah."
"It's only been two days. Just."
"For two days, it's long enough. When it's not, we see each other every day."
Yeah, that was true.
Since we were in the same class, you had to see each other even if you didn't want to.
She looked at me for a moment, then cautiously opened her mouth.
"Woo-hyun, you dress well."
"Yeah? No, not really. I just threw it on."
There are guys who look good even if they dress casually.
And with a build like me, tall and broad, it was even more so.
She asked me with concern.
"...Um. How do I look? Actually, this is the first time I've met a friend alone, so I didn't know what kind of clothes were right. Ahaha. Isn't it weird?"
She carefully stretched her own clothes with her hand and checked my eyes.
I thought she must be thinking this.
Since her parents had told her there was always the right answer and that it was important what clothes to wear at the place.
She was probably worrying if she was dressed well for the situation.
After all, between friends, it wasn't that important.
The only thing I could say to her was one thing.
To speak honestly.
"You look great. Pretty."
"Y-yes, pretty?"
At those words, Nam Yu-ri's cheeks flushed red in an instant.