Today of All Days
Woo-hyun's house.
At those words, Nam Yu-ri's mind went blank, white as a sheet.
The very idea of going over to someone else's house to hang out was something she had never done before in her life.
"…Are you sure that's okay, though?"
There were several reasons she had suggested studying for the exams together with Woo-hyun.
One was that she had planned to study during the free time left by the school founding anniversary anyway, and doing it alone would have been boring.
Another was her sense of responsibility as a Cluster mentor — she couldn't just skip their sessions.
And the last one…
Because in that novel I read yesterday, there was a scene where friends studied for exams together.
Most of the novels Woo-hyun had recommended were Japanese coming-of-age stories. Naturally, with students as the protagonists, scenes of going out somewhere or studying for exams together turned up fairly often.
Honestly, she had been envious.
It was nothing special, but gathering at a friend's house to study together had looked so enjoyable.
An experience she had never had.
An experience she had assumed she never would have — and yet, the more time she spent around Woo-hyun, the more that assumption had started to change.
They had met outside of Cluster sessions, after all. And thanks to him, she had discovered novels — a whole new joy in life.
So she had figured that asking him this time might not be completely impossible, and had decided to test the waters.
Not only had he agreed without hesitation — he had gone and invited her to his house.
Woo-hyun always managed to exceed her expectations.
"Yeah. Of course it's fine. I told you — if anything, I'm the one who wants to ask the favor here."
"No, I mean… I was wondering if it's really okay for me to come over to your place…"
"Huh? Why wouldn't it be?"
"Uh… well… good point?"
Ahaha.
She laughed awkwardly without meaning to.
She couldn't quite put her finger on why she had thought it wouldn't be okay. Maybe, deep down, she had decided that kind of thing simply wasn't for her.
Meeting friends casually, chatting, studying together the way everyone else did — that sort of ordinary behavior didn't suit Nam Yu-ri, who was supposed to live more fiercely than anyone.
But hearing Woo-hyun's reply, it suddenly felt strange.
It was just going to a friend's house once. There was nothing wrong with that. Ordinary kids went over to their friends' places all the time.
And besides, it wasn't even a social visit. They were going to study.
Still… I wonder if Woo-hyun feels uncomfortable about it.
Just the two of them.
That part, more than anything, was what bothered Yu-ri. They had met one-on-one before, but meeting outside and meeting in a closed-off space like a house were different things.
Especially having a girl come over alone to a guy's place — that was the kind of thing that could make someone pretty self-conscious.
But nothing about his face had changed. He didn't seem bothered at all.
Did he not even register her as a girl? Did he just see her as a teacher, or a friend?
…This is probably why I'm still single.
She had a habit of treating the other person as a member of the opposite sex all on her own — even when they clearly didn't see her that way at all.
Maybe she just wasn't used to it. There hadn't been many guys who didn't treat her as a girl.
But then why does this feel so unsettled?
Being treated comfortably as a friend was something she should be happy about. It meant the distance between them had closed enough that he could invite her over alone.
And yet, for some reason, Nam Yu-ri's mood wasn't entirely good.
At that inexplicable unease, she unclenched the fist she hadn't realized she was gripping and tried to shake the feeling off.
"Anyway, so you're coming, right? To my place?"
"Ah! Yeah. I think that would be best. It'll be more comfortable than anywhere else."
Technically, Nam Yu-ri had a house of her own. But she didn't particularly want to invite other people there.
Back when she was very little and had brought friends home, she had learned that most of them started keeping their distance once they saw the scale of her house — the lavish, sprawling residence, the housekeeper auntie, a landscape you simply didn't find in ordinary homes. That was the first time she had understood that.
She didn't want Woo-hyun to feel that way either.
No — more precisely, she hated the idea of him feeling that way and then no longer treating her with the same easy closeness he did now.
"Okay. Then come over tomorrow morning. I'll pin you the address."
At his words, her heart fluttered for no good reason, beating faster. She had a feeling she wouldn't sleep well tonight.
Was it because of the thought of being alone with him? Or was she simply excited about going to a friend's house to study? Nam Yu-ri couldn't tell the difference, so she didn't try to.
She was about to nod and say she understood when —
"Seon Woo-hyun! Can I come too?"
Someone cut in from the side without warning.
A girl with a bright, refreshing look — her best friend, Han Si-ah.
She must have overheard their conversation while passing by. They had been talking right out in the hallway in front of the classroom, after all.
"What? You too?"
"Yeah! I want to study too. With Yu-ri."
"You don't even need to study."
"What are you talking about? I always study. I just always cram at the last minute, that's all."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Obviously. Plus if my grades drop again this time, my parents are gonna give me an earful. I can't always get high scores, but they still tell me to at least put in a little effort."
Si-ah laughed, heh-heh, looking a little embarrassed.
Nam Yu-ri, who knew Si-ah's recent grades very well, could understand where she was coming from. It was true that Si-ah's scores had dropped further since becoming a second-year.
With the difficulty of schoolwork rising and her study time remaining severely limited, the decline was only natural.
Si-ah trotted over to Yu-ri's side, linked arms with her, and said,
"Yu-ri~ Please. Help me with my cramming…"
"So that was the real angle."
At the blatantly transparent scheme, Nam Yu-ri and Seon Woo-hyun both laughed. She hadn't had many chances before, but studying together with Si-ah sounded like it would be fun too.
"And also, leaving just you and Yu-ri alone is kinda weird."
"Weird how?"
"There's just something about it. Anyway. You're more comfortable with three people than just the two of you, right?"
"Well, yeah, that's true."
"Then it's settled. See you tomorrow morning, guys! I've got practice, so I'm heading out first~"
Watching Han Si-ah bounce cheerfully away, Yu-ri's eyes met Woo-hyun's. He shrugged with a helpless, what can you do look, and Nam Yu-ri huffed a small laugh.
But somewhere in a corner of her heart, a faint, unnameable disappointment lingered at the fact that it was no longer just the two of them — a feeling even Nam Yu-ri herself couldn't begin to explain.
"Have I ever cleaned this thoroughly in my entire life?"
I wiped the sweat running down my forehead with a long breath.
It wasn't like I'd been living in some hygienic disaster zone. But after getting used to the average lifestyle of a guy living alone, I hadn't exactly kept my room spotless even after becoming Seon Woo-hyun.
Today, though, I simply couldn't stand the idea of leaving it unclean.
…Well, yeah. Two girls were coming to my room.
Embarrassing as it was to admit, this was a once-in-a-lifetime event for me. Through my entire school years and all the way to twenty-nine, I had lived a solo life without ever having a single girl set foot in my room.
So the fact that two impossibly pretty girls were suddenly coming over was, for me, a genuinely special occasion.
"They're just coming to study, but still…"
That didn't mean I wanted to show them a filthy room.
If it were Yoon Tae-jun, he probably wouldn't have cared either way. Me, though — I scrubbed the dust off the window frames, threw open the windows to air the place out, chased out the stuffy air, and finished with a diffuser.
Only after confirming with my own nose that the room smelled nice did I finally let out a sigh of relief.
Around the time I wrapped up the cleaning to a decent standard, I took a shower to wash off the sweat from all that vigorous scrubbing. I was in the middle of drying my hair when the doorbell at the shared entrance rang.
"They're here already?"
I thought the two of them were coming together. Checking the intercom monitor and seeing two girls jamming their faces right up against the camera, I snorted a laugh and buzzed them in.
The hair dryer was in the living room, so I was roughly toweling my hair dry when the doorbell rang again. Still not finished drying, I walked out to the door.
The door opened, and two girls poured inside.
"Seon Woo-hyun, hiii~ We're here~"
"Woo-hyun. Hi."
Han Si-ah, dressed in flashy clothes as if she were competing with someone, and Nam Yu-ri, in a cool, refined outfit. The two of them came in side by side — then caught sight of me, froze, and went completely still.
"…"
"…"
What is this silence?
I couldn't help wondering if I was dressed weirdly, but no matter how I checked myself over, nothing seemed particularly off.
Hair I hadn't finished drying, a white T-shirt slightly damp from changing in the bathroom after the shower, and shorts I'd thrown on because I was home and wanted to be comfortable.
Compared to the girls, I definitely looked underdressed — but honestly, they were the ones with the problem, showing up all dressed up like that. Who gets that dressed up to study at a friend's house?
"What?"
"…"
"What is it? What's with those looks? You got a problem with me?"
When I asked, genuinely confused, Han Si-ah suddenly cleared her throat with a forced little cough, and Nam Yu-ri flushed bright red, turning her head the other way.
"Ah, it's nothing!"
"R-right. Looks like you just finished washing up. We must've come too early. Sorry."
Watching the two of them avoid looking at me from the entryway, speaking in awkward tones, I could only feel puzzled.
…Weird. Why are both of them acting like this today of all days?