Rendezvous (9)
The first thing I felt when I opened my eyes was how completely refreshed I was.
A morning so crisp and clear that not a single trace of fatigue remained. I stretched luxuriously while still lying down, savoring a sensation I had only rarely experienced in my life—until a faint sense of wrongness crept in.
Something about where I was lying felt off. The room itself hadn’t changed, but my position within it had.
The thought barely formed before I realized I was in Su-ryeon’s bed. I sat up in a hurry. Never mind why I was sleeping in her bed—where had Su-ryeon herself slept?
I glanced toward my own bed. The covers were neatly arranged; there was no sign anyone had slept there.
Then where…? My eyes swept the room and stopped at the table set against one wall.
“Su-ryeon?”
Why was she sleeping over there? I climbed out of bed and reached for my indoor slippers… only to find them missing.
Of course. I slipped on the pair waiting under the opposite bed instead and approached Su-ryeon, who was dozing in an awkward posture.
“Su-ryeon, why are you sleeping here?”
“Mmngh…”
Even when I gave her shoulder a gentle shake, she only made a petulant little sound and showed no intention of waking.
More than that—why hadn’t she changed out of her uniform? And she was still in her socks, no slippers. Had she fallen asleep the moment she got back from the academy?
Then why hadn’t she gone to her own bed? And why had I, who had been sleeping in mine, ended up in hers?
I puzzled over it for a while before realizing no answer was coming. I reached for my phone to check the time… only to discover the battery was dead. After plugging it in to charge, I borrowed Su-ryeon’s phone instead.
“It’s still the middle of the night?”
Four in the morning, before even the first hint of dawn. I had come back before afternoon classes ended yesterday, so even accounting for travel and a shower, I had slept a solid twelve hours straight.
I should have woken at least once when Su-ryeon returned, yet I had no memory of it. Apparently more fatigue had piled up in my body than I’d realized.
Honestly, that Yoon Seo-a—completely useless when it comes to actually helping. I grumbled inwardly and gave Su-ryeon’s shoulder another light shake.
“Su-ryeon, please wake up. Even if you’re going to sleep, you should do it in a bed.”
“Nngh, just a little longer…? Oh—Ha-eun?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
I offered a soft smile to the dazed eyes looking up at me. Still half-asleep, she murmured on.
“You really did get better…”
“Pardon? Get better? What do you mean?”
“You were sick yesterday… haaah…”
I was sick? Ah—she must mean what happened that morning. Fair enough; anyone who saw me then would have thought I was ill. Curling up and fighting to hold something back could easily look like pain.
The truth was simply that Yoon Seo-a had suddenly switched on the rotor and I’d been desperately trying not to make a sound. I gave an awkward little laugh.
“More importantly, why were you sleeping here instead of in your bed?”
Granted, I had been the one occupying her bed, but I still had a bed of my own.
Su-ryeon’s reaction, however, was strange. She stared at me in silence for a moment, then said flatly:
“Ha-eun. Do you not remember last night?”
“Last night? Well… I just woke up feeling completely refreshed, so…”
“Well… with a fever that high, I suppose it’s natural you wouldn’t remember…”
A fever? I frowned in confusion, but instead of elaborating, Su-ryeon checked the time on her phone, stifled a small yawn, and sat up.
“There’s still plenty of time before we have to leave for class, so I’m going to sleep a little more. Sleeping face-down didn’t do much for the fatigue…”
“Ah—yes.”
Without even changing clothes, Su-ryeon crawled straight into the bed I had just vacated.
I stared blankly for a second before a sudden realization sent me hurrying after her.
“W-wait, Su-ryeon? I was just sleeping there, so, um, there might still be sweat or… that sort of thing left behind. Couldn’t you use the other bed instead?!”
I didn’t usually sweat in my sleep, but if what she said was true, I might have last night. Which meant the bed she was now lying in was dirty.
A-and I really didn’t want her smelling my sweat, either. At my urgent protest, Su-ryeon cracked one eye open.
“Sweat…?”
“Yes! You said I had a fever yesterday! I don’t remember it, but if that’s true, the smell would still be in the bed. And the sheets and blanket would be damp and unpleasant!”
I hadn’t noticed anything of the sort when I woke, but still—better safe than sorry. Maybe the dampness was there and my body had simply adjusted to it.
As I fretted, Su-ryeon seemed to consider for a moment… then pulled the covers all the way up over her head.
…Why?!
“Su-ryeon?!”
“I’m sorry. I don’t have the energy to care about something like that right now. Besides, it doesn’t really smell, so you don’t need to worry.”
“I-if that’s the case, fine, but why are you covering yourself completely?”
“Ah—I fall asleep better this way. See you in a little while.”
No sooner had she spoken than only the steady sound of even breathing came from beneath the blanket.
It was as good as a declaration that she was going back to sleep. I stood there awkwardly for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
If she said she didn’t mind, there was nothing I could do—but it still left me feeling vaguely unsettled.
I absently brought my bare arm to my nose, then fluttered the hem of the sleep dress I was wearing… and something felt wrong.
“Did I go to sleep in this?”
I owned three sleep dresses, all in different shades of sky blue. I was fairly certain I had put on the lightest one before bed, yet I was now wearing the deepest.
Must be imagining things. I scratched my cheek and headed for the bathroom to shower. There was still plenty of time before class, but there was no harm in getting ready early.
And even if I didn’t remember it, Su-ryeon had said I’d been sweating—so washing off right away was probably best.
“Just how many marks did that Yoon Seo-a leave…?”
The moment I stripped, the mirror showed a scattering of red marks. I had known from the sensations alone that she had bitten and sucked wherever she pleased, but seeing them with my own eyes made the extent of it hit harder.
Considering how much they had already faded with time, they must have been far worse originally. I sighed and started the shower.
At least none of them were in places that would be visible to others—that was the one small mercy I could cling to. By the time I finished showering and got ready for school, time was still generously on my side.
They say early to bed and early to rise makes the day feel longer; this was exactly that. I set the electric kettle to boil and took out the tea leaves. It was still too early for breakfast, so I figured a light tea time would do.
I measured out a modest amount of leaves into a tea bag, sealed it, and dropped it into the pot with the hot water. While I waited for it to steep, I powered on my phone, which had charged enough to turn on.
“Quite a few came in…”
Missed calls and messages flooded the screen the instant it lit up. Most were from Su-ryeon and Chae-rin, of course. I scrolled through the worried messages one after another, then set the phone face-down on the table with a sigh.
I had no idea what I was supposed to tell the two of them later. An apology for worrying them was a given, but explaining what had actually happened was the hard part.
It wasn’t exactly the sort of story you went around sharing. Even if Yoon Seo-a had been the one forcing everything, the fact remained that our bodies had been joined.
And it wasn’t just anything—it was between two girls, and it had happened at the academy. Even if I only told the two of them, what if the story somehow leaked?
Yoon Seo-a would probably get a disciplinary slap on the wrist at most, and the whole affair would almost certainly be hushed up inside the academy.
I, on the other hand, might get expelled. Unlike her, I had virtually no backing whatsoever.
“I’m the victim, yet I have to worry about possibly being expelled…”
I let out another heavy sigh, but there was nothing to be done about it.
Private Acacia Academy was, aside from the First Academy that appeared in the original game, one of the most prestigious institutions imaginable—a grand social arena where the daughters of political and business elites gathered.
If a commoner got into trouble there, of course they would quietly sweep it under the rug. Commoners were only allowed to enroll in the first place to deflect criticism that the place was nothing but an upper-class playground.
On the flip side, simply graduating was enough of a credential to land a job at any major corporation.
That was why commoners—and I myself—had enrolled at Private Acacia Academy.
Of course, part of me had also wanted to see a paradise full of pretty girls cooing and giggling at each other. But if the original ending played out and I still didn’t return to my original world, I would need the means to survive in this one.
The best outcome would be returning the moment the ending hit. With that thought, I checked the teapot, removed the tea bag, and set out the cups—mine and one for Su-ryeon as well.
“Su-ryeon. It’s about time you got up.”
“Mmngh…”
Ordinarily Su-ryeon would have woken on her own, but she had only just fallen back asleep, so it was better to rouse her myself.
I took hold of what I guessed was her shoulder and gave it a gentle shake. The blanket that had covered even her face slipped down, revealing a sleep-tousled face.
The unguarded look was so different from her usual self that I was briefly startled. Su-ryeon sat up with clumsy movements and rubbed her eyes. Then her nose twitched and she spoke.
“It smells like tea… Did you brew it, Ha-eun?”
“Yes. Earl Grey. Would you like a light cup before you get ready?”
“I’ll gladly have some…”
We returned to the table together and I filled her cup, then mine. Only then did I finally voice the question that had been lingering.
“Ah—by the way, what did you mean earlier about me being sick last night? And why were you sleeping at the table?”
She had gone straight back to bed claiming she was sleepy, so I hadn’t gotten the chance to ask. I wanted to hear it now.
Su-ryeon, who had been tilting her cup, half-opened her still-heavy eyes.
“Do you truly wish to hear it…?”
“…? Well, it seems I may have caused you trouble, so… Did something serious happen?”
“Something serious… Yes. If you call it serious, then it was serious.”
She exhaled a long sigh. I could only tilt my head in confusion.
But only for a moment. The words that left her mouth next left me stunned.
“…Ha-eun. Are you, by any chance… being sexually harassed by Yoon Seo-a?”
“Wh—what?!”