The Narrow Gate (2)
Time passed, and Friday afternoon arrived.
The path leading to Acacia Hall was utterly deserted. Given that only a select few were permitted to use Acacia Hall in the first place, it was inevitably quieter than the routes to Lily Hall or Hydrangea Hall.
On that path, the person Yoon Seo-a had brought with her stood staring at us, tense from head to toe.
"Ah, h-hello...!"
A young lady whose bangs were long enough to hide her eyes stammered the greeting and bowed her head deeply. The appearance and mannerisms were quite familiar.
She had said it was someone I knew, so I had wondered who it might be—never imagining she would bring Shin So-hye. Unable to hide my mixed feelings, I asked Yoon Seo-a,
"So the person Miss Seo-a was bringing is Miss Shin So-hye?"
"Is that unexpected?"
"Unexpected or not, in the first place..."
Isn't she the one you used to bully? The words rose as far as my throat, but looking at the atmosphere between the two of them now, things did not seem that bad.
At the very least, they did not look like a pair of bully and victim.
Of course Shin So-hye was fidgeting and looking restless, but that was simply how she was. While I was making that private assessment, Su-ryeon approached and asked,
"Is she someone you know?"
"Ah, she's a young lady from the same class. Her name is... Miss Shin So-hye. You don't mind if I introduce her, do you?"
"I-if so, it would be an honor for me...!"
"An honor is a bit much..."
She really did have a tendency to exaggerate, that one.
I turned my eyes away from the way her eyes glittered through the curtain of hair, then gestured toward her and said,
"This is Miss Shin So-hye of Class 1-D, as I mentioned earlier. She's also the one who sits next to me."
"N-nice to meet you. I'm Shin So-hye."
"And these two are Miss Hong Su-ryeon and Miss Yeon Chae-rin of Class 1-B."
"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Shin So-hye. I'm Hong Su-ryeon, as introduced."
"Yeon Chae-rin."
Unlike Shin So-hye, who stammered and kept her head bowed low, Su-ryeon and Chae-rin offered elegant, ladylike greetings—lightly lifting the hems of their skirts with their fingertips, bending their knees, and dipping their heads slightly.
Only then did Shin So-hye realize her own mistake, her face flushing bright red, but the two kind-hearted girls did not point it out. Instead, Su-ryeon smiled and said,
"I hope you won't find us too intimidating. We'll be spending the next three days studying together, after all."
"Y-yes...!"
Even with that consideration, Shin So-hye did not relax. Seeing her answer in a stiff, rigid posture, Su-ryeon made a troubled face and whispered discreetly into my ear.
"Is she always like this?"
"...She's a little unusual, but she's not a bad person."
"Not a bad person, but a strange one."
"Miss Chae-rin, you shouldn't say things like that."
I chided Chae-rin for casually piling on, then let out a small sigh and stepped forward.
I still had no idea how Shin So-hye had ended up accompanying Yoon Seo-a, but for now it was only right that I, who had some acquaintance with both sides, take the lead.
"As Miss Su-ryeon said, you don't need to be quite so tense, Miss Shin So-hye. More than that, it's rather surprising. I never imagined for a moment that Miss Shin So-hye would come with Miss Yoon Seo-a."
"Unexpected? We're extremely close. Isn't that right, Miss Shin So-hye?"
"Ah, a-ah... th-that's right...?"
Yoon Seo-a sidled up and rested a hand on her shoulder as she spoke, and Shin So-hye answered awkwardly.
It doesn't look like that at all. I was not the only one thinking so; Su-ryeon, watching with equally mixed eyes, promptly spoke up.
"If you're being threatened by Miss Yoon Seo-a, say so right now. I'll help you immediately."
"My. Threatened? Miss Hong Su-ryeon, do I look like the sort of person who would do such a thing?"
"Miss Yoon Seo-a, it seems you never look in a mirror."
"I look every day. Otherwise it would be a waste of this face."
"Ugh..."
Su-ryeon looked thoroughly disgusted at Yoon Seo-a's casually narcissistic remark. Chae-rin and I were no different, staring at her with blank disbelief, when Shin So-hye, who had been silent until then, hurriedly spoke up.
"Ah, no! I'm not being threatened or anything! O-on the contrary, I'm receiving help, I guess... how should I put it..."
"Help?"
"Being able to join this study group this time is also thanks to Miss Yoon Seo-a proposing it to me..."
Proposed? Not forced? I looked at her with that suspicion before I could stop myself, then averted my gaze the instant our eyes met, as if nothing had happened.
I had no desire to give her another excuse to pick on me and put me through something unpleasant.
In any case, if even Shin So-hye was going so far as to say that, it seemed she truly had not been brought along against her will. Her manner was simply her personality; she did not give the impression of being afraid of Yoon Seo-a.
Su-ryeon must have thought much the same, for she stopped needling and opened her mouth.
"Well, if that's not the case, then that's a relief."
"I already said it isn't. What exactly do you take me for, Miss Hong Su-ryeon?"
"Shall I tell you honestly?"
Of course, the moment Yoon Seo-a finished speaking, the two of them started sniping at each other again as if nothing had happened.
Unable to watch them bicker any longer in their usual fashion, Chae-rin stepped in.
"Both of you, enough of the squabbling. Let's head to Acacia Hall already."
"R-right. It's a path people don't use much, but we're still near the academy. If we keep this up and get caught by Discipline Committee members on patrol, it'll be a headache."
"Hmph. Since Miss Chae-rin and Miss Ha-eun put it that way, I suppose I have no choice."
When I added my voice as well, Su-ryeon let out a small snort and backed down first.
"I wouldn't mind continuing, though."
"Miss Seo-a, please..."
"Just kidding."
Yoon Seo-a winked at me, and a sigh slipped out before I could stop it.
The two of them could hold perfectly normal conversations most of the time, yet they always ended up sniping at each other at least once like this.
Then again, if they grew too close it would be just as bad. The mere thought of Su-ryeon and Yoon Seo-a calling each other by name sent a chill through me, and I shuddered.
"Why are you suddenly trembling like that?"
"I just had a really unpleasant mental image..."
Chae-rin gave me a puzzled look, but I could not explain. In any case, something like that would never happen.
There had been a slight discord from the moment of introducing Shin So-hye, but once the introductions were finished we soon followed Yoon Seo-a toward Acacia Hall.
"It's somehow all sparkly, unlike Lily Hall or Hydrangea Hall."
"Have you been to Hydrangea Hall before, Miss Chae-rin?"
"There's a fork in the middle, but the path basically overlaps with Lily Hall's. I've been once."
"I-I see."
I gave an awkward smile at Chae-rin's casual remark about having entered another dormitory.
Of course, as I had said before, the school rules did not forbid entering a dormitory other than one's own. If they had, then my past self—and the group of us now openly following Yoon Seo-a to Acacia Hall—would never have been able to do so.
But there was that sort of thing, wasn't there? A subtle psychological hurdle. Even if the rules did not prohibit it, being able to do something like that so nonchalantly felt somehow impressive.
Chae-rin herself seemed unconcerned and continued talking.
"Hydrangea Hall is, how should I put it, refined? The overall impression was very orderly. Beautiful, of course, but calmer, maybe..."
"Ah, I know what you mean."
"It might be because it's full of Student Council members or the top academic performers of each year."
Having said that, Chae-rin glanced around and spoke quietly.
"Acacia Hall, on the other hand... it makes no secret of the fact that truly impressive people gather here."
"Ah, haha... y-yes, well..."
She was not outright sneering, but Chae-rin was making her displeasure plain enough that I awkwardly turned my gaze toward Su-ryeon and Yoon Seo-a walking side by side ahead of us.
They would bicker one moment, and the next time you looked they were always stuck together. Of course, they had Shin So-hye walking between them with her shoulders hunched.
I strained my ears to catch what they were talking about and found the conversation was about Shin So-hye.
"By the way, I hadn't realized, but Miss Shin So-hye seems quite tall."
"Ah, a-ah. I-is that so...?"
"Yes. Even walking all hunched over like this, your eye level is about the same as mine."
Among the four of us excluding Shin So-hye, Yoon Seo-a was the tallest, followed by Su-ryeon.
Naturally, the shortest by far was me. Chae-rin was not particularly tall either, but she was still taller than I was.
Yet even with her body completely hunched, Shin So-hye matched Su-ryeon's height. If she simply straightened her posture, she might even meet Yoon Seo-a's eye level.
"If it's not too rude, could you straighten your posture just once?"
"My posture...?"
At Su-ryeon's words, Shin So-hye hesitated for a moment, then carefully corrected her stance.
She opened her chest, squared the shoulders she had been hunching so tightly, and drew back the head she had been thrusting slightly forward, holding it upright.
In an instant she seemed to grow taller.
"Wow."
"I-is this all right...?"
Su-ryeon, who had been facing her, let her eyes lift slightly and let out a sound of admiration; Shin So-hye immediately shrank back to her original posture as if she had never straightened and murmured timidly.
"Just fixing your posture completely changes the impression. How should I put it—right now you feel like a mole that's been hit by sunlight, but when you straighten up you look like a young lady with a touch of pathos."
"A m-mole..."
"Why not try walking with proper posture from now on? While you're at it, tidying the bangs that cover your eyes a little would be even better."
"Ah, ah. Th-this is... a bit..."
"Hm?"
When Su-ryeon lightly touched her bangs, Shin So-hye quickly stepped backward and put distance between them.
She fled to my side in the blink of an eye; Su-ryeon stared blankly, and Yoon Seo-a clicked her tongue.
"Miss Hong Su-ryeon is truly lacking in delicacy. Touching what might be someone's complex without a second thought."
"Th-that wasn't my intention! It's just that covering your eyes with your hair can come across as rude to other people...!"
"Yes, yes. I understand, rude Miss Hong Su-ryeon."
"You, Miss Yoon Seo-a...!"
Here we go again. Watching the two of them start sniping once more, Chae-rin shook her head from side to side.
And I stared at Yoon Seo-a, who was teasing Su-ryeon, with a look of pure disbelief.
Who was it that tried to cut off that possible complex on the very first day without permission?
"Miss Yu Ha-eun... do you think so too...?"
"Pardon? Think what?"
"About me... fixing my posture and tidying my bangs."
While I was thinking that, Shin So-hye, who had been timidly fiddling with her bangs, spoke to me.
"Hmm... I suppose so? I only saw for a moment, but Miss Shin So-hye has good body proportions. It would be better than going around hunched like this."
I considered her words briefly, then nodded and answered.
She had a figure that would not lose even when compared to Yoon Seo-a; hunching and hiding it for no reason seemed far too much of a loss for her.
"Tidying the bangs would look better too. Now that I say it, I've never properly seen Miss Shin So-hye's face."
From time to time the lower half of her face would show through the curtain of bangs, but it was always only for a moment; I had never seen it properly.
"Then... would you like to see now...?"
"Pardon?"
Before I could even reply, Shin So-hye, after a quick glance around, carefully brushed her bangs aside with her hand.
The face that had been hidden behind a black veil was revealed.
The first thing that caught the eye was a pair of vivid blue irises.
Black hair and blue eyes—was Shin So-hye of mixed blood?
Of course I myself had violet eyes, a feature possible only because this was the world of a dating sim, but Shin So-hye's eyes were different from that.
If my eyes were a beauty that existed only in fiction, Shin So-hye's were a beauty one could encounter in reality.
Where Yoon Seo-a's eyes, seen underwater, had held a murky water-light, Shin So-hye's eyes were the clear, pure blue of a sea one might only see in photographs.
"They're beautiful..."
The words slipped out unbidden, and Shin So-hye flinched, stammering.
"B-beautiful..."
"Ah, I'm sorry. Do you dislike hearing that?"
At her murmur I quickly collected myself and apologized. Shin So-hye shook her head vigorously.
"N-no. It's just... I've only ever heard that from my parents..."
"Really? With eyes that pretty?"
"When I was little they called me the blue-eyed ghost..."
"Ah..."
The sudden sad story drew a sigh from me. Children often rejected anything different from themselves, so it was possible.
Then perhaps her present timid mannerisms were also the result of trauma from those childhood experiences. Looking at her with pity, I said,
"Take courage, Miss Shin So-hye. Of all the people I've seen until now, no one has had eyes as beautiful as yours."
"I-is that so...?"
"Yes. I can guarantee it. So why don't you believe me and try changing, just once?"
At my words Shin So-hye covered her face with her bangs again, turned her head, and murmured,
"If I change... w-would Miss Yu Ha-eun like me for it too?"
"...? I'm not sure what you mean by 'like,' but... probably?"
"Th-then I'll try..."
Not "I will," but "I'll try," huh. The subtle nuance made an awkward expression form on my face of its own accord.
"I'll cheer you on."
"Th-thank you..."
Still, saying she would try was something. I struck a fighting pose and cheered her on.
The tips of her ears, just barely visible, had turned red as if she were embarrassed, and it struck me as a little cute.