The Narrow Gate (3)
Once inside Acacia Hall, we headed straight for the area where Yoon Seo-a’s room was.
“Even the inside is sparkling…”
“Indeed. The interior must have taken a great deal of care.”
“I feel like I’ve come somewhere I really shouldn’t be…”
When Chae-rin muttered in that peculiar tone, Su-ryeon and Shin So-hye each offered their own impressions in agreement.
As for me, having been here once already, I wasn’t particularly surprised.
But perhaps that very lack of surprise was what created the sense of dissonance. Chae-rin, who had been glancing around the continuing corridor with open curiosity, sidled closer and asked,
“Miss Ha-eun doesn’t seem to find this scenery novel? Even Miss Su-ryeon has something to say about it.”
Oh no. Had I been acting too casually? Startled by Chae-rin’s question, I hastily blurted out a reply.
“Huh? Uh, well… Honestly, I can’t quite get a feel for it…?”
“Can’t get a feel for it… Well, that is true. I can’t even recognize half of half of the things here myself.”
It seemed a reasonably plausible answer; Chae-rin nodded without further suspicion. More than that—she could recognize even a quarter of them? When I looked at her with surprised eyes, Chae-rin merely shrugged.
“Studying famous paintings is a hobby of mine.”
Come to think of it, I might have heard something like that. A vague memory surfaced of her chatting with Yoon Seo-a during one of our several tea times, and I nodded.
As we walked while exchanging such conversation, we soon found ourselves in front of Yoon Seo-a’s room.
“This is my room.”
Yoon Seo-a, who had been leading the way, opened the door and went in; we followed behind her.
“…This is impressive.”
Even Su-ryeon couldn’t hide her astonished expression as she looked around the duplex interior, perhaps surprised by a space the size of an ordinary family home. Of course, if Su-ryeon was like that, there was no need to mention Chae-rin and Shin So-hye.
Well, our Lily Hall was about the width of a family living room, so it could hardly be called narrow—but this place felt as though they had simply stuffed an entire house inside.
Thinking that, I took out the indoor slippers and changed into them. It was possible only because I remembered exactly where they were kept from my previous visit.
Of course, I didn’t forget to prepare pairs for the others either. As I took out the slippers and handed them over in place of Yoon Seo-a, who had already gone inside, they looked at me with puzzled eyes instead of words of thanks.
What is it? Did I do something wrong? As I stood there a little flustered, Shin So-hye, who had been quiet until now, spoke in a stammering voice.
“Miss Yu Ha-eun… have you been here before?”
“Huh? Th-that’s… what do you mean…”
“Well, Miss Yoon Seo-a didn’t give any hint at all, yet Miss Yu Ha-eun naturally knew where the indoor slippers were…”
“That’s because… the entrance structure isn’t that different from Lily Hall…?”
I was about to say that when I turned my head to look at the place where I had taken out the slippers. The slipper storage in Lily Hall sat right beside the shoe cabinet, so you had to bend down to take them out.
But the slipper storage at the entrance of Yoon Seo-a’s room in Acacia Hall was large enough that, to put it a little exaggeratedly, it would not have been strange to call it a wardrobe.
Large enough that I could take out the slippers without bending over at all.
“Uh…”
“…Haa. Let’s just go inside for now.”
As I stood there speechless upon realizing that, Su-ryeon sighed, changed into the indoor slippers, and stepped inside. Following her were Shin So-hye with still-puzzled eyes and Chae-rin wearing an “I knew it” expression.
Seriously, how did I even get into private Acacia? To carelessly show that I’d been here before like an idiot. As if punishing my own carelessness, I tapped my forehead with a clenched fist and let out a sigh.
For the moment there was something we had to do, so Su-ryeon let it pass without questioning me—but once the exams were over, she would definitely ask about this incident.
“You’re late, Miss Ha-eun. I thought you’d gone off to pick flowers.”
As I moved my feet with the feeling of a criminal, I ran into Yoon Seo-a, who was pulling a tray with a tea set on it—when had she prepared that?
I glared at her for no good reason, then slumped my shoulders. The fundamental cause was clearly Yoon Seo-a, but it was I who had carelessly revealed that I had been here before.
Perhaps finding that strange, Yoon Seo-a tilted her head and asked,
“Suddenly glaring at me, and now drooping. The current Miss Ha-eun is a bit strange. Did something happen in that short time?”
“If you mean something, there was…”
“Hmm… No need to look—it’s Miss Hong Su-ryeon, isn’t it.”
“How did you…?”
I wondered if I had muttered it out loud without realizing, but Yoon Seo-a spoke curtly, as if asking what I was so surprised about.
“Miss Yeon Chae-rin has a somewhat dull personality, so she rarely clashes with Miss Ha-eun, and Miss Shin So-hye isn’t close enough yet for that. On the contrary, Miss Hong Su-ryeon doesn’t hide it at all and tries to interfere with Miss Ha-eun.”
Whether by process of elimination or by personality, the only one left was Su-ryeon—was that it? As I was thinking that, Yoon Seo-a snorted and muttered,
“Again, Miss Hong Su-ryeon must have arbitrarily expected something from Miss Ha-eun and been disappointed. I can tell without even seeing it.”
“It’s not like that. That’s just…”
“Just?”
It wasn’t that Yoon Seo-a cut me off mid-sentence. After saying the words, I found myself at a loss and closed my mouth, so she prompted me.
Come to think of it, even if I showed that I had been here once, there was no reason for Su-ryeon to be disappointed or angry.
Of course it was very grateful that she cared for me and tried to protect me—but wasn’t this sort of thing private life…?
Yet to say such a thing, I felt far too pathetic myself.
In the end, the reason Su-ryeon had come to think that way was because I had gone through such precarious things.
And the main culprit of that incident was Yoon Seo-a right in front of me. So ultimately, the only bad one was Yoon Seo-a.
“What is that look?”
“I just realized that Miss Seo-a is entirely the bad one.”
If Yoon Seo-a hadn’t forcibly brought me here back then, I might have purely been surprised and reacted like the other three.
And there wouldn’t have been any unnecessary awkwardness with Su-ryeon. As I looked at Yoon Seo-a with a sullen gaze, she smiled as if it were absurd and spoke while pulling the tray.
“Yes, yes. I’m the bad person.”
“That’s right. Miss Seo-a is bad.”
“If you say one more word there, I’ll show the others us sharing a deep kiss.”
At that threat that wasn’t quite a threat, I clamped my mouth shut and followed behind.
Heading into the living room, I felt an uncomfortable atmosphere. On the left of Su-ryeon, who sat in the middle of the sofa with a sullen expression, Shin So-hye was tensing her body as if carefully reading her mood.
Unlike those two, Chae-rin seemed to like the sofa; she was completely sprawled out without any thought of maintaining dignity.
Looking at that, one could certainly call her dull. Even if she had no eye for reading the room, there was still Shin So-hye, whom she was meeting for the first time.
As Yoon Seo-a approached pulling the tray, the three people of various sorts turned their gazes this way.
When my eyes met Su-ryeon’s in the middle, I felt guilty for no reason and slightly averted my gaze.
“Although we gathered for the purpose of studying, rather than starting right away I was thinking of having a light tea time—is that alright with all three of you?”
“…I don’t mind.”
“Same here.”
“M-me too.”
At the three’s answers, Yoon Seo-a began preparing the tea with familiar ease.
Feeling a bit awkward just standing there after coming together, I tried to help with the setting afterward, but she skillfully pushed me away and said,
“Originally, treating guests is the host’s duty. So please take a seat, Miss Ha-eun.”
“Ah, yes…”
At Yoon Seo-a’s refusal, I headed to the sofa with hesitant steps.
But the sofa where the three were already sitting was full, and the remaining seat was on the opposite side across the table… If I sat there, I would definitely end up sitting shoulder to shoulder with Yoon Seo-a.
Even normally I sat with Su-ryeon and Yoon Seo-a on either side, but that was only while sitting in our respective chairs, and with distance between us at that.
But if I sat on the sofa, that distance would disappear. Even now the three sitting were almost side by side enough to touch shoulders, weren’t they?
I had no desire to sit shoulder to shoulder with Yoon Seo-a.
It was while I was fretting over that. Su-ryeon, who had been quietly watching me, spoke to Shin So-hye, who was stiffly frozen beside her.
“Miss Shin So-hye?”
“Y-yes? What is it…?”
“I’m sorry, but could you move seats?”
“Y…es?”
At that remark, both Chae-rin—who had been sprawled on the sofa—and I looked at Su-ryeon with wide eyes.
Regardless, she gave Shin So-hye a bright smile and said,
“Please. Could you sit on the opposite side?”
“A-ah… Yees…”
Under the silently transmitted pressure, the trembling Shin So-hye sprang up and sat on the opposite sofa with slumped shoulders.
Even seeing that pitiful sight, Su-ryeon acted as if it were nothing, tapping the emptied seat with her hand and saying to me,
“Miss Ha-eun? Come over here.”
“Ah, yes…”
For a moment, it seemed like I saw Yoon Seo-a in Su-ryeon’s appearance.
Fearing any more words might come out, I quickly sat in the emptied seat.
“As expected of the upper class…”
I heard Chae-rin muttering softly. Since it was loud enough for me to hear, Su-ryeon must have heard it too for sure, but she didn’t react. Instead she let out a deep breath and took my hand.
“S-Su-ryeon?”
“For now, let’s talk after the exams are over.”
As expected, she wasn’t just going to let it pass. As I sat still, breaking out in a cold sweat, Yoon Seo-a—who had finished preparations at some point—set the teacups one by one on the table.
Placing the three-tiered plate tray loaded with various sweets in the center, she suddenly looked back and forth between me and Shin So-hye, then smirked and said,
“Come to think of it, Miss Shin So-hye’s seat has changed?”
“A-ah. Yees…”
“The only place Miss Ha-eun could sit was clearly the sofa where Miss Shin So-hye is sitting now…”
“I asked Miss Shin So-hye for her understanding. Right, Miss Shin So-hye?”
“Ah, a…”
At Su-ryeon’s words, Shin So-hye nodded with her head deeply bowed. One might feel pity at that wretched appearance, but Yoon Seo-a smiled brightly as if finding it amusing and opened her mouth.
“As expected, Miss Hong Su-ryeon isn’t that different from me either.”
“Be quiet, Miss Yoon Seo-a.”
Su-ryeon lifted her teacup with an irritated voice and sipped. It was clear she wanted no more conversation.
This was supposed to be a tea time that also had the meaning of relieving the tension of the newly joined Shin So-hye—so how did it end up like this?
Shin So-hye trembling as she quietly lifted her teacup, Su-ryeon looking in a bad mood, and Yoon Seo-a smiling brightly as if finding this whole situation purely amusing.
And at the sight of Chae-rin munching on the sweets as if unbothered by such an atmosphere, I thought that the tea time wasn’t going to flow enjoyably at all.