chapter 22
22
For one week, we met every day, teaching and learning from each other, revealing things we didn’t know. And now, the last weekend remained.
“On the last day, we’ll study individually, right?”
“Yeah.”
But we agreed that if we stayed together until the last day, our minds would surely wander. So Seo-ah suggested that we all study at home on the last day.
“Okay, got it. Wait a minute… Are you two secretly meeting?”
Park Seo-hyun looked at us suspiciously.
“Oh, no, we’re not!”
But Seo-ah smoothly brushed it off, and we parted ways.
And the next day,
Ding-dong.
“Hello, I’m coming out.”
Beep beep beep.
“Come in.”
A little while later, Seo-ah came to our house.
“Hi? Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah…”
As Park Seo-hyun had said, we met on the weekend.
“I told you last time, didn’t I? I wasn’t lying. Look, I didn’t bring any study materials~”
Seoa said, spinning around.
“Ahahahaha…”
I let Seoa into my house.
The night before we parted ways, Seoa secretly met me again and said she would come to our house tomorrow. Luckily, my parents were out, so I easily agreed. Of course, I would have agreed even if my parents were home.
“So, what should we do for fun?”
Ever since Seoa confessed to me, or even before that, she has liked me a lot. It’s almost like when I got married. Sometimes, I get confused.
“Well… yeah.”
Actually, when I was married, Seoa and I played games or went on dates to have fun. Most of the time, I stayed home since I’m a homebody, and Seoa didn’t mind. She just wanted to be with me.
“Then… do you have a game console?”
“Huh?”
“A game console, do you happen to have one?”
Seoa, playing games?
“Ah… no, I do.”
I quickly ran to my room and grabbed a game console and gamepad that we could play together.
“Oh…! I’ve never seen this before, a gamepad?”
“Just a moment.”
I inserted the game CD into the console and went to the kitchen to look for something to eat.
I considered getting a drink, but instead I prepared a tea bag and warm water.
“Here you go, Seoa.”
I set down the tray and handed Seoa a teacup filled with warm water and a tea bag.
“What’s this…?”
“Yeah, it’s tea. Give it a try, it’s good to drink.”
Actually, I didn’t usually drink tea. It was just something I would occasionally have when I happened to come across it, not because I particularly enjoyed it. But since Seoa liked tea quite a bit, I started drinking it too as we went to various places together. Before I knew it, I had come to enjoy and appreciate tea as well.
“…?”
“Oh… don’t you like it? Should I get you a different beverage?”
But come to think of it, Seoa was an adult now, not the same person as before. Maybe she didn’t know what it tasted like.
“Oh… no, I’ll drink it.”
Seoa took a sip and her eyes widened as if it tasted delicious.
“This… this is…”
“Yeah? Oh, this is plum blossom tea.”
Among the teas Seoa liked the most in the future, plum blossom tea was one of them. Normally, it’s hard to find plum blossom tea during this season. It’s harvested in February to March when the plum blossoms bloom, and it’s processed and available in March to April. Most people buy it during that time, so it’s difficult to find during the hot summer months of July and August.
Well, in the future, we could have plum blossoms whenever we wanted, so it didn’t matter. But for now, it was hard to find.
“Oh… yeah, this is really good. I like it.”
Seoa smiled and gazed at the tea for a while before taking another sip.
It seems quite pleasing.
After that, the game we played was a racing game where we competed against each other.
“Since it’s our first time, shall we play in teams?”
“Yes!”
We started the game and selected our players.
“Don’t worry, Seo-ah, I’ll make sure we win!”
“Yes! I’ll trust only you!”
I boasted with confidence.
4th
“…”
“Uh… other people are really good.”
“But this is a bot match…”
“… Is today just an unlucky day?”
“Seems like it…”
No way, I got hit. Isn’t the AI attacking me or slipping in the middle?
Due to nervousness, I made frequent mistakes.
“I… I’ll do better next time!”
So, once again, I focused.
6th
“…”
“Ahahahaha…”
That day, Seoa comforted me as our home date came to an end.
“Well, study hard tomorrow.”
“Yeah, you too, Seoa.”
“Is the problem still unsolved?”
“Ah…no, it’s not.”
After that, I showed off my skills in FPS, but I still wanted to show that I was good from the beginning…
“Don’t be nervous next time~ Don’t be nervous about exams, but be nervous about things like this~”
“Well… I don’t get nervous because you’ve taught me everything about exams…”
“…”
“Yeah?”
“Ah…no, then Jihun, study hard!”
With that, Seoa ran off, and our happy time came to an end.
After that, I studied hard for the exams and finally…
“It’s a festival!!!”
“You idiot, it’s still the preparation period, you know?”
“But it’s a festival, right?”
“Ugh… fine.”
“Whatever, Jihun, she’s always like this.”
“That’s true.”
After the exams were over, the festival season finally approached.
“hehehehe… Do you know about it?”
In the midst of it, Seokho approached me with a mischievous smile.
“What do I know?”
“There’s a legend during the festival season.”
“Is this some kind of legendary school? Why is there so much going on here?”
“No, no! Listen, at the end of the festival, there’s a song that plays and it ends.”
“Right.”
“But there’s a rumor that if you confess on the rooftop when it’s open, it will last a lifetime.”
“What nonsense is that again?”
But Seokho didn’t listen to me and continued to daydream on his own.
“Alright, everyone, pay attention.”
That’s when the teacher spoke.
“Since it’s the festival, I heard there are a lot of incidents and accidents. I don’t want to be bothered, so prepare safely.”
“Yes!”
The students replied eagerly.
“Oh, and each class should choose one or two people to help with the festival preparations. Any volunteers?”
…
In contrast to before, the class fell silent at those words.
Indeed, being part of the festival organizing committee was busy, making it difficult to enjoy properly.
“Hmm… Then I’ll decide. Accept it obediently without rebellion,” said the teacher, speaking like a villain. He looked at the student council and said, “Alright, Park Seok-ho, congratulations to all the winners. Applause!”
Clap clap clap clap
“Huh? Teacher!! Why am I included?”
“You stood out.”
“No! Teacher! I have to get a girlfriend!”
To boldly say that in front of the teacher…
Other students laughed and said to Seok-ho, “Just accept it!”
“That’s right, you’ll never have a girlfriend in your lifetime!”
“He’s really hopeless.”
The teacher quieted the students and said to Seok-ho, “Then if you find someone to replace yourself, I’ll switch. Alright? Now, work hard, prepare, and if you need anything or if there’s something lacking, come find me. That’s it.”
Then he left the classroom, and we became noisy again.
“Alright, then let’s create a club.”
…What?
I heard that it involves making non-alcoholic cocktails and creating a club-like atmosphere with dim lighting. Of course, it’s not that dark and there’s no alcohol, so it’s not a problem at all, but…
“Did the teachers approve of that?”
“◈ ◈ I received permission from Manager ◈ ◈”
“What did you do? Did you bribe them?”
“hahahahaha, who do you think I first went to see after becoming the class president?”
Could it be this guy?
“That’s right! I had planned this grand scheme since the beginning of the semester!”
That crazy class president caused trouble.
As I thought about it, I remembered the memories of creating a club.
Oh wait… didn’t someone slap me at the end?
Because I know the future, I can prepare for it in advance.
I secretly devised a plan to protect those kids amidst their cheering.
After the meeting ended, some kids took out board games and played or used their phones, while others left the classroom.
Swoosh.
“Hey… guys, is Jihoon here? Oh! Jihoon!”
Seoa came to the classroom.
“Uh? It’s Seoa!”
“Wow… so the rumors were true.”
“That jerk, make him pay 50 times the tax.”
When the kids saw Seoa, their faces brightened and they started laughing, so I quickly left.
“Well then, bye!”
“Hey! You bas…”
Clang.
“Ahem, shall we go?”
I came with Seo-ah to the meeting place.
“hehehe, interesting friends.”
“Oh, if we go back, won’t they hang around?”
“Should I tell them not to?”
“No… Actually, that would only fuel the situation.”
Is it like pouring oil on a fire?
“Sigh, alright, I got it. But if they act out of line, let me know. I’ll handle it.”
Seo-ah will handle it?
“Oh, it’s fine. Besides, there aren’t those kinds of people here.”
If there were, I would have dealt with it myself. I couldn’t rely on Seo-ah for help.
“Oh, right. Seo-ah, what did you guys decide?”
“Well… We didn’t do anything special. We just set up a booth for watching movies.”
“I see.”
If my past self, who worked as a waiter at a club booth, asked why I did it… Well, it’s something that pricks Seo-ah, so I should bury it deep inside my heart.
“We figured that instead of running a booth, we’d have more fun, so only a few of us who wanted to watch movies stayed to run it, and the rest went out to have fun.”
Come to think of it, there were a few groups like that, and Seo-ah’s group was one of them.
“Then it’ll be easier for us to meet, right?”
“Yeah! We can watch the theater club’s performance, check out other booths afterward… Should we have a food truck this time? They said they would come last time, but they didn’t.”
We chatted like that, Seo-ah and I.
“Oh, by the way, what were you planning to do, Jihoon? Can I come along too?”
“Yeah! Of course, we were going to a club… Uh.”
“What?”
…
Am I going to die?