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“I’ll wear it until I get home.”
“Why all of a sudden? Are you worried I might be cold? It’s fine. You’re soaked more than I am. You should wear it.”
Hyun-soo felt grateful and smiled as she tried to take off the school uniform shirt. But just as she started, her hand was abruptly stopped by Guk.
“…It’s all visible. That’s why I told you to keep it on.”
“Huh?”
Visible? What was visible?
In that brief moment of thought, Hyun-soo glanced down at herself with suspicion. Sure enough, her undershirt was completely exposed. Having overslept that morning and hastily thrown on her uniform without a dry tank top underneath, this embarrassing situation had arisen.
Her face flushed red, even extending to her ears, Hyun-soo turned around and quickly buttoned up Guk’s oversized shirt. Though it looked comical, draping loosely like her father’s clothes, it was better than exposing herself in the rain. A bra show in the rain would’ve been far worse.
Overwhelmed by embarrassment, Hyun-soo fidgeted nervously—opening and closing the umbrella, shaking off the raindrops, and generally making a fuss.
Unlike Hyun-soo, Guk leaned against the café awning, calmly waiting for the rain to ease. When he judged it was the perfect time to leave, he slung his bag over his shoulder again.
“Let’s go.”
Guk stepped out into the street, leaving Hyun-soo behind, who felt beads of sweat trickling down her neck. Just as her body had finally warmed up, she now had to walk in the rain again.
Seeing this, Hyun-soo chased after him with the umbrella despite her lingering embarrassment. She couldn’t let him go like this—it was an indescribable mix of awkwardness and reluctance. She wanted to cry.
“Let’s go together!”
Under the tilted red umbrella, their figures came together once again.
---
“I’ll change and be right back.”
Hyun-soo wanted to cry. Of all days, why did today have to be tutoring day? She desperately didn’t want to face him after what had happened, but her wishful thinking shattered into pieces.
The two had just arrived home and were standing in the garden, discussing when they’d meet for their session.
“See you in 30 minutes.”
“Okay, okay,” Hyun-soo weakly nodded in agreement. After confirming her response, Guk turned and crossed the garden. His tall figure shrank rapidly until it disappeared from sight. Watching him leave, Hyun-soo trudged up the stairs and entered the house.
“I’m home.”
“What’s with your appearance?”
“My umbrella broke…”
“You really are such a klutz.”
Fortunately, Young-ae was busy filing her nails, or Hyun-soo might’ve gotten a slap on the back for her clumsiness.
“Ugh, fix that properly! You missed a spot on the side.”
Young-ae scolded impatiently, waving her hand. Mrs. Ah-san, seated in front of her applying nail polish, bowed her head apologetically. Her tense expression revealed how focused she was on getting it right.
Why does Mom make others do things like this? Hyun-soo thought to herself as she hurried to her room. With each step, droplets fell from her soaked clothes, leaving trails behind. Spotting this, Young-ae called out yet again.
“That girl has no redeeming qualities. Mrs. Ah-san, after you’re done, clean up the water she dripped on the floor.”
Mrs. Ah-san nodded. Feeling guilty, Hyun-soo glanced back and caught Mrs. Ah-san’s eye. She mouthed “I’m sorry” and bowed slightly. Seeing this, Mrs. Ah-san shook her head and smiled—a bright, radiant smile like the sun.
“But wait, what’s that you’re wearing?”
“Huh?”
Mrs. Ah-san’s gaze landed on Hyun-soo, prompting Young-ae to turn and inspect her daughter’s outfit. Her eyes narrowed sharply.
“Why is that shirt so big? It’s clearly not yours.”
“W-What are you talking about? It’s mine!”
“Don’t treat me like a fool. Something that big can’t possibly be yours. Come here. What exactly were you doing outside?”
“What do you mean, ‘what was I doing’?! You’re the one jumping to weird conclusions!”
Though borrowing Guk’s uniform wasn’t wrong given the circumstances, Young-ae was bound to scold her for “gallivanting around.” Wanting to avoid both the lecture and her mother’s disapproving face, Hyun-soo dashed up the stairs. Behind her, she heard Young-ae calling her name.
BAM.
Closing the door hastily, Hyun-soo’s heart raced. She didn’t understand why she felt so guilty when she hadn’t done anything wrong.
Dropping her soaked bag with a thud, Hyun-soo took a deep breath and began changing. First, she unbuttoned Guk’s uniform shirt. Even as she peeled it off, the faint scent of soap lingered momentarily before fading away. Pausing briefly, Hyun-soo laughed at herself, unable to help it.
Changing out of the rest of her clothes didn’t take long. Thankfully, there was a dry towel hanging in the corner of her room, which she used to dry off.
After changing into fresh clothes and drying her hair, she heard a knock at the door. The distinctive, sharp rapping made it clear who it was, even without seeing their face.
“Come in.”
At Hyun-soo’s permission, the door opened, and Guk walked in. He wore a white t-shirt and comfortable sweatpants, his damp hair still dripping slightly. As usual, he pulled out a small chair and sat down, exuding a fresh, pleasant scent.
“Did you do your homework?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Let me see.”
“Here.”
Hyun-soo handed him her notebook filled with problem-solving attempts. Guk picked up a pen and focused intently on her work.
Meanwhile, Hyun-soo, sitting quietly and waiting, began to feel a slight chill. The narrow gap between them meant their bodies, still damp from the rain, radiated a lingering coldness.
“Are you cold?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Without looking up, Guk responded curtly as he continued grading her work. While such a blunt answer might have embarrassed someone else, Hyun-soo simply accepted it. By now, she was somewhat used to his personality.
As Guk flipped through the pages, he glanced at Hyun-soo.
“Are you cold?”
Surprisingly, his follow-up question felt unfamiliar. Blinking, Hyun-soo hesitated before responding.
“Just a little. But it’s fine, really.”
“If you’re cold, go grab something to layer on. We haven’t started the lesson yet.”
“Uh… okay.”
Hearing her response, Guk turned back to grading. Scribble, scribble. Despite his earlier considerate words, the merciless slashes marking incorrect answers spoke volumes.
“Let’s begin. We’ll start with math, then move on to English.”
“Got it.”
“You say that, but you didn’t even review beforehand.”
“Don’t pick a fight before we’ve even started.”
“Look at this problem. This part here is where you…”
With a calm, low voice, the lesson began. Like the torrential rain pouring outside, red marks rained down on Hyun-soo’s workbook. Neither of them seemed particularly disheartened—it was nothing new.
The lesson progressed steadily. Hyun-soo, though her output sometimes lagged behind her input, was diligent overall and followed Guk’s guidance without resorting to shortcuts.
“Do you dislike cookies?”
During the break between math and English, as they snacked on treats brought by Mrs. Ah-san, Hyun-soo suddenly asked Guk. He raised an eyebrow quizzically.
“No… You haven’t touched them, so I thought maybe you didn’t like cookies. If you don’t, I’ll ask for fruit next time.”
What’s with this? Guk resumed twirling his pen absentmindedly.
“What’s your favorite fruit? Mine’s peaches. Do you want to eat peaches next time?”
Taken aback by the sudden peach talk, Guk stared at Hyun-soo. Meanwhile, the pen spun effortlessly on his fingers without falling.
“My mom’s allergic to peaches.”
Guk stated plainly.
“Huh?”
Mid-bite of a cookie, Hyun-soo froze, her expression blank.
“Who do you think prepares these snacks?”
“Well, Mrs. Ah-san, of course…”
...Who is also your mother.
“Exactly.”
Realizing her mistake, Hyun-soo set the cookie down. All the snacks prepared and brought upstairs were Mrs. Ah-san’s efforts. Bothering her unnecessarily while taking credit for it wasn’t fair. From Guk’s perspective, it must have been uncomfortable. And on top of that, she’d gone on about peaches his mom couldn’t even touch. Apologizing directly might make things worse.
Quietly crumbling the cookie on the plate, Hyun-soo spoke up.
“Hey, Yoon Guk.”
“What.”
“What do you like?”
Just as Guk was pulling out the English workbook, he looked at her with a puzzled expression, as if questioning her random remark.
“No, I mean, everyone likes something, right? I was wondering what you like. What do you enjoy?”
“...”
But Guk remained silent, simply staring at her.
“Is it a secret or something?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“You don’t like anything? How’s that possible?”
“Ask me what I dislike instead.”
Monotonously speaking, he opened today’s study pages and placed the workbook in the center of the desk.
“Then… what do you dislike?”
Hyun-soo asked. Looking up from the workbook, Guk met her gaze.
“This kind of thing.”
“This kind… of thing? What do you mean…?”
“Enough. Focus.”
Apparently intending to end the conversation there, Guk lowered his gaze and pointed to a problem with his mechanical pencil. His voice and movements as he read and solved problems were as precise as ever, as if nothing had happened. But Hyun-soo couldn’t concentrate on the lesson anymore.
“This kind of thing.”
What did he mean? That cryptic remark weighed heavily on her chest, making the air feel stifling. What was he trying to say?
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