Seo Jae-gyeom didn’t answer my question.

He just ran a hand through his hair with a frustrated expression.

At this point, I was getting annoyed too.

“Seo Jae-gyeom, you’re being weird today. Stop making this difficult and just tell me. What’s the problem?”

I pressed Seo Jae-gyeom, who remained silent. After I prodded him a few more times, he sighed and finally let it out.

“Today… the Vice President was supposed to come.”

Vice President.

That was the term for Seo Jae-gyeom’s father.

A rich man who had fathered Seo Jae-gyeom out of wedlock and believed he fulfilled his parental duties by checking in whenever he felt like it.

“He hasn’t been here in months, so my mom is on edge. She’s been telling me to come home early since earlier.”

“…So, when you randomly said you were going to the snack bar…”

Were you going to call your mom?

Seo Jae-gyeom nodded in response to my question.

“Yeah.”

“And that’s why you’ve been on edge all day?”

“…Yeah.”

That explains a lot…

Without hiding my complicated feelings, I looked around the counseling room.

A huge pile of test papers.

An unhelpful answer key with only the answers jotted down and a teacher’s edition textbook thrown in for reference.

And an 18-year-old boy on edge due to a complicated family situation.

‘Come to think of it, around this time, Seo Jae-gyeom suddenly said he was going on a trip and didn’t come to school for a few days.’

So this was why.

“Seo Jae-gyeom.”

“…Yeah.”

“If something’s bothering you, just say it. Say that you’re in a difficult situation because of this and that. Don’t go around lashing out at everyone.”

“…”

“What you did to me today was just you lashing out. What did I do to deserve it?”

“…Sorry.”

“Fine. Just don’t do it again in the future.”

I nodded, took off the school uniform cardigan I was wearing, and hung it on the chair. I pulled over a stack of test papers closest to me.

I jutted my chin toward the opposite side of the table at Seo Jae-gyeom, who was standing there like a statue.

“Do you have good handwriting?”

“Huh?”

“I’ll grade from class 1 and pass them to you, and you write down why the answer is wrong under the incorrect problems. I’ll finish first, and then we can split the remaining amount in half again.”

“…”

“What are you doing? Sit down.”

We don’t have time.

The sooner you sit down, the sooner we can go home.

I pushed a freshly graded test paper and the textbook toward Seo Jae-gyeom as he slowly sat down across from me.

“Why are you just sitting there? Don’t you have a red pen?”

I urged Seo Jae-gyeom, who showed no signs of moving. He stared at me intently before turning the question back on me.

“Is that it?”

“What is?”

“You’re not going to get mad?”

“Mad?”

“You said I was lashing out at you. That I took it out on you. But you’re just going to let it go?”

“Well…”

Of course, I’m not happy about it, but.

“I heard your side of the story, I understand why it happened, and I got an apology.”

What more can I do? Should I make him kneel in apology or something?

“Not getting overly angry about trivial matters is a virtue of a cultured person.”

And honestly, it didn’t really affect me. Whether you’re irritable or not.

That’s what I meant, but Seo Jae-gyeom’s gaze didn’t leave my face.

His brown eyes stared at me intently.

“Why?”

“…You’ve seemed a little different since yesterday. Like an adult.”

Because I am one.

“Is it because you’re trying to act like you’re okay after I rejected you?”

“Give me a break.”

What, are you suddenly getting feelings for me?

“Don’t go falling for me just because I seem a little different. That would be troublesome.”

“It’s not that.”

“Then what.”

“It’s just… strange.”

“There’s a lot to be strange about. Hurry up and do this.”

I opened Seo Jae-gyeom’s still hand and placed the pen in it.

“Write the explanations based on this.”

I opened the textbook for him and added.

“The reason I seem different is because I used to like you, so I was nervous around you. Now that I’m not…”

“So what?”

“My actions have just become more natural. People usually get stiff when they’re nervous, you know. You should have found that endearing.”

“Found it endearing?”

“No. You should have pitied me. You should have thought, ‘Wow, she must have really liked me to act so stupidly. This is what she’s really like.'”

“…”

“Conversation over. Let’s hurry. You need to go home.”

“…Okay.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“I’ll show you, a completely changed me…♪”

“Pfft!”

“?”

What’s with the sudden spit take…?

“Are you trying to be a comedian? How can a serious mood not even last a minute?”

“I’m being completely serious right now. I’m practicing for my music performance evaluation.”

“Don’t make me laugh, seriously…!”

“Is my singing funny? I’m going to get a perfect score in vocal performance, you know.”

“If you get a perfect score, I’ll give you everything I own.”

“Don’t regret it.”

Boy you gotta be aware~~~~~♪

For a while, the only sounds in the counseling room were the swoosh of my pen as I circled or crossed things out, and the scratching sound of Seo Jae-gyeom writing something.

By the time the noisy hallway had quieted down and the sunlight filtering through the counseling room window had turned a baked orange.

Seo Jae-gyeom suddenly spoke up.

“Kang Da-hye.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“I know. Because of you, an innocent person like me is stuck here too. You’d better take this gratitude to your grave.”

“There’s that, and also. This morning.”

“This morning?”

“I acted childishly.”

“Ah.”

I thought I’d already received an apology for that.

“It’s fine. From your perspective, it was understandable to be annoyed. You went to the trouble of waking up early to come with Ji-soo, and then I popped up and ruined it.”

Because your feelings for Ji-soo are just as important as my feelings for you were.

I nodded in understanding.

But Seo Jae-gyeom denied it.

“I didn’t wake up early today because of Han Ji-soo.”

“Then?”

“My mom was being loud this morning, so I woke up.”

“Ah.”

“Does it make sense to wake up early just because you like someone?”

He had no intention of doing such a thing, nor could he, Seo Jae-gyeom said firmly.

“Right… I guess you’re not the type to do that.”

Live your life always putting yourself first.

I, who used to wake up early every weekend just to see Seo Jae-gyeom, gave a noncommittal reply and looked at the clock on the wall.

Even though we’d worked quickly, an hour had already passed. Seo Jae-gyeom’s phone had been vibrating nonstop for a while.

Seo Jae-gyeom was trying to act nonchalant, but I could see he was getting anxious.

Ugh.

“Seo Jae-gyeom, just go home first.”

“What?”

“I said, go home. I’ll finish the rest and then go.”

“How can I do that? You’re stuck here because of me too. It’ll be over soon if we do it together.”

“We’ve been at this for an hour, and we still have this much left. If we finish all this, you’ll be eating a late-night snack, not dinner. Just go now.”

“…”

“It’s not free. Buy me coffee next time.”

I’m not trying to set up a date with this excuse, so just send me a gift card. I’ll drink it alone.

I forcefully took the test paper and pen from the hesitating Seo Jae-gyeom’s hand.

Still, he lingered, not leaving, until his phone vibrated one more time. Only then did he finally get up from his seat.

“Thank you, really.”

“I know.”

“I’ll buy you coffee and candy too.”

“Candy?”

“It’s White Day next week.”

“Ah.”

Right.

I just nodded, unimpressed.

“Sure, get me something big.”

You’re going to leave now and probably not come back until White Day itself.

By then, you’ll have forgotten all about this casual promise you just made.

“Hurry up and go, hurry.”

I shooed away Seo Jae-gyeom, who kept looking back, and closed the door.

When I turned around, I saw the still large pile of ungraded test papers.

“Sigh.”

Let’s think positively. I needed to study geography anyway.

Of course, thinking positively didn’t make an hour’s work finish in ten minutes.

After what felt like 100 years…

“…Wow. Just class 10 left to do.”

I was leaning back in my chair, shaking out my hand.

Screech.

“Kang Da-…”

Ji-soo opened the door to the counseling room and peeked her head in.

“Oh? You didn’t go to the academy?”

“Yeah…”

“Why?”

“Just ’cause.”

Pouting, Ji-soo came into the counseling room.

“He told you to do all this?”

She looked disgusted at the mountain of test papers, then sat down in the seat Seo Jae-gyeom had been in. She said she would help, but her movements were somehow slow.

With an expression that clearly showed she had something to say, Ji-soo mumbled before finally opening her mouth.

“Kang Da-, by any chaaance…”

“Yeah.”

“Are you mad at me because of Seo Jae-gyeom?”

“Huh?”

What kind of nonsense is that?

“Well… during lunch today, it seemed like you mostly talked to Woo Do-yeon. And you didn’t come to see me even once during break time today. And you didn’t reply to my messages…”

“Ah.”

That was just because I was studying during break…

“It’s not like that. I guess I didn’t tell you. I don’t like Seo Jae-gyeom anymore.”

“You don’t like Seo Jae-gyeom anymore?! Why?!”

“Just… because something more important came up than Seo Jae-gyeom…?”

“What is it?”

“Math. I’m going to win the Fields Medal.”

That’s what Do-yeon and I were talking about earlier. Because Do-yeon said I could use the rest of her online lectures. Ji-soo stared at me as I spoke.

“But you know, Kang Da-.”

“Yeah.”

“Can you not get too close with Woo Do-yeon?”