IDWF 4

chapter 4

Rien arrived early to the clubroom and naturally lay down on the sofa Karsion had brought.

Her ability to adapt was so quick it was hard to believe it had only been three days since she joined the club.

“Was it too much to hog the sofa alone for two days in a row?”

But it was Karsion who had said it was shared and she could use it however she liked.

She felt a slight twinge of guilt—but only for a moment.

If he had a problem, he’d wake her up anyway, she thought casually, and soon drifted off to sleep.

How long had it been since she closed her eyes?

The clubroom door burst open with a loud noise, and someone walked in.

Since she wasn’t fully asleep yet, Rien wondered if she should get up and greet them.

That thought didn’t last long. She decided to pretend to be asleep.

But strangely, she didn’t hear any footsteps after the door opened.

Just as her curiosity deepened—

Fior’s voice came from outside the door.

“Karsion. What are you doing out there instead of coming in?”

“……Shh.”

“What, did something happen inside?”

With the sound of footsteps entering the room, a small exclamation followed.

“Oh.”

They had spotted Rien sleeping soundly on the sofa.

Soon, Fior lowered his voice and spoke quietly.

The voices were too soft for Rien to make out what they were saying.

‘I get why you’re telling me to be quiet, but why are you acting like this? You’re kinda scaring me.’

After a moment of silence, Karsion spoke slowly.

“…Turns out there’s a club change period for transfer students.”

“I’ve never heard of that before.”

Even Fior, who knew all kinds of rumors, was hearing this for the first time.

It felt a bit suspicious—but there was no reason for Karsion to lie to him.

Unless he was hiding something or making excuses.

“How long is that period?”

“…Two weeks.”

His answer came a little slowly, but Fior didn’t notice and clicked his tongue.

“…Keep your personality in check until then.”

If Rien left, their barely-formed club might fall apart.

As if reaching a silent agreement, the two quietly closed the door and came inside.

Meanwhile, Rien realized things had gone quiet after Karsion’s “shh” and felt a small warmth inside.

So he really was kind by nature—he had just been wary of her at first.

To be acting this cute when no one was looking.

‘As expected of everyone’s acknowledged cute pink baby kitten.’

Rien was the only one who thought of Karsion that way—

but she had no hesitation in saying “everyone.”

Soon, she sensed careful movements around her.

A blanket was gently placed over her.

‘Wow. He really is kind.’

Unable to hold back the ticklish feeling in her chest, Rien suddenly opened her eyes.

“Pink hair, what are you doing?”

Caught in the act, Karsion’s face instantly flushed red.

“It’s not like I meant anything by this…”

Seeing his flustered expression, a mischievous urge rose inside Rien.

He did something nice, yet looked like he’d been caught doing something wrong.

In an exaggerated tone, she began praising him.

“Oh my, were you secretly trying to cover me with a blanket? I knew you were kind, but this is really touching.”

“It’s not like that, so don’t misunderstand. I just did it without thinking—”

“Wow, so kindness is just part of your nature? That’s even more amazing.”

Her praise sounded somewhat over-the-top, but it seemed effective—Karsion’s face turned even redder.

Encouraged, Rien teased him even more.

“Are you actually an angel who lost his wings? Or maybe a saint hiding your power?”

With every word she babbled, Fior’s expression grew more horrified.

He looked like he neither understood nor wanted to understand what he was hearing.

But Rien didn’t notice—she was too busy teasing Karsion.

Her expression turned oddly serious.

“Hm. Pink baby kitten… no, angel. But is it okay for you to reveal your identity so openly? I’m worried you might not be able to return to heaven because of me.”

At that point, Karsion froze completely like a statue.

Between being caught covering her with a blanket and hearing things he’d never heard in his life, his mind had simply shut down.

With a smile on her lips, Rien stood up.

Then she lightly stepped behind the frozen Karsion.

In the quiet that settled—

she bent her knee toward the back of his knee.

Swoop.

In an instant, Karsion’s knees buckled, and he lost his balance.

Rien smoothly caught his arm and steadied him as she spoke casually,

“Oh dear. That was dangerous.”

As if she hadn’t caused it herself.

Snapping back to his senses, Karsion immediately shook off her hand and pointed at her.

“Y-you…!”

“Hm? Pink hair, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Watching the two, Fior suddenly slapped his own cheek.

Realizing this wasn’t a dream, he let out a hollow laugh.

“Haha… the world must be going crazy.”

“Don’t come near me.”

“What did I even do? You’re treating me like I’m contagious.”

I furrowed my brows as if dumbfounded, while suppressing the laughter threatening to burst out.

Just teasing him a few times had made him this wary. Maybe I should tone it down a little.

But his reactions were just too fun.

Judging by how he had taken over the sofa so I couldn’t sit, he was clearly sulking about yesterday. A form of revenge, I guess.

Wasn’t that just adorable?

Following Karsion’s wishes, I sat at a desk a little distance away from the sofa—across from Fior.

If I ignored the pink baby kitten and approached him now, he might really get upset.

And sometimes, you had to ease off a bit so lingering wariness could settle down.

Thinking something that would make Karsion faint if he knew, I rummaged through my bag.

Still, what should I do to pass the time?

I hadn’t brought anything, thinking I’d just nap on the sofa again today.

As I was pondering, Fior came into view—sitting with his legs crossed, reading a book.

More precisely, his right foot, dangling and swinging in the air.

Ah… whatever else, I can’t resist this.

Now that I thought about it, if I couldn’t tease Karsion because of his sulking cooldown, I could just tease someone else.

I peeked at Fior’s book and asked,

“What are you doing?”

Fior smiled warmly and met my eyes—a gentle smile, unlike someone else’s.

“Oh, just reviewing today’s lesson.”

“You’re more diligent than I expected.”

“…More than expected?”

A slightly awkward expression crossed his face, as if he hadn’t anticipated that.

I didn’t miss that opening. That was exactly why I had started talking to him—to lower his guard.

In that brief moment, I dropped my gaze.

Then, with a subtle motion, I nudged the back of Fior’s shoe.

As if by magic, it slipped right off.

“Uh…?”

Startled, Fior looked back and forth between his shoe and me.

With a bright smile, I kicked his shoe far away.

Tap. Roll, roll.

His head turned toward the shoe that had flown and hit the wall. His expression was blank.

“You… you don’t look like it, but you’re really…”

Fior opened and closed his mouth as if he had a lot to say, but ultimately said nothing.

Seeing his reaction made it even more fun.

My dad loved pranks, so my mom and I were always on the receiving end of countless tricks.

Guess it runs in the blood. I didn’t know I had this mischievous side too.

At this rate, I might end up living just for pranks like him.

Still, teasing was one thing—I shouldn’t actually upset him.

I walked over and picked up the shoe lying on the floor.

Fior’s eyes twitched nervously, clearly uneasy seeing his shoe in my hands.

“You’re not going to throw it out the window, are you?”

“I’m not that mean.”

With a small grin, I placed the shoe neatly under his right foot.

It was practically asking for trouble—but I had my fun, so it was worth it.

Fior once again looked between me and the shoe in disbelief.

“What? Want me to put it on for you?”

At that, Fior muttered to himself,

“Are you careless, or bright? Kind, or mean…?”

His confusion made me chuckle.

A desire to tease him a little more crept in.

I bent one knee, about to actually put the shoe on for him—

or at least, I tried to.

But that plan fell apart at the sudden shout.

“Hey!”

At Karsion’s urgent voice, I paused mid-motion and looked at him.

“Do you have no pride? How can you kneel so easily?”

His unexpected anger made me blink.

I hadn’t thought he’d get this upset over something done as a joke.

He had let my pranks on both him and Fior slide, so why this?

For some reason, I felt like I had done something seriously wrong and became conscious of his mood.

“Pink hair, are you mad?”

“No.”

Karsion denied it and turned his head sharply away.

Then at least fix that angry expression.

Carefully, I approached him to calm him down—

slowly, very slowly, so as not to startle the wary pink baby kitten.