Chapter 39 : Chapter 39

After that, the teacher called Yoo Ha-neul to the front several times.

Perhaps the teacher thought doing that would stop our attention-seeking behavior, but instead, it made things worse.

Yoo Ha-neul's expression softened each time she returned from the front.

No, to be precise, it would be more accurate to say that she became "more confident".

Initially, her steps were stiff and tense, but soon her stride grew larger, and her speed at writing answers on the board increased.

Yoo Ha-neul never made a mistake in her solutions…

The teacher must have let her go because she wasn't wrong.

Anyway, the fact that the teacher kept calling Yoo Ha-neul to the front only made things worse—

"Uh, Ha-neul."

I spoke while looking at Yoo Ha-neul's face.

Yes, I was "looking at her face."

And not just from the side, but directly in front of me.

…Our seating position had become much more provocative than before.

What should I say about this?

I was sitting facing Yoo Ha-neul… in a position that made it seem like I was holding her.

At least there was a desk behind me, so I leaned back as far as I could, but I doubted that Yoo Ha-neul could study like this.

"..."

Yoo Ha-neul just gave me a confident smile.

It was as if she was saying, "You're the one who suggested this".

No.

No.

Um, what?

Well, it's true that I was the one who suggested it first.

But seriously, do same-gender friends really go this far with each other, even as a joke?

Did she really think of this extreme attention-seeking position to help me?

Of course, this position was very effective.

The kids, who were ignoring us at first, couldn't take their eyes off us.

Sure, they pretended not to look, but I could clearly see them glancing our way every few seconds.

So… it was effective.

It was effective, but…

Even for someone who vowed to be an attention-seeker, this was a seriously embarrassing position.

Honestly, if I blew my breath, it could easily reach her face.

"Yoo, Yoo Ha-neul!"

The teacher in front called out again, asking her to solve another problem.

His voice, slightly off-pitch, was clearly flustered.

"..."

I was about to stand up to move aside when—

Yoo Ha-neul suddenly stood up.

"Ugh!"

Naturally, I was pushed back by her and fell backward.

Even though there was a heavy desk behind me, there was no way it could support my weight, which was several dozen kilograms.

As I flailed, falling backward, I felt a firm hand supporting my waist.

…It was Yoo Ha-neul.

I ended up standing in an awkward position, with my waist in Yoo Ha-neul's hands.

My hands, which had been reaching out, were now resting on Yoo Ha-neul's shoulders.

As light poured down on us, I realized that Yoo Ha-neul's face was very close.

My breath mixed with hers.

I couldn't hear anything but her breathing.

My heart pounded furiously, sending blood throughout my body.

My face was probably flushed red because of the madly pumping blood.

Yoo Ha-neul stared at my face intently.

"Yoo Ha-neul!"

The teacher's voice shattered the frozen moment.

Though clearly furious, he couldn't say anything about our behavior and simply called out Yoo Ha-neul's name in his sternest tone.

Yoo Ha-neul tightened her grip slightly.

I tensed up, but she merely pulled me upright from almost falling.

Then, after giving me a quick smile, she confidently walked toward the teacher.

"..."

What is this?

Why do I feel like I lost something?

No, rather than losing, it feels like something has slipped away from me.

Though I'm not sure what.

…I don't want to think about it anymore.

*

'I could somewhat understand what Sara was thinking.'

If she and Yoo Ha-neul did something strange together at school, people wouldn't be able to ignore them anymore.

'I wasn't sure, but that was my guess.'

Of course, that thought changed when Yoo Ha-neul sat on Sara's lap.

Yoo Ha-neul always tried to act confidently, but this time, she couldn't maintain her composure.

It wasn't just embarrassment; sitting on Sara's lap made her feel like she was doing something very wrong.

After all… it was Sara she was sitting on.

Weak, thin Sara who didn't eat well.

As the class continued, the moment the teacher called her name, she felt relieved.

Honestly, sitting so close to Sara wasn't a bad feeling.

But honestly, this didn't seem right.

Even if people treated Sara like she was invisible, that didn't mean she wasn't there.

Knowing that Sara was there made it even more noticeable.

To the other students and the teacher standing in front, Yoo Ha-neul sitting on Sara's lap must have been clearly visible.

As Yoo Ha-neul wrote the answer on the board with the chalk, she calmed down a bit.

Her heart rate lowered, and her mind began to work again.

'…Why did Sara suddenly start acting like this today?

If she wanted to change how people treated her, she could have asked for help as soon as she made friends.

Did she not trust them all this time?

…Or maybe she misunderstood the "range of physical contact between friends" I told her about?

Is she trying to show that we're this close now?

Or does Sara think that she and I have become this close?'

Well, from Yoo Ha-neul's perspective, there was no harm in it.

Sara was pretty.

Yoo Ha-neul wanted to stay friends with her.

To be honest, she wanted to get even closer.

But suddenly being this close felt off.

Yoo Ha-neul placed the chalk down with a snap.

"Well done," the teacher said.

Though she didn't attend an academy or have a tutor, Yoo Ha-neul always did her homework and reviewed it thoroughly5.

There was no reason to get a textbook-level problem wrong.

Turning back, she walked to where Sara sat.

Sara looked up at her with wide, innocent eyes, as if she had no idea what was going on.

It was a calm expression for someone who had just placed her on her lap.

"…"

It was infuriating.

It wasn't Sara's fault, of course.

Sara had been isolated from the world in a cage since childhood.

Her knowledge of relationships probably didn't extend beyond what the school taught her.

She wouldn't know any better.

And, to be fair, Yoo Ha-neul had misled her last weekend too.

So it wasn't Sara's fault.

But still, something about it really didn't sit right with Yoo Ha-neul.

It was like this—

If Sara continued with this distorted sense of boundaries, wouldn't she act this way with others she considered friends?

Sara might not understand it, but the other person could easily get the wrong idea.

And what if someone who misunderstood acted on their misunderstanding?

"..."

Yoo Ha-neul looked down at Sara.

Her legs were so thin they could almost be called skinny.

Even in winter clothes, her body appeared frail.

If someone stronger tried to overpower Sara, she wouldn't be able to resist.

Yes, this was Yoo Ha-neul's responsibility.

So it was up to her to teach Sara proper boundaries.

That was what it meant to take responsibility!

With that thought, Yoo Ha-neul immediately grabbed Sara's wrist and pulled her up.

Predictably, Sara rose easily in her grasp.

Then Yoo Ha-neul sat down and pulled Sara into her lap.

"Ah!"

Sara let out her signature sound as she was drawn into Yoo Ha-neul's embrace again.

It was like a princess carry, except they were sitting down.

Sara's face quickly turned red.

Finally, she began to understand the concept of "personal space."

How is it?

Embarrassing, right?

After class, Yoo Ha-neul would explain to her that such embarrassing behavior wasn't something to be done lightly.

…For now, though, they should focus on the lesson.

And so, throughout the rest of the class, every time the teacher called her, Yoo Ha-neul stood up.

And each time she sat down again, she repositioned Sara on her lap.

Each time, Sara's face grew redder and redder.

By the time class ended, Sara's face was bright red, and she was so flustered that she could barely breathe.

…Victory.

Yoo Ha-neul wasn't sure what battle she had won, but looking at Sara, she felt victorious.

…But at the same time, she felt like something had been lost.

*

"..."

"..."

As soon as the bell rang for break time, the teacher rushed out of the classroom.

The room was still filled with silence.

You couldn't even hear anyone breathing.

I sat back in my seat, and Yoo Ha-neul sat back in hers.

…I couldn't look her in the eye.

Well, technically, I had started all this.

I had used my relationship with Yoo Ha-neul without consulting her first, so it was all my fault that things had escalated this far.

…But.

Still!

From the middle of it all, Yoo Ha-neul started moving me around, sitting me here and there as if she were toying with me!

It's scary, the heroine.

As expected, she could mesmerize both men and women without discrimination.

Were her personal choices this destructive, rather than the options selected by another player?

In the game, the player must have acted as a limiter.

…Did she really start to like me?

Did she decide to move from being just friends to romance?

I started to suspect it from the moment she hugged my waist earlier.

Not that it would be a bad thing if she did.

But things would definitely spiral out of control in a way I hadn't anticipated…

As I sat there staring at my desk for about a minute, I heard the sound of something dragging on the floor.

I glanced over to see Yoo Ha-neul dragging her chair next to mine.

"How was it?"

Yoo Ha-neul asked me.

How was it…

It was way more embarrassing than I imagined.

Yes, rather than "shameful," it was "embarrassing."

The two words have subtly different meanings.

The former makes you want to kick your blankets off in the middle of the night in regret, while the latter keeps your face red and prevents you from falling asleep.

If I had to choose between the two, the latter was preferable.

Though it was better…

"It was embarrassing, wasn't it?"

Yoo Ha-neul spoke to me softly, like she was talking to a child.

Since I didn't say anything, Yoo Ha-neul continued.

"No matter how close you are as friends, personal boundaries are important. If you get too close, the other person may get flustered or misunderstand…"

And then she launched into a speech about personal boundaries.

"..."

As I listened to her, I could feel my flushed face gradually cooling down.

Ah, I finally understood what was happening.

Yoo Ha-neul thought I had misunderstood personal boundaries.

So while she was at it, she decided to show me an example.

"..."

As I continued listening to her explanation, I lightly poked her in the side.

"Ah."

Yoo Ha-neul stopped talking and looked at me, startled.

I extended my hand to her.

"Your phone."

"Huh? Oh, right."

Surprised by my sudden request, Yoo Ha-neul quickly handed me her smartphone.

I searched for my name.

Fortunately, the article hadn't been taken down yet.

I selected the article and showed her the large picture of the two of us.

"..."

At first, Yoo Ha-neul didn't seem to understand what I was showing her,

"Wha—!?"

But she was so startled that she cried out.

Judging by her reaction, this was the first time she'd seen the article.

"…"

Seeing her reaction, I rubbed my forehead with my hand.