She only now saw In-sae and shouted.
“Ah, the friend who’s always with Shi-dan? What were you two talking about?”
“It wasn’t anything special.”
I don’t know how such a coincidence could happen. Of all things, to run into Mother. I answered right away, but Mother opened the gate and said.
“You were talking about whether to invite him in or not, right? Do you want to come in for a bit?”
At the invitation to come in, In-sae’s face brightened. I grabbed the gate and looked at Mother in bewilderment.
“What about Father and Dan-a?”
“Father hasn’t come home from work yet, and Dan-a says she’ll come after playing with friends.”
In-sae quickly followed Mother inside. I didn’t expect Mother to suddenly do this. I looked back and forth between Mother and In-sae with wavering eyes in surprise.
“You’ve had a hard time waiting for him every day, haven’t you? If I stay still in the morning, he always comes running out saying he’s late.”
In-sae smiled politely. Mother glanced at me with disapproving eyes and said.
“I felt a bit sorry knowing you were waiting outside. This kid needs to develop the habit of moving quickly.”
I followed Mother and In-sae into the living room with my mouth blocked. Mother gathered the books she had spread out on the table and stacked them in one place.
“Have you finished reading all of these? Then I’ll put them away.”
I stood up with the books in my awkwardness, leaving In-sae and Mother behind.
“Then could our friend wait just a moment too?”
Mother went out of the living room while answering a phone call. I was suddenly left alone with In-sae. And in my house at that. In-sae looked around the house and said.
“There are a lot of books in your house.”
“My house? I didn’t think there were that many.”
“There aren’t many books in my house. I don’t like books.”
“Ah, right. When I went to your house last time, there definitely weren’t many books.”
I answered thinking about when I went to In-sae’s house during summer vacation. In-sae still looked at the bookshelf and said.
“It’s nothing special, but you remember it well.”
“I’m a bit like that.”
I approached my room holding the pile of books. I planned to use organizing books as an excuse to separate from In-sae. In-sae, who had been quietly following behind me, suddenly asked.
“Were you acquainted with the transfer student earlier?”
“He said with his own mouth that we were acquainted.”
“But why couldn’t you remember?”
“I’m really curious about that too.”
I spouted any words while opening my room door with one hand. In-sae asked again.
“Last time you didn’t remember your friend’s mother either.”
“That person changed so much I didn’t recognize her. Her impression was different before.”
I made an excuse. I had shown In-sae too many suspicious points until now. No, maybe In-sae was the strange one for being this suspicious just because I couldn’t recognize some people. I kept glancing at In-sae anxiously. In-sae asked.
“Are you sure you just can’t remember?”
If I kept lying, In-sae would endlessly be suspicious. But I was scared of what reaction In-sae would show if he found out. To an extra who may or may not have even appeared, that everything is a setting in a novel—it’s terrible. I desperately made excuses.
“I told you several times. I can’t remember well. Why do you keep asking what I did in middle school?”
“You’re reacting suspiciously.”
“Everything is suspicious!”
I went into my room in disgust. In-sae, who had been following, hesitated at my room door. It seemed he didn’t feel like entering someone else’s room without permission. When on earth would Mother come?
“You can’t remember because it’s nothing special?”
“I guess so.”
I answered with a sigh. I was so scared that In-sae kept asking. I almost lost my temper momentarily earlier.
“That there aren’t many books in my house is probably nothing special too.”
“Ah.”
I started organizing the books, but my hands kept going wrong. Now In-sae seemed to have realized I was hiding something. He leaned against the door as if telling me to speak.
I irritably shelved the books. Whether In-sae realized it or not, I couldn’t tell him. As I was randomly shoving books anywhere, I grabbed the last book that seemed somehow very familiar from somewhere.
It was a strangely familiar book. The moment I examined the cover, I almost threw the book away. It was that book that made me enter this world because I dropped it while organizing books. The book slipped from my hand.
“What?”
Along with In-sae’s questioning voice, the book fell to the floor. He seemed surprised by my unusual reaction. The book rolled miserably on the floor.
I had already dropped this book several times while organizing it. Because this was inside a novel, in order to return.
Each time I trembled in anxiety, but nothing ever happened. But I don’t know why I’d be scared now.
I looked at the book that had fallen at my feet, then raised my gaze upward. In-sae was staring at me blankly. As expected, nothing happened this time either.
“It’s the same. I didn’t go back…”
This is a world inside a web novel. It’s not where I originally was. And yet I found myself thinking that I’d rather stay here.
I gripped the book again, unconsciously muttering quietly in relief. I’ve become more attached to this world now. In-sae approached and bent at the waist.
“Survival check.”
“Why are you checking if I’m alive?”
“Right now there’s not a drop of color in your face.”
I finished shelving the book and rubbed my face. My surroundings swayed dizzily. While slowly steadying my breathing, In-sae quietly asked.
“You didn’t go back? To where?”
I stopped right there and wondered if I had just heard wrong. In-sae looked at me calmly. And he pulled out the books I had shelved one by one and examined the titles.
“Is there something in these books?”
“No. There can’t be anything in books.”
“But just now…”
“Just now what? Did my expression look that strange?”
I asked while trying to relax my stiff expression. In-sae shelved the book again and examined that book that had fallen on the floor earlier. I said while looking at the book from the side.
“What are you going to do by looking at that? It’s just a novel. Even if you open it like that, there’s nothing special.”
“I guess so.”
In-sae answered while flipping through the book. He read down the densely packed letters a bit more, then quickly gave up and closed the book.
In-sae, who had been quietly looking at the book’s cover, held it by just the corner as if it would fall at any moment. He wiggled his fingers that were precariously holding the corner. That appearance looked like he was considering whether to drop the book or not.
I cried out in surprise.
“What are you doing right now? It’ll fall if you do that!”
“It won’t fall if I just hold it well.”
“Stop it and give it back quickly. You can’t drop that.”
I urged him while almost stomping my feet. I was scared that if he dropped it, In-sae might return to the world inside the novel where he originally existed. In-sae asked with an ambiguous face.
“What changes if I drop it? Or is there something in this book?”
“What would be in a book? There’s nothing but letters. And of course you shouldn’t drop a book, right?”
“There’s nothing special?”
In-sae asked as if pressing me. My steps toward leaving the room stopped with a start. In-sae said, even getting angry unlike himself.
“Then what about what you said earlier? You muttered to yourself that you didn’t go back, and you even sighed in relief.”
“…Me? I must have said something nonsensical because I was surprised.”
“It’s about time you properly told me. What is it exactly?”
In-sae clearly showed a frustrated expression, then returned to his original expression. He pointed at my face and said quietly.
“The cicada sounds and your face when it suddenly got quiet are exactly the same as now.”
While In-sae was confused, I heard the sound of a door. It seemed like Mother had finished her call and was coming in. My face brightened as I went out.
“Mother! Why did you come so late?”
“Has that much time passed? I didn’t think it was that long.”
She smiled happily, then perhaps sensing the strange atmosphere between In-sae and me, subtly lowered her voice and asked.
“Did something happen between you two?”
“No?”
I answered immediately, but Mother examined us several times. And she asked several times, ‘Are you really okay?’ In-sae’s sour expression played a part in that.
I pretended not to know and rambled on about anything. In-sae quietly listened to my story as usual and responded a few times. Soon Mother also gave up asking more.
After seeing In-sae off, I walked around my room all day. I finally even turned on my phone and went right up to the point of calling Cho-yeon before stopping.
I had made slips of the tongue quite a few times until now. But everyone just thought they were simple mistakes and moved on. In-sae was the first person to openly show that he found it suspicious and ask about it. Because I was flustered, I made many mistakes with In-sae too.
After worrying alone, I eventually picked up my phone and called Cho-yeon. Cho-yeon was the only person I had to talk to. The call connecting tone barely rang before it was abruptly cut off.
“Did it disconnect?”
“Why.”
Just as I was getting anxious, I heard an answer. I thought with relief and answered the phone. Cho-yeon seemed to feel bad about having answered indifferently just now. He asked more kindly than before.
“Is something wrong?”
“…”
I tried to organize what had just happened. When I didn’t answer, I could feel Cho-yeon getting flustered.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
