The Last Day in a School Uniform

“Would you like to smell the flowers? I like the scent.”

Searching for something to steer the conversation toward, Ju Hayan lifted the bouquet and held it out.

It actually smelled more like fresh greens than flowers, but she did genuinely like it.

Since he had been looking only at the flowers for a while, she had even wondered if he liked them more than she expected.

Shin I-hyeok glanced between the bouquet extended toward him and Ju Hayan before accepting it.

He lowered his head slightly, bringing it closer to the flowers, then soon set it down on his lap.

“Thank you.”

After that, he idly toyed with a blossom whose petals had opened a little more than they had during the day.

“Uh….”

The one flustered by this turn of events was Ju Hayan.

She had only meant to let him smell them for a moment, not to give them to him entirely.

Since they were something she herself had received as a gift, she felt she ought to get them back, yet she did not know how to phrase it.

Hesitating, she extended her arm slightly but could not bring herself to say anything outright.

Shin I-hyeok watched her quietly, then lifted the corner of his lips in a faint smile.

“Cute.”

A finger approached without warning and lightly tapped her cheek in playful mischief.

Straightening his upper body, Shin I-hyeok addressed Team Leader Kim in the driver’s seat.

“Let’s stop by a flower shop on the way.”

“A flower shop? It’s late, so I’m not sure any will still be open.”

“Search anyway. At least one should be.”

“Yes, sir.”

Startled by how easily Shin I-hyeok pressed Team Leader Kim into action, Ju Hayan waved her hands and insisted there was no need.

But no one paid any heed to her words.

After about twenty more minutes, the car came to a stop in front of a building.

Telling her to wait, Shin I-hyeok stepped out personally and soon returned with a new bouquet in hand.

“Thank you….”

“Congratulations.”

It was as if he had swept up every flower left in the shop; the bouquet was easily twice the size of Ju Hayan’s original one.

The stems, bound together with ribbon, were so numerous they seemed ready to spill over.

Struck speechless by the sight, Ju Hayan offered her thanks a beat late, stumbling over her words, and Shin I-hyeok smiled as he spoke.

“This is the last time I’ll see Hayan in her school uniform.”

His tone sounded strangely light.

His gaze trailed down her body to her white shoes, then slowly traveled back up.

At the end of that measured look, Ju Hayan’s eyes held a hint of puzzlement, yet he added nothing further.

“You’re really an adult now.”

“Yes.”

“Good. If there’s anything you want, tell me.”

Startled, Ju Hayan hurriedly expressed her refusal, but Shin I-hyeok brushed it aside, saying that since it was a good occasion, he wanted to commemorate it.

Were they even the sort of people who exchanged gifts like this?

The person who should have been offering congratulations first was nowhere to be found.

Unable to conceal her awkwardness, she scratched her cheek and mumbled that she would think about it.

“I’m just happy. You don’t need to worry about it.”

She felt a little confused and could not quite understand.

Yet beneath the steady gaze fixed upon her, she lowered her head and simply nodded.

The car, entering the neighborhood later than usual, came to a quiet stop in front of the worn villa.

Struggling to hold two bouquets in her arms, Ju Hayan received Team Leader Kim’s escort and thanked him with flushed cheeks.

“Next time, I should bring a vase.”

Seeing her practically buried in flowers, Shin I-hyeok laughed with genuine amusement.

“I think I’ll have time around Tuesday… so I’ll see you at home.”

Ju Hayan, standing outside the car, and Shin I-hyeok, seated inside, spoke through the open window.

It was the first time he had specified an exact day for a visit.

Ju Hayan pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded.

Shin I-hyeok nodded along, glanced down at the bouquet in her arms, then lifted his gaze back to her face.

After exchanging final goodnights, she watched the car disappear into the distance before turning toward the villa.

Ju Hayan did not dwell on how seamlessly all of it had flowed.

It had simply felt natural.

Vrrrr—

Standing before the noisy machine as it hummed, she pulled out her phone to check the time.

Only about two minutes had passed since earlier, yet Ju Hayan bounced anxiously on her feet.

As soon as the ATM spat out her bankbook along with the completion notice, she hurriedly gathered her belongings and rushed out of the booth.

No sooner had she quickened her pace than her phone vibrated.

[20XX Academic Year, Hankuk University Deposit Payment Completed. Please check the homepage for further notice.]

Glancing rapidly between the road ahead and her phone, she barely managed to confirm the message.

The time she checked again showed only three minutes remaining until her shift began.

The root of the problem was that she had lazily dawdled, claiming she would enjoy the life of the unemployed.

“Damn it, where did I put it?”

Only late in the morning had Ju Hayan leisurely risen, blinking sleepily, and it had taken her until an hour ago to finish preparing for work.

She had planned to deposit her university enrollment fee on the way.

But when she searched for the bankbook she had treasured like a precious artifact, rummaging through her wardrobe, everything became tangled.

While preparing for a failed attempt at running away, she had pulled out all her bankbooks.

Determined to hide them well, she had moved them to new locations.

All different places.

And since then, she had not taken them out even once.

Naturally, she could not remember where she had put them.

‘I will absolutely escape this damn hovel.’

Clinging to her dream of college as if it were a creed, Ju Hayan had diligently saved tuition little by little and had wisely distributed her money across multiple accounts.

Which meant the number of things she had to find had multiplied several times over.

“Damn it, where are you?”

She was certain she had left the bankbook with the largest balance in the wardrobe, yet it was nowhere to be seen.

In the end, after overturning her few clothes and bedding, she even scraped at the bottom of the wardrobe with a hanger before finally locating it.

By then, it was exactly fifteen minutes past her usual starting time.

“Two minutes, two minutes.”

The fact that today happened to be the day Shin I-hyeok had said he would visit also contributed to her lateness.

Unable to leave the house in disarray after tearing it apart to find the bankbook, she had tried to tidy it at least roughly, which consumed another ten minutes.

In the end, even moving as fast as she could, she would barely make it on time.

Even as she ran, she checked the time on her phone.

The minute hand ticked from 57 to 58.

If she just rounded the corner ahead, the café would be right across the street.

As she hurried toward that final stretch, she failed to notice the uneven pavement under construction.

“Ah—!”

By the time she realized something had caught her foot, her body had already pitched forward.

Reflexively bracing her hands, she avoided scraping her face, but she ended up bowing flat against the ground.

Curling slightly at the sharp sting rising from her knees, Ju Hayan first checked her phone.

Because she had braced herself with her hand, the phone had taken the shock directly, and scratches marred its surface.

“Damn….”

“Student, are you alright?”

Who knew how much longer she would have to keep using this phone.

Glancing at the clock displayed on the screen, she immediately straightened her crumpled body.

Telling the approaching construction worker she was fine, she quickly moved on.

A sharp pain shot up from her knee where it had struck the ground, but now was not the time to worry about that.

“Hello!”

“Oh, Ms. Ju Hayan. You just made it.”

“Haha… I’m sorry.”

As soon as she burst through the café door, the manager greeted her, and Ju Hayan bowed awkwardly.

The minute hand on the wall clock pointed exactly at 12.

Though she had avoided being late, it still felt like a narrow escape, so she hurried into the office to change clothes.

Even in midwinter, sweat beaded on her forehead from running.

Soon the manager, who was swapping shifts with her, left, and time flowed as usual.

Whenever she moved quickly or bent her knees, her tightened jeans pressed against her skin, sending up stinging pain, but she could not delay work over something so minor.

The jeans were stiff and tight, making it difficult to lift them to check the wound.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“See you tomorrow.”

As time passed, the pain seemed to dull, pricking only occasionally and no longer enough to trouble her greatly.

With slightly hesitant steps, she passed beneath the same orange streetlights as yesterday and entered below the villa.

“Hi, Hayan.”

As promised, there was a guest in her home.

Since the visit had been arranged in advance, Ju Hayan did not appear startled and simply returned the greeting.

“Hello.”

Shin I-hyeok was holding what appeared to be a bundle of papers.

He usually lounged idly when he came here, so it was an unfamiliar sight.

Sitting upright against the wall with documents in one hand, he rolled a cigarette between the fingers of the other.

When Ju Hayan entered the room, he lifted his gaze.

“There’s food in the fridge. Eat.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

After bowing her head, Ju Hayan headed first toward the wardrobe rather than the refrigerator.

Her home was a narrow semi-basement.

There was, of course, no dining table.

To eat, she had to sit at the small desk, and her tight jeans would surely constrict her knees.

It would be better to change into loose, comfortable pajamas.

The problem was where to change.

Normally, she did not mind removing outerwear or changing tops even if someone was present, but taking off her pants felt somewhat embarrassing.

Even if she was technically an adult now, only a few days had passed since she had been a sensitive teenager.

Yet if she went to the bathroom to change, would that not make it seem overly conscious?

As she unconsciously glanced back, pondering, she felt a gaze upon her.

It seemed she had lifted her head in response to the stare from above.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah… I was going to change.”

“Go ahead. Get comfortable.”

Shin I-hyeok spoke casually, as though such hesitation were trivial.

If she went to the bathroom now, he would surely think it strange.

Ah….

After trailing off briefly, Ju Hayan eventually turned her back to him.

She changed her top first, then grasped the waistband of her jeans.

Undoing the buckle slowly, she wondered if that looked even stranger and quickly pulled the jeans down instead.

As she bent to slip them off her ankles, a voice called out.

“Ju Hayan.”

“Yes?”

Twisting her body mid-bend at the sudden call, she met his eyes and froze for a moment.

He had sounded so unconcerned earlier that she assumed he had returned to reading his papers.

Had he been watching her the whole time?

As she stood awkwardly, staring at him, he spoke again.

“You’re hurt.”

Only then did Ju Hayan lower her gaze to her knee.

It was the first time she had noticed the wound herself.

It must have shown when she twisted her leg to remove her jeans.

“I just fell on the street earlier and scraped it a little.”

“That doesn’t look like a little.”

“It doesn’t hurt much. I’ll just put some medicine on it later.”

“Come here.”

Perhaps intending to inspect the injury himself, Shin I-hyeok called her closer.

His gaze was firm, as if he had already made up his mind.

Ju Hayan hesitated, saying she would at least put on her pajama bottoms first, but what returned was repeated urging.

“Come here.”

“……”

“Hurry.”

His tone, almost gentle as though coaxing a child, finally compelled her to move.

In the cramped space, it took only a few steps to reach him.

The pajama bottoms she had yet to put on were crumpled in her hand.