Chapter 22: Because the Scenery Is Too Beautiful

When Hyunwoo and Chaea’s atmosphere turned awkward due to an unintentional foot game…

“Haa… Why is everyone so good at studying? It’s annoying.”

Enubi let out a deep sigh as she pulled a drink from the vending machine.

“? You’re the one who’s bad at studying, so why are you annoyed?”

Thud!

Enubi smacked the firm forearm in front of her, then shook her reddened hand.

“Agh, you’re unnecessarily packed with muscles.”

“You’re bad at studying and violent, too.”

“You little—!”

Enubi raised her fist again, but she barely stopped herself. If she swung without thinking, she might sprain her wrist.

Jinhyuk, unfazed by Enubi’s trembling frustration, simply asked,

“So, what’s this about another meeting?”

“Oh, that… well…”

She had dragged Jinhyuk out to reinforce their operation to push Hyunwoo and Chaea together.

But as she sipped her drink and looked up at the clear sky…

“Meh, forget it. Honestly, just putting them somewhere with cherry blossoms should be enough.”

More than worrying about her best friend’s love life, the looming future weighed heavier on her mind.

‘Why did I even suggest studying for exams? Now my head’s a mess.’

At 19, most people were racing toward college entrance exams.

But Enubi’s grades weren’t good.

And she didn’t really want to go to college, either.

She had nothing she was good at.

Nothing she wanted to do.

The thought of becoming an adult in just one year made her chest feel suffocating.

Maybe she was using helping Chaea as an excuse to look away from reality.

“Haaaah……”

“Why do you keep sighing? It’s okay to be bad at studying.”

“It’s not about that.”

Enubi stared at Jinhyuk, who hadn’t taken his eyes off his phone.

“You said you’d work in a game company as an artist, right?”

“Probably.”

“Sigh…”

Another sigh slipped out.

‘Even this otaku has something he’s good at and dreams of.’

Since they were helping Chaea and Hyunwoo, Enubi and Jinhyuk ended up spending a lot of time together, too.

They planned ways to push the couple closer.

Sometimes, Enubi even modeled for Jinhyuk’s drawings.

—You drew this?

—I just drew it now.

—No, I mean… I get that, but you’re insanely good.

—Thanks for the compliment.

The day she saw Jinhyuk’s work, Enubi was floored.

Even to an untrained eye, his skill was way beyond a student’s level.

‘Why am I surrounded by people like this?’

Despite looking like the type to have fun, Enubi surprisingly had few friends.

One was an otaku who was good at drawing and had decent grades.

Another was a childhood friend couple who constantly rubbed their romance in her face while sitting at the top of the class.

“What am I supposed to do with my life?”

Being around such outstanding people only made her feel more helpless.

Feeling down for no reason, Enubi poked Jinhyuk’s side.

“Hey, can’t you at least pretend to listen when someone talks?”

Jinhyuk continued staring at his phone, unfazed.

Feeling slighted, Enubi peeked at his screen.

“…What the heck? Why are you looking at women’s clothes?”

Surprisingly, he wasn’t browsing some cute anime gacha game but an online shopping site.

“They’re for you.”

“…What?”

Startled, Enubi took a closer look at the screen.

From game, anime, and manga characters to more specialized outfits.

On closer inspection, all of them had the tag [Cosplay].

“Are you insane? Why would I wear this?”

She glared at him with genuine disgust.

Jinhyuk looked aggrieved.

“Didn’t we agree? If a drawing model wears the same outfit all the time, it gets boring.”

“And you think I’d wear these pervy outfits just because you’re bored?”

“I was just scrolling, and it happened to come up. It’s not all like that.”

Claiming it was just a coincidence, Jinhyuk scrolled up from the bunny girl tab.

“See? There are normal character outfits, too.”

“So what if the character is normal? The outfit isn’t…”

It was something straight out of a medieval fantasy.

The exposure had decreased, but it was still far from everyday wear.

No matter their agreement, she couldn’t just accept this.

But then…

“It’d really suit you. Can’t you wear it just once?”

Jinhyuk, who usually didn’t show much emotion, pleaded earnestly.

“You know you’re pretty and have good proportions, right?”

“…What?”

“I honestly don’t get why you’re worried about your future with that face. You could just do SNS and make a living.”

“W-What are you saying all of a sudden?”

Some people got more flustered by unexpected compliments than insults.

Enubi was exactly that type.

“Next to Chaea, I’m just an ugly squid…”

“I think you’re prettier.”

“…Why… Why are you doing this? Do you really want me to cosplay that badly?”

“Cosplay aside, I don’t think there’s anyone in our school prettier than you.”

He kept piling on the compliments to a suffocating degree.

Enubi was left speechless, her mouth opening and closing like a fish.

“You really don’t seem to realize, so I’ll just tell you.”

Taking a deep breath, Jinhyuk continued.

“A ponytail that exposes the curve of your neck. Sharp cat-like eyes that soften when you smile. A face that looks both chic and drowsy when blank—”

“S-Stop it, you crazy bastard!”

Enubi smacked Jinhyuk’s back repeatedly as he spewed endless praises.

Her face, already flushed, was on the verge of exploding.

Even with his trained body, it was hard to endure the punches of a high school girl rivaling the force of three tanks.

But Jinhyuk didn’t stop.

“You’re not just pretty. You act all tough, but you’re actually considerate. You look like a party girl, but you barely have any friends. A tsundere loner gyaru—”

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up already!”

Enubi flailed her arms wildly, smacking him repeatedly.

Jinhyuk, finally unable to endure, retreated.

“Cough, cough…”

“You… You like me, don’t you? Have you been looking at me like that all along?”

“I don’t like you. I was just stating facts. The only one I love is Misaki.”

“…You disgusting otaku.”

Enubi trembled with frustration.

After saying all that embarrassing crap…

He had the nerve to wear a completely neutral expression, as if romance was out of the question.

After fuming for a while, she finally calmed down.

Then, in a composed voice, she spoke.

“Send me the site you were looking at.”

“…??”

“You said it’d suit me. You buttered me up in every way possible just to make me cosplay.”

“I wasn’t buttering you up, I was just stating fac—”

“Shut up and send the link. But I’m picking the outfit.”

Her words were sharp, but in the end, she agreed to do the cosplay and model for him.

After all, a girl with low self-esteem was weak to compliments.

Enubi had already thought that there was nothing she wanted to do or was particularly good at.

But then, she was met with extreme praise at a lethal dose, paired with an icy attitude that suggested absolute indifference.

‘Just this once. Just one time.’

Surprisingly easy to convince, Enubi searched the internet for “how to cosplay.”

When she had cooled down and returned to the library—

‘…Wait, were they talking about cosplay too?’

Hyunwoo and Chaea, who had been holding their seats, had faces as red as tomatoes. Even the pens they had been diligently using to solve problems had come to a halt.

“Chaea, what’s wrong?”

Enubi pressed the canned drink she had just gotten from the vending machine against her face.

“Hik.”

Only then did Chaea flinch and realize that Enubi had returned.

“Oh, we didn’t do anything.”

“Huh? I didn’t even ask what you did.”

“Uh, um….”

Chaea’s eyes suddenly started spinning.

“…Ahem.”

Hyunwoo couldn’t meet anyone’s gaze and only cleared his throat awkwardly.

Enubi had asked the question without much thought, but their intense reactions made her even more curious.

‘What could’ve happened in a library?’

Tilting her head, she looked toward Jinhyuk.

“What, did they play footsie under the table and accidentally touch somewhere weird?”

His imagination was so wild that it was almost impressive.

“No way they’d do that in a public place.”

Even though Chaea had been much more physically affectionate since losing her memory, it wasn’t to the point of doing something like that in public.

At least, that’s what Enubi believed—until she turned her head back toward them.

“……”

Hyunwoo and Chaea both froze stiff, unable to say a word.

“…Wait, seriously?”

Jinhyuk had only been joking, but now even he looked taken aback.

“Should we head out? I think we’re done studying for today.”

“Y-Yeah. Ahaha….”

Hyunwoo and Chaea stood up with the most awkward speech patterns ever, organizing their books like robots.

One pair had been playing footsie in the library.

The other had been going wild, listing off attractive qualities.

A lot had already happened in the morning alone.

But in any case, the four of them arrived at the cherry blossom festival.

“Oh.”

“Wow….”

As soon as they stepped off the bus, an unprompted wave of admiration escaped their lips.

“We came at the perfect time.”

“Agreed.”

The scenery was like a painting, drenched in shades of pink.

Whenever the wind blew, petals fluttered beautifully through the air.

Between rows of cherry blossom trees, people walked along, their laughter filling the space.

“Right, Hyunwoo? It’s pretty.”

“Yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve seen this. Good idea to come.”

As if by some unspoken agreement, Chaea reached for Hyunwoo’s hand, and he didn’t refuse.

There was no longer any need for her to hold onto him for support, but by now, they had grown too accustomed to each other’s warmth. It was a natural gesture.

“Look at them.”

“Told you, just bringing them to the cherry blossom festival was enough.”

Of course, this only applied to Chaea and Hyunwoo.

For the outsiders, Enubi and Jinhyuk, it was just another display of affection, like usual.

Still, they had come along today to support them.

“Should we look around first? I need to use the restroom.”

“I’ll go throw away some trash.”

Each of them made an excuse to slip away.

“Huh? Let’s go together. We’ll wait for you.”

“It’s a, uh… big one. Go ahead.”

“…Oh?”

Caught off guard by Enubi’s quick thinking, Chaea hesitated before tightening her grip on Hyunwoo’s hand.

“Hyunwoo, let’s go over there. That tree looks really pretty.”

“They all look the same to me.”

Despite his indifferent tone, he still followed Chaea’s lead.

Enubi and Jinhyuk stepped back and watched.

“Tsk… anyone can see they’re a couple. ‘Just childhood friends,’ my ass.”

The petals floating in the wind framed them like a scene from a drama.

“Oh wow, they’re even interlocking fingers now.”

Their hand-holding subtly shifted, and they giggled together as they walked down the petal-covered path.

They looked so happy that it almost felt ridiculous.

“We came to help, but now I feel like an idiot watching them.”

Enubi let out a half-laugh, half-sigh.

“They’re lucky. If Chaea gets her memories back, they’ll probably get married. Meanwhile, I…”

She turned to look at Jinhyuk, who was just standing there, staring blankly.

“…So, are you still not going to the bathroom?”

“And leave you here with an otaku like me?”

Thud!

Annoyed, Enubi smacked Jinhyuk in the stomach with the back of her hand.

“You actually have abs?”

“Gotta stay in shape for situations like this.”

“…You’re seriously insane.”

Shaking her head, Enubi gestured toward the now-distant Chaea and Hyunwoo.

“We should start following them before we lose sight of them.”

The excuse for stepping away had obviously been to give the couple some alone time.

That didn’t mean she wanted to spend time alone with Jinhyuk, though.

Instead, they decided to trail behind them in secret.

“Wait a sec. Look here for a moment.”

Just as Enubi was about to take a step, Jinhyuk tapped her on the shoulder.

“What?”

Without thinking, she turned her head.

Swoosh.

Jinhyuk brushed a hand through her hair.

“There was a petal stuck there. It’s gone now.”

It turned out he had simply removed a cherry blossom petal that had landed in her hair.

“Oh, uh… thanks?”

Enubi stammered.

She had already been self-conscious about Jinhyuk calling her “pretty” earlier that morning.

Now, the sudden closeness, the softness of his touch—

‘He really is tall… and pretty built. His personality sucks, but it’s not like he doesn’t have any masculine charm….’

Enubi found herself staring blankly up at Jinhyuk.

‘Wait, are you insane, Jung Enubi? Why are you evaluating him all of a sudden?’

Shaking her head frantically, she put some distance between them.

She refused to believe she had just thought that.

‘It’s just the scenery. The cherry blossoms are so damn beautiful it’s making me think crazy things.’

Her heart was beating a little faster.

But that was definitely because of how breathtaking the cherry blossoms were.