When August Met Winter
Since it was the weekend right after I came back from the used bookstore, I couldn’t give Bryan the book, nor did I run into Joel. Of course, I had a cell phone, but I wasn’t in the right state of mind to contact anyone.
Joel Gomez and I are going on a date? A date? A daaate? I spent the entire day lost in these thoughts, confused and flustered, and then spent another day busy figuring out what to do on the date and when to schedule it.
The date and time I finally managed to settle on was 5 PM this coming Saturday. Since Joel likes movies, I thought we could watch a movie and then have dinner. ……I don’t know, I just don’t know! As a Korean, this is all I learned about dating from TV! I felt like crying, but I headed to school anyway. In my bag was a very precious book—the first edition of 『One-Eyed Jack』 Issue #1.
When I thought about giving Bryan the book and succeeding in the quest, the pedals felt light, but when I thought about telling Joel the date and time, the pedals felt heavy. And so I dragged the chaos I couldn’t resolve over the weekend all the way to today, Monday.
“Calm down, calm down……”
First, let’s give Bryan the book, succeed in the quest, and raise his favorability. And as for Joel……
“Ugh……”
At the school parking lot I’d arrived at before I knew it, I stopped in front of the spot where I always parked my bike and buried my face in my palms. I wanted to run into Joel quickly, but at the same time I didn’t. It felt like heat was rising to my head again. My ears were surely bright red.
Get it together, get it together. The date—I’m only doing it to raise the Romance Index anyway. That bastard Joel probably accepted without much thought either. And watching a movie and eating is something we’ve already done once. Just like that time, acting like nothing……
“What are you doing?”
“Aack!”
I was sitting loosely astride my bike when I was startled by the sudden voice and—crash!—toppled over sideways. Ugh, ugh…… My knee hurt from hitting the bike frame. When I looked up with a heavily scrunched face, I saw Joel looking at me with an utterly pathetic gaze. Since he had the morning sunlight behind him, his face looked even darker than usual.
“Idiot, what are you doing on a Monday morning?”
“You called out so suddenly…… I was startled.”
After hesitating, I grabbed Joel’s outstretched hand. Without even making a heave-ho sound, Joel lifted me up incredibly easily. His strength was so strong that I was pulled straight toward him and ended up hugging him.
“First thing in the morning and you’re already…… so lecherous, you pervert gay bastard.”
“It wasn’t, on purpose!”
I had fallen right into Joel’s arms with my arms spread wide, but startled, I quickly backed away and shook my head. It really wasn’t on purpose. When I protested with a slightly frowning face, feeling wronged, Joel ruffled my hair as if he understood.
“Give me your hand.”
“……Why my hand.”
I looked down suspiciously at Joel’s palm extended in the air. His hand was really big, and his life line was very thick. ……No wait, thin lines were connected like ropes, crisscrossing and making it look thick.
“When I tell you to give it, just give it!”
As if annoyed that I’d been lost in idle thoughts for a moment, Joel roughly grabbed my hand on his own. And before I could say anything, he spread open my palm and looked inside.
“Tsk, idiot. Your hand’s all scraped up.”
“……Ah, I didn’t notice.”
“Didn’t it even hurt? You’re so dumb you don’t even know when you’re hurt. That’s why you almost died eating cilantro without even knowing you had an allergy. How did I end up getting tangled with someone like this……”
Joel kept clicking his tongue, but he rummaged through his bag and pulled something out. It was a band-aid that had gotten crumpled here and there from rolling around roughly in his bag. After blowing several strong puffs of breath—puff! puff!—on my wound, Joel stuck the band-aid on the injured area.
“Disinfect it and put medicine on it. You’ll get tetanus.”
“I got a tetanus shot…… I think?”
High school senior Baek Woogeon got one, but I wasn’t sure if July had gotten one. When I trailed off, Joel thwacked my forehead.
“Ow!”
“‘I think’? What do you mean ‘I think’? Huh? Either be sure you got it, or disinfect it and be careful! I told you. This world doesn’t care even if someone like you collapses somewhere and dies.”
“I, got it……”
It was a harsh scolding. I rubbed my forehead while slowly nodding my head. Only then did Joel’s expression soften a little.
“Anyway, did you decide?”
“Can’t you include a clear object?”
“Did you decide on the date and time!”
When I grumbled unnecessarily, Joel gave me that pathetic look again. He keeps doing that and it makes me lose confidence. Anyway, in this world, the only one who chips away at my self-esteem is Joel Gomez. I lowered my hand from my forehead that didn’t even hurt.
“……I decided. This Saturday at 5 PM. Does that work?”
“I’m busy, but I’ll make time.”
“……Thank you.”
At his magnanimous tone, I found myself sarcastically thanking him. Oops, was that a mistake? But Joel just chuckled and let it go.
“Park your bike properly before you go in, idiot.”
“Don’t call me idiot, idiot all the time. I have a perfectly good name too.”
Making me feel glum on a Monday morning. Do you know how much I agonized over you all weekend! You don’t even know! You bad bastard!
“What. Seventh?”
His face as he raised one eyebrow was annoying. He said he was smart himself, so there’s no way he didn’t know my three-syllable name.
“That’s a nickname you gave me. You’re the only one here who calls me ‘idiot.'”
The more I heard it, it actually seemed to make me a little upset. I didn’t hide that feeling and showed it all on my face. Like a child. Joel looked down at me quietly, then tilted his head crookedly, lightly scratched the back of his neck, and opened his mouth.
“Then, think of it as a pet name.”
“……What, a pet name?”
I just asked him to call me by my proper name, but what? A pet name? At that absurd and flustering word, I opened my eyes and mouth wide and gaped my lips, and Joel furrowed his eyebrows.
“Just park your bike properly!”
Joel barked loudly, then turned around and walked toward the school with strong—thump, thump, thump—steps.
“Really……”
I don’t understand. Not only did he accept a date request that’s hard for even me to comprehend, but he calls it a pet name…… Could he possibly like me?
“Nah, no way.”
Even I thought it was too absurd a hypothesis, so I laughed—pfft! Even though his favorability is high, it’s definitely not that. Joel is 100% heterosexual, isn’t he? And no matter how much he talks about “pet names,” if it were me, I would never call someone I liked “idiot.” Even singing flower songs wouldn’t be enough. I guess…… he really just felt sorry for me. But thinking that way makes my self-esteem drop again.
“……Whatever.”
Let’s just not think about it. I just need to raise that bastard’s favorability by about 3 and raise the Romance Index. Let’s just do what I need to do. I’m done telling Joel about the date time, so now what I need to do is……
“Hey! Bryan!”
I waved my hand at Bryan, who was entering the school wearing his helmet, knee pads, and elbow pads. Bryan’s eyes widened as if surprised that his name was called in the school parking lot first thing in the morning, then he immediately stumbled and fell.
“……”
“……Pfft!”
Unfortunately, this was exactly when all the students were arriving at school, and Bryan fell right in the middle of it. When someone burst out laughing, Bryan got up wobbling and glared at me.
NEW!
‘Bryan Roberts’ favorability decreased by 5!
……He falls over and blames someone else. I waited for Bryan, who was walking toward me feebly and limply, to get closer before moving my feet.
“Bryan, I have good news!”
“……What is it.”
The kid’s eyes were still full of dissatisfaction. Without even making eye contact with me, Bryan took off his helmet and removed his pads and such. Meanwhile, I very carefully took the book out of my bag.
“I found it.”
“What do you…… Huh! Huuh! H-huh! Th-that!”
Bryan, who had been sticking out his lower lip, spotted the book I was holding and clutched his heart. Thud, crash! Bryan’s bike fell over noisily to the side. Even so, Bryan didn’t pay any attention to his own bike and just trembled his hands toward the book I was holding.
“This, this……! Where did you find it?”
“At that bookstore we went to last time.”
“This, this! This…… I’m so jealous……”
Having barely calmed his fluttering heart, Bryan soon looked down and said glumly. Tears were even about to well up in his eyes—he must have been incredibly envious. At this rate, his favorability will drop even more. I quickly pressed the book into Bryan’s hands.
“I’m giving it to you.”
“……Really?”
“Yeah, I do like One-Eyed Jack, but I don’t love it as much as you do. One-Eyed Jack would want someone who truly loves it to have it.”
“Huuh, huugh, huh, hnngh!”
Bryan gasped, clutching his throat just like I did when I had that allergic reaction. And soon, with his face turning bright red and even shedding tears, he hugged me.
“Julyyyy!”
NEW!
Quest completed!
<Bryan Roberts’ Wish>
Bryan Roberts, an avid fan of the comic ‘One-Eyed Jack,’ wishes to own the first edition of ‘One-Eyed Jack’ Issue #1. How can he get his hands on that rare book that no amount of praying to Santa could bring him?
Get Bryan Roberts the first edition of ‘One-Eyed Jack’ Issue #1 [1/1]
【※Reward: Bryan Roberts’ favorability +20♥※】
NEW!
‘Bryan Roberts’ favorability increased by 20!
<Character Status Window>
◈ Name: Bryan Roberts
◈ Age: 17 (12th Grade)
◈ Popularity: -30%
◈ Favorability: 41♥
◈ Nicknames: Transfer Student, Country Bumpkin, Hick
◈ Special Notes: Huge fan of the comic ‘One-Eyed Jack’
“Who’s he? Ahh, that kid who came from the countryside? He looks gloomy, not my type.”
Wow, even though he docked me 5 favorability points earlier, Bryan’s favorability shot past 40 in an instant. Thinking back to when he sneered at me the moment I spoke to him, this was tremendous progress! If I accumulate a little more favorability and take good care of him, he won’t become twisted enough to bring a gun to school.
Tears of relief were about to come out, but they went right back in because of Bryan, who was flaring his nostrils wide and exhaling roughly—haah, haah! ……Like Joel said, I guess my face really does light up embarrassingly.
