After returning from the amusement park, the distance between Seol-i and me had grown quite close.
Actually, it felt like it had gone beyond just "quite close."
"Haneul... hi."
"Yeah, hi. It's Seol-i."
"Mmm...."
Seol-i greeted me first when she arrived at kindergarten, set her bag down, and then toddled right back over to me.
She sat down next to me and started reading her book.
It was a plain fairy tale book that Seol-i had brought herself—one of those standard ones for young kids.
She was reading Cinderella right now, and seeing that definitely made her feel like a real little girl.
I stared blankly at Seol-i as she read, then asked her a question.
"Seol-i, is the fairy tale book fun?"
The old Seol-i wouldn't have reacted at all to a question like that from me.
But the current Seol-i was different. Having grown closer to me, she responded instead of staying silent.
-Nod
A tiny nod, but for Seol-i—with her shyness maxed out—that took tremendous courage.
I knew her personality well, better than the Hyun Seol from the novel, since I understood how much more severe her shyness was right now. So I didn't say anything more.
I just sat beside her, staring at her intently.
Someone might ask if just sitting there like that wasn't boring, but it was fun.
How could watching a cute kid not be fun?
Especially Seol-i, who was even cuter.
What was it? Her reactions were just so adorable?
Seol-i was the type who couldn't lie to save her life.
You know those descriptions in novels, right?
"She couldn't hide her expression, and her face turned red."
In real life, situations like that don't happen much. Everyone has at least some ability to mask their feelings, big or small.
But whether this world was truly like the novel, or if Seol-i was just set up that way as a character, her emotions showed plainly on her face.
Look at her now.
Her lips parted slightly, her eyes sparkling.
That's the face she makes when she sees something really fun.
I quietly slipped behind Seol-i to check what part she was reading.
Sure enough, it was the scene where Cinderella rides the pumpkin carriage to the prince's castle.
Thinking about it, that scene really tugs at little girls' hearts.
Doesn't it? Poor Cinderella, living miserably, gets help from a fairy, rides a pumpkin carriage to the prince's ball.
Just that alone feels full of romance.
A laugh escaped me. Seol-i was just too cute.
Rejecting a confession from a kid this adorable? The novel's protagonist must be a total weirdo. If I ever met him, I'd keep my distance, no question.
I planned to keep staring at Seol-i to pass the time...
But sadly, this moment wouldn't last long.
"Haneul~"
"Yes~"
"Time to go do writing practice today~"
"Yeees~"
Kindergarten doesn't mean they do nothing.
Even today, there was scheduled Korean language study at a set time.
Writing practice, to be exact.
"Seol-i, I'll be right back."
I stood up from beside her to head to the study room for Korean class.
But at that moment, I felt something incredibly warm and soft.
The sensation on my left hand—it was Seol-i's hand.
"Seol-i?"
"...Come together."
"Together?"
"Yeah."
"Is today your Korean study day?"
-Shake shake
Seol-i shook her head vigorously.
"Then why?"
"...Just wanna stay together."
I simply nodded at her firm answer.
"Okay, let's go together."
I took Seol-i with me to the study room.
But unfortunately, she couldn't go inside.
"Today isn't Seol-i's study day..."
"...Can I still come in?"
"No, you can't. Are you doing this because you want to be with Haneul?"
Without a hint of hesitation, Seol-i looked at me and nodded.
It was amazing how, in just a few days, she'd stopped being wary of me.
But that was that, and this was this.
"Seol-i, wait here and read your book alone for a bit. I'll be right back."
"Right back?"
"Yeah, right back."
"...Mmm. Okay."
Seol-i nodded and toddled back to where she'd been reading her book.
As I watched her go, the teacher said to me,
"Seol-i must really like Haneul~"
"Looks that way."
It was truly touching.
I hadn't expected her severe shyness to let her open up to me this much.
Going to the amusement park and getting lost together wasn't an everyday experience, but even accounting for that, it was still incredibly moving.
"Alright, Haneul, shall we finish this quickly?"
"Yes."
I looked at the Korean workbook the teacher gave me and filled in the answers right away.
Honestly, it was super easy. Just write the right word in the blanks—like "apple" or "banana," "tree" or "chair." That kind of thing.
I wrote the answers without a second thought, and the teacher smiled warmly at me.
"Haneul wants to get back to Seol-i quickly, huh?"
"Haha..."
If I were really a kid, I'd have confidently shouted "Yes!" But sadly, inside this body was a guy in his early-to-mid-twenties—ex-soldier or returning student type.
I didn't have the guts or shamelessness to answer such an embarrassing question casually.
I might manage it with some mental prep, but not right then.
Once I finished even the grading, I hurried back to Seol-i.
I wanted to get back to her side as fast as possible—the first time she'd refused to leave me.
A very short time passed, and when I stood before Seol-i again...
I witnessed something unbelievable.
"Give it baaaack...!"
"Why do you get to read it alone...! Gimme toooo!"
"Nooo! It's miiine!! Give it baaaack!!"
Seol-i was raising her voice in a fight—a scene utterly impossible for the usual her.
From the looks of it, I could guess what happened.
That nameless girl was trying to take the Cinderella book Seol-i had been enjoying.
And Seol-i was resisting.
I walked straight over to where the two girls were fighting, without hesitation.
And stood right in front of Seol-i.
"That's Seol-i's book. Give it back."
"W-what! Who're you?!"
"Seol-i's friend."
"Where's her friend at?"
I turned to look at Seol-i the moment I heard that.
Thinking about it, it was weird. No, really weird.
Not a single kid had approached Seol-i since I'd started heading over.
That meant one thing—simple, but something I'd overlooked.
Seol-i was a loner from the start.
"Bully" might be too strong. The kids here probably didn't deliberately avoid being her friend.
Her shyness was just too intense, so any who tried approaching eventually gave up.
But that didn't mean she deserved to hear crap like that and get treated poorly.
One perk of being a kid: you can express emotions freely.
What does that mean?
"Apologize."
"For wha—!"
"Give the book back and apologize."
"Why should I!!"
It means it's okay to snap at an annoying kid like this.
I stepped forward boldly.
My height wasn't towering compared to my peers. But fortunately, I was just a bit taller than the girl in front of me.
A slight height difference, and my sharply narrowed eyes.
Perfect intimidation tools.
Before I knew it, I was right in front of the nameless girl...
"I said apologize."
I snapped again.
Honestly, I hadn't thought past this. I even considered it might come to fists.
Thankfully, it didn't.
Or maybe a bigger mess happened.
"Hic... sn... huuhuhuhu..."
The girl in front of me, terrified, started sniffling.
And then, the incident exploded.
"Waaahhh... Mooommmmyyy.... Hweeeehhh..."
She burst into tears.
And those tears were a signal to call her friends.
"Seung-yeon...!"
"What? What's wrong?"
"Who did it?"
"Hic... H-him... He diiiid..."
She sobbed hysterically, pointing at me.
Then the girls swarmed in for their signature group attack, and from that point, I just glared hard and went full aggressive.
Yeah, I went all out. Screw it, whatever vibe.
Normally, I'd apologize vaguely and back off or just bolt, but not this time.
Because behind me, Seol-i was trembling and hiding.
Luckily, the teacher arrived and it wrapped up.
After checking all the facts, the teacher scolded us in order: Seol-i, who could've lent the book but didn't; Seung-yeon, who yelled and tried to snatch it; and me, who intimidated and yelled at Seung-yeon.
Once that was done, we were made to hug it out as the final reconciliation.
I thought it was kinda funny.
Forcing kids who'd just fought to hug and make up.
Of course, since we were kids and kids' fights aren't serious—and objectively, this wasn't a big deal—that made it a viable way to reconcile.
After kindergarten ended, during the short wait for our moms to pick us up, Seol-i spoke to me.
"...Haneul."
"Yeah."
"...Why'd you help me?"
"Why'd I help?"
At my question, Seol-i gave a small nod, and I gave her a simple answer.
"We're friends."
"Friends..."
"Aren't we?"
-Nod nod nod nod
Seol-i nodded vigorously and showed me an expression I'd never seen before.
"Thanks, Haneul."
It was a bright smile, one I'd never seen on Seol-i before.