Time flew by in a flash, and March arrived.
During that time, Mom and Dad started preparing all sorts of things for me.
"Haneul~ What do you think of this bag? Mom bought it because she thought it would suit our little Haneul!"
"It's pretty. Thank you."
"How about this outfit?"
"This one's cool too."
Mom took care of the visible stuff, like bags and clothes.
"Son, put your pencil in here and twist it around to sharpen it. If it breaks while you're writing, just sharpen it again. And this eraser? It erases sooo well. This notebook is super comfy to write in too. The other kids are gonna be jealous!"
Dad handled the school supplies—things that aren't obvious from the outside but ones I'd really notice and appreciate.
The notebook Dad gave me was especially amazing. When you open it all the way, it lays completely flat at 180 degrees with no crease.
This whole experience felt incredibly special from the start.
Before... before I came to this world, my clothes were always hand-me-downs from my brothers, and my school supplies were either hand-me-downs or donated stuff. That was it.
"...Thank you."
"Aigoo~ You're even saying thank you?"
"Haneul's gotten so much more mature."
-Flinch
Every time I heard stuff like that, I flinched a little.
Sometimes I wanted to act like a kid, but I had no idea what that even felt like, so my behavior always ended up kinda halfway there.
Instead, I figured I'd lean into being the sensible kid, so I acted extra polite. But my parents seemed to find it awkward at times.
Come to think of it, maybe that's why Seol-i was so wary of me at first—because I didn't come off as very kid-like.
I tabled that issue for later. The big thing was that tomorrow was elementary school entrance ceremony day.
You might wonder what's so important about that, but trust me, it was.
Because starting tomorrow, I'd have to go to school with Seol-i again.
Honestly, I didn't think Seol-i would get bullied or anything.
She's such a gentle, sweet kid by nature.
If anything, I worried she might get overlooked because she's too quiet.
While I was mulling that over, Dad shot me a mischievous grin and asked,
"Son, you thinking about Seol-i or something?"
"Huh!?"
"Knew it~ She is super pretty and cute, right?"
"No, absolutely not...!"
"Sure it is~"
I was frantically denying it to Dad, who was giggling and teasing me, but yeah, I had been thinking about Seol-i.
Not because I liked her like Dad was implying, though. It was just because I was worried about her.
"I'm heading to bed...! Good night...!"
I bolted into my room to escape Dad.
Looking back, I have no clue why I ran.
I hadn't done anything wrong. Nothing embarrassing. So why?
No time to figure it out—I just turned in for the night in my pitch-dark room.
For tomorrow. For school.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The next day, I met Seol-i right in front of our house.
Not by chance—Seol-i's mom had brought her over to me.
The second Seol-i spotted me, she came toddling over at full speed. I waved and greeted her.
"Seol-i, hi."
"Yeah. Haneul, hi...!"
Watching Seol-i flap her hand at me enthusiastically made me realize just how close we'd gotten.
"You been good?"
"Yeah...! And Haneul...?"
"I've been good too."
"Hee hee hee."
Seol-i pattered right up beside me and grabbed my hand.
Was she always this bold? I racked my brain, but no answers.
Kids are creatures that can change overnight, after all.
That's what I learned playing big brother at the orphanage.
It'd been about twenty days since I'd last seen Seol-i. Twenty days is...
...Nah, even that shouldn't change her personality this much, right?
Right as I was getting confused by her sudden outgoing vibe, Seol-i's mom's voice rang out.
"Oh my~ You two look so cute together~ Haneul, take good care of our Seol-i, okay?"
"Uh... yeah, you got it."
"Seol-i, Mommy's heading out...! Hold tight to Haneul's hand—don't let go, no matter what!"
"Yeah...!"
Seol-i nodded big and waved her hand wide. Her mom waved back, then headed to the car.
And just like that, she drove off out of the apartment complex.
Even if she trusted me that much, was it really okay to hand her daughter off to another kid on day one?
The thought crossed my mind, but it was pointless worrying anyway.
Why?
The school was just a five-minute walk from our apartment.
Yeah. A whole five minutes.
And on top of that...
"Oh my oh my oh my~ You two are holding hands and waiting so nicely~?"
"Yes...!"
Our own mom was coming along to walk us there.
Seol-i broke into a huge grin the instant she saw her mom. Bigger than the one she gave me, even.
"Alright then~ Shall we all head to school together~?"
"Yess~!"
"...Yeah~"
I'd hesitated a sec, then chimed in to match Seol-i's answer.
Figured playing along like this might make her feel even more comfy around me.
Not that I needed to try—Seol-i was always sweet and gentle with me no matter what.
We reached the school in no time...
"Haneul~ Seol-i~ Have fun at school~"
"Got it~"
"Yesss~!"
We said goodbye to Mom and headed inside.
Our destination: the first-grade classroom on the second floor.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A problem cropped up.
Not a massive one, though.
Seol-i and I were in the same class.
But they'd assigned seats by family name order, then shuffled the rows a bit.
In the shuffle, Seol-i and I ended up pretty far apart.
"Haneuuullll...."
"It's fine. We can see each other every break."
"Stiiiilll..."
Seol-i seemed seriously bummed. Desperate, even.
It made sense, thinking about it.
Ever since we got close at kindergarten, Seol-i and I hadn't spent a single moment apart.
So this was her first time being separated from me since then.
"Ughhhhhh..."
She started trembling. No way she'd hold back tears if I left her like this.
"Seol-i. Sniff. Sniiiiff."
"Hic... sniiiiff..."
"There you go, sniiiiff."
"Ung..."
Thankfully, she listened to me, nodding along and choking back the waterworks.
To soothe her, I said something to set her mind at ease.
"I'll come find you every break."
"Reaaally...?"
"Yeah, really. So sniiiiff."
"Ung... sniiiiff...."
She nodded, looking all pitiful but so dang cute at the same time.
For this adorable little Seol-i, I stuck by her side right up until the teacher showed up.
She gazed up at me, her earlier tears completely forgotten, grinning ear to ear.
Talk about lucky, huh?
Well, at least Seol-i had calmed down.
Anyway, once the teacher arrived, I left her side and headed back to my own seat...
"Hi?"
A girl greeted me boldly.
"Uh, hi."
I wasn't all that interested, so I just replied casually. But my new neighbor clearly had some interest in me.
"Hey, you close with her?"
"Her?"
"That girl back there. The one you were chatting with earlier."
I nodded without much thought. She stared hard at Seol-i, then started introducing herself.
"I'm Seungah."
"Uh."
"You?"
"Haneul Kang."
"Her?"
"Seol Hyeon."
"Seol Hyeon... Seol-i, got it...."
This Seungah girl seemed way more interested in Seol-i than in me.
And sure enough...
"Haneul, introduce me to Seol-i later!"
Seungah wanted me to hook her up with Seol-i.
No reason not to, honestly. I wanted to anyway.
Seol-i didn't have any friends besides me, so she could use a girlfriend her age.
"Sure, I'll bring her over in a bit."
"Promise?"
"Yeah."
After that, we watched the vice principal and principal's welcome speeches on TV, got introduced to our teacher, and break time finally hit.
I was gonna grab Seol-i and bring her to Seungah like promised, but then something unexpected happened.
Seol-i—who'd been sitting quietly—came straight over to us first.
I started to introduce Seungah.
"Ah, Seol-i. This is—"
But then an unexpected curveball hit.
What was it?
"Who are you?"
"Huh?"
"Who are you to be all close to Haneul like that...?"
...Seol-i had plastered herself right against me and was glaring at Seungah with massive suspicion.
Seol-i...? What the heck's gotten into you...?