I am Smart

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“……”

Moon Si-hyun fell silent, resting her thumb and index finger on her chin. She stared intently at the faces of the three men, as if truly trying to decide who was the most handsome of them all.

The men, sensing her gaze, tensed slightly, adjusting their shoulders or fiddling with their bangs, fully conscious of her attention.

“No!”

At that, Lee Da-ram gasped in surprise and hurried over.

– Thud

Lee Da-ram grabbed any guy’s card and paid for her instead, shooting a glare at the men with slightly angry eyes.

“Please refrain from asking such personal questions to the staff.”

“Y-yes…”

The men, feeling somewhat intimidated by her, exited with gloomy faces.

Lee Da-ram turned to look at Moon Si-hyun.

Moon Si-hyun was giving her a look that seemed to suggest a question mark hovering above her head.

In disbelief, Lee Da-ram considered scolding her.

“Ha… No.”

But ultimately, she let it go.

*

From the manager’s perspective, Moon Si-hyun had become an irreplaceable presence in the restaurant.

The only forced weakness to find was her frequent mistakes, but those were gradually getting better over time.

“Hey, that girl isn’t here today.” “No, she was definitely here…”

“Yes~” “One beer.” “Yes~” “Ah, damn it. Why is a guy coming?”

“Hey, did you see? Did you see?” “She’s really pretty. Wow…”

“……”

There were definitely people coming to the restaurant just to see Moon Si-hyun. It was certain.

Customers pretended not to notice, but as soon as Moon Si-hyun passed by, they would stare at her back. When their eyes occasionally met, they’d quickly look away. There were particularly many men who came to place orders or settle payments with Moon Si-hyun.

No matter how much she seemed unaware, to third parties like Lee Da-ram, it felt really blatant.

It was frustrating, but it wouldn’t do to block their gazes. Lee Da-ram could only suppress her irritation.

“Ha.”

Feeling particularly tired today, Lee Da-ram leaned against the register for a moment to rest.

‘No matter how it was, I’ve never been this concerned about others before.’

As she thought that and let out a big sigh.

“Excuse me, can I get your number…?”

Lee Da-ram’s head snapped around. A man was thrusting his phone toward Moon Si-hyun.

Swallow.

Lee Da-ram gulped once.

Moon Si-hyun glanced at the phone the man held out, and with her ears slightly reddening, she bowed her head.

“I’m sorry.”

“Ugh…”

She didn’t seem too much of an idiot after all.

“Ah… yes. I can’t help it. But sorry, could I borrow your phone for a second?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Ah!!”

Lee Da-ram strode over and grabbed the wrist of Moon Si-hyun, who was about to pull out her phone.

“I’ll lend it to you.”

At her words, the man sat down with a disappointed look, shaking his head.

Returning to their waiting spot were Moon Si-hyun and Lee Da-ram.

Noticing something odd in Lee Da-ram’s rapid strides, Moon Si-hyun asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“…… No. Didn’t you notice something weird in that conversation just now?”

“……?”

“……”

In such topics, it felt as if she was the one who had turned weird.

*

As time passed, they were finally given a short break.

Sitting on the staff’s waiting chair was Moon Si-hyun. Lee Da-ram sat right next to her.

Moon Si-hyun sat up straight, her hands clasped neatly on her thighs, quietly staring ahead.

‘…… From this angle, she looks really sharp.’

“Hey, Si-hyun?”

Just then, someone waved from a distance and walked over slowly. It was a man from the kitchen, someone familiar to Moon Si-hyun after prolonged interactions.

Tall, with slightly long black hair. Strangely, he always wore a long black shirt regardless of the season.

“Yes.”

Moon Si-hyun stood up politely to face him. There was a noticeable height difference.

Once again, as she took a step forward, Lee Da-ram lightly held her back.

“How’s work these days?”

“It’s getting easier as I adapt.”

“Oh, I’m glad to hear that. Is Da-ram treating you well?”

“Yes.”

The man spoke amiably, but as usual, Moon Si-hyun replied without a twitch in her expression.

The casual chatter between Moon Si-hyun and the man continued.

“Ah, Si-hyun. Sorry to bother you during your break, but could you take that to the kitchen? I’ve got to tidy up here.”

“Yes.”

After a slight bow, Moon Si-hyun walked off toward the far kitchen.

The man briefly lifted a box that was in front of him, then returned to sit where Moon Si-hyun had been. Lee Da-ram stood up and sat one space away.

The man seemed to be staring intently at Moon Si-hyun from afar.

“……”

Lee Da-ram kept watching him with uneasy eyes.

“What’s up? Why are you staring like that?”

The man, finally realizing her gaze, spoke.

They were close. Lee Da-ram had started working part-time here since middle school, so they had known each other for several years.

“……”

“What? Why? What?”

“……”

Suddenly, a mischievous expression crept onto Lee Da-ram’s face.

“Senior, you have a crush on Si-hyun, don’t you?”

It was a line her classmates often used to tease each other. She intended to use it to fluster the man.

“Yeah.”

“Yikes!!”

However, the man’s nonchalant response left Lee Da-ram in shock.

Unfazed, the man continued.

“Even you must see that she’s so poised. She speaks beautifully and has good posture. It’s like she’s lived in total contrast to my life. She seems so untainted.”

“Y-you’re being so forward…!?”

Surprised by his boldness, her face instantly turned red.

“How old do you think I am?”

The man looked at her as if she’d lost her mind.

Compared to him, Lee Da-ram was considerably younger. Their notions of romance certainly differed.

Feeling both shocked and flustered by his confident words, Lee Da-ram opened her mouth again.

“Wake up. You really don’t suit her, you know.”

She said while glancing at the man’s sleeve.

There was something dark peeking out from under the slightly rolled-up sleeves of his shirt.

“Really?”

Contrary to Lee Da-ram’s expectation of him getting heated, the man flashed a relaxed smile and looked back at Moon Si-hyun.

“…… Ugh, for real!”

*

It was the end of the workday. After the manager clapped, the staff bid their farewells and left.

The man from the kitchen approached Moon Si-hyun, about to speak to her.

Lee Da-ram growled and clung tightly to Moon Si-hyun.

Seeing that, the man chuckled, waved goodbye to both of them, and turned away. Moon Si-hyun bowed her head in greeting.

The two left work together as usual.

Lee Da-ram clung to Moon Si-hyun like a leech, as if demanding compensation for her hard work.

At this point, Moon Si-hyun had resigned herself to simply feeling the weight of Lee Da-ram and walked quietly.

Lee Da-ram chattered away, talking about various things.

Thanking her for helping with the live broadcast yesterday, mentioning how there seemed to be a lot of people who liked her elder sister, sharing that the viewers were nicer than expected, and noting that her followers had increased to 1500, among others.

For Lee Da-ram, this was the most enjoyable moment of the day.

Moon Si-hyun quietly smiled and nodded, sometimes responding with “Uh-huh” or “Mm-hm” as she listened to Lee Da-ram’s stories.

The frequency of Moon Si-hyun’s smiles gradually increased over time. Lee Da-ram could feel it.

…… However, there was an uncomfortable feeling growing within her as she increasingly became attached to Moon Si-hyun.

‘What will her relationships with men be like?’

Lee Da-ram was at that sensitive age regarding such matters. It was only natural that her interest would gravitate toward Moon Si-hyun as their bond deepened.

She understood if Moon Si-hyun dated someone while living here. Perhaps if some guy caught her interest, they could get to know each other.

However, every time she imagined that, she felt a wave of anxiety wash over her for Moon Si-hyun.

Of course, Lee Da-ram had no intention of restricting her. After all, they were both girls.

But looking at Moon Si-hyun, so clueless, it sparked a vivid mental image of her being deceived completely by a questionable man, going “Huh? Huh?” and unwittingly entering a relationship.

Presently, Moon Si-hyun was a 21-year-old woman in her prime, and Lee Da-ram thought it was only normal for her to eventually in a relationship.

From the reactions of those around them, it was clear. There seemed to be no man who didn’t have a liking for her.

…… Yet, conversely, imagining her with a boyfriend, walking arm in arm caused a feeling of distaste to arise.

“……”

So, after a brief silence, she spoke up.

“Sister.”

“Yeah?”

Moon Si-hyun turned her head this way. Lee Da-ram, fiddling with a stray hair using her index finger, opened her mouth.

“W-would it be alright if I saw your contact info?”

She had been fixated on the near miss of getting rejected for a number. Though it wasn’t the first time, today, with all these events overlapping, she found herself asking.

“Uh? Uh.”

Moon Si-hyun handed over her phone with no resistance and without asking for a reason.

Lee Da-ram accepted it and searched for the contacts app.

‘Please tell me there aren’t a ton of guys’ names here.’

With that concern in mind, she manipulated the default background. Not long after, she located the phone app and clicked on it.

What she saw was—

‘…… What the?’

An almost empty contact list.

There were only two numbers written there.

– Moon Se-hyun

– Lee Da-ram

“……”

It was the same last name as Moon Si-hyun. It didn’t seem to belong to a parent. Was it a younger sibling? An older brother? Or a sister? With a gender-neutral last name like Moon Si-hyun, it was hard to tell.

‘And what about her parents’ numbers?’

A natural curiosity arose. Yet, it felt too difficult to ask. It seemed like a question that shouldn’t be asked.

Moon Si-hyun had never spoken about her family or past.

“…… Here you go.”

Without a word, Lee Da-ram returned the phone. For some reason, Moon Si-hyun’s expression looked a bit cloudy.

Lee Da-ram, once more, snuggled against Moon Si-hyun.

After a moment of silence, suddenly, Moon Si-hyun came to a stop.

With a puzzled expression, she looked over, while Moon Si-hyun averted her gaze and finally spoke.

“…… I-I’m going this way today.”

The path she usually took was different.

‘Are you going to the Doll Workshop again?’

Ordinarily, she would have teased Moon Si-hyun about her secretive preferences and seen her ears go red.

“Ah, yes. Be careful going home.”

As Lee Da-ram suppressed the words she wanted to express, she watched Moon Si-hyun leave.

It felt a bit odd. Was it because she had been worrying so much about men today? It raised doubts about whether Moon Si-hyun was truly heading to the Doll Workshop.

Why would she go there at this hour?

Why would the workshop even be open this late?

Was she really going there?

“……”

Lee Da-ram quietly followed the direction Moon Si-hyun had gone.

*

Lee Da-ram secretly trailed behind Moon Si-hyun.

But was Moon Si-hyun possessed of some sixth sense? Even though Lee Da-ram made no sound, Moon Si-hyun occasionally glanced back, leaving Lee Da-ram nearly caught a number of times.

Still, she did her best to match Moon Si-hyun’s pace.

Eventually, Moon Si-hyun stopped in front of the Doll Workshop.

‘She really is going to the workshop.’

Slightly relieved, Lee Da-ram watched.

A man, slightly shorter than Moon Si-hyun, was visible. The angle made it hard to see clearly.

After a brief conversation, the man opened the door for Moon Si-hyun and ushered her inside.

‘…… Why is he opening the door for her?’

They appeared to be chatting for a moment. Suddenly, they walked toward the sofa in the center.

‘……?’

Moon Si-hyun stepped behind the man.

And then, she patted the man’s head.

For some reason, Lee Da-ram’s heart plummeted.

Am I seeing things wrong? Denying it, she moved in a little closer.

Yet, no matter how much she looked, Moon Si-hyun was definitely patting that man on the head.

…… Eventually, as the angle adjusted, she got a clearer view of the boy being patted.

He was a lad, about the same age as herself.

“…… Huh?”

For some reason, she felt a sense of déjà vu.

The boy’s face was one Lee Da-ram was sure she had seen somewhere before.

“…… Lee Seo-ah?”