NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2
Chapter 2 – An Ordinary Day
—–CROW—–
It was an ordinary day.
The weather was clear, a pleasant day without a single cloud in sight.
“…Mom.”
“Yes? Did you call me?”
“Why didn’t you wake me up?”
A perfectly ordinary day where I overslept, even though I had class first thing in the morning.
“Aren’t you a little old to be woken up by your mother, son?”
“…”
“It’s not like you’re in middle school anymore. You should start waking up on your own.”
Although incredibly irritating, she had a point.
Whoever came up with that saying, it was well-crafted.
A grown man unable to wake up without his mother’s help.
A situation so ridiculous that any passerby would scoff in disbelief.
Even I thought, ‘This is a bit much,’ so I really had nothing to say.
“…I set four alarms.”
“They were noisy, so I turned them off.”
“I even bought an alarm clock because I thought my phone alarms wouldn’t be enough.”
“You threw it away yesterday, saying it was in the way.”
Hmm. Did I?
Now that I think about it, I think I did.
A sudden flash of yesterday’s memory crossed my mind.
Yesterday, stressed out by the alarm clock ringing even on a weekend, I marched straight to the apartment’s recycling bins.
Han Seo-ah happened to see me and snickered, asking what kind of idiotic move that was.
…I still had nothing to say.
“What about breakfast? Are you going to eat before you go, son?”
“What time is it?”
“Well, what time do you think it is?”
“…Mom, you’re teasing me, aren’t you?”
“Who else would tease my son if I didn’t?”
“…”
My mother, who turned forty-two this year, clearly still enjoyed teasing her son.
There’s no other reason she’d torment me like this.
Anyway, getting back to the point.
I didn’t have time to dawdle.
“…It’s 8:30.”
“Why would I lie to you?”
The numbers “8:30” displayed on my smartphone screen were enough to make my heart pound.
Oh, of course, not for any romantic reason like the flutter of love.
But because of the inexplicable fear that comes with the terrifying act of being late.
‘Whirr-‘
The sound of a hairdryer filled the small room.
Our apartment had a typical layout, with three rooms connected to the living room.
We weren’t well-off, but we weren’t exactly poor either.
I guess somewhere in between.
I tidied up my hair, which was sticking out in every direction from sleeping so soundly, and quickly changed into some clothes.
“Where’s Han Seo-ah?”
“Seo-ah? She came by around 8:00, saw you sleeping, and left.”
“…Really?”
Why did this lovely friend leave a sleeping person behind?
Last time, I woke her up when she overslept and even went with her.
“Yeah, I told her to eat breakfast here, but she said she already ate and just left.”
“…She ate breakfast?”
One might think I was overreacting about her eating breakfast, but that’s only possible if they didn’t know Han Seo-ah.
It was Han Seo-ah, after all.
The amazing person who, for three whole years of high school, never once ate breakfast at home.
I couldn’t quite recall the reason.
Did she say the food at home didn’t taste good?
But Seo-ah’s mom is a better cook than my mom.
“…Lee Si-woo. I think you just had a very rude thought.”
“Haha, that’s impossible, Mother.”
“Really? I believe you, Si-woo.”
“Who would believe me if my own mother didn’t?”
“…”
“I’m off.”
“Okay, have a good day.”
Anyway, aside from the issue of Han Seo-ah eating breakfast alone, it was a normal day, no different from usual.
“Son? Aren’t you taking your laptop?”
“Oh, right.”
Forgetting my laptop was the perfect finishing touch.
***
The university I attended was about seven bus stops away from our apartment.
Close, yet far, depending on how you looked at it.
‘Ding-‘
As I boarded the arriving bus, the familiar voice of the card reader greeted me.
I slowly walked inside and grabbed the handrail closest to the exit door.
Hoping for a seat was a fool’s errand from the start.
It was bound to be taken by university students in the same boat as me, and even if there were an empty seat, it would most likely be a seat reserved for the elderly.
I think I saw somewhere that it’s okay to sit in those seats if no one needs them.
But really, would no one sit in them during the dreaded morning rush hour?
I’d rather just stand.
Like I said, it was only seven stops.
I held the handrail with my left hand and my smartphone with my right.
The quintessential image of a modern person, commonly seen during commutes.
Normally, I’d be watching game streams or reading webtoons that helpfully reminded me what day it was.
But today, I had something I absolutely had to do.
—
[Hey] – Me
[? Why] – Han Seo-ah
[Why did you ditch me?] – Me
[Did I ditch you?? You woke up late] – Han Seo-ah
[But I woke you up last time] – Me
[Yeah, I know, your mom told you to wake me up] – Han Seo-ah
[Still, I’m the one who woke you up, right?] – Me
[If you have time to text, get to school. You’re going to be late] – Han Seo-ah
[‘Cat shaking angrily emoticon’] – Me
[‘Laughing rabbit emoticon’] – Han Seo-ah
—
“…”
I poked the bear and ended up with nothing to show for it.
I never imagined she’d know the whole truth behind the incident where I woke her up.
Still, I felt wronged.
Who cares who told me to do it?
The important thing is that I woke her up while she was soundly asleep in dreamland.
“…Sigh.”
“…”
I grumbled in frustration.
But all I got in return were uncomfortable stares from the person sitting in front of me.
Oh, how embarrassing.
I’m never waking her up again either.
***
Thankfully, the bus didn’t get stuck in traffic, turning the 20-minute ride into a 40-minute ordeal.
That was truly fortunate.
Last time, I almost missed class by two minutes because of traffic.
Just thinking about it made my head spin.
The dreadful scenario of running into the professor at the classroom door.
In such a horrifying situation, all a pathetic student like me could do was offer an awkward smile and greeting.
Anyway,
The important thing was that such a disaster didn’t happen this time.
“Yo. You’re not late today.”
“Of course not. You know what I almost went through last time.”
As I dragged my weary body to my seat, I heard the voice of my friend from university.
“Too bad. Honestly, I was hoping you’d be late.”
“Thanks for your concern, Young-joo.”
“No, it’s Joo-young, not Young-joo.”
“Young-joo, Joo-young, whatever.”
“…So, where’s your girlfriend?”
“Huh?”
I tilted my head at the sudden question.
Girlfriend? Why would he bring up my girlfriend out of the blue?
“You know, the girlfriend you always come with…”
“Does our Young-joo know that speaking carelessly can get you killed?”
“…Sorry, hyung.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I wondered what nonsense he was spouting, but he was talking about Han Seo-ah.
“…But you’re really not dating?”
“We’re not dating.”
“No, really…”
“Yeah. Really not dating.”
To be fair, it was a common misunderstanding.
Actually, it was impossible not to be misunderstood.
We always came to school together, left together, and even most of our classes were the same.
If I were an outsider, I would have believed we were dating too.
However, that’s just the perspective of an outsider.
If you knew the whole story, misunderstanding would be impossible.
Real-life siblings.
There were no better words to describe our relationship.
We’d known each other for so long that seeing each other’s faces was now just irritating.
Our relationship was much closer to family than a romantic one.
That kind of relationship.
And when I said ‘siblings,’ that wasn’t a typo either.
We really were like family.
“Speak of the devil. There’s your girlfriend.”
“…Is our Young-joo hinting that he wants to die on this fine morning?”
“I really think you guys are dating. How can your reactions be so identical?”
“What? Did Lee Si-woo say that too?”
“Word for word, perfectly identical.”
“…That’s creepy.”
[We had the same thought. I’m in a good mood this morning.]
“…Huh?”
That is, until a strange phenomenon began to occur.
Until strange words started appearing from my childhood friend, who I’d lived with like family my whole life.
“What’s wrong with him now?”
“He almost got late twice in a row; he must’ve lost his mind. Not surprising, it’s so Si-woo.”
[What’s going on all of a sudden? Si-woo doesn’t look well… Should I ask him if he’s okay?]
“…”
That day, in the classroom, I realized something.
I didn’t know what the problem was, but something was definitely wrong.
Something was so wrong that I even wondered if I was going crazy.
It was an ordinary day, no different from usual.
—–CROW—–
#Only READ at DarkstarTranslations