Yeoncheong sprang up at the sound of the alarm, which was a little louder than before. It was a firm declaration of will that there would be no third time.
After straightening her bedding and getting up, Yeoncheong naturally headed for the wardrobe. She took out her neatly arranged school uniform and placed it on the bed, and her next destination was the kitchen.
She put a slice of bread in the toaster and took out the strawberry jam. Without waiting, she went to the bathroom and washed up quickly. By the time she had dried her hair and come out, the golden-brown toast that had popped out of the toaster was waiting for her.
Yeoncheong made a simple breakfast of bread spread with strawberry jam and milk. Lastly, she took off her pajamas and changed into the uniform she had laid on the bed.
With that, Yeoncheong was ready for school.
“8:15.”
After putting on her uniform and checking the time, Yeoncheong nodded to herself.
From waking up to the alarm to changing into her uniform, the smoothly connected series of steps had, before she knew it, settled into a routine.
Yeoncheong picked up her bag and left the house.
Given the time, the road to school was quiet. Yeoncheong walked. It looked tight, but there was no problem. This was why she had gone out of her way to choose a house close to the school.
After passing through the quiet school gate and arriving at the classroom on the second floor of the main building, her homeroom teacher, Teacher Jisu, came in shortly after. Yeoncheong thought to herself that her timing was truly perfect.
***
The somewhat unsettled atmosphere after the start of the school year began to regain stability under the rhythm of regular school life.
The same was true for Yeoncheong.
Humans were creatures of adaptation.
Yeoncheong realized that firsthand through the fact that she had grown used to the school and the girls in just a few days.
Getting tense and drained just from being in the same space as them was already a thing of the past. Since she spent every day surrounded by them, Yeoncheong had become fine with at least that much.
Contrary to her worries over being late to the opening ceremony and giving a pathetic self-introduction, her relationships with her classmates were also going smoothly. Thanks to Hasol and Suyeon, who approached her first, and Seoha, who sat beside her, she had no chance of being left out in class. She said she had adapted, but she still wasn’t at the point where she could approach others herself, so Yeoncheong was satisfied with the current state of things.
The only flaw was that the classes were harder than at her previous school, but it was not a major problem for the moment.
After finishing an ordinary day like usual, Yeoncheong entered the passcode and went into the house. Tossing her bag aside, she leaped onto the bed and lay buried in it for a while. It was a kind of attendance stamp, letting her feel that she had returned home, just as school confirmed her attendance.
Turning only her head on the bed, Yeoncheong took out her smartphone. When she checked the timetable in her gallery, a light sigh escaped her.
It was because of the two characters written in the middle of the timetable: P.E.
“Ha... What am I going to do?”
Even though her body had become that of a girl, her mind was still closer to that of a boy. Though P.E. was the class male students lived and died for, one side of Yeoncheong’s face was filled with worry.
“Should I change somewhere like the bathroom...? That doesn’t seem right either...”
Originally, the feelings Yeoncheong had toward P.E. class were not much different from when she had been a boy. Until, not long ago, the school chairwoman Yurim had said something.
“It’d be weird if you went all the way to the bathroom to change when there are only girls in the classroom.”
Yeoncheong’s worry was not the class itself, but changing into and out of her gym uniform before and after class.
She was so embarrassed to go buy underwear herself that, after several trials and errors, she had only barely managed to order some online.
Showing her own body, seeing the bodies of her classmates. There was not a single thing that did not worry her.
Even after a great deal of thought, she could not find an answer. Out of frustration, Yeoncheong kicked her legs, and the innocent bed alone was beaten with dull thuds.
Growl.
The sound of her stomach clock, punctual as ever, stopped Yeoncheong’s legs. Her body, still in its growth period, was very honest.
Yeoncheong pushed herself up from the bed with both arms. When she raised her head, she saw the clock on the table.
What had been meant to be only a brief lie-down on the bed had quickly become almost dinnertime. Yeoncheong got off the bed and headed for the refrigerator. After checking the remaining ingredients, she muttered.
“I guess I’ll just make fried rice or something.”
Yeoncheong took out the odds and ends left in the refrigerator.
Appetite, one of the three great desires, pushed her worries about tomorrow’s P.E. class to a corner of Yeoncheong’s mind.
And so Yeoncheong took care of dinner, clung to her smartphone for quite some time, and then fell asleep.
***
As class neared its end, the classroom grew restless. Perhaps the teacher knew that too, because she began wrapping up the lesson.
It was a peaceful spring day, the weather gradually warming as yellow forsythias began to poke out their heads. Sparrows that had shed their thick winter fluff also flew around near the school with light movements.
Amid everyone spending a warm day thanks to the mild weather, only Yeoncheong looked up at the bright sky with a worried expression.
‘Should I say I’m sick today and can’t do it?’
P.E. class had come right up to her nose without her thinking of any sharp solution. Yeoncheong was even considering the last resort.
‘But I do want to do P.E...’
For all students who spent most of their day sitting at a desk, P.E. was like welcome rain in a drought. That was why Yeoncheong wanted to avoid the last resort if at all possible.
When the bell rang to signal the end of class, the students’ voices grew even louder. The teacher asked one last time if there were any questions. Hasol looked around, then raised her hand and said,
“I don’t think there are any questions. Teacher! We have P.E. next, so please close the door on your way out.”
“...All right. Then I’ll see you next time.”
“Yes.”
The students answered in unison toward the teacher leaving the classroom.
With a click, the door closed, and everyone rose from their seats as if on cue. Yeoncheong could hear her classmates chatting as they naturally began changing clothes.
“Does anyone know where we’re having P.E. today?”
“Today’s the first time. How would anyone know that?”
“Nayun, do you know?”
The yellow-haired girl whose name had been called shook her head.
“No, but wouldn’t it be the field?”
Listening to the conversation as if entranced, Yeoncheong marveled inwardly. It was because she had seen them put their gym pants on underneath their skirts.
‘So that’s how you change into gym pants.’
It was an unfamiliar sight, since at an all-boys’ school there had been plenty of guys who stripped first and thought later. But when she saw them take off their blazers and shirts next, she buried her head in her desk.
One by one, the students finished changing and left the classroom. It would have been nice if she could hold out until everyone left like that, but not all of her classmates were so coldhearted that they would leave Yeoncheong lying face down on her desk.
“Yeoncheong, are you sleeping?”
“Are you sick or something?”
They were the mood-makers who had been elected class president and vice president, respectively. Hasol and Suyeon. After sending the other girls ahead, the two approached to look after the transfer student. Since Yeoncheong gave no response, their gazes turned to Seoha, who sat beside her.
“Seoha, is Yeoncheong sick?”
“No, she was fine until a little while ago.”
After hearing Seoha’s answer, Hasol carefully shook Yeoncheong.
“Yeoncheong, we have P.E. next. You have to change and go out.”
“Are you really not sick?”
Afraid that things might get bigger if she held out any longer, Yeoncheong slightly raised her head. At the sight, Hasol and Suyeon looked relieved.
“Ah, you’re awake.”
“It’s P.E. Let’s change and go out.”
“Did you maybe forget your gym uniform?”
“No. It’s not that...”
Yeoncheong looked around. Most of the class had finished changing and left the classroom. Yeoncheong lowered her voice as much as possible and said,
“I-I’m embarrassed...”
Even as she said it herself, Yeoncheong wondered if this was really the right thing to say and hid her face again. As if the answer had been unexpected, Hasol and Suyeon looked at each other with round eyes.
Seoha, who had been watching the whole situation while wearing her gym uniform, spoke.
“She must have gone to a coed school with a changing room before. You two go ahead. I’ll lock up and come.”
“Huh? You don’t have to do that.”
“The class president and vice president should be there first.”
Since Seoha went that far, Hasol handed over the key. Telling them not to be too late, Hasol and Suyeon headed to the field first.
***
Only Yeoncheong and Seoha remained in the classroom.
“Take your time changing and come out. I’ll wait in front.”
After saying that, Seoha went out into the hallway. In the classroom wrapped in silence, Yeoncheong carefully stood up.
Just as she had seen earlier, she changed into the pants while still wearing her skirt, then took off her blazer and shirt and changed into her gym uniform. Afraid someone might see, she changed in an instant.
“Sorry, you waited a long time, didn’t you?”
“No, let’s go.”
Seoha said it was fine, locked the door, and headed for the field. Yeoncheong changed into her shoes and followed behind her. Looking at Seoha’s black hair swaying softly, Yeoncheong thought.
Perfect.
That was Yeoncheong’s impression of the person named Seoha from sitting beside her.
Not only the way the teachers treated Seoha, but also the fact that people naturally said she would be the next student council president made the word perfect fit her exactly.
Yeoncheong found Seoha’s attitude somewhat awkward. At first, she had thought it might be because of a request from their homeroom teacher Jisu or because they sat next to each other, but now she felt it was a little excessive.
“Is there something you want to ask?”
At Seoha’s sudden voice, Yeoncheong flinched.
‘What? How did she know? Does she have eyes on the back of her head or something...’
She did not know when she would have another chance to be alone with her. Yeoncheong carefully put into words the question she had only been thinking about.
“Why are you so nice to me and to other people?”
“Hm? Isn’t that a good thing?”
“It is, but... how should I put it? I guess it feels a little excessive. Like you’re doing even things you don’t have to do because you feel like you have to.”
The disorganized sentence was hard to understand even for the person who had said it.
“So, it feels like you’re doing it out of obligation.”
More refined words. Seoha stopped and turned around. Because of the sudden stop, the distance between Seoha and Yeoncheong, who halted a beat late, abruptly narrowed.
Red eyes examined blue eyes. Though she was smiling, a chilly air flowed from her. It was a side of her Yeoncheong had never seen in the classroom. And yet Yeoncheong was certain this was closer to the real Seoha.
After staring into her eyes for a long while, Seoha said,
“Just because. People like it when I do that. Is that enough of a reason?”
“Y-Yeah.”
Swallowed by the atmosphere, Yeoncheong’s head nodded on its own.
“How interesting...”
“Hm? What did you say?”
Seoha, who had turned forward again, only turned her head back. Her usual smile was directed at Yeoncheong.
“Nothing. The P.E. teacher is already out there. Let’s hurry too.”
Seoha lightly ran toward the field. Yeoncheong also followed Seoha and ran toward where their classmates had gathered.