TSCEIAB Ch. 27

 

“Okay. Then can I ask you something about yourself?”

 

“…… Yes.”

 

“Where did you live before you transferred?”

 

It was an easy question to answer, but I couldn’t get it out of my mouth.

If I told her I lived in Ohio, I worried that Melissa would associate me with Sophia Kang.

Fortunately, she noticed a subtle change in my facial expression and asked me another question.

 

“I guess you didn’t have any good memories. What are you eating now?”

 

I was able to answer this question without any hesitation.

 

“……’Gimbap’.”

 

“Kim…… Pop?”

 

Melissa imitated the Korean word ‘gimbap’ with an awkward pronunciation.

 

“What’s that?”

 

“Hmm……. Do you know seaweed? It’s seaweed…….”

 

Why am I explaining this?

I was confused by the situation at hand, but I couldn’t stop explaining because of Melissa, whose eyes sparkled with curiosity.

 

“…… Wow, I see. That’s a great food.”

 

Finally, I finished explaining. I held out my lunch box to her, who could not take my eyes off my gimbap.

 

“Would you like to try one?”

 

“Can I?”

 

“Yes.”

 

I nodded, and Melissa thanked me and poked one of my gimbap with her fork.

She skillfully took a bite without spilling the ingredients, and her eyes widened, and her mouth pursed.

 

“Wow, this is so delicious! What country is this from?”

 

“It’s Korean food.”

 

“Korea. Vegetables are also included. It looks good for the health.”

 

“Do you want another one?”

 

“Yes, you have some of my spaghetti too. It’s all blown up and tasteless.”

 

As we shared food, my tension decreased.

The spaghetti Melissa put in my lunch box had dried-out sauce and was swollen, but it was somehow delicious.

 

“What class do you have in the afternoon?”

 

“Math.”

 

“Oh, my! Math right after a meal? Isn’t it nap time?”

 

“Haha!”

 

I couldn’t help but laugh at Melissa’s fuss. Then my shoulders stiffened.

 

‘…… How long has it been since I’ve talked to someone like this?’

 

It seemed like it had been a long time since I laughed out loud.

It must have felt strange that I had suddenly become silent, but Melissa didn’t show it and asked another question.

 

“Where do you live? Oh! I know that place. It’s close to where I live. I live in the neighborhood next to it. Oh, come to think of it, doesn’t Angelica live in that neighborhood? Oh gosh! The house diagonally across the street? I heard Angelica invites her boyfriends to her house every day. How is it? Have you seen it?”

 

I forgot that I was awkward and answered each of those frantic questions.

As if her goal was to distract me, Melissa sped up her questioning.

 

What’s your favorite color? Where’s the glasses you wore until yesterday? What? Why did you wear something like that when you can see well? What classes are you taking tomorrow? Do you always take lunch at this time? What do you do at home on weekends? Where do you usually shop? Have you been to that store?

 

It was as if I had been summoned to a hearing.

Even after I finished my lunch, I was held up by Melissa and asked me a lot of questions, and she didn’t let me go until 10 minutes before class started.

 

“Let’s say hello from now on, Haley.”

 

“…… Yes.”

 

I watched Melissa’s back as she waved and walked away. I felt strangely empty.

I stared blankly at my wrist, where Melissa had grabbed and let go.

Is it because Melissa is unawakened? Or is it because she’s a girl?

 

‘Our skin touched……and I didn’t feel repulsed.’

 

It felt weird to feel like I was a “normal” kid who didn’t experience any trauma.

 

‘…… I hope we can have lunch together tomorrow.’

 

I thought about it for a moment and walked away.

The math class that followed was boring and sleepy, as Melissa said, but I was able to avoid sleeping on my desk as I was in a daze the whole time, immersed in other thoughts.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“I haven’t seen Hugo for a few days. I haven’t heard of any news that he’s been dispatched.”

 

It was lunchtime with Melissa which had been going on for days.

The topic of conversation today was ‘Hugo’, she suddenly looked around and spoke.

I was nervous that Melissa was going to bring out her true purpose belatedly.

 

“…… I don’t know much about Hugo.”

 

So I shook my head hastily.

It wasn’t until I said it that I realized my answer was out of context, but it was too late.

Luckily, Melissa didn’t seem to notice anything strange in my attitude.

 

“Oh my! You don’t know much about Hugo? Where and how much do you not know?”

 

She seemed more shocked that I didn’t know much about Hugo, a famous person.

 

“How can you not know that? Then do you know this? That? You know what? What? You don’t know? How many years did you go into the mountains and live there before coming out?”

 

Melissa’s words quickened with excitement.

The voice was so loud that the other students at the surrounding tables paid attention to us.

 

“Hey, did you say you didn’t know about Hugo? Oh my gosh!”

 

“Wow, did I hear that right? You’re not locked up from somewhere like Melissa said, are you?”

 

Men and women alike added their own comments or let out shocked gasps.

I blushed at their gaze, and Melissa waved her hand like swatting away a fly.

 

“You all go away. You’re embarrassing my friend.”

 

“But, Melissa. She should know. How can she go to our school and say she doesn’t know Hugo well?”

 

“Is this some kind of a new concept, transfer student? Are you the type who make up lies to get attention?”

 

Someone spoke sharply. I thought maybe that’s how I looked.

But before I could say anything, another boy shook his head in front of me.

 

“Look over there, it’s a kind of cell phone my grandfather would use. Isn’t that an old cell phone with no internet?”

 

“Oh, you really wouldn’t know if you’re using something like this.”

 

“Is the transfer student just a ‘nerd’ and not into concepts as you thought?”

 

The kids burst into laughter. They didn’t seem to be making fun of me, but rather that the situation was funny.

The kid who had been talking about concepts seemed to dislike the atmosphere and snorted before walking away.

 

“Okay, buddy. You may not know. Then why don’t we explain it to you?”

 

The boy who had been pointed at my phone squinted and moved to the seat next to me.

So did his friends.

 

‘Uh…… Huh?’

 

The table I was sitting at suddenly became crowded.

Looking at Melissa’s joyful face, it seemed that I was the only one who was embarrassed by this situation.

 

“Oh, by the way, my name is Samuel Lee.”

 

A hand was held out in front of me. It was the schoolboy next to me. I hesitated in embarrassment and then lowered my hands under the table.

 

“…… I’m Haley Baek. I’m sorry, I’m a little sweaty.”

 

“Hmm. That’s fine”

 

No one asked me to shake hands after Samuel. But everyone smiled and said their names.

 

“Nice to meet you, Haley. I’m Kennedy Allen.”

 

“I’m Josiah Walker, and this is Nicholas Cooper. Nice to meet you.”

 

There were more than five kids introducing themselves. It felt awkward and overwhelming to be surrounded by so many kids.

But on the other hand, the pounding in my chest wasn’t so bad.

As I memorized the names and faces of my friends, they continued to talk about Hugo as if they were explaining it to a three-year-old who didn’t know anything.

 

“Hugo didn’t originally live in our area. He also transferred. It’s been …… about a year now?”

 

“One year and three months to be exact, Kennedy.”

 

“Right, one year and three months. Anyway, he’s originally from Texas. When he transferred here, he moved his affiliation to Arizona.”

 

“The former Texas Center director retired and moved to Arizona. Because of that, Hugo had no choice but to follow him. He was Hugo’s guardian.”

 

Melissa raised her eyebrows at the mention of the Texas center director. She seemed uncomfortable with this topic.

 

‘What’s wrong?’

 

I glanced at Melissa, and she noticed my gaze. She gave me a small smile and changed the subject as if nothing happened.

 

“Hugo has a pathological aversion to physical contact with other people. When he first transferred to school, various sports clubs tried to recruit him, but he rejected all of them.”

 

“That’s right. I don’t know about anything else, but I was expecting Hugo to have a talent for football. You know, he’s physically strong, right? But he didn’t want to, so it’s a shame.”

 

The kids were instantly swept up in the atmosphere and began to talk about Hugo’s physique.

I tilted my head inwardly as I listened to the story in one ear.

 

‘He hates physical contact with others… but he was fine touching me back then……. Is it okay for him to touch over clothes like I do?’

 

As I was thinking so, a girl who introduced herself as a fan of Hugo spoke out.

 

“When I was younger, I heard that he refused to be guided after ‘that’ incident. I don’t know why. Did that traumatize him?”