TSCEIAB Ch. 33

 

The children began to murmur in exclamation as if they had discovered something great.

 

‘What is it?’

 

I was about to raise my head in curiosity.

 

Step- Step-

 

As everyone held their breath, the sound of regular footsteps reached my ears.

Once I noticed it, it was getting closer and closer to me.

 

‘Huh……?’

 

I raised my head in wonder. Then I saw legs standing tall beside me – in the spot that had always been empty.

 

“……?”

 

I slowly looked up. A boy in dark jeans and a black T-shirt, and with pale white skin stood looking at me.

 

“Hugo?”

 

The girl in the seat behind me muttered in a mesmerized voice.

But it wasn’t just the girl in the back who muttered the name.

 

“Gasp! It’s Hugo, right?”

 

“What? Why is he here?”

 

“No idea. Does have any business with the transfer student?”

 

He was staring at me.

Thanks to this, all the attention of the students in the classroom was drawn to us. Hugo asked me with a smile on his face, ignoring the stares.

 

“Is this seat empty?”

 

“Uh, huh? Uh …….”

 

“Then I’ll sit here.”

 

He pulled back the chair and sat down without hearing my answer.

The kid’s chattering grew louder, but he greeted me nonchalantly, pretending to hear nothing.

 

“It’s been a while, Haley.”

 

How have you been?

 

I couldn’t answer his follow-up questions.

Hugo just smiled, slightly crinkling his eyes as if he didn’t expect an answer.

His blue eyes caught my attention.

Suddenly, I remembered something blue I had seen in my dream last night.

I involuntarily fiddled with my left index finger. The hard ring felt strange on my fingertips.

 

“H-hey, you’ve come to the wrong classroom. This is Lecture Room A08.”

 

It took me a long time to come to my senses, and I spoke in the lowest voice I could.

I don’t think there was any reason for Hugo to be here. Unless he had come to the wrong classroom.

 

‘He’s been skipping classes so much, so he must have forgotten his schedule. Or maybe he got the classroom mixed up.’

 

Hugo, however, shrugged his shoulders and replied:

 

“I know. Isn’t this the English literature class?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I’ve come to the right place. Here.”

 

He showed me a printout in his hand. It was identical to the class materials I had.

 

“……?”

 

I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask, but before I could ask anything, my English literature teacher walked in.

 

“Is everyone here? Please take your seats. Kristen, go back to your seat. Okay, let’s start class right away.”

 

As the class began, the children’s murmuring gradually stopped.

There were still prying eyes, but even that faded as Hugo quietly immersed himself in the lesson.

 

“…….”

 

I glanced at Hugo as he took notes in his notebook.

He was admitted to the emergency guidance room, but his condition didn’t look as bad as I thought.

On the contrary, he looked better than when I saw him at the party.

 

‘Thank goodness. The new drug seems to be working well.’

 

It was a deviation from the original, but it was a good thing for Hugo.

He could hold on to the new drug until he meets the heroine.

Once his condition stabilizes, he will be able to enjoy a normal life like the other kids.

He’ll make lots of friends and go to parties like last time.

 

‘Oh, that’s right. The handkerchief…….’

 

Suddenly, I remembered the handkerchief I had in my pocket.

I had brought it out of habit in the morning just in case, but since the owner was right next to me, I thought it would be better to return it.

 

‘Hmm. Should I return it right now? Or should I return it after class?’

 

I was worried that if I returned it during class, it would disturb Hugo, and if I returned it after class, the other kids would stare at me.

 

‘What should I do…….?’

 

I couldn’t concentrate on class like that and kept fiddling with what was inside my pocket for several minutes.

 

Rustle-

 

The edge of a notebook slid over from the seat next to me. Hugo was looking at me, his head motioned to look at it.

 

“……?”

 

On one side of the notebook was a scrawled note.

 

 

[What is it? Do you have something to say?]

 

 

I looked at him with wide eyes, and our gazes immediately met.

Hugo gave me a small smile.

 

 

[What’s in your pocket?]

 

 

He scribbled quickly and tapped the tip of his pen on his notebook.

 

‘I might as well give it now.’

 

I nodded and pulled a handkerchief from my pocket. Avoiding the gaze of the children who might be watching, I held out his handkerchief under the desk.

 

“Oh.”

 

Hugo, who saw what was in my hand, made a muffled sound.

Fortunately, the teacher had played a video about the lesson, so his voice was drowned out.

 

 

[You’ve been carrying it around?]

 

 

Having received the item, he smoothed the tip of the handkerchief with a fresh face and again scribbled the question in his notebook.

 

When I nodded, he looked at me disapprovingly and tapped on the blank space of the notebook.

 

‘You want me to write it here?’

 

I didn’t know why I had to, but I thought I should thank him again for lending me his handkerchief. I picked up my pen.

 

 

[Yes, I have to return it, but I didn’t know when I would see you, so I carried it with me. Thank you for lending me the handkerchief.]

 

 

I tried to write it as clearly as possible, but compared to Hugo’s handwriting, it was like a child’s doodle.

 

‘His handwriting is still beautiful even though he scrawled, but why is mine…….?’

 

I didn’t like my handwriting. No, it was embarrassing.

But Hugo read it a few times with sparkling eyes as if he really liked what I had written.

Then he wrote down a reply just below my handwriting, which was comparable.

 

 

[I wanted to see you sooner, but something came up, so I couldn’t. I’m more grateful that you cared.]

 

 

I thought this would be the end of the conversation. But Hugo stared at me like a kitten hoping for something.

Even though I nodded and looked ahead, his gaze didn’t leave me.

 

‘What? What do you want from me…….’

 

Is the thank you not enough? Is he asking for something in return?

It was frustrating because I didn’t know what he wanted.

I glared forward, narrowing my eyes as Hugo scribbled something in his notebook again.

 

 

[Is the class interesting? If not, how about hanging out with me for a bit?]

 

 

Ah. I think I know what he wanted.

 

‘I thought you were paying attention in class, but you weren’t having fun.’

 

I guess the class was boring for him.

It’s easy to relieve boredom a little, so it wouldn’t hurt to hang out for a while in return for lending a handkerchief.

 

 

[The class was just okay. What do you want to do?]

 

 

Hugo’s lips twitched as I gave up on trying to write neatly and just scribbled roughly.

He seemed to hold back his laughter.

 

 

[Well, I don’t know what to do, it’s fun enough to talk to you like this, I wanted to get to know you better.]

 

[Why with me? I’m not a fun person, it’s much more enjoyable and beneficial to befriend someone else than me.]

 

[I have the most fun when I’m with you, Haley. And you’re the one I want to be close to, I don’t need any other beneficial friends.]

 

 

It was a firm statement.

I didn’t know why he was interested in me.

 

 

[…… Can I ask you something?]

 

 

I took a moment to choose what to say, and then slowly wrote. This time, it was a question, not an answer.

Fortunately, Hugo just raised his eyebrows as if to say I could ask whatever I wanted.

 

 

[What is it?]

 

[Were you supposed to be in English literature class? How come I never saw you?]

 

[I originally signed up for P.E. class, but I switched to English literature.]

 

 

I’d suspected as much.

If he had originally been taking this class, the students wouldn’t have been so flustered as before.

 

 

[Why did you switch?]

 

 

Hugo just stared at the notebook as if trying to choose what to answer my follow-up question. Then he adjusted his grip on the pen and moved his hand quickly.

 

 

[P.E. doesn’t suit me, I didn’t particularly like physical exercises, and English literature seemed more interesting.]

 

 

Hugo finished the sentence and tapped his pen next to it, then added in a slightly messy handwriting.

 

 

[It just so happens that you’re in this class too.]

 

 

He looked at me and grinned. But I couldn’t look at him favorably.

 

‘Why…….’

 

I was relieved that there were no classes that overlapped with Hugo’s, but I didn’t expect to be hit in the back of the head like this.

I was grateful that he wanted to be friends with me, but the reason wasn’t clear I couldn’t help but be wary.

After all, I nearly killed Hugo by driving him into a rampage.

 

‘If Hugo knew who I was, he wouldn’t approach me to befriend me. Should I change my classes?’

 

For a moment, I looked at the teacher’s face as he explained the video. P.E. was the only class I could choose instead of English literature.

 

“Haa…….”

 

The thought of physical exercises with strangers made me sigh. As expected, it was not possible to do P.E. to avoid Hugo.

 

‘…… English literature is once a week anyway, so wouldn’t that be okay?’

 

Once a week.

Except for that time, I could avoid Hugo all the time.

No, I should try to avoid Hugo in future English literature classes.

 

‘Let’s just suffer in English literature class.’

 

But despite my resolve, Hugo started to change classes and kept getting in front of me.