Chapter 28
In the end, the computer was turned off by Baek I-hae. It was a perfect crime committed while Seo-yeol had his eyes tightly shut.
“Our cute little Do-gyeom.”
“…….”
She coaxed him, suggesting he eat some tasty snacks to cheer up, then left Seo-yeol with Old Man Oh and headed back.
Baek I-hae looked at Seo Do-gyeom and grinned mischievously. His silent, tight-lipped demeanor was both amusing and a bit endearing, making her laugh.
“I didn’t expect you to have such a cute side. Were you scared of ghosts?”
“……Just like there are things you hate, there are things I do too.”
His response was calm, but even that seemed like he was trying hard to act nonchalant, which only made him cuter. For the first time, Baek I-hae thought he resembled Seo-yeol, and she nodded.
It seemed like she was agreeing with Seo Do-gyeom’s words, but anyone could tell her exaggerated gestures were meant to tease him.
“Aww, is that so?”
“…….”
[Baby Gangster, Seo Do-gyeom has given up on the conversation.]
[She inwardly shakes her head, thinking Baek I-hae’s teasing is getting more mischievous by the day.]
Anyway, he was fun to tease.
She knew it wasn’t out of malice, but it was her own way of getting back at him for denying she was family just moments ago.
Feeling her mood lift, Baek I-hae scurried after Seo Do-gyeom as he headed into his room.
Then, a bewildered gaze landed on the top of her head.
“Why are you following me in?”
“To check if you’ve reviewed. And to go over today’s lesson while I’m at it?”
“……You don’t have to do this every day. You don’t exercise every day either.”
Despite his timid protest, Baek I-hae firmly pushed his back. He could have resisted if he wanted to, but he obediently let her guide him to the desk.
Thanks to her efforts lately, the once empty desk was gradually filling up with writing tools and books.
“I overdid it last time and got sick, so Uncle restricted me to three times a week. But no matter how much you study, your head won’t get sick. You haven’t studied that much anyway.”
As she calmly stated the facts, Seo Do-gyeom clamped his mouth shut. Without even glancing at him, Baek I-hae continued.
“If studying makes you sick, I’ll consider reducing the sessions.”
Of course, the sturdy Seo Do-gyeom would never let that happen. Both Baek I-hae and Seo Do-gyeom knew that well.
He let out a resigned sigh and sat down. Then, he pulled over a chair for Baek I-hae to sit beside him.
“Was there anything difficult in the homework I gave you last time?”
“That’s a weird question. You should ask if there was anything easy.”
Baek I-hae was dumbfounded by his brazen reply. Still, it seemed he had diligently memorized the English vocabulary.
His clumsy handwriting filled the notebook page after page, with words written over and over.
‘At least memorization shows some potential. For English tests, just memorizing the textbook passages should get you an average score. Mock exams or the college entrance exam might be different, though.’
From Seo Do-gyeom’s perspective, even raising his internal grades would surprise everyone, including Seo I-heum.
The problem was math. She had expected difficulties since his foundation was so weak, but it was worse than imagined.
That’s why she’d brought Seo-yeol’s pristine middle school math textbook to teach him from the basics.
“It’s okay to get it wrong. No need to be ambitious from the start.”
Though Baek I-hae often played mischievous pranks and showed her naive side, she was remarkably mature when teaching.
Meanwhile, Seo Do-gyeom’s gaze drifted not to the problem but to Baek I-hae’s fingers gripping the mechanical pencil.
Unlike his own, her hands looked unusually small and delicate.
“But after getting it wrong, it’s important to figure out why. That’s what the wrong-answer notebook is for.”
As she checked his mistakes, her elegant handwriting flowed as she rewrote the problems and equations. It was quite a mature script.
His eyes moved from the handwriting to her fingertips, then finally to Baek I-hae’s face as she explained.
She was too focused to notice his stare.
“The wrong-answer notebook is about collecting the mistakes, rewriting them, and working through to the correct answer. The exact same problem might not appear on the test, but knowing the process will help with similar ones.”
Her moving lips were plump and tinged with red. They were the same as his own, yet they felt so different—he couldn’t understand why.
Maybe it was because he had no female family members, and seeing Baek I-hae always brought this unfamiliar sensation.
Why did the image of her smiling like her father, or her casually accepting skinship from Seo-yeol without resistance, bother him so much?
Why did he feel a sense of loss that she no longer clung to him or relied on him like before?
Even though, if anything, Baek I-hae looked far happier now than back then, Seo Do-gyeom didn’t like it.
“Seo Do-gyeom, are you listening?”
Baek I-hae’s eyes finally met his. Like her light brown hair, her pupils were brown too.
In bright light, they could make her look mixed-race, with her fair skin and overall light coloring. She was the complete opposite of the overall dark-toned Seo Do-gyeom.
“Yeah, I’m listening. The wrong-answer notebook is the process of finding the correct answer, right?”
“That’s right. Good that your ears are working, but could you direct your eyes to the book too? No matter how pretty I am, you can’t stare like that. I’ll wear out.”
Baek I-hae smiled coyly. She seemed aware that her appearance drew attention.
Seo Do-gyeom knew that too. Though he inwardly compared her to a small animal, he understood the standards of external beauty.
Baek I-hae was an adorable presence. Not strikingly beautiful, but someone you couldn’t look away from, who made you smile just by watching.
As Baek I-hae lowered her gaze back to the book, she suddenly looked up at him in surprise. Even then, Seo Do-gyeom’s expression remained unchanged.
“What?”
At his flat question, Baek I-hae made a strange face before shaking her head as if it were nothing.
Sometimes Baek I-hae showed these inexplicable reactions. She’d act like she knew everything, then pretend she knew nothing.
‘The process of finding the correct answer.’
If so, maybe making a wrong-answer notebook about Baek I-hae, not just this math problem, could help him figure something out.
Why did looking at her make him feel frustrated yet wistful, stirring these unfamiliar emotions for the first time.
Of course, just like the math problems before him, it would be a useless process for Seo Do-gyeom’s future. Unnecessary and irrelevant, like math he’d never use.
Baek I-hae was just the same. Merely satisfying a momentary curiosity.
“If you don’t understand even after seeing the explanation, tell me. I’ll explain it. …And stop with the weird thoughts.”
“……?”
Seo Do-gyeom tilted his head in confusion, but Baek I-hae said no more. She just pretended not to notice, lying on his bed and urging him to hurry up.
While she herself casually played a game on her phone.
Just as Baek I-hae thought, Seo Do-gyeom considered her a truly strange person.
What he didn’t know was the status window that had popped up in front of Baek I-hae moments ago.
[Baby Gangster, Seo Do-gyeom thinks of Baek I-hae as adorable for the first time.]
[It cannot determine if this feeling is romantic attraction or familial affection.]
[Baby Gangster, Seo Do-gyeom’s favorability has increased by 2.]
Baek I-hae sneaked a sidelong glance at Seo Do-gyeom as he calmly worked on his wrong-answer notebook.
She couldn’t focus on her phone game at all, but he didn’t notice.
Unbeknownst to themselves, the two were influencing each other, for better or worse.
“Ah, I died.”
Staring blankly at the screen, the words “Game Over” appeared on Baek I-hae’s phone.
Game over.
It was the phrase that usually popped up with a game character’s death.
……Whether this change in their relationship would lead to a happy ending or a game over, no one knew.
