The first day of the second semester passed quite hectically.
The opening ceremony was in the morning, and lunchtime was busy with signing documents like further education extension forms and event participation applications.
When I came to my senses, it was already after school.
Finishing the closing remarks, I came out of the classroom.
Starting today, I go to the student council room, not the counseling club.
‘She ended up picking me as vice president.’
Kim Noeul appointed me as vice president, just as everyone predicted.
Since the two of us always stuck together, other students could easily predict it too.
‘This means I have to be responsible for both counseling club and student council activities.’
Originally, Haneul High’s student council operated separately from autonomous clubs, so it couldn’t be helped.
Walking down the hallway, I heard students’ conversations.
Most were about the upcoming sports festival.
“What event are you signing up for?”
“Just whatever’s left.”
“We should yield the popular events to the athletic kids first.”
“That way our school gets more points.”
Many students were already strategically choosing events.
Hakdo’s sports festival is different from typical outside sports festivals.
All schools in Hakdo participate, divided into two teams (Red Team, Blue Team) to compete.
The scale was extraordinary.
Thanks to that, since games and schedules proceed simultaneously at various locations, shuttle buses also move busily during the sports festival.
Walking without stopping, the sign for the student council room came into view.
Kim Noeul must have already come here, having skipped some classes due to her duties as president.
Standing in front of the student council room door, I suddenly felt nervous.
I didn’t know what expression Kim Noeul would greet me with.
‘Just standing here won’t change anything.’
Hardening my expression, I opened the door.
Straight ahead, the window showing the view of the sports field came into sight.
On both sides of it, desks were arranged in an inverted U-shape.
In the very center, a nameplate reading ‘President’ was placed.
That seat was already occupied by Kim Noeul.
Perhaps because I opened the door so quietly, Kim Noeul, flipping through documents, didn’t glance my way.
As I subtly approached her side, she lifted her head.
“Oh, you’re here.”
She calmly gestured with her eyes towards the seat next to hers.
It meant I should sit in the vice president’s seat.
Sitting down without a word, Kim Noeul extended her arm and handed me a file of documents.
They were documents with titles like ‘Haneul High-Yushin High Joint Volunteer Work,’ ‘Rotary Environmental Beautification.’
“Documents started pouring in from the first day of the semester.”
“Help me sign them.”
“They need the vice president’s signature too.”
“Got it.”
Receiving the file from her, I took out a ballpoint pen from my uniform pocket.
I quickly scanned the documents and started signing.
There was quite a volume of documents; because Hakdo adopted student autonomy as its motto, the scope covered by the Haneul High student council was extremely wide.
‘We’re even taking on tasks that teachers would handle outside of Hakdo.’
I learned firsthand that excessive student autonomy also had clear disadvantages.
While signing continuously, I glanced at Kim Noeul.
She was brushing her side hair behind her ear and handwriting approval documents to submit to the administration office.
The image of her I worried about wasn’t visible.
I was worried about Kim Noeul’s mental state after experiencing the disaster named Alice at the end of the break, but she seemed surprisingly okay.
‘Could she possibly have shaken it all off in the meantime?’
That didn’t seem likely.
It was most plausible to see it as her trying her best not to show it outwardly.
“What are you staring at?”
Kim Noeul, her gaze still fixed on the documents, asked me.
I pondered how to answer.
‘Should I bring up Alice, or avoid it?’
After thinking deeply, I decided not to stir the hornet’s nest unnecessarily.
Kim Noeul would ask me when she wanted to hear about it herself.
Since I had suggested it that way initially.
If Kim Noeul was trying hard to compose herself, then I too should help her with that.
“…The sports festival is coming up.”
“I was thinking about which event to sign up for.”
I changed the subject.
Since the sports festival was also a good opportunity to keep Ojakgyo in check, it was a topic worth discussing between us.
“You’ll get good results no matter what you sign up for, right?”
“You’re worrying about strange things.”
Kim Noeul muttered as if she didn’t understand.
In her eyes, I would appear as ‘beyond male’, so she wasn’t wrong.
“Fighting and sports are different.”
“If possible, I thought an event requiring relatively less skill would be better.”
“Then long jump or running is better.”
“You run well.”
“I thought about running too.”
“So, have you decided?”
“I plan to participate in basketball for now.”
Come to think of it, her old profile picture was also of her playing basketball.
It would be the field Kim Noeul was most confident in.
“It’s fine to participate in the event you like, but your results need to be better than Ojakgyo’s.”
“We need to push them hard at this time.”
At my suggestion, Kim Noeul stopped her pen and gazed at me.
Her eyes, looking at me, trembled slightly.
“…You don’t trust me?”
“What?”
“You don’t trust me?”
Hearing Kim Noeul’s words, I felt inwardly urgent.
“Why say something like that again.”
“I was just bringing it to your attention.”
“…”
“…I told you before.”
“I act together with you because I trust you.”
“So don’t think strange things.”
Kim Noeul slowly lowered her head and started moving her pen again.
Observing her reaction, I came to a conclusion.
‘She’s indeed different from the first semester.’
She looked fine on the outside, but as inferred from the conversation just now, she was anxious.
She was indeed bothered by the crushing defeat experienced during the break.
After that conversation, we silently read through the documents.
Neither I nor Kim Noeul rashly opened our mouths.
When the uncomfortable silence had continued for about tens of minutes, the student council room door opened.
“Wow~.”
“It’s wider than the counseling club room~.”
Na Yuna, smiling brightly, entered the room.
She no longer hid her face with her bangs.
With her bangs swept aside by a hairpin, her appearance befitting a model was clearly revealed.
“Hope everyone stayed well.”
Following her, Han Doa also appeared.
Unlike Na Yuna, her image hadn’t changed drastically.
She still maintained her ponytail.
But her hair tie was ribbon-shaped.
Originally, it was a plain black band type.
“Both of your images have changed.”
As I noticed their changes, the two women blushed.
“M-me, I’m a model now, so…”
“…I am no longer a member of the disciplinary committee.”
The two women checked the nameplates placed on the desks and sat in their respective seats.
Na Yuna was treasurer, and Han Doa was secretary.
“Did you completely quit the disciplinary committee?”
Han Doa nodded at my question.
“Yes.”
“My successor took over the head position, and I officially became unaffiliated with any autonomous club.”
Han Doa, having received Kim Noeul’s recommendation for secretary, decided to finish the handover and participate only in student council activities.
Na Yuna was similar.
“By the way, I didn’t expect Yuna to take the treasurer position…”
Han Doa looked at Na Yuna with somewhat distrustful eyes.
Receiving that gaze, Na Yuna flared up.
“Why are you looking at me like that!”
“Yuna is suited for treasurer.”
“She handles programs well.”
Na Yuna puffed up her chest at Kim Noeul’s support.
Looking now, only Na Yuna’s seat had a built-in desktop computer installed.
“Doa, ask if you don’t know anything~.”
“These days, it’s an era of typing, not calligraphy brushes~.”
“…Ridiculous.”
“I’m not incompetent enough to need your help.”
Though Han Doa snorted, she was extremely computer illiterate.
She was generally ignorant about machines.
I pictured her future, sweating nervously and asking Na Yuna questions multiple times.
“Have you two decided on sports festival events?”
Tired of the uncomfortable silence with Kim Noeul, I spoke to the seniors first.
The first to answer was Han Doa.
“I’m thinking of participating in perhaps badminton or table tennis, and archery.”
“Hey, archery?”
“Because I’ve done it periodically.”
Na Yuna looked at Han Doa with eyes full of admiration.
Actually, even if it’s called archery, it’s not done with full-fledged equipment, but proceeds in a simplified manner.
If it were real archery, most students wouldn’t even hit the target properly.
“What about you, Yuna?”
“M-me….”
“I’ll just do whatever’s left after the athletic kids choose.”
“That’s advantageous for the school, right?”
“It would be nice to participate in at least one event you like.”
Hearing Han Doa’s words, Na Yuna made a thoughtful expression, then glanced sideways at me.
“Ah, ah~.”
“Come to think of it, there was the three-legged race~.”
“They say it’s done in male-female pairs~.”
The room fell silent at Na Yuna’s words.
Han Doa’s eyes widened, and Kim Noeul, who had been wearing an indifferent expression, also stopped her pen.
“But Noeul and Doa need to earn points, so they have to participate in events they’re good at, right~?”
“The kids around will expect that too~.”
“The three-legged race is usually participated in by the remaining kids~.”
As Na Yuna said, the three-legged race valued teamwork more than individual ability.
So, students with good athletic skills rarely signed up for it.
‘Besides, the point allocation is small, so it’s a loss if an athletic student participates.’
“S-so, what I’m saying is…”
“It would be nice… if Maru participated in the three-legged race with me… right…?”
“…Well, I don’t know.”
“Maru would be popular too, with other events wanting to recruit him.”
Kim Noeul interjected into the conversation.
Han Doa also nodded her head repeatedly, as if agreeing with Kim Noeul’s words.
“That’s right.”
“It’s ideal for junior Maru to participate in a high-point game too.”
“Huh?”
“W-wait a moment.”
As the situation flowed strangely, Na Yuna’s complexion turned pale.
She looked at me and opened her mouth.
“M-Maru?”
“Are you good at sports?”
“Besides fighting.”
“…Better than average.”
Since my physical abilities were superior to the men of this world, it wasn’t wrong.
Na Yuna silently turned on the computer with a dumbfounded face.
“I’ll start working now.”
“Okay.”
“Work hard.”
Han Doa smirked and patted her shoulder.
Finishing the sports festival talk, we focused on work, and afterwards returned to the dorms.
And the next day, the sports festival events were decided.
Class president Kim Noeul led from the podium, assigning events.
First, Kim Noeul was assigned to the relay race and basketball.
There were recommendations from the class students, and she herself preferred those.
And I….
‘Relay race and shot put…’
I chose events where my strengths could be maximized.
When I chose these, the class students also seemed convinced.
Because they must have heard rumors about me.
The relay race is mixed-gender, while shot put distinguishes between men and women.
Watching the back of Kim Noeul diligently writing events and student names on the blackboard, I was lost in thought.
The competition is the competition, but ultimately, I needed to use this opportunity to care for Kim Noeul’s mental state.
I promised Kim Ga-eul, and it was also to stand against Ojakgyo.
‘I need to stick close during the sports festival.’
While wondering if there was a good method, I recalled what Na Yuna said yesterday.
The three-legged race.
It was an event where participants maintained extremely close proximity from practice to the actual competition.
“Let’s decide up to here for today, and the rest can be submitted as applications to the administration office.”
Kim Noeul, having finished organizing on the blackboard, clapped her hands to dismiss the meeting.
Students scattered to enjoy their after-school time.
I waited until Kim Noeul finished tidying up, then approached her.
Kim Noeul looked puzzled seeing me.
“What’s up?”
“There’s no student council or counseling club work today.”
“Do we absolutely need work to meet?”
Kim Noeul’s eyes widened.
I can assert, this is almost the first time I’ve seen such an expression from her.
She usually makes advances, but she seemed flustered when I came on strongly in return.
“Wh-why are you suddenly acting like this.”
“Unlike yourself.”
“It’s nothing special.”
I thrust the three-legged race application form I had prepared beforehand into her face.
“Let’s do this together.”
“…Ueh?”
Kim Noeul made a strange sound and blushed.