The good and bad thing about time is the fact that no matter what happens, it will continue to flow. Well, I say that, but only 2 weeks have passed.
It was now the middle of September. The summer break atmosphere had completely disappeared from the school, and everyone was being squashed under the pressure of the upcoming midterm exams and the daily life of the new semester that progressed like how a treadmill spins. In other words, everyone was busy.
These general problems are destined to fizzle out as time passes. Emotions will flare up and minds will become cloudy.
As if they were sinking. They’ll gradually sink deeper.
Humans are adaptive creatures. Adjusting to situations and environments is the ability and instinct of humans. Human relationships are the same as well. They adapt to the situation, maintain a distance, create a territory, and establish a relationship.
There was currently a small-scale Cold War going on between me and Jaim. For her to still be upset even though 2 weeks had passed, she was more upset than I thought.
There are good and bad things about being busy as well. The bad thing is, naturally, the fact that you’re busy, but the good thing is the fact that you can at least put the things you don’t like behind you for the time being.
Focus on the task before me. Push aside all of the issues I don’t want to think about. This, that, everything.
I thought about this while taking out and checking all of the inventions I had made that were filling up the wall of the club room. Darn it, I should be concentrating on the issue before me, but I keep thinking about irrelevant things.
On a side note, there really is a lot. The number of sundries I’ve made until now.
My gaze followed the wall. To be exact, the shelves that were on the wall.
The ‘Creative Science’ club. A club that I made after borrowing a storage room which the school wasn’t using.
The brainwave-analyzing lie detector (AKA Cat Ears) that I used on Jaim when she first appeared, a radar that displays the color of every female undergarment within a radius which I somehow succeeded in making, a vermin-exterminating laser turret which I had sealed away a short while ago because the electricity bill was way too high, the nuclear-powered heater that Jaim told me to throw away somewhere, the alarm clock that will only turn off if you throw it which I lent to Upperclassman Nabom sometime in the past, etc etc. The shelves were seriously filled with useless things.
“······Would an exhibition be possible with things like these······?”
I could only let out a sigh.
At the beginning of this week, I was surprised by what I was told when I went to the teachers’ lounge after a long time had passed since I was last called.
“······Excuse me? What did you say?”
“I told you. It’s just as I said.”
In response to my question, my gorilla-like homeroom teacher went back to dealing with his documents as if he didn’t have anything more to say. For some reason, it feels like it’s been a long time since I last saw this person. No, more importantly.
“I wanted to confirm whether I didn’t hear wrong or not.”
“You didn’t hear anything wrong.”
He flipped a page and spoke nonchalantly.
“If you don’t do something like an exhibition or whatever during the upcoming festival, then the Creative Science Club will be disbanded.
“No, I’m asking you why.”
The teacher let out a sigh and turned his chair before speaking while facing me.
“Jaro, let’s be honest here. In the school’s position, is there a reason for us to continue providing a storage room as a club room for a club that does activities unknown to us and only has 2 members?”
“Does the school not belong to the students?”
“Seriously, you’re only good at talking back.”
The teacher bared his teeth while talking, which looked appropriate for his gorilla-like appearance.
Once the midterm exams are over at the end of this month, the school festival is going to follow shortly after. From the school’s perspective, they probably think that a festival would relieve the stress that the midterm had caused, but why do they not know that a festival honestly doesn’t relieve anyone’s stress. This is why higher-ups are a problem.
“Furthermore, you aren’t doing anything during the festival, right?”
Similar to every other high school festival in South Korea, our school festival wasn’t anything impressive either. Clubs that do extracurricular activities would either quickly prepare a sloppy exhibition, sell unimpressive food which they had prepared cheaply from somewhere, or something similar. Honestly, since this was an event that was close to being condescending, there weren’t a lot of people who looked forward to it.
“That’s right.”
“Then why all of a sudden······.”
“I also put a lot of effort into this in order to stop them.”
“Stop them? What did you stop?”
The teacher habitually tapped his pen against his desk as he spoke.
“I told you earlier. Our school has no reason to only give your club special treatment. Were the club members only you and Ha Nabom? We’re providing you with a club room even though it’s just you and that third-year girl.”
“You guys aren’t using that storage room anyway.”
“It’s school property.”
The teacher looked at me and bared his teeth.
“In any case, it seems that the other clubs have been complaining a lot because of that. As you know, there aren’t a lot of clubs for which we provide a club room.”
Of course. The room was actually closer to being a place meant to completely isolate me, so there’s no way that there wouldn’t have been any complaints. In truth, people came to complain directly to me quite a lot. Especially last year.
Nevertheless, I can’t just nod and accept it. I worked incredibly hard last year in order to create this hideout.
“A splendid person like myself must be treated appropriately! Do you think kids my age with 18 patents are common?”
The teacher gave me a curious look in response to my statement. What?
“You haven’t said something like this in a while. Something definitely happened, didn’t it?”
“······No, wait. What do you mean something definitely happened?”
There’s no way that Jaim would have gone around and told this gorilla as well. Or was it Saeyeon?
“Don’t underestimate your homeroom teacher. Do you know how many years I’ve been a teacher for?”
······It seems I need to learn how to make a poker face.
“At any rate, last year, it was like the school honestly took a step back in order to handle a problem student like you, but······.”
“What do you mean by a problem student?”
I’m a model student that doesn’t drink, smoke, or get into fights. The teacher bared his teeth once more and growled at me after I spoke. Is he actually a gorilla?
“Can you stop cutting your teacher off when they’re talking? Calm down and listen to me.”
I shrugged my shoulders, telling him with my body gesture to continue. It seems he didn’t particularly like that, but he continued anyway.
“You were seriously aggressive last year, weren’t you? You hated it when others approached you, and, well, it’s because of that that we worried you would cause an incident if we left you alone, so we showed you some consideration since you weren’t completely talentless or had bad grades. However, the majority opinion was that, since you started to live with that kid and started to go out with Saeyeon, you’ve gotten better, so it’s about time you graduated from that place, but······. I honestly agree with them as well.”
So Saeyeon and I appear like we’re dating. Sheesh, I’m getting embarrassed.
“But it seems like you have a special attachment to that place, and not just you, but there’s Nabom this year as well, so I stood my ground and tried to stop them.”
It seems he didn’t notice that I was awkwardly rubbing the back of my neck, as the teacher folded his arms and continued.
“Last year as well, you simply stayed in that room by yourself and didn’t do anything special in the end. The last festival went by like that as well. If you made something this year, then you can just put those stuff on display, so work with Nabom and try to at least open an exhibition for the festival or something. As long as you can prove that you’ve actually been doing things there.”
The teacher looked at me with a peculiar gaze before waving me off.
“If there’s something you want to protect, then do your best to protect it. You can leave now.”
“······.”
Rather than those being words that were said because he knew about my circumstances, he was probably saying that I should do my best if I have any sort of attachment to my club, but for some reason, his words stabbed into my heart.
Well, in any case, as a result of that.
I told Saeyeon to handle her studying for the midterm exams by herself this time and threw aside my research and other issues as well. I was now standing in the club room trying to pick out some inventions I made that I could sort of show off to the public.
I’m saying it again, but I think it’s a relief.
Since I don’t have to be next to Saeyeon and help her study for the midterm exams despite my hurricane of emotions, and I don’t have to constantly meet with Jaim, whom I’m currently in a Cold War with, while our relationship is currently strained.
“In any case, after putting them out like this, there really is a lot. Although they’re all close to being pieces of junk. Ow, my back.”
Also, I’m able to interact with this person like we used to.
The load Upperclassman Nabom placed on top of the table must have been heavy, as she placed her hand against her back and stretched. She was like a cat.
“You’re like an old lady.”
“······How could you treat someone like an old lady just because they’re a few years older than you? As expected of Underclassman Jin Jaro, your manners are terrible. It’s natural for your back to hurt when you carry heavy things. My center of gravity is also in front of me, so that makes it more difficult.”
Upperclassman Nabom looked at me a bit angrily with her arms folded. Her breasts protruded as they were placed above her folded arms. That must be quite the struggle. Upperclassman Nabom let out a sigh once she noticed my disregard and looked around the club room.
“Truly, I have no idea when you were able to create this much. Did you have that much free time, last year’s Underclassman Jin Jaro?”
“It isn’t only the stuff I made last year. I put everything I made during elementary school, middle school, and at home as a hobby, here in this club room.”
The floor and table were already filled with items. In actuality, this place is similar to being my personal storage room. Borrowing a warehouse is expensive, after all. I don’t have the money to do something like that since I’m a student. This is also one of the reasons why I made a club.
“So, what exactly is this?”
Something must have caught Upperclassman Nabom’s eyes as she picked up one of my inventions, so I answered her.
“A dishwasher.”
“······This is?”
She looked incredibly intrigued. Well, that’s a given. No matter how you look at it, it looks like a toy attached to a washboard, after all. I explained while glancing at another invention next to me.
“If you attach that to some tableware and activate it, then it’ll vibrate at super high speed and demolish any residue.”
“Oh? This seems more impressive than I expected. Although it’s a bit unfortunate that it can only take care of one piece of tableware at a time······.”
“But the drawback is the fact that the tableware can’t endure the vibration and end up shattering.”
Rather than shattering, they actually explode. It hurt when that happened. My hand was cut here and there. It was honestly dangerous. If I hadn’t been wearing my glasses, then I would have died instantly.
“······As expected of Underclassman Jin Jaro’s inventions, they don’t disappoint. They all always have a screw loose.”
That sigh would have normally annoyed me, but it actually felt relieving to me right now.
This may have been a type of roleplaying, but, at the very least, it comforted me.
Reactions come out before emotions. Commonly uttered words come out before you can carefully choose your words. It was genuinely as if nothing had happened.
I no longer talked to Upperclassman Nabom about things regarding Saeyeon and Jaim. She simply acts, with devotion, the role of a school senior who came to the past. Naturally, I also carry out my role faithfully as a weird junior who’s working with her in order to protect the club.
They say that the best way to bind the inside is an enemy on the outside. It may not particularly be an enemy, but at the very least, it was similar to a crisis.
This club room was the only place I could relax in, no, I don’t actually feel relaxed, but I don’t have anywhere else to go.
Her completely empty room or here. This lonely person from the future who has nowhere else to go other than this club room.
We may bicker, but I feel like we both want to protect this place.
Upperclassman Nabom let out a sigh and put the ‘Washing Vibrator’ back into its box.
“Wouldn’t it honestly be more interesting to do a comedy show than an exhibition for the festival?”
“You shouldn’t say something like that when you’ve constantly been either reading or bantering throughout the entire past semester, Miss Club Leader.”
She hasn’t even made a single thing. In response to my complaint, Upperclassman Nabom placed her hands on her hips and spoke. The English term for that pose was ‘akimbo’. She didn’t have a gun, though.
“So you’ve finally acknowledged me as the club leader. It seems Underclassman Jin Jaro has also finally submitted to my leadership and guidance.”
“If you have something like that, then try writing a petition against the closure of the club.”
“Are we both not a part of the outsider system, Underclassman Jin Jaro? If we’re with a riajuu, then we break out into hives and we’re unable to exert our strengths within those proper systems. If I had that sort of love and courage, then do you think I would be here in this dark club room with a piece of garbage like you, Underclassman Jin Jaro? Shame on you.”
“Rather than being annoyed by that incredibly annoying title you often call me, I’m more frustrated by the fact that I do everything in the end.”
“Oh dear, why are you acting as if you don’t know? Be it a chairperson, a boss, a club leader, a general, or a sergeant, etc etc, the role of these people who have superior jobs is to not work and make everyone below them do everything. The world is a pyramid.”
“······I shouldn’t have said anything.”
We continued to work while complaining, teasing, and joking around with each other.
I hid my emotions and laughed. At the very least, I wanted to spend this moment smiling. Similar to when I would come to the club room and exchange trivial jokes with Upperclassman Nabom and mess around. Before this became ‘roleplaying’.
Upperclassman Nabom spoke while knocking over the ‘Falling Roly Poly’.
“In any case, it’s a bit regrettable. This festival might be my last memory here.”
The corners of my mouth stiffened once I heard those words.
“······What do you mean?”
Upperclassman Nabom poked at the fallen roly poly once I asked that.
“I told you before. I have to return to the future after the festival.”
I could hear a slight regret in her voice. I put down the item I was doing a check-up on and asked.
“Why all of a sudden? Does that mean your job to observe us is over? Do you no longer have to take Jaim back to the future, or something like that?”
“It isn’t that major. It’s not the end of the observation mission either. It’s because I’ve been carrying out this mission for the past half-year without returning even once. That’s all.”
“Is it like a duty rotation? If you’re in contact with your target for too long, then you might get attached to them, is it something like that?”
Certainly, if time passes, then you could end up getting closer to your observation target. In truth, Jaim and Upperclassman Nabom may still quarrel, but they’ve become close enough to talk about more personal things.”
However, Upperclassman Nabom shook her head.
“There’s also that, but that isn’t the only reason.”
“If that isn’t the only reason, then what else is there?”
“Information contamination. Regardless of whether I’m an agent who was trained to be prepared for it, if you stay in the past for a long period of time, then it could occur.
Information contamination.
The fundamental reason why Upperclassman Nabom was dispatched here to keep an eye on Jaim.
People live while under the control of their memories of the past. Each and every memory and experience people have are what make them up as a person. Your childhood memories can influence your personality. Tiny opportunities determine a person’s dream and become the driving force to move towards it. Trivial events and experiences determine a person’s way of thinking and their values. If a person has a memory of getting their hand burned in a fire when they were a child, then their emotion and attitude will change whenever they see a fire even if they’re an adult.
So as these sort of memories and experiences influence us, we are, therefore, able to accept things even if they seem suspicious. Everyone probably has had a time where a vague memory they had was corrected by a third-party.
However, you’ll be face to face with your past if you travel back in time. If it turns out that it wasn’t a simple mistake but an entire event that was different, then you’ll be influenced by that accordingly. You could even have a breakdown.
I actually saw this happen before me, so I know how much influence these things have and how dangerous they are.
“Normally, the longest period of time a time agent is dispatched on a mission is 2 months, so there aren’t any special problems in those cases, but in my case, I’ve been dispatched for a long period of time, so I have to get a checkup. If there are no problems afterward, then I’ll be assigned to this mission again.”
Upperclassman Nabom smiled as if this weren’t anything special. As if she were teasing me.
“Why? Did you feel sad when you heard that I was leaving?”
“······Well, a bit, yeah.”
And in response to my instinctive remark, Upperclassman Nabom looked a bit surprised. Seeing this person waver is really rare.
Although Upperclassman Nabom seemed to hesitate for a moment, she smiled as if she were troubled.
“······It seems Underclassman Jin Jaro has also started to show interest in me. This is troubling. At this rate, you’ll forget about your wife and daughter and woefully search for me once I’ve disappeared while a sad song is playing in the background, and once I return, we can film our meeting as the ending.”
“That won’t happen, so stop dreaming.”
“A lot of people would like it.”
“I wouldn’t like it, so it won’t happen.”
“I see. So you’ve been confessing your feelings to Underclassman Ja Saeyeon like this lately, haven’t you? As expected of a bad boy. You’ve been somewhat like a cold, city scientist as of late.”
······Did she figure me out? This person is also sharp.
Upperclassman Nabom set up the roly poly and spoke.
“Well, that was a joke just now. I call it a check-up, but it won’t take long. Even if I go through procedures, get debriefed, get examined, and hand in some documents, it’ll take at least 2 to 3 days and, at most, 1 week. Normally.”
Still, Upperclassman Nabom added and knocked over the roly poly again.
“It’s my first time attending a festival as a high school student, so it’s also exciting.”
“Your first time? How about in the future?”
She may have abruptly flown here as a third-year high school student, but she should have gone to school in the future. Upperclassman Nabom shook her head in response to my question.
“Have you forgotten that I’m an agent at this age?”
“Ah······.”
I guess a person who’s at the age of being in their third year of high school wouldn’t be able to attend high school properly while doing agent work.
“I’m actually a little older than my current identity, though.”
“······You’re not a high school senior?”
“I’m 21 years old.”
······.
“Uh, what?”
What did this person say just now? Upperclassman Nabom blinked and looked at me as if she were asking me if there was a problem and spoke once more.
“I’m 21 years old. I’ll be 22 soon. So I’m, let’s see······. 3 years older than you, Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
“So you’re saying that you’re going around acting like a high school senior for your mission despite being 21 years old?”
“As you can see, I have quite the young face. I judged that being dispatched as a teacher with this face would be pushing it.”
“So, despite being 21 years old, you went around wearing a school uniform even though you’re the same age as university students and people who’ve just stepped foot into society, and took classes at a school and pretended to be a high school student?”
“Thus, that means I’m not a target of The Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse despite being a high school student.”
······I said that in order to tease her, but I didn’t expect her to smile so widely and give that sort of response.
“What’s the matter? Did you start seeing me in a different light now? Did your heart start racing once you realized that you were actually alone with a mature adult and her charm? You showed an interested response earlier, so is it confirmed with this?”
I simply decided to not say anything.
“It’s far too soon for you to try and tease me, Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
It seems Upperclassman Nabom was satisfied at the sight of me letting out a sigh, so she chuckled and turned her gaze towards the pieces of junk in the club room.
“In any case, people are saying that it’ll be an ordinary festival, but I’m looking forward to it. Moreover, I won’t be just looking around at things, but preparing a comedy show like this with you as well. It’s a relief that we’re doing this before I leave. I feel like I would be sad if I left and came back only to find out that the festival had already ended.”
After saying that, Upperclassman Nabom turned to me and smiled.
“So, at the very least, I would appreciate it if we interacted comfortably like this as if nothing had happened until the end of the festival.”
I couldn’t ask the question I had since earlier because of that smile on her face that looked as if she were pleading with me.
Why she said that this would be her last memory here even though she said she was going to come back.
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Everyone’s leisure vanished as the midterm approached. Well, this is natural since it’s the exams. There’s the fact that you’ll be nagged at by the teacher if you do badly, by your parents at home as well, and a rank will be established between you and your friends through your grades. The world is cruel.
That’s why there’s a weird anxiety flowing through the classroom even during the breaks. It’s only been a few days since they used to mess around a bunch during the breaks, but there are guys who even have their books open right now. Yeah, they have to do their best.
Of course, excluding me. Their gazes hurt. Sorry, I’m a bit smart.
To be honest, be it me or Upperclassman Nabom, we aren’t pressured by the midterm exams that much. In Upperclassman Nabom’s case, she herself said that she was a trained agent, so she probably doesn’t need to study. In my case, I’m at the point where I’m able to open university-level natural science and engineering textbooks and devise a theory for time machines in my spare time. If you consider this, then I might really be a genius.
“Jjaro, is there something I can help with?”
“······But where are you getting your confidence from?”
This may be something I already knew, but wanting Saeyeon to study by herself might have been greedy. I let out a small sigh.
I intended to use the break between classes to help Saeyeon with her studies for a moment, but the instant we sat across from each other, instead of studying, Saeyeon was more interested in our progress with the exhibition we were setting up for the festival and if there was something she could do to help.
“Uhm······. You?”
“I told you that you should study by yourself because I can’t help you this time. Get help from Jaim or Jihye.”
Well, I am happy that she said she got her confidence from me, but. No, whatever.
Jaim may still be an elementary school student, but she really is my daughter because, be it math or science, she knows enough to teach Saeyeon, and Jihye boasted that one of her functions as a robot maid was a home tutor function, so if Saeyeon asked these two, then she should be fine.
“But studying isn’t important right now.”
“What do you mean it isn’t? No, I don’t really think that studying is particularly important either, but you should at least put in the minimal effort. Your grades went up quite a lot this year, didn’t they?”
She’s still slightly below average, but that much is enough to be considered fantastic results. I said so before, but Saeyeon isn’t bright and she dislikes studying. No, I’m not saying that she’s dumb. At the very least, she went up from being at a middle school student level and was now at the level of a high school student who was bad at studying. This was all thanks to me.
“Still, I’m not going to go to university and I don’t plan to get employed either. I’m going to live as Jjaro’s wife, so I don’t need to study.”
It’s troubling even if you say that while grinning widely. It wasn’t the first time that Saeyeon had said something like this, but there were people around us clearing their throats and closing and opening their fists. Their reactions are way too easy to read all the time.
“No, even if you say that······.”
“So that’s how it is······.”
“Auu······.”
“You guys over there, I understand how toe-curling this is, but this is a serious conversation, so lower your voices. In any case, isn’t there something you want to be, Saeyeon?”
“Your wi······.”
“Besides that.”
Once Saeyeon tried to answer that question immediately without any hesitation, I stopped her.
“You should have something that you want to do as well, don’t you? For example, working like your mom does, or, since you have a field of flowers in your head, you could own a florist’s shop. You don’t want to do something like that?”
After I asked her that, Saeyeon thought for a moment, but, as I expected, she didn’t think for long. Saeyeon smiled as she shook her head.
“There isn’t. I’m satisfied with just being Jjaro’s wife.”
“······.”
“My dream is to be your wife, so I don’t need anything other than that.”
In the end, the people around us couldn’t endure any longer and started to hurt themselves. A guy banged his head against his desk, a fellow student started punching at an innocent wall, and curling their hands and feet wasn’t enough for another person as they curled their entire body, etc etc.
“······Jjaro?”
However, while that was happening, my face was the only thing that had stiffened for an instant.
Because, it sounded as if, she had never considered thinking that far.
Next year, Saeyeon and I will be in our third year. We’d have graduated around the end of the year after that. 2 years would have passed by that point. Saeyeon will die, after 2 years.
It felt as if she were saying that thinking that far was pointless.
“······Anything is fine, so try thinking about it from now on. And study in preparation for that. People say that a double-income family is a general trend lately.”
The others may not have noticed, but Saeyeon probably saw the emotion that had brushed past my face. Because I was right in front of her, within arms reach.
Saeyeon looked at my face calmly for a moment before smiling. It was different from her earlier smile, it was the smile of a child.
“Okay. I understand. If Jjaro likes a working wife, then I’ll be one.”
······Again, like this, she pretended as if I had successfully deceived her.
For the past 3 months, to be exact, after our first date, I also observed Saeyeon in my own way. I did this because, until that moment, I would always look at her from an outside perspective whenever I wondered about what was on her mind.
And occasionally, Saeyeon would see through me like this.
I thought that she was simply sharp until now, but she knows something. To be exact, I should say that she had noticed something.
And this fact honestly scared my current self immensely.
I’m not scared by the fact that she can see through me. I’m scared about what she could have seen by looking through me.
“Still, as I thought, there’s something more important than studying for this upcoming midterm.”
Saeyeon was smiling brightly, but she spoke as if she didn’t intend to give up.
“I heard that the club you and Big Sis Nabom are a part of is in danger. I also got permission from Mom. If one’s husband’s work is in danger, then you have to help him.”
······What is that old lady saying? What does she mean by work?
“That’s why, if there’s something I can do to help, then I want to do it.”
“It would help me if you studied on your own.”
This was the truth. I wasn’t only trying to distance Saeyeon from me.
“Saeyeon, think about it. I’m not saying this because I’m looking down on you, but you wouldn’t be able to help me pick out useful inventions to hold an exhibition with.”
They probably all look the same to Saeyeon who has no knowledge of science, technology, and engineering. It would just be fortunate if she didn’t break anything.
“You’re also not a member of the club, Saeyeon.”
I spoke with a smile so that I could console Saeyeon.
“Just try to make me not worry by doing your best to study for the upcoming midterm exams. Now then, I’ll at least help you study during these breaks. You told me before during the final exams, didn’t you? That you enjoyed studying with me.”
I’m saying this again, but I’m not refusing Saeyeon’s help because I want to distance myself from her. I’m simply making a stern decision.
“Now then, what subject do you struggle with the most? Do you have any questions?”
So by doing this, I was showing proof that I wasn’t distancing myself from her. Since Saeyeon enjoyed being with me since a long time ago. She’ll probably be satisfied if I help her study like this and show her that I’m concerned about her.
“······Hm?”
And I thought Saeyeon would understand as well, but······.
“······You’re a dummy, Jjaro.”
Saeyeon pouted even more in response to my words.
“Jin Jaro, are you actually an idiot······?”
“I thought he was gradually getting better, but did he rot because of the summer heat?”
“As time passes, I feel like he’s going back to how he used to be.”
“How could he not understand his wife’s feelings this much······?”
Our classmates let out a sigh.
“Wait, you chatting bunch over there, what are you saying I did wrong? Saeyeon’s grades are important, aren’t they? I’m paying attention to her properly.”
Without delay, jeers started coming at me from all over.
“Saeyeon is saying that she’ll give up on the midterms for the sake of helping her husband who’s in a crisis.”
“But you told her you didn’t need her help and that she shouldn’t bother since she isn’t a member of the club.”
“Learn to read the mood!”
Things started to fly at me as the jeers continued. Instead of desks and chairs being thrown like last time, they threw pieces of erasers and crumpled up balls of paper. I realized that the latter made me feel worse.
The instant Saeyeon raised her hand, the jeers and the throwing of random objects came to a stop. Before I could be surprised by the fact that Saeyeon had command over our class, Saeyeon spoke with a serious look on her face.
“Jjaro, I did say that I wouldn’t ask this, but you’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”
······So she’s going to ask this question in the end.
“I won’t get mad, so tell me honestly.”
Saeyeon stared at me calmly as if she were telling me that she really wasn’t going to get mad. As if she knew what I was going to say.
That’s why it made it even harder for me to answer her. It felt as if I were being punished.
There’s no way I could tell her. I couldn’t even tell her the reason why I was keeping my distance. My throat was only filled with things I wanted to say, but couldn’t.
The instant I was about to make up an excuse instead, Saeyeon nodded her head as if she understood.
“You did something weird with Big Sis Nabom while alone in the club room together, didn’t you?”
······.
“Uh, what?”
I seriously didn’t predict this development.
Saeyeon spoke with a sad face that looked as if she understood everything.
“It’s fine. I get everything, Jjaro. Naturally, Big Sis Nabom has a pretty face, a good body, nice hair, and you do enjoy messing around with her······.”
“No, what are you saying all of a sudden?”
“I decided to not get jealous and accepted Jihye as a ‘concubine’, and since I decided to be a good wife, I’ll forgive my husband’s cheating tendencies. So just tell me. I’ll do my best to understand······.”
The end of Saeyeon’s nose and the edges of her eyes started to become red as she started sniffing, so the crowd around us grew louder.
“As I thought, they had that sort of relationship······.”
“He’s entered the route of pandemonium······.”
“What’s so good about this guy that makes girls surround him so······.”
“I’ll see you in 4 weeks.”
“Blow up, riajuu.”
“Hey, you untaught masses over there, we’re having a serious conversation here, so go away. More importantly, Saeyeon what are you misunderstanding right now?”
Once I ignored the untaught masses who were going ‘Oh, it’s been a while since I heard that term. It feels a bit nostalgic hearing that again after such a long time.’ and asked Saeyeon that, Saeyeon sniffled once and spoke.
“It’s true, isn’t it? Just as Jaim had said, ever since the 2nd semester started, you started coming home late, you began hanging out with Big Sis Nabom after school until late in the evening, and you would spend time in a small room with her saying that you have to prepare for the festival. Moreover, even though I offered my help, you said you didn’t need it and disregarded me because I’m not a member of your club. You’re saying that because I would interfere with your time with Big Sis Nabom, right?”
“That’s······.”
I wanted to say something back, but after she laid down all the facts like this, even I felt as if my actions were suspicious, thus I couldn’t say anything.
Of course, she said that she wouldn’t be jealous and that she would get along with Upperclassman Nabom, but if you look at it the other way around, if Saeyeon hung out with Nanda until late in the evening every day and refused my help when the two of them had to do something, then what would I think?
“······All right.”
I let out a sigh and nodded.
“If you’re that doubtful, then you can help with our exhibition as well.”
If she’s going to go as far as to say that much.
Suffering by myself because I have to be with Saeyeon was several times better than Saeyeon suffering because of a misunderstanding. I couldn’t sit by idly and let things slide when she was harboring this sort of doubt.
“Really?”
I nodded in response to Saeyeon’s doubting gaze.
“Yeah. If I think about it, rather than Upperclassman Nabom and I selecting items to display for an exhibition, it would probably be better to get the opinion of a normal person like you, Saeyeon.”
Instead of being a place to reveal my scientific, engineering, and inventive outcomes, our exhibition for the festival was simply us getting permission to occupy a place. If that’s the case, then rather than looking for inventions that excel in the scientific and inventive fields, it might be better to choose items that seem more interesting and fun to normal people. Upperclassman Nabom and I don’t have that kind of viewpoint.
But I have to get her to promise me one thing.
“Nevertheless, I’m going to let you help, but I won’t allow you to give up on the midterm exams. I’ll help you with your studies whenever I’m free, so we’re going to get your grades higher than what you got on the finals during the last semester. Okay?”
Once I told her that while letting out a sigh, Saeyeon smiled brightly as if her sniffling just now had been a complete lie and nodded.
“Okay! I’ll do my best! I’ll be helpful! Ehehe······.”
It feels like it’s been a long time since I last heard Saeyeon do that ‘Eheheh’ laugh. A while back, I thought it sounded like a dumb person’s laugh, but now it made my body feel warm.
For a moment, I forgot that I was trying to distance myself from Saeyeon because of this sudden feeling. Saeyeon closed her eyes happily. If she were a cat, then she would have probably purred happily as well.
······And when I see that smile, I feel like I’ve been tricked.
Saeyeon has been gradually getting accustomed to training me.
“Can you guys stop applauding?”
Why do these guys like clapping so much?
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“Ehehe······.”
“······.”
Applause might be better.
It was after school. When I headed towards the club room while holding hands with Saeyeon, as we always do, the other students gave us weird looks as we passed by. I’ve become somewhat famous, so I thought they would stop caring, but they might have been giving us those looks because their mental states were more sensitive right now due to the approaching midterm exams.
Of course, I was the only one who minded the gazes. It’s been a long time since we last went to the club room together like this while holding hands, so Saeyeon must have been happy as she continued to smile.
Different from usual, Saeyeon was in the front and was dragging me along. I would normally be one step ahead of her, so this was a refreshing change of pace. I don’t get to see Saeyeon from behind that often.
Her long hair, which reached her waist, swayed side to side with each step she took and her skirt, which obeyed school regulations, fluttered. Her long, milk-colored legs which weren’t covered by anything because the weather was still hot, moved back and forth rhythmically. My eyes met with Saeyeon as she would occasionally turn back to smile at me. She beamed happily.
My emotions went cold as fast as they heated up. At first, it was difficult to endure this positive change, but I became more and more numb to it as time continued to pass. I felt as if even my smile was becoming natural. This feeling poured cold water over my mind once more. It bothered me that my thoughts had been going towards the negative side lately.
“······Hm?”
I was only staring at Saeyeon as we continued to walk, so I only now realized something.
“This isn’t the way to the club room.”
The club room was in an unused storage room at the back of the school. We were currently going in the complete opposite direction. Saeyeon grinned in response and spoke.
“There’s a place we have to go first.”
“A place?”
Before I could even voice my question properly, it seems we had arrived at our destination as Saeyeon let go of my hand for a moment and opened the door. Saeyeon spoke up before I could look around to see where we were.
“Jaim.”
“Ah.”
Jaim smiled and turned towards us when she heard Saeyeon’s voice, but she frowned slightly the instant she saw me. She purposely frowned in a way that I could see it. This made it very obvious that she had a bad personality.
“Oh my, you’re both here. Are you here to pick up Jaim?”
The old school nurse, who was playing with Jaim, smiled at me and Saeyeon. I bowed my head slightly.
“I’m sorry. Jaim has been troubling you, hasn’t she?”
“It’s all right. It feels like I’m playing with my granddaughter, so it’s fun.”
Ever since our Cold War started, Jaim would avoid being in the same classroom as me whenever she could. She would either avoid coming to school altogether or go to the infirmary and play with the school nurse like this. Although it seems the school nurse didn’t mind this that much.
“In any case, seeing as you’re able to say something like that now, Jaro, I see you’ve started to emit a fatherly atmosphere. That’s a good sign.”
I felt a bit embarrassed because her expression looked as if she were genuinely congratulating me and not trying to tease me at all.
“······Hmph.”
Albeit Jaim stuck her lips out and pouted in disapproval. Seriously, this girl has been acting like a complete child lately.
“J-Jaim? Say goodbye to the teacher and let’s go. We’re going to drop by the club room with Jjaro today.”
“Huh? Why are we going to Dad’s club room?”
“I’m going to help Jjaro. Let’s help him together, Jaim.”
Jaim glanced at me suspiciously in response to Saeyeon’s smiling words, but it’s the truth.
“Then, we’ll be excusing ourselves.”
“Have a safe trip.”
After saying our farewells to the school nurse, we actually headed towards the club room this time. A lot of the students must have already gone home, as we were able to walk through the hallways with more leisure.
The three of us walked through the hallway. We didn’t talk about anything special. We exited the school building and went around to the back of the school.
“······I’m still upset by the way.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I simply nodded my head in response to Jaim’s grumbling. Different from before, Saeyeon no longer said things like ‘Family members shouldn’t fight each other!’ or ‘Make up!’. She may have learned that even family members quarreled.
“······So, is your research going well?”
She’s asking that even though she said that she was still upset. I shook my head honestly and answered.
“No. There’s no way that it would be going well. This is honestly in the realm of science fiction, after all.”
Time machines is a topic that many renowned scholars ensured was absolutely impossible to achieve with modern science. If it were something that someone like me could easily assemble, then someone else would have invented it a long time ago.
“I’m doing this as a hobby anyway.”
There’s still time. It hurt because it felt like I was acting leisurely even though Saeyeon’s life is on the line, but I couldn’t be anxious about this. 2 years isn’t a short period of time. I have to calm myself like that.
“······I’m only saying this if you’re fine with it, Dad, but······.”
Once I said that, Jaim glanced at me several times as she spoke carefully.
“What if I help······.”
“Oh my. It’s been a long time since I last saw the whole family being in this much harmony.”
Before Jaim could even finish her sentence, our heads turned towards the sudden voice. With an impeccable timing, Upperclassman Nabom was standing in front of the club room.
“Ah, Big Sis Nabom! Long time no see!”
“Yes. Have you been doing well as well, Underclassman Ja Saeyeon?”
Saeyeon beamed happily while Upperclassman Nabom smiled as if nothing happened. As I expected, Saeyeon, she did this on purpose. The fact that I had been tricked made me smile bitterly, but it wasn’t an exceptionally bad feeling.
······But that poker face Upperclassman Nabom is doing may be a bit iffy.
Without even glancing at me, Upperclassman Nabom asked Saeyeon.
“So, what brings you here to the club room? The midterm exams are approaching, so you should be studying.”
Saeyeon answered while smiling brightly.
“It felt like Big Sis Nabom had been monopolizing Jjaro too much lately, so I’m here to keep watch.”
“Uh, hey?!”
That wasn’t a joke? I had completely lowered my guard, so Saeyeon’s straight ball made me panic. Despite my shout, Saeyeon continued to smile pleasantly.
“I see. How regrettable. Underclassman Jin Jaro and I had been spending a very intimate time together. We’ve been enjoying a physical relationship as well. Underclassman Jin Jaro had been comforting my lonesome heart, which had been by itself until now, with his skillful hands, but it seems that that will be coming to an end today.”
Without panicking even in the slightest due to Saeyeon’s words, Upperclassman Nabom casually passed it off with a joke. This girl likes saying physical relationship too much.
“So, why are you really here?”
“I’m actually here to help Jjaro with the exhibition. It’s the wife’s duty to help when her family is going through some hard times.”
Fortunately, it must have really been a joke as Saeyeon answered Upperclassman Nabom’s question honestly this time. A weird smile appeared on Upperclassman Nabom’s face as she turned towards me.
“You have a good wife, Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
“······Yeah.”
It was hard for me to say something, so I took out the key to the clubroom and answered like that. Although it feels like I’ve furtively acknowledged what she said, it’s fine. I could hear Saeyeon and Upperclassman Nabom talking behind me.
“Mom told me that I should leave my husband alone if he wants to spend time by himself, but it went on for too long. That’s why I’m here.”
“That will most likely make your marriage last longer. Nevertheless, since Underclassman Ja Saeyeon is here, it seems I have to be careful with how I play with Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
“Don’t do weird things to my dad. What kind of play have you been doing?”
“Hm······. Fire play?”
“You shouldn’t play with fire in the club room, Big Sis Nabom. Not only is it dangerous, but you’ll draw a map on your blanket at night.”
“That might be exciting depending on the person······.”
“Stop saying weird things to my mom!”
·····Hahaha. I laughed weakly as I opened the door.That’s right, the atmosphere is normally like this when everyone is together.
Should I say that it felt strangely nostalgic or warm? If this mood continues, or, at the very least, if I don’t have to think about other things as much as I don’t now, then it might have been a good idea to bring Saeyeon and Jaim here.
Click, the lock opened. Once Upperclassman Nabom heard that sound, she stopped joking around and approached my side before turning to face Saeyeon and Jaim.
“In any case, welcome. It’s a bit messy, though, since the pieces of junk created by Underclassman Jin Jaro are spread out everywhere.”
“Stop talking as if this were your house. And what’s so bad about my inventions?”
I grumbled as I turned to look at Saeyeon and Jaim who were following behind us before entering the club room with Upperclassman Nabom. Well, it is a bit messy. But it can’t be helped. There’s sort of a lot of stuff. Once I turned my head, I saw the light from outside seep into the club room. I had closed the curtains before I left last time. The many boxes stacked on top of each other on the floor, the girl on top of the desk, and several of my inventions entered my line of sight.
“······.”
Wait. There was definitely something strange squeezed in there.
I ended up freezing in place while entering the room with Upperclassman Nabom. I stopped at the entrance, so Saeyeon wound up bumping into my back since she was following behind me. I wasn’t concerned about the soft feeling of Saeyeon’s chest on my back and the hard feeling of her forehead.
“Ow······. Jjaro, why aren’t you going in?”
“······No, it’s just, wait a second.”
I turned my head slightly and looked at Upperclassman Nabom’s face first. She was the only person who would play this sort of prank, after all. However, Upperclassman Nabom’s face was completely stiff. As if she had witnessed something completely unexpected. This was my first time seeing her make this sort of expression.
“······.”
The side of her mouth was twitching, her half-opened eyes were filled with signs of shock. It looked like she was trying to react, but she didn’t know what sort of reaction she should give. I heard Jaim’s impatient voice behind me.
“If it’s dirty, then we’ll clean up for you, so move aside! Why are you just standing there?”
“Ah, wait!”
Before I could stop her, Jaim forced her way between me and Upperclassman Nabom who had both frozen in place. Saeyeon was also able to see into the room since we were naturally pushed aside. I ended up pushing against the light switch as I was pushed aside, so the lights turned on.
“······.”
“······.”
Saeyeon and Jaim froze as well.
The lights were on, so I could see things with more certainty now. I could clearly see the girl who was lying on top of the table as if she were asleep. How did she get in this club room when the door was locked?
She looked roughly like a middle school student. She was wearing energetic-looking casual clothes and a pair of running shoes on her feet which were hanging off the side of the desk. The sudden brightness must have bothered the girl who had a comfortable look on her face, as she rubbed her eyes and raised her body.
“Mmm······. What, is it already morning, Dad······?”
She stretched and let out a yawn in an incredibly relaxed manner. Her body should feel stiff if she slept on top of that table. No, I’m pointing out weird things because I wasn’t able to follow the situation.
Her slightly curled, light brown hair was tied into a ponytail. She looked as if she were still drunk with sleep, but her eyes looked large and her cheeks looked squishy. Her cheeks looked soft as well. Her body looked like that of a middle school student, but certain areas appeared as if they were developing well.
No, more importantly, the thing that’s holding her hair up, that’s definitely······.
“······Huh?”
She then noticed that we were standing at the entrance of the room and looking at her in silence.
Her drowsy eyes cleared up and her wriggling mouth opened in surprise. No, we’re the ones who should be surprised.
“······Jjaro?”
“H-Hiik······.”
Saeyeon’s voice was strangely calm. I involuntarily let out a small cry, but I was able to regain my senses thanks to that. I barely managed to squeeze out some words.”
“Uhm······, girl? How’d you end up······.”
“······It succeeded.”
However, right when I managed to squeeze out those words, I heard the girl’s surprised and ecstatic voice at the same time.
“It really, succeeded······!”
A look of happiness started to gradually spread throughout the surprised girl’s face. Her opened mouth turned into a bright smile and tears started to gather in the corners of her eyes.
“I said······.”
“It’s a success, Dad!”
Before I could even say anything, the girl embraced me tightly.
“Ack?!”
I’m not the only one who let out this short cry, but I was panicking the most right now. How am I supposed to react to this girl who had embraced me tightly and was rubbing her face against my chest? At most, I could only spread my arms out and take a step back. The soft sensation against my chest was troubling.
“Ahahaha! We actually succeeded! Wow, this is amazing!”
I felt the softness of her cheek through my thin, summer uniform. I could even feel the warmth caused by the friction of her action. Sniff sniff, she sniffed······. Wait a second?! W-What is she doing?
“As I thought, it’s the smell of Dad······. It’s really Dad······.”
“N-No, wait, kid······? Ack?!”
The instant I opened my mouth again, the girl grabbed my cheeks with her hand and started pulling on them while smiling. Her incredibly joyful smile was blinding.
“Ahahaha! Even your skin was good at this time! Is it because you’re still young?”
“······.”
My cheeks were red because this was the first time a cute girl had reacted like this towards me, but the cold glare I could feel on the back of my neck was also painful.
“Uhm, like······.”
“······So you’ve finally kidnapped and brainwashed a young girl.”
“I didn’t!”
I shouted that in response to Jaim’s ice-cold voice, but Jaim still had the coldest expression on her face. The look of someone who was staring at a person they didn’t even want to get involved with.
“Then how do you intend to explain this situation?”
“I don’t know······.”
“Aah!”
Can you let me finish my sentence?
The girl who had been pulling on my cheeks, taking off and putting my glasses back on me over and over again, and playing around however she pleased, exclaimed as she pointed at Jaim. Jaim, who had been glaring at me, was startled by that gesture and shrunk back a little.
“Ahahaha! Wow, this is cool! You’re so small! You really are a kid!”
“Wha······?!”
The word ‘kid’ must have set Jaim off as she was about to fly into a fit of rage, but the new girl had already crouched in front of Jaim after having released my cheeks. She then continued her assault, but on Jaim’s cheeks this time.
“Ubububu?!”
“Ahahahaha! This feels really good! They’re like rice cakes! If they’re like this, then it’s a given that Dad would pull on them! Wow, this is addicting······.”
“Ububuubuubububububu!”
······I think she was trying to say something along the lines of ‘What are you doing?!’.
“Ah, but you’re seriously adorable! So this is how I was like when I was young······. Wow······.”
She pulled on Jaim’s cheeks and fiddled with her front hair which was being held up by a clothespin, but in any case, it was Saeyeon’s turn to hesitantly call out to the girl who was enjoying Jaim to her fullest.
“Uhm, I don’t know who you are, but······.”
“Ah······.”
The instant she turned her head towards Saeyeon, the happiness on her face changed into that of surprise, delight, and worry. What a busybody.
“······Huh?”
Saeyeon tilted her head once she saw the girl’s reaction and the expression on her face as she froze in place while touching Jaim’s cheeks. The girl stood up slowly.
“······It really, succeeded······.”
Once she repeated the same words she said earlier, a single tear flowed down her cheek. Saeyeon began to panic.
“U-Uhm, is there a problem······?”
“⎯⎯⎯······.”
The girl ran into Saeyeon’s chest as Saeyeon hesitantly tried to comfort her. Different from the powerful embrace she gave me, she hugged Saeyeon carefully, but in a way that was overflowing with emotions.
“······I wanted to see you. I really, really wanted to see you······.”
“U-Uuh······.”
As expected, Saeyeon was flustered because she didn’t know how to respond. The girl’s tears slowly soaked into Saeyeon’s school uniform. The girl sobbed and spoke while burying her face into Saeyeon’s soft chest. A small, trembling voice resonated. The clothespin holding her hair shook furtively.
“I wanted to see you, Mom······!”
Everyone’s mouth simply fell agape once she said those words that I had expected.
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Shortly after, we all sat down once the crying stopped and everyone had calmed down.
“Ehem, hm. Then I’ll introduce myself properly.”
After wiping the corner of her still red eyes and nose, the girl smiled like she did previously and spoke after bowing her head slightly.
“Jin Jaim, 15 years old. I’ll be in your care☆”
“······.”
“······Huh? I was hoping for some applause or a warm welcome.”
Jaim scratched her cheek as if she were embarrassed······. I’m not sure what I should call her by. For now, Jaim No. 2 spoke while smiling brightly.
“I understand everyone is surprised, but I would like it if you all welcomed me warmly. Isn’t that so, Dad?”
“······That’s all well and good, but can you move away from me a bit right now?”
No matter which way you look at it, more than half of their cold reactions towards me was because of this girl’s actions.
I felt pressured by the three distinct gazes that were being directed towards me right now. It’s sort of surprising that Upperclassman Nabom was behaving like this as well.
Jaim No. 2 was holding onto my arm so tightly that she was practically hanging off of it. Even if I ignored the weight of her body as she literally leaned her entire body against me, the feeling against my arm was troubling. This was more blatant than when Saeyeon hugged me. Once I told her that, Jaim No. 2 smiled like a cat.
“What’s wrong? Is your heart racing because of the sight of your adorable daughter’s growth? Are you troubled if I’m like this and not still lacking any development?”
“······No. I’m not like that.”
Jaim shook her head as she glared at Jaim No. 2 with cold eyes. I felt like a Gestaltzerfall was going to occur (TL note: Gestaltzerfall). I felt like the inside of my head was going to get weird.
“Ahahaha, as I thought, you’re adorable~! I might even understand why Dad acted like that······. Ei.”
“Ubububu! Don’t pull my cheeks! Stop it!”
Self-proclaimed Jaim No. 2 laughed as she poked and pulled Jaim’s cheeks, while Jaim bared her teeth at Jaim No. 2 as she did that. This really is weird.
“Uhm······. Jaim, was it? 15 years old?”
Saeyeon must have still been trying to comprehend what was happening as she had been sitting there on the side absentmindedly. Saeyeon asked that cautiously. Jaim No. 2 stopped messing with Jaim and immediately turned her head the instant Saeyeon asked that.
“Yup, Mom! I’m Jaim!’
“But Jaim is right here, but Jaim also came here, so if Jaim is Jaim and Jaim is Jaim······ uh, then······. Uuuu······. Jjaaaro······.”
While spinning her fingers, Saeyeon’s eyes started to spin as well as she went back and forth between looking at Jaim and Jaim No. 2. It seems the processing ability of Saeyeon’s brain was starting to reach its limit.
“······Let’s put the situation together.”
Everyone turned their heads in response to Upperclassman Nabom’s composed voice.
Upperclassman Nabom, who hadn’t said anything since earlier, continued calmly.
“You, you’re saying that you’re truly the 15-year-old version of Miss Jin Jaim, correct?”
“Yup, that’s right. The fact that you’re here means that this is before the festival.”
Now that I think about it, Jaim No. 2 didn’t react to Upperclassman Nabom that much. Upperclassman Nabom’s face became a little stiff once Jaim No. 2 said that.
“Then can you prove that you’re the 15-year-old version of Miss Jin Jaim?”
“You’re always so composed, Big Sis······. Well, whatever.”
Jaim No. 2 let out a small sigh and beamed widely.
“All right, then how should I prove myself? Do you want to take a strand of my hair again? Or maybe, mm······. Should I recite everything that happened during this time period? Or is there another better method?”
Upperclassman Nabom reacted slightly to Jaim No. 2’s strangely teasing tone and grinning face. This person has been acting weird today.
“Wait a moment, Upperclassman Nabom. Let me ask the questions.”
“Upperclassman Nabom?”
For some reason, Jaim No. 2 tilted her head at the way I referred to Upperclassman Nabom. Upperclassman Nabom’s face also stiffened a bit more. Jaim No. 2 stared at Upperclassman Nabom’s face for a moment before grinning.
“Aha, so that’s how it is. I’m sorry for not noticing sooner. Still, you also have your fair share of trouble, Big Sis~.”
“······.”
Upperclassman Nabom seemed like she wanted to say something, but she just closed her mouth instead. I feel like, with this, I could understand what Saeyeon and Jaim have been feeling a bit. Even though it feels like there’s something you should know, you don’t know what it is. It’s not a good feeling.
“Don’t make that sort of face, Dad. So, what do you want to ask? I’ll answer any question you have, Dad. Ah, but not my three sizes! I don’t like a dad who would ask their daughter that question.”
I’m not interested in something like that. More importantly, stop sticking so close to me. It’s hard to maintain my composure when you’re hanging on to my arm, rubbing your face against my shoulder, tickling my side, and sniffing me. Did this girl eat something strange?
“For starters, can you explain how you came here?”
“As expected of Dad. That’s what you’re interested in first, huh?”
Jaim No. 2’s wide grin gave me a strange feeling.
“All right, but you can’t be surprised, okay? Dad, Mom, and Jaim as well. Ahaha, it feels weird calling myself Jaim······.”
Her pre-exposition is way too long. Jaim No. 2 stuck her tongue out and winked at me when I gave her a blank stare. That makes her look cute. Jaim No. 2 eventually cleared her throat and put a serious face on.
“All right. I’ll get straight to the point.”
After taking a deep breath, Jaim No. 2 spoke.
“I came here on the time machine Dad invented. If you look at it historically, I’m the very first person to travel through time.”
“······.”
I was surprised.
I thought this might have been it, but I wasn’t certain.
It seems farfetched, doesn’t it? That I would actually make a time machine······.
“······No way.”
Jaim stole the words right out of my mouth. My mouth was hanging agape. Normally, I would have pulled on her cheeks and say that she’s underestimating me too much, but I honestly thought that it was impossible as well.
“But it’s the truth, you know?”
Jaim No. 2 grinned widely and spoke as if she enjoyed our reactions.
“Dad and I combined our strengths and created a time machine. I traveled in time like this in order to test it.”
I involuntarily turned to look at Upperclassman Nabom. Upperclassman Nabom avoided my gaze. That reaction meant that she knew.
Then, don’t tell me, did I really······?
“Well, there’s still a lot of things we have to fix.”
Jaim No. 2 muttered that as she scratched her head. A lot of things to fix? Jaim No. 2 smiled slightly at my gaze.
“I told you this was a test. I wasn’t originally supposed to be sent back this far. The plan was to send me back by an hour, but I wonder what the problem was. Were the adjustments still incomplete······?”
“······Wait, then you’re telling me that you traveled on an incomplete model?”
“Rather than ‘traveled on’, it’s closer to ‘used’, but yeah, it’s something like that.”
Jaim No. 2 chuckled but this didn’t put me into a laughing mood.
“This isn’t something you should laugh about! The margin of error is way too big!”
If she’s 15 years old right now, then that’s 5 years into the future. I don’t know anything about time machines, but if she traveled back in time by 5 years even though the original intent was to go back by one hour, then this isn’t a mistake you can just laugh off.
“It couldn’t be helped. It was the first time we tried it.”
“If it’s your first time using it, then you should have used a different test subject! What would you have done if something went wrong?! No, did the future me not even try to stop you?”
Jaim No. 2 stuck her lips out slightly and acted as if this weren’t a big issue, but if there was some sort of error, then who knows what could have happened. Literally. Just what were they thinking······.
“Hmm, are you worrying about me?”
However, Jaim No. 2 smiled when she saw me get upset. A smile that was mixed with joy and also looked as if she were teasing me. Jaim No. 2 put more strength into her grip on my arm as she smiled like that.
“Still, it couldn’t be helped. It became a test where only I could use it.”
I stared at Jaim No. 2 when she said that, but she simply chuckled.
“······Well, putting that aside.”
Jaim folded her arms as she continued to stare at Jaim No. 2 with an uncomfortable look.
“So, why are you hanging on to him that much?”
“Who knows? I wonder why? Don’t you have a rough grasp as to why?”
“Uugh······.”
Jaim No. 2 smiled leisurely while Jaim made a face that looked as if she had received a blow. As I expected, I feel like my head is going to go weird if I watch the two of them converse. Saeyeon hasn’t been able to say anything since earlier because she was still perplexed.
“······So, why are you hanging on to me like this?”
Once I let out a sigh and asked that, Jaim No. 2 grinned broadly.
“Because I like you, Dad? Obviously. It’s perfectly natural for me to hang on to you, isn’t it?”
“······Who are you?”
“Hm?”
I tried to furtively free my arm, but I couldn’t because she was holding onto me. I instead leaned my body away from her as far as possible.
“No······. My Jaim isn’t like this······.”
“Ahaha, should I say that I knew you would react like this?”
“Shut it, you fake! There’s no way that Jaim would say something like that!”
This was sending chills down my spine. I got goosebumps just imagining Jaim saying something like ‘Because I like you, Dad’ or ‘It’s perfectly natural for me to hang on to you, isn’t it?’. Just a few days ago, that girl asked Jihye to separate her laundry from mine because she didn’t want them to be cleaned together.
“······Hmph.”
For some reason, Jaim pouted in response to my words. What’s up with her? Jaim No. 2 nodded her head as if she understood.
“Well, I understand that you’d react like this right now, but your relationship gets better later on. Dad is really good to me in the future.”
“······.”
Her words honestly didn’t sound that convincing, but Jaim No. 2 had a sly look on her face so I didn’t say anything more.
“So, what do you intend to do?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Jaim No. 2 blinked in response to my question.
“You came here by mistake, didn’t you? Do you have a way back?”
I’m not sure how she got here, but she didn’t come here because another problem had occurred. She also said our relationship in the future is good. If that’s the case, then it would probably be a good idea to send her back. As long as there’s no issue with the time machine. Jaim No. 2 smiled and nodded.
“Ah, yeah. I obviously do! Well, I’ll probably have to make a few adjustments first, but that shouldn’t take too long. The way back is simple.”
“Is that so?”
Once she gave us that answer, Jaim and Upperclassman Nabom let out a sigh of relief. However, Saeyeon looked a bit sad.
“I see······, so big Jaim is going back.”
Saeyeon smiled slightly and nodded her head.
“Yeah, future Jjaro and future me must be worried. Still, Jaim is also cute, but I wanted to play with big Jaim as well. It’s a bit regrettable.”
“Hm? I’m not going back right now, though?”
Jaim No. 2 blinked her eyes as if Saeyeon had said something weird.
“······What?”
“There’s no reason for me to go out of my way to go back now, right?”
Jaim No. 2 grinned while poking at my cheek with her finger.
“I was able to meet young dad, mom, and me when I was a cute, little girl! Ah, I’m still cute right now, though.”
It’s uncomfortable, so stop blinking your eyes like that as you talk. I mean, yeah, she’s cute. Wait, this makes me seem like a dullard or a doting father.
“I can go back whenever I want, so I want to play here for a bit······, but is that no good?”
“Uu, uuh······.”
This isn’t good. I’m becoming weak because she said that line while looking up at me with shining eyes. No. I have to be strong here. That’s right. Nevertheless, all things considered, I don’t think there’s actually a good reason to send her back. She hugged my arm between her chest more tightly. Her eyes sparkled.
“Daaad~ please? Can’t I stick around for a bit? Huh? It’s okay, right?”
“N······!”
Jaim slammed her hands against the table and stood up.
“You can’t.”
Upperclassman Nabom answered sternly before Jaim could even finish saying that single word.
“What, why are you against it, Big Sis?!”
Jaim No. 2 finally released my arm and pouted. Upperclassman Nabom spoke with a serious look.
“As a time agent working for the Time Bureau, I cannot possibly allow an unauthorized person from the future to arbitrarily stay in the past.”
“Then what about Jaim?! Ah, not me, but the other Jaim.”
“In Miss Jaim’s case, it’s okay since I’ve been assigned to her as an observer.”
“That’s not fair! Yeah, when I came here, the Time Bureau didn’t exist yet! Time machines were only just invented, after all! That’s why there’s no reason for me to listen to you.”
“The context doesn’t matter.”
“That’s unfair······! I’m even overlooking Big Sis’ situation!”
“That’s a separate matter. What isn’t allowed, isn’t allowed.”
Upperclassman Nabom gave her a literal stern refusal. Jaim No. 2 puffed her cheeks out and glared at Upperclassman Nabom with eyes that were filled with discontent, but Upperclassman Nabom didn’t avoid her gaze and glared back at her with half-closed, killing intent-filled eyes. For her to not be intimidated by that gaze, she sure has grown. I still get intimidated by that.
“Uhm······. Can I say something?”
While they were doing that, Saeyeon raised her hand carefully as if she were hesitantly asking a question in class. Upperclassman Nabom erased the killing intent in her eyes and turned towards Saeyeon with a slight smile.
“Yes, what is it, Underclassman Ja Saeyeon?”
“Just now, you said that you were from the Time Bureau or something, didn’t you? Does that mean Big Sis Nabom is also from the future?”
“······.”
Upperclassman Nabom’s smile froze completely.
“What, you still haven’t told her?”
Upperclassman Nabom’s expression contorted incredibly for an instant because of Jaim No. 2’s teasing remark, but she quickly returned to normal once Saeyeon spoke again.
“Is it like that?”
“······It seems I messed up.”
Upperclassman Nabom let out a deep sigh. Different from the joking mood she gave off when her identity was revealed to me for the first time, it seems like she was sincerely reproaching herself this time for her mistake. Upperclassman Nabom smiled bitterly as if it couldn’t be helped now and nodded her head.
“I apologize for hiding it until now. Let me introduce myself formally. My name is Ha Nabom, a time agent dispatched by the Time Bureau to keep an eye on Miss Jin Jaim.”
“I knew it······.”
······So she did know. I feel like my face stiffened a bit.
The muttering Saeyeon must have not looked at me as she smiled and continued.
“Ah, sorry. I thought that that might have been the case. I’m not upset or anything, so don’t worry. Ehehe······.”
“Thank you for understanding. Now then, let’s get back to the main topic.”
Upperclassman Nabom cleared her throat before turning to look at Jaim No. 2 again and spoke in a stern voice that was completely different from the warm way she spoke to Saeyeon.
“Regardless of your reason, as long as you’re within the jurisdiction of my observation, I can’t overlook illegal time traveling. Observation and management is my job, after all. If you can go back, then vacate this time period immediately. If you don’t, then I’ll do it by force.”
“You lack flexibility. Frugal! Miser!”
“No, those insults are completely unrelated to this······.”
While I was muttering that to Jaim No. 2 who was complaining to Upperclassman Nabom and sticking her tongue out at her, Saeyeon smiled gently.
“Jaim?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
The two Jaims turned their heads. Saeyeon laughed awkwardly as she panicked a bit.
“Ah, I mean the bigger Jaim.”
“What’s wrong, Mom?”
Once Jaim No. 2 answered back while blinking, Saeyeon smiled widely and spoke calmly.
“I want to play with bigger Jaim as well, but you said so earlier, didn’t you? That you came here by accident. If that’s the case, then wouldn’t Jjaro and I be worrying about you in the future right now? Big Sis Nabom seems to also be troubled as well.”
“······Mom.”
Even though she had been beaming until now, a look of sorrow brushed past Jaim No. 2’s face for a brief moment when she saw the expression on Saeyeon’s face. That’s right. She said she was from 5 years into the future.
As I thought, 5 years from now, Saeyeon had already······.
Saeyeon, who didn’t know about this, spoke thoughtfully like a genuine mother.
“I don’t know much about time machines, but Jjaro would also definitely be worried if you didn’t come back.”
“······Yeah. Dad is probably worried about me.”
There was a momentary glint in Jaim No. 2’s eyes, but she smiled again after wiping the corner of her eyes with her sleeve. She smiled innocently and brightly.
“It’s a bit regrettable, but since Mom is telling me to as well, I’ll go back. I just have to make some small adjustments, after all. Wait a second.”
Jaim No. 2 took out a terminal that looked like a cell phone from her pocket as she said that. It looked similar to the thing Upperclassman Nabom carried around. I’m not sure what principle they ran on, but they seem to be a device you use to make adjustments to time machines. Honestly, I want to snatch it away and disassemble it, but I stopped myself.
“Now then, I’m done with the adjustments······.”
A brief moment passed and Jaim No. 2 nodded her head.
“I’ll be going then, Mom. I’m going to grow up to be this healthy and adorable, so don’t worry and keep doting on Jaim more.”
It was as if she were saying her final goodbyes. Jaim No. 2 grinned as she faced Saeyeon. The unknowing Saeyeon simply smiled back.
“Mhm. Jaim and I get along well.”
“I’ll definitely come back again.”
Yeah. If I completed the time machine, then it’s probably for that reason.
“And Jaim······. It feels a bit weird saying this to myself.”
Jaim let out an audible ‘hmph’ and folded her arms in reaction to Jaim No. 2’s words which she had said while scratching the back of her head. These two really don’t get along. Even though they’re the same person.
“Well, in any case, do your best. You and Dad get along really well later, after all. Don’t hate him too much. Tell Dad that you honestly like him.”
“Shut up, you completely weird woman.”
“Ahaha, I haven’t heard that in a long time. How nostalgic······.”
While chuckling as if it were truly nostalgic, Jaim No. 2 turned to face Upperclassman Nabom.
“Now then, weird woman, it’s been a while since we last met, but it was nice seeing you again.”
“······.”
Upperclassman Nabom didn’t say anything in response to the grinning Jaim No. 2’s remark. Upperclassman Nabom’s response must have been amusing to Jaim No. 2, as she laughed again.
“Ahaha, you don’t have to worry. Ah, but this means that Jihye is here as well, so it’s a bit unfortunate that I won’t be able to see her······. You’d probably refuse if I asked if I could see her, right?”
“Yes.”
“Big Sis Nabom, can’t you let her at least say hello before leaving?”
“I understand both Underclassman Ja Saeyeon and the bigger Miss Jaim’s feelings, but this is my job. She’ll meet her when she goes back to the future anyway, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Mmm······. You’re right, but······.”
Saeyeon seemed to be more disappointed about this than Jaim No. 2.
“Then I guess I should end it by saying my farewell to Dad.”
Jaim No. 2, who had been looking at Saeyeon affectionately, turned towards me and smiled. That smile bothered me for some reason.
“You aren’t going to do something weird again, right?”
“You’re talking as if I’ve been doing some strange until now······. What’s so weird about a daughter holding on to her Dad’s arm because she likes him?”
“That’s the weird part.”
Jaim No. 2 puffed her cheeks out cutely in discontent. For Jaim to grow up like this, it’s really hard to believe.
“Seriously, you aren’t honest······. Well, I’ll stop if you don’t like it.”
Jaim No. 2 giggled despite my brusque words before putting a more serious look on her face.
“Like this, the time machine you made actually works, Dad. There’s still a lot of parts we have to fix, but it isn’t impossible, so do your best as well, Dad.”
“······Yeah.”
The time machine I made. It needs some fine tuning, but it works. So it isn’t impossible, huh?
But, if it’s 5 years later, then that’s too late······.
“Ah jeez, don’t look so sad just because your cute daughter is going back home. If you’re that upset, then be nicer to the younger Jaim.”
Jaim No. 2 directed those words towards me and approached me slightly.
Along with an audible ‘chu’, I felt a warm sensation on my cheek.
“Ah?!”
Jaim let out a small cry. I was also surprised. I feel like something like this happened a long time ago as well, but······. I looked at Jaim No. 2 while rubbing my cheek and she stuck her tongue out at me as she let out a chuckle.
“Ehehe.”
“Y-You······!”
“Oh boy, it seems little Jaim is jealous, so I’ll be taking my leave now.”
While looking at Jaim whose face was red as she pointed at her in accusation, Jaim No. 2 pressed a button on her terminal. A mechanical whirring sound started to resonate as if something had activated and Jaim No. 2 turned to face us as she waved her hand.
“Then I’ll be going now!”
Jaim No. 2 then fell on top of the table.
“Ow!”
“······.”
“Owow······. Huh?”
Jaim No. 2 groaned as she rubbed her butt which had collided against the table. She looked around at us who were blankly staring at her in surprise.
“Why is everyone here?”
“······You didn’t go anywhere.”
She disappeared from where she was standing, but she immediately popped up above the table and fell. It felt like we were watching some magic show.
“Uh, did I make a mistake?”
Jaim No. 2 fiddled with her terminal again while tilting her head.
This time, there was no response.
“······Huh?”
Click, click. Clickclickclick. Now she was just shaking and pounding on the device.
“······.”
Don’t tell me······?
“Ahaha······.”
In response to our bewildered gazes, Jaim No. 2 gave a perplexed laugh as she spoke.
“······It seems like, it broke······?”
I knew it.
I simply covered my face with my hands.
The good and bad thing about time is the fact that no matter what happens, it will continue to flow. Well, I say that, but only 2 weeks have passed.
It was now the middle of September. The summer break atmosphere had completely disappeared from the school, and everyone was being squashed under the pressure of the upcoming midterm exams and the daily life of the new semester that progressed like how a treadmill spins. In other words, everyone was busy.
These general problems are destined to fizzle out as time passes. Emotions will flare up and minds will become cloudy.
As if they were sinking. They’ll gradually sink deeper.
Humans are adaptive creatures. Adjusting to situations and environments is the ability and instinct of humans. Human relationships are the same as well. They adapt to the situation, maintain a distance, create a territory, and establish a relationship.
There was currently a small-scale Cold War going on between me and Jaim. For her to still be upset even though 2 weeks had passed, she was more upset than I thought.
There are good and bad things about being busy as well. The bad thing is, naturally, the fact that you’re busy, but the good thing is the fact that you can at least put the things you don’t like behind you for the time being.
Focus on the task before me. Push aside all of the issues I don’t want to think about. This, that, everything.
I thought about this while taking out and checking all of the inventions I had made that were filling up the wall of the club room. Darn it, I should be concentrating on the issue before me, but I keep thinking about irrelevant things.
On a side note, there really is a lot. The number of sundries I’ve made until now.
My gaze followed the wall. To be exact, the shelves that were on the wall.
The ‘Creative Science’ club. A club that I made after borrowing a storage room which the school wasn’t using.
The brainwave-analyzing lie detector (AKA Cat Ears) that I used on Jaim when she first appeared, a radar that displays the color of every female undergarment within a radius which I somehow succeeded in making, a vermin-exterminating laser turret which I had sealed away a short while ago because the electricity bill was way too high, the nuclear-powered heater that Jaim told me to throw away somewhere, the alarm clock that will only turn off if you throw it which I lent to Upperclassman Nabom sometime in the past, etc etc. The shelves were seriously filled with useless things.
“······Would an exhibition be possible with things like these······?”
I could only let out a sigh.
At the beginning of this week, I was surprised by what I was told when I went to the teachers’ lounge after a long time had passed since I was last called.
“······Excuse me? What did you say?”
“I told you. It’s just as I said.”
In response to my question, my gorilla-like homeroom teacher went back to dealing with his documents as if he didn’t have anything more to say. For some reason, it feels like it’s been a long time since I last saw this person. No, more importantly.
“I wanted to confirm whether I didn’t hear wrong or not.”
“You didn’t hear anything wrong.”
He flipped a page and spoke nonchalantly.
“If you don’t do something like an exhibition or whatever during the upcoming festival, then the Creative Science Club will be disbanded.
“No, I’m asking you why.”
The teacher let out a sigh and turned his chair before speaking while facing me.
“Jaro, let’s be honest here. In the school’s position, is there a reason for us to continue providing a storage room as a club room for a club that does activities unknown to us and only has 2 members?”
“Does the school not belong to the students?”
“Seriously, you’re only good at talking back.”
The teacher bared his teeth while talking, which looked appropriate for his gorilla-like appearance.
Once the midterm exams are over at the end of this month, the school festival is going to follow shortly after. From the school’s perspective, they probably think that a festival would relieve the stress that the midterm had caused, but why do they not know that a festival honestly doesn’t relieve anyone’s stress. This is why higher-ups are a problem.
“Furthermore, you aren’t doing anything during the festival, right?”
Similar to every other high school festival in South Korea, our school festival wasn’t anything impressive either. Clubs that do extracurricular activities would either quickly prepare a sloppy exhibition, sell unimpressive food which they had prepared cheaply from somewhere, or something similar. Honestly, since this was an event that was close to being condescending, there weren’t a lot of people who looked forward to it.
“That’s right.”
“Then why all of a sudden······.”
“I also put a lot of effort into this in order to stop them.”
“Stop them? What did you stop?”
The teacher habitually tapped his pen against his desk as he spoke.
“I told you earlier. Our school has no reason to only give your club special treatment. Were the club members only you and Ha Nabom? We’re providing you with a club room even though it’s just you and that third-year girl.”
“You guys aren’t using that storage room anyway.”
“It’s school property.”
The teacher looked at me and bared his teeth.
“In any case, it seems that the other clubs have been complaining a lot because of that. As you know, there aren’t a lot of clubs for which we provide a club room.”
Of course. The room was actually closer to being a place meant to completely isolate me, so there’s no way that there wouldn’t have been any complaints. In truth, people came to complain directly to me quite a lot. Especially last year.
Nevertheless, I can’t just nod and accept it. I worked incredibly hard last year in order to create this hideout.
“A splendid person like myself must be treated appropriately! Do you think kids my age with 18 patents are common?”
The teacher gave me a curious look in response to my statement. What?
“You haven’t said something like this in a while. Something definitely happened, didn’t it?”
“······No, wait. What do you mean something definitely happened?”
There’s no way that Jaim would have gone around and told this gorilla as well. Or was it Saeyeon?
“Don’t underestimate your homeroom teacher. Do you know how many years I’ve been a teacher for?”
······It seems I need to learn how to make a poker face.
“At any rate, last year, it was like the school honestly took a step back in order to handle a problem student like you, but······.”
“What do you mean by a problem student?”
I’m a model student that doesn’t drink, smoke, or get into fights. The teacher bared his teeth once more and growled at me after I spoke. Is he actually a gorilla?
“Can you stop cutting your teacher off when they’re talking? Calm down and listen to me.”
I shrugged my shoulders, telling him with my body gesture to continue. It seems he didn’t particularly like that, but he continued anyway.
“You were seriously aggressive last year, weren’t you? You hated it when others approached you, and, well, it’s because of that that we worried you would cause an incident if we left you alone, so we showed you some consideration since you weren’t completely talentless or had bad grades. However, the majority opinion was that, since you started to live with that kid and started to go out with Saeyeon, you’ve gotten better, so it’s about time you graduated from that place, but······. I honestly agree with them as well.”
So Saeyeon and I appear like we’re dating. Sheesh, I’m getting embarrassed.
“But it seems like you have a special attachment to that place, and not just you, but there’s Nabom this year as well, so I stood my ground and tried to stop them.”
It seems he didn’t notice that I was awkwardly rubbing the back of my neck, as the teacher folded his arms and continued.
“Last year as well, you simply stayed in that room by yourself and didn’t do anything special in the end. The last festival went by like that as well. If you made something this year, then you can just put those stuff on display, so work with Nabom and try to at least open an exhibition for the festival or something. As long as you can prove that you’ve actually been doing things there.”
The teacher looked at me with a peculiar gaze before waving me off.
“If there’s something you want to protect, then do your best to protect it. You can leave now.”
“······.”
Rather than those being words that were said because he knew about my circumstances, he was probably saying that I should do my best if I have any sort of attachment to my club, but for some reason, his words stabbed into my heart.
Well, in any case, as a result of that.
I told Saeyeon to handle her studying for the midterm exams by herself this time and threw aside my research and other issues as well. I was now standing in the club room trying to pick out some inventions I made that I could sort of show off to the public.
I’m saying it again, but I think it’s a relief.
Since I don’t have to be next to Saeyeon and help her study for the midterm exams despite my hurricane of emotions, and I don’t have to constantly meet with Jaim, whom I’m currently in a Cold War with, while our relationship is currently strained.
“In any case, after putting them out like this, there really is a lot. Although they’re all close to being pieces of junk. Ow, my back.”
Also, I’m able to interact with this person like we used to.
The load Upperclassman Nabom placed on top of the table must have been heavy, as she placed her hand against her back and stretched. She was like a cat.
“You’re like an old lady.”
“······How could you treat someone like an old lady just because they’re a few years older than you? As expected of Underclassman Jin Jaro, your manners are terrible. It’s natural for your back to hurt when you carry heavy things. My center of gravity is also in front of me, so that makes it more difficult.”
Upperclassman Nabom looked at me a bit angrily with her arms folded. Her breasts protruded as they were placed above her folded arms. That must be quite the struggle. Upperclassman Nabom let out a sigh once she noticed my disregard and looked around the club room.
“Truly, I have no idea when you were able to create this much. Did you have that much free time, last year’s Underclassman Jin Jaro?”
“It isn’t only the stuff I made last year. I put everything I made during elementary school, middle school, and at home as a hobby, here in this club room.”
The floor and table were already filled with items. In actuality, this place is similar to being my personal storage room. Borrowing a warehouse is expensive, after all. I don’t have the money to do something like that since I’m a student. This is also one of the reasons why I made a club.
“So, what exactly is this?”
Something must have caught Upperclassman Nabom’s eyes as she picked up one of my inventions, so I answered her.
“A dishwasher.”
“······This is?”
She looked incredibly intrigued. Well, that’s a given. No matter how you look at it, it looks like a toy attached to a washboard, after all. I explained while glancing at another invention next to me.
“If you attach that to some tableware and activate it, then it’ll vibrate at super high speed and demolish any residue.”
“Oh? This seems more impressive than I expected. Although it’s a bit unfortunate that it can only take care of one piece of tableware at a time······.”
“But the drawback is the fact that the tableware can’t endure the vibration and end up shattering.”
Rather than shattering, they actually explode. It hurt when that happened. My hand was cut here and there. It was honestly dangerous. If I hadn’t been wearing my glasses, then I would have died instantly.
“······As expected of Underclassman Jin Jaro’s inventions, they don’t disappoint. They all always have a screw loose.”
That sigh would have normally annoyed me, but it actually felt relieving to me right now.
This may have been a type of roleplaying, but, at the very least, it comforted me.
Reactions come out before emotions. Commonly uttered words come out before you can carefully choose your words. It was genuinely as if nothing had happened.
I no longer talked to Upperclassman Nabom about things regarding Saeyeon and Jaim. She simply acts, with devotion, the role of a school senior who came to the past. Naturally, I also carry out my role faithfully as a weird junior who’s working with her in order to protect the club.
They say that the best way to bind the inside is an enemy on the outside. It may not particularly be an enemy, but at the very least, it was similar to a crisis.
This club room was the only place I could relax in, no, I don’t actually feel relaxed, but I don’t have anywhere else to go.
Her completely empty room or here. This lonely person from the future who has nowhere else to go other than this club room.
We may bicker, but I feel like we both want to protect this place.
Upperclassman Nabom let out a sigh and put the ‘Washing Vibrator’ back into its box.
“Wouldn’t it honestly be more interesting to do a comedy show than an exhibition for the festival?”
“You shouldn’t say something like that when you’ve constantly been either reading or bantering throughout the entire past semester, Miss Club Leader.”
She hasn’t even made a single thing. In response to my complaint, Upperclassman Nabom placed her hands on her hips and spoke. The English term for that pose was ‘akimbo’. She didn’t have a gun, though.
“So you’ve finally acknowledged me as the club leader. It seems Underclassman Jin Jaro has also finally submitted to my leadership and guidance.”
“If you have something like that, then try writing a petition against the closure of the club.”
“Are we both not a part of the outsider system, Underclassman Jin Jaro? If we’re with a riajuu, then we break out into hives and we’re unable to exert our strengths within those proper systems. If I had that sort of love and courage, then do you think I would be here in this dark club room with a piece of garbage like you, Underclassman Jin Jaro? Shame on you.”
“Rather than being annoyed by that incredibly annoying title you often call me, I’m more frustrated by the fact that I do everything in the end.”
“Oh dear, why are you acting as if you don’t know? Be it a chairperson, a boss, a club leader, a general, or a sergeant, etc etc, the role of these people who have superior jobs is to not work and make everyone below them do everything. The world is a pyramid.”
“······I shouldn’t have said anything.”
We continued to work while complaining, teasing, and joking around with each other.
I hid my emotions and laughed. At the very least, I wanted to spend this moment smiling. Similar to when I would come to the club room and exchange trivial jokes with Upperclassman Nabom and mess around. Before this became ‘roleplaying’.
Upperclassman Nabom spoke while knocking over the ‘Falling Roly Poly’.
“In any case, it’s a bit regrettable. This festival might be my last memory here.”
The corners of my mouth stiffened once I heard those words.
“······What do you mean?”
Upperclassman Nabom poked at the fallen roly poly once I asked that.
“I told you before. I have to return to the future after the festival.”
I could hear a slight regret in her voice. I put down the item I was doing a check-up on and asked.
“Why all of a sudden? Does that mean your job to observe us is over? Do you no longer have to take Jaim back to the future, or something like that?”
“It isn’t that major. It’s not the end of the observation mission either. It’s because I’ve been carrying out this mission for the past half-year without returning even once. That’s all.”
“Is it like a duty rotation? If you’re in contact with your target for too long, then you might get attached to them, is it something like that?”
Certainly, if time passes, then you could end up getting closer to your observation target. In truth, Jaim and Upperclassman Nabom may still quarrel, but they’ve become close enough to talk about more personal things.”
However, Upperclassman Nabom shook her head.
“There’s also that, but that isn’t the only reason.”
“If that isn’t the only reason, then what else is there?”
“Information contamination. Regardless of whether I’m an agent who was trained to be prepared for it, if you stay in the past for a long period of time, then it could occur.
Information contamination.
The fundamental reason why Upperclassman Nabom was dispatched here to keep an eye on Jaim.
People live while under the control of their memories of the past. Each and every memory and experience people have are what make them up as a person. Your childhood memories can influence your personality. Tiny opportunities determine a person’s dream and become the driving force to move towards it. Trivial events and experiences determine a person’s way of thinking and their values. If a person has a memory of getting their hand burned in a fire when they were a child, then their emotion and attitude will change whenever they see a fire even if they’re an adult.
So as these sort of memories and experiences influence us, we are, therefore, able to accept things even if they seem suspicious. Everyone probably has had a time where a vague memory they had was corrected by a third-party.
However, you’ll be face to face with your past if you travel back in time. If it turns out that it wasn’t a simple mistake but an entire event that was different, then you’ll be influenced by that accordingly. You could even have a breakdown.
I actually saw this happen before me, so I know how much influence these things have and how dangerous they are.
“Normally, the longest period of time a time agent is dispatched on a mission is 2 months, so there aren’t any special problems in those cases, but in my case, I’ve been dispatched for a long period of time, so I have to get a checkup. If there are no problems afterward, then I’ll be assigned to this mission again.”
Upperclassman Nabom smiled as if this weren’t anything special. As if she were teasing me.
“Why? Did you feel sad when you heard that I was leaving?”
“······Well, a bit, yeah.”
And in response to my instinctive remark, Upperclassman Nabom looked a bit surprised. Seeing this person waver is really rare.
Although Upperclassman Nabom seemed to hesitate for a moment, she smiled as if she were troubled.
“······It seems Underclassman Jin Jaro has also started to show interest in me. This is troubling. At this rate, you’ll forget about your wife and daughter and woefully search for me once I’ve disappeared while a sad song is playing in the background, and once I return, we can film our meeting as the ending.”
“That won’t happen, so stop dreaming.”
“A lot of people would like it.”
“I wouldn’t like it, so it won’t happen.”
“I see. So you’ve been confessing your feelings to Underclassman Ja Saeyeon like this lately, haven’t you? As expected of a bad boy. You’ve been somewhat like a cold, city scientist as of late.”
······Did she figure me out? This person is also sharp.
Upperclassman Nabom set up the roly poly and spoke.
“Well, that was a joke just now. I call it a check-up, but it won’t take long. Even if I go through procedures, get debriefed, get examined, and hand in some documents, it’ll take at least 2 to 3 days and, at most, 1 week. Normally.”
Still, Upperclassman Nabom added and knocked over the roly poly again.
“It’s my first time attending a festival as a high school student, so it’s also exciting.”
“Your first time? How about in the future?”
She may have abruptly flown here as a third-year high school student, but she should have gone to school in the future. Upperclassman Nabom shook her head in response to my question.
“Have you forgotten that I’m an agent at this age?”
“Ah······.”
I guess a person who’s at the age of being in their third year of high school wouldn’t be able to attend high school properly while doing agent work.
“I’m actually a little older than my current identity, though.”
“······You’re not a high school senior?”
“I’m 21 years old.”
······.
“Uh, what?”
What did this person say just now? Upperclassman Nabom blinked and looked at me as if she were asking me if there was a problem and spoke once more.
“I’m 21 years old. I’ll be 22 soon. So I’m, let’s see······. 3 years older than you, Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
“So you’re saying that you’re going around acting like a high school senior for your mission despite being 21 years old?”
“As you can see, I have quite the young face. I judged that being dispatched as a teacher with this face would be pushing it.”
“So, despite being 21 years old, you went around wearing a school uniform even though you’re the same age as university students and people who’ve just stepped foot into society, and took classes at a school and pretended to be a high school student?”
“Thus, that means I’m not a target of The Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse despite being a high school student.”
······I said that in order to tease her, but I didn’t expect her to smile so widely and give that sort of response.
“What’s the matter? Did you start seeing me in a different light now? Did your heart start racing once you realized that you were actually alone with a mature adult and her charm? You showed an interested response earlier, so is it confirmed with this?”
I simply decided to not say anything.
“It’s far too soon for you to try and tease me, Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
It seems Upperclassman Nabom was satisfied at the sight of me letting out a sigh, so she chuckled and turned her gaze towards the pieces of junk in the club room.
“In any case, people are saying that it’ll be an ordinary festival, but I’m looking forward to it. Moreover, I won’t be just looking around at things, but preparing a comedy show like this with you as well. It’s a relief that we’re doing this before I leave. I feel like I would be sad if I left and came back only to find out that the festival had already ended.”
After saying that, Upperclassman Nabom turned to me and smiled.
“So, at the very least, I would appreciate it if we interacted comfortably like this as if nothing had happened until the end of the festival.”
I couldn’t ask the question I had since earlier because of that smile on her face that looked as if she were pleading with me.
Why she said that this would be her last memory here even though she said she was going to come back.
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Everyone’s leisure vanished as the midterm approached. Well, this is natural since it’s the exams. There’s the fact that you’ll be nagged at by the teacher if you do badly, by your parents at home as well, and a rank will be established between you and your friends through your grades. The world is cruel.
That’s why there’s a weird anxiety flowing through the classroom even during the breaks. It’s only been a few days since they used to mess around a bunch during the breaks, but there are guys who even have their books open right now. Yeah, they have to do their best.
Of course, excluding me. Their gazes hurt. Sorry, I’m a bit smart.
To be honest, be it me or Upperclassman Nabom, we aren’t pressured by the midterm exams that much. In Upperclassman Nabom’s case, she herself said that she was a trained agent, so she probably doesn’t need to study. In my case, I’m at the point where I’m able to open university-level natural science and engineering textbooks and devise a theory for time machines in my spare time. If you consider this, then I might really be a genius.
“Jjaro, is there something I can help with?”
“······But where are you getting your confidence from?”
This may be something I already knew, but wanting Saeyeon to study by herself might have been greedy. I let out a small sigh.
I intended to use the break between classes to help Saeyeon with her studies for a moment, but the instant we sat across from each other, instead of studying, Saeyeon was more interested in our progress with the exhibition we were setting up for the festival and if there was something she could do to help.
“Uhm······. You?”
“I told you that you should study by yourself because I can’t help you this time. Get help from Jaim or Jihye.”
Well, I am happy that she said she got her confidence from me, but. No, whatever.
Jaim may still be an elementary school student, but she really is my daughter because, be it math or science, she knows enough to teach Saeyeon, and Jihye boasted that one of her functions as a robot maid was a home tutor function, so if Saeyeon asked these two, then she should be fine.
“But studying isn’t important right now.”
“What do you mean it isn’t? No, I don’t really think that studying is particularly important either, but you should at least put in the minimal effort. Your grades went up quite a lot this year, didn’t they?”
She’s still slightly below average, but that much is enough to be considered fantastic results. I said so before, but Saeyeon isn’t bright and she dislikes studying. No, I’m not saying that she’s dumb. At the very least, she went up from being at a middle school student level and was now at the level of a high school student who was bad at studying. This was all thanks to me.
“Still, I’m not going to go to university and I don’t plan to get employed either. I’m going to live as Jjaro’s wife, so I don’t need to study.”
It’s troubling even if you say that while grinning widely. It wasn’t the first time that Saeyeon had said something like this, but there were people around us clearing their throats and closing and opening their fists. Their reactions are way too easy to read all the time.
“No, even if you say that······.”
“So that’s how it is······.”
“Auu······.”
“You guys over there, I understand how toe-curling this is, but this is a serious conversation, so lower your voices. In any case, isn’t there something you want to be, Saeyeon?”
“Your wi······.”
“Besides that.”
Once Saeyeon tried to answer that question immediately without any hesitation, I stopped her.
“You should have something that you want to do as well, don’t you? For example, working like your mom does, or, since you have a field of flowers in your head, you could own a florist’s shop. You don’t want to do something like that?”
After I asked her that, Saeyeon thought for a moment, but, as I expected, she didn’t think for long. Saeyeon smiled as she shook her head.
“There isn’t. I’m satisfied with just being Jjaro’s wife.”
“······.”
“My dream is to be your wife, so I don’t need anything other than that.”
In the end, the people around us couldn’t endure any longer and started to hurt themselves. A guy banged his head against his desk, a fellow student started punching at an innocent wall, and curling their hands and feet wasn’t enough for another person as they curled their entire body, etc etc.
“······Jjaro?”
However, while that was happening, my face was the only thing that had stiffened for an instant.
Because, it sounded as if, she had never considered thinking that far.
Next year, Saeyeon and I will be in our third year. We’d have graduated around the end of the year after that. 2 years would have passed by that point. Saeyeon will die, after 2 years.
It felt as if she were saying that thinking that far was pointless.
“······Anything is fine, so try thinking about it from now on. And study in preparation for that. People say that a double-income family is a general trend lately.”
The others may not have noticed, but Saeyeon probably saw the emotion that had brushed past my face. Because I was right in front of her, within arms reach.
Saeyeon looked at my face calmly for a moment before smiling. It was different from her earlier smile, it was the smile of a child.
“Okay. I understand. If Jjaro likes a working wife, then I’ll be one.”
······Again, like this, she pretended as if I had successfully deceived her.
For the past 3 months, to be exact, after our first date, I also observed Saeyeon in my own way. I did this because, until that moment, I would always look at her from an outside perspective whenever I wondered about what was on her mind.
And occasionally, Saeyeon would see through me like this.
I thought that she was simply sharp until now, but she knows something. To be exact, I should say that she had noticed something.
And this fact honestly scared my current self immensely.
I’m not scared by the fact that she can see through me. I’m scared about what she could have seen by looking through me.
“Still, as I thought, there’s something more important than studying for this upcoming midterm.”
Saeyeon was smiling brightly, but she spoke as if she didn’t intend to give up.
“I heard that the club you and Big Sis Nabom are a part of is in danger. I also got permission from Mom. If one’s husband’s work is in danger, then you have to help him.”
······What is that old lady saying? What does she mean by work?
“That’s why, if there’s something I can do to help, then I want to do it.”
“It would help me if you studied on your own.”
This was the truth. I wasn’t only trying to distance Saeyeon from me.
“Saeyeon, think about it. I’m not saying this because I’m looking down on you, but you wouldn’t be able to help me pick out useful inventions to hold an exhibition with.”
They probably all look the same to Saeyeon who has no knowledge of science, technology, and engineering. It would just be fortunate if she didn’t break anything.
“You’re also not a member of the club, Saeyeon.”
I spoke with a smile so that I could console Saeyeon.
“Just try to make me not worry by doing your best to study for the upcoming midterm exams. Now then, I’ll at least help you study during these breaks. You told me before during the final exams, didn’t you? That you enjoyed studying with me.”
I’m saying this again, but I’m not refusing Saeyeon’s help because I want to distance myself from her. I’m simply making a stern decision.
“Now then, what subject do you struggle with the most? Do you have any questions?”
So by doing this, I was showing proof that I wasn’t distancing myself from her. Since Saeyeon enjoyed being with me since a long time ago. She’ll probably be satisfied if I help her study like this and show her that I’m concerned about her.
“······Hm?”
And I thought Saeyeon would understand as well, but······.
“······You’re a dummy, Jjaro.”
Saeyeon pouted even more in response to my words.
“Jin Jaro, are you actually an idiot······?”
“I thought he was gradually getting better, but did he rot because of the summer heat?”
“As time passes, I feel like he’s going back to how he used to be.”
“How could he not understand his wife’s feelings this much······?”
Our classmates let out a sigh.
“Wait, you chatting bunch over there, what are you saying I did wrong? Saeyeon’s grades are important, aren’t they? I’m paying attention to her properly.”
Without delay, jeers started coming at me from all over.
“Saeyeon is saying that she’ll give up on the midterms for the sake of helping her husband who’s in a crisis.”
“But you told her you didn’t need her help and that she shouldn’t bother since she isn’t a member of the club.”
“Learn to read the mood!”
Things started to fly at me as the jeers continued. Instead of desks and chairs being thrown like last time, they threw pieces of erasers and crumpled up balls of paper. I realized that the latter made me feel worse.
The instant Saeyeon raised her hand, the jeers and the throwing of random objects came to a stop. Before I could be surprised by the fact that Saeyeon had command over our class, Saeyeon spoke with a serious look on her face.
“Jjaro, I did say that I wouldn’t ask this, but you’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”
······So she’s going to ask this question in the end.
“I won’t get mad, so tell me honestly.”
Saeyeon stared at me calmly as if she were telling me that she really wasn’t going to get mad. As if she knew what I was going to say.
That’s why it made it even harder for me to answer her. It felt as if I were being punished.
There’s no way I could tell her. I couldn’t even tell her the reason why I was keeping my distance. My throat was only filled with things I wanted to say, but couldn’t.
The instant I was about to make up an excuse instead, Saeyeon nodded her head as if she understood.
“You did something weird with Big Sis Nabom while alone in the club room together, didn’t you?”
······.
“Uh, what?”
I seriously didn’t predict this development.
Saeyeon spoke with a sad face that looked as if she understood everything.
“It’s fine. I get everything, Jjaro. Naturally, Big Sis Nabom has a pretty face, a good body, nice hair, and you do enjoy messing around with her······.”
“No, what are you saying all of a sudden?”
“I decided to not get jealous and accepted Jihye as a ‘concubine’, and since I decided to be a good wife, I’ll forgive my husband’s cheating tendencies. So just tell me. I’ll do my best to understand······.”
The end of Saeyeon’s nose and the edges of her eyes started to become red as she started sniffing, so the crowd around us grew louder.
“As I thought, they had that sort of relationship······.”
“He’s entered the route of pandemonium······.”
“What’s so good about this guy that makes girls surround him so······.”
“I’ll see you in 4 weeks.”
“Blow up, riajuu.”
“Hey, you untaught masses over there, we’re having a serious conversation here, so go away. More importantly, Saeyeon what are you misunderstanding right now?”
Once I ignored the untaught masses who were going ‘Oh, it’s been a while since I heard that term. It feels a bit nostalgic hearing that again after such a long time.’ and asked Saeyeon that, Saeyeon sniffled once and spoke.
“It’s true, isn’t it? Just as Jaim had said, ever since the 2nd semester started, you started coming home late, you began hanging out with Big Sis Nabom after school until late in the evening, and you would spend time in a small room with her saying that you have to prepare for the festival. Moreover, even though I offered my help, you said you didn’t need it and disregarded me because I’m not a member of your club. You’re saying that because I would interfere with your time with Big Sis Nabom, right?”
“That’s······.”
I wanted to say something back, but after she laid down all the facts like this, even I felt as if my actions were suspicious, thus I couldn’t say anything.
Of course, she said that she wouldn’t be jealous and that she would get along with Upperclassman Nabom, but if you look at it the other way around, if Saeyeon hung out with Nanda until late in the evening every day and refused my help when the two of them had to do something, then what would I think?
“······All right.”
I let out a sigh and nodded.
“If you’re that doubtful, then you can help with our exhibition as well.”
If she’s going to go as far as to say that much.
Suffering by myself because I have to be with Saeyeon was several times better than Saeyeon suffering because of a misunderstanding. I couldn’t sit by idly and let things slide when she was harboring this sort of doubt.
“Really?”
I nodded in response to Saeyeon’s doubting gaze.
“Yeah. If I think about it, rather than Upperclassman Nabom and I selecting items to display for an exhibition, it would probably be better to get the opinion of a normal person like you, Saeyeon.”
Instead of being a place to reveal my scientific, engineering, and inventive outcomes, our exhibition for the festival was simply us getting permission to occupy a place. If that’s the case, then rather than looking for inventions that excel in the scientific and inventive fields, it might be better to choose items that seem more interesting and fun to normal people. Upperclassman Nabom and I don’t have that kind of viewpoint.
But I have to get her to promise me one thing.
“Nevertheless, I’m going to let you help, but I won’t allow you to give up on the midterm exams. I’ll help you with your studies whenever I’m free, so we’re going to get your grades higher than what you got on the finals during the last semester. Okay?”
Once I told her that while letting out a sigh, Saeyeon smiled brightly as if her sniffling just now had been a complete lie and nodded.
“Okay! I’ll do my best! I’ll be helpful! Ehehe······.”
It feels like it’s been a long time since I last heard Saeyeon do that ‘Eheheh’ laugh. A while back, I thought it sounded like a dumb person’s laugh, but now it made my body feel warm.
For a moment, I forgot that I was trying to distance myself from Saeyeon because of this sudden feeling. Saeyeon closed her eyes happily. If she were a cat, then she would have probably purred happily as well.
······And when I see that smile, I feel like I’ve been tricked.
Saeyeon has been gradually getting accustomed to training me.
“Can you guys stop applauding?”
Why do these guys like clapping so much?
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“Ehehe······.”
“······.”
Applause might be better.
It was after school. When I headed towards the club room while holding hands with Saeyeon, as we always do, the other students gave us weird looks as we passed by. I’ve become somewhat famous, so I thought they would stop caring, but they might have been giving us those looks because their mental states were more sensitive right now due to the approaching midterm exams.
Of course, I was the only one who minded the gazes. It’s been a long time since we last went to the club room together like this while holding hands, so Saeyeon must have been happy as she continued to smile.
Different from usual, Saeyeon was in the front and was dragging me along. I would normally be one step ahead of her, so this was a refreshing change of pace. I don’t get to see Saeyeon from behind that often.
Her long hair, which reached her waist, swayed side to side with each step she took and her skirt, which obeyed school regulations, fluttered. Her long, milk-colored legs which weren’t covered by anything because the weather was still hot, moved back and forth rhythmically. My eyes met with Saeyeon as she would occasionally turn back to smile at me. She beamed happily.
My emotions went cold as fast as they heated up. At first, it was difficult to endure this positive change, but I became more and more numb to it as time continued to pass. I felt as if even my smile was becoming natural. This feeling poured cold water over my mind once more. It bothered me that my thoughts had been going towards the negative side lately.
“······Hm?”
I was only staring at Saeyeon as we continued to walk, so I only now realized something.
“This isn’t the way to the club room.”
The club room was in an unused storage room at the back of the school. We were currently going in the complete opposite direction. Saeyeon grinned in response and spoke.
“There’s a place we have to go first.”
“A place?”
Before I could even voice my question properly, it seems we had arrived at our destination as Saeyeon let go of my hand for a moment and opened the door. Saeyeon spoke up before I could look around to see where we were.
“Jaim.”
“Ah.”
Jaim smiled and turned towards us when she heard Saeyeon’s voice, but she frowned slightly the instant she saw me. She purposely frowned in a way that I could see it. This made it very obvious that she had a bad personality.
“Oh my, you’re both here. Are you here to pick up Jaim?”
The old school nurse, who was playing with Jaim, smiled at me and Saeyeon. I bowed my head slightly.
“I’m sorry. Jaim has been troubling you, hasn’t she?”
“It’s all right. It feels like I’m playing with my granddaughter, so it’s fun.”
Ever since our Cold War started, Jaim would avoid being in the same classroom as me whenever she could. She would either avoid coming to school altogether or go to the infirmary and play with the school nurse like this. Although it seems the school nurse didn’t mind this that much.
“In any case, seeing as you’re able to say something like that now, Jaro, I see you’ve started to emit a fatherly atmosphere. That’s a good sign.”
I felt a bit embarrassed because her expression looked as if she were genuinely congratulating me and not trying to tease me at all.
“······Hmph.”
Albeit Jaim stuck her lips out and pouted in disapproval. Seriously, this girl has been acting like a complete child lately.
“J-Jaim? Say goodbye to the teacher and let’s go. We’re going to drop by the club room with Jjaro today.”
“Huh? Why are we going to Dad’s club room?”
“I’m going to help Jjaro. Let’s help him together, Jaim.”
Jaim glanced at me suspiciously in response to Saeyeon’s smiling words, but it’s the truth.
“Then, we’ll be excusing ourselves.”
“Have a safe trip.”
After saying our farewells to the school nurse, we actually headed towards the club room this time. A lot of the students must have already gone home, as we were able to walk through the hallways with more leisure.
The three of us walked through the hallway. We didn’t talk about anything special. We exited the school building and went around to the back of the school.
“······I’m still upset by the way.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I simply nodded my head in response to Jaim’s grumbling. Different from before, Saeyeon no longer said things like ‘Family members shouldn’t fight each other!’ or ‘Make up!’. She may have learned that even family members quarreled.
“······So, is your research going well?”
She’s asking that even though she said that she was still upset. I shook my head honestly and answered.
“No. There’s no way that it would be going well. This is honestly in the realm of science fiction, after all.”
Time machines is a topic that many renowned scholars ensured was absolutely impossible to achieve with modern science. If it were something that someone like me could easily assemble, then someone else would have invented it a long time ago.
“I’m doing this as a hobby anyway.”
There’s still time. It hurt because it felt like I was acting leisurely even though Saeyeon’s life is on the line, but I couldn’t be anxious about this. 2 years isn’t a short period of time. I have to calm myself like that.
“······I’m only saying this if you’re fine with it, Dad, but······.”
Once I said that, Jaim glanced at me several times as she spoke carefully.
“What if I help······.”
“Oh my. It’s been a long time since I last saw the whole family being in this much harmony.”
Before Jaim could even finish her sentence, our heads turned towards the sudden voice. With an impeccable timing, Upperclassman Nabom was standing in front of the club room.
“Ah, Big Sis Nabom! Long time no see!”
“Yes. Have you been doing well as well, Underclassman Ja Saeyeon?”
Saeyeon beamed happily while Upperclassman Nabom smiled as if nothing happened. As I expected, Saeyeon, she did this on purpose. The fact that I had been tricked made me smile bitterly, but it wasn’t an exceptionally bad feeling.
······But that poker face Upperclassman Nabom is doing may be a bit iffy.
Without even glancing at me, Upperclassman Nabom asked Saeyeon.
“So, what brings you here to the club room? The midterm exams are approaching, so you should be studying.”
Saeyeon answered while smiling brightly.
“It felt like Big Sis Nabom had been monopolizing Jjaro too much lately, so I’m here to keep watch.”
“Uh, hey?!”
That wasn’t a joke? I had completely lowered my guard, so Saeyeon’s straight ball made me panic. Despite my shout, Saeyeon continued to smile pleasantly.
“I see. How regrettable. Underclassman Jin Jaro and I had been spending a very intimate time together. We’ve been enjoying a physical relationship as well. Underclassman Jin Jaro had been comforting my lonesome heart, which had been by itself until now, with his skillful hands, but it seems that that will be coming to an end today.”
Without panicking even in the slightest due to Saeyeon’s words, Upperclassman Nabom casually passed it off with a joke. This girl likes saying physical relationship too much.
“So, why are you really here?”
“I’m actually here to help Jjaro with the exhibition. It’s the wife’s duty to help when her family is going through some hard times.”
Fortunately, it must have really been a joke as Saeyeon answered Upperclassman Nabom’s question honestly this time. A weird smile appeared on Upperclassman Nabom’s face as she turned towards me.
“You have a good wife, Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
“······Yeah.”
It was hard for me to say something, so I took out the key to the clubroom and answered like that. Although it feels like I’ve furtively acknowledged what she said, it’s fine. I could hear Saeyeon and Upperclassman Nabom talking behind me.
“Mom told me that I should leave my husband alone if he wants to spend time by himself, but it went on for too long. That’s why I’m here.”
“That will most likely make your marriage last longer. Nevertheless, since Underclassman Ja Saeyeon is here, it seems I have to be careful with how I play with Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
“Don’t do weird things to my dad. What kind of play have you been doing?”
“Hm······. Fire play?”
“You shouldn’t play with fire in the club room, Big Sis Nabom. Not only is it dangerous, but you’ll draw a map on your blanket at night.”
“That might be exciting depending on the person······.”
“Stop saying weird things to my mom!”
·····Hahaha. I laughed weakly as I opened the door.That’s right, the atmosphere is normally like this when everyone is together.
Should I say that it felt strangely nostalgic or warm? If this mood continues, or, at the very least, if I don’t have to think about other things as much as I don’t now, then it might have been a good idea to bring Saeyeon and Jaim here.
Click, the lock opened. Once Upperclassman Nabom heard that sound, she stopped joking around and approached my side before turning to face Saeyeon and Jaim.
“In any case, welcome. It’s a bit messy, though, since the pieces of junk created by Underclassman Jin Jaro are spread out everywhere.”
“Stop talking as if this were your house. And what’s so bad about my inventions?”
I grumbled as I turned to look at Saeyeon and Jaim who were following behind us before entering the club room with Upperclassman Nabom. Well, it is a bit messy. But it can’t be helped. There’s sort of a lot of stuff. Once I turned my head, I saw the light from outside seep into the club room. I had closed the curtains before I left last time. The many boxes stacked on top of each other on the floor, the girl on top of the desk, and several of my inventions entered my line of sight.
“······.”
Wait. There was definitely something strange squeezed in there.
I ended up freezing in place while entering the room with Upperclassman Nabom. I stopped at the entrance, so Saeyeon wound up bumping into my back since she was following behind me. I wasn’t concerned about the soft feeling of Saeyeon’s chest on my back and the hard feeling of her forehead.
“Ow······. Jjaro, why aren’t you going in?”
“······No, it’s just, wait a second.”
I turned my head slightly and looked at Upperclassman Nabom’s face first. She was the only person who would play this sort of prank, after all. However, Upperclassman Nabom’s face was completely stiff. As if she had witnessed something completely unexpected. This was my first time seeing her make this sort of expression.
“······.”
The side of her mouth was twitching, her half-opened eyes were filled with signs of shock. It looked like she was trying to react, but she didn’t know what sort of reaction she should give. I heard Jaim’s impatient voice behind me.
“If it’s dirty, then we’ll clean up for you, so move aside! Why are you just standing there?”
“Ah, wait!”
Before I could stop her, Jaim forced her way between me and Upperclassman Nabom who had both frozen in place. Saeyeon was also able to see into the room since we were naturally pushed aside. I ended up pushing against the light switch as I was pushed aside, so the lights turned on.
“······.”
“······.”
Saeyeon and Jaim froze as well.
The lights were on, so I could see things with more certainty now. I could clearly see the girl who was lying on top of the table as if she were asleep. How did she get in this club room when the door was locked?
She looked roughly like a middle school student. She was wearing energetic-looking casual clothes and a pair of running shoes on her feet which were hanging off the side of the desk. The sudden brightness must have bothered the girl who had a comfortable look on her face, as she rubbed her eyes and raised her body.
“Mmm······. What, is it already morning, Dad······?”
She stretched and let out a yawn in an incredibly relaxed manner. Her body should feel stiff if she slept on top of that table. No, I’m pointing out weird things because I wasn’t able to follow the situation.
Her slightly curled, light brown hair was tied into a ponytail. She looked as if she were still drunk with sleep, but her eyes looked large and her cheeks looked squishy. Her cheeks looked soft as well. Her body looked like that of a middle school student, but certain areas appeared as if they were developing well.
No, more importantly, the thing that’s holding her hair up, that’s definitely······.
“······Huh?”
She then noticed that we were standing at the entrance of the room and looking at her in silence.
Her drowsy eyes cleared up and her wriggling mouth opened in surprise. No, we’re the ones who should be surprised.
“······Jjaro?”
“H-Hiik······.”
Saeyeon’s voice was strangely calm. I involuntarily let out a small cry, but I was able to regain my senses thanks to that. I barely managed to squeeze out some words.”
“Uhm······, girl? How’d you end up······.”
“······It succeeded.”
However, right when I managed to squeeze out those words, I heard the girl’s surprised and ecstatic voice at the same time.
“It really, succeeded······!”
A look of happiness started to gradually spread throughout the surprised girl’s face. Her opened mouth turned into a bright smile and tears started to gather in the corners of her eyes.
“I said······.”
“It’s a success, Dad!”
Before I could even say anything, the girl embraced me tightly.
“Ack?!”
I’m not the only one who let out this short cry, but I was panicking the most right now. How am I supposed to react to this girl who had embraced me tightly and was rubbing her face against my chest? At most, I could only spread my arms out and take a step back. The soft sensation against my chest was troubling.
“Ahahaha! We actually succeeded! Wow, this is amazing!”
I felt the softness of her cheek through my thin, summer uniform. I could even feel the warmth caused by the friction of her action. Sniff sniff, she sniffed······. Wait a second?! W-What is she doing?
“As I thought, it’s the smell of Dad······. It’s really Dad······.”
“N-No, wait, kid······? Ack?!”
The instant I opened my mouth again, the girl grabbed my cheeks with her hand and started pulling on them while smiling. Her incredibly joyful smile was blinding.
“Ahahaha! Even your skin was good at this time! Is it because you’re still young?”
“······.”
My cheeks were red because this was the first time a cute girl had reacted like this towards me, but the cold glare I could feel on the back of my neck was also painful.
“Uhm, like······.”
“······So you’ve finally kidnapped and brainwashed a young girl.”
“I didn’t!”
I shouted that in response to Jaim’s ice-cold voice, but Jaim still had the coldest expression on her face. The look of someone who was staring at a person they didn’t even want to get involved with.
“Then how do you intend to explain this situation?”
“I don’t know······.”
“Aah!”
Can you let me finish my sentence?
The girl who had been pulling on my cheeks, taking off and putting my glasses back on me over and over again, and playing around however she pleased, exclaimed as she pointed at Jaim. Jaim, who had been glaring at me, was startled by that gesture and shrunk back a little.
“Ahahaha! Wow, this is cool! You’re so small! You really are a kid!”
“Wha······?!”
The word ‘kid’ must have set Jaim off as she was about to fly into a fit of rage, but the new girl had already crouched in front of Jaim after having released my cheeks. She then continued her assault, but on Jaim’s cheeks this time.
“Ubububu?!”
“Ahahahaha! This feels really good! They’re like rice cakes! If they’re like this, then it’s a given that Dad would pull on them! Wow, this is addicting······.”
“Ububuubuubububububu!”
······I think she was trying to say something along the lines of ‘What are you doing?!’.
“Ah, but you’re seriously adorable! So this is how I was like when I was young······. Wow······.”
She pulled on Jaim’s cheeks and fiddled with her front hair which was being held up by a clothespin, but in any case, it was Saeyeon’s turn to hesitantly call out to the girl who was enjoying Jaim to her fullest.
“Uhm, I don’t know who you are, but······.”
“Ah······.”
The instant she turned her head towards Saeyeon, the happiness on her face changed into that of surprise, delight, and worry. What a busybody.
“······Huh?”
Saeyeon tilted her head once she saw the girl’s reaction and the expression on her face as she froze in place while touching Jaim’s cheeks. The girl stood up slowly.
“······It really, succeeded······.”
Once she repeated the same words she said earlier, a single tear flowed down her cheek. Saeyeon began to panic.
“U-Uhm, is there a problem······?”
“⎯⎯⎯······.”
The girl ran into Saeyeon’s chest as Saeyeon hesitantly tried to comfort her. Different from the powerful embrace she gave me, she hugged Saeyeon carefully, but in a way that was overflowing with emotions.
“······I wanted to see you. I really, really wanted to see you······.”
“U-Uuh······.”
As expected, Saeyeon was flustered because she didn’t know how to respond. The girl’s tears slowly soaked into Saeyeon’s school uniform. The girl sobbed and spoke while burying her face into Saeyeon’s soft chest. A small, trembling voice resonated. The clothespin holding her hair shook furtively.
“I wanted to see you, Mom······!”
Everyone’s mouth simply fell agape once she said those words that I had expected.
Ο
✿ΟΟ✿ΟΟ✿
Ο
Shortly after, we all sat down once the crying stopped and everyone had calmed down.
“Ehem, hm. Then I’ll introduce myself properly.”
After wiping the corner of her still red eyes and nose, the girl smiled like she did previously and spoke after bowing her head slightly.
“Jin Jaim, 15 years old. I’ll be in your care☆”
“······.”
“······Huh? I was hoping for some applause or a warm welcome.”
Jaim scratched her cheek as if she were embarrassed······. I’m not sure what I should call her by. For now, Jaim No. 2 spoke while smiling brightly.
“I understand everyone is surprised, but I would like it if you all welcomed me warmly. Isn’t that so, Dad?”
“······That’s all well and good, but can you move away from me a bit right now?”
No matter which way you look at it, more than half of their cold reactions towards me was because of this girl’s actions.
I felt pressured by the three distinct gazes that were being directed towards me right now. It’s sort of surprising that Upperclassman Nabom was behaving like this as well.
Jaim No. 2 was holding onto my arm so tightly that she was practically hanging off of it. Even if I ignored the weight of her body as she literally leaned her entire body against me, the feeling against my arm was troubling. This was more blatant than when Saeyeon hugged me. Once I told her that, Jaim No. 2 smiled like a cat.
“What’s wrong? Is your heart racing because of the sight of your adorable daughter’s growth? Are you troubled if I’m like this and not still lacking any development?”
“······No. I’m not like that.”
Jaim shook her head as she glared at Jaim No. 2 with cold eyes. I felt like a Gestaltzerfall was going to occur (TL note: Gestaltzerfall). I felt like the inside of my head was going to get weird.
“Ahahaha, as I thought, you’re adorable~! I might even understand why Dad acted like that······. Ei.”
“Ubububu! Don’t pull my cheeks! Stop it!”
Self-proclaimed Jaim No. 2 laughed as she poked and pulled Jaim’s cheeks, while Jaim bared her teeth at Jaim No. 2 as she did that. This really is weird.
“Uhm······. Jaim, was it? 15 years old?”
Saeyeon must have still been trying to comprehend what was happening as she had been sitting there on the side absentmindedly. Saeyeon asked that cautiously. Jaim No. 2 stopped messing with Jaim and immediately turned her head the instant Saeyeon asked that.
“Yup, Mom! I’m Jaim!’
“But Jaim is right here, but Jaim also came here, so if Jaim is Jaim and Jaim is Jaim······ uh, then······. Uuuu······. Jjaaaro······.”
While spinning her fingers, Saeyeon’s eyes started to spin as well as she went back and forth between looking at Jaim and Jaim No. 2. It seems the processing ability of Saeyeon’s brain was starting to reach its limit.
“······Let’s put the situation together.”
Everyone turned their heads in response to Upperclassman Nabom’s composed voice.
Upperclassman Nabom, who hadn’t said anything since earlier, continued calmly.
“You, you’re saying that you’re truly the 15-year-old version of Miss Jin Jaim, correct?”
“Yup, that’s right. The fact that you’re here means that this is before the festival.”
Now that I think about it, Jaim No. 2 didn’t react to Upperclassman Nabom that much. Upperclassman Nabom’s face became a little stiff once Jaim No. 2 said that.
“Then can you prove that you’re the 15-year-old version of Miss Jin Jaim?”
“You’re always so composed, Big Sis······. Well, whatever.”
Jaim No. 2 let out a small sigh and beamed widely.
“All right, then how should I prove myself? Do you want to take a strand of my hair again? Or maybe, mm······. Should I recite everything that happened during this time period? Or is there another better method?”
Upperclassman Nabom reacted slightly to Jaim No. 2’s strangely teasing tone and grinning face. This person has been acting weird today.
“Wait a moment, Upperclassman Nabom. Let me ask the questions.”
“Upperclassman Nabom?”
For some reason, Jaim No. 2 tilted her head at the way I referred to Upperclassman Nabom. Upperclassman Nabom’s face also stiffened a bit more. Jaim No. 2 stared at Upperclassman Nabom’s face for a moment before grinning.
“Aha, so that’s how it is. I’m sorry for not noticing sooner. Still, you also have your fair share of trouble, Big Sis~.”
“······.”
Upperclassman Nabom seemed like she wanted to say something, but she just closed her mouth instead. I feel like, with this, I could understand what Saeyeon and Jaim have been feeling a bit. Even though it feels like there’s something you should know, you don’t know what it is. It’s not a good feeling.
“Don’t make that sort of face, Dad. So, what do you want to ask? I’ll answer any question you have, Dad. Ah, but not my three sizes! I don’t like a dad who would ask their daughter that question.”
I’m not interested in something like that. More importantly, stop sticking so close to me. It’s hard to maintain my composure when you’re hanging on to my arm, rubbing your face against my shoulder, tickling my side, and sniffing me. Did this girl eat something strange?
“For starters, can you explain how you came here?”
“As expected of Dad. That’s what you’re interested in first, huh?”
Jaim No. 2’s wide grin gave me a strange feeling.
“All right, but you can’t be surprised, okay? Dad, Mom, and Jaim as well. Ahaha, it feels weird calling myself Jaim······.”
Her pre-exposition is way too long. Jaim No. 2 stuck her tongue out and winked at me when I gave her a blank stare. That makes her look cute. Jaim No. 2 eventually cleared her throat and put a serious face on.
“All right. I’ll get straight to the point.”
After taking a deep breath, Jaim No. 2 spoke.
“I came here on the time machine Dad invented. If you look at it historically, I’m the very first person to travel through time.”
“······.”
I was surprised.
I thought this might have been it, but I wasn’t certain.
It seems farfetched, doesn’t it? That I would actually make a time machine······.
“······No way.”
Jaim stole the words right out of my mouth. My mouth was hanging agape. Normally, I would have pulled on her cheeks and say that she’s underestimating me too much, but I honestly thought that it was impossible as well.
“But it’s the truth, you know?”
Jaim No. 2 grinned widely and spoke as if she enjoyed our reactions.
“Dad and I combined our strengths and created a time machine. I traveled in time like this in order to test it.”
I involuntarily turned to look at Upperclassman Nabom. Upperclassman Nabom avoided my gaze. That reaction meant that she knew.
Then, don’t tell me, did I really······?
“Well, there’s still a lot of things we have to fix.”
Jaim No. 2 muttered that as she scratched her head. A lot of things to fix? Jaim No. 2 smiled slightly at my gaze.
“I told you this was a test. I wasn’t originally supposed to be sent back this far. The plan was to send me back by an hour, but I wonder what the problem was. Were the adjustments still incomplete······?”
“······Wait, then you’re telling me that you traveled on an incomplete model?”
“Rather than ‘traveled on’, it’s closer to ‘used’, but yeah, it’s something like that.”
Jaim No. 2 chuckled but this didn’t put me into a laughing mood.
“This isn’t something you should laugh about! The margin of error is way too big!”
If she’s 15 years old right now, then that’s 5 years into the future. I don’t know anything about time machines, but if she traveled back in time by 5 years even though the original intent was to go back by one hour, then this isn’t a mistake you can just laugh off.
“It couldn’t be helped. It was the first time we tried it.”
“If it’s your first time using it, then you should have used a different test subject! What would you have done if something went wrong?! No, did the future me not even try to stop you?”
Jaim No. 2 stuck her lips out slightly and acted as if this weren’t a big issue, but if there was some sort of error, then who knows what could have happened. Literally. Just what were they thinking······.
“Hmm, are you worrying about me?”
However, Jaim No. 2 smiled when she saw me get upset. A smile that was mixed with joy and also looked as if she were teasing me. Jaim No. 2 put more strength into her grip on my arm as she smiled like that.
“Still, it couldn’t be helped. It became a test where only I could use it.”
I stared at Jaim No. 2 when she said that, but she simply chuckled.
“······Well, putting that aside.”
Jaim folded her arms as she continued to stare at Jaim No. 2 with an uncomfortable look.
“So, why are you hanging on to him that much?”
“Who knows? I wonder why? Don’t you have a rough grasp as to why?”
“Uugh······.”
Jaim No. 2 smiled leisurely while Jaim made a face that looked as if she had received a blow. As I expected, I feel like my head is going to go weird if I watch the two of them converse. Saeyeon hasn’t been able to say anything since earlier because she was still perplexed.
“······So, why are you hanging on to me like this?”
Once I let out a sigh and asked that, Jaim No. 2 grinned broadly.
“Because I like you, Dad? Obviously. It’s perfectly natural for me to hang on to you, isn’t it?”
“······Who are you?”
“Hm?”
I tried to furtively free my arm, but I couldn’t because she was holding onto me. I instead leaned my body away from her as far as possible.
“No······. My Jaim isn’t like this······.”
“Ahaha, should I say that I knew you would react like this?”
“Shut it, you fake! There’s no way that Jaim would say something like that!”
This was sending chills down my spine. I got goosebumps just imagining Jaim saying something like ‘Because I like you, Dad’ or ‘It’s perfectly natural for me to hang on to you, isn’t it?’. Just a few days ago, that girl asked Jihye to separate her laundry from mine because she didn’t want them to be cleaned together.
“······Hmph.”
For some reason, Jaim pouted in response to my words. What’s up with her? Jaim No. 2 nodded her head as if she understood.
“Well, I understand that you’d react like this right now, but your relationship gets better later on. Dad is really good to me in the future.”
“······.”
Her words honestly didn’t sound that convincing, but Jaim No. 2 had a sly look on her face so I didn’t say anything more.
“So, what do you intend to do?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Jaim No. 2 blinked in response to my question.
“You came here by mistake, didn’t you? Do you have a way back?”
I’m not sure how she got here, but she didn’t come here because another problem had occurred. She also said our relationship in the future is good. If that’s the case, then it would probably be a good idea to send her back. As long as there’s no issue with the time machine. Jaim No. 2 smiled and nodded.
“Ah, yeah. I obviously do! Well, I’ll probably have to make a few adjustments first, but that shouldn’t take too long. The way back is simple.”
“Is that so?”
Once she gave us that answer, Jaim and Upperclassman Nabom let out a sigh of relief. However, Saeyeon looked a bit sad.
“I see······, so big Jaim is going back.”
Saeyeon smiled slightly and nodded her head.
“Yeah, future Jjaro and future me must be worried. Still, Jaim is also cute, but I wanted to play with big Jaim as well. It’s a bit regrettable.”
“Hm? I’m not going back right now, though?”
Jaim No. 2 blinked her eyes as if Saeyeon had said something weird.
“······What?”
“There’s no reason for me to go out of my way to go back now, right?”
Jaim No. 2 grinned while poking at my cheek with her finger.
“I was able to meet young dad, mom, and me when I was a cute, little girl! Ah, I’m still cute right now, though.”
It’s uncomfortable, so stop blinking your eyes like that as you talk. I mean, yeah, she’s cute. Wait, this makes me seem like a dullard or a doting father.
“I can go back whenever I want, so I want to play here for a bit······, but is that no good?”
“Uu, uuh······.”
This isn’t good. I’m becoming weak because she said that line while looking up at me with shining eyes. No. I have to be strong here. That’s right. Nevertheless, all things considered, I don’t think there’s actually a good reason to send her back. She hugged my arm between her chest more tightly. Her eyes sparkled.
“Daaad~ please? Can’t I stick around for a bit? Huh? It’s okay, right?”
“N······!”
Jaim slammed her hands against the table and stood up.
“You can’t.”
Upperclassman Nabom answered sternly before Jaim could even finish saying that single word.
“What, why are you against it, Big Sis?!”
Jaim No. 2 finally released my arm and pouted. Upperclassman Nabom spoke with a serious look.
“As a time agent working for the Time Bureau, I cannot possibly allow an unauthorized person from the future to arbitrarily stay in the past.”
“Then what about Jaim?! Ah, not me, but the other Jaim.”
“In Miss Jaim’s case, it’s okay since I’ve been assigned to her as an observer.”
“That’s not fair! Yeah, when I came here, the Time Bureau didn’t exist yet! Time machines were only just invented, after all! That’s why there’s no reason for me to listen to you.”
“The context doesn’t matter.”
“That’s unfair······! I’m even overlooking Big Sis’ situation!”
“That’s a separate matter. What isn’t allowed, isn’t allowed.”
Upperclassman Nabom gave her a literal stern refusal. Jaim No. 2 puffed her cheeks out and glared at Upperclassman Nabom with eyes that were filled with discontent, but Upperclassman Nabom didn’t avoid her gaze and glared back at her with half-closed, killing intent-filled eyes. For her to not be intimidated by that gaze, she sure has grown. I still get intimidated by that.
“Uhm······. Can I say something?”
While they were doing that, Saeyeon raised her hand carefully as if she were hesitantly asking a question in class. Upperclassman Nabom erased the killing intent in her eyes and turned towards Saeyeon with a slight smile.
“Yes, what is it, Underclassman Ja Saeyeon?”
“Just now, you said that you were from the Time Bureau or something, didn’t you? Does that mean Big Sis Nabom is also from the future?”
“······.”
Upperclassman Nabom’s smile froze completely.
“What, you still haven’t told her?”
Upperclassman Nabom’s expression contorted incredibly for an instant because of Jaim No. 2’s teasing remark, but she quickly returned to normal once Saeyeon spoke again.
“Is it like that?”
“······It seems I messed up.”
Upperclassman Nabom let out a deep sigh. Different from the joking mood she gave off when her identity was revealed to me for the first time, it seems like she was sincerely reproaching herself this time for her mistake. Upperclassman Nabom smiled bitterly as if it couldn’t be helped now and nodded her head.
“I apologize for hiding it until now. Let me introduce myself formally. My name is Ha Nabom, a time agent dispatched by the Time Bureau to keep an eye on Miss Jin Jaim.”
“I knew it······.”
······So she did know. I feel like my face stiffened a bit.
The muttering Saeyeon must have not looked at me as she smiled and continued.
“Ah, sorry. I thought that that might have been the case. I’m not upset or anything, so don’t worry. Ehehe······.”
“Thank you for understanding. Now then, let’s get back to the main topic.”
Upperclassman Nabom cleared her throat before turning to look at Jaim No. 2 again and spoke in a stern voice that was completely different from the warm way she spoke to Saeyeon.
“Regardless of your reason, as long as you’re within the jurisdiction of my observation, I can’t overlook illegal time traveling. Observation and management is my job, after all. If you can go back, then vacate this time period immediately. If you don’t, then I’ll do it by force.”
“You lack flexibility. Frugal! Miser!”
“No, those insults are completely unrelated to this······.”
While I was muttering that to Jaim No. 2 who was complaining to Upperclassman Nabom and sticking her tongue out at her, Saeyeon smiled gently.
“Jaim?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
The two Jaims turned their heads. Saeyeon laughed awkwardly as she panicked a bit.
“Ah, I mean the bigger Jaim.”
“What’s wrong, Mom?”
Once Jaim No. 2 answered back while blinking, Saeyeon smiled widely and spoke calmly.
“I want to play with bigger Jaim as well, but you said so earlier, didn’t you? That you came here by accident. If that’s the case, then wouldn’t Jjaro and I be worrying about you in the future right now? Big Sis Nabom seems to also be troubled as well.”
“······Mom.”
Even though she had been beaming until now, a look of sorrow brushed past Jaim No. 2’s face for a brief moment when she saw the expression on Saeyeon’s face. That’s right. She said she was from 5 years into the future.
As I thought, 5 years from now, Saeyeon had already······.
Saeyeon, who didn’t know about this, spoke thoughtfully like a genuine mother.
“I don’t know much about time machines, but Jjaro would also definitely be worried if you didn’t come back.”
“······Yeah. Dad is probably worried about me.”
There was a momentary glint in Jaim No. 2’s eyes, but she smiled again after wiping the corner of her eyes with her sleeve. She smiled innocently and brightly.
“It’s a bit regrettable, but since Mom is telling me to as well, I’ll go back. I just have to make some small adjustments, after all. Wait a second.”
Jaim No. 2 took out a terminal that looked like a cell phone from her pocket as she said that. It looked similar to the thing Upperclassman Nabom carried around. I’m not sure what principle they ran on, but they seem to be a device you use to make adjustments to time machines. Honestly, I want to snatch it away and disassemble it, but I stopped myself.
“Now then, I’m done with the adjustments······.”
A brief moment passed and Jaim No. 2 nodded her head.
“I’ll be going then, Mom. I’m going to grow up to be this healthy and adorable, so don’t worry and keep doting on Jaim more.”
It was as if she were saying her final goodbyes. Jaim No. 2 grinned as she faced Saeyeon. The unknowing Saeyeon simply smiled back.
“Mhm. Jaim and I get along well.”
“I’ll definitely come back again.”
Yeah. If I completed the time machine, then it’s probably for that reason.
“And Jaim······. It feels a bit weird saying this to myself.”
Jaim let out an audible ‘hmph’ and folded her arms in reaction to Jaim No. 2’s words which she had said while scratching the back of her head. These two really don’t get along. Even though they’re the same person.
“Well, in any case, do your best. You and Dad get along really well later, after all. Don’t hate him too much. Tell Dad that you honestly like him.”
“Shut up, you completely weird woman.”
“Ahaha, I haven’t heard that in a long time. How nostalgic······.”
While chuckling as if it were truly nostalgic, Jaim No. 2 turned to face Upperclassman Nabom.
“Now then, weird woman, it’s been a while since we last met, but it was nice seeing you again.”
“······.”
Upperclassman Nabom didn’t say anything in response to the grinning Jaim No. 2’s remark. Upperclassman Nabom’s response must have been amusing to Jaim No. 2, as she laughed again.
“Ahaha, you don’t have to worry. Ah, but this means that Jihye is here as well, so it’s a bit unfortunate that I won’t be able to see her······. You’d probably refuse if I asked if I could see her, right?”
“Yes.”
“Big Sis Nabom, can’t you let her at least say hello before leaving?”
“I understand both Underclassman Ja Saeyeon and the bigger Miss Jaim’s feelings, but this is my job. She’ll meet her when she goes back to the future anyway, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Mmm······. You’re right, but······.”
Saeyeon seemed to be more disappointed about this than Jaim No. 2.
“Then I guess I should end it by saying my farewell to Dad.”
Jaim No. 2, who had been looking at Saeyeon affectionately, turned towards me and smiled. That smile bothered me for some reason.
“You aren’t going to do something weird again, right?”
“You’re talking as if I’ve been doing some strange until now······. What’s so weird about a daughter holding on to her Dad’s arm because she likes him?”
“That’s the weird part.”
Jaim No. 2 puffed her cheeks out cutely in discontent. For Jaim to grow up like this, it’s really hard to believe.
“Seriously, you aren’t honest······. Well, I’ll stop if you don’t like it.”
Jaim No. 2 giggled despite my brusque words before putting a more serious look on her face.
“Like this, the time machine you made actually works, Dad. There’s still a lot of parts we have to fix, but it isn’t impossible, so do your best as well, Dad.”
“······Yeah.”
The time machine I made. It needs some fine tuning, but it works. So it isn’t impossible, huh?
But, if it’s 5 years later, then that’s too late······.
“Ah jeez, don’t look so sad just because your cute daughter is going back home. If you’re that upset, then be nicer to the younger Jaim.”
Jaim No. 2 directed those words towards me and approached me slightly.
Along with an audible ‘chu’, I felt a warm sensation on my cheek.
“Ah?!”
Jaim let out a small cry. I was also surprised. I feel like something like this happened a long time ago as well, but······. I looked at Jaim No. 2 while rubbing my cheek and she stuck her tongue out at me as she let out a chuckle.
“Ehehe.”
“Y-You······!”
“Oh boy, it seems little Jaim is jealous, so I’ll be taking my leave now.”
While looking at Jaim whose face was red as she pointed at her in accusation, Jaim No. 2 pressed a button on her terminal. A mechanical whirring sound started to resonate as if something had activated and Jaim No. 2 turned to face us as she waved her hand.
“Then I’ll be going now!”
Jaim No. 2 then fell on top of the table.
“Ow!”
“······.”
“Owow······. Huh?”
Jaim No. 2 groaned as she rubbed her butt which had collided against the table. She looked around at us who were blankly staring at her in surprise.
“Why is everyone here?”
“······You didn’t go anywhere.”
She disappeared from where she was standing, but she immediately popped up above the table and fell. It felt like we were watching some magic show.
“Uh, did I make a mistake?”
Jaim No. 2 fiddled with her terminal again while tilting her head.
This time, there was no response.
“······Huh?”
Click, click. Clickclickclick. Now she was just shaking and pounding on the device.
“······.”
Don’t tell me······?
“Ahaha······.”
In response to our bewildered gazes, Jaim No. 2 gave a perplexed laugh as she spoke.
“······It seems like, it broke······?”
I knew it.
I simply covered my face with my hands.
