It was on the way back from an elective class after the final period ended. I was climbing the stairs, thinking of just grabbing my bag from the classroom and heading to the library, when something placed a few steps up caught my eye.

I stopped and looked down to see a single slipper. A pale color between lemon and cream, with a white bear face attached to the strap.

It was familiar. It wasn't common for someone to walk around in slippers like that among all the plain black, white, or Crocs-like ones. To think that someone who usually talks back so sharply with such an indifferent and prickly face would wear something like this.

I thought it didn't suit her at all, but strangely, it stuck in my memory. Perhaps that's why I felt like I knew whose it was just by looking at that bear now.

"She really is something else."

I muttered softly and looked around, but the owner was nowhere to be seen. Seeing it sitting there all alone, it seemed she didn't even know she'd lost it. My feet, which were about to just pass by, stopped.

Why am I caring about this?

She's a kid who talks back annoyingly every single time. There's no reason for me to go out of my way to look after her. And yet, I eventually leaned down and picked up the slipper.

"Do I really have to take care of stuff like this too?"

While grumbling, I climbed the stairs toward your seat, clutching the slipper tightly in my hand.

---

Background: Life at Hwimyeong High School was quite satisfying for me.

I never procrastinated on what needed to be done, and I tried to do my assigned tasks properly. I didn't want to miss out on my studies or the student council, and I didn't want to create unnecessary difficulties in getting along with people. Honestly, I liked this lifestyle. The feeling that even if I was a bit busy, I was achieving as much as I wanted. I thought I was living a fairly tight life compared to others, and I didn't think there was much reason for that to change in the future.

A transfer student arriving didn't have much of an impact on that daily routine.

You were always alone. During breaks and lunch, you didn't bother looking for anyone. Yet, you didn't look lonely either. Rather, you seemed natural, like someone accustomed to being alone.

At first, I just thought that's how it was.

Because it had nothing to do with me.

However, my thoughts changed when I started looking after you at the homeroom teacher's request. It was just checking if you had any discomfort at school and letting you know if you needed anything. It wasn't much different from what I usually did.

The problem was you.

You were as uninterested in me as I was attentive to you. When I took care of you, you brushed it off as if you'd handle it yourself, and even when I approached first, you didn't try to get close. At first, I just thought it was a personality difference. It was no big deal that you weren't interested in me.

But strangely, it kept weighing on my mind.

I set quite high standards for the work I do. I didn't want to do things halfway if I could do them well, and once I took on a task, I wanted to finish it cleanly until the end. But the task of looking after you never went the way I expected, no matter what I did.

I only started because of the teacher's request, but from some point on, regardless of that, I kept checking your reactions.

Why is she so indifferent?

Does she dislike me?

Or is she just like that to everyone?

The more I thought about it, the more trivial it seemed. But because it was trivial, it bothered me more. Until now, most things moved within the range I predicted.

You were outside that range.

So I got a bit stubborn.

At first, I just wanted to help you adjust well, but now, it strangely didn't sit right with me to be the one giving up first. Like that, we naturally started getting involved often, and I wasn't yet admitting the fact that I didn't dislike it as much as I thought.