“Wow…”
I couldn’t close my gaping mouth as I stared at the magnificent mansion before my eyes.
Ban Eun-hyeol had sent a car for me, even though I had planned to find my own way after he sent the address and told me to come early.
But the moment the car entered through the open gates, I knew it was completely different from Yeon Ha Yeon’s place.
‘There’s a fountain at this house?’
I couldn’t take my eyes off the circular fountain opposite the mansion.
Even before I possessed this body, I had never been to a house with a fountain in the yard.
If it were just a small fountain, perhaps, but the mere fact that such a substantial fountain was in the yard was astonishing, and the house was so huge…
Yeon Ha Yeon’s house wasn’t a large-scale mansion like this, but if the black-suited gangsters gave off an intimidating aura, Ban Eun-hyeol’s house felt overwhelming just by its sheer size.
‘Do all chaebols live like this?’
I wouldn’t know, as I hadn’t interacted with chaebols before possessing this body.
I was gawking, my eyes wide, looking around and admiring the place.
“Lee Dana, student?”
“Yes?” I turned my head at the voice calling me, and an elderly man in a suit stood there.
“I’ve been waiting. Please come this way.”
He introduced himself as the butler who had worked there for a long time as he guided me into the house.
I was so fixated on the word ‘butler’ that I didn’t really hear anything else he said.
A butler.
They have a butler at home?
Moreover, the way up to the second floor, where Ban Eun-hyeol’s room was, was also extraordinary, making it even harder for me to focus on the conversation.
‘Housekeepers! There isn’t just one housekeeper, but several!’
I simply couldn’t tear my eyes away from the interior of the house.
The housekeepers working everywhere were so noticeable.
I kept looking around, fascinated by the uncommon sight.
“Oh, you’re here?”
Following the butler up the central staircase, Ban Eun-hyeol, in comfortable clothes, greeted me indifferently.
Perhaps because she was at home, she was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and training pants, but even in that attire, her appearance stood out.
“Your house is amazing.”
As soon as I saw Ban Eun-hyeol, these words instantly burst out. It was genuine admiration.
“I’ll show you around the house later.”
Ban Eun-hyeol chuckled and immediately turned around, heading for her room.
I wished I could have explored the house a bit more before studying.
Swallowing my disappointment, I followed her into the room, and my eyes widened once again.
I had thought the house I lived in alone before possessing this body was quite spacious and comfortable.
But here, perhaps because the house’s size itself was extraordinary, the room size was also enormous.
‘It’s almost four times the size of my room?’
In the center of the room was a king-sized bed, and a desk and a familiar bookshelf were against one wall.
It was the exact same bookshelf I had in my room.
On the opposite side, what seemed to be a gaming space, a large, good-looking monitor sat on a desk.
Below it, a glowing computer tower was set up.
No other furniture was visible.
The simple interior seemed to reveal Ban Eun-hyeol’s personality.
“Do you want to do it at the desk, or should I unfold the table?”
Ban Eun-hyeol came out from the corner of the room, holding a white folding table, and asked.
“You ask that while carrying the table?”
I had no choice.
Even if I had picked the desk, Ban Eun-hyeol would have brought and unfolded the table anyway.
He quickly unfolded the folding table in the middle of the room and gestured with his head to the spot opposite him, silently telling me to sit down quickly.
I took off my bag, placed it on the floor, and sat opposite Ban Eun-hyeol.
As soon as I sat down, studying began immediately.
I could feel his determination not to allow even a moment of playtime.
He had said that inquiry subjects were good for improving grades in a short period, so he started by checking how much of the exam material I had memorized.
He went over the concepts likely to appear on the exam again and focused on the parts emphasized in class for the major subjects.
“Now, you explain it. You have to be able to explain it to truly understand it.”
In that moment, Ban Eun-hyeol felt less like a friend and more like a tutor.
That’s how serious he was about this ‘lesson.’
Time flew by as I repeatedly reviewed the same sections and explained them to him.
Just as I was feeling the limits of my concentration, Ban Eun-hyeol tapped the table with his pen and looked at me.
It was a silent gesture telling me to focus.
‘Ugh, I’m dying.’
I felt like I’d rather go out and clear a dungeon.
Fighting monsters seemed much more fun than studying.
Just as Ban Eun-hyeol’s explanations started going in one ear and out the other, a different topic, unrelated to the exam material, finally caught my attention.
“By the way, you. You really don’t like me anymore, do you?”
“What? Suddenly?”
It was a truly abrupt change of topic.
How could he bring up old stories while explaining how to solve a problem I got wrong?
Moreover, I had never liked him, so this question was utterly baffling.
Despite my flustered reply, Ban Eun-hyeol kept his eyes fixed on the workbook.
With his gaze lowered, he answered in an indifferent voice.
“Just. You seem very unaffected right now.”
He rested his chin on his hand, bowed his head slightly, and wrote down the solution to a math problem on the workbook, only moving his eyes to look at me.
‘What? How am I supposed to answer this?’
I couldn’t think of an answer right away and just gaped like a goldfish.
I had come to my friend’s house to study, so I was being comfortable, but now, this situation suddenly started to bother me.
“Do you even care about me?”
I asked because he had said I looked unaffected.
I asked, wondering if he was saying such things because he cared about me, but there was no immediate reply.
He stared at my expression as I waited for an answer, then chuckled and lowered his gaze again, saying, “Are you finally coming back to your senses? Then focus.”
As if he had never created that strange atmosphere, he returned to ‘teacher mode’ and pushed the workbook towards me.
It was incredibly natural how she skipped over answering my question and changed the subject.
“You’re bringing up that topic to make me focus? Wow…!”
“I have to bring up something like this for you to snap out of it. Your eyes finally have some focus.”
“They didn’t before?”
“No. They looked like rotten fish eyes.”
I glared at him, always picking annoying words to say, and shifted my gaze back to the workbook.
I was in the middle of looking at his solution and re-solving the problem.
Ban Eun-hyeol leaned slightly forward to watch me solve the problem.
Because of that, the distance between us narrowed even more than before.
If not for that conversation a moment ago, this wouldn’t have bothered me, but I was needlessly tense, and my mind momentarily went blank.
“What are you doing, not solving it?”
I couldn’t recall how to solve the problem and remained still, pen in hand, so Ban Eun-hyeol leaned even closer than before.
‘Why is he doing this?’
No, why am I doing this?
Since becoming partners with Ban Eun-hyeol, we’d never changed seats, so I’d been sitting next to him for quite a long time.
But I couldn’t understand why sitting face-to-face was making me so nervous.
‘Just think of it as school, Dana!’
I tried to compose myself and quickly racked my brain.
But my concentration and memory, once flown away, showed no signs of returning.
“Hmm, I don’t remember.”
I acted even more brazenly, not wanting to show my nervousness.
Ban Eun-hyeol let out a short laugh when he saw me boldly declare I didn’t remember and put down my pen.
Then, he suddenly got up, walked over, and sat beside me.
His expression showed he’d decided there was no point in teaching me while sitting opposite each other.
As he sat closely beside me and slowly taught me the problem-solving method again, a cool scent suddenly wafted over.
It was a scent reminiscent of cool water.
‘Is this what cool water smells like?’
Just as I was trying to dispel my nervousness with useless thoughts, a welcome sound arrived.
Knock-knock-
“Young Master, I’ve brought snacks.”
The housekeeper who had knocked moments ago placed a tray with fruit, toast, and juice on it and left.
I had no intention of missing this moment to change the atmosphere.
“Young Master? Yoooung Maaaster?”
“Stop it.”
“If the Young Master tells me to stop, then I must stop.”
The title ‘Young Master’ instantly caught my ear.
It was my first time seeing someone actually being called ‘Young Master.’
And for that person to be my friend…
I simply couldn’t resist teasing him.
As I grinned and kept calling him Young Master, she stabbed a large piece of kiwi with his fork and put it into my mouth.
“Aren’t you going to study?”
His tone was gruff, but his ears were bright red.
He seemed quite embarrassed, even if he didn’t show it.
I laughed and said I understood, then took a bite of the toast.
A sweet jam scent filled my mouth.
It was a pleasant sweetness.
***
Ban Eun-hyeol had been flushed in the face for a while, making it impossible to concentrate on studying.
‘Should I have called the others after all?’
If several people studied together, it was obvious Dana would get distracted and play around.
That’s why he had deliberately stopped Han Ji-bin from coming, but he regretted it for a moment.
He gazed intently at Dana, who was oblivious to him and just happily eating toast.
It felt as if only he was conscious of Dana, and a little of his tension eased.
Just then, he noticed a piece of toast crumb on the corner of Dana’s mouth.
He instinctively reached out a hand.