Chapter 58 – Rule 22. The Leader Stays Composed (7)

 

Those guys….’

I hadn’t been mistaken. I was sure I saw Ha Yesong staring at me with a mouth full of pork belly from the log cabin.

‘First it was Park Minhyuk. Now it’s Ha Yesong….’

It seemed the committee members were watching us from the other log cabin.

I began to understand why they didn’t join us at the camp.

‘Is it to leave Baek Seo and me alone?’

They had a history of such behavior.

‘What a pointless effort….’

Just as I was about to get up and bring them over, Baek Seo’s gentle voice caught my attention.

“What are you looking at?”

“Baek Seo, it seems like the others….”

“Hmm?”

She tilted her head, listening intently to what I was saying.

“Uh….”

Suddenly, her face glowed with a radiance one might only find in a romance manga.

They say that when you see a celebrity in person, they actually seem to shine.

Being next to Baek Seo, I could experience that phenomenon firsthand.

My bottom reattached to the chair. It was irresistible.

“Why didn’t they all come? The meat is delicious. It’s a shame.”

“Right.”

Well….

Wouldn’t it be okay?

After all, it seemed their unanimous goal was for Baek Seo and me to be alone.

‘I’ll respect their intentions.’

It seemed better to delay questioning until it was impossible to pretend ignorance, or until they revealed themselves.

That’s how I persuaded myself.

“Let’s find another time to meet up again.”

Baek Seo let out a kind laugh.

Relieved that Yesong had her fill of unlimited meat, I chatted with Baek Seo.

……

The pros and cons of a retreat: playing with several people in one house.

If you’re with close friends, the pros stand out.

While it was fun being alone with Baek Seo, it wasn’t the kind of fun you get from a retreat.

“I think those two will end up together.”

Baek Seo shared her thoughts while watching a dating program on TV.

The show featured high school students, attractive like celebrities, who had retreats and got into romantic antics. As usual with dating programs, it was quite entertaining.

“It does look like that.”

“It’s called mirroring when someone unconsciously mimics the other’s actions.”

“Mirroring?”

“A symptom that appears when you have feelings for someone.”

Baek Seo gave me a look as if I had exhibited mirroring behavior.

‘What should we do now?’

We had done everything there was to do together until it got dark.

We had talked so much over food that we had run out of topics.

‘We’re both not very talkative people….’

In the end, even during a retreat, we ended up talking while watching TV.

Playing silly pranks was also difficult. Neither of our personalities suited that.

‘It also affects my image.’

After all, Baek Seo was the kind of person who suited spending leisurely time talking to flowers in a garden.

‘It doesn’t seem right to call Geumyang over either.’

I had told her in advance that I wouldn’t see her today because of the committee retreat.

Though it didn’t feel like a committee retreat, calling Geumyang over today felt wrong.

‘Should I drag the committee members over? No, that’s also not right.’

After all, this quiet time was filling my heart with excitement.

Unintentionally, I was spending a peaceful day at the campsite with Baek Seo. How could that not be happy?

Moreover, their goal was for Baek Seo and me to spend time alone. Forcing them to come over would be a problem.

“President.”

Lost in thought, I heard Baek Seo’s voice.

“How are we going to sleep tonight?”

“We’ll split the rooms. We need to decide who sleeps where. I don’t mind sleeping anywhere.”

“Hmm…. I’ll take a last look around.”

“Go ahead.”

Baek Seo inspected the rooms and went upstairs. She then looked down at me from the second-floor railing.

“President, come up here?”

“Why?”

“Just come up.”

Okay.

I got up from the sofa and headed for the stairs.

“Turn off the lights.”

“Why?”

“You’ll understand when you get here.”

Turning off the lights made the house pitch dark.

Still, the lamps on the walls emitted a soft glow, allowing me to see around.

I climbed the stairs to the second floor.

Baek Seo was standing by the window, bathed in moonlight. She beckoned me over.

A gentle breeze blew through the wide-open window. Since it was in the mountains, it was cool despite being summer.

Standing beside her, I looked out the window.

“Oh, quite….”

A sky dotted with stars came into view. It was a sight rarely seen in the city.

It wasn’t dramatically beautiful, but the sheer number of stars was enough to excite anyone.

“There are a lot of stars.”

“Yeah. They’re pretty.”

“The mountains make them more visible. It’s a shame they don’t photograph well.”

“Why did you tell me to turn off the lights?”

“Just because? It’s more atmospheric.”

Baek Seo smiled contentedly.

“…You’re excited.”

“Not really.”

After a while, we silently gazed at the starry sky.

Then it hit me.

“Come to think of it, we haven’t taken many pictures.”

Maybe because it had been a while since such a situation, I had forgotten.

Also, Baek Seo wasn’t fond of taking pictures.

“Should we take some now…?”

“I’m ready.”

“That was quick.”

Before I could suggest it, she had already taken out her smartphone and activated the camera.

“Want to look here?”

She extended her arm holding the smartphone, capturing both of us and the view outside in the frame.

Besides the moonlight, the charming lights unique to the campsite made it quite bright.

Finding the right angle of reflection for the light, she subtly moved closer to me.

‘Hmm.’

A pleasant scent wafted from her neck.

Click. Click.

We took a few photos with light gestures.

‘The perfect subject.’

Not me, but Baek Seo.

She seemed destined to be a commercial model.

But….

“…Is it okay for us to take pictures alone? It’s a committee retreat, after all.”

I asked out of nervousness from being so close to her.

“Leaving such evidence might put us in a disadvantageous situation later for some reason.”

“Because we look like a couple?”

“Did you have to say it so bluntly…?”

She shattered my roundabout way of saying it out of embarrassment.

“As I said before, I don’t mind.”

I expected that answer.

“Well… I was just saying.”

What should I call this?

‘It feels rebellious….’

We’re the president and vice president, supposed to lead by example.

Yet here we are at the committee retreat, taking cozy pictures together.

Would we be treated as a couple?

‘Disgraceful.’

Even if we weren’t actually a couple.

Leaving such circumstantial evidence would mean setting a bad example.

Of course, it might just be a concern similar to a sense of professional ethics. Maybe even an obsession.

Moreover, it’s a common cliché in various media that the disciplinary committee members are more morally corrupt than other students or frequently break the rules secretly.

…No, that’s only in fiction.

In reality, a large and responsible disciplinary committee would feel guilty about such things.

‘That’s probably why the Myunghyeon High School kids sneaked off to date.’

The result of committee members who couldn’t resist their romantic desires was right next door.

Thinking of them, my gaze naturally turned towards the other log cabin.

It came into view.

“?” “?”

…We made eye contact.

‘Huh?’

Shin Ga-yeon, the vice president of Myunghyeon High School, sitting by the window.

And… President Lee Jae-ho, who was engaging in affectionate behavior with Ga-yeon, met my eyes.

We were both ranked above 5th dan.

Being sensitive sometimes had its drawbacks.

“…….” “…….”

We exchanged determined looks.

It was automatic.

‘Let’s pretend nothing happened today.’

My intention seemed to get through, as Jae-ho nodded and slowly drew the curtain.

I turned away from him.

‘They’ve gone all the way….’

My facial muscles twitched.

Were they aiming to fulfill their ultimate desires tonight?

Were the president and vice president planning to completely disregard the rules?

Were they planning to blatantly break the rules if they were going to?

‘Should I take solace in not being at that stage yet?’

The thought that something would happen next door tonight filled my head. My vibrant imagination fueled by my youthful vigor caused heat to rise in my head.

Trying to push the thought away, I looked at the back of Baek Seo’s head.

“……?”

She was silently looking out the window.

Her gaze was directed at the window of the next log cabin.

“Did you see?”

“…….”

She nodded without a word.

Her face was as calm as a still lake. She looked like a sage who had attained enlightenment.

“President, were we rivals with Myunghyeon High School?”

“I think so…. You knew, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Hmm…?”

Thud.

Suddenly, Baek Seo turned and pushed me against the window.

“Baek Seo?”

My bottom hit the window sill, and my hands grabbed the window frame to keep from falling.

“Stay still?”

She whispered softly in a private tone.

Then she stretched her arms out on either side of me, gripping the window frame and looking up at me from a close distance. As if to prevent me from escaping sideways.

A strange silence filled the air.

Bathed in moonlight, she stared into my eyes with that graceful face and then smiled slightly.

“…What are you doing?”

I half-closed my eyes.

“Seeing the rival suddenly filled me with a sense of competition.”

“In what way?”

No matter how I thought about it, it wasn’t in a healthy way.

Of course, it was probably just a usual joke. That was my conscious thought.

It might just be a little stronger joke because we were alone.

However…, in the current situation of being alone in a dark house, Baek Seo’s proactive attitude.

The mere thought of 'what if' deeply ingrained in my mind was enough to raise the heat in my body.

“You know.”

She spoke.

“I’m a girl too?”

It was a meaningful tone.