Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 271

“Don’t worry, just wait.”

Sohee responded calmly while quietly listening to my conversation with Seongsin senior.

With those words, Sohee left alone.

Seongsin senior and I were left awkwardly in the classroom.

“Are, are we going to be okay?”

I dazedly nodded at Seongsin senior’s question.

Probably, it would be fine. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I had heard that a large foundation funding this school was overseen by Sohee’s father.

So her influence must be pretty strong.

And Sohee is on our side.

There was a high probability that this issue would be resolved quite easily.

It felt a bit like I was using my friend’s background, but what could I do?

This was the only way I had.

Seeing how Sohee was offering her help without any hesitation, perhaps she was thinking somewhat similarly to me?

Right now, all I could do was eat snacks and wait for Sohee to bring some good news.

About ten minutes later, Sohee returned.

She had a light smile on her face that was quicker than I expected.

“Uh, what happened?”

I asked, a mix of fear and anticipation in my question.

But Sohee just smiled lightly without giving me an answer.

“Hayun.”

“Yes?”

“If everything goes smoothly… what will you do for me as a reward?”

I opened my mouth, dazed by Sohee’s question.

So she wanted some kind of compensation from me?

But I had nothing. The only thing I could offer to Sohee, who had overflowing wealth, was this cute, genius girl body of mine.

I awkwardly smiled and spoke up.

“Uh, should I hug you?”

“Really?”

Sohee asked back with a wide smile at my playful question.

I was the one getting flustered seeing her genuinely happy.

“Uh… I don’t have anything else to offer…”

“Then do it.”

Is it really going to end so simply with just a hug?

I cautiously stepped closer and asked.

“Are you really, really okay with just this?”

“Yes. For now.”

“For now”?

Does that mean she might ask for something bigger later?

As I hesitated, I eventually leaped lightly into Sohee’s arms.

Since I realized there wasn’t much I could do for her anyway.

As I reached out and gently embraced Sohee, her soft and warm figure pressed against me.

Maybe it was because it was like a reward.

This hug felt longer and deeper than usual.

With her hand gently stroking my back, I could hear Sohee’s laughter above me.

“Were, were you satisfied…?”

“Yes.”

I’m glad to hear that.

I took a step back from Sohee’s embrace and looked for cues in her eyes.

At this point, I could guess why Sohee was craving affection from me.

It might be related to her family situation.

These rich girls in subculture stories often had that kind of background.

A wealthy family and busy parents.

The girl born into that household may feel abundance in material happiness but lacked the affection from her parents…

It was quite a plausible story, wasn’t it?

She clearly wanted more affection from me, her best friend, than from her somewhat distant parents.

I looked at Sohee with pity and hugged her once more.

“Hayun?”

“Whenever you want, just say it… I’ll hug you plenty.”

“Uh… okay…?”

Unknowingly, I had caught onto the secret Sohee was hiding.

I truly wondered…

How smart was I trying to become?

By now, my intelligence was starting to scare me.

Playing games well, studying hard, and being good at deduction.

On top of that, I have a nice personality.

Seohaeon. Aren’t you just too perfect?

“So, is it okay if we don’t have a match…?”

Lost in my thoughts, I was rubbing my face against Sohee’s soft belly when Seongsin senior cautiously spoke up.

I was curious about that too.

I raised my head to glance at Sohee.

“Yes, there’s no problem. Just keep going as usual until the day of the tournament.”

“Really…? We don’t have to submit grades or anything?”

“Yes. So don’t worry.”

Sohee answered with a confident expression.

She truly was my best friend.

I wrapped my arms around Sohee’s waist a bit tighter.

“Th-thank goodness… I thought we’d have to return to class…”

Seongsin senior sighed in relief as she spoke.

Seeing that, I nodded.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to attend school classes.

“But how did you resolve it?”

While I was nodding, Seongsin senior observed and asked Sohee.

But Sohee didn’t respond at all.

She just kept smiling lightly without answering.

It felt oddly scary how silently she smiled.

Seongsin senior, sensing the same thing, fell silent and awkwardly stepped back.

“I’m sorry… Was it difficult to answer?”

“It was a bit difficult.”

“I-I’ll practice a bit more… Yes, I’ll practice…!”

Seongsin senior fled into the capsule at Sohee’s wordless smile.

Left alone with Sohee, I cautiously gauged the atmosphere.

“Hayun.”

“Ah, yes?”

“Do you know about friendship rings?”

“Friendship rings?”

I tilted my head at Sohee’s question.

Friendship rings. I knew about them. Isn’t it when close friends get matching rings like a couple?

Of course, I only knew about it. No one around me ever had friendship rings.

Probably because I didn’t have anyone nearby.

“Why do you ask?”

“Wanna get matching ones with me…?”

The carefully posed question flew at me.

Sohee, asking about friendship rings, was checking my reaction.

Was this even a question worth checking for a reaction?

I nodded without hesitation.

“Sure.”

“Really?”

Sohee was definitely a child starved for affection.

As I nodded in my thoughts, Sohee pulled out her phone from her pocket and showed me pictures of small rings.

“How about this one?”

“What do you think looks good?”

The rings Sohee showed were all extravagant.

Sparkling gems and gold.

They looked a bit too flashy to be considered friendship rings.

“Um…”

“Do you not like it…?”

“It seems too extravagant…”

Of course, being flashy wasn’t inherently bad.

But these rings looked more like wedding rings or couples’ rings than friendship ones.

“You’re not seriously thinking of getting them with real gems, right…?”

I asked out of concern.

If she nodded, I wouldn’t consider accepting these rings.

But Sohee just laughed lightly, brushing aside my worries.

“They’re cubic.”

“Ah…”

If it were an ordinary friendship ring, its price would likely be within my pocket money range.

Only then could I shake off the feeling of burden.

“If this is too much for you, how about this one?”

Sohee showed me a new ring design that matched what I wanted perfectly.

A chain format with a small steel plate wrapped around it.

It seemed like it was made to engrave our names on it.

“Looks good.”

“So shall we go with this?”

From the outer appearance, there was no sparkling cubic, so it shouldn’t be pricey.

I happily nodded.

*

“Hayun.”

As school was ending, just when I was about to grab my bag and leave the classroom, Sohee called out to me.

Wondering what it was, I peeked back, and there was a small box in Sohee’s hands.

“Ah.”

The moment I saw it, memories of our previous conversation came flooding back.

The day Sohee helped solve the tournament issue.

That was just two days ago.

She had shown me pictures of friendship rings back then.

So it seemed they had already been made.

“Did it get made already?”

“Yes. Come here.”

I looked around and approached Sohee.

Even though it was after school, classmates were unusually quick to leave the classroom.

So only Sohee and I were left in the classroom.

Clack—

As I neared, Sohee opened the box to reveal the rings inside.

Inside the small box lay a pair of rings.

Shining silver, they seemed to scatter a gentle light as if made from melted moonlight.

“They’re a bit different from what I saw in the photos…?”

“That’s because I showed you a sample. It couldn’t be the same.”

“Is that so…?”

I nodded at Sohee’s words.

The ring designs matched what she had shown me.

[LSH]

[SHY]

The engraved rings bore our names.

I extended my hand to pick up the ring with my name on it.

“This is mine?”

“No. That one’s mine.”

“Huh… But my name is engraved on it?”

“So that means it’s mine.”

Ah. Now I understand.

It’s about having rings with each other’s names engraved.

I nodded and offered Sohee the ring I was holding.

“Can you put it on me?”

“The ring…?”

“Yeah.”

Having her put it on me shouldn’t be a problem, but…

The issue was the finger Sohee extended.

Her left ring finger.

Watching her hold it out, I saw Sohee gently shake her hand.

“Hurry up.”

“Uh… is it usually put on here?”

“Yes.”

Is that correct?

Is this really right?

As I hesitated, Sohee grabbed my hand and slipped the ring onto her finger.

In an unexpected turn of events, I ended up putting the ring on her finger.

Sohee satisfiedly looked down at her hand before placing the remaining ring on my left ring finger.

The ring slid right in, fitting comfortably as if it belonged there from the start.

“Ah, um, Sohee…”

“Yes?”

“Isn’t this where people usually wear couple rings? Like wedding rings…?”

“These days, people don’t care about that as much.”

“Oh…?”

I dumbly nodded at Sohee’s response.

In that moment, I felt one question rising.

This ring was custom-made. But I had never told Sohee my finger size.

How could she have known my finger size?

“Uh, Sohee…”

“Yes?”

“How did you know my size for this ring?”

Of course, it was a question I had to ask.

Though it was a casual question, Sohee didn’t answer.

Just as an oddly heavy silence descended.

Sohee, who had been silent, finally spoke up.

“Your hand.”

“My hand?”

“You often touch my hand… So I could tell.”

“Ah…”

Only then did I nod.

Well, Sohee had indeed played with my hand a bit.

I raised the hand with the ring high to see it glimmer in the sunlight streaming through the window.

[LSH]

The part where Sohee’s name was etched sparkled brilliantly as it caught the sunlight.