Jisoo couldn't concentrate.
The teacher had been talking for the past ten minutes, but he hadn't written anything down.
His notebook was open.
His pen was in his hand.
He had written the date.
That was it.
His thoughts kept going back to yesterday.
I missed you.
Then this morning.
I used to cook for you all the time, remember?
And then—
I needed some air because of you.
Jisoo lowered his pen.
"Why is this happening to me?"
"Jisoo."
He looked up.
The teacher was staring at him.
"Yes?"
"Would you like to share what you're thinking with the class?"
Jisoo looked around.
Everyone was watching him.
"No."
A few students laughed.
The teacher sighed.
"Then perhaps write something in your notebook."
"Yes, sir."
Jisoo lowered his head.
Great.
Now he couldn't even focus in class.
And it was all because of one girl.
Well...
Two girls.
That was the problem.
---
When class ended, Jisoo packed his things.
"Jisoo."
He looked up.
Real Sooyeon stood beside his desk, holding her notebook against her chest.
"Are you free after school?"
"For the project?"
She nodded.
"We still have some things to finish."
Jisoo glanced at his phone.
Nothing.
No message from the other Sooyeon.
He wasn't sure whether he was relieved or worried.
"Sure."
"Library?"
"Okay."
She smiled.
"Thanks."
She turned to leave.
Then stopped.
"Actually..."
Jisoo looked up.
"Yeah?"
She hesitated.
"Did you sleep okay?"
Jisoo blinked.
"Yeah."
"Good."
She nodded.
"That's all."
Then she walked away.
Jisoo watched her.
It was such a small question.
But for some reason, he kept thinking about it.
---
After school, they met at the library.
Real Sooyeon was focused.
She organized the slides, checked the references, and quietly complained whenever Jisoo made something unnecessarily complicated.
"Why did you write three paragraphs here?"
"Because I wanted to explain it."
"One sentence is enough."
"But—"
"One."
Jisoo sighed.
"Fine."
She smiled.
"Good."
"You enjoy bossing me around."
"I don't boss people around."
"You just deleted half my work."
"It was bad."
Jisoo stared at her.
She calmly returned to her laptop.
He couldn't help smiling.
She noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You're smiling."
"So?"
"I was just wondering why."
Jisoo shook his head.
"No reason."
She looked at him for another second.
Then smiled too.
"Okay."
She didn't push him.
For some reason, Jisoo liked that.
---
They finished just before sunset.
Sooyeon closed her laptop.
"Done."
Jisoo leaned back.
"Finally."
She stretched.
"I'm hungry."
"There's a convenience store."
She looked at him.
"I wasn't asking where food was."
Jisoo frowned.
"Then what were you asking?"
She hesitated.
Then smiled.
"Nothing."
Jisoo stared at her.
She looked away.
"There's a dessert place nearby."
Jisoo understood.
"You want something sweet."
"Maybe."
"Let's go."
Her expression brightened.
"Really?"
"Sure."
She smiled.
"Okay."
---
They walked toward the dessert shop.
The streets were busy with people heading home.
Jisoo walked beside Sooyeon, listening to her talk about the project.
Then they reached a crossing.
The pedestrian light was red.
They stopped.
Cars rushed past.
Sooyeon looked at the road.
Then at Jisoo.
The light turned green.
They started crossing.
Halfway across, a car suddenly turned into the intersection.
It wasn't close enough to hit them.
But it came faster than Jisoo expected.
Sooyeon's hand suddenly grabbed his.
Jisoo looked down.
Her fingers were wrapped around his.
She didn't seem to realize she'd done it.
They reached the other side.
She stopped.
Then looked down.
Her hand was still holding his.
Her eyes widened.
"Oh."
Jisoo looked at her.
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
She immediately let go.
Her cheeks turned pink.
"I just..."
She looked away.
"The car."
"I know."
"I wasn't scared."
Jisoo smiled.
"You grabbed my hand pretty hard for someone who wasn't scared."
"I said I wasn't scared."
"Right."
She looked embarrassed.
"Don't make fun of me."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm really not."
She looked at him.
Then quietly said,
"Sorry."
"For what?"
She shook her head.
"Nothing."
They continued walking.
But this time, there was a small gap between them.
Jisoo noticed.
And for some reason, he missed the warmth of her hand.
---
The dessert shop was small and quiet.
They sat by the window with two slices of cake.
Jisoo took a bite.
"It's good."
"You have good taste."
"You chose it."
"Exactly."
Jisoo laughed.
She smiled.
For a while, they ate in silence.
Then Sooyeon spoke.
"Jisoo."
"Hm?"
"Can I ask you something?"
He looked over.
She was staring at her fork.
"Sure."
She hesitated.
"Do you..."
She stopped.
Jisoo waited.
"Do you have someone you like?"
His hand stopped halfway to his mouth.
"Why?"
She shrugged.
"I don't know."
She picked at the edge of her cake.
"I was just curious."
Jisoo looked at her.
"Why are you curious?"
"I said I don't know."
She gave a small laugh.
Then looked out the window.
"Maybe I shouldn't have asked."
Jisoo didn't answer immediately.
There was something different about the question.
No teasing.
No playful smile.
She genuinely wanted to know.
"There is someone."
Sooyeon's fingers stopped.
"Oh."
Jisoo noticed the tiny change in her expression.
"You okay?"
She nodded.
"Yeah."
"You don't look okay."
"I'm fine."
She took another bite.
Then quietly added,
"She's lucky."
Jisoo stared at her.
"Why?"
Sooyeon looked at him.
"Because you seem like someone who really cares."
He didn't know what to say.
She smiled awkwardly.
"Sorry."
"For what?"
"Nothing."
She looked down again.
Jisoo couldn't stop wondering what she had wanted to say.
---
When Jisoo returned home that evening, the apartment was dark.
"Sooyeon?"
No answer.
He turned on the lights.
Empty.
He checked the bedroom.
Nothing.
Kitchen.
Nothing.
Then he noticed a paper bag sitting on the table.
He walked over.
There was a note attached.
For you.
He opened the bag.
A pastry was inside.
His favorite.
Jisoo smiled.
Then he read the second line.
Don't say I never do anything for you.
He laughed.
"Of course."
"You're welcome."
Jisoo nearly dropped the bag.
He turned around.
Parallel Sooyeon was standing behind him.
She was wearing his hoodie again.
Her hair was messy.
And she had that smug little smile on her face.
"You really need to stop sneaking up on me."
"You really need to stop being so easy to scare."
She walked past him and stole a piece of the pastry.
"Hey."
"I bought it."
"For me."
"Then you should be grateful."
Jisoo laughed.
She pointed at him.
"See?"
"What?"
"You're smiling."
"So?"
"I like when you smile."
She said it so casually that Jisoo didn't know how to respond.
She took another bite.
Then looked at him.
"So."
Jisoo immediately became suspicious.
"What?"
"Who were you with?"
"Nobody."
She stared at him.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Interesting."
"What?"
"You smell like cake."
Jisoo blinked.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Everything."
She stepped closer.
"Did you eat dessert with her?"
Jisoo sighed.
"You were following me."
"I wasn't following you."
"You knew where I was."
"I have eyes."
"That's not an answer."
She smiled.
"Okay. Maybe I saw you."
"You were jealous."
"I wasn't."
"You were."
"I wasn't."
"You absolutely were."
She crossed her arms.
"Fine."
Jisoo waited.
She looked away.
"Maybe a little."
He smiled.
"You're jealous."
"Don't look so happy about it."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm really not."
She stepped closer.
"Then why are you smiling?"
Jisoo couldn't answer.
She looked at him for a moment.
Then her expression softened.
"Was she nice?"
"Who?"
"The other me."
Jisoo paused.
"Yeah."
"Pretty?"
"You're asking me that?"
"Answer."
Jisoo sighed.
"Yes."
She looked annoyed.
"You're supposed to lie."
"I thought you didn't want me to lie."
"Not when it's inconvenient."
Jisoo laughed.
She tried to stay annoyed.
She couldn't.
"So what did you do?"
"We worked on the project."
"Just that?"
"And got dessert."
She narrowed her eyes.
"Just dessert?"
"Yes."
She nodded slowly.
"Okay."
Jisoo looked at her.
"Why are you interrogating me?"
She shrugged.
"Because I care."
Then, almost immediately, she added:
"And because you're mine."
Jisoo froze.
She froze too.
For half a second, neither of them spoke.
Then she looked away.
"In my world."
Her voice became quieter.
"You're my boyfriend."
Jisoo didn't joke this time.
"I know."
She looked back at him.
Then reached for his hand.
No hesitation.
No awkwardness.
No second thought.
Her fingers simply slipped between his.
Like she'd done it a thousand times.
Jisoo looked down.
"You don't even think about it, do you?"
"Think about what?"
"Holding my hand."
She looked at their hands.
"Why would I?"
Jisoo stared at her.
She smiled.
"You always held my hand."
There was something strangely simple about the way she said it.
Like she was talking about breathing.
Like it wasn't romantic to her.
It was just normal.
Because they had already done this countless times.
She tugged his hand.
"Come on."
"Where?"
"I'm hungry."
"You just ate."
"I want ramen."
"You always want ramen."
"Exactly."
She pulled him toward the kitchen.
Jisoo followed.
His hand remained in hers.
And he couldn't stop thinking about the difference.
Earlier, Real Sooyeon had grabbed his hand without thinking.
Then immediately let go when she realized what she'd done.
This Sooyeon didn't even notice she was holding his.
Because to her...
there was nothing unusual about it.
---
Later that night, Jisoo lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
His old phone was on the desk.
The one he'd given to Parallel Sooyeon.
His own phone was beside him.
Two phones.
Two worlds.
Two Sooyeons.
His phone lit up.
A message from Real Sooyeon.
Did you get home safely?
Jisoo smiled.
He typed:
Yeah. You too?
A reply came a moment later.
I just got home. Goodnight, Jisoo.
He smiled again.
Then stopped.
Why was he smiling?
He put the phone down.
A few seconds later, the bedroom door opened.
Parallel Sooyeon peeked inside.
"You awake?"
"Yeah."
She walked in.
"Move."
"What?"
She climbed onto the edge of his bed.
"I can't sleep."
"You have a perfectly good couch."
"I don't like the couch."
"You slept there yesterday."
"Yesterday I was desperate."
Jisoo laughed.
She looked at him.
"What?"
"Nothing."
She stared at him suspiciously.
"You're smiling again."
"No, I'm not."
"You are."
She leaned closer.
"Who messaged you?"
"No one."
"Jisoo."
"Go to sleep."
She narrowed her eyes.
Then smiled.
"Fine."
She lay down beside him.
Not touching him.
Just close enough that he could feel her warmth.
After a moment, she whispered,
"Jisoo?"
"Hm?"
"I'm glad you're here."
He looked at her.
She was staring at the ceiling.
"In my world, I thought I'd lost you."
Her voice was quiet.
"I don't want to feel that again."
Jisoo didn't know what to say.
So he simply answered,
"You won't."
She turned toward him.
"Promise?"
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
"Promise."
She smiled.
"Good."
She closed her eyes.
Jisoo remained awake.
Thinking about the girl beside him.
Then about the girl who had just texted him.
They were both Sooyeon.
But they weren't the same.
One held his hand because she remembered doing it a thousand times.
The other had held his hand for only a few seconds—
and had spent the rest of the evening pretending it never happened.
Jisoo smiled to himself.
Then immediately stopped.
Because he was beginning to realize something.
He liked both.
And he had absolutely no idea what he was going to do about it.