Anything But Study - Chapter 11

“I hold it with… my hand?”

Melia stammered as she repeated his request aloud, unsure if she had understood it correctly.

But Hailon nodded, as if there was nothing wrong with it. “I’m not used to writing since I don’t know the stroke order.”

Then he motioned with his eyes.

As if telling her to place her hand quickly over his.

“If you write with me, I think I’ll get used to it faster.”

A brief silence followed again.

It felt as if she were really about to teach a child how to write. Was it okay for her to do this?

This was Hailon, after all.

Melia’s answer came after about two seconds of silence.

“Alright, I’ll do it.”

It wasn’t actually a difficult thing. From the start, he probably meant it literally; he just didn’t know the stroke order and wanted to learn.

It was ridiculous for her to be getting nervous over something so trivial.

Still, the fact that she kept reacting differently just because he was a man bothered her.

Melia placed her hand on top of his.

‘It’s… big.’

Once her hand rested over his, it looked so small in comparison.

Since becoming an adult, Melia had never really held hands with a man properly before.

Were men’s hands always this big?

She wondered for a moment, but quickly answered herself.

Her brother Ervan’s hands weren’t like this, nor were her uncle’s, who once struck her cheek. Their hands had never been this thick or large.

But with hands this big… would she even be able to move them at all?

“Then I’ll try writing like this.”

“Yeah, this feels nice.”

Though she said she’d try, she moved her hand slowly, half-doubting herself.

‘Hm?’

Melia felt a strange sense of familiarity.

Why did it feel like her hand was moving so easily?

It was strange that his large hand moved so lightly, as if he already knew where she was going to draw each stroke.

That couldn’t be possible, of course.

Hiding her uneasy thoughts, Melia continued to move her hand.

She just hoped Hailon would get a better grasp of it than before.

But after they wrote a few more letters, Hailon spoke, making her hand stop again.

“Isn’t it a bit uncomfortable?”

Melia’s expression turned awkward. “I must’ve been holding your hand too tightly. Then I’ll loosen it a little….”

His hand was so large that she hadn’t even realized she was gripping it so tightly until now.

“No, not that.”

But when Melia’s grip began to relax, Hailon immediately objected, as if telling her not to let go.

Then what was uncomfortable?

She had no idea.

Screech—

The sound of Hailon’s chair moving broke the silence, and soon, her confusion was resolved.

“H-Hailon?”

In an instant, the two of them were sitting so close their chairs were touching, leaving not even enough space for a finger between them.

Their shoulders brushed. Melia stiffened.

Why… why?

Earlier, even when their faces had been close, their bodies hadn’t actually touched.

But now…!

Wasn’t this way too close? Her mind went blank.

She was flustered, but not uncomfortable. The real problem was how wildly her heart was racing.

“You were sitting too far. It looked uncomfortable. This is better.”

He was right. Honestly, Melia had been a little uncomfortable having to stretch her arm so far to move her hand.

Hailon must have noticed her discomfort and kindly adjusted for her.

But then, what was she supposed to do about her heart pounding so violently?

Of course, that was her own problem, but the stimulation was too much.

Barely managing to calm herself down without letting him notice, Melia began moving her hand again.

“Th-then I’ll write again.”

Melia didn’t usually stutter, but whenever she was in front of him, it felt like her language ability dulled. Like an idiot.

What if he thought, ‘Why is the top student so awkward?’ and decided she was too unreliable to keep tutoring him?

She told herself to focus, to pull herself together, and moved the hand she’d placed over Hailon’s.

“It’s too soft. I can’t really feel it.”

Hailon spoke again.

“You should hold it tighter, like before. That way, I can actually feel it, don’t you think?”

Then he lifted his left hand and placed it on top of Melia’s.

Her right hand was on his right hand, and now his left hand covered both of them.

“Like this, firmly.”

At the same time, strength filled his left hand. Melia’s hand was pressed tightly into his palm.

It felt like electricity ran through the point where their skin met. Though that couldn’t be real.

The heart she had barely managed to calm started racing again. She could feel her cheeks heating up.

“This way, I can feel it properly.”

He was probably referring to feeling how the strokes moved.

That must have been what he meant, but Melia still felt strangely embarrassed.

It must be because she had no resistance to physical contact with men. Suppressing her pounding heart, she cleared her throat.

“Like this?”

Melia pressed down harder than before, closing every gap between their hands so not even the smallest space remained.

But then she wondered if she was pressing too hard, or if it was actually more uncomfortable this way.

“Yeah, that’s good.”

Hailon seemed pleased. He lifted his left hand off hers, looking satisfied.

“Keep doing it like that.”

“Then I’ll continue.”

Melia forced herself to focus on the ancient characters again.

With each stroke, she tried to ignore the fact that she was still holding his large, solid hand.

Fortunately, Hailon didn’t speak again and quietly followed her lead.

After they wrote for quite a while,

“How is it? Do you think you’re getting it a little?”

Melia watched his reaction.

“It’s definitely helping.”

She was relieved that it was effective.

“Then let’s do it like this again tomorrow.”

If he said it helped him learn better, then continuing this way was the right thing to do.

Calming her racing heart would just have to be her own responsibility.

But today they’d only covered five of the twenty-five ancient letters.

That meant she’d have to overlap hands with Hailon four more times.

‘Can I handle it?’

It worried her a little, but she’d already agreed. There was no turning back.

Melia glanced outside. At some point, the orange sunset had begun to sink over the sky.

“I think that’s enough for today, right?”

“…Yeah, since there’s tomorrow too.”

Hailon nodded, but his voice sounded faintly reluctant.

Melia tilted her head.

It couldn’t be just her imagination; he really did sound a little disappointed.

He didn’t seem particularly interested in studying, but maybe writing the ancient letters had been fun for him.

Or maybe, since he’d lived such an easy life, having a goal and working toward something felt enjoyable.

He must live in a world she couldn’t quite understand.

Either way, the lesson didn’t seem unpleasant for him. That alone made Melia a little more motivated.

“Is there a subject you’d like to learn first next time?”

If there was something he wanted, she could prepare materials in advance.

She expected him to choose an easier subject.

“What about archaeology?”

That was unexpected. Of all things, he chose the one considered the hardest.

“Archaeology?”

“Everyone says it’s the most difficult, right?”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

Melia actually thought the opposite, but generally, that was correct.

“Then shouldn’t we start with the hard one first?”

“Sure, I like archaeology.”

She found archaeology the most interesting and enjoyable subject. Studying the mysterious ancient discipline made her feel like she was exploring an unknown world.

“Really? That’s great. You’re going to the archaeology camp too, right?”

“Thanks to you. I appreciate it.”

Melia meant it. If it weren’t for Hailon, she wouldn’t have been able to attend that camp.

“Help me out when we get there. That camp’s important for grades, isn’t it?”

“Of course. Oh, did you want to study archaeology first because of the camp?”

“Yeah. Let’s go with that.”

His answer sounded a little strange, but Melia decided not to dwell on it.

Sometimes when talking with Hailon, he would say things that she couldn’t quite make sense of.

Maybe it was because he had a world of his own, one she could never fully understand.

They’d grown up in completely different environments, after all.

“Then I’ll prepare the archaeology materials for tomorrow.”

“Alright, Teacher Melia.”

The moment their eyes met as he smiled faintly, Melia’s face flushed bright red.

She had a certain feeling.

That this unreal, breathtaking face of his would never feel familiar to her, no matter how long this tutoring continued.