NOVEL WEB Chapter 161
Chapter: 161
“Is it difficult, Ella?”
“…This isn’t even first-grade level.”
“Isn’t this the kind of hardest problem that comes up?”
She was saying that with a smirk.
Ella looked frustrated as she mumbled to herself in disbelief, but she didn’t seem all that threatening.
What was the worst Ella could do when she got mad? There was absolutely no need for me to stop teasing her.
“You said it yourself, right? That you’d definitely get top grades this time.”
“I did say that… but still.”
“So, don’t you think you should try these tough problems?”
“Tch.”
“Hurry up and solve it. You should know how to tackle these kinds of problems too. I’ve told you before, right?”
“…Just solve it.”
Ella started solving the problem again with that reply.
At first, I wanted to tease her by giving her super tough problems on purpose.
I mean, it wasn’t like I hadn’t really studied hard, so I had to take a jab at her for downplaying that effort.
“Haah…”
But now it was less about teasing and more about the fact that Ella was solving them better than I thought.
She was doing much better at this extremely difficult problem than I had expected, so I just kept asking her to solve more of them.
“Geez…”
The problem I had given her was quite challenging, so she was taking her time, but it was funny how she kept stealing glances at me while fuming subtly.
Watching her click her tongue and make annoyed sounds while she solved the problems was surprisingly entertaining.
Ella probably had no thoughts about that, though.
Oh, and by the way, today it was just Ella and me studying in the club room.
Usually, Karen or Ivana would be around, but they had their own things to do today, so it was just us.
“Hey, do you want a cookie?”
“I’m good, thanks. I’ll eat after I finish this.”
“Then I guess I’ll just eat alone.”
“…Well, maybe just once…”
“Hehe…”
Spending time alone with Ella after so long was more fun than I expected.
Of course, Ella had a frustrated expression from the hard problems, which was somewhat amusing, right?
I found it surprisingly entertaining to just watch her struggle.
If I let her keep going like this… she would definitely complain again about how hard it was.
“Um… this cookie is really good.”
“……..”
“The cookie I brought last time wasn’t nearly as tasty as this one, you know?”
“What’s that supposed to mean…?”
“If you eat this while you’re working so hard, you definitely won’t be able to concentrate properly. Should I just eat this by myself then?”
Holding the cookie in my hand, I said that with a grin.
The reason was obvious… to tease Ella.
Her pouting cheeks and furrowed brows when I said that were too funny to resist.
“Want to eat some?”
“I don’t want to, okay?”
“Hmm… really?”
“Really. I have to solve this problem right now, so don’t distract me.”
“Okay, okay…”
Ella really did have quite a bit of pride, huh?
Well, that was part of what made her cute.
“Are you sure you’re not going to eat? I was going to feed it to you.”
“…I won’t eat.”
I was waving the cookie in front of Ella’s face, but she was seriously looking at me.
Hmm… did she really get offended?
She didn’t look like she was overly miffed, though.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“I brought this to share with you, you know… it stings a bit…”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I planned to bring it specifically since we’re together today. If I had known you’d dislike it, I would’ve just eaten it with Rize at the dorm.”
I dropped the mischievous grin and switched to a pitiful expression instead.
I was really good at acting like this since childhood.
Even when I got caught by Rosalyn for gambling, I had easily smoothed it over with this kind of act.
Of course, I still gambled sometimes after that, but I never got caught… right?
Anyway, just saying, I was pretty darn good at acting.
Whenever I set my mind to it… I could pull it off quite well.
“…Well, I guess I have no choice.”
I tossed the cookie I was holding onto a plate.
Then I brought the plate with the remaining cookies closer toward me.
Originally, I had sat next to Ella and placed it in between us, but now I had moved it entirely to my side so that I could eat alone.
For her to get any of the cookies, she would have to come all the way over to my side.
“……..”
Then I started bumping the plate with the cookies, making it clear just how sulky I was.
Was Ella a bit flustered by my reaction?
She stopped writing with her pen and glanced over at me.
Though it was all just an act, it was cute how easily she fell for it.
She probably wouldn’t think I was intentionally pulling this stunt on her.
“…Hmph.”
“…Why are you so serious about it? I was just joking around…”
“No, it’s fine. Okay? If Ella doesn’t want any, there’s no need to make her eat it…”
“It’s not like… you?”
Ella called for me while still facing the plate of cookies with her head down.
“It’s not that I actually dislike it…”
“No, if you don’t want to eat, you don’t have to. It’s really no big deal.”
“Okay, I got it! So could you just eat already…?!”
With that, Ella got up from her chair and walked over to me.
Given that I had moved the plate to my side and was sitting still, it was hard for her to reach from her seat, right?
Thanks to that, her leg brushed against mine as she got uncomfortably close.
“…Seriously, why are you pouting over something so small?”
Ella grumbled a bit while she started picking up the cookie.
I just watched her quietly.
Though I found her reactions and actions cuter than I expected, I held back my laughter.
From childhood to now, Ella certainly seemed like a kind person.
“…It’s good.”
“Really?”
“Of course there’s no way I’d lie for something like this…! What are you even thinking?!”
The cookie really was just pretty good.
After all, it was from a place known for its top-notch quality.
If it didn’t taste good, then either the person eating it had ridiculously high standards or their brain was hurting… something like that.
I’m pretty sure if anyone else around asked, they would certainly say it was delicious too.
“Haah…”
After eating a few cookies, Ella let out a sigh while still standing.
What’s with this reaction after already enjoying them?
“Is it good? Is it good?”
“It’s good, okay…?”
“Hehe…”
“What’s so funny?”
“Why? You don’t like it?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I unintentionally let go of my act and couldn’t help but tease Ella a bit.
Her grumbling but still admitting it was pretty entertaining.
*
And so, we spent time studying for exams together in the club room until evening.
Surprisingly, Ella was doing well with the problems and keeping up much longer than I expected…
“Yawn….”
But continuing like this was getting a bit tiring.
Yeah.
“Are you tired?”
“I’m pretty exhausted… Aren’t you, Ella? You’ve been studying like this non-stop since after class.”
“I’m not completely worn out, but I’m not super energetic either.”
“Ugh….”
After finishing studying, I lay back on my bed stretching out while Ella looked lively instead.
It felt kind of ridiculous that only I was tired.
Didn’t we study together?
Ella was clearly doing way more work than I was, and I had merely helped explain things here and there.
So why was I the only one flopped out on the bed?
“By the way… you.”
“Yeah, Ella? What’s up? Got another problem you need help with?”
“Not exactly that; I just wanted to ask something.”
“Something to ask?”
Hmm…?
Ella has a question for me out of the blue?
To be honest, I didn’t suspect anything.
“These days… it seems like you’re getting along well with Ivana.”
“Right?”
“Since when did you two become so friendly? Weren’t you guys not that close before?”
“Hmm… when did I become close with Ivana…?”
It was an unexpected question that caught me a little off-guard.
I certainly didn’t expect Ella to ask me about Ivana like this.
But it wasn’t a question I couldn’t answer, right?
“We just became friends like any other. I had no reason not to get along with her; she’s a decent person.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yep. Plus, Ivana asked me for a favor not too long ago, so… it’s a bit awkward to explain.”
“…I see.”
I answered Ella’s question, but nothing extraordinary came up, to be honest.
It was just something about friendship, nothing jaw-dropping, really.
Even without that business talk, Ivana and I would have surely grown closer eventually.
“But why do you ask about Ivana? Were you curious because she suddenly didn’t show up today?”
“Oh, right. Yes. She’s usually quiet, but she’s always been someone who comes to the club room. I was just surprised she didn’t show up today.”
It was true that Ivana surprisingly made a habit of attending our club room.
Even I thought it was unnecessary for her to put in so much effort showing up, yet there she was spending a fair amount of time with us.
At first, I had sort of dragged her over since we needed numbers with some ridiculous wish-granting stuff…
But she kept coming more than I expected.
“Well, having someone as pretty as Ivana in the club room is a good thing.”
“…Huh?”
“What? Isn’t it true? It’s much better having someone pretty like Ivana join us than some random person no one knows.”
“Does it really work that way…?”
“Yep, it does.”
I mean, I like pretty people.
It’s a pretty straightforward way to think, but being pretty is inherently a plus, right?
And besides…
“You’re pretty too, which is why we hung out together since we were kids, and Karen and Grace are also like that.”
Everyone around me is good-looking.
They all fall into the category of being much prettier, cuter, and way more charming than average.
That’s why I’ve gotten close to them and kept hanging around.
“…Huh?”
“What?”
“Oh, um… I was just a bit surprised.”
“Surprised by what? Did something I say seem weird?”
I wondered if there was something strange in what I just said.
But I couldn’t think of anything that truly stood out.
“Nothing at all. I just… feel a bit tired, I guess. Yeah.”
“Ah.”
Indeed, Ella had been doing problems and studying hard, so she was bound to get tired.
However, there was no sign of fatigue on her pretty face, which was instead lit up with an almost excited expression…
She had certainly been working hard for hours, so she must be tired too.
Probably?