After Mada gave Karin water, he often gave her snacks or cold drinks.
But they never talked about it. Mada would simply set food on Karin's desk out of nowhere or hand it directly to her.
Naturally, Karin was confused by Mada's behavior and decided to ask him about it.
"What's up with you? You keep giving me food and drinks. Did you come into a lot of money?" Karin asked when Mada gave her a snack from the cafeteria during break.
"Yeah, I just won big gambling. Hahaha," Mada replied.
"Ugh, you're giving me food that's forbidden."
"No way. What's your deal?" Mada asked.
"It's just weird. Sometimes you bring your own lunch, but you still buy snacks for me," Karin replied.
"Hehehe, I don't know. You look cute when you eat."
"Huh?"
Mada gave no further explanation because he immediately walked away.
Karin stood there, bewildered, until Ninda came in from the parking lot to retrieve the house key she'd left behind.
"Nin, does my face look weird when I eat?" Karin asked.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Ninda was confused by Karin's question.
"Does my face get weird when I eat?" Karin repeated.
"No. Why?"
"No reason."
"What do you mean, no reason? What's wrong with you?" Ninda was annoyed by Karin's random questions.
"Don't you feel like Mada's been giving me food a lot lately?" Karin asked in a whisper, even though she knew Mada was outside the classroom during break.
"Oh, yeah! I just realized that," Ninda replied loudly.
"Don't be so loud, Ninda," Karin said, trying to cover Ninda's mouth.
"Oh, right. Sorry."
Once things had settled down, Karin continued.
"You know, I asked Mada earlier why he keeps giving me food."
"Yeah? What did he say?" Ninda asked curiously.
"He said I look cute when I'm eating. Isn't that weird?" Karin replied, repeating Mada's answer.
Ninda fell silent.
"Rin, didn't you say Mada has a girlfriend?" Ninda asked.
"Yeah, an engineering student," Karin answered.
"Do you still text Mada often?" Ninda asked again.
"No. That's why I'm confused," Karin said, still puzzled by Mada's recent behavior.
"Do you think Mada likes you?" Ninda whispered.
"What? No way!" Karin shouted halfway.
"Try thinking about it logically," Ninda said again.
This time, Karin fell silent at Ninda's words.
That day, Karin had a meeting with the other student council members after school. When she left the classroom, Jidan was already waiting outside.
"Rin, let's go together," Jidan said alongside Ani, his classmate and fellow student council member.
"Okay. Hey, Ani, send me some new anime," Karin said, turning to Ani.
"You got it. I brought a ton of them. Hahaha," Ani replied.
The three of them walked together to the student council room.
None of them knew that someone was watching them with a sorrowful gaze.
That night, as usual, Karin arranged her books before continuing the anime she'd asked Ani for that afternoon.
While she was absorbed in the show, Karin checked her phone.
'Rin, I need to vent,' Mada wrote.
'Sure, go ahead. What's wrong?' Karin replied.
'I'm really pissed off at my girlfriend.' Karin was a little shocked. As far as she knew, Mada wasn't the type to get angry with other people easily.
'What happened?' Karin asked curiously.
'She's still texting her ex. Yesterday, when I asked her to call me, she said she couldn't because she was on the phone with her ex. Can you believe that?' Mada wrote at length.
Karin frowned. 'Am I reading this wrong? Someone as handsome as Mada is getting treated like this?' she thought.
'What? Is she still hoping to get back with her ex? Then why is she dating you?' Karin asked.
'Exactly. That's why I'm confused,' Mada replied.
'Then ask her whether she's choosing you or her ex. Do you really want to be someone's backup?' Karin wrote, offering him advice.
Karin and Mada continued chatting until late at night, then decided to end the conversation.