“Seo Eunho.”
At the voice calling his name, Seo Eunho furrowed his brow and stirred. However, it was difficult to open his eyes.
“Seo Eunho.”
He wished they would just ignore him and leave. The persistent bastard called his name twice and even shook his body.
Normally he’d want to pretend not to notice, but since the voice calling his name belonged to Tae Shinwoo, Seo Eunho forced his eyes open. It wasn’t so much because it was the first time he’d heard it since last weekend, but rather because he found it strange that the bastard was calling him at school.
What kind of wind was blowing?
Though he had no concrete basis for it, Seo Eunho had naturally assumed that Tae Shinwoo would pretend not to know him at school. There was no need to acknowledge him anyway. He’d thought this even more so because Tae Shinwoo seemed conscious of other people’s gazes.
Because it would be strange no matter what for model student Tae Shinwoo, who had no flaws, to associate with him. Seo Eunho had speculated that Tae Shinwoo would want to continue maintaining his model student image.
“……Why.”
But had he misjudged?
Seo Eunho looked straight at Tae Shinwoo without hiding his face full of questions. Meanwhile, the classroom atmosphere, which had been annoyingly noisy the whole time he’d been sleeping, had strangely quieted down.
Was it fascinating? There was plenty to be fascinated about. Seo Eunho, who had been scanning his surroundings without hiding his unusually sensitive mood due to not sleeping properly for several days, rubbed his face and let out a long sigh.
“Why are you sleeping like this?”
However, Tae Shinwoo, who should be more conscious of others’ gazes than himself, was only calm. Seo Eunho quietly mulled over his out-of-the-blue question.
When coming to school, sleeping was his daily routine, so why was he asking about it now?
“You’re not even working part-time, so why do you keep sleeping at school?”
“Ah.”
As if he’d heard his doubts, Tae Shinwoo immediately followed up with a question. Only then did Seo Eunho understand the bastard’s question, but it was still just as bewildering. It was because Tae Shinwoo hadn’t lowered his voice at all.
In fact, to the bastards in the class, Seo Eunho sleeping all the time wouldn’t seem like just a day or two thing. So Tae Shinwoo asking about it now would seem even stranger.
Moreover, he was giving off the nuance that he knew whether Seo Eunho was working part-time or not, so naturally the sound of them whispering among themselves could be heard.
Did it not matter much?
Seo Eunho rubbed the back of his neck. Tae Shinwoo, looking at him with that hatefully well-made smiling face, felt a bit unfamiliar. Was it because he felt quite different from when they met outside? Though it had only been once, it was a funny thought.
“Because I’m sleepy.”
After answering half-heartedly, Seo Eunho tried to lay his head back down on the desk. He didn’t want to show the irritation slowly rising to Tae Shinwoo.
“So, why?”
But Tae Shinwoo was persistent, as if he absolutely had to know the reason. If he was sleepy, he was sleepy—why would he need a reason?
With this dissatisfied thought, Seo Eunho kept letting out deep sighs. His face burned from the several pairs of eyes watching the two of them. Due to his fatigue, even that was unbearably irritating.
“What does it matter?”
Seo Eunho answered with a sharp tone. Of course, this was partly due to irritation, but because the other party was Tae Shinwoo, Seo Eunho didn’t want to explain his situation in detail.
Originally, Seo Eunho didn’t hide his situation from anyone. He didn’t feel the need to hide it, and those who would know already knew. If someone asked, he’d just answer.
But the other party was Tae Shinwoo. Seo Eunho didn’t want the strange rumors that would arise after explaining the trivial reason for why he was sleeping like this now—namely, that the two of them seemed quite close. Tae Shinwoo probably felt the same way.
Well… the moment he saw Tae Shinwoo’s expression twist ever so slightly, he could immediately realize that he’d misjudged.
Tae Shinwoo’s expression returned to normal as quickly as usual. He was clearly conscious of their surroundings. Seo Eunho became newly curious about why Tae Shinwoo lived pretending to be nice at school.
Was it fun to break his image? Was he doing that annoying thing just for that reason? It was a very belated question.
“You have time after school ends, right?”
Regardless of what he was thinking, Tae Shinwoo showed no particular interest. The murmuring grew louder at the bastard’s words, but he seemed not to care about that either.
Anyway, he’d promised to spend time with Tae Shinwoo, so there was no need to ask like this. Why was he making their surroundings noisy?
Wouldn’t Tae Shinwoo be the one inconvenienced if strange rumors spread? He himself didn’t really care. Well, Tae Shinwoo must not care either since he was doing this. Seo Eunho nodded without protest. Understanding didn’t take very long.
At the same time Seo Eunho nodded, Tae Shinwoo turned his steps. Seo Eunho, who had been sitting upright until he completely disappeared from view, immediately laid his head down on the desk. In the place where Tae Shinwoo had disappeared, only the stinging gazes directed at himself remained.
Fortunately, no one spoke to him. Even if they asked, he wouldn’t answer anyway. Because he couldn’t say the ridiculous thing that he was getting paid to hang out with Tae Shinwoo.
Seo Eunho closed his eyes and swallowed the laughter rising up. The fact that the bastard and he were in a relationship that couldn’t be defined felt somewhat ridiculous now.
***
Sure enough, Seo Eunho remained asleep until school ended. However, the half-awake feeling didn’t quite go away. He had slept, but it didn’t feel like he’d slept properly at all.
It hadn’t been this bad even when he was working part-time. Why was he so tired? By the time homeroom started, both eyes were bloodshot red, and when he stood up to leave the school, his body even swayed. Seo Eunho barely pulled himself together and moved his steps.
There weren’t many people leaving school immediately after homeroom like himself. Most went home after finishing supplementary classes and evening self-study. Seo Eunho slowly passed through the quiet school gate. His legs, hung heavy with the fatigue of the past few days, kept staggering.
In fact, Seo Eunho hadn’t been able to go home since the day he spent the weekend with Tae Shinwoo. So it had already been a week. It was because his father had suddenly returned home.
He occasionally came home, but it was rare for him to stay this long. Just thinking about it made irritation surge.
He just didn’t want to run into him. There was nothing more tiring than getting into arguments with his drunken father. He judged that sleeping rough was better than that. The weather was warm, so wouldn’t it be better to spend the night outside instead?
However, after a week of this, he was gradually reaching his limit. There was no way there could be a place to sleep comfortably on the streets, and so for several days now he’d been greeting the morning in a daze with his eyes open. Right now, the only place Seo Eunho could even attempt to sleep was school.
Was he using up all his stamina wandering around for no reason? Whether working part-time or now, staying up all night was the same, so why was he so tired?
To make matters worse, tomorrow was the weekend. He couldn’t come to an empty school either. At this rate, he’d just have to give up and go home.
“Haah……”
A sigh mixed with all kinds of irritation flowed out. To satisfy the rising urge to smoke, Seo Eunho looked around the area.
“Where are you going?”
But before he could even take a few steps, his arm was grabbed. Perhaps because he was tired, his gaze turned slowly. Only then did he see that Tae Shinwoo was standing right next to him. Seo Eunho twisted his face and shook off Tae Shinwoo’s hand that was holding him.
“What? When did you get here?”
“Just now.”
“Why do you go around so quietly?”
Even to himself, it was nitpicking over nothing. Tae Shinwoo seemed to think similarly as he let out a hollow laugh.
“You probably just didn’t hear.”
Seo Eunho neither affirmed nor denied. Instead, he resumed the steps he’d briefly stopped. He was going to answer that he was going to smoke if asked where he was going again, but Tae Shinwoo didn’t particularly ask.
Upon reaching an alley a bit farther than the place he usually went, Seo Eunho immediately found a cigarette and put it in his mouth. Tae Shinwoo was leaning against the wall across from him, staring at Seo Eunho. Only after lighting his cigarette did Seo Eunho, conscious of that gaze, hold out his cigarette pack toward Tae Shinwoo.
“Are you going to smoke?”
“I don’t smoke.”
“Really?”
Come to think of it, even when he’d hung around the convenience store, he’d refused cigarettes, and when they spent time together on the weekend, Tae Shinwoo had never smoked along with him while he was smoking. He’d naturally thought he smoked. It was funny that he’d thought that way. Had he thought even that was being hidden?
How unlike him.
Seo Eunho swallowed the thought that people who only knew Tae Shinwoo’s public image would absolutely never agree with.
“So.”
“What?”
“Why do you keep sleeping at school? Instead of sleeping at home.”
The moment cigarette smoke dispersed from Seo Eunho’s mouth, Tae Shinwoo asked directly, as if he’d been waiting a long time.
Why was he so curious about that? Though there was nothing he couldn’t say, Seo Eunho, perversely twisted for no reason, answered sullenly.
“What does it matter? Whether I sleep at school or not. Are you managing my reputation or something?”
“Why would I manage your reputation? What does that have to do with me?”
However, at Tae Shinwoo returning his sullen words almost identically with a smiling face, Seo Eunho had no choice but to quickly close his mouth. Laughter burst out absurdly.
While being fully curious about him, in a way he seemed to have no particular interest. Ah, maybe that’s because he’s only interested in situations where he doesn’t move as desired. If him not sleeping at school was what the bastard wanted, that is.
