“Think about it, Hayoung-ah. If you just say one word that you don’t want to see those guys, that you have no intention of taking them with you, it’s all solved.”
“What are you going to do?”
Kill them?
I didn’t spit out the rest and swallowed it, but both I and the twins would have noticed that subtle nuance. However, Cha Jeoh just stared piercingly at my eyes without giving a definite affirmation or denial.
“Hm? Hayoung-ah.”
“Right, Hayoung-ah. That matter with Lee Gojun earlier too—if it hadn’t been for your words, Hayoung, we wouldn’t have bothered to step forward and save him.”
Even Cha Woodan, who had been beside me, joined in and added his words. Then he even squeezed into and occupied the narrow space on the desk where I was sitting.
“…Right. I saved him.”
Cha Woodan, who had been gently leaning his head on my shoulder, stopped and lifted his head to stare up at me intently. I could see Cha Jeoh standing in front also harboring a glimmer of hope as he waited for the words that would follow.
However, unfortunately, the conclusion I reached was completely different from the direction they hoped for.
I saved Lee Gojun.
“So if he dies already, it would be a waste of the effort I put in.”
That was the more logical of the two reasons why I wouldn’t let Lee Gojun die.
“And, he’s handsome.”
Actually, this was the real reason that occupied a greater proportion.
“What? Handsome… who? What did you say?”
At the tone where overwhelming urgency was vividly felt rather than calmness, I naturally turned toward Cha Jeoh. But he was just standing frozen in a daze with his mouth firmly shut. Only then, realizing that the warmth that had been on my shoulder had disappeared, I turned my head toward Cha Woodan.
Cha Woodan was revealing complete bewilderment unlike himself, his mouth slightly open, unable to fully close. Making such a blatant expression like that emphasized his appearance resembling his twin even more.
…Tap. Soft.
I belatedly came to my senses at the soft texture touching my fingertips. My finger that had unconsciously extended was somehow touching Cha Woodan’s mouth. The force pressing down firmly on that lower lip should have been uncomfortable, but he obediently revealed the flesh inside his lips and entrusted himself to me.
Soon Cha Woodan smiled broadly, swallowed down all kinds of fishy emotions, and curved the corners of his eyes.
“Who’s more handsome? Me or Lee Gojun?”
It was a question in a familiar format.
‘Is he going through puberty too?’
Late-onset puberty. I think I’d heard there was such a thing.
Since I was just blinking without saying anything, Cha Woodan, who had gently raised his hand, wrapped and held my smaller hand in one go.
“Hm?”
“……”
“Hayoung-ah.”
A voice urging me rang lowly in my ears. His heated breath tickled my fully exposed wrist.
But I still didn’t provide a proper answer, just narrowed my eyes thinly.
‘I should give them someone to compare with so I can properly compare and answer.’
The twins seemed to be mistaken right now, but the twins’ and Lee Gojun’s appearances weren’t comparable in the first place. The heavenly beauty the twins possessed was something sacred that dared not allow any comparison.
It wasn’t like I didn’t have eyes, and I also knew that Lee Gojun’s face was insufficient to objectively say “Wow, handsome.”
When I said Lee Gojun was handsome, it was just an expression I’d roughly used meaning ‘around there.’ Lee Gojun recklessly leaving the art room had sparkled, and I thought that such a him belonged to the category of beauties when interpreted broadly, so I’d spoken as I did just before.
So in accordance with my belief that the beauties who somehow survived in this world turned upside down should be preserved, I should try to keep Lee Gojun alive too…
“Ugh.”
Cha Jeoh, who had drawn close behind me at some point, leaned his body toward me. Because of Cha Jeoh leaning his chin against my crown, my body, unable to bear the weight, naturally slumped down.
Even though he clearly knew my body was drooping under the strain, Cha Jeoh didn’t withdraw his weight. Rather, he leaned on me even more and grumbled discontentedly.
“Hayoung-ah, even for you, this isn’t right. I can’t understand.”
“……”
“Correct yourself even now. Hm?”
That voice seemed to contain a desolate atmosphere compared to simple whining or lamentation. And that impression didn’t seem to be just my imagination.
Swallowing a sigh silently, I opened my mouth to correct the twins’ misunderstanding even now.
“What I meant is, when I said Lee Gojun was handsome…”
“Hayoung-ah.”
“In a slightly different meaning…”
“Hayoung-ah.”
Because Cha Jeoh kept interrupting and cutting me off, it wasn’t easy to continue speaking comfortably. I, who had been intermittently breaking sentences and repeatedly swallowing my breath, eventually got tired first and raised the white flag.
Of course, raising the white flag didn’t mean it was my complete defeat. Since I shut my mouth without proper explanation or excuse, from the twins’ perspective, who would now forever be unable to know what was inside, wasn’t I closer to victory rather than defeat?
“Anyway.”
At the blatant ploy to change the topic of conversation, Cha Jeoh behind me let out a lament, but I didn’t care. Instead, I tapped the back of Cha Woodan’s hand, who was still holding my hand and maintaining a relatively obedient attitude.
“Tell me now. How were you able to come down to the second floor?”
Why were they able to open the fire door that had been locked with a special ability?
The information I currently knew wasn’t much.
First, that Lee Gojun’s younger brother was precisely that locking ability user, the very person who had locked the fire door.
That the three people who had left the art room leaving me behind had done something to open the fire door that had been firmly locked.
One more thing—that Lee Gojun was able to open the door to the studio inside the broadcasting room, which had likewise been locked through the locking ability, without much difficulty. I didn’t know what method he’d used, or what action corresponded to the ‘condition’ that could unlock it. I was just certain that Lee Gojun had simply grabbed the door handle and pushed to open that door that no one else could have opened.
It didn’t make sense to say Lee Gojun had an ability to unlock—that is, an ability opposite to his younger brother’s power. Lee Gojun had already awakened his healing ability long ago, and I’d never heard or seen a case of one person awakening two or more abilities until now.
Cha Woodan, who had been quietly observing me busily turning things over in my head, belatedly replied.
“We don’t know either. Only Lee Geonwoo would know for sure.”
Lee Geonwoo?
‘Was that Lee Gojun’s younger brother’s name?’
After being newly impressed by Cha Woodan’s memory for already mastering another name in that short time, I gathered the direction of my thoughts that had briefly wandered and continued my question.
“How did that fire door end up opening?”
“It was the same as what we saw in the broadcasting room. That bast… Lee Gojun touched the fire door, a padlock shape appeared, and the door opened as if it were natural.”
This time the answer came from Cha Jeoh behind me. Even when the third-floor fire door opened, it was the same as what we’d seen in the broadcasting room studio.
‘Then could the condition for unlocking itself have been Lee Gojun?’
Not just me but most people thought the condition for unlocking the door would be some kind of action. Among them, a minority might have thought the key might be a specific object, but at least they wouldn’t have guessed that one ‘person’ was the only condition corresponding to it.
Since the brotherly love that younger brother showed toward Lee Gojun did seem particularly affectionate, the inference that he might have set the condition to unlock as his own hyung wasn’t entirely impossible nonsense.
‘To grasp even the detailed situation, it seems I’ll have to ask directly.’
Unfortunately, I was after having made quite a bad impression on Lee Gojun’s younger brother. That wasn’t emotionally disappointing or unfair, but it was a bit frustrating to be placed in a position where I couldn’t ask what I wanted to ask.
‘…Well, it’s not an immediately important problem.’
It would be fine to find out through Lee Gojun later.
‘So let’s pay attention to other parts first.’
Aside from the fire door that had suddenly opened, I still had one more part left to examine.
Raising the hand that wasn’t being held by Cha Woodan, I lightly grasped my bangs fluttering at the edge of my vision. The hair flowing between my fiddling fingers was bleached white enough to be clearly distinguishable. Perhaps the white color seemed even deeper than what I’d seen in the infirmary.
No wonder the upper floor survivor in the student council room had called me ‘white hair.’ At the time, since I wasn’t used to it, I didn’t immediately realize that was a call referring to me, but when I consciously examined it, the hair color did seem excessively white.
After twisting a handful of hair for a while, I soon withdrew my hand.
“Is the top of my head still okay?”
Instead of Cha Woodan sitting beside me, Cha Jeoh, who had slumped away from me, examined and confirmed by running his hand over my round crown.
“It’s fine. It’s black.”
For now, it seemed only the ends of my hair far from the roots had turned white. But I couldn’t be certain what the range would be in the future.
“You’re not in pain anywhere? Your head or scalp, or anywhere on your body.”
Cha Woodan, who had been keenly observing me while exchanging conversation for verification, asked.
I didn’t feel noticeable concern or worry from Cha Woodan’s smile right before my eyes. However, the touch of that hand endlessly stroking my hand was excessively careful, so the emotions he couldn’t quite hide seemed to show faintly.
But what caught my attention was the movement of the hand itself circling around rather than the emotions inherent in that touch. I stared at my hand trapped in Cha Woodan’s grasp with slightly lowered eyes, then said quietly.
“…It doesn’t hurt.”
How long is he planning to hold my hand?
Once I started harboring doubt, it kept bothering me.
