Even with that intimidating face, he really was a well-mannered kid. Cha-heun smiled without realizing it as he spoke. Surprisingly decent for someone with that build and appearance.
“You’re not wrong, but honestly it’s a shame. You’re so good at it… and you work so hard, too.”
“…….”
“You always head out late in the evenings, right? I’m pretty sure first and second years don’t have mandatory self-study sessions, but I’ve occasionally seen you leaving around the time mine wraps up.”
Cha-heun grinned and gave a small wave.
Well, technically it wasn’t me spotting you — it was you glaring at me….
He probably didn’t realize it himself, but being stared down with those fierce eyes had been a little unnerving.
That aside — if he’d been putting in that kind of passion late into the evenings, his dedication had to run deep. If he was quitting not because of injury but simply out of burnout, without any real reason, that would be a genuine waste. Burnout in athletics was more common than people thought, and he’d seen quite a few talented students walk away because of it.
“You’ve already come this far — why not at least take a shot at the national athletics competition? After working that hard.”
When Cha-heun said it with an almost wistful tone, the boy met his eyes. Those straight, dark gray irises turned toward him and trembled ever so slightly.
…But why am I saying all this to someone I’ve just met?
Thinking about it a little more carefully, he wondered if he’d been quite reckless with his words. Honestly, someone who was that good would know it themselves — and if they’d made up their mind to quit, they probably had their own significant reasons for it. Maybe they’d found a dream in academics, or they wanted to be a doctor…?
Only then did it occur to Cha-heun that he’d overstepped, and he paused mid-thought before starting to ramble.
“Ah, I… I don’t even know what your dream is, and I spoke out of turn — sorry. If you’re finding what you want to do with your life, I’m not going to stop you. I just — I thought you were good, and that’s all… I guess.”
Being stared at directly with that face was unnerving. The gray eyes, tinged with black, beneath those sharply angled lids were so vivid they were almost unsettling.
How could a person generate this kind of pressure from a look alone — truly remarkable.
He’d been teasing Kang I-hyeon earlier for being rattled by a junior a year below him, and here he was feeling weighed down by someone his own age — well, by this body’s standards, anyway.
Kang I-hyeon — that guy was something else.
It made sense that he’d been made captain of the kendo club.
Cha-heun laughed awkwardly and let his gaze drift slightly to the side.
“…Ah, right. Come to think of it, I was way too nosy. Sorry.”
Not that he was scared — well, he was — but either way, a teenager at a sensitive age. And one who was that accomplished at that — there had to be a reason behind the decision to quit, and he’d pried too much.
This is how people earn the title of meddling old man. Damn.
Because inside, he was a grown man who’d been out of school for ten years. He was sorry — genuinely sorry.
Cha-heun turned his back and hurried away like he was making an escape.
Even as he left, the boy’s dark gray gaze remained fixed on the back of Cha-heun’s head.
Thud.
Back home, he’d been flipping through one of the summoning ritual books he’d bought in his ongoing effort to bring Shin Cha-heun back — when a book fell behind him. He picked it up and found it was one he’d never seen before.
“…Hm?”
《The Book of Soul Summoning》
Going by the title, this was also a book about summoning rituals. A book for calling spirits — something along those lines — but the problem was this:
…Hm? I’ve never seen this before. I don’t think I bought this….
No matter how hard he thought about it, he had no memory of buying a book with a title like that.
Cha-heun quietly scanned the books lined up on the shelf.
…Mm, actually. Maybe I did buy it.
Looking at the row of books with titles like 《Introduction to Summoning Rituals》 and 《Spirit Invocation》 — and other equally ridiculous titles lined up one after another — it started to seem plausible that he’d bought this one too. He’d been picking them up one by one whenever he had time, and quite a collection had piled up. He couldn’t even keep track of what he’d bought anymore.
…If anyone found this, they’d peg me as some occult fanatic.
He was genuinely grateful that the indifferent members of the household never set foot in Shin Cha-heun’s room.
Cha-heun picked up the book, shoved it somewhere in the shelf, and pulled out a different one.
“…Ah, for fuck’s sake, Shin Cha-heun.”
On his way home after evening self-study. He spent a good moment wondering if he’d misheard the curse aimed at him from just ahead — and only understood once he saw the face.
“What, ‘Shin’ Cha-heun? Shin Jae-heon, didn’t you only have one younger sibling?”
“Ah, shit. Move.”
Shin Chae-il’s son — Shin Jae-heon.
He stepped out past his friend who was asking questions beside him and fixed Cha-heun with a glare.
Ever since that first day, every time they crossed paths he’d glare and disappear — but today, running into each other on the street, whatever it was that bothered him about it was clearly not sitting well. Like seeing him at home was already irritating enough but seeing him outside made it even worse?
“Hey. I told you not to show up where I can see you. What time is it and you’re out wandering around?”
…That seemed to be about right.
The nerve of that attitude.
Shin Cha-heun felt a flare of irritation but pushed the feeling back down.
I just finished evening self-study. What do you want me to do about it.
In a high school romance setting, mandatory self-study three days a week for third-years unless they were in cram school — did that actually make sense? He’d never even done evening self-study back in his own school days, and now he was doing it here and his back was practically breaking under the strain.
Well, come to think of it, in the story, Ha-ra and Baek Yu-gyeong and the other main characters were all third-years — so they must have been building up to something during late-night self-study sessions, something that was almost-but-not-quite a thing between them….
And then studying together in the library, probably brushing hands and all that.
Meanwhile, here he was, practically dying.
Cha-heun, who had been attempting to catch up on high school studies far too late in life, shot Jae-heon a side-eyed glance out of sheer stress, then looked away.
“…Hyung,”
“Are you out of your mind? Hyung? Who’s your hyung.”
“…….”
“Some bastard I don’t even know where he crawled in from, and he’s supposed to be my—”
Cha-heun parted his lips at the words he hadn’t expected — then dropped his gaze.
…The memories stirred again. Every so often, Shin Cha-heun’s memories would rise up in his mind like a panorama — and this was exactly one of those moments.
Flashes of all the times he’d been subjected to that same humiliation, day after day, streaked through his mind.
And at the end of them, always — Shin Cha-heun, crying alone in one corner of his room.
…….
He understood. From Shin Jae-heon’s perspective, it would be hard to feel any warmth toward Shin Cha-heun. Not just Shin Jae-heon — it was plain that aside from Shin Chae-il, even the wife of this household couldn’t possibly like Shin Cha-heun.
But —
So what.
Why was he taking it out on Shin Cha-heun? If Shin Cha-heun had ever, even once, pushed back and stood his ground, that would be one thing — but all Cha-heun could find in those memories was a kid who’d always kept his head down and kept out of the way.
No mother, no money, no home of his own — a high schooler with nowhere else to go. And this side had it just as rough.
Ignoring him would at least be better than this — this was nothing but one-sided bullying. The thought that a young student had been treated this way made something simmer with irritation, and Cha-heun shifted his thinking.
“Fine. Hey.”
“…What?”
“You said not to call you hyung.”
“…What did you just say?”
Shin Jae-heon turned his eyes up and glared. Cha-heun stared back with a blank expression, the kind that said so what are you going to do about it, and gave a slow tilt of his head.
Sensing the mood turning serious, someone who appeared to be Jae-heon’s friend stepped between them.
“Hey, Shin Jae-heon’s sibling, just — go home. Quick.”
Then the friend’s nose twitched slightly, and he looked at Jae-heon with an unsettled expression. He glanced at Cha-heun once, then turned back to Jae-heon — and started pushing Jae-heon back.
…Ah, I see.
It seemed this student was an Alpha.
…From this guy’s perspective, is it looking like Jae-heon is being aggressive toward a younger sister — or at least a weaker younger brother?
From what he’d read, Alphas seemed to instinctively view Omegas as something to be protected. It was true that Omegas were physically weaker than Alphas by nature, and Alphas categorized Omegas within the bounds of the opposite sex.
At this rate, Shin Jae-heon’s school reputation was going to tank, Cha-heun thought — and he closed his mouth again. In the meantime, he noticed another friend working to hold Jae-heon back.
“Just let it go, Shin Jae-heon. He’s your sibling, isn’t he. You went a bit too far with what you said.”
Something about the word sibling must have struck a nerve — Jae-heon shoved the arm aside and shouted.
“What the fuck, my mom’s different, so why is that bastard my sibling?!”
“…Exactly. If he’s not even your sibling, what other word do I have for you but ‘hey’?”
Cha-heun felt something rise inside him and lashed out before he even realized it. Before Jae-heon could say anything, another guy cut in and clamped a hand over Jae-heon’s mouth, shaking his head at Cha-heun.
“Hey, hey — Jae-heon’s sibling, please just go. Don’t you know what this guy’s like?”
“I’m sorry.”
Cha-heun gave him a polite bow and then turned his eyes back to Jae-heon with a glare.
“I was going to put up with it, as much as I could.”
“Mmph, mmph!”
“But then there you are bringing my mother into it for no reason other than I’m annoying to you…. I started wondering if I really have to be the one to keep it together. If you’ve got a problem with me, say what you want about me — why drag her into it?”
Jae-heon finally couldn’t take it anymore, shoved his own friend aside, and grabbed Cha-heun by the collar.
“Oh, so you’re mad I touched a nerve about your mom? Your mom was the one playing loose and luring our father in, wasn’t she. And aren’t you out at this hour doing the same fucking thing.”
Cha-heun let out a quiet scoff, tapped Jae-heon’s hand on his collar a couple of times, and looked up at him. The corners of his mouth curved up sharply.
“And that makes it okay for a man with a wife to fall for it? Hah — but wait, come to think of it, that’s your dad, isn’t it? Impressive — the Shin family, ladies and gentlemen!”
“You fucking lunatic—!”
“Hey, hey — Shin Jae-heon!”
Jae-heon’s friend panicked and grabbed him around the waist from behind — but couldn’t get to his arm in time. Cha-heun took the punch Shin Jae-heon threw.
Ah, did this bastard read that I was going to dodge?
He’d gone right to avoid it and the fist had followed him there.
Cha-heun lightly touched his right lip — already split, blood coming through — with a fingertip, then fixed his eyes on Jae-heon.
What’s with that expression. He’s the one who hit me.
Looking at him with that startled face was suspicious.
“What, want to hit me again? Go ahead. What else have you got? Aren’t you embarrassed, in front of your friends? Hm?”
With that provocation delivered, Cha-heun swung his school bag up and moved away at a fairly quick pace.
