# Chapter 33
I pushed Kwon Dojin’s back as he walked weakly into his home and guided him into the bathroom. I also handed him his pajamas, which he received with a bewildered look.
“Wash up, change your clothes, and come out.”
“What about you, Habin?”
“You need to take medicine, so I’ll check if there’s anything to eat.”
Looking at the state of the house, it seemed like there would only be water or drinks, but I thought I’d at least pretend to look. I pushed Kwon Dojin, who was saying I didn’t need to do that, back into the bathroom and closed the door.
Having put Kwon Dojin in the bathroom, I went straight to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. Contrary to my low expectations, I was surprised to see various side dishes neatly arranged, and my eyes widened.
“…There is food.”
The house had seemed devoid of any lived-in feeling, like it would only have water and drinks, but the refrigerator was overflowing with signs of life. This made me think there might also be rice, so I closed the refrigerator door and examined the shelves one by one.
“But there’s no rice.”
What’s the reason for having side dishes but no rice? I thought there would at least be instant rice, but there wasn’t. I decided to check the freezer as a last resort, and if there was nothing there, I would go out and buy some. Without any real expectations, I opened the freezer door, and as if mocking me, there was rice sitting right there.
“Does someone deliver it?”
In any case, I was just satisfied that there was food to eat, so I took out the frozen rice.
“What are you doing?”
“Setting up a meal. So you can take your medicine and go to sleep quickly.”
“You really don’t have to…”
“Yeah, come and sit down since you’re already here. Don’t just stand there.”
I brushed off Kwon Dojin’s words and put the rice in the microwave to defrost. Meanwhile, Kwon Dojin, who had awkwardly sat at the table, couldn’t stay still.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, I’ll help too.”
“It’s not urgent enough to need a cat’s paw, so it’s fine. Just sit.”
I opened the refrigerator door and took out only the side dishes that looked like he had touched them frequently. One by one, as the table setting was completed, Kwon Dojin, who had been alternately looking at me and the table, let out a pained sound.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry when I’m the one who came over without warning?”
“Yeah, but still… You’ll eat with me, right?”
“I was thinking of eating at home—”
Before I could finish speaking, Kwon Dojin’s shoulders slumped as he made a dejected expression. Seeing that made me feel like the bad guy, so after my lips quivered for a moment, I sighed.
“Alright, let’s eat together.”
“Okay.”
He quickly discarded his dejected act and put on a pretty smile. Maybe because he was sick, but what I would normally have thought of as handsome now looked forlorn.
“Why didn’t you contact me?”
But that’s separate from him looking forlorn.
“Huh?”
“When someone who regularly attends school suddenly takes a day off without any notice, people worry.”
We had already gone to the hospital, and all that was left was for him to rest after eating. Since the situation was more or less settled, I voiced the complaint that I had been suppressing. Kwon Dojin didn’t say anything and just stared at me blankly, blinking his eyelids.
He looked like someone who had heard something unexpected and didn’t know how to react. Seeing that, I couldn’t help but sigh and flicked his forehead.
“Ouch.”
With a delayed and artificial groan, Kwon Dojin lowered his gaze.
“…I didn’t know you would worry.”
“What nonsense is that? Of course I would worry.”
“I also didn’t know if I could contact you.”
“That’s what phones are for, to contact people at times like this. Are you going to keep it unused your whole life?”
“I guess you’re right.”
He laughed emptily and took my hand that was resting on the table. His careful caressing of the back of my hand was so tangible that it became awkward to express more complaints.
“Next time I’ll contact you.”
“Good, do that. I was surprised when I heard from Baek Han that you got into a fight yesterday.”
“Were you very surprised?”
“Yeah, I was very surprised.”
“I’m sorry for surprising you.”
Kwon Dojin, who was holding my hand tightly with both of his, smiled brightly despite his words. Wondering why he was smiling as if he had done something good, I flicked his forehead again, but the smile on his face didn’t disappear.
“It feels nice.”
“What feels nice about getting hit?”
“Just, this is the first time—”
He tilted his head slightly and pulled my hand, placing it against his cheek. I opened my eyes wide as the warmth of his cheek against my hand felt hotter than usual. Seemingly unaware of my reaction, Kwon Dojin met my gaze with his beautifully curved eyes.
“I like you, Habin.”
His voice, whispering deeply, cracked at the end. Perhaps because of that, even though it was something I’d heard before, it somehow felt like it had a different meaning. After a while of just moving my lips without being able to say anything, the sound of the microwave brought me back to my senses.
“Okay.”
That short word was all I could say as I hesitated, not knowing what to say.
* * *
I didn’t sleep properly for two days in a row.
Maybe because of that, as I rubbed my eyelids, which felt heavier than yesterday, and yawned, Kwon Dojin, who had come to school today, gave me a concerned look.
“You’re not really sick, are you?”
I guess he had reason to ask since I couldn’t focus even after the third period had passed. But I wasn’t really sick, so I grabbed and removed Kwon Dojin’s hand as he tried to touch my forehead.
“I’m just tired. I went to bed late yesterday.”
Yesterday, after eating with Kwon Dojin and watching him fall asleep, I left and got home late. On top of that, I hadn’t been able to study during the day as much as I needed to, so I sat at my desk intending to study for just an hour, but lost track of time and ended up finishing at 2 AM.
“Don’t tell me you went home and studied? You didn’t, right?”
Never say never. I deliberately pretended not to hear Kwon Dojin’s words and collapsed on the desk. I could feel him sighing in exasperation next to me, but I stubbornly continued to ignore him.
“I’m going to sleep for just 5 minutes. Wake me up when class starts.”
I buried my face in my forearm and yawned again. I had managed to hold out until the third period somehow, but any more would be too much.
“I guess there’s no choice—”
“Dojin-nim! A fight has broken out among the second-years, and the situation has grown larger than expected, so we need your mediation!”
Before Kwon Dojin could finish his sentence as he sighed and gently stroked my hair, the back door of the classroom opened with a loud noise.
Turning my head to look at the back door due to the unusual commotion, I saw someone I didn’t recognize urgently reporting to Kwon Dojin. I was stunned by the strange scene until a familiar voice reached my ears, bringing me back to my senses.
“…I should go.”
“Do you really have to go?”
“It’s one of my duties.”
I guess that maintenance fee isn’t for nothing.
Kwon Dojin, seemingly oblivious to the person urging him, maintained his unhurried attitude and looked down at me.
“Habin, you don’t like fights, so you’ll stay here, right?”
“Yeah. I’m not going. I’m tired anyway.”
“Then stay and sleep. I’ll come back and wake you up.”
After stroking my hair once more, he left the classroom with the person who had come to report. I watched until his back disappeared, then buried my face in my forearm again.
If Kwon Dojin was going, Baek Han would probably go too. Then Baek Han would likely step in appropriately instead of Kwon Dojin, who still didn’t look in good condition. Thinking this way, I felt reassured that there was less risk of him coming back injured.
Since he said he’d wake me up, I was about to close my eyes to try to sleep when I was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on my desk.
“Habin.”
Since they were approaching so openly, I couldn’t ignore them, so I slowly raised my upper body. When I looked up at the person who had called me with dazed eyes, their formulaic smile cracked for a moment.
Looking flustered and rolling their eyes, they seemed to come to their senses at the sound of a fake cough from somewhere, and put the smile back on their face.
“So, you see, the PE teacher asked to have the gym storage room organized.”
The gym storage room?
Somehow, the smell of a lie was strongly wafting from this. Still, since I’d already heard this much, I decided to listen to the end, so I stayed quiet as the person continued.
“The teacher said to ask you because you’d be meticulous and do a good job.”
“…When did he say to do it?”
“It’s urgent, so right now.”
This is definitely a lie.
The principle is that after PE class, the class that used the equipment is responsible for organizing the gym storage room. So there was no reason for the teacher to specifically ask me to do it. And even if he did, he would have asked the basketball club or soccer club kids.
It was also contradictory that they said to do this during the break after the third period, when it would typically be done during lunch time. It wasn’t even PE class, it was another subject period, so why would they assign such a task?
And most importantly…
Locking someone in the gym storage room was one of the biggest clichés in novels. So this was probably something similar.
As I was thinking this, I heard another knock on my desk.
“You’re not going to do it?”
Then I should also take some insurance. I found and took out the phone I had put in my pocket. The action must have seemed sudden, as the person frowned, but I ignored it and stood up.
“So the PE teacher asked me to organize the gym storage room? Not during lunch time, but right now?”
“Yes, that’s right. Don’t you believe me?”
“No, why wouldn’t I believe you? You’re our class president, I should trust you. I just find it a bit strange that the PE teacher would assign such a task during the break after the third period instead of lunch time.”
“…I know, right. But what can we do? It’s what the teacher asked.”
“Right, since the teacher asked… Can you tell the social studies teacher that I went on an errand for the PE teacher?”
I smiled with rounded eyes while maintaining eye contact with the class president. The person flinched at this and slowly nodded.
“Yes, I’ll definitely tell him. Trust me.”
I noticed their quivering lips, but I pretended not to see and made my smile even more pronounced.
