At the appearance of an object whose identity he couldn’t determine, Seo Juhan furrowed one eyebrow. Wondering what it was, he wrapped it with his palm. It was like a hard rock, but he couldn’t tell exactly what it was.
At least it definitely wasn’t a phone. Both the bulk and the feeling were completely different from the coldness of metal.
What is this?
Juhan’s hand fumbled over the unknown object, gradually moving to the side. He felt a hollow dip next to the protruding rock-like thing, and then it became soft. Though it was only relative—it certainly wasn’t low in hardness. It was still firm.
Is it like a heat therapy pad? Given the spatial characteristics, it naturally came to mind. A medical device that emits warm heat when charged so you can wrap it around your shoulder or stomach for therapy. Images of colorful flower patterns or elvan clay flashed before his eyes.
Going a bit further, he touched rough fabric. The therapy pad seemed to be wrapped in a blanket. Deep contours formed beneath it.
Thinking maybe the phone had slipped in there, he forced his hand in. If it wasn’t here either, he might have really lost it somewhere. Anxiety welled up. He desperately rummaged while activating his hope circuit.
No matter how hard he searched, he really couldn’t find it. It was around the time the thought of giving up and getting up was surging.
Grab.
Suddenly his wrist was seized. His mind jolted awake, but his body hadn’t yet completely escaped the energy of sleep. Because of that, Seo Juhan’s reaction was slow. He opened his eyes half a beat late.
The nurse’s office with the lights off was dim. It looked even dimmer because curtains were drawn around the bed. The shadowed walls and ceiling exuded a coolness like May’s night streets.
It was dark, but not that dark. The bright sunlight pouring through the window penetrated the blinds and illuminated the figure.
Go Un was sitting on the bed with one leg up. Shadows fell on the black eyes looking down at Seo Juhan, on his sharply extended nose bridge, on his lips. The natural light source gently cast upon him added three-dimensionality. It made him look like a watercolor painting.
Seo Juhan was momentarily spellbound.
Then the snare wrapped around his wrist smoothly loosened.
“Uh…”
Seo Juhan blinked and began assessing the situation. Looking now, the hard rock was a knee, and what he’d thought was a blanket was the crotch.
Seo Juhan’s clear face slowly but surely turned bright red.
It was embarrassing. The navel clearly exposed by the t-shirt that had risen up to his ribs, the drool that had slightly flowed down to the corner of his mouth, the fact that he’d been kneading Go Un’s innocent area—all of it was embarrassing. Among them, being caught slacking off in the nurse’s office as a teacher was the most embarrassing.
As soon as Seo Juhan grasped the situation, he sprang up like a spring. The rolled-up t-shirt came down on its own.
“No, I lay down to rest for a bit…”
He wiped around his mouth with the back of his hand and continued.
“I dozed off.”
Seo Juhan forced an awkward smile onto his face. Though no one asked, he made excuses on his own.
In fact, strictly speaking, it didn’t seem like a lie either. He really hadn’t intended to get a proper sleep.
Go Un just stared at Seo Juhan without saying anything. His jet-black eyes like glass marbles didn’t move at all.
“……”
“……”
The sound of a loud speaker leaked in from outside the window. In the field, the broadcasting club member in charge of hosting was running their mouth cheekily. Cheers that rose and fell came through at comments that crossed the line of what could be broadcast.
In contrast, indoors was quiet. It felt like there were only the two of them in this building. The air, which should normally be noisy, having settled into silence was quite unfamiliar.
“But what are you doing here?”
Unable to bear that desolation, Seo Juhan asked interrogatively instead.
“…I came looking for you, Teacher.”
Go Un’s tone was somehow stiff.
“For me? Why?”
“…The afternoon games started but you weren’t there.”
The afternoon games started?
“What time is it now?”
Instead of answering, Go Un held something out. That familiar angular thing was the smartphone he’d been searching for so desperately.
“What, where did you find it?”
Seo Juhan raised his eyebrows half in confusion, half in surprise as he took it.
“…It was dropped on the stairs where our class sits.”
“Ah.”
So he lost it there. Seo Juhan finally slapped his knee.
“Thanks, hey.”
In relief, Juhan stroked his chest.
To have left his phone lying around at Yangseong School where theft incidents large and small were frequent. It was extremely fortunate that it had returned to his hands. While inwardly reproaching his carelessness, he tapped the screen with his thumb.
“Wow!”
He’d slept solidly for over an hour. It was so absurd that laughter leaked out. At this point, missing lunch wasn’t the problem.
Seo Juhan pushed aside the blanket and extended his legs outside the bed. The slippers he’d kicked off carelessly were flipped over crookedly. He gently turned them with his toes and slipped them onto his feet one by one.
“What game did you say is happening now?”
“The dance performance ended… the obstacle race just started.”
Go Un, who was sitting side by side next to him, answered. The content was plain, but his tone without inflection was blunt.
Wow, that was almost a disaster. Though he felt a sense of incongruity from him for some reason, Juhan didn’t have time to even care about that. After the obstacle race, it’s the teachers’ turn for the friendly tug-of-war.
He’d heard the PE teacher hastily organized it because the Principal earnestly urged that all teachers must participate without a single exception.
Though he wondered if his absence alone would be noticeable, it was an event that required matching the headcount. Questions about where Teacher Seo was would definitely come up.
Seo Juhan, having equipped slippers on both feet, lightly got up. The effect of the nap was amazing. He felt light as if he’d received fast charging.
When he turned his head, he saw a black crown. Go Un was sitting with his elbows on his knees, his upper body bent down.
The embarrassment quickly evaporated and gratitude remained in its place. Suddenly the kid felt like a lifesaver.
Seo Juhan placed his hand on Go Un’s shoulder. Instantly, Go Un flinched and his shoulder trembled.
Seo Juhan flinched too. The sensation touching his palm was much damper than expected. The sky-blue soccer uniform was soaked with sweat all the way up to the shoulder area. All his nerves were focused on that unpleasant stickiness, so he didn’t notice Go Un’s reaction.
“Let’s hurry.”
But he spoke affectionately without showing it. While doing so, he kneaded a couple times as if boosting the class representative’s spirit.
Seo Juhan pulled back the curtain with a rustle and came out first.
The white cabinet filled with medicine bottles and the InBody device. The school nurse’s desk where treatment tools were densely piled and the black stool placed in front of it. The nurse’s office had no differences from before.
Hearing the mattress creaking behind him, Juhan moved forward with big strides. When he slid the sliding door to the side, sunlight poured in from the window in the hallway.
It was just as he was about to cross the threshold. Seo Juhan suddenly turned around at a thought. Then he flinched at the flesh color filling his vision right in front of him.
His gaze automatically fixed on the protruding Adam’s apple. Hot breath tickled his forehead.
Seo Juhan glanced upward. He met jet-black eyes reflecting the sunlight. Shadows created by eyelashes fell on the black pupils.
At that inorganic gaze, Seo Juhan was more flustered himself. Even though he’d almost bumped his forehead against his chin, Go Un strangely had no reaction.
His expressionless face felt cold to the point of being chilling. Stiffly frozen like a cryogenic human, he was exactly like the jangseung that used to be erected at old village entrances.
“Wait a moment…”
Since that jangseung didn’t move aside on his own, Seo Juhan eventually had to squeeze through to the side.
He trudged back into the nurse’s office and pulled back the bed curtain again. The drooping blanket was half sticking out from under the bed, and the pillow was upside down. The culprit left traces that anyone could see someone had slept here.
Seo Juhan first lifted the pillow, shook it out, then placed it back in its original position. He also spread out the blanket, shook it thoroughly, and folded it at the foot of the bed. Even if he was in a hurry to leave, he had to clean up after himself.
Only after making it look perfect did Seo Juhan close the ivory-colored curtain and come out.
The nurse’s office with the lights off was empty.
Did he go ahead? Seo Juhan wondered as he went out to the hallway. As he was closing the door and about to lock it, he saw a sturdy back walking away in the distance.
The scapula shaped like wings was clear on the vast back wearing a sky-blue soccer uniform. It was something that hadn’t been visible when wearing a white shirt. It was a physique more suited to volleyball or basketball players than soccer.
The back that had been walking toward the central entrance turned to the side and disappeared. The kid’s destination was none other than the bathroom.
Emergency poop? Seo Juhan chuckled and finished locking the door.
The first-floor bathroom clearly had a sign that said <For Staff>, but with a generous heart, he decided to allow that much.
