# Chapter 107
“What the…”
The words that escaped my mouth without me knowing dispersed into the air. The scene I glimpsed over Moon Seoheon’s shoulder created an illusion like a truck rushing toward me, giving me a sense of terror that a horrific accident was about to occur.
My face involuntarily grimaced as I blankly stared at Yoo Wono running toward us, then I snapped back to reality when something waved gently before my eyes.
When I turned my gaze, Moon Seoheon was looking at me, gesturing for me to go inside quickly. I realized it was a signal he was sending me out of concern for the situation that was about to unfold.
Despite my momentary panic, when I met Moon Seoheon’s face, I sensed more annoyance than worry. My confused mind became calm.
Even I would find the completely unrelated Yoo Wono quite bothersome, so Moon Seoheon must feel even more so. No matter how much he normally maintains his composure without showing much emotion, Yoo Wono’s mad dog-like behavior must be extremely annoying to him.
Feeling a bit anxious, I asked in a troubled tone.
“You want me to go ahead?”
“Yeah.”
Is that really okay? Even from a distance, it was clear that Yoo Wono’s current state wasn’t normal. Of course, Yoo Wono never looked normal anywhere or anytime.
As I stood there blankly, Moon Seoheon waved his hand more emphatically this time. With an expression that seemed to ask why I wasn’t going in, I finally managed to lift my heavy feet and started moving.
But I didn’t actually head to the classroom. I wondered what help I could be if I stayed, but leaving Moon Seoheon alone also felt deeply troubling. Maybe because I felt guilty about something I’d done, it felt uncomfortable to just run away.
In the end, my footsteps, which had stopped at the building entrance, went around the corner and settled in a nook. I hid my body so I wouldn’t be seen from outside and peeked out with just my face to survey the exterior.
“I’ll just check and then leave.”
The moment I looked outside, Yoo Wono, who had been running like a madman, suddenly stopped and arrived in front of Moon Seoheon. With the recoil from his abruptly halted legs, Yoo Wono’s waist bent like a bow as he steadied himself by grabbing Moon Seoheon’s shoulder.
It looked comical but was a reasonable action to avoid falling. While I was trying to insert some rationale into the unavoidable situation, Yoo Wono pushed Moon Seoheon’s upper body backward.
My body flinched at the deliberate gesture meant to topple him. Just as I was internally shouting “dangerous,” Moon Seoheon, as if he had expected it, sighed, twisted his upper body, and slipped to the side. Not stopping there, he tripped Yoo Wono’s leg and easily knocked him down.
Yoo Wono, who fell with a thud, laughed as if he found it amusing. That guy’s truly insane. I realized my body had lunged forward in shock, then collected myself and returned to my spot.
Soon, Yoo Wono got up with an unfazed face and blinked, leaving his school uniform a mess with dust all over it.
As if to show that he had been running frantically, Yoo Wono’s hair was pushed to one side. His curly hair, which looked even more disheveled because of its natural waviness, gave him a gentle impression. To someone who didn’t know him well, he would look innocent enough to be considered quite cute.
But unlike his neat face, once you see the various emotions contained in his glistening eyes, such feelings would quickly disappear. The look in his eyes as he gazed at Moon Seoheon was filled with burning desire and possessiveness.
Seeing that face, I felt my chest go slightly cold. I wondered what kind of feelings could make someone look at another person that way.
It was clear that Yoo Wono’s feelings for Moon Seoheon weren’t love. Honestly speaking, Yoo Wono’s attitude and psychology of obsessing over Moon Seoheon could be seen as a type of love.
Still, the reason I don’t view it as romance-related with Moon Seoheon is that Yoo Wono is merely a supporting character who occasionally pops up in the animation. It wasn’t particularly about his significance, but the main reason was that his attitude toward Moon Seoheon was different from the main characters.
Just as each had their own character, The Four had various ways of trying to possess Moon Seoheon. While not necessarily right, it was clearly driven by affection, whereas Yoo Wono’s feelings toward Moon Seoheon seemed more like desire fueled by competition. It was like a thirst, akin to jealousy, difficult to see as attachment.
That’s why I thought he was a villain surpassing Yoon Taeho. Perhaps because he always acted in such astonishing ways whenever he appeared, unlike Yoon Taeho, who was just a forgettable minor character, he was firmly etched in my mind as a literal villain.
“Finally, I can run with you today. If we were in the same club, I wouldn’t have to wait like this.”
Yoo Wono, who was lightly shaking his hair mixed with dust from running, spoke with sparkling eyes. The sweat flowing down his face reflected the sunlight and glimmered.
While he remained an uncomfortable presence, his voice, filled with expectations, conveyed a sense of joy even to the listener.
My eyebrow twitched at his normal tone and attitude, so different from the person who had knocked me down or attacked others with stones every time we met.
I was concerned he might show his violent temperament to Moon Seoheon too, but that didn’t seem to be the case. I was caught in a strange feeling, unsure if I should be relieved, when Moon Seoheon, maintaining an expressionless face to the point of seeming indifferent, opened his mouth.
“You’re not running today. It’ll be tomorrow.”
“We can run together today too, right?”
“Today is the representative selection. If you interfere, it might ruin things, so be patient until tomorrow.”
His tone was like soothing a child, which made my expression sour. Yoo Wono smiled broadly for some reason, then looked around as if searching for something.
“Are you alone?”
“…Yes.”
I became puzzled by his suddenly suspicious behavior of checking the surroundings and the unclear words he muttered in a low voice. It seemed Moon Seoheon felt the same way, as he hesitated before answering.
“It looked like you were with someone just now.”
Like me, who had seen Yoo Wono running quickly, it seemed he had also spotted me with Moon Seoheon. I was a bit surprised, but as I was quietly observing the two, Yoo Wono, who had been staring intently at Moon Seoheon, suddenly turned his head in the direction where I was standing.
My heart sank as he looked precisely in my direction, even though it was obvious that I shouldn’t be visible from the outside at that angle. As I retreated slightly, the two became hidden by the wall.
“Are you really going to be the representative?”
“That’s how it turned out.”
With their figures no longer visible, I focused only on their voices. It was difficult to gauge their feelings without seeing their expressions, but judging from Moon Seoheon’s tone, he seemed to find it absurd, as if thinking, “Are you only asking that now?”
“Then, I’ll see you later.”
“Sure.”
“If I win this time, you have to join the track and field club!”
His lively and brisk words sounded as casual as a light greeting. For a moment, I froze, thinking I had misheard, and my stiff lips gradually parted in astonishment.
While I was standing there blankly, I straightened my hunched back at the sound of approaching footsteps. Rolling just my eyes to look to the side, I saw Yoo Wono passing by with a refreshed expression.
Just as I was relieved that he hadn’t noticed me, his head turned smoothly and stared directly at me. His eyes, which already seemed like they had glass marbles inserted, appeared empty with dilated pupils. It made me question if our gazes had actually met.
Whatever the case, I inhaled sharply in surprise, feeling my chest swell tightly. My fingers twitched at the sensation of cold sweat. Only when Yoo Wono turned his head to look forward again could I wipe my forehead.
Nothing came off, but I felt the heat rising in my body. As I was exhaling lightly, a low voice came to me.
“We’ll be late. Let’s go.”
His matter-of-fact tone suggested he knew I hadn’t left but had been hiding. When Moon Seoheon, with a calm expression, gestured with his chin as if saying let’s go upstairs, the embarrassment I had felt dissipated.
* * *
The end-of-day meeting finished earlier than usual, concluding with precautions to take good care of our bodies for tomorrow. While I was packing my bag, Moon Seoheon, who had already risen from his seat, gave me a nod of farewell and then swiftly left.
I understood he was rushing out to take the test to qualify as a second-year representative for the relay race, but it felt strange that he disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Inevitably, I couldn’t ask about his conversation with Yoo Wono. Asking someone who was an ace in the soccer club to join the track and field club? It seemed like a one-sided proposal from Yoo Wono, but no matter how I thought about it, the absurd content made me shake my head.
Maybe that’s why. Although I left the classroom with my bag, I hesitated to go straight home. By now, Moon Seoheon and Yoo Wono would be on the field among the students participating in the relay representative selection test.
As I came out of the building, I quickly spotted the faintly visible brown hair among the huddled students.
It wasn’t as crowded as the soccer game against Byeon Seungha, but quite a number of spectators were sitting in the stands. I stopped in my tracks as I immediately noticed certain figures even without looking closely.
I had originally planned to just check briefly and leave, so I hadn’t intended to sit down, but as soon as I spotted Byeon Seungha and Maeng Moa, I first thought of avoiding them.
Seeing them now wasn’t as uncomfortable as before, but knowing it would be troublesome, I moved almost instinctively.
Especially with Byeon Seungha, I felt he might confront me about what I had been doing. There was no need to provoke him unnecessarily, so avoiding was the best strategy.
As I was walking in the opposite direction to avoid encountering them, a box suddenly protruding from a side path behind the building bumped into me.
Wondering what it was, I looked up to see Hong Hachan standing there, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time. Behind him, Jo Youngmin’s face was visible, and I could even see Ye Abin standing at a distance.
