# Chapter 112
The smell was so faint that I didn’t notice it at first. Above all, all kinds of odors could come from outside, so even if there was an unpleasant smell, I could have just ignored it. It wasn’t strange to think that way since there were plenty of sweaty guys nearby.
But the reason I couldn’t just pass it off and kept focusing on it was because of the smell I’d caught a whiff of earlier.
Wondering where the smell was coming from, I unconsciously sniffed around, which made Moon Seoheon, who had been drinking water, pause and look at me questioningly.
“What’s wrong?”
“Well… there’s a strange smell coming from somewhere.”
“Oh, really?”
At his monotone response, I glanced at Seoheon and saw his indifferent face, a stark contrast to my serious one. Seeing his calm demeanor, I suddenly remembered that he couldn’t smell very well, and I felt embarrassed, wondering if I was overreacting.
It’s probably just a smell from the sewers carried by the wind. Making that simple assumption, I took a step forward to go downstairs. As I tried to walk past Moon Seoheon, who was standing at an angle, the smell grew stronger when our bodies came closer together, making me stop in my tracks.
Confused by my behavior, he took another sip of water, and as I stared at him blankly, I grabbed his arm.
“Wait a second!”
“…What?”
Because I suddenly grabbed his arm while he was drinking water, some of it splashed from the bottle and wet his chin. Before I could apologize, the pungent, fishy smell grew much stronger.
Furrowing my brows, I snatched the plastic bottle from Seoheon’s hand. Without time to examine his wide-eyed surprise, I put my nose to the bottle’s opening.
“Ha……”
As I sniffed, a low sigh escaped me at the distinct metallic, fishy smell. The more I smelled it, the more familiar the stench became, making my face scrunch up in disgust.
I definitely had smelled this fishy odor from the water before. I couldn’t forget it because it had just happened yesterday. When I went to check how Moon Seoheon was doing at the representative selection match after school, I encountered the same smell coming from the box Hong Hachan was carrying.
Though it had faded compared to yesterday, the distinctive underlying scent still remained.
Seeing my increasingly troubled expression, Moon Seoheon looked back and forth between me and the bottle in my hand. Then, as if realizing there was a problem, he quietly asked.
“What’s the matter?”
“…How much of this did you drink?”
“…A little? Well, I took a few sips, but would you call that a lot?”
Raising one eyebrow at my question, Moon Seoheon swallowed a sigh and muttered as if he’d roughly figured out what was wrong. Then, as he brushed his lips with his thumb, I could see his finger trembling slightly.
“What kind of smell is it?”
Though his face remained expressionless as if trying to maintain composure, he asked with a voice tinged with anger, which made me, the one who should be surprised, press my lips tightly together. I was conflicted about how to explain this. My hand unconsciously tightened around the bottle, making it crumple. Since the water was less than half full, nothing spilled out.
“Maybe there’s glue or something in it?”
“Um… it’s fishy, but I don’t think it’s glue. How should I put it… it smells a bit like spoiled food.”
After hesitating over the specific word that suddenly came to mind, I finally spoke. There’s no way the water that the entire class was drinking could have gone bad already. So something must have been added to it, but I couldn’t guess what it was, so I buried my nose in the bottle and smelled it again.
It was definitely more like the smell of spoiled food than the pungent odor of adhesive. As I kept smelling it, my head became dizzy and I felt nauseous. I removed my nose and covered my mouth, and Moon Seoheon quickly took the bottle back.
“Ugh… Are you okay? Let’s go to the infirmary for now.”
While trying to suppress the natural ‘blegh’ sound that was coming out, I grabbed Moon Seoheon’s arm. He looked fine on the outside, but you never know. It would be fortunate if no symptoms appeared, but since the water wasn’t in a normal state, he might get a stomachache later or, in severe cases, food poisoning.
I pulled Moon Seoheon and turned around to head toward the building. Seeing us leaving our posts, our class representative, who was far away, called out loudly.
“Moon Seoheon! Yoon Taeho! Where are you going? We have to participate in the cavalry battle soon.”
“Seoheon says his stomach hurts, so we’re going to the infirmary quickly.”
“Oh, really?”
The class rep’s face, which had widened in surprise at my brazen statement even though Seoheon wasn’t actually sick yet, soon changed to a troubled expression.
“Then our class team will be short.”
“Sorry. We’ll be back quickly!”
“Alright. Go quickly.”
Knowing he couldn’t stop us since someone was sick, the class rep waved his hand with a resigned expression. Feeling anxious about the situation where the kid had consumed something bad, I stretched my legs wide to cross over the flower bed that was blocking our path.
Glancing sideways at Moon Seoheon, who was following along well without complaining, I spoke in a casual tone.
“Don’t be disappointed about not participating in the cavalry battle. It would be your loss if you suddenly got sick during the competition.”
“…But the other kids who were supposed to go with us won’t be able to participate either?”
“Well… they’ll figure something out. What can they do if someone’s sick?”
The cavalry battle required teams of four, and Moon Seoheon and I were assigned to the same team. I felt sorry that the other two team members would miss the opportunity to earn points, but honestly, it was fortunate for me as the rider.
Simple cap-snatching might have been okay, but a competition where you had to push and knock down opponents to win was better not to participate in at all. I had been cursing internally at the aggressive behavior of the first-years who had been charging at us like they were going to eat us alive.
Without revealing such inner thoughts, I spoke nonchalantly, and Moon Seoheon, who had been quietly listening, smiled slightly. Seeing that gentle smile made my conscience prick a bit. Well, I was confident because I was genuinely worried about him.
Entering the building and heading straight for the infirmary, I hesitated slightly when I saw students crowding around even from outside. Looking at the familiar class uniforms, they were mostly first-years.
I had seen many students falling dangerously during the cavalry battle earlier, and sure enough, it seemed they had been injured, with many students gathered around.
“Oh? Senior Taeho, what brings you here?”
Among them, Kim Yuna, wearing a chef’s uniform that bakers would wear, emerged from the crowd. Her eyes, darting between me and Moon Seoheon, first showed puzzlement and then concern.
“Are you injured too, senior?”
“Not me. He ate something bad, so we just came to check his condition…”
As I pulled on Moon Seoheon’s arm while speaking, our shoulders bumped together. When I casually looked to the side, our eyes met, and I stared deeply into his pupils.
His normally light brown irises had become cloudy, as if water had been poured in and stirred around. Rather than making him look foolish and dazed, it gave him a sorrowful appearance that almost made me exclaim in admiration.
Realizing I was having such silly thoughts in this situation, I bit my lips tightly and then shook Moon Seoheon’s arm. I take back what I said earlier about him looking fine. Though the change was subtle, I could tell something was wrong with Moon Seoheon from his sunken eyes and his jaw tightly clenched as if straining.
“Oh, is Senior Moon Seoheon sick?”
“Yeah. Hey, are you alright? Where does it hurt?”
As I lowered my head to examine him, Moon Seoheon, whose focus had been wavering, shook his head as if trying to find his concentration and slowly parted his lips.
“My stomach is starting to hurt a bit.”
Despite his casual tone as if it was nothing, I let out a sigh. I didn’t like Moon Seoheon’s attitude of trying to appear composed. While it was admirable that he was trying to look okay in his own way, I thought he was being unnecessarily stubborn.
“This won’t do. Let’s go quickly.”
As I tried to pull Moon Seoheon into the infirmary, it wasn’t even easy to step over the threshold because of the gathered students.
“Excuse me! We have a patient here!”
“Everyone here is a patient!”
When the students wouldn’t make way despite my irritated shout, one of them blocking the way yelled back as if I was being unreasonable. Well, that was true, but this was an internal injury!
Unlike the students who just needed wounds treated, I anxiously tapped my foot, checking on Moon Seoheon, whose complexion was darkening.
“I’m telling you, he’s feeling sick inside!”
Though I shouted loud enough for everyone to hear, unlike before, they seemed to be ignoring me as no response came. Exasperated, I glared at the first-year guys blocking the way and instead of speaking, gave them a look asking if they weren’t going to move.
The sulky expressions of some students who saw my look soon turned serious, as if wondering if what I said was true.
“Senior! If it’s a stomach ache, there’s emergency medicine in the club room too, so why don’t you try finding some there?”
At Kim Yuna’s suggestion that the club room was just a short walk away, I quickly looked at Moon Seoheon. As if he thought my action was asking for his opinion, he nodded immediately and turned around first.
Without giving me time to stop him, he walked away, and I had no choice but to follow. Before leaving, I glanced back at the infirmary, which, like the outside, was chaotic with crowding students.
Despite my loud shout, the health teacher hadn’t even come out, so it seemed better to take medicine separately as Kim Yuna suggested.
“Then I’ll go to the club room. Thanks.”
“Ah, yes! It’s next to the lockers, so look carefully. Take care.”
Just to be sure, I noted her instructions well, thanked her, and rushed after Moon Seoheon. Seeing him walking far ahead when he would normally wait for me whether I dawdled or walked quickly, I wondered if he really was sick.
The water that Moon Seoheon still had with him would serve as evidence, and I vowed to find the culprit and make them pay for their crime. After all, going straight to Jo Youngmin and confronting him wouldn’t be a good approach.
First, to check Moon Seoheon’s condition, I ran quickly and led the way to the club room.
When we arrived at the club room, I turned the handle without a moment’s hesitation, and it turned smoothly. For a moment, I had worried about what to do if it was locked, but fortunately, it wasn’t.
“Let’s go in.”
After saying a word to Moon Seoheon, I went in first, and I flinched when I saw two people already inside. The other party seemed just as surprised, as the figure in the back trembled slightly.
The two bodies that had been close together slowly separated, and the person standing behind the one in front turned to look at us.
“…Taeho? And even Seoheon… what are you…?”
The voice, low and trembling with shock, cut off midway. I, too, wanted to ask why the two of them were together in the club room.
