# Chapter 14
“Is your head better now?”
“Yeah. I didn’t know you were still here.”
Moon Seoheon returned from the window to his desk and gathered his things.
“I need to stay for soccer practice.”
“Ah.”
Right, he was a promising player. I wondered why he would practice this late, but that wasn’t my concern. Between the Social Club and soccer, he must really have a busy life. I told him to do well in practice and gathered my bag.
“Oh, I submitted the survey for you.”
“Ah… right. Thanks.”
He was talking about the school violence survey. He said homeroom was supposed to be after the 7th period, but the homeroom teacher had something to do, so the class president collected the surveys instead. Recalling that I had marked “No” for all items, I thought it was fine since there was nothing I needed to hide from anyone.
As I slung my bag over my shoulder and was about to leave, the classroom door opened again. Three of The Four, minus Kwak Junhee who must have stayed for student council business, entered.
“Moon Seoheon, let’s go eat.”
Moon Seoheon nodded at Byeon Seungha’s words and started walking. I just stood there blankly.
I planned to leave a little after they left the classroom. As I was making this plan, Moon Seoheon came back and brought his body close to mine. I flinched involuntarily in surprise, and Moon Seoheon asked while examining my face:
“Are you still in pain?”
“…No.”
“Then let’s leave together.”
“Umm.”
Biting the inside of my lip, I adjusted my bag and followed Moon Seoheon. Why are you looking after me? Though they only appeared to have a cold relationship in the anime, I wondered if he had always been this friendly, but there was no way to know.
If he had changed like this because of my apology earlier today, it was a bit awkward. Being friendly with Moon Seoheon wasn’t actually a bad thing. If I met someone like Moon Seoheon in real life, becoming friends would be beneficial, not harmful.
The problem was those main characters. The air felt stifling, perhaps because those three with their extraordinary presence were all in one place. The trio, who had remained expressionless all along, left the classroom first, which made me feel a bit intimidated. I understood that Byeon Seungha’s personality was naturally difficult, but I couldn’t tell whether the others felt any displeasure toward me.
As I reluctantly followed them:
“Ah, Yoon Tae… ahem.”
Oh Seulbi, who spotted me at a dead-end corridor corner, started to call my name but closed her mouth when she saw who was standing in front of me.
She seemed to be trying to act natural and leave, but I saw an opportunity and called out to her. Oh Seulbi, who paused at my voice, sighed and approached me. She had a large box in her hands.
“Hey, take this.”
Oh Seulbi handed me the box she was holding, as if that had been her intention all along. After accepting it hesitantly, I asked what it was, and she corrected my hands, telling me to hold it properly.
“Cake, I put one of each in there.”
As she said this, Oh Seulbi glanced at the trio and Moon Seoheon in front of me, as if checking their reaction. It seemed she had put one of each dessert from the Social Club event. Though she looked slightly guilty, as if she had taken them without permission, she spoke casually:
“The student council president said we could take the leftovers, so I grabbed a few. You looked like you didn’t get to finish eating.”
The box was too heavy to call it “a few,” but I looked at Oh Seulbi with a genuinely grateful expression. I had been disappointed about not finishing my food.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
“Well, it’s nothing. It would’ve felt wrong not to get something for you, so I’m glad you like it.”
Oh Seulbi made a strange face as she saw my genuinely happy smile, then added:
“And I included the strawberry jam too. Since you liked it enough to put it on sausages, I thought you must really love it.”
“Strawberry jam?”
“Sausages?”
I turned my head at the voices from behind. The guys who were still standing there looked back and forth between me and the box I was holding. Trying to ignore them, I asked Oh Seulbi:
“Are you heading home?”
“…No. I’m in the dormitory, remember?”
“Ah, right.”
I had thought about suggesting we go home together if she was leaving, but if that wasn’t the case, there was nothing I could do. I nodded and waved goodbye. Oh Seulbi, who had been looking at me with a strange expression again, left. Her steps were so quick; she clearly wanted to get away from here as soon as possible.
I turned toward the guys who were still standing there, watching me as if they were spectators. Carefully holding the box so its contents wouldn’t spill, I started walking.
Maeng Moa, dropping the corners of his mouth, asked me as I led the way:
“Did you really eat sausages with strawberry jam?”
“So what?”
I barely stopped myself from blurting out “What’s it to you?” Seeing me respond so calmly, Maeng Moa twitched one corner of his mouth and then chuckled softly. Wondering what that was about, I started to turn my head to look at him but stopped. He must find something amusing.
Unlike the satisfying feeling from the heavy box, the air felt stifling, perhaps because these guys with their extraordinary presence were all in one place.
Now that we were outside, I thought I should be the one to leave first, so I stopped at the door and spoke:
“I’ll go ahead then. Today… thanks.”
Moon Seoheon, who had been following me, came to my side as I stopped, and tilted his head slightly at my words. The trio who had been walking naturally alongside each other also turned their heads, but I didn’t look at them at all, focusing solely on Moon Seoheon.
“See you tomorrow.”
After saying goodbye to Moon Seoheon, who was just standing there quietly, I quickly passed by the guys and ducked behind the building. From behind, I could hear Maeng Moa’s voice saying, “Huh, that’s not the way out.”
Regardless of what they said behind me, I was finally alone and took a deep breath of relief. Whether they went to the cafeteria or ate outside, I could circle around and leave slowly, avoiding any chance of running into them. I thought it was pathetic, but my head was a mess and I needed time alone.
* * *
Since I had looked around on my way to school in the taxi this morning, I was able to find my way home quickly. Plus, the installed door lock could be opened with fingerprint recognition, so I could enter even without knowing the password.
Looking around the still-unfamiliar space, I placed the box of cakes on the table and immediately took a shower to relieve my fatigue. I hung my school uniform on a living room chair and carefully washed, being mindful of my injured palm.
I hadn’t thought much about it when changing clothes, but reflecting on what happened at the Social Club, my body definitely looked quite thin. If I just built some muscle, it would be perfect. Looking at my face in the mirror, that’s what I thought. It wasn’t just a feeling while showering; objectively, my face was handsome, so this small flaw wasn’t a big deal.
I examined my face and body in the mirror from different angles as I washed under the flowing water.
“Maybe it’s because this is a nice house? The water pressure is good too.”
After finishing my shower, I felt a little better. Either my stamina wasn’t as good as I thought, or just showering had drained my energy. It was probably also due to being tense all day.
After refreshingly washing and getting dressed, I went to my room and immediately lay down on the bed. Partly because I’d bathed in warm water making me drowsy, but also because I was already exhausted from everything that happened today, I couldn’t do anything else.
The soft bed was excellent for comforting my tired mind. As I lay down naturally, feeling somewhat adjusted during that time, and closed my eyes, all of today’s events came flooding back. I pinched my cheek to check if all this had really happened in just one day since coming here, but it hurt and made me feel worse.
“What am I going to do?”
Today alone was tiring, and there was no guarantee tomorrow wouldn’t be the same. Should I be relieved that at least my relationship with Moon Seoheon had been restored? Still, I was fortunate that the main characters didn’t act as crazy as I had expected. Even so, Moon Seoheon would be the one suffering, but there are cases where the shrimp’s back breaks in a fight between whales.
Kwak Junhee was originally nice to other people too, so I could just act indifferently toward him, and I didn’t know much about Jung Hyoin since we hadn’t exchanged a single word. Well, it didn’t seem like there would be any problems if I was just careful, but Byeon Seungha and Maeng Moa were the main concerns.
“Well, I’ll just have to keep a low profile. Maybe I’m worrying for nothing.”
Being too concerned wasn’t good either. I was starting to get a real headache, so I was thinking about just going to sleep and stopping my thoughts, when I heard the sound of someone opening the door.
The only family I knew was Yoon Taean, so it had to be him, but I was too tired and decided to focus on falling asleep. However, the other person seemed intent on disturbing my peaceful sleep and flung the door open.
“Hyung.”
It was Yoon Taean who entered the room. I had thought he might be out studying, but he had simply come home late. When I opened my eyes and looked at him, he examined me and said:
“Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah.”
He’s still worried about his brother, as a good sibling should be. Since he might be the only person on my side here, my guard came down a bit. Pulling myself together from my drowsy state, I asked him what was going on.
“I was wondering if you were feeling unwell since this morning was so chaotic.”
“It’s nothing like that, I’m just a bit tired.”
I meant for him to leave so I could rest, but Yoon Taean didn’t leave and just stared at me. When I looked back at him questioningly, he moved his lips and asked in a low voice:
“You’re not injured anywhere, are you?”
“No. I think I just need to rest.”
“Okay. Then rest.”
After responding, Yoon Taean started to withdraw, but before closing the door, he turned his head as if remembering something and asked:
“Oh, I heard you apologized to Seoheon hyung? I heard other people talking about it.”
“Ah, yeah.”
Shit, it seems the rumors have spread perfectly. Well, since I apologized in front of everyone, it’s not surprising that rumors would spread.
“Honestly, even though Seoheon hyung didn’t say anything, you were definitely in the wrong. There are already a lot of people who are unhappy with Seoheon hyung, and with these unfavorable rumors spreading, there were people occasionally picking fights with him.”
“Yeah, I was wrong.”
An older brother being reprimanded by his younger brother. I felt annoyed at the real Yoon Taeho who wasn’t even here, but I had nothing to say, so I meekly admitted it and showed a remorseful expression. Yoon Taean looked at me strangely but didn’t have anything more to say, so after a pause, he said:
“Anyway, you did well. Junhee sunbae had been concerned about it, so it was difficult for me too.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. Sunbae seems to think well of you now.”
After uttering another half-hearted apology, I inwardly swallowed a sigh at the mention of Kwak Junhee’s positive reaction. That was truly fortunate. Though I wasn’t sure whether I should be happy about it or not.
“Then really get some rest.”
“Sure.”
Finally, after saying one last thing, Yoon Taean closed the door and truly left. In the now quiet room, I adjusted my blanket, completely covered myself, and tightly closed my eyes. It had really been an exhausting day.
