# Chapter 20
“Are you really okay?”
“Y-yeah.”
What the hell? I was startled by his face so close that our noses could touch, and I moved away. But maybe because my body was in an abnormal state, my heart was racing, and the loud sound of my heartbeat seemed to make me feel even worse.
I pressed down on my chest area out of discomfort and looked at Moon Seoheon with a look that meant he should really go now, when just then the infirmary door opened, and the health teacher came in.
“Oh, Seoheon… and Taeho? What’s wrong? Did you get hurt again?”
“He collapsed while playing soccer.”
As Moon Seoheon answered for me, the health teacher approached with a sigh that sounded like lamentation.
“Another student came in injured earlier, but how intensely were you all moving to collapse? Seoheon seems fine, so it was Taeho who collapsed?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
Even though she didn’t say it, her face clearly meant “You’re here again?” I had nothing to say, so I just bowed my head slightly, and the teacher added with a small sigh:
“Taeho, you should go to the hospital. I’m worried since you’ve been coming often since yesterday. Studying is important, but managing your physical strength is important too, so pay attention to it.”
I answered that I understood while scratching my head awkwardly. I definitely had very little stamina, perhaps because I had dieted incorrectly. I needed to pay attention to my body management—if I ate well and exercised a bit, it would probably improve.
“But you look fine now?”
“Ah, I think I feel better after drinking juice.”
I pointed to the empty bottle Moon Seoheon was holding and added an apology for drinking it without permission. As the teacher said it was okay and that I did well, Moon Seoheon turned as if to leave.
Before that, as he bowed his head to throw away the empty bottle, I noticed the back of his neck. Remembering his hand gently caressing my nape earlier, I felt a ticklish sensation.
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Okay. Seoheon, be careful about injuries too.”
“I will.”
After the door closed and Moon Seoheon was no longer visible, I stared blankly at the door, and the health teacher told me to rest before leaving. I lay down for a while and then got up toward the end of class.
I said goodbye to the health teacher and quickly went out to the field, where the guys who saw me return asked if I was okay. I answered that I was fine and apologized for disrupting the match.
“Hey, are you okay?”
As the match ended and everyone was gathering, Jo Youngmin approached me and asked with a somewhat serious expression. I nodded that I was fine, but he slightly furrowed his brow.
“You were always a bit weak, but how did you manage to confront the High Class students in that state?”
I missed the timing to answer and just looked at him for a moment before scratching my right temple.
“I told you, it wasn’t like that.”
* * *
After finishing the final homeroom meeting and returning home, I showered and then thoroughly searched the house. Yesterday I was too tired and went straight to bed, but today I looked around to try to find something that would help me understand Yoon Taeho better. But this guy didn’t even seem to keep a diary—I couldn’t find a single notebook on the desk, let alone any photos.
Wondering if I should check the other rooms, I took the opportunity while Yoon Taean was out to peek into his room too, but there wasn’t much to find.
Although the house had three rooms and was quite large and stylish, it was unnaturally quiet for a place where people lived. There weren’t many belongings either, just the necessary furniture, making it feel more like a hotel, which was puzzling.
“Do they live just the two of them, without parents?”
But there’s no way two minors could live in such a nice house alone. Also, Yoon Taeho had even disparaged Moon Seoheon while discussing family circumstances, saying he was someone without parents, so he probably wasn’t without parents himself.
Just to check, I looked at the contacts in the phone and found numbers saved as “Father” and “Mother.”
So what’s this guy’s problem then? Sprawled on the sofa, I said:
“Haa, what the hell has this bastard been doing? I’d like to beat him up when I meet him… Damn, he’s me.”
Out of frustration, I decided to eat well and had dinner, then with nothing else to do, I went out and exercised for about an hour. There was a gym facility in the building, so I focused on strength training, though I couldn’t do much.
After that, I just rolled around in bed all day. I decided to stay strong since I only needed to endure one more day before the weekend.
Yesterday, I saw Yoon Taean coming in late and going to his room, and with nothing to do, I went to bed early. Today, I woke up feeling refreshed, probably because I slept deeply without dreaming.
I quickly went outside, wondering if Moon Seoheon would be waiting again. At first, I was going to call and tell him not to wait and go ahead, but I gave up since Moon Seoheon wasn’t in my contacts. I couldn’t help but laugh hollowly, feeling how much Yoon Taeho really disliked Moon Seoheon.
“You’re out early.”
“Yeah. You too.”
Considering that school starts at 8, I had really come out early, but Moon Seoheon arrived shortly after. If he usually came around this time, it meant he had been waiting about 10 minutes for me to arrive—what was this guy thinking, waiting like this?
“Aren’t you annoyed about walking with me every morning?”
When I asked this, Moon Seoheon glanced at me and said:
“Not really. Why? You asked me to go together every day, but now you don’t need it anymore?”
Surprised by Moon Seoheon’s words, I looked at him. Moon Seoheon stared back at me with a puzzled expression.
What’s with this guy? Is he unexpectedly gullible? It’s obvious that Yoon Taeho asked to go together either to plot something or to annoy him, but seeing him act so nonchalantly made me feel frustrated. Or was he deliberately testing me?
I soon dismissed my suspicions and naturally turned my head, saying:
“From now on, don’t wait for me and go ahead. You don’t need to walk with me either.”
“…Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why are you suddenly telling me not to do that?”
I paused for a moment. Since I didn’t know what Yoon Taeho’s original intention was when he insisted on going together, I couldn’t think of a good excuse either.
“I’m worried it might be tiring for you.”
So I gave the most neutral answer. It was partly sincere, so I added that there was no need, but after a brief silence, Moon Seoheon spoke:
“It’s fine.”
“Huh?”
“I said it’s fine to go together every morning.”
No, I’m not fine with it. I tried to politely decline again, but Moon Seoheon just kept saying it was fine, so this matter was rejected.
In the end, I swallowed a sigh at the decision to continue going together and headed for school.
Unlike yesterday, this morning was quiet. For some reason, none of the main gang came, and Moon Seoheon spent the break times reading a book or sleeping quietly, so time passed peacefully. I too spent the breaks comfortably, except for the occasional conversations with Jo Youngmin and Ko Kyungsu.
When lunch time came, I got up to go to the cafeteria, watching the students pour out.
“Hey, are you not going to eat today either?”
“No, I’m going to eat today.”
When Jo Youngmin approached and asked, I took the lead, saying let’s go eat. Ah, but first, I grabbed a can of soda I had bought during break time.
“Why are you bringing that?”
“To have with my rice.”
When Jo Youngmin asked about the soda I was carrying, I answered in a light tone. He said “I see” and went ahead, and I followed, seeing Ye Abin and Hong Hachan standing in the hallway.
“Are you going to eat today?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded to Hong Hachan, who asked the same question as Jo Youngmin, and as I followed them, Ye Abin glanced at me and said:
“Did something happen?”
“Huh?”
“You’ve been acting strangely lately, so I was asking.”
At Ye Abin’s words, I was silent for a moment. Hong Hachan and Jo Youngmin, who had been chatting in front, suddenly went quiet too, apparently having heard Ye Abin’s question.
“No. Nothing special.”
I deliberately spoke lightly with no change in expression. When I looked at him as if asking why he was asking, Ye Abin who had been watching me straightened his head.
“I thought you might have changed direction… But never mind if not.”
Not understanding what he meant, I just kept my mouth shut at his meaningful words. This guy Ye Abin—as someone who knew he got along well with the delinquent crowd even if he didn’t hang out with them much, I couldn’t just let it go. So I was about to ask what he meant when some guys bumped into me as they passed, causing my mouth to close again.
Wondering who it was, I turned my head and met eyes with the guy in the center of a group that clearly looked unsavory. I tried to quickly scan his name tag, but there wasn’t one. He had four stars attached.
The narrow-eyed guy looked at me with a sneering, distorted smile at the corner of his mouth, then passed by. Feeling unpleasant, I was brushing off the part where he had bumped me when Jo Youngmin spoke up:
“Why is Son Gyucheon acting like that?”
“Who knows, he’s always been a pain in the ass.”
After Hong Hachan’s answer, I inwardly cursed intensely. Shit, so that was Son Gyucheon? Just then, Son Gyucheon’s sneering expression, as if he had a lot to say, came to mind, and I felt drained. I had thought things were going too quietly.
Arriving at the cafeteria, I nodded inwardly as I looked over the decent menu items. The most delicious among them was tteokbokki. I tried to cheer myself up, thinking it would go well with the soda I had brought.
Actually, I had brought the soda as thorough preparation after what happened yesterday. While it was unlikely there would be consecutive carrot parties, I was being cautious. If there weren’t any appealing menu items, I planned to at least mix rice with something to avoid running out of energy like yesterday.
I scooped up rice and went to where the guys were seated. Perhaps disliking that I had sat in a corner last time, they were sitting in the middle, especially in a noticeable area. Don’t most people prefer corners? I didn’t know why they did that, but thinking The Four hadn’t arrived yet, I prepared to eat comfortably.
When I opened the soda can I had brought, a cheerful sound echoed around. A few nearby guys briefly looked over at the quite loud sound.
Focused on the meal, I ignored those gazes and just poured the soda directly onto my fluffy white rice. Listening to the sound of carbonation rising, I mixed the rice well with my spoon and took a bite.
The perfectly cooked rice soaked in cool soda gave a thrilling sensation as it traveled down my esophagus. I took another bite and then bit into a piece of tteokbokki rice cake as a side dish, when Jo Youngmin put down his chopsticks with a clatter and said to me:
“What are you doing?!”
“Huh?”
“Why are you ruining rice with… I mean, you said you’d have it with your meal.”
Looking at my rice soaked in soda under the gaze of the guys who weren’t even eating their own food, I responded:
“I am having it with my meal.”
Hong Hachan let out a loud “Huhhh” sigh and covered his mouth.
Does it look that bad? I had deliberately chosen soda since it was less visually shocking.
After seeing a colleague cover their mouth in horror and rush to the bathroom during a company dinner, I only ate ordinary food in front of people. I could always eat foods with horrible appearances when I was alone at home.
Even so, people were surprised, but they got used to it and just went with it. It was like at the social club too—I was receiving these reactions after a long time, which felt novel.
“Are you sick or something?”
I calmly said to the astonished guys:
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“Did someone make you do this?”
At Ye Abin’s serious expression as he spoke, I stopped chewing and shook my head.
“I’m eating like this because I want to. It’s delicious.”
Hong Hachan pointed at me with his chopsticks and shouted:
“Is there something wrong with your tongue?!”
Perhaps because of that, people eating nearby started to look at me. Seeing them grimacing at the commotion, I told Hong Hachan to lower his voice, when suddenly I felt a stir around us.
As I turned my head, The Four, the main gang, and Moon Seoheon were coming this way.
