# Chapter 74
For a moment, Byeon Seungha had a dumbfounded expression. The way he firmly closed his mouth, which had been slowly opening, made him look a bit flustered.
I wondered which part of what I said surprised him. But it didn’t seem like he was angry, so a thin sigh escaped me involuntarily.
For some reason, I felt I could push a little more when Byeon Seungha was in this state, so I let my tongue wag freely.
“I heard you keep bothering Moon Seoheon because of me. Well, I’m not in a position to say anything about your relationship, but it feels like you’re treating me as if I’m getting in the way, so stop it.”
“What bullshit is this?”
Byeon Seungha cursed with a hardened expression. I tried to speak nicely, but it seems his mood had soured. But since his mood was never good anyway, I didn’t take it too seriously.
Instead, I was the one taken aback by his immediate cursing. While I was wondering how to continue, Byeon Seungha exhaled deeply and gently stroked his eyebrow.
It looked exactly like an action meant to clear a confused mind and regain his composure.
“What are you thinking?”
“What do you mean?”
“If you’re going to act with some concept in mind, pick just one. Don’t go back and forth, it’s irritating.”
At his words, delivered with a stiff expression, I gaped. I had no idea why he would think that way about me.
The other time, he’d accused me of acting too, and now, beyond misunderstanding, I was just dumbfounded.
“Look here. I have no idea why you think that way. Since we’re talking about it, tell me. What exactly makes you feel like I’m acting?”
“Everything you do is disgusting.”
“…Because of the lies I told? That thing with Son Gyucheon—I already apologized and it’s over. The bruise on my shin where you hit me was dark blue for four days!”
“Be grateful I didn’t punch you. If I’d hit you for real, you wouldn’t be able to walk.”
How very kind of you, fuck. I wanted to curse, but I bit my lip and held back.
“So? Are you following me around and eavesdropping on my conversations because you’re still suspicious about something that’s already over?”
At my question, Byeon Seungha pressed his lips together. His expression grew more hostile, but seeing that he didn’t answer, it must have been true. I had just been testing him.
So did he see me with Kwak Junhee too? I don’t know how much he saw, but I gave him a disgusted look.
“Why don’t you focus on Moon Seoheon instead of wasting your time? Like you said, I’m not doing anything unnecessary and just living quietly.”
At that, Byeon Seungha let out a scornful laugh. I looked at him calmly. This sort of thing might happen again, and since I’d come this far, it seemed better to clear up our misunderstandings once and for all. Thinking that way, I had nothing to fear.
“So you’re saying I can’t believe that? Did you already forget how you were just going on about taking pictures?”
“That has nothing to do with you.”
I hadn’t done anything to Moon Seoheon, nor had I made any plans. If I just kept quiet about it, the future situation wouldn’t occur. I would look into what happened last year in more detail, but that wasn’t related to Moon Seoheon. So at least in front of this guy, I didn’t need to cower.
Perhaps my confidence showed, because Byeon Seungha furrowed his brow. Instead, he looked at me for a moment with a strange expression, as if observing something. He still seemed suspicious but apparently had nothing more to say, so I nodded slightly, thinking that was fine.
“Then we’re good, right? I have no intention of bothering you, so stop concerning yourself with me.”
Let’s just keep to ourselves and live quietly as if the other doesn’t exist. At that moment, I recalled my conversation with Moon Seoheon after lunch. I was about to add one more thing about those guys who kept coming to bother me during every lunch period, but then stopped.
Moon Seoheon would talk to him about it later. I didn’t want to add anything that might anger him further, especially when I was telling him not to worry about me.
I tried to pass by Byeon Seungha and enter the building. He was just standing there without showing any intention of continuing our conversation.
He probably understood what I meant.
Rather than pushing past Byeon Seungha who was standing in the middle, I decided it would be better to go around him, even if it meant getting a bit wet in the rain. Just as I was about to pass him, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed my right wrist.
This guy apparently could only control his strength when it came to Moon Seoheon, because it wasn’t any different from when he had grabbed my shoulder. If my wrist had been fine, I might have just brushed it off, but it hadn’t fully healed yet and I felt pain. On top of that, he even pulled, and more from surprise than pain, I let out a scream.
“Ack!”
I placed my hand over his as he held my wrist and collapsed to my knees. Because of that, Byeon Seungha bent down, slipped his arm between my armpits, and lifted me up. He moved so quickly that my butt, which almost hit the ground, was suspended in the air with a slight gap.
I reflexively clung to Byeon Seungha’s arm and tensed my legs, which had straightened out. If Byeon Seungha threw me down now, I would fall ungracefully.
We had moved away from the shelter, and raindrops were hitting my entire body. Not just me, but Byeon Seungha’s upper body was gradually getting soaked too.
“Hey!”
I shouted at Byeon Seungha who was frozen stiff for some reason. At my voice, he blinked slowly and seemed to come to his senses, then abruptly released me, whom he had been practically embracing. The arm I was entangled with suddenly came loose. The strength of my arms, which were holding onto him, wasn’t enough to keep my grip on him.
“Ahhh!”
In the end, I fell on my butt and the momentum made me topple sideways. What an asshole. If he was going to help, he should have helped all the way, but instead he tossed me aside halfway, making my mood plummet to the ground as well.
Fortunately, I fell on a grassy area. But as my uniform touched the grass, which was soaked from the rain that had been falling all day, it instantly became wet and a mess.
“Damn it, what are you doing?!”
I slowly got up and glared at Byeon Seungha with all my might. The rain was hitting my face and flowing into my mouth. When I spoke while wiping my face, my pronunciation became slurred.
Since I was already wet, staying in the rain longer wouldn’t make much difference. But I had no intention of continuing to stand in the unhealthy rain, so I planned to take shelter under the awning again. I was moving quickly while still glaring at Byeon Seungha, when the guy, who had been in a daze, muttered something that made me stop in my tracks.
“I investigated you.”
He investigated me? Of course, that sort of thing was probably nothing to him, and it wouldn’t be a blow to me if he told someone else. But when he actually said he had investigated me, I frowned in discomfort.
“You dropped out of middle school. Even though your grades were good.”
My eyes widened at this information I didn’t know.
“I looked into whether there were any issues, but found nothing. But a guy who went to that school told me about you, and I almost thought he was talking about someone else.”
Ah, he’s not talking about my body being different. The additional comment was tinged with sarcasm.
With my wet bangs, it was hard to see clearly. When I casually brushed up my hair, contrary to my expectation that he would be smiling, Byeon Seungha’s face was coldly hardened. His eyes, which met mine, were darkly sunken.
Perhaps because of that, his words themselves didn’t sound like they were meant to belittle me.
“It seems like you’re trying to appear different in high school, but no matter what you do, your pathetic nature won’t change, so just be yourself. Don’t hang out with those half-baked thug kids.”
Byeon Seungha turned around and headed for the entrance. I thought he would just go in, but as he stepped over the threshold, he added in a displeased tone.
“Don’t cause trouble by showing off.”
With those final words, Byeon Seungha left. I stared blankly at his retreating back before realizing I was pitifully standing in the rain and started moving.
Suddenly, irritation welled up and a hollow laugh escaped me. Even though I had taken shelter under the awning, I still felt like the rain was hitting my entire body.
I examined my disheveled body and wrung out the moisture from my uniform. If water had come out smoothly, I might have felt refreshed, but it just dripped.
“Sigh…”
A sigh escaped before I could even straighten out my wrinkled uniform from wringing out the water. When I tilted my head back, I could faintly see the dark clouds through the opaque awning.
Maybe it would have been better if he had just hit me. If he had cleanly hit me and I had taken the blow, it would have ended there, and I wouldn’t feel this unpleasant. He keeps giving me these warning-like words and leaving, making my heart turbulent.
My mind was also dazed by Yoon Taeho’s past that had suddenly emerged.
The only consolation was that I felt I wouldn’t have to blindly avoid or run away the next time we met.
* * *
My mind, which had been showing signs of poor condition since morning, grew even hazier. My head, which had been relatively clear until I changed into my gym clothes and ran around the field, started to throb.
Because of that, Moon Seoheon, who saw me moving like a zombie unlike the other energetic kids, pulled me out of the soccer game.
While I was sitting on the stands resting with my heavy body, suddenly the bandage wrapped around my wrist came loose. I had changed to a new bandage yesterday after getting completely drenched in the rain, but strangely, it had been coming loose since then.
Is it because I wrapped the bandage clumsily? It kept coming loose today, even during breakfast, and I wasn’t sure if it was due to my lack of skill or if there was something wrong with the bandage. Maybe both.
I roughly rewrapped the bandage and secured it firmly again, but I frowned at the feeling that it was already becoming loose.
I had planned to keep it wrapped until my wrist completely healed, but I briefly considered just removing it. I decided that if it came loose one more time, I would throw it away, when suddenly someone’s arm appeared in front of me.
“Oh!”
Moon Seoheon, who had come without me noticing, bent down and grabbed my right hand. He must have been watching me struggle with the bandage, so when he pulled my wrist, I willingly gave him my hand.
“The bandage is stretched out, isn’t it?”
“Oh, really? I replaced it with a new one yesterday.”
He examined the bandage and started to unwrap the disheveled bandage. When I looked at him questioningly, Moon Seoheon said.
“I’ll wrap it again for you.”
“Now? Where do you have a bandage?”
Wondering if he wanted to go to the infirmary, I asked, and Moon Seoheon turned his head toward the classroom direction before looking at me.
“I have a new one in my bag.”
I was about to ask why he had a bandage in his bag but kept my mouth shut. Since he was athletic, it made sense that he would always have some on hand.
Moon Seoheon, still holding my wrist, wiped away the sweat dripping down with his other hand and then helped me up. His hand holding me was hot.
“Let’s go inside.”
“Huh, is class over already?”
“Yeah.”
