# Chapter 87
“How on earth did you manage to collapse like that?”
“You saw it yourself. I collapsed from a fever. Does there need to be another reason?”
“Well, no, but…”
Maeng Moa trailed off and interlaced his fingers behind his neck. His lips soon jutted out in a pout.
“I was just asking out of concern, and this is what I get?”
Is that what concern looks like? I thought he was being sarcastic again. I glanced at him with disbelief, and when our eyes met, he grinned.
“Did you leave right after waking up yesterday? I stopped by after club activities ended, but you weren’t there.”
“…I woke up in the middle, visited the club, and left after it ended.”
I answered while trying to calm my surprise, which made Maeng Moa furrow his brow.
“What? You collapsed with a bright red face and then visited the club right after waking up?”
“Well, I went because I felt better.”
“Ah, geez. Then I should have left in the middle too. I wasted my time going after it ended and didn’t even get to see you.”
So what, is that my fault now? Besides, what would we even do if we ran into each other? I thought he was speaking out of concern, but that clearly wasn’t the case.
As I was giving Maeng Moa a sidelong glance while he pouted, he shifted his gaze from me toward Moon Seoheon.
“Ah! Seoheon hyung, did you get home safely yesterday?”
As if just remembering, Maeng Moa leaned his upper body back and addressed Moon Seoheon. Moon Seoheon gave Maeng Moa a quick glance and nodded in response.
Maeng Moa silently smiled at this reaction. The small smile he wore looked unusually composed compared to his usual self.
I looked back and forth between them for a moment before quickening my pace to take the lead.
Soon after entering the school store, I headed straight for the bread section. As soon as I stopped walking, I grabbed a mocha bread that caught my eye. The large bread with cracks all over its crust was a simple one without any fillings like cream or raisins. It was plain, but a bit disappointing to eat just as is.
It wasn’t that I needed something to drink, but I wanted something additional to eat with it, yet nothing suitable was in sight.
Since the break wasn’t that long, I was hurriedly scanning around when Maeng Moa looked at me and asked curiously.
“What are you looking for? Milk… probably not. The drinks are over here.”
“No, I don’t need anything to drink. Just wondering if there’s anything else to eat.”
“Like what?”
Hmm, how should I explain this? I couldn’t see what I wanted, but I didn’t want to buy just anything else either.
“Just feels inadequate to eat only one piece of bread.”
After giving a vague answer to Maeng Moa’s question, I checked the last row in the bread section and found one pizza bread left. It was topped with thin ham and various toppings, but most importantly, it had lots of cheese.
“This one has the most cheese, at least.”
I considered whether it would be good, and after realizing there wasn’t anything better, I chose the pizza bread to satisfy my craving.
“Were you that hungry?”
“Yeah.”
Maeng Moa asked while looking back and forth at what I was holding. Then, glancing sideways at the drinks section, he said casually.
“Your throat will get dry eating just bread, won’t it? Let me buy you something.”
I could only offer a hollow laugh at his seemingly generous attitude. I was grateful, but I didn’t feel like drinking anything.
“It’s fine. I’m not even thirsty.”
Before he could say anything more, I grabbed the two pieces of bread and headed to the counter. From behind, I could hear Maeng Moa clicking his tongue. Whether he was just making a casual offer or not, his face showed no particular emotion when he approached, so I decided not to worry about it.
Instead, I turned my gaze toward Moon Seoheon, who had been quiet all along. Even though he had followed us all the way here, he didn’t choose anything or show interest in anything else. It bothered me because his gaze was constantly fixed on me, which felt uncomfortable.
“Aren’t you going to buy anything?”
“No. I just followed you here, so I don’t need anything.”
I closed my mouth for a moment. If an ordinary comment felt strange, maybe it was my fault?
Just as I was feeling a slight regret for initiating the conversation, it occurred to me that Maeng Moa was standing right next to us.
Maybe Moon Seoheon’s words didn’t carry any special meaning. But given how the main characters tended to interpret even simple greetings from Moon Seoheon, I thought what he just said might be a bit risky.
I paused my hand just as I was about to scan the barcode of the bread at the counter and awkwardly looked at Maeng Moa. I expected him to contort his face or emanate a fierce aura, but Maeng Moa was just standing there calmly. Being right next to him, our eyes met directly, and he asked.
“Why’d you stop in the middle of checking out?”
“Huh? Ah… I should, I will.”
My words came out disorderly due to my slight confusion. As I deliberately turned my body and continued checking out the bread, I felt a chill around my chest.
It was similar to the strange sensation I’d been feeling since parting with Moon Seoheon yesterday. Ever since hearing him say he didn’t want to be interrupted and wanted to be alone with me, my mind had started to become complicated, as if something was wrong.
Was it really just my imagination? I might end up in an awkward situation if I was getting excited over nothing, but I couldn’t help feeling anxious.
“If you’re done, let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
As I immediately left the convenience store, Moon Seoheon and Maeng Moa closely followed. The two of them stood on either side of me. Strangely, I felt unfamiliar walking between them. Even though it was the same situation as before entering the store, it suddenly felt awkward.
I suddenly recalled that Maeng Moa had greeted Moon Seoheon belatedly. Normally, he would have rushed to Moon Seoheon as soon as he spotted him.
Things that hadn’t bothered me just a moment ago became hard to dismiss once they crossed my mind. I bit my lip as I felt a sigh coming on.
What’s going on? Did they have a fight? But they didn’t seem to have a strained relationship or show any odd signs. The atmosphere was the same as usual, but something was subtly different.
Suddenly, I couldn’t help but swallow dryly as Moon Seoheon’s words to me came to mind again.
I shouldn’t think about it. I know nothing. Just as I had decided not to interfere much in their romance, I promised myself not to get involved in however their relationship might change.
I’ll just focus on my own well-being, like I’ve been doing all along. I don’t know how long I’ll be here anyway.
“I’ll be going now.”
“Okay.”
I waved to Maeng Moa as he headed toward the first-year classrooms. Maeng Moa raised both hands and waved them gently. Come to think of it, he came all the way to the store but didn’t buy anything. As I glanced to the side, I saw Moon Seoheon waving along with me.
Maybe I was just imagining things. Both Maeng Moa and the other main characters’ excessive attachment to Moon Seoheon came later anyway.
But that was a bit worrying too. Not concern about their romantic views, but whether they would work out well. Yoo Wono needs to really stir things up.
After clearing my thoughts, I returned to the classroom with Moon Seoheon and only then realized I hadn’t microwaved the bread. I had planned to melt the pizza bread and sandwich it between the mocha bread.
Swallowing a sigh, I had no choice but to eat them separately. With just a few minutes before class started, I had to eat quickly. The food went down well because I was hungry, but I couldn’t really taste it.
It was solely because I was eating so fast that I couldn’t tell if the food was going through my nose or mouth, definitely not because I was troubled.
After finishing the bread, I thumped my chest to relieve the heavy feeling. Maybe I should have accepted something to drink after all?
Smacking my lips, I reached into my desk drawer to get my textbook. I knew exactly where it was and should have been able to grab it right away, but instead of the history book I was reaching for, a thin piece of paper came into my hand.
As I pulled out the book, I examined what I had grabbed. It was a small piece of paper about the size of my palm. Just a plain white paper, not even something you could call a letter sheet.
However, as the writing on the paper immediately caught my eye, I ended up reading it all the way through without realizing.
[Mission: Post a picture of you giving your desk partner a piggyback ride. Receive good luck through this mission. You, who have seen this, must complete the mission within 24 hours. If you fail, misfortune will befall you this year. You might lose something precious or get seriously injured. You might even fall further from your current position. The timer starts now.]
“Huh.”
A deflated sound escaped my mouth out of absurdity. Moon Seoheon and Ko Kyungsu looked at me upon hearing what sounded like a scoff or a low sigh.
“What is it?”
Moon Seoheon alternated his gaze between me and the paper I was holding with a puzzled expression. I quickly crumpled the paper, afraid that he might see even a bit of it.
The crunching sound of the paper being crumpled rang pleasantly, and seeing this, both Moon Seoheon and Ko Kyungsu’s eyes widened.
“Nothing. Just trash.”
At my words, Ko Kyungsu nodded his head with an awkward smile. Unlike him, who immediately focused on his textbook, Moon Seoheon looked at me with suspicious eyes for a moment but didn’t say anything.
As the door opened and the teacher entered, Moon Seoheon turned his attention to his textbook. I also opened my textbook and tried to concentrate on the lesson, but it wasn’t easy.
What the hell is this? I had no intention of looking at the crumpled paper in my hand again, so I put it back in the drawer. I decided to throw it in the trash later, but as I organized my thoughts, I had to press my lips firmly together to prevent another weary laugh from escaping.
Is this that lucky letter I heard about from Lee Jinyoung? Before I could even wonder why such a letter came to me, I just laughed at the silly prank.
And what on earth was that mission content? Asking me to post a picture of giving my desk partner a piggyback ride? The more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed, making me shake my head.
For me to succeed, should I post a picture of giving Moon Seoheon a piggyback ride on the bulletin board? Thinking about it, it’s not even a difficult task and might be nothing special, but I didn’t see any need to do it. I don’t really believe in such superstitions anyway.
Still, I thought it was a cute prank. It’s fun to have things like this circulating at school. As long as students don’t take it too seriously, there shouldn’t be any problems. We might even talk about it as a fond memory when we’re older, using it as a conversation starter over drinks.
Thinking lightly about it, I soon picked up my highlighter at the teacher’s instruction to mark important sections.
