Chapter 9
I felt like I was reliving my morning journey to the classroom with Moon Seoheon and Maeng Moa—except this time, it was Kwak Junhee instead of Maeng Moa. Walking side by side with Moon Seoheon between us… seriously, what was I even doing?
To my surprise, even students from other classes had their faces pressed against windows and doorways, watching us. I felt like some zoo animal on display. But unlike me—completely drained—the two of them walked casually, clearly used to all the staring.
When we finally reached the infirmary, the bell rang. Yet Moon Seoheon and Kwak Junhee, who’d walked me all the way here, didn’t leave. Instead, they sat down side by side on the bed like they were planning to wait. What was even more ridiculous? The school nurse didn’t say a word about it.
The nurse examined my outstretched hand, sighed, dabbed on some antiseptic and ointment, then slapped on a large bandaid. Once the treatment was done, I stood up, and the two of them rose as well.
“Mm. All nicely patched up.”
“…Yeah.”
Kwak Junhee checked my bandaged palm and smiled with satisfaction. Now that I thought about it, that bastard had OCD. I knew he was sensitive about things like injuries too. In contrast, remembering someone else with a different condition, I instinctively clenched my hand and lowered it.
Kwak Junhee simply opened the infirmary door without comment. After Moon Seoheon thanked the nurse and left, Kwak Junhee and I both bowed our heads before stepping into the hallway.
“Thank you.”
Another side-by-side walk. Since it was class time, the atmosphere was quieter, and I felt I should express my gratitude.
Kwak Junhee responded lightly, “Hmm? Oh, it’s nothing. Of course I had to come along.”
He said that, but he’d obviously just tagged along to be with Moon Seoheon. Still, knowing his personality was fundamentally kind, I felt less on edge around him compared to the others.
As we walked down the corridor, music drifted from somewhere. The bright yet gentle melody reached my ears and naturally slowed my steps. It sounded like a music class was in session. The sound floating through the window from the other side was so beautiful I couldn’t help listening intently.
“That’s Hyoin.”
Kwak Junhee, who’d turned his head in the same direction, said. Hyoin? Oh, you mean Jung Hyoin? That blonde guy?
“Wait… Jung Hyoin is playing that?”
I was so shocked by this unexpected revelation that I stopped walking and asked. I mean, how could someone like Jung Hyoin play piano so beautifully?
“Yeah. That’s definitely Hyoin playing. Isn’t it common knowledge? It’s a piece Hyoin’s been performing lately.”
“Oh, is that so?”
It was news to me that he was talented with instruments. In the anime, he was portrayed as an extremely quiet character—he had so few lines I’d even joked his voice actor must’ve had the easiest job ever.
I responded absently to this new information and started walking again. Watching me, Kwak Junhee smiled slightly, seeming to find it interesting.
“That’s strange. I could understand if you were in a different grade, but you’re in the same year and you don’t know? The music played during lunch broadcasts is mostly Hyoin’s original compositions.”
How was I supposed to know when today was literally my first day here? This stuff was barely covered in the anime anyway. The story mainly focused on them screwing each other, so information like this came as a genuine surprise. Truly unexpected.
To think someone who plays piano so gently is actually a raging pervert—the world really is going to hell.
I clicked my tongue internally and felt a twinge of regret as the music faded. Moon Seoheon was staring at my face, which made me ask curiously, “Why are you looking at me?”
“You seem… different somehow.”
“What?!”
My heart jumped and I involuntarily raised my voice. Calm down, calm down. Fortunately, Moon Seoheon and Kwak Junhee didn’t react much—I must’ve kept my expression under control. I scratched the back of my neck like I’d heard something incomprehensible. Seeing my apparently clueless look, Moon Seoheon turned his head away and said lightly, “For some reason, you seem like a different person.”
“Uh, really?”
I’d been caught, but I played it cool and moved on. I was genuinely startled though. My face stayed blank, but my heart was pounding.
Still, I felt better soon enough, realizing it wasn’t particularly dangerous. If he thought I’d changed, that was actually good. The more Moon Seoheon thinks I’m harmless, the further we get from a bad ending.
“Even drinking beverages you never used to.”
“I’ve always liked them.”
He was talking about the drink I’d bought at the store. That reminded me—I still had one left in my bag. I should drink it during the next break.
“Drink? Oh, that’s right!”
As if something suddenly came to mind at the word “drink,” Kwak Junhee clapped his hands. Moon Seoheon and I turned our heads at the sound, and Kwak Junhee smiled awkwardly.
“By the way, Seoheon, I was actually on my way to tell you something.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. You know Jinyoung? She’s in student council with me.”
“Ah, yeah.”
Kwak Junhee wasn’t just a High Class authority figure—he was also student council president. While I was thinking about how well-crafted this setting was, an interesting story emerged.
“Jinyoung said they got some good drinks and they’ll hand them out at the club later. So I was thinking maybe we could just have some refreshments for a change. What do you think?”
The club Kwak Junhee mentioned literally meant an extracurricular club. Amusingly enough, the club all the main tops had joined was called the Social Club. Naturally, Moon Seoheon, the main bottom, was also a member.
Thinking this was exactly the kind of culture rich people would enjoy, I shook my head to clear away the steamy anime scenes flooding my mind.
Moon Seoheon glanced at me briefly, then turned to Kwak Junhee and nodded.
“That sounds good. We can spend our time however we want too.”
“Really? You’re not reluctant? There won’t be much to do besides drinking and eating.”
“It’s fine. Things like this have happened plenty of times before anyway.”
“True enough.”
Kwak Junhee replied with a slight smile. I naturally glanced at Moon Seoheon to observe him. His eyes, looking straight ahead, were simply calm—no discernible emotion.
He’d seemed rather detached in the anime, but in reality he appeared even more reserved. I wondered if he was different when alone with the main tops.
While turning all this over in my mind, I felt genuine sympathy for Moon Seoheon. I couldn’t help it—Moon Seoheon couldn’t properly taste anything. It was part of his character setup that he’d lost his sense of taste. His sense of smell wasn’t good either, and there was even a scene where he ate spoiled food, got sick, and had to be nursed back to health by the tops.
Not being able to taste or smell—for someone like me who thinks that’s basically the same as being dead, he was just pitiable. Regardless of whether he was the main bottom or not, thinking of Moon Seoheon as a person, it was truly sad.
“Then I should ask Jinyoung to bring them.”
“That senior’s in the Culinary Club, right?”
“That’s right. More precisely, it’s the Food and Culinary Club. Why?”
Moon Seoheon didn’t answer Kwak Junhee’s question and just stared at me. When I looked at him questioningly, he spoke.
“You’re in that club too.”
“Huh?”
“Really? Taeho’s in the Food and Culinary Club too?”
No, this is the first I’m hearing of it. There was so much I didn’t know, and I was completely confused, but I maintained my expressionless face, barely managed not to show it, and just kept my mouth shut.
When you don’t know anything, it’s best to stay silent. Instead of speaking, I looked at Moon Seoheon with a “what do you mean?” expression.
Moon Seoheon then turned to Kwak Junhee.
“The Food and Culinary Club shares food pretty often, right?”
“Well, yeah, I guess. They did give us snacks that came in and various things they made for us to taste. But why do you ask?”
Kwak Junhee looked at Moon Seoheon with a puzzled expression.
“If the Food and Culinary Club doesn’t have anything important scheduled today, how about inviting them too? It’d be nice to give something back for all the food we’ve received.”
“Hmm, well…”
Kwak Junhee seemed to think it was actually a pretty good idea. Growing increasingly anxious, I was internally screaming for him not to agree, but…
“Alright. It’s not like we’ve never collaborated with other clubs before, and the Food and Culinary Club has helped out a lot during parties, so why don’t we treat them today?”
“Sounds good.”
Having said this, Kwak Junhee and Moon Seoheon both smiled slightly at me, saying it would be fun. I smiled back in agreement. Damn it, I wanted to go home.
“Well, I’ll be going now. I was thinking we’d watch a movie again, but I’m glad we’ve settled on a plan. See you after school.”
Kwak Junhee turned toward the split staircase to say goodbye. From what I could gather from his words, it seemed that what they’d been discussing during lunch—watching a movie, doing puzzles—had been about deciding what to do at the club.
Which meant I had to go to this Food and Culinary Club or whatever it was. Was Yoon Taeho even good at cooking? The big problem was that I couldn’t even flip an egg properly—I was absolutely terrible at cooking. Plus, I didn’t even know where the club was.
Since they’d decided to collaborate with the Social Club, should I just follow Moon Seoheon? But thinking that might be even more dangerous, my mind was in chaos.
“What are you doing? Let’s go.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.”
After Kwak Junhee left, Moon Seoheon called out to me as I stood there dazed. Snapping back to reality, I immediately followed him.
When we reached the classroom and opened the door, class was in full swing. Moon Seoheon nodded slightly to the teacher for the momentary interruption and took his seat. Again, the teacher said nothing. They just continued the lesson.
Somehow, the looks the students gave me felt strange. My heart heavy with unease, I wondered if this was normal for high schools, or if it just felt off because we were inside an anime.
After class ended, Moon Seoheon turned and asked, “Is your hand okay?”
“Yeah. Now that it’s been treated, it should heal up.”
“Good. After the next class ends, it’ll be club activity time, so make sure you eat plenty of good food.”
“Yeah.”
The timetable had only shown up to 7th period, so I’d been wondering what came after, but apparently today we’d be spending time on club activities. And that time was already here.
Feeling my throat burning, I pulled a drink from my bag. As I cracked open the can and took a sip, Moon Seoheon stared at me, so I turned my gaze away—only to make eye contact with Jo Youngmin, who seemed to be looking this way.
Jo Youngmin’s eyes widened for a moment, then he mouthed, “Are you okay?” What did he mean by that? Was he asking about my injured hand? He hadn’t even asked earlier.
I’d been planning to distance myself from those guys anyway, so I considered ignoring him but didn’t. It seemed better to stay on moderately good terms rather than cutting them off completely. That way, even reluctantly, I could fall back on them if needed—and a sudden change might also seem suspicious.
I nodded to Jo Youngmin, then focused on drinking my beverage. The day felt impossibly long. I shouldn’t have come to school in the first place.
