“Haaah~”
Sim Hajun let out a long sound as he leaned back against the bed. His face showed both satisfaction from having a good time and fatigue from the non-stop activity until late at night. After stretching with all his might with his arms extended upward, he blinked his round eyes and looked at Jaeyoon, who was organizing the cards scattered on the floor.
“Jaeyoon.”
“Yes?”
“Why do you have your buttons done up all the way to your neck? Aren’t you hot?”
At Hajun’s words, Jaeyoon’s hands, which were organizing the cards, stopped. What…? A surprised voice escaped. Jaeyoon, who unconsciously brought his hand to the wound, rolled his eyes slightly to look at Jinhoo. When their eyes met, Jinhoo smiled softly with his eyes turning into crescents. Feeling relieved inside, Jaeyoon spoke to Hajun, who was looking at him curiously.
“I get cold easily.”
“Ah~”
Hajun seemed to accept Jaeyoon’s answer and nodded.
“You must really get cold easily. I’m hot even wearing a short-sleeve shirt.”
Hajun fluttered his t-shirt. I want to turn on the air conditioner~!! Heejun shouted at Hajun, who was yelling loudly, saying he was being too noisy while crumpling his expression. Looking at the two, Jaeyoon let out a small sigh. To be honest, Jaeyoon was just as hot. It really felt like summer was just around the corner. He could feel the air getting more humid and hotter with each passing day. Despite wearing just one shirt, sweat was running down his back. However, Jaeyoon had to keep his buttons fastened all the way to his neck, let alone wear short sleeves.
‘When is this going to disappear?’
Jaeyoon scratched his neck hard with his fingernails while recalling Han Doyoon’s annoying face.
“I’m thirsty.”
Hajun, sitting in a slouched position that looked bad for his back, grabbed the can next to him and shook it from side to side. Having finished the juice, the can felt light. Hajun slightly furrowed his brow and turned to look at Jaeha. Jaeha, with an uneasy look in his eyes, asked at that gaze.
“What, what?”
“There’s no juice.”
“…So?”
Instead of answering, Hajun stared intently at Jaeha. Jaeha, who had been resisting the burdensome gaze by biting his lips, eventually closed his eyes tightly and shouted, “Ah-!”
“Fine, fine! What? A sports drink?”
“Kokomonk! Sweet~”
A long sigh escaped from Jaeha’s lips. Jaeyoon gently grabbed Jaeha’s shoulder as he was struggling to get up. Jaeyoon smiled sweetly, curling up the corners of his lips, at Jaeha, who looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“I’ll go get it.”
“Huh? No, I’m fine, Jaeyoon! I’m used to my brother bossing me around all the time!”
So, don’t worry! Seeing Jaeha brightly smiling and giving a thumbs up, Jaeyoon smiled with furrowed brows. You don’t need to get used to that sort of thing.
“I’m thirsty too, and I want to walk a bit because my body feels stiff.”
“But…”
“What does the class president want to drink?”
“I still have green tea, so I’m fine.”
Jaeyoon nodded at Jaeha, who spoke while showing his green tea, and then asked, looking toward Jinhoo and Heejun.
“What about sunbae and Heejun?”
“I want an iced coffee.”
“And sunbae?”
Jinhoo blinked slowly for a moment and then stood up from his seat. Sunbae? When Jaeyoon looked at him blankly, Jinhoo smiled gently at the corners of his lips.
“Let’s go together.”
“No, I can buy them on my own…”
“I want to go with you.”
Seeing Jinhoo smiling broadly, Jaeyoon nodded as if entranced, then quickly snapped back to reality. Remembering that there were people around, Jaeyoon quickly turned his head to look at Heejun. Heejun smiled, lifting one corner of his lips at the gaze directed toward him. How sweet. Though he didn’t say it out loud, his eyes were clearly saying that. Jaeyoon felt his cheeks getting hot.
“T-then, I’ll be right back!”
Heejun’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Jaeyoon’s back as he grabbed Jinhoo’s wrist and rushed out. He thought while downing the last sip of his cola.
‘They won’t be back for a while.’
***
One Kokomonk and one iced coffee…
As he inserted the bill into the vending machine and pressed the buttons one by one, cans of drinks fell from inside the vending machine with a clunking sound.
“Which one would you like, sunbae?”
Jaeyoon asked, turning his head sideways. But instead of answering his question, Jinhoo raised his hand and brought it to Jaeyoon’s neck. Jaeyoon’s eyes widened. Jinhoo’s hand touched exactly where Han Doyoon had left the wound.
“Sun-bae…?”
When Jaeyoon called out, trying hard to hide his surprise, Jinhoo’s golden eyes turned to him. When their clear eyes met, Jaeyoon unconsciously lowered his head. Jinhoo, who had been quietly looking at Jaeyoon, raised the hand that was touching his neck and brought it to his cheek. Jinhoo carefully caressed the large bandage and then gently cupped his cheek, saying:
“Jaeyoon, if you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to.”
“…”
“But I wish you would lean on me instead of shouldering everything alone.”
You always try to handle things by yourself… Seeing Jinhoo smiling with an affectionate face, Jaeyoon stared at him blankly. So you knew I was lying all along…
“If you can’t trust me, then at least someone else…”
“No, it’s not that I don’t trust you, sunbae!”
Jaeyoon bit his lip hard. He had no idea how to explain this. He didn’t want to involve Jinhoo in the annoying matters he was dealing with. As long as he didn’t know why Jinhoo became a villain in the game, he wanted to keep him as far away as possible from Kim Yeonwoo and the other pursuit targets, that was all… He never intended to make him say such things.
“Sunbae.”
Jaeyoon carefully removed Jinhoo’s hand cupping his cheek, then interlocked his fingers with that hand. Then with his other hand, he peeled off the bandage on his cheek. This revealed a scratch wound. Jinhoo’s brow furrowed.
“Actually, it wasn’t a paper airplane; I was scratched by fingernails.”
“…Who?”
Feeling Jinhoo’s voice sink, Jaeyoon answered.
“Do you remember the brown-haired guy who was with my brother in the bathroom before?”
Brown hair? Frowning slightly while trying to recall, Jinhoo soon opened his eyes wide.
“Ah, him…”
Since Jinhoo couldn’t even properly remember Lee Minho who was in the same class, Jaeyoon hadn’t expected much, but he was surprised by the unexpected response.
“…You remembered.”
“Yeah, I made sure to remember him.”
“…Why?”
Jaeyoon felt his mood somehow sinking. Since Jung Jinhoo, the main villain, wasn’t one of Kim Yeonwoo’s pursuit targets, there was no risk of him falling into Yeonwoo’s trap. But separately from that, the fact that Jinhoo remembered Kim Yeonwoo irked Jaeyoon.
Jinhoo was about to answer Jaeyoon’s question but closed his mouth after seeing his expression. After blinking blankly for a moment, he soon burst into a small laugh. Jaeyoon frowned in surprise at this.
“Why are you suddenly laughing?”
Instead of answering Jaeyoon’s question, Jinhoo lowered his head and lightly kissed his nose. Jaeyoon’s eyes widened. He quickly checked if there were any people around, startled. Seeing this, Jinhoo reassured him with a broad smile.
“There’s no one here.”
“E-even so! In a place like this…!”
“But you were just too cute.”
“…I have no idea what part of me was cute…”
Jinhoo laughed softly at the sulky voice.
“The reason I tried to remember him is because he’s someone who bothers you. There’s no other reason.”
“Ah-…”
Come to think of it, was our first meeting when Kim Yeonwoo broke my phone screen…? Having finally realized the truth, Jaeyoon felt relief and at the same time an indescribable embarrassment. Jinhoo smiled with his eyes crinkling at Jaeyoon’s slightly flushed cheeks.
“So, don’t misunderstand.”
“…I wasn’t misunderstanding anything.”
“Mmm.”
Seeing Jinhoo answer with a small laugh, Jaeyoon’s eyes narrowed. After quietly looking at Jinhoo, Jaeyoon brought his hand to his neck. After hesitating for a moment, he unbuttoned the buttons fastened all the way to his neck one by one. Pop, pop, pop… After undoing three or four buttons, Jaeyoon unhesitatingly pulled his shirt aside to reveal his neck.
“…!!”
Jinhoo’s expression hardened at the bite mark clearly visible on the pale skin. Jaeyoon carefully explained while observing Jinhoo’s reaction.
“Don’t misunderstand, sunbae. This isn’t from cheating.”
Despite speaking in a deliberately bright voice, Jinhoo’s expression darkened even more. He examined the wounds over the bite mark. The four thin, long scratches looked fresh. Jinhoo carefully caressed the wound with his hand.
“The wound has worsened.”
“Ah-. That’s probably because I keep scratching it.”
Jaeyoon took a deep breath as if nervous and then said.
“Han Doyoon, the student council president, arbitrarily left a wound on my body…”
It was unbearable,
“Unpleasant.”
“Han Doyoon…”
Jinhoo’s eyes sank coldly. He recalled the look in Han Doyoon’s eyes as he stared at Jaeyoon. That dark, intense gaze directed at Jaeyoon in his arms from the top of the stairs. It was an ugly expression, a mixture of rage and obsession, as if something belonging to him had been taken away.
‘His possession…’
Jinhoo’s brow furrowed. He lowered his head and lightly bit the wound on Jaeyoon’s neck. Jaeyoon’s eyes widened in surprise. His hand, which was trying to push Jinhoo away in confusion, stopped in mid-air. After blinking his blue eyes and thinking for a moment, Jaeyoon eventually grabbed Jinhoo’s collar lightly. Then he whispered softly to Jinhoo.
“This is unpleasant, so unpleasant that I can’t bear it… So, make it disappear, sunbae.”
Jaeyoon smiled, looking into the wide-open eyes.
“Make it remind me of you every time I see it.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
