He looked at me and whispered.
“But why did you say that in the hallway?”
“I checked that there was no one around and spoke quietly. But they’re acting like that saying they heard it faintly.”
“I think it’s closer to you just wanting to get caught.”
Hee-ae subtly chided me. I made a deflated expression at Hee-ae’s words. After some time passed, Lee Seung-i, the fan club president, wrapped things up.
“We’ll consider it a simple misunderstanding, so make sure to praise them longer from now on.”
“I want to withdraw.”
I’ve endured well during the second semester, but I can’t do it anymore. Spitting out the words I’d been holding back for so long felt refreshing, as if someone had opened a window. The fan club kids were flustered. In-sae snatched the paper the fan club vice president was holding and retorted to my words.
“You’re withdrawing? I’m removing you from the list.”
It was truly satisfying. Hearing In-sae’s words made me feel even more refreshed, so I kept laughing. Since all the other kids were withdrawing too, there was no way I’d be reprimanded. It really couldn’t be a better time.
I was laughing when I noticed In-sae taking out candy and pointed it out.
“I always say this, but let’s reduce the amount of candy you eat.”
In-sae blinked for a moment, then handed over all the candy he was holding to me. Suddenly both my pockets were full of candy. It was a completely unexpected action.
“I kept telling you for months and you were stubborn. You’re giving up so suddenly like this?”
“You told me not to eat it.”
He couldn’t take his eyes off my pockets, as if he had some lingering attachment. In-sae put his hand in his pocket.
“And someone gave me something else.”
“Who gave you apple juice?”
“…The school store.”
***
I gathered the side dish container and followed Cho-yeon to his house. We rode the elevator while making trivial small talk, and when we finally arrived.
There was one person I’d never seen before peeking around from house to house. He seemed to keep checking if this was the right place he was looking for. It seemed like it was a path he was visiting after a long time.
Cho-yeon seemed to think of him as just a passerby who got the wrong address. He ignored the man and was about to go into the house when he dropped his keys. The keys fell and made a clear metallic sound.
I was about to pick up the keys right away. But for some reason, Cho-yeon gripped my wrist tightly to prevent me from picking them up. No, I think I need to correct that. He seemed to have gripped my hand tightly out of panic.
“Wait a moment.”
Cho-yeon said quietly. I wanted to ask him to let go because he was holding my hand too tightly. However, curiosity arose because the man and Cho-yeon seemed to know each other.
“You two look alike.”
I observed Cho-yeon and the man and said quietly. At the words that they looked alike, Cho-yeon lost strength in his body and showed signs of fatigue. It must be Cho-yeon’s family that he always cursed about.
“It’s been quite a while. How many weeks has it been since I last saw you?”
“A few months.”
Cho-yeon tried to speak politely. Of course, his unfamiliar expression wasn’t completely hidden. The relationship between the two looked too awkward. When I became awkwardly caught in the middle, I hurriedly stepped back behind Cho-yeon. The man looked at me and asked.
“Who’s next to you… a friend?”
I felt like he would ask about everything one by one if I revealed we were close. I pretended we weren’t that close.
“I stopped by because I had something to give him. This, it’s a handout that was distributed today, but you didn’t get it.”
Cho-yeon momentarily made an expression mixed with embarrassment and disappointment.
“Don’t you know you should greet politely when your father comes?”
The man said with a hardened expression, contrary to his tone that seemed to have lingering attachment. The longer the man spoke, the more Cho-yeon’s expression gradually hardened. By the time the man finished speaking, Cho-yeon was openly showing an unwelcoming expression.
The man only asked about his well-being, then disappeared making the sound of dress shoes. Cho-yeon waited until the sound of the dress shoes faded.
“Still, he’s this kid’s family. Even if I try to do well, it doesn’t work out.”
Only after the man disappeared did Cho-yeon relax and blame himself. He looked down with bitterness as he spoke.
“It was worse before. They praised me saying the kid became gentler after I possessed him, which was absurd. I caused all sorts of trouble as much as I could.”
I remembered the story Cho-yeon had told before. He told me later that he caused all sorts of commotion, saying it was a dream after possession. Cho-yeon searched for his keys in his bag as he spoke.
“He’s someone who throws a high school student to live alone and comes once every few months. I feel a bit sorry for him too.”
He sighed and opened the door. As the door opened, Cho-yeon’s house interior, which had become familiar, came into view.
“No matter how bad the relationship is, he’s still this kid’s family. But it’s still hard to become attached.”
“…”
“I don’t know a single person here.”
His voice sank a little. But that was only for a moment. Cho-yeon returned to his usual voice and asked me.
“I’m curious, why did you suddenly distance yourself?”
“I felt like I shouldn’t say we were close.”
“You know that man’s personality well for meeting him for the first time. He would have kept asking annoyingly. You actually did well though.”
Cho-yeon spoke as if I did well, then his voice suddenly dropped. He spoke while standing in front of the door.
“It’s creepy sometimes. That person’s son might have died because I got possessed.”
Cho-yeon spoke lightly as if talking about someone else’s story. That made me worry even more instead. He particularly hated seeing Cho-yeon’s family. It was probably because of this.
“Lately I do think it’s fortunate I got possessed. But the reason isn’t because of you, so don’t get your hopes up.”
Cho-yeon spoke without even looking at me. Right now Cho-yeon looked confused and seemed to be speaking as things flowed out. I didn’t bother trying to argue and left Cho-yeon as he was. That seemed better.
“It’s definitely strange. Even this time, after stubbornly insisting that the four of us dating doesn’t make sense, I bet you’ll eventually give in.”
Cho-yeon kept changing the conversation topic. Then the topic changed to me. He said this about me.
“You often say things that don’t match up. Especially when I ask about the novel content.”
Cho-yeon put the keys back in his bag.
“You can’t even remember the female lead, so why do you remember me. It’s not like you liked me, that was strange from the start. Were you a fan of this third-rate villain?”
He said with mixed feelings. I smiled slightly at the question of whether I was a fan of a third-rate villain. It was obvious Cho-yeon was just saying anything.
Cho-yeon seemed to have noticed that I smiled slightly. He turned his head and fanned himself with his hand. It was an expression of regret.
“Let’s stop talking about the original novel. You keep pointing out only strange things, should I have stopped you?”
Cho-yeon stopped what he was saying and spoke.
“Anyway, it seems right that you’re also possessed. You always say you don’t remember, so I was a bit suspicious about whether it was the same novel as mine.”
Cho-yeon wrapped up what he had just said. He seemed worried that I might be offended because he had unnecessary suspicions.
‘He’s only saying things that hit the mark.’
I thought while looking at Cho-yeon. Cho-yeon was only saying things that hit the mark one by one, so at this rate, my conscience would get holes in it.
What bothered me most was that none of it was unnecessary suspicion. I had no choice but to let Cho-yeon keep chattering on his own.
“Suspicion is also a disease. You probably just have circumstances or really forgot.”
Cho-yeon awkwardly smiled and finished speaking. He seemed to regret talking too much. Just when I’m about to forget, things keep happening that make me feel guilty. I regret that if I had corrected things properly from the beginning, this wouldn’t have happened.
Wasn’t it because I revealed the possession when I encountered Cho-yeon that it became like this? Maybe it would have been better to pretend not to know until the end and not become friends.
Cho-yeon’s gaze stayed somewhere between me and the apartment hallway floor. Feeling the awkward atmosphere, I changed the subject. I handed over the side dish container and said.
“Last time I gave in too easily, but I won’t fall for this trick anymore.”
“You’re not coming anymore?”
“Teacher, that’s not what I mean. I’m saying that from now on, I’ll come often even without this.”
I presented the model answer.
“The neighbors will think two people live here.”
When I said I’d come often, Cho-yeon said as if spitting it out. I laughed at Cho-yeon’s words. But I was confused to the extreme by Cho-yeon’s words.
***
It was the next day. The week that seemed particularly long ended and the weekend began. I woke up late and came out to the living room.
The living room was a bit busy. It seemed they had thoroughly sorted out things to throw away while deep cleaning.
Then I saw a familiar title in the pile of books my parents had stacked to throw away. A book that should have been quietly inserted in my room’s bookshelf had come all the way out to the living room. And it was among the things they were about to throw away.
I carefully pulled out the book and asked my father who was nearby.
“Why is this book mixed in here? Aren’t these the things you gathered to throw away?”
“Wasn’t it a book to throw away? The house was cluttered with miscellaneous items, so it must have accidentally gotten mixed in.”
Looking at Father’s reaction, he didn’t seem to know either. Mother probably left the book on the table to read it, and he misunderstood it as something to throw away. He glanced at the book for a moment and said.
“That was a close call. But it’s fortunate you found it.”
With those final words, Father went back into the bedroom. I carefully inserted the book back into the bookshelf holding it. I should be careful since something like this almost happened.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
when will you update?