Chapter 38
“Won’t the wound get worse if you leave it like that?”
“You think so?”
“…I think we should apply some medicine. Let’s go to the pharmacy.”
“There’s no need to go to the pharmacy…”
“Kwon-oh, didn’t you say you were going to the library after playing basketball? Want to go put on a band-aid?”
At that moment, Senior Sung-rok, who was standing a few steps away, asked Joo Kwon-oh. He also nodded at me in recognition. I bowed my head in greeting.
“I’ll go later. Please save me a seat, senior.”
Joo Kwon-oh answered casually, waving his hand even though he was talking to a senior.
“Alright. There’s a first-aid kit in our club room, so use that.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t just leave it because it’s bothersome. I’ll go ahead and save seats with the others.”
“Thank you.”
Joo Kwon-oh turned towards the direction of the club room. Then he lowered his voice so only I could hear.
“Let’s go, Jeong-ha.”
“Uh…?”
It felt awkward to meet him alone at school without the pretext of a group project meeting. Seeing my confusion, Joo Kwon-oh raised his chin as if asking why I wasn’t coming.
“What? Don’t you have time?”
“No. …I have time.”
“Then come with me.”
“……”
I reluctantly followed him, asking an unnecessary question.
“Didn’t you say you were going to the library?”
“I need to apply medicine first.”
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“Not really. Ah.”
Joo Kwon-oh, who had been walking ahead, turned around as if remembering something and waved the handkerchief in his hand towards the female students.
“I’ll wash this and return it later!”
“You can keep it, senior.”
The female student smiled shyly. I stared at the handkerchief with a slightly sulky expression.
But when Joo Kwon-oh turned his head back to me, I quickly shifted my gaze to the ground as if nothing had happened.
“Since when were you watching? Did you see me make that shot?”
“Yeah.”
“I could have made more, but I fell at just that moment.”
Joo Kwon-oh ran his hand through his hair, sounding quite disappointed. He was now walking in step with me.
“Do you play basketball often?”
“These days, occasionally. There aren’t many people who play.”
That’s a shame. If he played often, I’d come to watch every time. And cheer enthusiastically in my heart.
The image of Joo Kwon-oh running around on the outdoor court a few minutes ago kept lingering in my mind. I wanted to see him casually dribbling again, and driving straight towards the opponent’s hoop to make a shot.
Usually, I had no interest in figure painting, but strangely, whenever I saw Joo Kwon-oh, my hands itched to draw him. However, I also felt a vague fear and pressure that I wouldn’t be able to capture him as he truly was, which made me feel conflicted.
“Can’t you tell me next time when you’re going to play?”
“Why? Suddenly fallen for me?”
“…Yeah.”
Joo Kwon-oh chuckled at my shy affirmation.
By then, we had arrived at the club room. When Joo Kwon-oh closed the door, there was a clicking sound of the door locking. I was placing the bag with the art supply store logo and the Americano on the desk when I turned around, startled by the sound.
However, Joo Kwon-oh calmly took out the first-aid kit from a drawer full of odds and ends.
I glanced at the closed door. But I didn’t ask why he had locked it.
“Should we disinfect it first?”
I asked as I watched Joo Kwon-oh roll up his sleeve and open the first-aid kit.
“Just slapping on a band-aid is fine.”
He ignored the disinfectant and ointment in the box and tried to open a band-aid package. Surprised, I went in front of him and stopped him.
“No, we should disinfect it first.”
“This much will heal on its own if I just wipe off the blood.”
“Still… You applied disinfectant to my face last time too.”
“Are you and I the same?”
Joo Kwon-oh chuckled as if he’d heard something funny.
“We can’t let any scars form on your face.”
“Ah. This won’t do. Come here. I’ll do it for you.”
“I said it’s fine.”
“It’s not fine.”
In response to Joo Kwon-oh’s strangely stubborn attitude, I spoke even more firmly. I don’t know where this courage came from. Maybe I was unconsciously excited because of the blood he was losing.
I grabbed his arm without thinking and sat him down on a chair. Fortunately, Joo Kwon-oh, who was much bigger than me, followed my lead obediently.
“Raise your knee.”
As I said, he raised his knee while sitting on the chair. I bent down in front of him and carefully examined the wound on his left knee.
The wound wasn’t deep, but the skin had been thinly scraped off from sliding on the ground.
Although the bleeding was stopping, a wound like this would still sting a lot.
I used the handkerchief Joo Kwon-oh had received from his female junior to dust off any dirt or sand around the wound, then took out the disinfectant and applied it.
“Does it sting?”
“Not at all.”
“Still, tell me if it hurts during the process.”
“Yes, teacher.”
Joo Kwon-oh answered in a mischievous tone.
Seeing the reddened, swollen skin made me feel the pain. He should be more careful. This is all because of the opponent who tripped Joo Kwon-oh. That bastard. Instead of playing fair and square, to scrape up someone’s knee like this.
“Are you okay?”
I asked again as I applied ointment with a cotton swab, and Joo Kwon-oh nodded.
I covered the wound with gauze and clumsily finished taping it. I was about to lift my head to tell him to try moving his knee, but my eyes met Joo Kwon-oh’s.
“……”
I hadn’t realized how close our faces were. Focused on taping, I had somehow ended up sitting on the chair next to him, my body leaning close to Joo Kwon-oh.
Realizing that he had been observing me the whole time, I felt a ticklish sensation rising from the back of my neck. At the same time, I was conscious of the locked door.
“It’s… done. Check if the tape and gauze don’t come off when you move… Ah.”
As I tried to remove my hand from his knee while standing up, Joo Kwon-oh grabbed it swiftly.
“Jeong-ha.”
And he called my name in a voice so soft it could melt my earlobes. I froze in an awkward half-standing position.
“W-what?”
“How can a guy have such pretty hands?”
He spread out my fingers, which were slightly clenched, and examined them carefully as if fascinated.
“Do you do special nail care or something?”
“No.”
“Then how are your fingertips peach-colored? Did you put something on them?”
Not content with just looking, Joo Kwon-oh even brought my fingers to his lips. I tried to pull my hand away in alarm. But Joo Kwon-oh noticed and tightened his grip, so I failed.
“I didn’t put anything on.”
He fiddled with my palm using his lips, then lowered his head.
Warm, moist breath spread over my palm. It felt like electricity was running through every place his breath touched.
When I felt Joo Kwon-oh’s sharp, smooth nose bridge between my fingers, I involuntarily twitched my hand.
In the air, a faint smell of sweat mixed with Joo Kwon-oh’s scent stimulated my sensitive sense of smell.
I bit my lower lip out of habit. Heat rapidly rose in my head.
“What should I do? I don’t think I can wait until Saturday.”
“……”
“Should we go watch a movie today?”
Joo Kwon-oh asked in a husky voice.
I gently touched his chin and lips with my fingertips. Even with the slightest movement, his lips followed my hand like a magnet.
My palm tingled, and then my chest felt a sharp sensation.
“Then… would this count as one of the three meetings?”
I spoke, trying hard to steady my breath. But there was no answer.
“……”
“Joo Kwon-oh?”
“Jeong-ha, you’re good at playing hard to get.”
He laughed shortly, then moved back. And he added:
“Let’s just meet on Saturday.”
The atmosphere suddenly cooled. Was my question too tactless…? I felt a bit regretful.
“And when you call my name, drop the surname.”
“Okay. …Kwon-oh.”
As I called his name, I gently brushed back his fallen hair.
I thought it would be wet with sweat, but his hair was soft without any moisture. It had a slight curl, and the feeling of it wrapping around my hand was similar to touching the fluffy fur of an animal.
I want to smell it. But would that be too perverse to do here?
I didn’t understand why I was acting like this.
“Did you put on lip balm today too?”
Joo Kwon-oh, who had been quietly accepting my touch, suddenly shifted his gaze to my lips and asked.
“No.”
“Then why are your lips so shiny? It makes me want to eat them.”
“I really didn’t put anything on…”
After stroking Joo Kwon-oh’s hair, this time I fiddled with his plump, round earlobe. Then I moved further down and gently placed my hand on his shoulder. Through the thin cloth of the hoodie, I could clearly feel his warm body temperature.
I hesitated for a moment before opening my lips.
“Do you want to put some on for me?”
At that, Joo Kwon-oh’s thick eyebrows visibly twitched. At the same time, he reached out and firmly grasped my buttocks.
Surprised, I froze with my eyes wide open.
“Ah. Why, why…?”
“Damn. There’s no tail.”
His large hand groped my buttocks.
“You’re acting like a fox, Ryu Jeong-ha.”
You’re the fox… I retorted inwardly.
“I should put some on, lip balm.”
As I tried to pull away my captured buttocks, Joo Kwon-oh said that and pressed his body close. Before I could answer, he devoured my lips.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
