Hey, what’s wrong with you today? Judging that Han Doyoon’s condition was much worse than expected, Jaeyoon tried to leave immediately. But Han Doyoon roughly grabbed Jaeyoon’s wrist and pulled him.
“Ugh?! Wait, what are you—!”
Deliberately grabbing Jaeyoon’s right wrist with its bandage, Han Doyoon pulled him into the infirmary and locked the door.
Jaeyoon’s expression crumpled. Looking at his captured wrist with displeasure, he tried his best to maintain his composure. Suppressing his rising anger, he spoke in a low voice.
“What are you doing? Let go of my hand, will you?”
“Was it Im Hangyeol who did this?”
“Ack?! What are you doing?”
“After seeing you get out of the car together, your expression wasn’t good… I guess he ran right over to you.”
Han Doyoon tightened his grip on Jaeyoon’s wrist. Jaeyoon’s teeth clenched.
“What have you been trying to do since earlier?”
“Jung Jinhoo.”
Jaeyoon’s angry eyes widened. Why is Jinhoo Sunbae’s name coming up here? As he looked with questioning eyes, Han Doyoon’s eyes narrowed.
“Since when have you been close with that guy?”
“…How did you know I’m close with Jinhoo Sunbae?”
Don’t tell me you’ve been stalking me?
Swallowing words he didn’t even want to say aloud, Jaeyoon stared at Han Doyoon, who raised the corners of his mouth in a smile.
“I happened to see you two coming out of the dormitory room together yesterday. I had no idea you were that close.”
“It’s a shame you didn’t know. We’re close. Satisfied now?”
Han Doyoon gripped Jaeyoon’s wrist even tighter. An uncontrollable moan escaped Jaeyoon’s lips. Jaeyoon’s brow furrowed. I don’t know what’s got you in a bad mood, but I’m not your punching bag. You childish brat.
Jaeyoon’s hand grabbed Han Doyoon’s necktie and pulled. His blue eyes met Han Doyoon’s slightly widened red eyes.
“Vent your frustrations at home by throwing things or hitting cushions. There’s a limit to what a person can tolerate. Han Doyoon.”
Student council president.
Releasing the necktie, Jaeyoon smiled broadly. But his blue eyes remained cold.
After staring down at Jaeyoon quietly, Han Doyoon shrugged his shoulders, then smiled and released the wrist he had been holding. Clutching his throbbing wrist, Jaeyoon walked past Han Doyoon and grabbed the infirmary door handle.
After unlocking it and opening the door wide, he turned his head slightly to look at Han Doyoon. Then, frowning, he slammed the infirmary door hard.
BANG!
The sound was so loud that Jaeyoon worried the door might have cracked. He walked away with large strides. He wanted to get away from the infirmary as quickly as possible. As he hurriedly descended the stairs, he turned a corner and bumped into someone coming from the front, not having seen them.
‘Ah, am I having bad luck today?’
As Jaeyoon frowned and raised his head, he heard a pleasant voice say, “Jaeyoon?” Seeing the snow-white silver hair, Jaeyoon felt his tension release, and he slumped down right where he was.
“J-Jaeyoon?! What’s wrong?? Are you okay?”
Watching Jung Jinhoo carefully hold both his shoulders and check his condition, Jaeyoon leaned his head against Jinhoo’s shoulder and let out a long sigh of relief.
“…Does your arm hurt?”
When Jinhoo asked, seeing Jaeyoon holding his wrist, Jaeyoon shook his head.
“I’m fine.”
“…Did something happen?”
Jaeyoon’s lips, which were about to answer, closed again. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. A gentle voice came from above his head. At that, Jaeyoon gently raised his head to look at Jinhoo. I can’t see. Jinhoo’s eyes and expression were hidden by his bangs.
“Sunbae, I want to see… your face.”
“Huh?!”
After raising his voice in surprise for a moment, Jinhoo raised his hand to brush back his bangs as Jaeyoon quietly looked at him.
As the face that had been hidden by his bangs was revealed, Jaeyoon smiled slightly. Still handsome. Seeing those golden eyes genuinely concerned for him made him feel much better.
“Thank you.”
After staring at Jaeyoon, Jinhoo soon smiled gently. Then, after hesitating for a moment, he carefully began stroking Jaeyoon’s hair. Is he trying to comfort me? Jaeyoon quietly accepted Jinhoo’s touch.
It was a bit embarrassing, but the careful touch, as if handling glass that might break, wasn’t bad at all.
‘First I got angry at a kid, now I’m being comforted by a kid.’
Finding the situation funny even to himself, Jaeyoon burst into laughter without realizing it, and Jinhoo laughed softly too.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, Sunbae, I feel better.”
“I’m glad. I don’t know what happened…”
“Sunbae…??”
Jaeyoon looked puzzled as he saw Jinhoo’s expression stiffen. As Jaeyoon stared, Jinhoo quickly relaxed his expression, then smiled gently and cradled the back of Jaeyoon’s head with his hand. Then he pulled Jaeyoon closer into his embrace.
‘U-um… I’m okay now…???’
Jaeyoon felt his face heating up. As he tried to quickly stand up due to an inexplicable embarrassment, Jinhoo’s arm gently wrapped around his waist.
Gently stroking Jaeyoon’s hair, Jinhoo whispered softly.
“It’s okay. Everything’s okay.”
Jaeyoon’s blue eyes darted around, unable to settle. This is embarrassing. But it’s also cute that he’s comforting me like this… Ah, whatever.
Jaeyoon decided to give up and just accept Jinhoo’s comfort. It had been a while since he’d been comforted by someone else, and it didn’t feel too bad.
After some time had passed, Jinhoo released his arm from around Jaeyoon’s waist. As Jaeyoon raised his head to look at Jinhoo, his face had turned as red as an apple. A steaming hot apple at that…
‘You’re the one who hugged me?’
Jaeyoon blinked blankly and then burst into laughter. When Jaeyoon laughed, Jinhoo bit his lip in embarrassment and quickly lowered his brushed-back bangs to hide his face again.
Oh, don’t hide it! Jaeyoon tried to stop him by grabbing Jinhoo’s wrist, but he couldn’t win because of the difference in strength.
***
Red lips that had taken a bite of a sandwich filled with fruit between layers of white whipped cream moved like a hamster’s. Cute. Staring at Jung Jinhoo sitting across from him, Jaeyoon took a big bite of his own fruit sandwich, which was the same menu item as Jinhoo’s.
The sweet whipped cream and tangy ripe fruit blended together in his mouth. Delicious. Nodding his head up and down, Jaeyoon wiped the whipped cream from the corner of his mouth with his thumb and took another big bite.
“Has your class decided what to do for the Cherry Blossom Festival, Sunbae?”
“Not yet. The students’ opinions haven’t been unified… we’ll probably spend the whole day on that.”
“I guess so, since everyone has different opinions… We’ve decided on ours.”
“What are you doing?”
“A tea café.”
“A tea café?”
Jinhoo looked at Jaeyoon with round eyes full of curiosity. His appearance reminded Jaeyoon of a puppy, making him smile contentedly.
Jaeyoon liked animals. Especially small animals. Dogs, cats, hamsters. Just thinking about them made him feel happy. That’s why he always imagined cute animals in his mind when he needed to control his anger.
‘Is that why? The reason I feel good when I see Jinhoo Sunbae?’
“A café that sells tea like green tea?”
“Hmm-. I think teas like persimmon leaf tea, citron tea, or sujeonggwa would be good too. Very Korean. We’ll be wearing hanboks as well.”
“Y-you’re wearing hanboks?!”
Seeing Jinhoo asking with his pretty golden eyes wide open, Jaeyoon laughed slightly and nodded gently.
“Yes, there’s a student in our class whose family runs a hanbok shop, and thanks to their help, we can rent hanboks cheaply.”
“I want to see Jaeyoon in a hanbok.”
Jinhoo smiled gently. When a beautiful person smiles, it felt like the surroundings became brighter. Jaeyoon experienced an optical illusion of seeing fully bloomed flowers like those in romance comics around Jinhoo.
Was I always this weak for pretty faces? Feeling the need to reassess himself, Jaeyoon drank the iced tea placed beside him.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what your class decides to do, Sunbae.”
“The highest probabilities so far are a play and a crepe shop.”
“Oh, our class also suggested a play!”
“…But our school has a drama club.”
“We were rejected for the same reason. We can’t compete with the professionals.”
Jaeyoon and Jinhoo laughed softly. Amateurs couldn’t challenge professionals. The difference was too great.
‘Still, it’s a high school festival… if they want to do it, it would make for a good memory.’
“Oh, is the art club not doing anything, Sunbae?”
“They’ve displayed artworks every year, so I think they’ll do the same this year too.”
“If they’re displaying artworks, your work will be exhibited too, right?”
Jaeyoon’s blue eyes sparkled and shone. The corners of Jinhoo’s mouth twisted, unsure whether to rise or fall. He was happy that Jaeyoon liked and looked forward to his work, but because he wasn’t ready to show his work to Jaeyoon yet, he couldn’t be straightforwardly happy.
“I’ll definitely come!”
Not knowing Jinhoo’s complex feelings, Jaeyoon smiled brightly with a face full of happiness.
“Jaeyoon…?”
Turning his head at the voice calling him from the side, Jaeyoon found Lee Minho, who for some reason was carrying an armful of bread.
Lee Minho sent the other students who were with him (also carrying armfuls of bread) ahead and approached Jaeyoon.
“You’re with Jinhoo.”
Since when did you two become so close? Jaeyoon ignored the question that appeared on his face.
“Do you know Jinhoo Sunbae?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
‘…Why are their answers different?’
As Jaeyoon looked back and forth between them, Lee Minho smiled with an awkward expression.
“Jinhoo and I… are in the same class…”
At Minho’s words, Jinhoo narrowed his eyes and looked closely at Minho’s face. After blinking slowly for a moment, Jinhoo let out a small sigh as if he remembered.
“Ah…”
So Jinhoo Sunbae didn’t even notice Minho. Glancing at Minho, who was smiling with an enlightened expression, Jaeyoon turned his gaze and took a sip of his iced tea.
“By the way, what are all those bread packages you’re carrying?”
“Oh, Jaeyoon, would you like to try some if anything catches your eye?”
“Suddenly?”
“The dessert club is making bread to release during the Cherry Blossom Festival. We’re trying various things… I’d appreciate your feedback.”
‘Ah, he was in the dessert club.’
Recalling scenes from the game where he occasionally made cakes or bread for Kim Yeonwoo, Jaeyoon nodded slightly and picked up a bread that caught his eye from Minho’s arms.
After examining the black muffin from various angles, Jaeyoon took it out of its neatly packaged plastic bag. Since it’s black… is it dark chocolate flavor? Jaeyoon put down the sandwich he had been eating and took a bite of the muffin.
Chewing slowly, Jaeyoon’s previously calm expression gradually turned ashen. Crunch! As he gripped the muffin tightly, it compressed and crumbled. A murderous look flashed in Jaeyoon’s eyes as he glared at Minho.
‘This bastard…’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
