“Sigh…”
While rubbing his wet hair with a towel, Jaeyoon rolled his eyes slightly to look at his reflection in the mirror. His brow furrowed as his gaze moved from his cheek with the waterproof bandage to his neck. Haah, he sighed involuntarily and ran his hand over his neck. His expression naturally crumpled at the large wound at the spot where his neck met his shoulder.
“Crazy bastard.”
Jaeyoon stared intently at the bite mark before scratching it hard with his fingernails. It was utterly unpleasant to have Han Doyoon’s mark remaining on his body. This thing, I can never show it to sunbae.
‘Until the wound heals, I need to be careful, extremely careful…’
As Jaeyoon was buttoning his pajamas all the way up to the neck to hide the wound, he turned his head at the cheerful sound of his phone ringing to check his phone on the bed. A message and the sender’s name appeared prominently on the screen.
[I miss you]
Jaeyoon’s lips curved into a smile at the clear message.
“Me too.”
Smiling with his eyes turning into crescents, he was about to send a reply immediately. At that moment…
Bang!
The sound of something hitting the wall echoed loudly. Jaeyoon’s eyes narrowed. Pressing his throbbing temples firmly with his fingers, he turned his gaze to glare at the ivory-colored wall. After a while of silence…
[Doha, Doha! I love you!]
[Yes, I know.]
Jaeyoon tightly closed his eyes at the voices coming from the next room. He touched the bandaged cheek and then lay down weakly on the bed. A long sigh escaped his lips as he covered his eyes with his arm.
Since the festival preparations began, the frequency of pursuit targets visiting Kim Yeonwoo’s room had decreased. Judging from how he secretly left his room at night, it seemed he had changed the meeting location to the pursuit targets’ rooms. For whatever reason, this had allowed Jaeyoon to be freed from the insomnia that had constantly followed him since coming to this world. He had been happy to get a good night’s sleep without the noisy disturbances until late at night, but it all went down the drain when Kim Doha started visiting Kim Yeonwoo’s room again a few days ago.
Kim Yeonwoo deliberately conversed with Kim Doha against the wall close to Jaeyoon’s room, as if showing off. Jaeyoon was barely holding onto his sanity as Kim Yeonwoo acted loudly, raising his voice as if flaunting his affection.
‘What exactly is his problem…?’
Jaeyoon put his AirPods in his ears with a familiar touch and turned on music. Then he raised the volume to maximum. So that he couldn’t hear any unpleasant noise from next door. The one thing better than when he first possessed this body was…
Ding!
His phone alerted him of a message arrival. Jaeyoon looked at the phone in his hand. His lips curved into a gentle smile as he gazed at the name clearly displayed on the screen.
That now, he was not alone.
***
“You don’t look well, did you have trouble sleeping?”
Lee Heejun, who had come to Jaeyoon’s desk asking to be taught English, inquired while looking at Jaeyoon’s eyes with dark circles under them. Jaeyoon smiled slightly and nodded. Heejun, who had been diligently moving his mechanical pencil, put it down on the desk and slightly narrowed his brow.
“Don’t tell me, it’s him again…?”
Heejun was really quick to catch on. When Jaeyoon smiled with a benevolent expression, Heejun clicked his tongue loudly.
“What is it this time?”
“He’s in the room next to mine.”
“…Are you serious?”
“Yes…”
As Jaeyoon slowly nodded, Heejun looked at him with pity.
“How did your room assignment end up like that?”
That’s exactly what I want to know. It was the question Jaeyoon wanted to ask most.
“Does he pick fights every time you run into each other because you’re next door?”
“I think that would be better.”
“What exactly is he doing…?”
What could be worse than this? Seeing Heejun’s crumpling expression, Jaeyoon spoke weakly with a face of resignation.
“Every night, he brings his lover to his room and makes a racket.”
“…Huh?”
Heejun looked at him with a puzzled expression. What are you talking about? Seeing Heejun frown, Jaeyoon gave a benevolent smile.
“Imagine hearing the sounds of couples’ conversations and skinship non-stop from the next room.”
“…Just thinking about it makes me angry.”
Jaeyoon could only smile bitterly at Heejun’s words.
“Talk to the dorm supervisor or the dormitory head and get it sorted out.”
“I wish that were possible…”
“Why not? Oh, didn’t you say he was also involved with the student council president?”
When Han Doyoon was mentioned, Jaeyoon unconsciously brought his hand to his neck. Thanks to buttoning up all the way to the top of his neck, the wound inflicted by Han Doyoon wasn’t visible.
“Lee Jaeyoon?”
“Huh?”
“You were spacing out, why are you touching your neck? Does it hurt?”
“Ah, no!”
Jaeyoon, who had raised his voice without realizing it, shook his head saying it was nothing as Heejun frowned with a puzzled expression. Heejun, who had been looking at him with narrowed eyes, eventually nodded saying he understood. Jaeyoon exhaled a sigh of relief trying not to show it. After being lost in thought for a moment, slowly tapping his finger on the desk, Heejun finally opened his mouth as if he had made a decision.
“Then stay in my room.”
“…Huh??”
As Jaeyoon blankly stared at him, Heejun shrugged.
“Sorry, I can’t think of a better solution.”
“No, I’m really grateful, but will that be okay?”
“It’s fine. You’re not a noisy person, and our dormitory is relatively spacious compared to other schools. Come and stay starting today. Don’t suffer there.”
“What suffering are you talking about?”
Sim Jaeha, who had received class materials for the next lesson from the teacher, approached quickly and asked seeing the two engaged in serious conversation. Heejun tried to push Jaeha’s face away with his hand saying it was none of his business, but Jaeha didn’t back down easily. Grabbing Heejun’s wrist to subdue him, he leaned his face close to Jaeyoon and asked with sparkling eyes what was going on.
“Ah…”
“We’re going to hang out in my room today, just the two of us.”
Seeing Jaeyoon’s troubled expression, Heejun shook off Jaeha’s hand and answered with a frown. Jaeyoon discreetly sent a grateful gesture to Heejun, making sure Jaeha couldn’t see it.
“What?! Why just you two, with Jaeyoon?”
“Because he’s closest to me.”
At Heejun’s words, Jaeha turned his head toward Jaeyoon with an incredulous expression.
“Aren’t you closer to me than Heejun?”
“No, Jaeyoon and I are best friends. Best. Friends.”
“No way? No way?!”
“Yes way, yes way~”
As Heejun teased by jutting out his lips, Jaeha confronted him by similarly pouting his lips and even sticking out his tongue. Even the usually composed Heejun had a childish side when dealing with Jaeha. Maybe it was because they grew up together since childhood, or maybe because he had a crush on him… Jaeyoon leaned comfortably against the chair’s backrest and watched the two.
‘They’re both cute.’
“I’m going to your room too!”
“No, I refuse. You’ll be a nuisance if you come.”
“Jaeyoon, I can come too, right?”
The topic of conversation had changed, and now they were arguing about whether they should hang out as two or three people tonight. Ignoring Heejun’s words completely, Jaeha targeted Jaeyoon. Hey, it’s my room? Despite Heejun’s incredulous voice in the background, Jaeyoon found himself nodding in agreement as Jaeha approached closely, urging a response.
“Great! Let’s buy snacks at the school store during lunch. We’ll eat them while having fun tonight!”
Heejun clicked his tongue in irritation at the excited Jaeha.
“Sorry…”
Heejun waved his hand dismissively at Jaeyoon, who apologized in a small voice.
“Who could stop him?”
***
When lunchtime came, the three headed to the school store as planned to buy snacks. Jaeyoon’s eyes widened in surprise when he spotted Jung Jinhoo in front of the always-crowded school store. His face, engaged in a heated discussion with Sim Hajun, was tinged with fatigue, probably due to the competition preparations.
“Sunbae!”
Jinhoo turned his head at Jaeyoon’s voice and smiled, his large eyes forming crescents. Since they couldn’t have lunch together today due to art club activities, he was happy to meet like this by chance.
“Going to eat with your friends?”
“Yes, sunbae too…”
Glancing at Hajun, Jaeyoon saw him smile brightly and greet him.
“Gack?!”
Beside him, Heejun let out a shocked voice. He was looking at Hajun with a crumpled expression. Why is my brother here?! Jaeha also shouted with a surprised expression when he saw Hajun.
“Haha, my cute little siblings~ You should be happy to see your big brother, why the frowns? Hmm??”
Hajun smiled with his eyes turning into crescents, then approached the two and unhesitatingly put them in a headlock.
“Ah?! What are you doing? Let go!!”
“My, my neck! My neck!!”
Although the two struggled to break free, Hajun didn’t budge at all. He’s surprisingly strong. Recalling how Hajun had been subdued by Jinhoo before, Jaeyoon discreetly turned his head to look at Jinhoo. Sensing his gaze, Jinhoo tilted his head to the side and looked at Jaeyoon as if asking what was wrong.
“What is it?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Seeing Jaeyoon shake his head and smile sweetly, Jinhoo looked puzzled but smiled back. Jinhoo sunbae, you’re the type who’s stronger than your build suggests. Jaeyoon placed his hand on his chest, feeling his pounding heart.
‘Is this what girls mean when they talk about falling for the gap?’
“Ah, come on-!!”
Heejun, who had finally escaped from Hajun’s grasp, glared at him with an annoyed face. Despite the sharp gaze directed at him, Hajun smiled, raising one corner of his mouth as if finding it ridiculous. Seeing that, Heejun furrowed his brow and let out a long sigh. After fixing his disheveled hair, he approached Jaeyoon and said.
“Don’t mind them, let’s just take care of our business quickly and go back.”
“How many should we buy? Around 10 should be enough, right?”
Just as Jaeyoon was about to answer Jaeha’s excited question, Hajun suddenly butted into their conversation.
“Why are you buying 10 snacks? Trying to fill up on junk food?”
“Ah, that’s not it…”
As Jaeyoon tried to explain, Heejun quickly covered his mouth with his hand. Why? While looking at him with a puzzled expression, Jaeha spoke in a boisterous voice.
“We’re going to hang out in Heejun’s room tonight eating snacks!”
Jealous? Seeing Jaeha’s bright smile, Heejun placed his hand on his forehead. That idiot… A small muttering voice could be heard.
“Hmm, just the three of you?”
“Yes~”
“That sounds really fun~”
Huh? The look in his eyes… Seeing Hajun’s pink eyes glowing, an uneasy feeling crept up Jaeyoon’s back. No way?? When he turned his head to look at Heejun, he had already let out a very long sigh with a resigned expression.
“The meeting place is Heejun’s room, right?”
“Huh? Yes…, wait?”
Jaeha, who had been nodding in response to Hajun’s smiling question, finally realized something was off and frowned. He looked at Hajun with an expression hoping it wasn’t what he thought, and asked.
“Hyung, you’re not…”
“I’m coming too!”
“Whaaaat?!”
Ha, I knew this would happen… Heejun’s voice, steeped in fatigue, could be heard from beside them.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
