Sim Hajun knelt down and examined the drawing. After carefully touching the various places that had been chaotically slashed with a knife, he murmured with regret.
“It was such a beautiful drawing…”
It had truly been a beautiful piece that captivated everyone who came to the exhibition, as if they were under a spell. Seeing such a precious artwork, filled with the artist’s heart, damaged like this made him feel terrible.
“Sunbae really loves art, huh?”
“What are you saying when you’re in the art club too?”
“I’m not quite at that level.”
The vice president shrugged, put down the bag he had been carrying on his shoulder onto the desk, rummaged inside, and pulled out a band-aid. He then carefully placed it over the wound on Sim Hajun’s forehead.
“What’s this?”
“We’re out of medicine, so for now, I’m just putting a band-aid on as a temporary measure.”
“You’re unexpectedly meticulous, aren’t you?”
“When you do art, you tend to get injured in various places, so I always carry these around.”
“Tsk, tsk, so clumsy~”
“I don’t think someone who just cut their hand with a knife while dozing off should be saying that…”
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing, I didn’t say anything.”
Sim Hajun glared at the vice president for a moment, then let out a big sigh and pulled out his phone from his pocket.
“…I don’t want to call. I know I have to, but I really, really don’t want to…”
“What are you doing?”
“I need to tell Jinhoo about this… But I can guess how he’ll react, so I don’t want to call.”
Sim Hajun glanced at the phone in his hand. After hesitating for a moment, he gathered his courage and called Jung Jinhoo. The sound of the ringtone could be heard, and soon Jung Jinhoo’s voice came through.
[What?]
“Uh, well…”
I mean, you know… As Sim Hajun kept trailing off and stalling for time, Jung Jinhoo’s voice deepened.
[Did something happen?]
“Yeah…”
[What is it?]
Well, about that… The vice president, who had been quietly observing Sim Hajun fidgeting awkwardly, snatched the phone from his hand. Ignoring the surprised “Huh?!” from Hajun, the vice president conveyed what Hajun couldn’t.
“Someone ruined Jung Jinhoo sunbae’s drawing completely.”
[What…?]
“The piece with the boy and the cat that sunbae drew. So, sunbae, do you know any student at our school with brown hair, about 168cm tall, with a small build?”
“Hey, did you see the culprit during that time??”
Sim Hajun asked in surprise, and the vice president nodded briefly.
“I didn’t see clearly. I was too focused on sunbae. I just caught a glimpse when they were leaving through the back door.”
“That’s seeing it pretty clearly…”
“Sunbae? What’s going on?” Hearing an unfamiliar voice from the other end of the phone, the vice president tilted his head. “It’s nothing,” Jung Jinhoo replied to whoever was with him, causing the vice president’s eyes to widen. Having never heard such a gentle tone from Jung Jinhoo before, he rolled his eyes to look at the damaged drawing.
A drawing of a boy smiling while holding a cat. It was surprising enough that Jung Jinhoo had drawn such a picture, but after hearing his voice now, he was certain. The identity of that unfamiliar voice must definitely be the boy in the drawing.
[I think I know who it is.]
“Oh, really? I need to report this to the art teacher, should I mention the suspected culprit too?”
[You said you only caught a glimpse, right? The teacher won’t be able to do anything with something that’s not certain. I’ll handle this myself.]
“Okay.”
Staring blankly at the phone after the call ended, Sim Hajun asked the vice president.
“He’s not, angry?”
“I’m not sure. It didn’t seem like he wasn’t angry, more like he was holding back because of whoever was with him?”
“Ah…”
“It seems he didn’t notice that this happened because we didn’t lock the door properly. So, don’t worry.”
“We! Not we, you!!”
***
Tap, tap, tap.
The hand that had been tapping the table in a steady rhythm stopped as the hospital room door opened. Blue eyes narrowed upon seeing Kim Doha.
“You came early again today. But…”
Jaeyoon’s gaze shifted behind Kim Doha.
“No companions? Just you alone?”
At Jaeyoon’s words, Kim Doha clenched his fist tightly. After glancing at the whitened fist from being squeezed so hard, Jaeyoon tilted his head to the side.
“You haven’t forgotten the condition I mentioned, have you? I believe I said that you and Kim Yeonwoo should come together and sincerely apologize, so why are you here alone?”
“Yeonwoo… isn’t feeling well.”
“Am I supposed to accommodate your personal circumstances too?”
“Yeonwoo thinks you’ve taken everything away from him. Just give us a little time until his thinking changes…”
Jaeyoon interlaced his fingers on the table. Unable to guess what was going through his mind as his eyes lowered, Kim Doha swallowed dryly. As he bit his lip nervously waiting for Jaeyoon to speak, he involuntarily stiffened at the gaze directed at him.
“I told you.”
“…”
“There are no more chances.”
“Wait, hold on! I’ll somehow convince Yeonwoo, so… don’t touch my parents. They have nothing to do with this matter, right?”
“You confidently did all sorts of things believing in your parents, so how can they have nothing to do with it?”
Although not on the level of Jinhoo sunbae or Han Doyoon, Kim Doha’s parents ran a small to medium-sized company. That’s why Kim Doha, who grew up without wanting for anything, became so self-centered. I wouldn’t blame everything on his parents, but I can’t say they had no influence either.
Jaeyoon slowly rubbed the back of his neck. Originally, there was no need to give them a chance. Considering everything Lee Jaeyoon had endured so far, it wouldn’t have mattered if he had just dealt with Kim Yeonwoo and Kim Doha right away. He thought that was the only repayment he could give as someone possessing Lee Jaeyoon’s body. But despite that, the reason he gave them one chance was his selfish desire to see those two acknowledge their mistakes and sincerely apologize.
“Haah…”
A long sigh escaped Jaeyoon’s lips. One chance was enough. Slowly blinking, Jaeyoon looked at Kim Doha. The sight of Kim Doha tensely waiting for his verdict to drop was strikingly unfamiliar compared to his usually arrogant demeanor.
“Go back.”
“What…?”
“Unfortunately, the chance is over.”
“Wait! What about my parents? What’s going to happen to my parents?!”
“You couldn’t even convince one person you care about before coming here, yet you’re expecting too much from me?”
“-!!”
“If you really cared about Kim Yeonwoo, you should have helped him come to his senses.”
Well, I’m not sure if you’ve come to your senses either… Jaeyoon muttered the afterthought as he leaned back in his chair.
“Just one more day, no, one more week. Give us more time.”
“You’re really shameless, aren’t you?”
“The time was too short! I’ll definitely bring Yeonwoo, so please give us one more chance!”
“You couldn’t bring him during the most desperate moment, and you think you can if I extend the time? While not even knowing what trouble Kim Yeonwoo might be causing out there?”
“…What do you mean by that?”
Kim Doha’s expression hardened. After staring at his trembling eyes for a moment, Jaeyoon frowned.
“Well…”
What could it mean? His considerably lowered voice was filled with suppressed anger. Kim Doha bit the soft flesh inside his mouth hard. What has he done this time? Kim Yeonwoo!! It had been less than a day. He couldn’t understand what he had done in that time to make Jaeyoon so angry. After begging and pleading so much… For the first time in his life, Kim Doha felt resentment toward Kim Yeonwoo. He wouldn’t have cared if it was just his own issue. He could sacrifice himself for Yeonwoo’s sake as much as needed, but when his parents were involved, it was a different matter.
“Please, I’m begging you… This time I’ll definitely bring him, and if he refuses to come, I’ll drag him here if I have to!!”
“No, bringing him isn’t everything, is it? Have you forgotten what I told you?”
Kim Doha’s mouth closed.
“What will you do when you bring him? He probably hasn’t shown any remorse, let alone apologize.”
And the same goes for you, right? Kim Doha’s eyes widened at Jaeyoon’s words. Seeing this, Jaeyoon let out a small sigh and rested his chin on the back of his hand.
“Neither you nor Kim Yeonwoo even know what you did wrong, do you?”
Jaeyoon felt fatigue washing over him as he watched Kim Doha biting his lip.
“Just live like that, for your whole life. Causing trouble for others, making them tired, while you two bicker and live your cozy lives together.”
“…”
“But do it where I can’t see you.”
Kim Doha raised his head to look at Jaeyoon, as if asking what he meant.
“Go live somewhere else. Far away, very far. Out of my sight.”
“What nonsense…!!”
“You expect me to continue school life facing you two? Me? Living with the stress of not knowing when something like this might happen again?”
I don’t want to do that.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
