Chapter 13
“…Hey.”
“It’s okay, Se-yeon.”
If Seo Jinhyung is saying this much, can I really refuse?
I don’t know. I haven’t known anything since earlier.
Psychological counseling all feels like bullshit.
I don’t know if he’s really moved his plan into action, what he’s thinking while acting like this toward me, or how much he knows about what happened at school today…
Does he even know the name Yeon Jaehyun?
“…Don’t do anything weird.”
“I won’t.”
My head felt like it was about to split open, so I just wanted to lie down.
By coincidence, I was sitting on Seo Jinhyung’s bed. That’s all.
I let out a shallow sigh and lay down, resting my head on his arm. As if he’d been waiting, his other arm wrapped around my waist.
The bed, the blanket, Seo Jinhyung’s body heat. Everything was warm.
‘I thought I’d feel like throwing up.’
But I didn’t. It was comfortable. No, it was more than that.
The headache that felt like it would explode just moments ago went quiet.
After hesitating for a second, I turned to face him and buried my face near his collarbone. Strangely enough, he smelled soft and nice.
The anxiety that had been quietly circling inside me slowly faded. I had already slept like that at school earlier, but I was getting drowsy again.
“You’re the one playing with me… so I’m going to sleep a bit.”
“When you were warning me not to do anything weird just a second ago?”
His low voice was full of laughter. Annoyed, I rubbed my head against his neck.
“Shut up.”
“Okay. Sleep well.”
He said that, but my heart was beating like crazy, so I couldn’t fall asleep easily.
My head was clear, and my body was relaxed.
But that was separate from this strange pounding in my chest.
Maybe this odd fluttering feeling was covering up all my other emotions.
‘Is it okay to feel this way about my mom’s boyfriend’s son?’
Technically, we’re basically strangers, so I tried to rationalize it as innocent—but my mom’s face kept popping into my head.
‘And on top of that, I don’t even want to pull away because it’s comfortable. I’m such an idiot.’
I wanted to erase the extra thoughts. After fidgeting for a while, half consciously and half unconsciously, I spoke.
“…Hey. Hug me tighter.”
“…Why?”
“I don’t know.”
It just felt like it would help calm me down more.
The moment the words left my mouth, I felt embarrassed.
Usually he hugs me like he doesn’t know his own strength. Why is he being so loose right now?
I was about to say, Just pretend you didn’t hear that.
But Seo Jinhyung spoke first.
“If you call me ‘oppa,’ I’ll do it.”
“What?”
“Not ‘hey.’ Oppa.”
It was a crazy suggestion.
It wasn’t hard to say…
Honestly, from the moment I said something insane like “hug me tighter,” I had nothing left to lose anyway.
“Oppa, hug me… tighter.”
That’s what I thought—but once I actually said it, it sounded like some cheap line from a 19+ comic. My stomach twisted. Maybe he felt the same, because there was a brief silence.
‘Damn it.’
Thankfully, without teasing me, Seo Jinhyung pulled me into a tighter embrace like he promised.
His solid arms pressed firmly around my shoulders and waist. I lifted the arm that had been stuck between us and loosely placed it over him.
On the bed, we ended up hugging without a single gap between us.
My face at his neck. His sternum against my chest. Sometimes our legs tangled too.
It felt strange.
But what was stranger was that I was so comfortable that none of it mattered.
‘Why? …Why is it?’
It felt like I knew the reason, yet I didn’t.
“…Oppa.”
“Yeah.”
“What are you thinking right now?”
His big hand patted my shoulder a couple of times, like he was telling me to hurry up and sleep.
“Just thinking that Se-yeon is small and warm.”
…Yeah, right.
I deliberately bent my knee and pressed it firmly against his thigh as I shifted. He flinched—just barely.
“I’m sleeping. If you do anything weird, I’m seriously reporting you.”
“…Sleep well.”
When I opened my eyes, instead of the overwhelming sense of him that filled me before I fell asleep, I felt empty.
“Ugh…”
I pushed myself up groggily and saw Seo Jinhyung, shirtless, holding his uniform shirt.
“Ah! Damn it. Are you crazy? Why are you half naked?”
“I need to put my uniform on?”
He smiled awkwardly.
Still half-asleep, I tried to process the situation.
So… I came home yesterday, changed clothes, went into his room… and just fell asleep there? And now it’s morning?
My heart started pounding anxiously.
“Wh-what time is it?”
“7:10.”
“Ah, shit! You scared me. You woke up super early.”
I thought I’d overslept badly, but I hadn’t.
“Se-yeon sleeps well.”
“Mom didn’t catch us, right?”
“She didn’t seem interested.”
Seeing his bright smile, my fists tightened.
Mom always raised me in a free-range way. It wasn’t that she didn’t care—that was just her parenting style.
‘Well, at least we didn’t get caught.’
I ran a hand through my hair and got off the bed. Seo Jinhyung had already put on his T-shirt, shirt, and was tying his tie.
“Why didn’t you wake me up? You should’ve woken me last night. I only meant to take a nap, and the whole day’s gone.”
“You wouldn’t wake up even when I tried….”
My face burned hot. That’s definitely a lie. It has to be.
I told myself to stay calm.
“Next time, wake me properly. I’ll kill you.”
“Next time? Oh, does that mean you want to hang out like yesterday again?”
“Get lost!!”
But since it was his room, I was the one who had to leave.
Bang! I slammed the door on purpose and rushed straight to my room. I’d already ended up raising my voice first thing in the morning.
“Ugh… this is so annoying!!!”
I crawled into my bed and kicked the blankets around, but my pounding heart wouldn’t calm down.
‘…Still.’
Yesterday’s anxiety had completely disappeared.
The Seo Jinhyung who could’ve done who-knows-what didn’t make me uncomfortable at all.
It was strange.
“Whatever… damn. I’ve lost it.”
No matter what, spending the night in the same bed as him—
Even if we did nothing weird and just slept, it still felt like I’d done something wrong. A sticky sense of guilt and discomfort lingered.
“Ah, whatever.”
I pushed it all aside and went into the bathroom. No matter what, I still had to go to school.
…Even without Seo Jinhyung, school was uncomfortable because Yeon Jaehyun was there.
I half-listened to the teacher and stared blankly at Yeon Jaehyun’s side profile.
‘What is he thinking?’
Under the tightly covered mask and hair, I wondered what kind of expression his real face was making.
‘If I ask him to show his face again today, my favorability will probably hit rock bottom.’
Hold it in. Keep some distance for a week.
Suppressing my regret, I looked back down at my textbook.
I might not know my midterm score yet, but I could already guess my finals at this rate.
I couldn’t believe I couldn’t focus in class like this.
“What’s with you?”
Today we were in the cafeteria instead of the snack bar. Jung Sumin asked as she watched me mindlessly shove rice into my mouth.
“What.”
“You were staring somewhere else in class.”
“So?”
Back in middle school, Jung Sumin wasn’t always in class, but she knew that since I couldn’t afford private tutoring, I paid attention during school lessons.
Since I kept glancing at Yeon Jaehyun all class today, it made sense she’d be curious.
“Really, really? Se-yeon, where were you looking?!” Myung A-jin chirped.
Damn it, you’re killing my appetite. I frowned and put my chopsticks down.
“If you’re not eating that duck, can I have it?”
“You think so?!”
Myung A-jin, who’d been eyeing my side dishes, retreated.
She loves food that much—how is she still so skinny?
Clang!
“Huh?”
In a cafeteria, the sounds of trays and chatter were normal. But that one was louder than usual.
I turned toward the noise and saw a familiar silhouette not far away.
“Ah, sorry! This bastard pushed me.”
“What are you talking about? You’re the one who knocked it over!”
Four noisy male students.
In front of them stood one guy, his uniform stained with food, silent.
One tray lay overturned on the floor.
It wasn’t hard to understand the situation.
‘Ah, right.’
Yeon Jaehyun was being bullied.
It happened often in the original story.
There was a delinquent-like group in his class that liked stirring up trouble.
And to show off their influence, they bullied Yeon Jaehyun, who had just transferred.
At first, they didn’t even target him because he was tall. But after seeing his method-acting “pathetic loner” performance, they decided he was easy prey.
‘Did it start earlier because he transferred in?’
From the atmosphere, it didn’t seem that serious yet.
Probably it was an accident just now, but when he didn’t say a word, they got excited.
“Sorry, sorry!”
The boys left noisily, abandoning Yeon Jaehyun, whose uniform was covered in soup and side dishes.
He didn’t say a single word even after being openly ignored. The cafeteria buzzed quietly.
No one helped him.
‘That’s not right. Those crazy bastards.’
I stood up from my seat.
