* * *

Apparently, the nosebleed had been worse than he’d realized, and a dark, crimson stain had seeped into the chest of his gym uniform.

He’d struggled to remove blood from his shirt just yesterday, and now, without access to the classroom to change, he was stuck.

Standing at the sink, he washed his face, hoping gym would end soon.

A faint green bruise was already beginning to form on his cheek where Park Hyuntae’s fist had landed.

“My brothers would flip if they saw this.”

Jungin muttered to himself, taking a few selfies as evidence, his expression indifferent.

Staring at his empty inbox, the bell signaling the end of class rang.

He put on a mask he’d kept prepared and left the restroom, heading back to the classroom.

Behind him, he heard someone call out.

“Hey, the gym teacher wants you in the equipment room.”

Is it because I went to the nurse’s office without permission?

Watching his classmate disappear after passing on the message, Jungin reluctantly made his way back toward the gym.

The gymnasium, right next to the hall, was just as old and eerie as the school itself.

Why call me to the equipment room instead of the office?

Puzzled, he cautiously opened the door. The rusty hinges creaked as a cloud of dust greeted him.

“There’s no one here—”

At that moment, Jungin felt a strong push on his back, pitching him forward.

Thud!

“Urgh…”

He managed to catch himself before falling, but as he looked at the tightly closed door, he let out a defeated sigh.

No matter how much he tried, the door wouldn’t budge.

To make matters worse, Ji Woohyun was absent today.

“Hah…”

Misfortunes really do come all at once.

His phone, of course, was dead.

Normally, he’d have charged it, but he’d been too distracted recently.

No one would come all the way here.

‘How am I supposed to get out of this? If I don’t get out today, my brothers will start getting the wrong idea, and that’s the last thing I need.’

As he sighed, biting his lip anxiously, a rustling sound came from behind him.

“Ah…!”

Startled, Jungin inhaled sharply, his shoulders trembling.

A rat, maybe?

His large eyes filled with fear.

The rustling grew louder until a large shadow suddenly loomed over him.

“Ah!”

“What the—”

Jungin, who’d instinctively closed his eyes, slowly opened them as he recognized a familiar voice coming from above him.

“…Beomhyeon?”

He’d known Beomhyeon was back from the text he’d sent a few days ago.

But at the time, he’d been too overwhelmed to reply.

“Who… are you?”

Still startled, Jungin looked up at Beomhyeon, who, with an uncomfortable expression, raked his fingers through his hair.

Oh, right.

He can’t see my face right now.

Jungin looked drastically different without his glasses, and with a mask on, it was no wonder Beomhyeon couldn’t recognize him.

And he wasn’t wearing his uniform either, just the gym clothes, which had no name tag.

Despite Beomhyeon’s piercing gaze, Jungin took the opportunity to observe him carefully.

He’d been so startled before that he’d only just noticed Beomhyeon’s outfit.

Is he… in a school uniform?

Is he actually a student here?

No, he must be a returning student or something.

It wasn’t that Beomhyeon looked old; rather, his demeanor and the way he carried himself felt anything but adolescent.

Trying to calm himself, Jungin asked in a slightly trembling voice, “Uh, excuse me… but how old are you—”

“Hey. Do you know me?”

Jungin tensed instantly at Beomhyeon’s low, suddenly darkened tone.

He’d asked without thinking, assuming familiarity when Beomhyeon probably had no idea who he was.

That must’ve come off as presumptuous.

If Beomhyeon found out now, his brothers would know in an instant.

The last thing he wanted was to worsen their already strained relationship.

He wanted to patch things up first before any truths came out.

‘As long as I can get through this moment… I’ll explain it later.’

Swallowing nervously, Jungin double-checked his glasses and mask.

Lowering his head and deepening his voice, he spoke.

“Sorry… anyway, it seems we’re… locked in here.”

His voice cracked mid-sentence from trying to make it sound too deep, but Beomhyeon’s expression didn’t change.

‘Whew… I think he didn’t recognize me.’

“We’re locked in?”

“Yes… someone’s playing a prank from outside, I think… Sorry if it’s because of me.”

The air was cold, but he was sweating under the tension.

Of all places, why did it have to be here that he ran into Beomhyeon?

Being stuck in such close quarters without an escape felt stifling.

Avoiding the weight of Beomhyeon’s gaze, he lowered his head even further.

“Move aside.”

Exhaling slowly, Beomhyeon walked past him to the door and kicked the handle hard.

Thud, thud—

The sound of his foot against the door was much louder than Jungin’s feeble attempts.

“Uh, um, if you break it—”

Jungin panicked as the whole building seemed to shake, but before he could finish, the door handle clattered to the ground, broken.

Leaving Jungin frozen in place, Beomhyeon looked back at him indifferently.

“Are you planning to stay here?”

“N-no, I’ll go now!”

‘Is he going to just leave me here?’

Jungin hurried out of the equipment room, finally able to breathe freely in the open space.

“Hah… I’m alive.”

If he hadn’t run into Beomhyeon here, he might’ve been stuck indefinitely.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he bowed deeply.

“Thank you…”

“No need.”

With those few words, Beomhyeon turned to leave.

But just when Jungin thought he was gone, he came back, his brows furrowed.

“Your voice sounds kind of familiar.”

“…It couldn’t be.”

“Don’t fake it.”

Ki Beomhyeon noticed right away that Jungin was purposely altering his voice.

This was bad.

Jungin’s heart began to pound wildly, sensing he might be exposed without any way to back out.

What should he do?

Should he just make a run for it?

Could he even escape the gym without getting caught?

Jungin’s mind flashed back to a recent, clumsy attempt to flee from a hotel that had left him injured, stirring a storm of conflicting emotions.

“Have we… met somewhere before?” Ki Beomhyeon asked.

“Probably…?”

Jungin fumbled, biting his upper lip as Ki Beomhyeon’s voice dropped and he suddenly snatched the glasses off Jungin’s face.

Caught off guard, Jungin’s eyes widened, and in that instant, Ki Beomhyeon lowered his own mask, his gaze blazing like a fiery storm.

“Who did this to you?”

Ki Beomhyeon’s voice held a fierce edge as he cupped Jungin’s jaw, turning his face from side to side, his whole demeanor radiating anger.

Tracing a finger over the faint blood on Jungin’s lips, he demanded in a cold, menacing tone, “I asked you, Jungin. Who hurt you?”

Panic surged through Jungin.

What should he do?

Was he about to get caught?

What if Ki Beomhyeon went and told his brothers…

“Jungin!”

“No, don’t…” he whispered urgently.

“What?”

“Could you… pretend you didn’t see anything?”

When Jungin lifted his gaze, clutching Ki Beomhyeon’s wrist, their eyes met, and Ki Beomhyeon looked at him with sheer disbelief.

“Stop saying nonsense. Who was it? Tell me.”

Ki Beomhyeon gritted his teeth, grabbed Jungin’s wrist, and led him out of the gym.

Fury burned in Ki Beomhyeon’s expression, as though he might actually hunt down whoever had done this to Jungin.

Hastily, Jungin spoke up.

“Just one day! Pretend you didn’t notice anything for just one day.”

Tomorrow was a critical day he’d set for himself.

* * *