* * *

They had finally reached the infirmary, but the school nurse was nowhere to be seen.

Jeongseo couldn’t understand why the nurse was always absent at the most crucial times.

“Yoontae, sit here. I’ll get the medicine.”

Jeongseo helped Pyo Yoontae onto the small bed before heading to the round table covered with a glass panel.

Rifling through the first aid kit, he found a spray-on pain reliever and a compression bandage.

He initially took just those items but then walked over to the fridge and opened the freezer compartment.

Inside were a few cold packs; he took one out as well.

With everything in hand, he returned to the bed, where Yoontae was slowly taking off his socks.

As Jeongseo’s gaze fell on the exposed skin beneath, a sigh of sympathy escaped him.

His ankle was swollen to the point that it looked painful even at a glance.

“Oh no. That must hurt a lot…”

Jeongseo, looking at the ankle with sad eyes, shook the spray and applied it over the swollen area.

The sharp scent of the pain relief spray filled the air, cooling his nose.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

Yoontae, who had been silently watching Jeongseo with a pained expression, slumped his shoulders.

“Yes… It hurt so much I felt like crying, Jeongseo.”

Felt like crying?

Yoontae said that…?

He must be in serious pain.

Feeling even more upset himself, Jeongseo sprayed the pain reliever a few more times and straightened up.

“Turn around and lean against the wall. You need to apply cold compresses properly to recover faster when you’re sprained.”

Yoontae pulled both legs up onto the bed and leaned against the headboard.

As Jeongseo carefully placed the cold pack, shaped like a dumpling, on the swollen ankle, Yoontae’s leg flinched.

“Ah, did that hurt?”

“It’s been so long since I last got hurt. It’s more painful than I expected.”

The truth was, it was only because the cold pack felt so chilly after the spray, but Yoontae kept his face calm despite the discomfort.

“I was playing basketball hard to impress you… and then I ended up falling so embarrassingly…”

“No! You were amazing, Yoontae. You even scored the most points.”

Jeongseo had thought that Yoontae wasn’t that eager about basketball, but maybe he wanted to try harder than expected.

He hadn’t anticipated that Yoontae would feel so down, so he moved to the head of the bed and started talking about how impressive and outstanding he looked during the game.

“Really? You thought I was cool, Jeongseo?”

“Yeah, totally. For real. It looked like everyone else was just watching you.”

“Then why was Jeongseo laughing and chatting with someone else every time I looked over?”

Just as Jeongseo thought he had cheered him up, Yoontae’s expression soured again.

Laughing with someone else? Jeongseo wondered whom he was talking about.

“Me? Oh, with Sumin? That was just me asking about the basketball rules since I didn’t know them!”

“Hmph.”

Yoontae crossed his arms and turned his head away, clearly displeased with something else.

Why was he getting so sulky these days?

Just as Jeongseo was beginning to feel uneasy, Yoontae shot him a side glance and tapped the space beside him with his fingertip.

Realizing he wanted him to come over, Jeongseo slipped off his shoes and sat beside Yoontae, leaning against the headboard as well.

The small bed didn’t have much space, so when Jeongseo sat down, their arms pressed closely together.

“Isn’t it hot? Maybe we should… huh…!”

Suddenly, Jeongseo felt something wriggling at his waist.

He flinched and looked over to see a black tail swaying gently.

Surprised, he glanced up and saw that black ears had appeared on top of Yoontae’s head.

It was more comfortable for beast-hybrids to return to their original form when they were in pain.

Maintaining a human appearance required expending energy and kept the body in a state of mild tension.

This was the first time in a while that Yoontae had partially shifted back.

If he shifted to that extent… Jeongseo hesitated before speaking.

“Do you want to stay here and rest? I’ll tell the teacher.”

The bed was small, so he thought it would be better to leave Yoontae alone.

Just as Jeongseo was about to get up, an arm wrapped around his waist, and he felt a weight on his head.

“It’s fine. Just stay like this for a moment.”

Now practically embraced by Yoontae, Jeongseo felt the solid arm around him and the faint cool scent Yoontae carried.

For some reason, his face grew warm, and his heart began to race, afraid that Yoontae might notice.

“It’s… it’s hot. Maybe we should…”

“The breeze is cold.”

The breeze?

Jeongseo looked around and finally noticed the faint breeze coming through the slightly open window.

It wasn’t cold at all, but somehow, staying like this didn’t seem so bad, so he stopped resisting.

Yoontae must find even this lukewarm breeze cold because he was in pain, Jeongseo thought, adding an unnecessary reason to justify wanting to stay.

Outside, the shouts and chatter of kids playing floated into the room, providing a comfortable background sound.

As time passed, Jeongseo’s eyelids grew heavier.

It seemed that the fatigue from all the morning’s activities was catching up with him.

A little while later, the two of them, sitting close together on the narrow infirmary bed, drifted into a light sleep.

°❀•°❀°•❀°

List of Teams Participating in the Bronze Medal Match at Dangang High School:

Dodgeball: Class 1-2 (Red) / Class 2-4 (Green) / Class 3-1 (Black, automatic win)

Basketball: Class 1-5 (Black) / Class 2-5 (Yellow, automatic win) / Class 3-2 (Blue)

……(omitted)……

°❀•°❀°•❀°

It was the second and final day of the sports festival.

On the last day, all the bronze and final matches would be held, with the relay race as the highlight to close the event.

The opening game on the second day was the dodgeball bronze medal match.

[The result of the first dodgeball game, Class 1-2 versus Class 2-4… Class 2-4 won! Congratulations!]

The announcement from the cultural sports committee rang loudly across the field.

Slightly out of breath, Jeongseo ran over to Yoontae.

“I won!”

Yoontae, who had a partial cast on his ankle, raised a hand in greeting from his seat.

In the close bronze medal match between Class 1-2 and Class 2-4, Class 2-4 had won and advanced to the finals.

Even though Jeongseo hadn’t used his full strength, it was undeniable that he had contributed significantly to the win.

“Wow, the first-years seem pretty good at dodgeball.”

“It looked like most of them were quick hybrids.”

“Really?”

Jeongseo looked back at the first-years he had just played against.

None of them had animal ears like he did.

He couldn’t tell what kind they were or even if they were carnivorous or herbivorous.

One thing was certain: they were all fast.

He thought that if they advanced to the second year, they’d become formidable opponents.

Satisfied with the win, he turned his gaze but noticed someone staring at him from the gym’s back entrance.

More accurately, glaring at him.

Squinting, Jeongseo saw that it was Kim Woosik.

It was clear that he wasn’t pleased with Jeongseo’s class reaching the finals.

After locking eyes with Woosik for a moment, Jeongseo turned to Yoontae out of curiosity.

Yoontae was getting up as if to leave, so Jeongseo sidled up to him.

“Can you tell what kind he is, even if he doesn’t show his ears like me?”

“I can’t be exact, but I can get a sense—whether they’re birds, rodents, or whether they’re carnivores or herbivores.”

Jeongseo often felt clueless about others’ identities unless they explicitly told him they were hybrids.

“That’s fascinating. I can’t tell at all. Does it just come with experience?”

“It’s more from encountering different hybrids. You start to pick up clues from appearances, behavior, and personality.”

Experience, huh?

Maybe he just didn’t meet enough hybrids to know.

Accepting this easily, Jeongseo pointed at the guy still glaring at him and asked.

“Then what about him?”

Yoontae followed his finger to where Kim Woosik stood and let out a short laugh.

* * *