Cold water, a firm but decent pillow, shade, and a breeze.
Now that he’d cooled his sweat, even the warm wind felt refreshing compared to before.
‘Ah, I want to go home to a house full of air conditioning…’
“…Hey, are you going back to the study hall?”
“Yeah.”
“How long are you going to study?”
“Well, we paid for eight hours starting at 8:00, so until 4:00. What time is it now?”
“2:00.”
“Yeah. I’ll do two more hours until 4:00.”
“…That’s a long time.”
‘Shhh, rustle.’
The leaves brushed against each other, creating a tickling sound.
The scent of summer, the sound of cicadas crying in the distance. Jingi’s breathing evened out as he began to doze off.
“Call me when you’re done studying. I think I’ll be done around then too.”
“If your first round is over, won’t you be done sooner?”
“I’ll just wait a bit. Let’s eat something afterward.”
“Aren’t you eating with the other guys? Don’t you usually go out after a match?”
“I don’t have an appetite.”
“If you don’t have an appetite, why are you asking to eat with me…”
Just then, Jaehui suddenly bolted upright. Jingi, who had been just about to fall into a deep sleep, snapped his eyes open.
Because Baek Jaehui had pulled away so suddenly, Jingi’s head hit the bench with a ‘thud!’
His heart, which had finally settled, shrank back in surprise.
“Agh! Hey!”
The back of his head, which had taken a hard hit, throbbed with pain.
He stood up quickly to yell at the guy, but Jaehui had already run off and returned, clutching the water bottle that only had ice left as if it were a precious treasure, glaring at him.
Then he ran back toward where the other students were gathered.
‘What is wrong with him, seriously?’
“Ow… damn, that really hurts.”
Worrying he might have a bump, Jingi rubbed the back of his head.
He saw Baek Jaehui sitting in a corner, far from his friends, with a bright red face.
Seeing him staring at the water bottle gripped in both hands, it was clear he’d been enduring his thirst after Jingi had taken all his water.
‘It looks like that guy isn’t very close with his teammates. So he lied about not having an appetite just to eat with me… Tsk, tsk.’
Jingi clicked his tongue and sat up.
His sleepiness had completely vanished. He stretched and felt his hunger.
Maybe he should have just eaten something by himself.
Rubbing his stomach gently, Jingi let out a wide yawn.
Thinking about going back and studying for another two hours already felt tedious.
‘Wow, I really hate studying… Of course, it’s still much better than working like I did in my past life.’
Just as he was about to stand up, his pocket started buzzing.
He pulled out his phone and saw Joo Unyoung’s name on the screen.
There were several texts and messages, along with three missed calls.
Jingi’s heart sank.
He hurriedly answered the phone, only to hear a weary voice on the other end.
— Where are you?
“Huh? I… I’m a bit far away right now…”
— I’ll go to you. Where is it?
“No, no. Did you eat? Just head back up first. I’ll be there soon.”
A long silence followed from the other end of the line.
Jingi, sensing the mood, didn’t dare say more and just chewed on his lip.
They say it’s scariest when a normally kind person gets angry, and that was exactly the case here.
Just imagining an angry Joo Unyoung was genuinely terrifying.
Fortunately, Joo Unyoung replied in a slightly softened voice.
— Fine, just come for now.
“Got it. I’ll be there soon!”
Jingi let out a deep sigh as soon as he hung up the phone and pushed himself up.
What should he do if they asked him to explain what happened earlier?
To be honest, he couldn’t explain it because he didn’t even fully understand it himself.
He truly thought it was dangerous.
Whether it was human trafficking or something else, seeing those people chase them all the way down the stairs made it clear that, whatever they were, they were bad people.
Besides, wasn’t Joo Unyoung gentle, fair-skinned, and pretty?
Now, he was also afraid that if he went to the study room, he might run into that guy again.
Human trafficking—he hadn’t thought the victim in those news articles would actually be him.
Since he had possessed the protagonist of a novel, he wouldn’t die, but if Joo Unyoung ended up with someone else, he might get demoted to something below a supporting character.
Jingi knew well from living his previous life just how scary the world could be.
He knew what kind of attitudes adults took toward a child who had lost their parents, and how cold they could be.
He had told Joo Unyoung he would go quickly, but Jingi dragged his feet and slowed his pace.
He didn’t want to get sweaty from running, and he didn’t know what to say if he met him.
However, the study room was closer than he thought.
Seeing that he had arrived so quickly, he sighed, thinking he hadn’t been able to run that much after all.
“Choi Jingi.”
“Who… Oh, Unyoung.”
“Let’s go. I packed your things.”
“Oh… uh, okay.”
When he turned around at the sudden voice, Joo Unyoung was standing there with his hat pulled down low.
Both bags were hanging from his shoulders.
Had he given him his locker key?
He searched his pockets, but there was no key to be found.
It seemed he had dropped it.
“Uh, thanks.”
He wanted to ask if he wasn’t going to go back to study, but he was so embarrassed about what happened earlier that he couldn’t say anything.
At least Joo Unyoung was fine, which was a relief.
It seemed he hadn’t gone back to find those guys.
And Jingi, who didn’t have the courage to face those employees again, accepted the bag with mixed feelings and followed Joo Unyoung.
Joo Unyoung, who had been walking ahead, suddenly stopped.
Jingi bumped slightly into his back and stopped in surprise.
“You, don’t ever go anywhere on your own again.”
“U-uh?”
“Don’t scare people by not picking up your phone. Understand?”
“…Yeah. Sorry. Were you really worried?”
He stepped to the side to ask, but Joo Unyoung didn’t answer.
Jingi walked a little faster to match his pace.
Thinking about the missed calls and texts that had piled up, it was indeed his fault.
Jingi slumped his shoulders and glanced at Joo Unyoung.
If he apologized, would he accept it?
Since he said not to do it ‘from now on,’ he must still want to be friends, right?
“Uh, Unyoung. I’m sorry, seriously… I won’t do it again. Sorry. Did, did you eat lunch?”
“…Did you?”
“I didn’t…”
“Haa…”
He let out a sigh as if the earth were collapsing.
Jingi immediately put his arm around his shoulders.
The years he had spent constantly reading the room were telling him that now was the time.
The timing to be forgiven.
When he thought about it, no one else would stay with him like this after he dodged what was essentially a confession from Joo Unyoung, and after he told him he could only see him as a friend.
Sometimes people part ways and become friends, but hadn’t he been the one pushing Joo Unyoung away unilaterally?
