A case of Transmigrating as a Sick Villain chapter 103

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Jinwoo, with a blank expression, asked again.

“Who?”

“Jeong Sanho. He says he’s our high school classmate.”

“You met Jeong Sanho today?”

“Yeah. He contacted me recently. He seemed to know me well, so I decided to meet him.”

Jinwoo quickly covered his mouth with his hand, biting down hard to stop himself from blurting out any curses.

He had checked Jingyeom’s phone before and had seen the messages from Jeong Sanho.

‘I should’ve deleted and blocked him earlier.’

The reason he hadn’t was that Jingyeom had already found it strange when he blocked Wonbeom and Soohyuk.

If he deleted Sanho’s messages now, Jingyeom would likely catch on.

So, he left it alone, but now he regretted it. He never thought they’d meet so suddenly.

In the past, Sanho had often come around Jingyeom’s neighborhood.

But since Jingyeom’s hospitalization, there had been no contact, and Jinwoo had let his guard down, thinking they had fought before Jingyeom was admitted.

He had thought the most dangerous people to Jingyeom were Tak Wonbeom and Sun Soohyuk.

But now he realized the real threat was Jeong Sanho, though in a different way.

As Jinwoo’s expression darkened, Jingyeom, noticing the change, kept quiet.

‘He really does hate him.’

Sanho’s words from the cafe replayed in his mind:

[Dislike him? You ‘hated’ him. You were probably the person who prayed the most for Baek Jinwoo to die. Of course, I was next in line.]

Throughout their conversation, Sanho had made no effort to hide his hostility toward Jinwoo.

Jingyeom had mentioned meeting him to Jinwoo, fully aware of their bad relationship, and Jinwoo’s reaction confirmed everything.

Jingyeom carefully observed Jinwoo’s face.

The slow movement of his eyes, deep in thought, and the fidgeting of his thumb and index finger made him feel uneasy, wondering if he had brought up the topic for no reason.

Not wanting to let the mood sink further, Jingyeom gently tapped Jinwoo’s hand with his fingertips.

“If you can’t remember who it is, don’t force yourself. Just because they’re a high school classmate doesn’t mean you have to know everyone.”

Only then did Jinwoo’s gaze, which had been fixed on the floor, turn to Jingyeom.

‘Why would someone contact me now after all this time?’

Recently, Jingyeom had been preoccupied with sorting out people who had sent him threatening messages.

It seemed that during those days when he couldn’t check his phone, Jeong Sanho had contacted him.

Jinwoo also knew who Jeong Sanho was.

Since high school, his reputation had been bad, and Jinwoo wished Jingyeom hadn’t gotten close to him.

But during their second year, they ended up in the same class, and at some point, they began hanging out together.

Jinwoo hated it.

He once suggested that Jingyeom keep his distance from Sanho, but Jingyeom didn’t even pretend to listen.

Even when Jingyeom was in the hospital and for a while after his discharge, Jinwoo hadn’t heard Sanho’s name, thinking they had cut off contact completely, especially after hearing they had fought.

If not, Sanho would have reached out long ago.

That’s the kind of relationship Jingyeom and Jeong Sanho had.

As Jinwoo remained silent, just staring, Jingyeom smiled, lifting the corners of his mouth.

“Go wash up. I’ll clean this up.”

Since they had just finished dinner, the table was still full.

Jinwoo let out a faint smile and, with a worried look, gently held Jingyeom’s hand, which had tapped his own.

He pressed his thumb into Jingyeom’s palm and slowly drew circles as he spoke.

“No, it’s just… It’s been so long since I’ve heard that name. Jeong Sanho. I know. We weren’t that close, so I didn’t remember right away.”

“That’s understandable. He said you two weren’t that close either.”

Jingyeom, who was speaking casually, tried to close the lid of the side dish container, but since one of his hands was caught by Jinwoo, he couldn’t seal it properly.

Moreover, Jinwoo kept drawing circles on his palm, which tickled. His fingers naturally curled around Jinwoo’s hand.

“Stop it, it tickles!”

As Jingyeom tightened his grip, Jinwoo reluctantly let go, looking a bit disappointed.

“What did you talk about when you met Sanho?”

“I just told him about my amnesia. He said we were close friends and suggested we meet regularly to help me regain my memory.”

Jinwoo tried to smile while speaking, but his lips only twitched, refusing to lift.

He couldn’t talk about Jeong Sanho with a smile. He wanted to tell Jingyeom not to get close to him right away.

In the past, Jingyeom would have been irritated, telling him not to give orders.

But Jinwoo knew the current Jingyeom wouldn’t react that way, so he seriously considered speaking up.

“Really? …Are you going to keep meeting him?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Jinwoo clearly showed his reluctance, but Jingyeom pretended not to notice.

He hadn’t yet heard what Sanho was planning, so he intended to keep in touch until he found out.

He couldn’t risk something serious happening later if he left it alone.

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Any doubts about whether he should have contacted Sanho first were quickly dispelled when Sanho appeared the next day.

As Jingyeom opened the front door to go to a café, there was Sanho, sitting on the porch so naturally that Jingyeom thought they had made plans.

Trying to calm his surprised heart, Jingyeom asked Sanho, who was smiling at him.

“What brings you here?”

“I came to see you. I said I’d help you recover your memories. Oh, and can we drop the formal speech? It’s too awkward.”

“…I’ll try. When did you get here?”

“Not long ago. It’s been a while, so I was looking around.”

Sanho glanced around.

The only thing different from before was the addition of the porch, yet the atmosphere seemed to have changed.

“You should’ve called if you were coming.”

“I was about to. Where are you headed?”

“The café. To study.”

“Wow, you’re studying? You’ve really changed.”

As Jingyeom carefully locked the door and turned around, Sanho stood up as well. He had come today with the sole purpose of staying by Jingyeom’s side.

Originally, he had planned to take him around to help recover his memories, but hearing he was going to study, Sanho decided to tag along.

As they descended the stairs, Cheongoh naturally approached them.

Jingyeom greeted him and glanced at Sanho.

Although Cheongoh likely knew about Sanho, since he had been around for a while, Jingyeom felt it necessary to introduce him.

“This is my high school classmate. And this is… my bodyguard.”

After a brief pause, Jingyeom chose the most fitting title for Cheongoh.

It wasn’t inaccurate, after all.

Sanho smirked slightly and gave a casual nod.

“I’m Jeong Sanho.”

“I’m Lee Cheongoh.”

That was the end of the introductions. Neither man spoke further.

Jingyeom glanced between the two but didn’t press them to get along, as there was no need.

He headed toward the café.

As expected, he couldn’t concentrate.

‘Ah… At this rate, I won’t be able to take the exam.’

Although his workbook wasn’t falling apart yet, he should have gone through it at least once, but he hadn’t even made it halfway.

Moreover, none of the earlier content had stuck in his head.

‘This exam is doomed…!’

His lack of focus wasn’t the only issue; his mind was preoccupied with other things.

Jingyeom pressed his eyes shut, messing up his hair in frustration before collapsing onto the table.

Today, instead of the usual two-person table, they were seated at a larger four-person one because of the extra company.

It felt spacious.

To make matters worse, Cheongoh, sensing the discomfort, had moved to the next table, making the space feel even larger.

“You’ve never been good at studying. Stop struggling to get some pointless certificate and just hang out with me.”

“…”

“Anyway, Baek Jinwoo will take care of you. Why bother with all this hard work? Just live like before. If Jinwoo doesn’t give you money, come to me. I’ll take care of you.”

Jingyeom slowly lifted his body, his eyes focusing on Sanho, who sat across from him.

“Why would Jinwoo take care of me? I’m his older brother. I should be the one doing that.”

“Older brother, my foot.”

At Sanho’s sarcastic remark, Jingyeom unconsciously furrowed his brows.

“I may not remember what I was like before, but I get along well with Jinwoo now. So stop talking about him like that.”

“You’ve been siding with Baek Jinwoo since yesterday.”

“It’s not subtle at all. I’m on Jinwoo’s side. So don’t badmouth him.”

Sanho, unable to express his frustration, pounded his chest.

“I’m telling you, you’re being completely deceived by him! Didn’t I tell you yesterday?”

“…”

“He’s really ruined you.”

As the two bickered, Cheongoh was busy sending real-time updates about the situation to someone.

Despite knowing that befriending Sanho was key to gathering information about Baek Jingyeom, he grew more and more irritated by Sanho’s constant jabs at Jinwoo.

Sanho carefully observed the ever-changing expressions on Jingyeom’s face.

‘If he has no memories, doesn’t that mean I have a chance to rebuild my relationship with him?’

A sudden thought crossed Sanho’s mind, causing a slight twitch in his eye.

‘I noticed someone else seems to have their eye on him…’

Sanho’s eyes narrowed.

While the current situation didn’t seem favorable to him, the more he thought about it, the less hopeless it appeared.

‘If I play my cards right… maybe Baek Jingyeom will come to me.’

A devious glint settled in his eyes as he gazed at Jingyeom.

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