“Hey, um… let go.”
“Are you feeling a bit better?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.”
I had been so lost in thought that I didn’t even know how I’d made it this far.
I shook my head and tried to push Baek Jaehui away, but he must have been worried because he kept supporting me, fumbling with his phone and muttering, “Wait a second.”
We stopped in front of the school gate.
I stood there, dazed, looking around.
Joo Unyoung was nowhere to be seen—probably still in a bad mood—and the students leaving school were casting glances my way.
“Here! Hey, call me when you get home.”
“It’s alr—”
“You don’t look okay, so call me. Got it?”
He opened the back door of a taxi for me.
The driver asked, “Is this the call?” and Baek Jaehui replied, “Yes, that’s right. The kid is sick, so please drive slowly,” as he tossed my bag inside.
I finally gave in, nodded, and obediently sat in the back seat.
The taxi pulled away.
Baek Jaehui was waving from outside the window.
A moment later, my phone buzzed.
[Joo Unyoung: Even so, you… how can you be so oblivious?]
I stared at the screen with an expression like I’d just chewed on something foul and ignored the message.
As soon as I got home, I lay there in a daze for a while.
I’d lied and said I’d eaten dinner, and I hadn’t even showered yet.
It felt gross to lie on the bed, so I was spread-eagled on the floor when my mother walked in and shrieked.
When she asked why I was acting like this, I just replied, “The floor is cool…”
She placed a glass of apple juice on my desk and walked out, saying, “Tell me if it’s puberty.”
“Wow, damn…”
I rubbed my face dry, then suddenly jumped up and sat at my desk.
I immediately pulled out a piece of paper and scanned my previous notes.
Beside the name ‘Joo Hyeonje’, I added ten stars to the word ‘CAUTION.’
‘Isn’t it too much for your own brother to threaten your chastity? Seriously?’
It was material worthy of a horror movie.
Plus, in the original work, he’d used kidnapping and threats.
How chilling and terrifying must that have been for Joo Unyoung?
“Ugh.”
I shuddered, rubbing my skin where the goosebumps had risen.
I needed to think more deeply.
Why had the two of them pretended not to know each other?
What did the words Joo Hyeonje had spat out that day really mean?
“Joo Unyoung… you poor guy. Seriously.”
I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, forcing my brow to stay relaxed so I wouldn’t cry.
The fact that he hadn’t walked me out after our conversation probably meant his own mind was in turmoil, too.
Joo Unyoung was kind and incredibly naive.
He was sweet enough to match his pretty face and worked hard at his studies.
He was perfect.
There was a reason a guy like that would act like he’d lost his marbles sometimes: family issues.
It was all about family.
“The original work… let’s think about the original.”
‘Sniffle.’
I wrinkled my nose and clearly wrote Joo Hyeonje’s name on a blank spot on the paper.
Joo Hyeonje had kidnapped Joo Unyoung.
He’d taken him away on his way home from school for several days.
In the original, I had wandered around looking for Joo Unyoung, while his family had just said, in a voice that showed they didn’t care at all, “He’s been out of the house for a few days.”
Then, seeing Joo Hyeonje’s group approach me first, I’d made up my mind and followed them of my own volition.
I’d gone to see Joo Hyeonje even though I knew it was a trap.
‘If Choi Jingi just comes…’
Maybe Joo Hyeonje didn’t actually want Joo Unyoung.
Maybe he just wanted to tease him for fun, or maybe he wanted to crush his lover.
He was labeled a ‘sub-lead,’ but it must have been revealed in the side stories that they were brothers.
So, there could have been a reveal that said, “Actually, Joo Hyeonje never liked Joo Unyoung!”
I calmly wrote notes on the paper.
I had a dangerous idea, but I quickly erased it.
There was no way a ‘main lead’ would be obsessed over by a ‘sub-lead.’
I folded the paper neatly and tucked it into my drawer.
I looked at the apple juice my mother had made for me, downed it in one go, and made a resolution.
I knew better than anyone the sorrow of being oppressed by one’s own family.
So, I absolutely, positively wanted to protect him.
At least for now, while Joo Unyoung and I were still friends.
Wednesday.
When school ended, Joo Unyoung grabbed my wrist and didn’t let go.
It was as if he knew I was planning to run away; he wouldn’t even let me pack my bag.
“I-I need to pack my things. Unyoung, can you… let go, please?”
I looked at Go Yeol’s empty seat and swallowed back tears.
I missed him because I hadn’t seen him in a few days, but the absence of someone to help me was the saddest part.
‘Yeol, your ‘some’ (flirting partner) is touching me right now! Come quickly, please…’
But my telepathy didn’t reach him, and I was also held by Baek Jaehui, who was guarding the back door, forcing me to walk out the school gate side-by-side with both of them.
“Where are you meeting him?”
“My hand! You have to let go of my hand so I can see my phone!”
“It’s just your wrist. You can look whenever you want.”
“It’s uncomfortable! Just, yeah? Let go, okay?”
Since they wouldn’t let go, I had to take out my phone with them watching my every move.
When I opened the chat room, a message had just arrived from Joo Hyeonje.
[Joo Hyeonje: See you in front of the gate. I’ll come pick you up~]
“He’s straight-up kidnapping you in broad daylight…”
“Why is this a kidnapping? Ah, seriously! I’m hot! Your hands are burning!”
“Hey… have you ever seen Joo Unyoung act like this? It’s not a normal situation. Let’s listen to Unyoung, Choi Jingi.”
“But why are you trying to follow along, why?”
It was clearly Joo Unyoung alone who had said, “Let’s go together,” but having Baek Jaehui grabbing my other wrist was stifling.
I hadn’t realized it on Monday because he’d just been sitting there playing games, but it seemed he’d been listening in while pretending not to.
“You said some weird things on Monday.”
“What weird things?”
“…’Did you sleep with him’ or whatever.”
“That—I—did I sleep with him? No! And he didn’t sleep with him either, but anyway, why does that matter! What!”
“You… you’ve become strange since you got heatstroke. I need to keep an eye on you to turn you back into a well-behaved teenager.”
I let out a laugh at how ridiculous that sounded, and he narrowed his eyes and glared at me.
I shook the arm Baek Jaehui was holding and voiced my annoyance.
“Hey, you’re the guy who skips evening self-study every single day! What ‘well-behaved teenager’?”
“I still don’t do… that kind of stuff, though.”
“I told you I didn’t either!”
“You’re just… very… lewd. A kid should be careful.”
“I told you I didn’t!”
‘Oh god, I’m going crazy! Just stuff a cotton swab in my ears already, seriously.’
Since he wouldn’t listen no matter what I said, I knew I couldn’t win.
Recalling some wise saying I’d seen on the internet, I squeezed my eyes shut.
I grumbled once more, begging them to at least hold on a little more gently.
‘Joo Hyeonje is coming out of the school anyway, so it’s not like I have a way to run away, right? It’s really hot, so stop sticking to me.’
Eventually, the two of them let go of my wrists.
I was about to let out a sigh when Joo Unyoung crossed his arms with me entirely.
Seeing that, Baek Jaehui did the same.
With two energetic high-school boys stuck to me, I felt like the heat had tripled.
“Ah, I said it’s hot!”
Even when I yelled, the two guys gripped my arms tightly, as if they’d promised each other not to let go.
Is going to eat one meal such a big deal? Huh?
“Is he coming? Try rushing him.”
“Just wait. You’re the one sticking to me like a bridesmaid; what are you rushing for?”
“Bridesmaid? Did you call me a bridesmaid? What are you going to do with that senior right now? …It’s not that, is it? It’s not, right, Choi Jingi? You, you…”
‘Persistent, so persistent.’
I gave up on the conversation and leaned my body against the wall.
Right on cue, a flashy imported car slid to a stop in front of the school gate like it was gliding.
‘Wow, I guess rich neighborhoods have stuff like this.’
It didn’t have a single speck of dust—did he just get it washed?
Can I ride in something like that later?
Since I’ll be rich, it might be possible.
I imagined myself driving a cool car after graduating from college and twitched my lips.
Surely, when my car drove by, the domestic cars would quietly move out of the way.
And when I stepped out of the car, they would whisper that a handsome man had just stepped out.
I’d make many women weep because of the crime of being handsome… and I’d probably get caught up in some bad rumors.
That would be so sad.
“Hey, what are you grinning about? Is that senior here?”
“Uh-huh? No. I don’t know?”
“…I told you you’d gone crazy from the heat. Why are you getting worse every day? Where’s the Choi Jingi from the past? Did you eat him? Huh?”
I drifted back into my imagination.
My chest ached a little at the part where they sentenced me, “Choi Jingi, sentenced to expulsion for the crime of inciting jealousy among male students with your perfect looks and personality.”
Of course, it was a pleasurable ache.
In that case, even my parents wouldn’t be able to save me.
I’d have no choice but to get expelled… and it would be nice to immigrate abroad and go to college.
I’d cover my face in sadness over the expulsion, meet a woman, and we’d have a dramatic romance, healing each other’s pain…
“Jingi-ya!”
That was when the man in the imported car shattered my delusion.
The passenger door slowly opened sideways, and a man in sunglasses reached out, grabbed my shoulder, and pulled.
It happened in an instant.
The arms that had been loosely linked because I’d been complaining about the heat were broken in one go.
Fortunately, Joo Unyoung didn’t let go, as if he’d known who the owner of the car was.
But he let go once he saw the front door close automatically.
Then, he strode to the driver’s side and knocked on the window.
It was a sign to open the door immediately.
Of course, I couldn’t put up even the slightest bit of resistance; I just flapped like a tall paper doll and was dragged into the car.
A long, white arm emerged for a moment, pulled me inside, and the door slammed shut.
“Hey, Choi Jingi!”
“U-u-uh-huh?”
