7MoH 1.19

Chase’s gaze scanned Jeong-in’s room. The room was just like its owner—everything was neatly organized with nothing out of place, and there weren’t even posters that would typically be found on walls. The only notable item was a varsity jacket with the school initials embroidered on it, hanging next to the white wardrobe.

Jeong-in, inadvertently following Chase’s gaze, quickly ran over and pulled it down from the wall, looking embarrassed.

“Oh, I was supposed to return this today… That’s convenient. Since you’re here, you can take it back.”

Without responding, Chase plopped down on Jeong-in’s bed. Then, he slowly looked around the room again and asked, “What was that dish we ate? It was delicious but spicy.”

Jeong-in answered as he placed the varsity jacket beside him.

“It’s a chicken dish Koreans often make. You might get an upset stomach. Drink some milk when you get home.”

“I feel like my heart is beating in my stomach. Feel it.”

Chase took Jeong-in’s nearby hand and placed it on his abdomen. All Jeong-in could feel under his palm was the firm contour of his abs.

Jeong-in immediately pulled his hand away, his face flushing.

“Uh, there’s nothing wrong.”

Chase laughed awkwardly and reclined on Jeong-in’s bed. Then, noticing a white stuffed animal next to the pillow, he pulled it into his arms.

“Snowball, daddy’s here.”

Jeong-in scolded him.

“I’m the daddy. Why are you the daddy?”

“So fussy.”

Chase returned the stuffed animal to its place with a playful smile and lightly patted its head.

“I think your mom called you something different earlier.”

“That was my Korean name.”

“Jay isn’t your name?”

“‘Jeong-in.’ This is my name.”

Chase repeated Jeong-in’s words and tried to imitate the pronunciation awkwardly.

“Jung…in?”

He blinked with interest, then picked up a piece of paper from the desk and handed it to Jeong-in.

“Write it down.”

Jeong-in wrote his name in Korean and handed it to him. Chase tilted his head curiously at the unfamiliar writing system. Then he took out his phone and took a picture of the characters.

Chase fiddled with the screen, searching for something, and then suddenly burst into admiration as if he had discovered something amazing.

“Wow… This is really… awesome.”

“What?”

He held his phone screen out to Jeong-in. On the display was the English translation of the Korean characters.

[〈Jeong-in〉: ‘beloved’, loved one, lover.]

Jeong-in was momentarily flustered but soon answered in a calm voice.

“In Korea, it’s sometimes used with that meaning.”

“Then what’s ‘Lim’?”

“Actually, it’s ‘Im’, but when written in English, it’s read as ‘Lim’.”

“Write it down for me.”

Jeong-in wrote “임” on the paper and handed it over. Chase immediately pointed his phone camera at the character. Then he let out a sigh as if finding something absurd.

“Huh…”

“What?”

“〈Im〉: A person who is the object of complete love and admiration.”

Jeong-in became a bit embarrassed and fidgeted with the back of his hair.

“…Well, it might have been used with that meaning in Korean classical poetry or something.”

“Your name is cute. It sounds like you’re begging.”

At this unexpected remark, Jeong-in blinked his wide eyes, staring at Chase in confusion.

“It’s like you’re begging to be loved.”

Jeong-in was momentarily speechless and stared blankly at him. Only after a while did he finally speak.

“…Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Can I call you Jeong-in?”

“No.”

“Why? Is that name expensive? I’ll pay the usage fee. How much? I’ll send it through Cash App.”

Jeong-in let out an incredulous laugh.

In that moment, the tension that had been flowing between the two slightly eased. Chase didn’t miss the opportunity and asked, “Why did you just leave earlier?”

“Wasn’t that conversation over?”

Jeong-in sighed as if tired. But Chase didn’t care about that reaction and persistently pressed on.

“Did I make a mistake or something?”

“It’s not that.”

“See, there is something.”

Jeong-in felt momentarily irritated by Chase’s persistence but suppressed it, running his hand through his hair.

“Why are you even here?”

“Huh?”

“It’s spring break. Shouldn’t you be going to Cabo or Miami Beach with your girlfriend? Why aren’t you with Vivian…”

“Vivian?”

“Yes. Vivian Sinclair. Your girlfriend.”

Jeong-in spoke casually and fixed his gaze on the desk. But he could feel his fingertips trembling slightly.

While trying to organize the already neat desk, attempting to hide his intention to test him, he raised his head slightly as the unusually long silence became strange. And he met Chase’s eyes directly.

“Ah…”

Chase exhaled in realization.

“That explains why you dislike me.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Jay, do you like Vivian?”

Jeong-in’s hands froze at Chase’s words. Even a wrong guess hit the mark. The accusation was so absurd that he couldn’t think of an appropriate response.

But upon reflection, it seemed better to let him misunderstand this way. It was much more… normal than having his real feelings discovered.

Jeong-in pressed his lips together and hurriedly turned his gaze away. However, this small action seemed to confirm it for Chase.

“Was that it? You like Vivian?”

Jeong-in let out a small sigh at Chase’s words. Although he knew Chase had reached the wrong conclusion, he didn’t want to correct him. It seemed easier for him to let Chase believe that.

“Yes. That’s why I disliked you. Happy now? If you understand my feelings, give me back my notebook.”

“Jay. Vivian is off-limits.”

Chase spoke in a tone like a parent disciplining a wayward child. His words twisted something inside Jeong-in.

He had already known long ago that he wasn’t a match for Vivian Sinclair, even without him verbally confirming it. Vivian Sinclair probably wouldn’t even know of the existence of a nerd like him. Just as Chase Prescott hadn’t until recently.

What hurt wasn’t the fact itself, but his attitude in pointing it out so firmly.

Feeling emotion creeping into his voice, Jeong-in responded mockingly, “Right. How dare someone like me become Chase Prescott’s rival. I know she’s your girlfriend. I even witnessed it firsthand.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“On the charity event day, I saw you and Vivian kissing on the terrace at your house. I was so shocked that I ran away and left my bag. Why else did you think that bag was there?”

“What… did you see?”

Chase’s expression hardened instantly. Seeing him looking as if he might jump up and burst into anger at any moment, Jeong-in hastily added, as if making an excuse,

“I wasn’t peeping or anything! And technically, I was on the terrace first. You two came in later.”

“…”

He still said nothing. Uncomfortable with Chase’s silence, Jeong-in tried to appear nonchalant as he added,

“From now on, make a habit of checking more carefully if someone’s around before you engage in romantic acts, Prescott.”

Chase’s face darkened like storm clouds. Should he have kept his mouth shut? Jeong-in quickly went through the words he had spoken. It didn’t seem like he had made any particularly harsh slip of the tongue, which was strange.

After a long while, Chase who had been lying comfortably on Jeong-in’s bed as if planning to stay longer, suddenly got up.

“…I should go now.”

Chase’s voice sank low. Jeong-in was quite confused by his sudden change in attitude. He wondered if Chase was trying to get revenge by mimicking what he had done at his house earlier.

By the time Jeong-in awkwardly stood up, Chase had already reached the threshold of the room. As he was about to cross it without hesitation, he suddenly stopped. Then, still with his back turned, he slightly turned his head and said,

“I don’t know what you think you saw, but… what you see isn’t everything.”

Chase seemed as if he wanted to say something more but restrained himself. Leaving those cryptic words, he opened the door and left the room.

Jeong-in briefly considered following him down, but his feet wouldn’t move. He stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, listening to him descending the stairs. Soon he could faintly hear him saying goodbye to Suzy.

As soon as he heard the front door close, Jeong-in quickly ran to the window. He lifted the curtain slightly and looked down.

Chase was walking out of the entrance. He could have turned around at least once, but he only looked ahead and headed towards his car.

The sleek contours of the silver Porsche shone clearly even in the darkness. Chase got into the car without a moment’s hesitation.

Jeong-in watched until the end as the Porsche slid down the road with a roaring sound, then closed the curtain with a sigh.

“I don’t know what you think you saw, but… what you see isn’t everything.”

His last words kept circling in his mind. Chase’s face had looked somewhat tired when he said that.

That night, after tossing and turning in bed repeatedly, Jeong-in finally picked up his phone. After much deliberation, what he sent was just a trivial greeting.

[I wasn’t sure if it would suit your taste, but thanks for enjoying the food. Sleep well.]

Soon after the message was sent, a signal appeared showing that the other person was typing a response. Jeong-in held his breath, waiting for the three dots to disappear and for his message to arrive.

However, the three dots soon vanished, and the screen went quiet. As he stared blankly, even the display went black.

No reply came that night, or the next day, or even the day after that.

***

Jeong-in sat at his desk, opening his bag and neatly arranging his notebook, pencil case, and textbooks one by one. His movements were calm and meticulous, but his mind was somewhere hazy.

While zipping up his bag, his gaze suddenly turned toward the bed. He noticed Snowball sitting next to the pillow.

Jeong-in grumbled to the stuffed animal with a sigh in his voice.

“Your other daddy is missing.”

His voice carried a bitter tone as he muttered to himself.

Since that day, Chase Prescott had disappeared from Jeong-in’s life without a trace. As if he had never existed. No contact, no appearances in front of his house. Unless Jeong-in searched for him first, there would be no chance of encountering him.

His last words, his dark expression, and the secret Madison had mentioned—all of these things jumbled in Jeong-in’s mind, gnawing at his nerves. It felt unsettling, like having unfinished homework past its deadline.

Perhaps because of this, Jeong-in hadn’t been able to concentrate properly for the past few days. Even when he went to the comic book store with Justin after he returned from his campus tour. He missed the flow of conversation several times and said irrelevant things. He also declined Rachel’s invitation to stay for dinner.

After returning home, he spent time organizing and helping his mother with tax-related documents. It was somewhat comforting to see Suzy’s grateful expression as they prepared for the tax filing deadline in mid-April. Spending spring break calculating taxes—it couldn’t get any nerdier than that.

But today, he would be able to see Chase at school. Perhaps there would be a chance to hear directly from him about the true meaning of his words.

Jeong-in stared at Snowball a moment longer before getting up and going downstairs.

As always, Suzy was sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of yogurt. The weather forecast played on the TV he had turned on.

“Have a good day, son.”

“You too, Mom.”

After giving Suzy a kiss on the cheek, Jeong-in left the house, put on his headphones, and got on his bicycle.

Going to school had never been something he looked forward to or anticipated, but today was different from the usually tedious commute. His feet naturally pressed harder on the pedals.

Jeong-in arrived at school, parked his bike, and slowly caught his breath. But his mind was already racing toward the school entrance, a step ahead.

As soon as he passed the entrance, he saw Chase. Jeong-in’s steps automatically stopped.

Chase was standing with his friends as usual. He looked the same as always, laughing and exchanging jokes.

“…What’s this, he looks fine.”

Jeong-in’s mouth clamped shut after mumbling to himself. Chase really did look perfectly fine. He felt foolish for worrying that he might have had a serious reason for not responding.

Jeong-in berated himself as he gripped his bag strap tightly and made his way to his locker. During this time, he tried not to make eye contact with Chase.

After opening his locker and hastily stuffing the necessary items into his bag, Jeong-in slammed the door shut loudly.

The unexpectedly loud noise momentarily drew people’s attention before they looked away. Chase Prescott’s gaze was probably among them.

He could have turned his head to check, but he didn’t. Jeong-in passed by his vicinity without giving a single glance in his direction.

He felt someone’s persistent gaze sticking to his back. The color of that gaze was probably Mediterranean blue.