COAC 14

In the physical education performance assessment, Kim Chayeon’s partner fell to Do Hyeonjun. It was because none of the other kids wanted to partner with Kim Chayeon. Absurdly, everyone was just sizing each other up, and no one stepped forward. As if finding the whole situation pathetic, Do Hyeonjun picked up a volleyball without hesitation and stood next to Kim Chayeon. If you thought I would just stand by because you ignored me, you were mistaken.

“Hey. Let’s do it together.”

Kim Chayeon’s long eyes widened slightly before he nodded.

I knew he could not refuse since it was a performance assessment anyway. But now that he accepted, that felt strange too. What was he thinking just now to agree so readily?

For the performance assessment, we had to form teams of two, where one person would toss the ball and the other would receive it.

Facing each other, I lightly tossed the ball to Kim Chayeon. Kim Chayeon did not bother using his hands and instead kicked the ball up with the tip of his foot to catch it. Between the two of them, only the sound of the ball being passed back and forth, thump, thump, echoed rhythmically. During the several tosses that went back and forth, Do Hyeonjun received the ball smoothly with a stable posture. Although the sport was different, the senses his body remembered were accurate.

“Here it comes again.”

Kim Chayeon lightly tossed the ball up. The trajectory drawn by the white volleyball was slow and honest. He should have been able to receive it lightly as always.

But in that moment, Do Hyeonjun’s gaze was not on the ball, but on Kim Chayeon who had sent it. As his arm smoothly extended and then released the round object, his loose gym shirt lifted slightly with the movement. Beneath the clean line extending from his wrist to his elbow, his abs were briefly revealed. The distinct muscle lines were clearly visible amidst the neat movements.

Do Hyeonjun knew he had to receive the incoming ball, but he could not move.

“Hey. Do Hyeonjun! You’re now….”

Surprise flickered across his expressionless face. His mouth opened slightly, and his brow furrowed and then relaxed. Oh, that is a new expression. Before the thought was even finished, thwack! A solid weight slammed into his face. Ugh, he staggered but managed to regain his balance and stand.

“Oh my god, Do Hyeonjun is having a nosebleed.”

Do Hyeonjun wiped under his nose and looked down at his hand. His palm was all red. Belatedly, he felt the mucous membrane in his nose growing hot.

“He’s bleeding a lot, should I call the teacher? Or should we call an ambulance?”

“Does anyone have a tissue?”

There was a commotion around him, but his ears were filled only with a ringing sound. Wing. Then, a shadow fell below his line of sight. An forearm revealed beneath a rolled-up gym sleeve without hesitation. It was Kim Chayeon. A firm pressure pressed against his nose, and a calm voice stuck in his ear.

“Lean forward. Don’t tilt your head back.”

While all other noises were muffled, only that voice pierced through clearly.

“Hey. Kim Chayeon. Your gym shirt now…….”

“Let’s go to the nurse’s office.”

Kim Chayeon cut him off mid-sentence.

“It’s fine. I’ll go by myself. More importantly, you can let go now. Your gym shirt is completely covered in blood.”

“If I let you go alone, Jeong will worry.”

“Right, not you, but Jeong.”

Do Hyeonjun chuckled and muttered. With his remaining hand, Kim Chayeon gently pressed the back of his head to keep it from lifting and walked slowly to the nurse’s office. With both his nose and the back of his head held by Kim Chayeon, Do Hyeonjun had no choice but to follow him.

“We’ll tell the teacher. Hurry up and go to the nurse’s office.”

A classmate shouted from behind.

The hallway was quiet during the middle of class. Kim Chayeon was walking while looking straight ahead.

The fingers holding his nose were cold, but a hot heat was transmitted from the palm wrapped around the nape of his neck. The conflicting temperatures made all the senses in his body stand on end.

It was absurd. He knew in his head that all of this was for Seo Jeong’s sake. But he could not help his heart, which was pounding on its own.

This is driving me crazy. In this situation, the one getting butterflies is the weirdest one, me. No, not being able to focus and getting hit by the ball because I was staring at Kim Chayeon’s abs was hopeless from the start. I’ve seen naked bodies several times before, but does it change this much just because I’ve become aware of my feelings?

His vision was all blurry. He did not know if it was because of the dizziness, or because of the solid back leading him right beside him. In a daze, they arrived at the nurse’s office.

“Your nose is fine now. But I still need to keep a record. You’re Do Hyeonjun from Class 2-2, right?”

The school nurse threw the blood-soaked cotton ball into the trash and took out a file with Do Hyeonjun’s name tag from a file binder.

The nosebleed had stopped, but Do Hyeonjun still had his head down. His gaze kept going to Kim Chayeon’s blood-stained sleeve. That is not going to wash out easily. As if his job was done, Kim Chayeon took a few steps back and leaned against the wall.

The nurse’s fingertips flipped through the documents and then stopped at a certain point.

“You’re not registered as a Beta? Wait a minute, let me check. Is last year’s medical record missing?”

The nurse checked the computer records and then continued.

“The dynamic code… is registered as Omega. Are you an Omega?”

Do Hyeonjun slowly lifted his head. In the brief moment he raised his gaze, he felt the atmosphere of Kim Chayeon, who was leaning against the wall, change completely.

Kim Chayeon pushed off the wall and silently took a step closer. Just that alone made the physical distance between the two of them feel overwhelmingly close. Finally, Kim Chayeon asked in a low, cool voice.

“Do Hyeonjun is, an Omega, you say?”

The tone was closer to a confirmation than a question.

“Are you in the same class as him? Dynamics are personal information, so just let it go. Anyway, the treatment is done, so you can go now. Be careful not to bump your nose hard.”

“Yes.”

He answered quietly and glanced at Kim Chayeon. He had already turned his back and was leaving the nurse’s office. After bidding farewell to the school nurse, he followed after Kim Chayeon. The few steps across the hallway felt like an eternity. There was no conversation between them. Following Kim Chayeon who had entered the empty classroom, Do Hyeonjun also stepped inside.

Click.

With the sound of the door closing, all the noise from the hallway disappeared as if by a lie. This space was filled only with the tense silence of the two people.

“Do Hyeonjun.”

A low, sunken voice scraped the floor. Kim Chayeon slowly turned his body.

“Are you an Omega? Stop talking nonsense like about the gym clothes and answer my question properly.”

The not-so-loud voice actually revealed his anger.

“Yeah. I am an Omega.”

Pfft, Kim Chayeon let out a sharp, mocking laugh.

“If it weren’t for this, you would have kept hiding it. Pretending to be a Beta, laughing and talking next to Jeong.”

At the words ‘pretending to be a Beta,’ Do Hyeonjun’s brow furrowed. I had no idea what he was trying to say.

“There have been more than one or two Omegas who have bothered Jeong to get close to me. Most of them are obvious. Who’s real, and who’s not.”

Kim Chayeon continued, his gaze, filled with contempt, sweeping over Do Hyeonjun. It was a look as if he were seeing something dirty.

“But you took care of Jeong without putting those kinds of actions forward, so I thought you were different. I never once thought that the reason you were next to Jeong was because of me. That’s why.”

Kim Chayeon paused for a moment.

“I’m even more disappointed. Because I thought, you’re just the same.”

Ding-dong, ding-dong. The bell signaling the end of class rang. Kim Chayeon glanced at the hallway, which was starting to get noisy, and opened his mouth.

“Now that I know everything, stay away from Jeong.”

There was not even a shred of minimum consideration left. It was a dry tone, as if declaring the end of their relationship.

“Hey. Kim Chayeon, I…….”

He called out to Kim Chayeon while catching his breath, but he seemed to have no intention of listening and opened the classroom door and left. Do Hyeonjun stood there blankly.

What is he talking about now. What does me being an Omega have to do with being next to Seo Jeong. How does that become approaching Kim Chayeon? It was beyond absurd; it was preposterous.

Even after that day, Kim Chayeon did not change his seat. The two of them still sat next to each other as partners. But the quiet considerations, like gently pushing a notebook so it would not overlap, or showing his notes, were gone.

“Hyeonjun. After class today, let’s go get something delicious to eat…….”

“Jeong, let’s go.”

“Hyeonjun has to come too. If I go with you, I can’t choose many dishes.”

“You can order whatever you want to eat.”

“You barely eat, and I have to eat alone, so I don’t want to leave leftovers. It’s a problem that can be solved if the three of us go with Hyeonjun. Hyeonjun, let’s go.”

Seo Jeong playfully smiled and pulled Do Hyeonjun’s backpack strap like a hostage. As Do Hyeonjun stood up, a deep furrow formed in Kim Chayeon’s brow.

“Seo Jeong. Let’s go.”

It was a firm tone that was rarely heard from Kim Chayeon, who was always gentle with Seo Jeong. Seo Jeong looked at the two silent people and then nodded. Just before leaving the classroom, Seo Jeong turned around and mouthed words.

‘Did you two fight?’

Should I call this a fight? Kim Chayeon was the one who got angry one-sidedly. Was the fact that I’m an Omega that disgusting to him……. I don’t know. For several days, when I lay down to sleep, the memory of Kim Chayeon’s expression as he said he was disappointed made me toss and turn.

Kim Chayeon avoided conversation altogether. During break time, he would immediately get up from his seat and disappear, and when he returned and sat down, he would only look straight ahead. He was careful not to let his books or pens even accidentally cross over to Do Hyeonjun’s desk.