COAC 3

“I came straight to school as soon as I got back. To see you.”

Was this the same person? Was he really the same guy who was blowing an icy wind just a moment ago? It was beyond flustering, it was dumbfounding. As Do Hyeonjun let out a hollow laugh through his teeth, Seo Jeong blinked his eyes.

“Why? Something funny? Let’s laugh together, Hyeonjun.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Quietly shaking his head, Do Hyeonjun placed his bag on his desk, which is to say, the seat where Kim Chayeon was currently sitting. Despite the unspoken pressure to move, Kim Chayeon did not budge.

“Kim Chayeon. That’s Hyeonjun’s seat. Get up, quickly.”

“The seat next to you was originally empty.”

“That was when there was an extra desk. When a transfer student comes, of course he’ll sit in the empty seat. Get up quickly so Hyeonjun can sit, will you.”

As if he couldn’t win against Seo Jeong’s urging, Kim Chayeon slowly stood up. His gaze, which flickered this way without Seo Jeong knowing, was as sharp as a blade.

“Hurry up and go to your classroom. Morning assembly will start soon.”

“I’ll come during break time. Behave yourself. Got it?”

Kim Chayeon ruffled Seo Jeong’s hair. At a glance, it looked like he was messing it up roughly, but he was carefully stroking the strands of hair. Kim Chayeon, who was gazing warmly at Seo Jeong as he grumbled that his hair was ruined because of him, reluctantly turned around at the hand pushing his back.

Right before leaving, Kim Chayeon glanced back. He stared at Do Hyeonjun with a cold gaze that seemed to say there was no room for him to squeeze in.

“Who was that?”

“Ah, he’s my friend. His name is Kim Chayeon, and you heard me say he’s my best friend since we were kids, right? It’s been a persistent connection since we were young until now… so you’ll see him in our classroom often from now on.”

Only then did he understand why no one approached Seo Jeong, who was so obviously likable. It was because of the existence of that Kim Chayeon. With him guarding Seo Jeong’s surroundings so openly, who would have the guts to approach? If he had met Kim Chayeon first on his first day of transfer, he too would not have been able to get this close to Seo Jeong.

In any case, such a what-if scenario did not happen, and Seo Jeong already seemed to consider him quite a close friend. Do Hyeonjun also did not dislike having a friend he could comfortably hang out with for the first time since coming here.

As promised, Kim Chayeon came to see Seo Jeong every break time. He acted as if Do Hyeonjun, sitting in the next seat, was invisible, speaking only to Seo Jeong and reacting only to him. For an entire month.

“Hyeonjun, I’m sorry. He’s just really shy around new people. But he’s not a bad kid. He takes better care of you than he looks, and he’s surprisingly considerate too.”

Seo Jeong seemed to genuinely think so. Do Hyeonjun answered inwardly. I bet. Because he takes good care of you, and only you.

*

“Driver, I’m sorry, but could you please pull the car over.”

His stomach was churning, and he could not stand it any longer. The car, which had just turned a corner, stopped on the side of the road. He took out his card and handed it to the taxi driver.

“Student, are you okay? Your complexion looks really bad. Should we go to the hospital?”

“I’ll feel better if I get some cool air. Thank you. Please drive safely.”

He bowed his head to the worried-looking taxi driver and got out of the car. He was near his home, so it was just a short walk to get there. Dragging his unusually heavy and sinking body, Do Hyeonjun’s steps came to a halt in front of a brightly lit pharmacy. They’re still open at this hour.

“Welcome.”

The headache had been getting unusually severe for a little while now. The pain that had been weighing down his shoulders had at some point encroached into his head, and a terrible hangover washed over him like a rising tide. Pressing the space between his throbbing brows with his fingertips, Do Hyeonjun picked up a hangover cure.

“That’ll be three thousand won.”

He immediately twisted the cap off and drank it, then noticed boxes of medicine stacked neatly on the display shelf. Headache medicine, all-purpose cold medicine, painkillers, and so on; they seemed to be grouped by their purpose.

The signal his body was sending was ominous. It did not feel like a simple hangover, so he decided to grab a box of all-purpose cold medicine as well.

Even as he put the empty hangover cure bottle into the trash can, to make sure the glass bottle did not break, his eyes were on the trash can as he reached out with only his hand and picked up the cold medicine.

“Please ring this up as well.”

“Could I please see your identification card?”

“Here you go.”

It seemed like the pharmacist was looking back and forth between the identification card and his face with unusual thoroughness, but Do Hyeonjun just wanted to be free of this pain as quickly as possible. Normally he would have questioned it, thinking ‘Why do I need an ID to buy cold medicine?’, but right now he did not have the mental capacity to fuss over such trivial things. The pharmacist checked Do Hyeonjun’s identification card and returned it with the receipt.

“That will be fifteen thousand won.”

How effective must it be to cost fifteen thousand won. Grumbling inwardly, he shoved the medicine box into his pocket.

As he opened the pharmacy door and came out, a cold wind brushed against his face. Ugh. He shivered, shaking his shoulders, and tried to take his cell phone out of his jumper pocket, but his hand found nothing.

Did I put it in my bag when I left the bar? Right now, even the act of rummaging through the bag on his shoulder felt overwhelming. I’ll just have to check when I get home.

The last time he had checked before leaving the bar was a little after eight o’clock, so was it around nine now? Seo Jeong and Kim Chayeon would still be there. Seo Jeong looked like he was ready to stay up all night, and there was no way Kim Chayeon would leave a Seo Jeong like that alone. He would probably stay by his side until the drinking party ended and then take him home. It was something that always happened, so it was not even surprising anymore.

He pressed the numbers for the door lock and opened the front door. He kicked off his sneakers haphazardly and, without even turning on the lights, headed straight for the bedroom. Flump. Without even taking off his outerwear, he threw his body onto the bed as if collapsing. His flickering consciousness sank very slowly and deeply, as if being buried in mud.

“…!”

It was a cold that seemed to cut into his flesh for the tail end of winter. His body reacted first to the chill that penetrated to his very bones, and the chattering of his jaw, trembling uncontrollably, was distinct in the darkness.

It felt as if he had been thrown into a midwinter river naked; the cold air did not simply seep through his skin, but rather felt as if ice water was welling up from inside his bones.

Was the lethargy that had continued for days finally because of a cold?

The memory of buying medicine at the pharmacy faintly surfaced. The feeling of all the warmth in his body draining away, the sensation of his cold sweat rapidly cooling, was chilling. A sudden fear flashed through him that if he fell asleep like this, he might never wake up again. He crawled on his hands and knees, rummaged through his jacket, and took out the medicine box.

The room, devoid of a single light, did not tell him how long he had slept, or whether it was night or dawn. With trembling hands, he opened the mouth of the medicine container and, after struggling for a long time, finally tore open the safety packaging.

Without even thinking of drinking water, he tossed the two pills that had fallen onto his palm into his mouth. The common sense of having to follow the prescribed dosage, or that one should not take medicine while drunk, did not come to mind right now. At this moment, only the instinct to escape this insane chill was everything.

The sensation of the pinky-nail-sized pills passing down his dry throat was particularly grating. Haa, hah. Short, ragged breaths escaped through his slightly parted teeth. The pillow touching his cheek was damp. Did someone spill water? …No way, is it my sweat? Can a pillow get this wet from sweat? Having never been seriously ill before, even in his dazed state, bewilderment came first.

Still, I took medicine, so I should be fine after I sleep it off. He forced his eyes shut, but the sensation of something heavy pressing down on his chest did not easily permit sleep. The chill that had seeped into every corner of his body was squeezing the life out of him.

“Ughh…”

Do Hyeonjun curled his body up like a shrimp and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, then flinched in surprise. It was strange. He was definitely so cold he felt like he was freezing, yet the skin his palms touched was as hot as a ball of fire.

His mind, where two disparate sensations collided, screamed.

Before he could even feel a sense of question, his breathing became tangled. The breaths he took in grew shorter and shorter, and he barely exhaled anything, only letting out gasping sounds. It hurts. It’s agonizing. It felt as if a merciless pain was chewing on his nerves. He curled his body up tightly, simply hoping for this terrible storm to pass.

Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

How much time had passed? Beyond his flickering consciousness, the sound of the doorbell rang faintly. He could not even move a single finger, let alone open the door. The doorbell, which had been ringing for a good while, stopped at some point.

“Do Hyeonjun.”

His consciousness, which had been consumed by pain, sharpened in an instant at that one voice. The familiar voice, for some reason today, pierced his eardrums with an unusual clarity. The hand that had been gripping his shoulder so tightly that the bone showed white twitched, spasming.

“I saw your shoes at the entrance, so I think you’re home, but why is it so quiet? The lights are all off too.”

A low, firm voice, without a hint of obstruction. In that moment, Do Hyeonjun’s heart plummeted forcefully into a bottomless pit.

Kim Chayeon.

The three syllables of his name popped out like pain. A strange sensation, as if hot oil were being poured over him from head to toe, washed over him. His breath caught in his throat. An unidentifiable thrill ran down his stiffened spine. It was not simple nervousness, but a raw pressure, enough to make both mind and body stagger at the same time, like a herbivore standing before its predator.