COAC 43

“Look at this. It’s subtle, but the levels are definitely changing to become more stable. Am I still wrong?”

The graph on the screen did not lie.

“You two, this is your homework.”

The doctor took out a prescription pad and scribbled something on it.

“Hold hands at least three times a week, for over twenty minutes each time. The longer you are in contact, the better. Record the dates and times and bring it to the next check-up. Don’t even think about making it up, because the examination will reveal everything.”

“Doctor. Do we really have to go this far?”

Holding hands regularly, even if it’s effective? And he even had to record it. He wished the doctor would say it was a joke, even now.

“You have to go this far. This is not an option, but an essential part of the treatment.”

Do Hyeonjun’s wish did not come true. Instead, he only received a colder gaze from the doctor.

They left the examination room, at a loss for words.

The ‘treatment’ began that very evening. As they were leaving the examination room, the doctor had shouted at their backs, “If you don’t want to see the patient faint, hold hands all the way home.”

It meant the situation was that dangerous, so it was an unavoidable choice. Nearly three weeks into living together, this was the first time they had been in the same space for a long time, aside from occasionally running into each other.

“If contact is that important, isn’t hugging better?”

“No.”

The refusal came out before he even had time to think. The memory of being embraced and then pushed away was still vivid, and he didn’t want to go through the same thing again. He felt like he really wouldn’t be able to recover if that happened. One of Kim Chayeon’s eyebrows arched upwards. It was a habit he had when he was displeased.

“Fine. I’ve set a timer for twenty minutes.”

Kim Chayeon said, placing his phone down next to the sofa. So he was only going to do the bare minimum time.

At first, they each sat at opposite ends of the sofa, just stretching out their arms to hold hands.

…Because it was so quiet, he became more conscious of the fact that they were holding hands. He didn’t know about Kim Chayeon, but it was hard for Do Hyeonjun. Thinking he should turn on the TV to distract himself, he pressed the power button on the remote.

A movie happened to be on. It was a movie about a man who walked around with a ghost on his shoulder.

“Should I change the channel?”

“Leave it. It’s not like we’re going to watch for long anyway.”

Well, if he says so. He put the remote he had half-raised back down and leaned against the sofa. In truth, it was a trick to pretend he was relaxed, but from the moment his hand touched Kim Chayeon’s, it had been a continuous state of tension. He hoped his hands weren’t getting clammy from sweat. He hoped his trembling wasn’t noticeable.

Both of them stared at the screen with a stubbornness. Along with the increasingly intense music, the man on the screen shook a photographic print under a red darkroom light. The face of a pale woman appeared on what he thought was a landscape photo.

Breaking the momentary silence, a ghost’s face filled the screen in a close-up.

Instantly, a low curse erupted from beside him. At the same time, the fingers that had been loosely intertwined tightened. Kim Chayeon, reacting without realizing it, had gripped his hand tightly.

To think the only weakness of this seemingly perfect man was horror movies. Kim Chayeon, who wouldn’t bat an eye at real-life crime incidents, was uniquely weak when it came to supernatural phenomena. He should have listened when he offered to change the channel. Do Hyeonjun swallowed a laugh internally.

Before he knew it, the movie was reaching its climax. It was a scene where the main character was looking up in terror at a ladder attached to the ceiling in a dark room. With its head pointing downwards, the ghost began to crawl down with inhuman movements, making a creepy sound of bones cracking.

He heard the sound of someone sucking in a breath beside him again. The grip of Kim Chayeon’s hand wrapped around his tightened as if it would crumble. Do Hyeonjun couldn’t bring himself to shake off the grip, which was strong enough to make his knuckles ache.

He hated the Kim Chayeon who had tried to throw away the clothes he had worn by mistake, he found the Kim Chayeon who was scared of horror movies cute, and also, he wanted to hold his hand not because of the treatment, but just because. His mind, tangled with all these emotions, was in a daze.

The day after the first hand-holding mission, Do Hyeonjun opened his eyes and felt an unusually quiet air and a strangely refreshed feeling. He looked at the sunlight pouring in through the window for a moment, then shot up. When he kicked away the messy, tangled blankets and checked the time, his 3rd period liberal arts class had already started 20 minutes ago. He had overslept.

“I’m screwed.”

He would be late even if he ran now. Was it a relief that it was a liberal arts class where they didn’t really check attendance? Do Hyeonjun took a shower, came out, and drank milk from the fridge. The moment he washed the empty cup and put it away, his phone buzzed briefly.

Seo Jeong

11:12 AM

Hyeonjun, where are you? Why aren’t you here T_T Chayeon said he can’t come either because he has a conflict with his major class T_T

Seo Jeong

11:30 AM

OMG, they said there’s a group project this time ;;

Seo Jeong

11:45 AM

For now, I talked to the professor and asked to put you and Kim Chayeon in the same group!! You two better treat me to something delicious later.

Do Hyeonjun froze while looking at the screen. What? A group project with Kim Chayeon, just the two of us? The back of his neck grew stiff. Seo Jeong sent a series of emoticons, as if expecting to be thanked.

K, thanks.

12:03 PM

He sent a dry reply and dropped his phone onto the dining table as if throwing it. It was a course that valued assignments instead of checking attendance. He had no intention of doing a half-assed job just because it was a group project. Do Hyeonjun waited for Kim Chayeon while working on a report, and just before he went into his room, he finally managed to speak to him.

“You heard about the liberal arts assignment, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Kim Chayeon’s expression was still indifferent, but within it was an undisguisable annoyance. It seems he doesn’t want to do the project with me, but since Seo Jeong was the one who arranged it, he can’t refuse. Because if he refused, there was a 100 percent chance Seo Jeong would question him.

“We need to decide what to do. It’s not like we can avoid it. You do the research. I’ll make the PowerPoint.”

“The topic was ’10 Mise-en-scènes that Changed Film History,’ right?”

“Yeah. Don’t do a sloppy job.”

Do Hyeonjun deliberately maintained a business-like tone. He felt that if emotions got involved, this precarious collaboration would be over before it even began. Kim Chayeon looked at him for a moment before finally giving a small nod.

Kim Chayeon didn’t come out of his room until late that night. The next day at dawn, when Do Hyeonjun came out to the living room, a neatly organized stack of A4 paper and a USB were on the dining table. It seemed he had finished all the research in one night.

“Don’t even have the courtesy to hand it to me directly. You indifferent bastard.”

Do Hyeonjun took them and went into his room. And for several days, the two of them only stepped on each other’s shadows even while living in the same house. If Do Hyeonjun dozed off on the living room sofa while working, he would always find the curtains drawn when he opened his eyes in the morning.

The night before the deadline, the two sat facing each other at the living room table for the first time. Do Hyeonjun was working on the liberal arts PowerPoint on his laptop, while Kim Chayeon was writing a report for his major. Tap-tap-tap. Only the sound of keyboards being tapped filled the silence.

“Kim Chayeon. Take a look for a second.”

It was Do Hyeonjun who broke the silence. Kim Chayeon took his eyes off his report and glanced at the laptop screen.

“About Modern Times, which was on the list of materials you found, what do you think of using this picture as the representative image?”

“Too obvious. Anything else?”

“Then I’ll use Citizen Kane. The deep focus is clear, and it looks good.”

Kim Chayeon looked at the screen for a moment, then gave a short nod.

“That one’s okay.”

After the brief exchange, silence fell again. As Kim Chayeon leaned his upper body this way, their shoulders touched for a moment before separating. Do Hyeonjun held his breath internally and fixed his gaze on the laptop.

Whew, Do Hyeonjun. If he hears your heartbeat now, you’re screwed. Think about your grade, your grade. Perhaps thanks to his desperate effort, his furiously beating heart gradually calmed down.

Now all he had to do was find an image for the last page and he would be done. He searched for various things on the internet, but there wasn’t a photo that really clicked. In the end, he opened his own cloud storage. From among the numerous photo folders, he found the perfect picture and added it to the PowerPoint. At last, all the work was done. He had worried about what to do when he was put in the same group as Kim Chayeon, but it had been resolved better than he thought.

“Whew.”

He let out a sigh of relief and took his hand off the mouse. His phone buzzed in his pocket.