HWAMB — Chapter 24

“Ugh, you guys don’t know what’s funny.”

Pouting at the unimpressed looks from me and Sang-su, Young-ho tossed the folded slip into the box anyway.

Clicking his tongue, Sang-su rummaged through the box to fish it back out.

Then Young-ho suddenly perked up as if remembering something.

“Oh, right. Kang Eun-jae, have you seen Jang Jae-ho recently?”

“Jang Jae-ho? No.”

I scowled openly, not hiding my annoyance, and Young-ho tilted his head in puzzlement.

“So you haven’t made up yet?”

“Of course not. I’m still pissed. He never apologized and just moved away by himself.”

At first, I’d been angry but still wanted to clear things up. But as time passed, even that faded away.

When Sang-su asked why he brought it up, Young-ho explained with a worried look.

“Well… the other day, after cleaning duty, I saw him. Almost didn’t recognize him, but he was hanging around the school gate, like he was waiting for someone. When I asked who, he said he wanted to talk to you.”

“Jang Jae-ho, to me? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Anyway, just be careful. If it’s just to make peace, fine. But with how many psychos there are these days… who knows. That guy could turn out to be one too.”

Coming from Young-ho, it was surprisingly reasonable.

Even Sang-su seemed to agree, nodding slowly.

“Yeah. Being careful can’t hurt. But honestly, since you’re practically glued to Shim Hyun-woo twenty-four seven, I’m not too worried.”

“Hey… it’s not twenty-four seven.”

“Eun-jae!”

As I muttered, I heard a familiar voice.

Turning my head, I saw Do Jin-gyeong running toward me, still wearing that cool, refreshing smile.

Like a breeze sweeping through, his bright grin caught everyone’s eyes.

He really drew attention wherever he went.

Sang-su and Young-ho exchanged glances with me, as if puzzled by his friendly approach.

“Can we practice later?”

“Yeah. I’m almost done eating. I’ll come soon.”

“Alright. I’ll be waiting at the spot from yesterday’s practice!”

After answering, Jin-gyeong dashed off quickly.

As I watched his retreating back, Sang-su looked back at me.

I scraped the last of the side dishes onto my spoon, shoved them into my mouth, and stood up.

“I’m heading off to practice. See you.”

Leaving the two behind, who clearly had plenty they wanted to say, I dropped off my tray and walked toward the water dispenser.

“…When did he get so close with Do Jin-gyeong?”

“No idea…”

The two muttered just loudly enough for me to almost hear.

“Come to think of it, he said the same yesterday. Something about the three-legged race? Said he was terrible at it but was glad Jin-gyeong was nice enough to help. Guess he really is a nice guy.”

“Do Jin-gyeong, nice?”

“He isn’t?”

At Young-ho’s remark, Sang-su made a strange face.

“Well… sure, he’s nice. But not just nice. That’s all I’m saying.”

Young-ho looked confused at his cryptic words, but Sang-su said nothing more.

* * *

Opening the back door and stepping down the stairs, the blue sky spread out before me.

I turned toward the gym to practice when a voice caught my ear.

“I like you.”

It came from the parking lot behind the school. I almost ignored it and kept walking, but the familiar figure made me stop in my tracks.

No matter how I looked, it was Hyun-woo.

‘Hyun-woo…?’

In front of him stood someone I had never seen before. Their skin was as pale as whipped cream, their soft hair trembling faintly in the rare breeze.

Seeing the serious expression, I forgot what I had been about to do and slipped toward the wall to eavesdrop.

“Is this a prank?”

The frown and the voice that followed were chillingly cold, cruel enough to cut.

The bold confession had been met with such ice that the other person stammered in a voice already close to tears.

Was Hyun-woo truly that oblivious, or was he just pretending not to notice?

Even I, just listening, felt secondhand embarrassment.

“N-no! I-I’ve liked you since last year. You were always so kind… When I tripped before, you caught me and gently asked if I was okay… And when we were seatmates, you even lent me your mechanical pencil…”

The confession spilled on and on, and I couldn’t bring myself to laugh.

The kid was listing reason after reason why they liked Hyun-woo, every word careful, like it might shatter.

Catching them when they tripped, asking ‘gently’ if they were okay, lending a pencil when seated together?

“And that one time, we even held ha—”

Held what?

The kid cut themselves off, blushing fiercely, both hands pressed to their cheeks as they lowered their head.

What in the world happened that they couldn’t even finish their sentence!

My chest felt tight.

‘No way… Did they actually hold hands…?’

And it didn’t end there. That soft, fluffy-looking kid began recounting more fluttering stories with Hyun-woo that I had never heard of.

Normally, Hyun-woo would cut someone off without hesitation, but astonishingly, he let them finish every word.

That only made my insides burn more.

Then suddenly, I realized how far I’d let my emotions flare up again.

How long had it even been since I’d made a fool of myself, misunderstanding Hyun-woo’s brother? And here I was, repeating the same mistake.

I shook my head and forced myself to steady my heart once more.

Hyun-woo had confessed to me, yes, but that didn’t give me the right to interfere with who he saw or what kind of flings he had.

‘Get a grip. You want to stay friends with Hyun-woo for a long time, don’t you?’

That thought finally brought me back to my senses. I couldn’t risk ruining our relationship over a flash of emotion.

I held my breath, listening, then quietly left. Behind me, I heard Hyun-woo’s voice answering, and the tearful, shaky reply of the one who had confessed.

It was clear he had turned them down.

I deliberately avoided listening to what Hyun-woo said.

Because I already knew—if I did, I would weaken.

* * *

“Are you okay?”

Jin-gyeong’s voice snapped me back to my senses.

The match had already ended.

Sweat rolled down from my forehead, trailing heavily across my cheek. I forced a light smile and nodded.

Second to last.

I had barely avoided dead last, but it was still a complete mess. After thirty minutes of last-minute practice with Jin-gyeong, we had both already expected it.

Smiling with relief, Jin-gyeong reached out and helped me up from where I had collapsed, then handed me a bottle of water to rehydrate.

I thanked him, drank, and started walking toward the empty stands. Jin-gyeong kept his eyes on me for a long while as I wiped the sweat from my brow.

“You look down.”

“Hm?”

“You don’t have to think too much of it. The point is that you participated. I’m the one who’s thankful you stepped up to take Seung-gyu’s place.”

“Ah… r-right.”

I nodded quickly with an awkward smile.

Was it really showing that much on my face?

I instinctively touched my face, and just as he said, it must have been full of worry. Even though he had gotten the cause wrong.

“Cheer up. Want something to drink?”

“Water’s fine for me—”

“You like soda, right? I’ll go buy one real quick.”

“Hey…!”

He dashed off, leaving me behind with only his words. Even though he should’ve been drained, his running speed was still frightening. No wonder he was the PE leader. Already exhausted, I gave up on chasing after him.

As I sat down wherever I could, stretching out my legs to rest, I spotted Hyun-woo coming toward me from a distance.

He had been recording me with his phone, frowning the entire time, and even now he still hadn’t remembered to relax his expression.

“Hey, didn’t I tell you to take it easy?”

“How was I supposed to hold back when my partner was giving it their all? We had to stay in sync.”

“……You two looked glued together.”

His curt reply was met with my own sharp glare.

“Then what, should we have run apart instead of sticking close?”

“……”

Hyun-woo opened his mouth like he wanted to argue, then shut it again.

“……Says the guy who held hands.”

The thought I had only meant to keep inside slipped out before I could stop it. Hyun-woo’s eyes widened.

“What? Me and Do Jin-gyeong? Fuck no, why the hell would I hold hands with that guy?”

“No, I didn’t mean—forget it.”

Just imagining Hyun-woo and Jin-gyeong holding hands made the picture feel all wrong. Hyun-woo must have misunderstood, because he spat the words like the very idea disgusted him.

Then, noticing the dissatisfaction on my face, he looked suddenly unsettled. His lips tightened awkwardly as though he’d realized something.

He fidgeted, unable to keep his eyes still, then opened his mouth to say something.

But just then, the clear voice of the announcer rang across the field.

“This is an announcement. The next event is the obstacle race. Representatives from each class, please be ready and gather at the waiting area ten minutes beforehand.”

At the sound of the announcement, I drained the last of my water and set the empty bottle on the stand.

“……Did you see?”

Hyun-woo’s voice made me turn.

“See what.”

“Just now. When I got confessed to.”

Should I brush it off, or pretend I hadn’t heard a thing?

Either way, lying wouldn’t make this heavy atmosphere any better.