HWAMB — Chapter 7

After saying that, Hyun-woo had run off in the opposite direction.

And the next morning, he was waiting in front of my house as if nothing had happened, and so we walked to school together again today.

Before leaving for school that morning, I had thought about asking my brother for advice. But I gave up. Just like last time, I knew I wouldn’t get much out of it.

Rejection.

I tried out different ways of rejecting him in my head.

I’m going to be a senior soon, and it’s an important time. I don’t have the time for dating.

“…Hmm. No, that won’t work.”

If I said I couldn’t date because of exams, he could just reply, “Then we’ll date after graduation.” That might work short-term, but it wasn’t a good solution in the long run. And leaving the door open like that didn’t sit right with me.

You’re a good friend, but I’ve never thought of you that way… I don’t want to date you, sorry… You’ll still stay my friend, right? I’d rather spend my time and money on my fandom instead of dating…

‘…None of these work.’

None of them felt like good answers.

At best, things would become awkward. At worst, we’d grow distant and eventually stop talking altogether.

Unable to think of a sharp solution, I let out a long sigh. That was when, suddenly, water poured down over me.

Drenched from head to toe, I could only gape like a fish. A sour, rag-like smell rose from my soaked clothes.

It was impossible unless done on purpose. Furious, I looked up to find the source.

On the third floor above where I was sitting, a window was open. I glimpsed someone hurriedly retreating, but I couldn’t be sure.

“…Damn it.”

I swallowed the curses rising to my throat. For a moment I thought about chasing after them, but running around soaked like this was miserable, and besides, I was already too late. All I felt was emptiness.

Kids passing by stared and whispered.

Unable to ignore their stares, I moved toward the back lot near the parking area.

Standing in the shade with no sunlight, the wet clothes made me shiver even more. Tugging at the fabric clinging to me, I felt the damp cloth peel away.

And lunch break wasn’t even over yet—there were still three periods to go. This was bad.

“What the hell happened to you?”

I looked up to see Hyun-woo frowning at me.

Startled by his unexpected appearance, I yelped, “Ack!” Hyun-woo stared me up and down, clearly displeased at my soaked state.

This was a place students rarely came to, so…

“You—why are you here? Don’t tell me you’re secretly smoking—ow!”

“You think I’m a thug? Smoking, seriously? It’s not even summer yet, did you lose your mind from the heat?”

Annoyed by my baseless suspicion, Hyun-woo flicked my forehead.

While I rubbed the sore spot and muttered complaints, he clicked his tongue. “Shit, even your hair’s soaked.” Then he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the locker room.

He locked the door and took off his vest.

Stunned, I watched as he stripped off his shirt. Then, without hesitation, he handed me his shirt and vest.

“Here, wear mine. I can’t do anything about your hair, but at least your clothes won’t be dripping wet. Are your pants wet too?”

“What?”

Seeing that my pants were indeed soaked, Hyun-woo casually pulled off his trousers as well and shoved them into my hands.

Then he simply pulled out his P.E. uniform from the bag slung over his shoulder and changed.

“When did you bring your gym clothes…?”

“I’ve got P.E. for fifth period. I didn’t feel like going back to the classroom, so I brought them with me earlier.”

“So what, you’re gonna wear your gym clothes all day? If you get caught, you’ll lose points.”

“It’ll be fine today.”

“Hey, still—”

I didn’t know where his confidence came from. He brushed it off casually. And before I could argue more, the bell signaling the end of lunch break rang.

It was the warning bell.

Pulling up the zipper of his P.E. uniform, Hyun-woo patted my shoulder.

“If you don’t want to wear it, then just toss it.”

“What? Toss it? What kind of—”

There was a trace of laughter in his expression. And with that, he ruffled my hair and left the locker room.

I stood there dumbfounded for a while, staring at Hyun-woo’s uniform. Then I slowly changed into it.

When I finished putting on the vest, I noticed he had forgotten his nametag.

On the neat white badge pinned to the vest was the name “Shim Hyun-woo.”

“This guy… he didn’t even take his nametag…”

With a sigh, I swapped it out for my own. After fiddling with Hyun-woo’s badge for a while, I slipped it into my pocket.

The clothes were roomy. Not overly large, but still a little loose in the sleeves and length.

‘Big…’

When we were kids, I had been taller.

I’d sensed it before, but wearing his clothes made the difference clear.

His clothes smelled good.

Had he switched to a new fabric softener? I sniffed again, but it wasn’t the same scent.

It was sweet, yet refreshing, different from a softener—something subtle and new.

Wordlessly, I toyed with Hyun-woo’s nametag in my pocket until the sound of the next bell startled me. I hurriedly grabbed my wet clothes and rushed out of the locker room.

* * *

“Ugh…”

Maybe because of yesterday’s soaking at lunch, my throat stung. It felt like I might be coming down with a cold, but I couldn’t afford to miss class, so I forced myself up and went to school.

I had taken some medicine from the emergency kit at home, so I thought I’d be fine. Luckily, the uniform I had rushed to wash and dry-clean was ready to wear today.

I had returned Hyun-woo’s uniform to him the night before.

‘Feels like I might have a slight fever…’

When I checked my temperature, there was indeed a mild fever. Still, I had always been pretty sturdy. Even when I caught a cold, I usually looked fine. And even if it was a bad one, it barely showed.

That was why, for me, getting permission to leave early from the homeroom teacher was harder than enduring the sickness itself.

Afraid I might pass it to Hyun-woo, I made excuses and came to school alone today.

I hid my condition from my brother, not wanting him to worry.

“Ha… why now, with midterms coming up…”

Of all things, to get splashed with water like that—just my luck.

At least today was a short day. I had managed to get through the first two classes, so I figured I could handle the last two.

But third period was math.

Math was divided into different levels—advanced, intermediate, and basic—and I was in the advanced group.

As I gathered my books, notebook, and pencil case to leave, someone stopped me.

It was Jae-ho.

“You okay? Your face is red.”

“Huh…? My face?”

“It’s true. Kang Eun-jae, you’ve got a fever? You’re sweating.”

“Now that you mention it, you’ve looked off since morning. Should we take you to the nurse?”

Other friends added their comments too.

When I glanced at my reflection, I looked half-dead, like someone on the verge of collapsing. My face wasn’t pale, but my cheeks were flushed red.

My forehead felt a little warm, but nothing seemed seriously wrong. I brushed it off.

“No, I’m fine… I think I’m okay…”

But the words had barely left my mouth when my vision flipped upside down.

The world tilted. Panicking, I tried to steady myself, but my strength drained away.

I thought I heard people shouting “Hey, hey?” around me, but their voices grew faint.

* * *

Noise surrounded me.

When I opened my eyes, a plain ceiling came into view. My throat burned dry, like someone was wringing it.

My body felt unbearably heavy—I couldn’t even move a finger.

Why am I here…? Ah, right. I collapsed.

‘How long was I out…’

I’d been fine this morning. My body must have already reached its limit.

The fever felt even worse now.

And the first thought that came to mind was, ‘What about the notes for the class I missed?’ Even I thought that was ridiculous.

“Shit, crazy bastard… appearing out of nowhere like a damn ghost.”

The angry voice was familiar.

I shifted the curtain around my bed slightly, and the voice grew clearer.

It was Jae-ho.

His right cheek was swollen as if someone had punched him.

He sat slumped on the floor, glaring furiously at someone, breathing heavily.

There was another person too. Pushing the curtain further aside, I saw a familiar head.

‘Hyun-woo?’

It made sense if Jae-ho had carried me to the nurse’s office—but what was Hyun-woo doing here?

His eyes, pale and cold, were fixed on Jae-ho with a chilling glare. He looked out of his mind.