ICYM Ch 17

Episode 17

Contrary to what Sunbae had said, that the news would soon spread among the students, the story about the cat abuser wasn’t brought up until more than a week had passed.

After the dinner bell rang and confirming that most of the students had come down, the dorm supervisor clapped his hands in the middle of the dining hall to get everyone’s attention.

“Everyone, could I have your attention for a moment?”

Owen, who had been sitting with his back to the dorm supervisor, glanced back and saw Mr. Higgins standing there. He quickly turned his head toward me and murmured, “Looks like there’s some kind of important announcement.”

Owen, who now naturally sat in the seat I used to take first, mouthed the words so only I could see.

“Yeah, seems like it.”

I responded casually while looking in Mr. Higgins’ direction. Owen turned his body completely around shortly after.

Since I had already been told what the announcement would be about, my gaze instinctively shifted from the dorm supervisor to Kendrick without even realizing it.

For a while, I used to go to the garden every day after school, but ever since I’d heard his answer about taking over his father’s work in the future, I had stopped going entirely.

Kendrick was sitting alone, surrounded by a group of potato-heads who had deliberately taken seats near him and were loudly whispering among themselves.

Perhaps sensing my gaze, Sunbae looked my way and raised his fork-holding hand slightly in a subtle greeting.

“There have been some reports recently about someone abusing stray cats in the area,” Mr. Higgins said.

The entire dining hall erupted in murmurs at his words.

After returning Sunbae’s silent greeting, my gaze naturally shifted to the side again. Just moments ago, he had been looking at the dorm supervisor, but now, he was staring at me. The moment our eyes met in mid-air, mine widened.

“Gasp.”

I let out a small, startled sound without meaning to and quickly lowered my head.

“If anyone has seen anything, please come to the office and let us know. Even if it doesn’t seem that important, it would be a great help.”

After briefly glancing in my direction when I made a sound, Mr. Higgins added an explanation.

“Yes.”

“If there’s anyone who isn’t here tonight, please pass the message along. And if you happen to witness the suspect, don’t try to handle it on your own, and don’t approach them. Just let a dorm supervisor know right away.”

“Yes!”

The dorm supervisor smiled in satisfaction at the students’ sincere responses and left the room.

“Well then, enjoy your dinner.”

Though he could have conducted individual meetings or made a public announcement, it seemed he had chosen to come to the dining hall in person because the CCTV footage and the suspect’s identity hadn’t been narrowed down yet. They were likely hoping to secure a witness.

After all, seeing people face-to-face and talking to them directly would likely increase the chance of witnesses stepping forward.

Mr. Higgins checked his surroundings once more before finally leaving the dining hall.

“It’s probably going to be hard to catch them since there aren’t many CCTVs in the area,”

Owen said with a look of pity, stabbing at his chicken with a fork.

“Yeah.”

“Why are you keeping your head down like that?”

“…I dropped something.”

“Want me to help you look for it?”

“…No, I found it.”

I straightened up, pretending to pick something up from the empty space in front of me.

I hesitated to look that way again, worried our eyes might meet, but my gaze naturally drifted back to Kendrick.

Whether it was a relief or not, Kendrick seemed to have finished eating and was already leaving after placing his tray on the return rack.

He definitely noticed that I was purposely avoiding him, didn’t he?

I scratched my forehead and sighed. I didn’t want to avoid him this blatantly either.

I just don’t know how I’m supposed to act around him, so what am I supposed to do?

But from my position, this was the best I could do. I probably shouldn’t have scoffed when my childhood friend told me to work on my social skills. If I’d listened, I might’ve been better at handling situations like this.

A few days ago—

To be precise, the day after Kendrick told me he would take over his father’s work, Sunbae offered to help me study, and I naturally agreed. Among Sunbae, Kendrick, and studying, studying ranked highest.

I didn’t go out of my way to tell Sunbae what had happened with Kendrick. To be honest, I kind of wanted to forget about that day. 

It would’ve been a lie to say I wasn’t scared at all, but fear alone wasn’t the only reason I kept quiet.

It just felt like the least I could do as a matter of basic courtesy.

If I had gone running to him the next day, tattling that Kendrick really might be part of a mafia family—then what? 

It was a topic I didn’t want to talk about with Sunbae. In fact, it was one I wanted to avoid entirely.

But a few hours into studying, Sunbae suddenly brought up Kendrick first, as if studying had just been an excuse to meet.

He put down his pen and said casually, “How about you find the evidence yourself?”

“…Me?”

“If you pretend to get closer to him and catch some definitive evidence, wouldn’t it be over quickly?”

“…That doesn’t sound like a great idea.”

“You’d just be exposing someone doing something bad.”

“……”

“I’m not trying to force you. I’m just throwing the idea out there.”

“Okay.”

Sunbae seemed eager to get Kendrick out of the picture as soon as possible, and he subtly hoped I’d cozy up to Kendrick to dig up some kind of evidence. Since I hadn’t given a clear yes or no, I ended up avoiding Kendrick altogether.

Sunbae never pressured me, but since I was on the receiving end of his help, it was hard not to feel a sense of obligation.

“Dinner was good tonight, huh?”

Owen suddenly cut into my thoughts. His eyes sparkled a little too much as he waited for my response.

“Yeah.”

I wasn’t even sure if the food had gone in through my mouth or my nose, but I gave a half-hearted reply and walked up the stairs.

He’s definitely harmless.

Owen had sensed that I was uncomfortable with the idea of repaying favors and, ever since then, he never brought it up again.

But if there was even a slight opening, he would slip in more slyly than expected. Just like how, before I knew it, we started eating dinner together.

At first, I had planned to keep my distance from him since he was the female lead’s younger brother, but this level of distance felt manageable. So I let it be.

Once we were back in the room and each sitting on our own beds, I spoke to Owen.

“Hey, um…”

“…Huh?”

It was the first time I’d initiated a conversation with him, so Owen flinched and turned to me with wide eyes, almost like he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. His reaction made me feel oddly self-conscious.

Was that really so surprising?

“Can I ask you something?”

“Uh, of course! What is it!?”

His eyes lit up as he sat on the edge of his bed, staring at me with eager anticipation. It was a bit overwhelming, but I didn’t really have anyone else to ask.

“If… you’re not that close with someone, but you’ve spent time with them a few times, and then they suddenly start avoiding you without explaining why… How would that make you feel?”

Owen’s body gave a small shiver. Did I word that too vaguely? I was trying to figure out how to explain it more clearly when Owen bit his lower lip and asked, “…Is that about me, by any chance?”

“Ah, no. If it were, I wouldn’t be asking you.”

“Really?”

“…Really.”

When I was around Sunbae or Kendrick, I didn’t feel the age gap as much. But with Owen, it hit me all at once.

Though he had undergone secondary gender manifestation into an Alpha and would grow quickly, the lingering youthful look on his face made it all the more noticeable. I could also understand why the female lead was so protective of her younger brother.

After I reassured him again that it really wasn’t about him, Owen seemed to relax and thought about it seriously before quickly giving me his answer.

“I’d feel a little hurt… and maybe even kind of mad.”

“Mad?”

“It’s like being suddenly ignored for no reason. I mean… from the perspective of the person being avoided.”

“…Is that really something to get mad about?”

“Of course.”

Owen clenched his fist, as if he’d experienced something similar before, and even said, “I’d probably want to punch them once, at least.”

I really shouldn’t make him angry… Cold sweat trickled down the bridge of my nose.

“…Are you okay?”

Owen, still worked up and fuming, looked at my pale face and asked with concern.

“…Uh… I was about to go study.”

“Right now?”

“Yeah.”

“I should follow your example.”

The contrast between his innocent tone and cruel words hit me hard. I hurried out of the room to avoid hearing anything like, ‘And still, you only scored 29 points.’

I grabbed my bag and headed up to the library. I opened my books but leaned back against the chair, staring up at the ceiling.

He said he’d be mad?

From my side, I had more than enough reasons to avoid him, but if the roles were reversed, I could see why it might make someone angry.

With a conflicted heart, I turned on my phone screen.

The last screen I had looked at was still there; it was the chat with Kendrick.

— September 29 (Thu) —

[Ken: I’ll feed them today] 2:32 PM

— September 30 (Fri) —

[Ken: I’ll take care of their food today] 3:07 PM

— October 3 (Mon) —

[Ken: I’ve got someplace to stop by, so I might be a little late feeding them.] 2:11 PM

[Ken: I think Coco’s waiting for you.] 2:28 PM

Why isn’t he getting mad?

Not only had he not gotten angry, he somehow knew I was avoiding him and even adjusted his own schedule to go later just so I’d have a chance to see the dog.

The fact that he sent “I think Coco’s waiting for you” a while after the previous message probably meant he’d thought it over before sending it… Maybe there was something else he really wanted to say instead?

“…Coco.”

So he really does call it Coco.

I traced a circle with my finger on the spot where the lost badge used to be, lost in thought.