ICYM Ch 20

Episode 20

At first, our paths overlapped so much that we kept running into each other, but humans are creatures of adaptation.

Once I got a general sense of Kendrick’s range of movement, it became easy to avoid him within the dormitory.

But that didn’t mean I could avoid him one hundred percent.

I went down with my overflowing laundry basket once I’d reached the point where I literally had nothing to wear for school tomorrow if I didn’t do laundry today.

The laundry room was always packed on Sunday evenings, so it was best to go now, during this off time.

Since I didn’t want to keep going up and down, I figured I’d just study downstairs while the laundry ran.

I packed only a few books I’d need for studying and slung my bag over my shoulder.

It’d be a pain if I ran into someone I don’t want to see just from going up and down so many times.

Ironically, that thought ended up coming true.

Just as I was heading down the stairs, the door below opened, and I came face-to-face with Kendrick, who was coming up.

“Uh…”

Unlike me, flustered and caught off guard, Kendrick looked completely calm.

He was big enough that the stairwell felt narrow. Without the slightest hesitation, Kendrick looked at me and continued slowly climbing up.

Then, when we finally came face to face, he greeted me first in a calm tone.

“Hi.”

The way I fidgeted awkwardly made me feel like I was the one being strange.

“…Hi.”

We were the only two in this narrow stairwell, and he greeted me first. I couldn’t just pretend not to know him, so I replied awkwardly.

Instead of brushing past, Kendrick quietly looked me in the eyes.

“Haha…”

His stare made me uncomfortable, so I let out an awkward laugh, but then my throat tightened, and I shut my mouth.

I hadn’t meant to, but I’d obviously been avoiding him openly, and I’d read his messages without replying.

What if he thinks I’m being rude?

Maybe he was angry. If it had been me, I would’ve been annoyed too, saying hi and getting ignored for no reason.  

And if I ignored him again here, with no one else around… Wouldn’t he get seriously pissed?

But just suddenly launching into a “how have you been” talk would be weird too.

“…Is there something on my face?”

So what came out wasn’t an intentional snub or a casual update, just something awkward and random.

“…Yeah.”

I’d only said it to get through the moment, but his unexpected answer made my eyes go wide.

“Seriously…?”

“Yeah.”

So he was staring because something was actually on my face.

Feeling awkward, I hastily wiped around my mouth with the back of my hand.

I scrubbed at it until the skin turned red and then checked my hand, but nothing was there.

“Where?”

At my question, he suddenly reached out his arm. For a second, I thought, Is he going to hit me? and instinctively shut my eyes tight.

“…Here.”

Instead of telling me where something was on my face, Kendrick reached out.

With his warm, large hand, he held my cheek and gently brushed under my eye with his thumb.

The surprise from the sudden contact only lasted a moment. Kendrick casually withdrew his hand and showed me the eyelash on his fingertip.

The touch was so careful that I felt embarrassed for thinking he might hit me.

“…Thanks.”

So there wasn’t actually anything on my face.

Embarrassed for no reason, I quickly mumbled a thank-you and adjusted the laundry basket in my arms before rushing past him.

“Phew…”

Maybe I’d been startled because my heart was pounding. Why did we have to run into each other, of all times?

Fortunately, the laundry room was empty. Since it was an odd hour, no one else was around.

I put my laundry into a machine and sat down on a chair in front of it. The steady whir of the washer and the quiet of the narrow space helped calm me down.

I pulled out my notes and opened them. The smell of detergent pleasantly lingered in the air.

Click.

But my moment of peace didn’t last long. At the sound of the door opening, I instinctively furrowed my brow.

But when I saw who it was, I had no choice but to quickly erase the annoyed expression.

…Why show up now, of all times?

Kendrick walked in, carrying a laundry basket. It didn’t even look like he had much laundry, so why now?

Feeling awkward, I cleared my throat with a small cough.

Do I have to say hi again?

I half-raised my hand to greet him awkwardly, but Kendrick abruptly turned and started loading his laundry into an empty washer.

I quickly lowered my half-raised hand.

He stood silently in front of the washer, put in all his laundry, and started the machine.

Then, he let out a small sigh and turned around.

Why is he turning around with such solemn determination, like he made a big decision?

Didn’t him not saying hi just now mean he didn’t want to talk to me?

I had been a little relieved, to be honest.

Because I was busy reading his expression, I didn’t even notice what he was holding in his hand.

All I could think was, Why does his face look oddly flushed?

It was only when Kendrick, now standing in front of me, stretched out his hand that my gaze dropped.

In his hand was something bright yellow, with no patterns but eye-catching all the same.

And that thing had definitely been in my laundry pile just a little while ago.

That’s…!

Whoosh.

The moment I realized what it was, I snatched my underwear out of Kendrick’s hand at the speed of an eagle seizing its prey.

My underwear.

With his hand left awkwardly hanging in midair, Kendrick averted his gaze and said in a sort of excuse, “It was on the floor on the way here.”

I must have dropped it in a rush earlier when I sprinted to the laundry room, flustered after bumping into him on the stairs.

Thinking about how my underwear had been lying in the hallway all by itself…

“Th-Thanks…”

My face burned hot enough to feel like it might explode.

“…No problem.”

He could’ve just left it. I would’ve seen it on my way back anyway.

I really wanted Kendrick to leave soon. I just wanted to be alone.

If I left first, anyone could tell it’d look like I was running away.

Then I’d just be the guy who dropped his underwear and ran away from embarrassment.

If I could just hold out a little longer, Kendrick would leave. So I decided to endure this moment.

Curling my toes, I shoved the underwear into my pocket as casually as I could and picked up my notebook.

After starting his laundry, Kendrick placed his basket on top of the machine and brushed past me, heading to the window on the opposite side of the room, behind me.

A lukewarm autumn breeze blew through the slightly opened window, stirring Kendrick’s hair as he stood in front of it.

Why’s he opening the window instead of leaving?

I kept sneaking glances so intently my eyes started to hurt.

Why do bad feelings never turn out to be wrong?

Kendrick sat down in the chair directly across from me.

Ah, I should’ve just left.

Looked like he’d brought a book with him on the way here too.

Unlike me, though, it didn’t seem like something to study with. It looked like a novel.

≪Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit^[1]≫

Why does that title sound familiar?

I thought about it, but I’d never read it and didn’t own a copy either.

“…Hey.”

“Huh?”

Like a guilty person caught in the act, I flinched, thinking he’d noticed me glancing at him.

But Kendrick didn’t mention the glances. He just pointed toward my bag.

“You found it.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s good.”

At Kendrick’s words, I awkwardly fiddled with the badge and gave a small laugh.

“The senior found it for me.”

The moment those words left my mouth, Kendrick froze.

“…?”

Feeling puzzled, I looked up at him, but Kendrick had already returned his gaze to the book as if nothing had happened.

The washing machine roared loudly in the background.

I found myself wishing someone else would come into the laundry room, but no one came.

If I knew this would happen, I would’ve set the machine to quick wash…

Because the person sitting in front of me had such a strong presence, I couldn’t concentrate.

I ended up just staring at my phone screen for no reason.

Flicking quickly through the now-familiar interface, I tapped on my bookmarked icon.

<Every Moment>

The private girls’ and boys’ high schools in our neighborhood were run by the same foundation, and Every Moment, or EMO for short, was a community created by one of the students, accessible only to those attending schools run by that foundation.

Thanks to this, I was able to get a relatively good grasp of this body’s situation before I transmigrated.

The original owner had apparently had a lot on his mind in the short time he’d been here, so there were quite a few posts he’d written.

After frequenting the site early on to figure out the past, it had become a bit of a habit to scroll through old posts now and then.

Lately, the hottest topic in the community, without question, was the story about the cat abuser.

Once a post’s comment count passed a certain number, it would automatically get pinned to the top like a notice. And recently, those pinned posts were mostly speculation threads about the culprit.

The most active section was the anonymous board, and the top post right now was on that very subject.

Board: [Anonymous Free Board]

【HOT!】Summary of Theories on the Cat Abuser (102) I thought it was just a rumor coming from the boys’ school, but turns out even our school received an official cooperation request. So I compiled the info that came from both the boys’ and girls’ schools and posted it here! They’re suspecting a dorm student, and here’s why… ㅜ So scary ㅜ 1. Someone saw a guy wearing the boys’ school uniform 2. Most reports came in over the weekend 3. The first place an injured cat was found was reportedly near the dorms