ICYM Ch 47

Episode 47

It wasn’t long after I waited outside the door that Kendrick came. He pulled a clear file out of his bag and pulled out my homework, which was at the very front.

“Sorry. I checked way too late. I thought I’d already taken care of the homework.”

He hadn’t even noticed it had gotten mixed in. I let out a quiet sigh of relief, and Kendrick’s lips curved slightly into a smile.

“Good thing I gave it to you before it was too late.”

Pretending not to know each other makes even handing over one homework assignment into a whole ordeal.

“Thanks, really.”

“What are you two whispering about over here?”

At the unexpected voice of a third person, both Kendrick and I turned our heads toward the sound.

“Kevin?”

“Why did you follow us?”

“You two were acting suspicious. I was curious.”

“……”

I calmly bent down and picked up the homework that had fallen to the ground.

“You said you two aren’t close. But it looks like you are. So why are you meeting in secret like this? It’s like you’re hiding something.”

Kevin’s innocent yet cruel question left me speechless. While his oddly sharp words made it hard to choose my words, Kendrick spoke first.

“He just dropped something, so I followed him out to give it back.”

“Really? We’ve been in the classroom together this whole time.”

“…Because of people like you who make wild assumptions. I don’t want him to get tangled up with the other Alphas because of me.” 

His low voice was so chilling that it felt like the air around us froze. Even though I knew his anger wasn’t directed at me, my shoulders still hunched involuntarily.

“Then I’ll head back first.”

Kendrick gave me a brief glance and walked back inside first. Kevin, looking awkward, mumbled a quick “Sorry” before hurrying after him.

Left alone, I brushed the dirt off my homework and returned to the classroom a little later.

* * *

By the time I arrived at the garden, Kendrick was already sitting there with a book.

Coco, who was the first to notice me arrive, stopped short in the middle of running around the lawn and barked loudly.

“Woof woof woof woof!”

Then, panting, Coco rushed over and spun in circles around me.

Nabi sat at a comfortable distance from Kendrick, watching me, while Kendrick—

He knows I’m here, so why isn’t he looking at me?

Normally, he would have lifted his head quickly and greeted me like a big dog.

Wasn’t he like that just yesterday?

I deliberately made some noise and plopped down beside him.

“……”

“Hi.”

“…Hi.”

It wasn’t that he was ignoring me, but what was this?

…Like a dog being cautious.

If I had to guess, maybe it was because he always had a friend tagging along like a goldfish’s poop, and the overly intimidating way he acted.

“Thanks for earlier.”

“…Huh?”

When I offered my thanks, Kendrick finally tore his gaze away from the book. The moment our eyes met—his widened green eyes and mine—a gentle breeze stirred.

A dry leaf on the ground was carried by the wind and landed on his chest.

Rustle.

I instinctively reached out to brush it off, and Kendrick’s body flinched.

“No, I was just… trying to take this off for you.”

He didn’t seem cold at all inside his blazer. He wore nothing but a crisp white shirt, and I could feel the neatly pressed fabric rustle faintly against my fingertips.

The moment my fingers brushed the shirt, I felt Kendrick hold his breath.

It was such a trivial action, yet his reaction made me swallow dryly.

I plucked the leaf off and held it up to show him before continuing.

“Because you cut it off so firmly, it ended right there. If I had gone on rambling excuses, we wouldn’t have made it back before afternoon attendance.”

“That’s true.”

“So thanks for that. I really didn’t want to miss the attendance check.”

“…Weren’t you scared?”

“You only did that to smooth things over quickly, that’s all.”

If I hadn’t known the situation, I probably would have been scared. But because I understood the circumstances and could more or less guess what Kendrick had in mind, it hadn’t frightened me much.

I shrugged my shoulders and leaned back against the wall, catching a glimpse of the book open on his thigh.

It was one I had never seen before.

“What are you reading?”

“I’m studying for a driver’s license.”

“…A license?”

Suddenly, the conversation we’d had on the bus came back to me.

Wait… is it because I said I wanted to go on a trip?

A fleeting doubt sprouted in my mind, but I quickly cut it off. He was probably just studying because he was finally old enough to get a driver’s license. I was the one assigning pointless meaning to it again.

I really need to stop being so self-conscious.

I scolded myself sharply, but the lingering suspicion of “Could it be?” didn’t vanish completely.

Smack!

I slapped both cheeks lightly, widening my eyes. Being around him made me feel like I kept getting swept up.

I rustled through my bag, pointlessly blaming poor Kendrick, who hadn’t done anything wrong. The best way to stop thinking was to change the subject entirely.

At that moment, Coco and Nabi perked up their ears, stopped what they were doing, and sprang to their feet.

“The kids’ food?”

“I only gave them a little.”

“There were more snacks than I expected when we bought them.”

Talking about Coco and Nabi quickly helped me regain my composure.

* * *

Knock, knock.

At the sound of someone rapping on my door, I answered without asking who it was.

“Yeah, come in.”

These days, there was only one person who came by at this hour, so I called him in without a second thought. I naturally assumed it was Kendrick.

After all, eating separately and then studying together in my room around seven had become routine.

If there was a mistake, it was probably how quickly I had gotten used to it.

Click.

He usually comes right on time, but today he’s a bit early.

I was still mentally sorting through which homework to tackle first, so when the door opened and no words were spoken, I finally turned my eyes toward it.

“Why aren’t you sitting… Senior?”

Sunbae, who had shut the door completely, leaned against it and smiled faintly.

“Looks like you were expecting someone else?”

“Huh?”

“If I’m interrupting, I can leave.”

“Interrupting? No, nothing like that. Just… what brings you here?”

Come to think of it, Sunbae had only been to my room a handful of times. Feeling awkward, I rubbed the back of my neck and lowered my head.

I pretended to stay calm, but I was flustered, and at the same time, it felt nice to be alone with him after such a long while.

We hadn’t been alone since the time he stopped tutoring me.

“Since we don’t see each other on weekends anymore, it feels like it’s gotten harder to meet, so I dropped by. You don’t contact me now that I don’t help you study. Are you upset?”

“No, it’s not like I cut you off. I just didn’t want to bother you since you’ve been busy, so I didn’t reach out.”

Flustered, I scrambled to explain, and Sunbae laughed, ruffling my hair.

“I know.”

“You really do know, right?”

“Of course.”

“Then that’s a relief. Mind if I sit down for a bit?”^[1]

Almost unconsciously, I glanced at the clock. 6:45. Kendrick would be arriving soon, but I didn’t want to drive Sunbae away when he’d come all this way.

“Of course not.”

At my cheerful answer, Sunbae sat on the edge of my bed and immediately asked, “You said you were still deciding about the Halloween party. What did you end up choosing?”

“Oh. I think I’ll go.”

The thing Owen had coaxed my agreement to, while Kendrick’s unreadable stare had distracted me, was the Halloween party.

“…So, we’re going together?”

“You said you were fine with it right before afternoon attendance. Were you just answering me half-heartedly?”

“No, I heard you.”

“Then we’re going, right?”

“Yeah.”

I had already been leaning toward going anyway, so I decided to commit.

“You seem a little different these days, since I last saw you.”

“In a good way?”

Since Sunbae had even offered to pay just to go together, I expected the answer would be yes. But instead of replying, he asked another question.

“Are you studying well on your own?”

At that point, I didn’t find anything strange.

“Uh, yeah. I’ve been working hard and keeping up with the lessons.”

Though it was thanks to Kendrick’s help, I didn’t bother to explain that part.

“I’m relieved you’re doing well on your own now.”

Sunbae pretended to wipe away tears, seemingly proud.

“That’s only because you helped me in the beginning.”

“If you listen to me well, good fortune will come your way even while you’re sleeping.”

“Right.”

While agreeing with Sunbae, I unplugged my phone from the charger to send Kendrick a message.

[Me: Please come 30 minutes late today.] 6:46 PM

“Oh, right.”

As soon as I hit send and lifted my head, my eyes met Sunbae’s.

“Hm?”

“There’ve been more witnesses seeing the cat abuser, so it looks like they’ll catch him soon.”

“…Really? How do you know?”

It was clearly good news, yet Sunbae’s expression looked ever so slightly displeased.

“I saw the culprit myself.”

“…You did?”

“So I gave a statement to the police. Around 190 centimeters, beige-blond hair, young male. Doesn’t that make you think of someone specific?”

Sunbae recited the culprit’s features with a sly smile. The description immediately brought someone to mind, but I didn’t want to be the first to say the name.

“…Is that so? I’m not sure. Besides, you said it was from a distance, so it might not be exact—”

Before I could even finish, Sunbae snapped sharply.

“Are you pretending not to know just because he’s your friend?”