ICYM Ch 50

Episode 50

I felt so awful that I wanted to ditch studying altogether today, but I knew too well that once I started making excuses not to study, it would spiral endlessly, so all I could do was put it off.

[(No name): Please answer the phone, baby.] 5:58 PM

I turned on my phone to text Kendrick, but there was a strange message sitting at the top.

It felt like I had received a similar kind of message before, and I couldn’t help wondering what kind of person had been using this number before me for messages like that to keep coming in.

[Me: The number has changed.] 6:18 PM

If it had been the first time, I would’ve ignored it, but since it seemed like they’d keep sending messages, I just replied briefly and then texted Kendrick.

[Me: Can we meet a bit later today? Around nine. I’m not feeling too well.] 6:19 PM

I asked to meet two hours later than usual. Normally, it would have been about time for him to show up. I’d been perfectly fine earlier, but now I was lying with an obvious excuse about feeling sick and putting things off, and I hated myself for it. Still, it was the best I could do.

That was how little confidence I had in hiding my messed-up emotions.

It wasn’t a cancellation, just a delay, but honestly, I was hoping Kendrick would say it was too late and suggest meeting another time.

I placed my phone face down on my chest and let out a long sigh. Should I check my phone before he arrives? Maybe he’d see my message and come knocking any minute.

If that happened, and he saw my face like this, maybe I’d end up telling him everything.

Bzzz—

[Ken: Okay, I’ll come then.] 6:22 PM

But contrary to my hopes, Kendrick neither refused nor asked why.

Seeing his plain, straightforward reply, I pulled the blanket over my head.

* * *

I must have dozed off.

“Huff… Huff…”

I threw off the blanket I had covered myself with as if flinging it away and shot up in bed. My whole body was drenched in sweat. I brushed back the damp hair sticking to my forehead and tried to catch my breath.

“Ugh, it’s hot.”

Because the rain had dropped the temperature, the radiator had been kept running, making the room hot and dry.

I had fallen asleep with the blanket pulled over my head, and now I wasn’t just hot; I could barely breathe.

It would’ve been nice if each room could control its own radiator, but only the dorm supervisors could turn it on or off.

“I thought I was going to die.”

Maybe that was why I’d had a nightmare about being tortured with water and then burned alive.

Even after crawling out of the blanket, it was still hot. I got out of bed and hurried to open the window.

The dormitory windows couldn’t be fully opened to prevent accidents. Even at their widest, they opened less than a quarter of the way.

Still, I opened it as much as I could and stuck my face right up to it.

As the cold, damp air brushed against my skin, I could finally breathe again.

“Ha…”

Is this what it feels like to stick your head into a fridge after being in the desert?

It was an awkward position, but I wanted to stay with my face outside the window.

The sound of rain drumming on the gravel spread in front of the entrance and on the large trash bins left outside grew distinct.

Should I just take a cold shower?

Then it suddenly occurred to me that instead of sticking my head awkwardly out the window like this, the sensible thing to do would be to just take a shower.

Come to think of it, what time was it now? I couldn’t tell. The sun had been setting early lately, so it was already dark before I went to bed, and since I’d fallen asleep more deeply than I thought, I had no sense of the time.

He didn’t see me tossing and groaning in my sleep and leave, did he?

When someone came by at the agreed time, it was normal to knock first and then open the door if there was no response.

What if Kendrick saw me wrapped tightly in the blanket in this heat, groaning like I was sick?

He would definitely pretend not to have noticed, and if I said I’d just been asleep, he’d believe me, but still!

That was not how I wanted to be seen.

Anxious to check the time, I hurriedly tried to pull my head back inside.

Thunk.

“Ah!”

Only after bumping my head on the window frame did I manage to pull it in. I rubbed the sore spot and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.

8:35 p.m.

Thankfully, there was still a bit of time left before Kendrick was supposed to come.

“Ha…”

What a relief.

If I moved quickly, I’d even have enough time to take a shower. Even though my sweat had dried, I still looked a mess. Should I just wash up now?

While I was hesitating, a faint sound drifted in through the open window.

“Meow.”

It was the sound of a cat crying.

Is that Nabi?

Kendrick always seemed to know whether it was Nabi just from the sound, but no matter how hard I listened, to me, a cat’s cry was just a cat’s cry.

“Mee-ow.”

There was a wary tone to it, and before I knew it, I was pressing my ear closer to the window.

“Grrr.”

Then came the low growl of a dog—alert, cautious.

Hearing that sound made me sure it really was Nabi.

Maybe the two were just playing, and another animal had wandered into their territory, so they were making that noise.

That seemed like the most likely explanation.

There had been new reports on the community app today, and since they said the animal abuser still hadn’t been caught, he probably wasn’t stupid enough to do something again on the same day. At least, that’s what I wanted to believe.

Shaa—

The sound of rain muffled everything else.

Step.

Step.

Amid it, I heard the sound of footsteps. So faint that you wouldn’t notice unless you listened carefully.

But—

Bang.

Before I could think any further, my body was already moving.

I bounded down the stairs two at a time. Luckily, no one was in the hallway. Without slowing down, I ran as fast as I could down the corridor.

My heart pounded heavily, an uneasy rhythm fueled by anxiety.

If it turns out to be nothing, I’ll just think of it as a false alarm.

I had nothing to lose. If it was nothing, I’d just be a little out of breath, but at least I’d be relieved.

I bit down on my lower lip.

But things rarely worked out that easily; optimistic thoughts always missed the mark, and bad ones usually hit dead on.

Which way should I go? My head was spinning.

Was it the back door I usually used to go to and from school, the one past the hallway where the office is?

Or the opposite side, the door that led straight from the dorm to the garden?

I didn’t spend long thinking. I headed straight for the door that opened directly onto the garden.

As soon as I pushed it open, the sound of rain struck hard against my ears.

I immediately thought, I should’ve changed into proper shoes before coming out, but that thought wasn’t enough to stop me.

Still wearing my indoor slippers, I stepped outside.

The rain I’d thought was easing up turned out to still be coming down hard, soaking my hair and clothes in seconds. The soil beneath the grass was drenched, making squelching noises with every step.

From here, I slowed my pace.

As I cautiously approached the area where Coco and Nabi’s houses were, sounds I hadn’t been able to hear over the rain began to emerge.

Thud!

The sound of something hard hitting the ground, a small animal scurrying away in a panic, and then the presence of a person.

Grrr.

At the sound of Coco’s growl, I didn’t have time to think. I started running and shouted.

“Who’s there!”

At my voice, the person froze for a split second, then bolted the other way without even looking back.

It was the unmistakable sight of someone caught doing something suspicious, now fleeing.

It was the culprit. My instincts screamed it. The person who had been stirring up the whole school community was right before my eyes.

A red alarm blared in my head, telling me I had to catch that person now, that this was my chance.

“Stop!”

If I could just catch that bastard, most of the worries I’d been carrying would finally be over.

“Who the hell are you…!”

The rain began to pour harder again. I had never hated this fickle weather so much.

Tap tap tap tap!

“Hey!”

I ran like a madman, closing the distance between us. The person, clearly panicking, seemed to be trying to circle around toward the back door instead. Judging from the time it would take him to enter the password to open it, I was sure I could catch up.

But apparently, I wasn’t the only one doing calculations. The figure in the black hood suddenly stopped running and threw something at me.

Whizz!

It was a stone, the same kind he’d probably thrown at Coco and Nabi earlier. He must have still been holding one.

“Ah!”

He’d aimed for my knee, but it hit my shin instead. I realized only after the impact that it was a broken piece of brick, its edges sharp. My body, already chilled by the rain, suddenly burned with pain from my shin upward.

Guess it’s bleeding.

But if I could just catch the culprit, I could ignore an injury like this and keep running.

He had thrown something that sharp, sharp enough to wound that easily, at a small animal. The curses rose in my throat before I could stop them.

The real problem was my indoor slippers.

When I stepped into a puddle, the soaked slipper slipped out from under me completely.

“Ugh.”

And I fell straight to the ground with a loud splat.