"Oh, for God's sake, stop talking about that already. It’s ringing in my ears. It’s obvious! Kang Jun is good at studying, so of course, your parents are telling you to study too. Hey, all parents think the sa way."
"Yeah, I actually used Kang Jun’s na a few tis myself."
Park Dongchul shot back at Go Yohan’s words, and Lee Seokhyeon snickered. Kim Seokmin picked up the conversation.
"What did they say?"
"They didn’t believe . They said, ‘If you’re hanging out with him, why are your grades still trash?’"
"Fuck, sa here!"
Laughter erupted. That crisis passed without issue.
The second one ca during lunchti. Today, Go Yohan waited for and, as the others hurried out, waved his hand and said, "I’m eating with Jun. Bye."
Kim Minho’s face lit up instantly. So did mine.
Han Taesan and Han Junwoo had vanished again, nowhere to be seen. By now, no one even looked for them anymore—they were like potted plants in the classroom, not worth any real attention but still faintly irritating in the background.
My eyes followed the empty seats, while my ears followed Go Yohan’s voice.
"You really t him at church?"
"Yeah. I didn’t realize at first, but when I thought about it, he looked like soone I knew. Turns out, it was you."
"I do take after my dad a lot."
"You’re smiling. You must really like your dad."
I turned my gaze to the clock on the wall. It was about ti to head down. Just then, sothing cold touched my cheek. Go Yohan’s fingers. Those cold, insistent fingers gently turned my face toward him.
"We’re having a conversation. Look at ."
Go Yohan smiled slightly. But for so reason, that smile made uneasy. And yet, the place he touched burned into my senses, the sensation impossible to ignore. My chest felt strangely tight.
"Ah. Sorry."
"Now, focus on ."
His tone was oddly instructive. It annoyed a little, and just as I was about to say sothing, he tapped my cheek lightly with his fingers, cutting off.
"And by the way, I hate my dad. I’m only telling you. It’s a secret, okay?"
Everything’s a secret with him. I brushed away Go Yohan’s fingers and stood up.
"Got it, now let’s go. We need to eat."
"It’s already that late?"
"Ohh—" Go Yohan checked the clock and got up. As we left the classroom together, he suddenly asked,
"Right, why’d you say that earlier?"
"Say what?"
"When I called you cute, you told not to act like Han Junwoo."
I looked at him incredulously. He was still hung up on that? But his expression was unusually serious, so I answered honestly.
"If you do things like that, people will start looking down on you."
"They? Look down on ? Them?"
Go Yohan pointed at himself in mock offense. His tone was filled with utter disbelief. I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded. Just how much did he look down on his friends?
"That would never happen."
His gaze was filled with absolute certainty. The kind of look that crushed others beneath it. There were countless emotions and circumstances layered in that response. The tallest guy in the school, the best fighter, smart but not failing either, perfect English scores, and on top of that, a handso, rich kid.
To people who were neither smart nor patient, without money or connections, he must have been an impenetrable wall. Even so, I shook my head.
"Still, it’s better to avoid that kind of situation. Weird misunderstandings. Things getting tangled up in unnecessary drama."
"Yeah, yeah. You’re always like that."
His tone was sarcastic, but the feeling behind it was oddly approving. I couldn’t tell if he ant it in a good or bad way.
"I’ve been watching you for a while, and you always complicate things."
"You’ve been watching ?"
"……?"
Shit. My mind went blank for a second. That was a mistake. Why the hell did I say that? Idiot. I clamped my mouth shut, my brain scrambling for damage control.
"You watch ?"
"No, that’s not what I ant—"
"You watch ."
Ah. Go Yohan scratched his chin and nodded, as if pleased. But why did he look so damn smug about it? Shouldn’t he find it weird?
While I was struggling to comprehend his thought process, he grinned.
"Well, if I had to explain, that’s just how I am. I like complicated things. Twisted things."
"You don’t really need to explain—"
"Just, keep it in mind."
What? Why? I didn’t even have ti to question it before I was too busy trying to smooth things over. My eyes darted around, looking for an escape, and I blurted out sothing pointless.
"Then why don’t you just study? The world’s full of complicated problems."
"Ah. Don’t you know? The more soone tells you to study, the less you want to."
"That’s just an excuse."
"It’s not an excuse."
In the middle of the staircase, Go Yohan suddenly stopped. Then he turned around.
"Look."
He held out his palm. Sothing familiar was in his hand.
I squinted at it, trying to make it out. Then it hit .
It was the note. The one I had crumpled up and thrown away. My Post-it. The one where I had accidentally written his na before frantically scribbling it out.
Why. Why the fuck does he have that? My face burned.
I reached out in a panic. Shit, why do you have that?
I should’ve grabbed it. But I missed.
Before I could do anything, Go Yohan popped the crumpled note into his mouth.
There was no ti for logical thought. I had to get it back.
I stepped forward to snatch it, but Go Yohan leaned back, just out of reach. My hand swiped at nothing but air. He tapped his fist lightly against my chest and smirked.
"Did you leave this here for to read? How considerate."
Fuck. Why is he saying that here of all places?
I was too busy reeling from my own mortification to even react.
"Give it back."
"Hm? What are you saying? Can’t understand you."
"Give. It. Back."
"Wow, so aggressive."
Go Yohan furrowed one eye.
I wanted to snatch it from him, but my arms were shorter than his, and I couldn’t reach. No matter how desperately I stretched my hand out, all I managed to brush against were his lips.
Flustered, I kept fumbling around without even realizing where I was touching. Maybe that’s why Yohan’s expression grew worse by the second.
He pushed away slightly and pulled the crumpled note from his mouth before shoving it into my pocket.
I was the one who should have been annoyed, but for so reason, that bastard was the one acting pissed off.
What the hell?
I hastily smacked his retreating hand away and dug into my pocket.
"You—you, what the hell are you doing—?!"
I unfolded the slightly damp note as if I were about to rip it apart.
But the contents weren’t mine.
The last syllable trailed off, as if it had been snatched away mid-sentence.
Just an ordinary, aningless note.
I stared blankly at the paper before glancing up at Yohan.
A heavy weight settled in my chest.
His thin, icy eyes bore down on with a chilling gaze.
"You… why—"
"It’s annoying."
"What?"
His cold stare didn’t waver.
After watching for a mont, Yohan turned around, shoved both hands into his pockets, and jogged down the stairs two steps at a ti.
What was even more unbearable was the faint scent of soap lingering in the air as he moved.
And all I was left with was a sense of frustration.
I watched his retreating figure.
Goddamn it.
The ends of Go Yohan’s hair stuck out.
****
There were plenty of differences between Han Junwoo and Go Yohan, but to , only one mattered.
Go Yohan actually looked out for .
It felt strange whenever he casually called my na, like it was nothing. Maybe it was because of my past—when I had been nothing more than Han Junwoo’s backup.
Honestly, I still wasn’t used to it.
Just yesterday was proof of that.
Until it was ti to get our lunch trays, Yohan hadn’t even glanced in my direction. He didn’t speak to either, making hyper-aware of everyone around us.
I cursed him in my head a dozen tis, debated with myself, but in the end, I sat across from him anyway.
I knew that if I didn’t, the atmosphere would only get worse.
Then, out of nowhere, his expression changed, and he started joking around.
Grinning, he suddenly said, "Why does braised pollack have to look like spicy fried chicken? I almost ate it, thinking it was actual chicken."
The timing of Go Yohan’s mood swings was what confused the most.
His temperant was even harder to gauge than Han Junwoo’s.
Did I overreact yesterday?
Was Yohan just joking about the whole ‘braised pollack’ thing, and I took it too seriously, making him mad?
Did he really use my Post-it by pure coincidence?
"……."
I sneaked a glance at him, sitting there, focused on class.
He really was a difficult guy.
These days, Yohan had been in an unusually good mood.
The mont horoom ended, he grabbed his bag and turned to .
"Hey there, the lonely neighborhood resident?"
His teasing tone made hesitate.
I felt irritation rise in my throat, but I swallowed it down and forced myself to respond indifferently.
Showing emotions in front of others was the dumbest thing you could do.
"Cut it out. I get it. Sorry for noticing late, alright? I said I’m sorry."
"You’re walking ho with today, right?"
His face was full of mischief, his expression playful as he pestered .
It was so bright and casual that, for a mont, I wondered if he had ever looked at with those cold, distant eyes in the first place.
Maybe I was the only one who rembered.
Go Yohan, on the other hand, seed completely unbothered by what happened yesterday.
It bothered .
Whenever I stayed still, that cold gaze would creep back into my mind.
Every now and then, the mory would co back for no reason and make feel a strange kind of sorrow.
"Aren’t you going to answer when soone asks you a question?"
Suddenly, a large hand grabbed my cheek and turned my face toward him.
In an instant, Yohan’s face filled my vision.
For a second, I forgot how to breathe.
This was Yohan’s biggest flaw.
At least Han Junwoo never touched like this.
His grip on my cheek tightened, making my lips push forward.
That snapped out of it, and I looked at him properly.
Yohan seed to be expecting a certain reaction from .
His expression was blank, unimpressed.
"If you start making excuses again, you’re dead."
"…I’m really sorry, but I can’t walk ho with you today."
"Oh? What, is today your funeral or sothing?"
Yohan pretended to grab my throat and shake .
It didn’t hurt at all. There was no malice in it.
And that only made more uncomfortable.
This kind of subtle kindness.
"No, I have a special lecture at my academy today. I have to go early."
"Aah—"
Yohan stretched his mouth open as he replied, still keeping his hand around my throat.
"That sucks."
"…Let’s walk ho together tomorrow. School ends early, and my academy’s closed, so you can co over and hang out. You’re doing extra classes, right?"
I hurriedly tried to placate him.
I had been absolutely certain this would never happen.
I clearly rembered how much I used to hate him.
But now, what the hell was this?
It was like I was seventeen again, relapsing.
Even in that mont, my words had co from a logical place.
Since Yohan actually cared about his grades, it was obvious he would be taking extra classes over break.
As expected, he gave a small nod.
"Good. But if you change your mind tomorrow, I won’t let you off easy."
"I won’t change my mind. Don’t worry."
And then, I realized what a stupid eighteen-year-old I still was.
Because even during my academy lecture, all I could think about was Yohan.
His cold stare.
His playful touch.
They kept looping in my head.
No matter how much I tried to act mature, I was still just an eighteen-year-old who got way too caught up in Go Yohan’s mood swings.
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