SMW 3

“I didn’t.”

“What do you mean, you didn’t?”

“I’m telling you, I’m just a witness. And this is heavy as hell, so please move your arm.”

When I pushed away the arm draped over my shoulder, Noona let go easily. Even so, her expression remained suspicious.

“Strange. It feels like you’re not lying, but then again, it feels like you are.”

“I’m really not. If you’re that suspicious, why don’t you check the surveillance camera at the trash disposal area? It was right nearby, so it should have caught something.”

I spoke confidently, recalling a surveillance camera that had been installed on the utility pole the car had crashed into some time ago.

“Ah, that one’s a fake.”

“…What?”

“They won’t even install actual speed cameras in a village that needs them; do you really think they’d put a real camera in a backwater like this just to catch some illegal dumpers? It’s just a decoration.”

I stared blankly at Noona, who had suddenly pivoted to cursing fellow civil servants for taking taxes diligently while failing to do a single thing right. My heart, which had finally calmed down, began to flutter again.

Wait, am I actually going to be misunderstood for no reason?

This time, I put my heart into it and looked dead serious.

“I really didn’t do it.”

“Alright. If you say so, then so be it.”

The fact that she accepted it so readily was also unsettling. When I showed suspicion this time, Noona gave me a sorry smile.

“I told you. I didn’t think you were lying. But when I asked about that flower boy, you seemed like someone hiding something, so I just wondered.”

This woman should have been a detective, not a cop.

“Anyway, it’s a relief. It would visit our sitevisit our sitebe a bit awkward for me [visit our site]to personally throw my dear little neighbor in jail, right?”

“…Jail?”

Gulp. I swallowed hard again. Suddenly, Noona’s police uniform became a point of concern.

“If I lie to you, do I get arrested?”

“Not if you lie to me, but if you lie to the police, you get arrested.”

Wait, am I about to go to jail just because I pretended not to know some guy I wasn’t sure was my first love or not? Just as I snapped back to my senses, a nurse’s shout echoed from a distance.

“The patient is awake.”

This time, my heart dropped.

Choi Seol is awake?

The moment the name I had tried so hard to ignore naturally pierced my mind, I started sprinting down the hallway without a second thought.

“Patient? Patient, are you conscious?”

I stopped running just as the bed came into view. The attending physician, who had arrived first, was checking the man’s condition. Soon, with a groan, the man pushed himself up.

“Where… am I?”

His voice was unnervingly calm for a patient, and for a moment, the back of my neck stiffened. I shouldn’t face him. A warning alarm blared in my head, but just by hearing his voice, my body was already slipping out of my control.

I want to see him closer.

It was as I took one step, then another, toward the bed where he lay. The man, frowning deeply while pressing the gauze on his forehead, looked toward me.

“Han Yeo-reum?”

The moment our eyes met, my breath stopped. Simultaneously, my heart, which had been increasing its beat, tightened painfully. It was a sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Right?”

When I didn’t answer, the man asked again, his voice filled with certainty. He had recognized me.

“Do you know him?”

The nurse, looking back and forth between the man and me, looked puzzled. Her face seemed to ask, I thought you said you didn’t know him? Only then did I realize I was in no position to be lost in sentiment. Just then, a booming voice rang out from behind me.

“Hey, Han Yeo-reum! If you just bolt off like that by yourself… Huh? He really woke up.”

I’m going crazy.

Running into an old classmate by chance on the street is common enough, but this was an absolutely absurd coincidence. In some backwater in the south, nearly five hours by car from Seoul, the driver who caused an accident while avoiding a cat and the witness were classmates? This wasn’t a novel; it was something beyond imagination.

Besides, it had been ten years. Who knows if memories get distorted over time, making the brain mistake any overly handsome person for a first love? Or maybe he just looked similar and his last name was Park or Kim. Even if he was the same person, it had been ten years, so it was plausible not to recognize him…

No, how could I not recognize that handsome face! I’d probably forget my own face faster.

Unfortunately, I was a considerably cowardly and negative human being. Choi Seol recognized me. On top of that, Noona had practically certified that my name was Han Yeo-reum. In that instant, I became a very suspicious guy who had lied to paramedics, police, nurses, and everyone else.

Am I really going to jail? Come to think of it, she was suspicious of the accident earlier. Because of the circumstances suggesting I deliberately pretended not to know him, I might actually be framed.

Ah! Why did I walk into the tiger’s den on my own two feet?

When I heard the news that he woke up, Read on Read BL Novelsthe visit our siteplace I should have run to wasn’t here, but the taxi stand at the hospital entrance.

What should I do? While my thoughts were digging a hole straight toward the Earth’s core, Choi Seol’s eyes grew fierce, as if he were about to devour someone. The nurse’s suspicion seemed to deepen, and I was too scared to even look at the police Noona.

Get it together, Han Yeo-reum. It was time to actually do something. My hesitation didn’t last long. But Choi Seol, unable to wait, called my name again.

“Han Yeo…”

“Huh? Ah, a-ah! Hey, are you by any chance Choi Seol from Sangwon High School, 1st year, Class 7?”

I pointed at Choi Seol with an exaggerated expression of surprise. I was sure my facial muscles were stiff, so I wondered if the acting would work, but what choice did I have? I had to escape this crisis first.

“Wow, I didn’t recognize you! I thought you looked familiar, wow, you! How long has it been? Ten years? You’ve aged a lot in that time. You’ve changed so much I could barely tell.”

Aged my ass. If a face that is aesthetically perfected is considered “old-looking,” then that guy was clearly a possessor of an old-looking face back in his teens. If anything had changed, it was the addition of maturity and a decadent vibe. He seemed taller than before, and his build seemed better. Come to think of it, when I tried to support him earlier, I ended up practically being embraced by him. My build isn’t exactly small for an adult male. His body felt firm, as if he’d worked out consistently, and his scent was very adult-like. I wondered if he was wearing perfume, but thinking back, it was closer to a sticky, musky skin scent…

Crazy. Han Yeo-reum, get a grip!

“Oh? I guess you’re classmates.”

Fortunately, the nurse, who had been the most suspicious, was the unauthorized copyfirst Read on Read BL Novelsto buy it. I nodded, flashing the kind of social smile I stolen contentused to give when doing all sorts of part-time jobs and to my military seniors.

“Exactly. I wonder if there could be another coincidence like this. It’s been ten whole years, so I almost didn’t recognize him.”

I subtly emphasized that I didn’t pretend not to know him, but simply failed to recognize him due to the long passage of time.

“Well… if it’s been ten years, that could happen. No wonder you were acting strange earlier; was it because you weren’t sure?”

Hae-sook Noona, who had been standing there bewildered, seemed half-convinced. Now, as long as that guy cooperated, everything would be okay.

“Ten years?”

But what was wrong with him?

The expression on his face as our eyes met had become even more menacing than before. Come to think of it, Choi Seol’s personality in school couldn’t be called particularly kind. Compared to then, I felt his impression had become even more dangerous. Regardless, I had to smile.

“Right, ten years. Ah! Of course, I saw you very briefly the following spring, so if we’re being precise, it’s been about nine years and ten months…”

“What nonsense are you talking about? We met just a while ago.”

What is with this guy?

A sudden chill ran down my spine. Simultaneously, the gazes of the nurse and Noona landed on me, my smile frozen.

“Hahaha, you’re the one talking nonsense. How could we have met recently? I’m seeing you after a reaaaally long time.”

“Han Yeo-reum. Know when to stop joking.”

You crazy bastard, you’re the one who needs to know when to stop!

Did he lose his mind from the head injury? For that, he looked far too serious. As if anyone could see his words were the truth. Thanks to that, the suspicious glares of Noona and the nurse were returning. This was truly unfair.

I mean, why do they believe him more in the first place? Is it because of his face? I felt a surge of anger, but I forced myself to calm down and replied composedly.

“Choi Seol. You must have taken a serious hit to the head. Let me be clear: we did not meet yesterday. Of course, we didn’t meet the day before, and the day before that, I didn’t see a single hair on your head. So just rest for now. Rest, and we’ll talk later…”

“What on earth are you talking about? Are you the one whose head has gone strange?”

What is this guy’s deal?

Who is this bastard who appeared after ten—no, nine years and ten months—just to screw me over? Even so, since unauthorized copyRead on Read BL Novelshe was my first love, I had lived by burying only the good memories of him in my heart, but seeing him now, he was clearly an enemy, not a [visit our site]first love. Eventually, the anger I had been suppressing exploded all at once.

“Hey, Choi Seol! You really want to do this? When did I ever meet you? Who was the one who said bye-bye without even looking back or giving a cold greeting the moment the final school assembly ended!”

I realized my mistake after shouting, but it was already too late.

“…Final assembly?”

This seemed to work, as Choi Seol’s fierce expression turned blank. Thanks to that, I also came back to my senses.

“Yeah. You transferred schools right after the final assembly.”

“Transferred? What nonsense is that? Why would I transfer?”

Something is weird.

A sudden sense of incongruity hit me. At the very least, the Choi Seol I knew wasn’t the type to drag out time with this kind of wordplay. Even if he were, why would he do this to me after such a long time? Why?

“Already… the first year is over?”

Choi Seol muttered stiffly and stared unauthorized copyintently at my face [Read on Read BL Novels]with a confused expression. Just as that Read on Read BL Novelsobserving gaze was becoming burdensome, I heard the sound of him accepting it.

“Come to think of it, you do look a bit older.”

“Wha-what? Hey, Choi Seol, that’s too far…”

“What year is it now?”

Before I could fully get angry, Choi Seol turned his head toward the nurse. While he had acted like he wanted to eat me alive, his voice when asking the nurse was quite gentle. The nurse, perhaps sensing something was wrong, kindly informed him of the date, day, and time, as well as the detailed situation.

“…And the patient was brought to the hospital due to a traffic accident. This person here followed along as a witness.”

Choi Seol, who had been listening silently, looked at me again. His eyes were shaking precariously.

Something was definitely wrong. Did something go wrong when he hit his head? I suddenly felt a pang of fear. Then, Choi Seol muttered softly.

“…Doesn’t come back.”

“What?”

“I said I don’t remember. Any of it.”