SMW 30

“……Choi Seol, did he go home?”

“Yeah. Right after soccer practice, he was dragged away by that guy he always hangs out with. You know, that rich kid from the next class. Baek Hee-won, I think. His car is seriously amazing. The driver even held an umbrella for him and opened the door. I’m so jealous of those silver spoons. But why did he even come to this school? He looks like he should be at a private school in the next neighborhood.”

“Tch, our car is way better. You guys don’t know. This one was just released abroad and is incredibly expensive…… Ow!”

“Hey! Stop talking nonsense and let’s go. Gyeong-ho’s friends, use these and follow us.”

While Gyeong-ho was being dragged away by his mother by the ear, we quickly took the umbrellas, opened them, and followed behind.

I see. Choi Seol has already gone home.

I suddenly remembered the bag left sitting lonely on his desk. Since [Read on Read BL Novels]supplementary classes ended today, would my bag be abandoned like that until school [visit our site]starts again? In the end, I couldn’t even return the wristwatch.

A sigh escaped me. The feeling that had been perfectly wonderful until the rain started plummeted to rock bottom in an instant. Even by the time I arrived home by car, the rain showed no signs of letting up.

There was no one at home. Since my parents both worked, they wouldn’t return until late in the evening, so I was alone until then. Naturally, it meant there was no one to bring an umbrella to me at school. If it hadn’t been for Gyeong-ho, I would have come home soaked to the bone, but thanks to the ride and the borrowed umbrella, only the tips of my sneakers and my shoulders were wet.

Even though it hadn’t been raining long, the inside of the house was stifling, already filled with humidity. I tossed my bag by the entrance and turned on the air conditioner. Normally, I couldn’t turn it on without my parents’ permission because of the potential electricity bill bomb, but I couldn’t stand this discomfort until evening.

I should take a shower. Once the house had cooled down, I headed toward the bathroom. Perhaps because of the rain, I felt a desperate need for hot water for the first time in a while. However, the moment I went to take off my clothes, I became aware of the watch fastened to my wrist.

Actually, I had never forgotten it. I had simply ignored it.

Choi Seol must have gone home, right?

Suddenly, I remembered what Jin-su had said. Didn’t he say that Choi Seol said he didn’t want to go but was forced into the car? I deliberately put emphasis on the word ‘forced.’ Since he left his bag behind, Choi Seol might feel uneasy. Since the school would be closed starting tomorrow, he might come back to find it late today. It felt like a vain guess, but once I thought that far, I couldn’t just stay still. I grabbed the umbrella again and stepped out the front door.

As expected, he’s not here.

I didn’t know how many times I had circled the school. Meanwhile, the sky had increased its offensive power, pouring down fierce wind and rain. Thanks to that, the umbrella became useless.

Despite Gyeong-ho’s mother dropping me off, not only my clothes but also my shoes and socks ended up completely soaked. I looked pathetic. Enough time had passed for me to have traveled between school and home two or three times. Besides, on a bleak, rainy day like this, who would want to leave a warm house? It wasn’t even funny how I was clinging to a hopeless possibility and acting like a fool.

Let’s go home. Just as I managed to pull myself together and trudged back, the light at the crosswalk across from me flashed green. It was a light that always gave me an impulse. If I crossed there, I would be close to the stream.

Once again, a flicker of vain hope surged.

I didn’t deliberate for long. The green light began to blink. Without thinking, I started running across the crosswalk. When I finally crossed and looked under the tree from the embankment of the stream, it was, as expected, empty.

I had visited this place often since my first conversation with Choi Seol, but I hadn’t run into him a single time since then. Even though I had expected it, my shoulders naturally slumped. Between running here and there, muddy water had splashed, leaving my clothes and shoes a mess. I felt like I had to go home and wash my clothes before my mom found out. As I turned away gloomily, the tree kept lingering in my sight.

Should I rest for a bit? I was exhausted from walking in the rain.

Dragging my water-logged shoes, I stepped under the tree. Fortunately, the ground inside, where the leaves were [unauthorized copy]thick, was relatively less wet. I folded the umbrella, leaned it against the tree trunk, and looked up at [unauthorized copy]the sky. Even though it was midday, the sky was so dark it looked like the end of the world [unauthorized copy]was happening. It didn’t seem like the rain would stop easily. At this rate, I would believe it if someone told me this wasn’t a shower but the start of the monsoon season again.

Of course, I knew. That this was the end of summer. Probably by the time this rain stopped, autumn would begin.

Normally, that would be something to welcome, but this time, I felt sad that summer was passing. It felt like there were still so many things left unresolved. And today, one more thing had been added to that list.

I looked at the wristwatch. Perhaps because of the rain, droplets of water were beaded on the glass of the watch face. Startled, I quickly shook off the moisture and pressed the watch to my ear. Fortunately, the sound of the second hand was ticking normally.

Phew, that was a close call. Still, just in case, I thought it would be better to take it off and put it in my pocket.

“Han Yeo-reum?”

At first, I thought I had misheard the sound of the wind and rain. I thought I was hearing things because I was too cold and exhausted from walking in the rain for so long. But when I stopped the motion of removing the watch and looked ahead, I couldn’t think of anything else.

A large silhouette was standing by the roadside where there had been no one until a moment ago. My vision was blurry, perhaps because of the heavy rain. It felt like rainwater had gotten into my eyes. After rubbing both eyes with one arm and looking again, the silhouette, which had grown closer, became a missed reality.

“Choi Seol?”

“What are you doing here?”

Looking at Choi Seol, who was frowning as if asking why I was here, I opened my mouth reflexively.

“Because it’s raining?”

And so, I became a fool once again. Naturally, the other person had a look of disbelief.

“What about your umbrella?”

“Umbrella?”

“Don’t tell me you came all the way here without an umbrella?”

“No. Gyeong-ho’s mom dropped me off in the car.”

“She dropped you off here on a rainy day?”

Ah, that’s not it. In my dazed state, I was sincerely relieved that I hadn’t mentioned the fact that I had already gone home and come back out.

“I had some business to take care of on the way, so I asked her to let me out.”

“Without an umbrella?”

“That’s……”

In that moment, why did the umbrella in Choi Seol’s hand catch my eye?

“I lost it. A sudden gust of wind blew it away. It, it floated away down the stream. That’s why I came here for shelter.”

Lies flowed out of me so smoothly it was startling even visit our siteto myself. I knew [Read on Read BL Novels]very well that I was being cunning. This included the calculation that [unauthorized copy]if I did this, Choi Seol wouldn’t be able to just pass me by.

“Then, what’s that?”

I take back the ‘cunning’ part. I was just a fool. To tell such a lie while having leaned an umbrella right next to me.

“Th-that’s not mine.”

Swoosh!

As if mocking my clumsy lies, the rain, which had weakened for a moment, suddenly intensified.

My face felt hot. I shouldn’t be turning red right now. If I did, lying would be impossible. On a scorching hot day, it might be different, but right now, I’d be lucky if I didn’t turn pale and shiver from the pouring rain.

It was then.

“Move over a bit. I need to get in too.”

Instead of questioning me, Choi Seol folded his umbrella and stepped under the tree. I quickly took a step back. Still feeling that the distance was too close, I took another step back, and my heel bumped into something. Simultaneously, my body lurched backward.

“Careful……!”

As I instinctively reached out, Choi Seol reflexively grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward him. A firm chest collided with my face. It was a contact accident caused by pulling too hard when we weren’t even that far apart. My nose, which had been bumped and pressed, felt tingly. I touched my nose with my free hand and looked up. And our eyes met. It seemed that my attempt to create distance had backfired.

“S-sorry.”

I tried to push the chest in front of me away and step back. Before I could, my waist was grabbed again. To be precise, I ended up trapped in Choi Seol’s embrace.

“Move slowly if you don’t want to fall again.”

“Huh?”

“……I said be careful.”

“Y-yeah. Thanks.”

With those words, we separated. Nevertheless, the sensations from the parts that had been touched still lingered. Above all, the body heat that had transferred the moment we touched was unexpectedly hot, making me feel as if I had been burned. Even though both of us must have been cold due to the rain.

This time, my face must have definitely turned red. It was just as I lowered my gaze, unable to look at Choi Seol.

“Han Yeo-reum. Take off your clothes.”

“…….”

Wondering what I had just heard, I forgot to avoid his gaze and looked up, only to see Choi Seol taking off his clothes in front of me. Of course, all he took off was his zip-up hoodie, but given what I had just heard, I was startled.

“Wh-why the clothes?”

“Shut up and take this.”

As if it were too bothersome to respond to every word, Choi Seol dismissed me and practically shoved the hoodie he had just taken off into my arms.

“Take off your school shirt and change into this. At this rate, I think you’ll be carried away by hypothermia this time.”

“……It’s not that bad.”

“You’re shivering right now.”

Only then did I look down at my hands and see that they were indeed trembling. Despite it being a summer rain, I seemed to have caught a chill from wandering outside for so long.

Still, taking them off here felt a bit…

“Can’t I just wear it over the top?”

When I said that while receiving the unauthorized copyclothes, Choi Seol [Read on Read BL Novels]frowned stolen contentinstead of answering. It seemed that was an unacceptable suggestion.

“Then could you turn around?”

Even as I said it, I thought I was being peculiar. When changing into gym clothes, boys usually just strip right in front of each other and even joke around, so what was there to be self-conscious about? Yet, I felt like I could never change in front of Choi Seol.

Choi Seol also seemed to find my request peculiar. At first, he raised an eyebrow, but soon a smirk played on his lips. Feeling even more embarrassed by that reaction, I lowered my head deeply, and a hood was placed over my head. The zip-up hoodie I had been holding awkwardly was taken back.

“Tell me when you’re fully undressed, and I’ll hand it back to you.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Only after confirming that Choi Seol had turned around did I quickly begin to unbutton my shirt. At first, I didn’t know why he had put the hood over my head, but I soon realized that just having my face covered gave me a much greater sense of security. My heart tickled at the thoughtful consideration.

Separate from that, perhaps because my hands were shaking from the cold, I fumbled a few times before I finally managed to take off the shirt. The moment my bare skin was exposed, a sudden chill hit me, and I let out an involuntary cough. At that moment, a dry piece of clothing was draped over my shoulders.