SMW 31

“Hurry up and put your arm through. Give me the wet one.”

I barely managed to turn my head to look, and Choi Seol was looking down at me. My face finally flushed hot.

“Did you… did you see?”

“I didn’t see you take it off. I just turned around because you were coughing. Besides, you don’t have enough hands to manage.”

He then took the wet shirt that had been awkwardly draped over my hand. I watched him blankly, then felt a chill again and quickly slid my arm into the zip-up hoodie. After pulling up the zipper and turning around, Choi Seol was holding out my shirt, neatly folded.

“Don’t forget it. Take care of it.”

“…Thanks.”

“It really is big.”

Choi Seol muttered as he scanned my appearance. As he said, it was large enough that both the sleeves and the fit had plenty of room. It seemed to fit him perfectly when he wore it, and I felt a slight blow to my pride, wondering if the difference in our physiques was really that extreme.

“You’re just ridiculously big. Read on Read BL NovelsI’m at least above average Read on Read BL Novelsin height in my class.”

“Was I?”

His tone suggested he didn’t care either way. Instead, Choi Seol took a step closer and plopped down on the ground.

“Sit down too. Let’s head out together once the rain lets up a bit.”

“Together? Where to?”

“You said you don’t have an umbrella. I’ll walk you home.”

I almost lost control of my expression. Despite my pricked conscience, I barely managed to keep the corners of my mouth from curling up as I asked for confirmation.

“Are you really going to walk me home?”

“Why don’t you just sit down first?”

I wondered why he was being so stingy when it wouldn’t have been that hard to just answer one more time.

Pouting, I plopped down in the spot Choi Seol pointed to. As I did, our shoulders brushed. Thinking I was too close, I tried to move away, but Choi Seol muttered without even looking at me.

“Stay still if you don’t want to get rained on.”

He was surely just saying it, but for some reason, there was an air of intimidation in those words that made me feel like I shouldn’t disobey. I stopped moving immediately. Then, our shoulders touched again. It was only a tiny area, less than a palm’s width of the entire body, yet all my attention was focused right there. Thanks to that, I remembered the moment I almost fell earlier. Perhaps it was because the clothes were wet and clinging to my skin, but the arm that had wrapped around my waist felt as if it had touched my bare skin.

It wasn’t any different now. Just wearing clothes heavily saturated with Choi Seol’s scent over my bare skin made my senses feel more deeply stimulated. Just breathing in made me flush with embarrassment. It was strange. Other guys were just unpleasant, so I couldn’t understand why Choi Seol’s scent alone felt so special.

Was this also because I admired him? But this feeling was too thick to be dismissed as such; it felt as if I were sinking deep into the mud created by the rain. My heart pounded at the dangerous feeling that if I stayed like this a moment longer, I might never be able to escape.

I curled my body up as much as possible, trying my best not to let any of this be discovered.

While my personal space shrank, the remaining void was filled by the quiet sound of the rain. The rain and wind, which had been falling violently until a moment ago, were gradually losing their intensity. Before I knew it, the sound of the rain falling with a steady rhythm was almost peaceful. I hated that. I felt as if the sound would keep decreasing until only the sounds I made remained, exposing everything.

I finally decided to make another sound first. Fortunately, I found an excuse quickly.

“I’ll give this back.”

I showed Choi Seol the watch fastened to my wrist.

“I wore it so I wouldn’t forget it. Wait a second. I’ll take it off and give it to… wait, why is it doing this? It’s not coming off easily. Hold on, I’ll just…”

“Forget it, just give me your hand.”

Perhaps frustrated by watching me struggle, Choi Seol simply pulled my wrist toward him. The problem was that I was helplessly pulled along with him. Before I knew it, my body was leaning toward visit our siteChoi Seol. While I braced myself by unauthorized copyplacing [Read on Read BL Novels]my hand on the ground to prevent myself from falling, Choi Seol unfastened the watch strap in one go, indifferent to my struggle. In a brief moment, the watch was transferred to Choi Seol’s hand.

“Thanks for keeping it safe.”

His thanks were so sincere that I couldn’t possibly think he was being sarcastic. Feeling awkward, I leaned my upper body back against the tree and said,

“It got a bit of rain on it. It seemed to be working fine when I checked earlier, but if it seems broken…”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t have this for that kind of purpose anyway.”

Choi Seol stared at the watch for a moment and muttered softly.

“It’s warm.”

“Huh?”

“Maybe because it was warmed by your body heat, but the watch is warm.”

That wasn’t what I wanted to ask. In the first place, it would have been better if he hadn’t told me. I suppressed the urge to put my hand over my chest. My heart kept acting up on its own. Tightening, trembling, racing, and then aching. Seeing as it occasionally seemed to stop, it was definitely broken.

Perhaps because I had never admired anyone before, I was flustered by these sensitive reactions I was experiencing for the first time.

“By the way, where were you heading?”

Fortunately, thanks to sitting shoulder to shoulder, we could converse without having to face each other. Choi Seol answered my question indifferently.

“School. I was on my way to get my bag.”

I unconsciously gasped. Moistening my dry mouth with my tongue, I barely managed to ask back.

“You left your bag at school?”

“Someone played the meddling busybody when it wasn’t wanted, and I got kidnapped from the sports field.”

“You mean Baek Hee-won?”

I should have just pretended not to know. The gaze he shot me, as if asking how I knew, felt sharp.

“I heard someone saw it.”

“You certainly do love blabbing about other people’s business.”

“Sorry.”

When I apologized instinctively to the [unauthorized copy]voice tinged with displeasure, Choi Seol stolen contentlooked at me as if bewildered.

“Were you the one blabbing?”

“No, I just listened.”

“Then why are you apologizing?”

“Well…”

I apologized because I had meddled in something I could have ignored, making Choi Seol feel unpleasant. But explaining that felt like overdoing it, so as I hesitated and avoided his gaze, I heard a much softer voice.

“I originally intended to leave as soon as I got home, but my grandma told me to eat before I left, so I’m a bit late.”

When I lifted my head, Choi Seol was glancing my way while scratching the back of his neck.

“Anyway, I have no reason to go to school starting tomorrow, so it would be weird to leave it abandoned in the classroom. It’s not even mine originally.”

“…”

“So, I’m saying I didn’t leave it behind on purpose.”

“Ah… right.”

I thought the explanation was quite detailed, and sure enough, it was directed at me. Honestly, I felt a bit hurt that Choi Seol had gone home and left my bag behind, but seeing him walk on eggshells and even make excuses made me feel not so bad.

“By the way, is it the same for you?”

“Huh? What?”

“The bag. I don’t see yours either.”

I had responded with a slightly uplifted heart, only to feel like I was being slammed back to reality. It would have been fine if he had just ignored such a trivial thing, but that guy was unexpectedly perceptive and meticulous. At this rate, he’d probably figure out why I’d been wandering around soon.

“The bag. Um, so… not the classroom, but where was it? Maybe in Gyeong-ho’s mother’s car? Hahaha.”

“Don’t tell me you don’t even know where you lost your bag?”

“Probably?”

When I answered haphazardly, half-resigned, Choi Seol clicked his tongue in disbelief.

“This guy is actually a disaster waiting to happen. Well, considering he’s the type to not only wander around on a rainy day but even think about crawling up a creek, I guess it figures.”

“What does that have to do with losing my bag?”

“Why wouldn’t it? Both are equally mindless acts. It’s a good thing the embankment here is high; anywhere else, you would’ve been swept away by the rising water already.”

“You came here too.”

“I came to see which crazy bastard was attempting suicide.”

Was the situation that serious? I knew I shouldn’t come to places like this on a rainy day. I’m usually quite cowardly, too. But looking at it, it didn’t seem like the water would overflow, and more than anything, as Choi Seol said, I had been half out of my mind.

I don’t know why I was so obsessed with finding Choi Seol. Still, didn’t we end up meeting in the end? In truth, I was cold, hungry, and nervous, but for that one reason alone, I was quite excited.

However, as if my feelings were irrelevant, Choi Seol’s reprimands didn’t stop.

“Anyway, Han Yeo-reum, looking at you, you’re really clumsy. You trip a lot.”

“I don’t trip.”

“And you bump into things a lot too.”

“That’s…! …But how did you know that?”

I’d been getting scolded for a [Read on Read BL Novels]while now, but strangely, everything Read on Read BL Novelshe said was based on evidence.

“Because I can see everything. You’re surprisingly conspicuous.”

Me? That was the most baseless thing I’d ever heard from Choi Seol. Moreover, hearing that from the most conspicuous person in school made me feel absurd.

“Aren’t you in no position to say that?”

“So what? It’s not like I wanted to be conspicuous. I never wished for that kind of thing in the first place.”

I can’t believe there’s actually a person in the world who says things like that. I didn’t want to be cool, but I couldn’t help it—as I stood speechless at such an arrogant yet winner-like statement, Choi Seol curled his lip and asked.

“Why? Do I seem arrogant?”

“…I didn’t say that.”

“Oho, Han Yeo-reum. You’ve grown a lot.”

Choi Seol turned his head fully toward me, looking at me as if it were amusing.

“At school, you could barely answer the questions I asked, but now you’re quite the talker. Is it because there’s no one watching?”

“I can’t say that’s wrong.”

Choi Seol burst into loud laughter at my answer. It was the first time I’d seen him laugh so cheerfully, and I found myself staring blankly. Then, Choi Seol met my eyes again.

“If there’s anything else you want to say, go ahead.”

As if he were granting me a favor. I felt a bit piqued, but a chance was a chance. I still didn’t have the confidence that I could talk like this at school. I gathered my courage and spoke.

“But, does it bother you when other people show interest in you?”

Choi Seol’s eyes widened slightly as if the question was unexpected, but he answered readily.

“I don’t know. I don’t really mind people just watching, but if I had to say, the clinginess is unpleasant. There are quite a few people who act as if they know everything about me just because they’ve heard a few rumors.”

My heart pricked. I, too, had occasionally blabbed based on rumors whenever talk of Choi Seol came up.

Then, Choi Seol asked me.

“But Han Yeo-reum. Do I stand out to you too?”