SMW 47

Avoid it, my foot.

As soon as class ended, Choi Seol was swarmed by students and swept outside. He didn’t return until the bell rang. It was a scene not much different from the first semester. Until lunchtime, Choi Seol neither looked my way nor spoke a single word to me.

And yet, he seemed worried that I was sick earlier. Or was he angry because of what Gyeong-ho said? I unconsciously pressed my fingers harder against the desk. No, that couldn’t be it. I shook my head to brush the thoughts away.

The reason was simple. I wasn’t close with Choi Seol. I felt embarrassed for getting my hopes up after I had told the homeroom teacher myself that we weren’t.

“Hey. O Brave Warrior of the Pouting Lips.”

“Gah! You scared me.”

I flinched and twisted my body away from the lukewarm breath that suddenly brushed against me. Standing there was a human who looked like he belonged to a different species than Choi Seol—or perhaps an inferior one.

“Hey. Where the hell do [stolen content]you think you’re putting your mouth, unauthorized copyyou filthy thing?”

“That’s harsh, calling your only friend’s breath filthy. And you’re the one with the pouting lips. What are you so grumpy about? Well, class was a bit of a nightmare just now. I mean, a pop quiz right after the start of the term? But did you do well?”

“As if.”

Gyeong-ho spread his arms wide, shouting, “Comrade!” Why was he so happy that his friend failed the test?

“I failed too.”

How delightful.

I decided to give him a high-five this time.

“Fine, now go. I need to close my eyes for a bit.”

I had spent the entire morning monitoring Choi Seol’s movements, and fatigue was washing over me. Since it seemed Choi Seol wouldn’t return until the next class, I was about to slump over my desk to close my eyes and calm my heart.

“O Brave Warrior, are you truly unwell? Shall I escort you to the infirmary?”

I frowned at his overly exaggerated tone.

“Why the ‘Warrior’ thing all of a sudden?”

“What do you mean? It’s a title given to someone with the guts to ignore the top dog of our school.”

“What kind of nonsense is—”

“You blew off Choi Seol this morning.”

I woke up instantly.

“I didn’t—”

“Now, now. I saw with my own two eyes that Choi Seol called you twice and you just walked away, so how can you deny it?”

That was because of you, you brat. Wait. Then, did visit our site[Read on Read BL Novels]he get upset because I just left earlier? Is that why Choi Seol is ignoring me too…?

No. This was definitely an excess of self-consciousness. Who was I? We weren’t even friends; we were just classmates.

As I reflected on my relationship with Choi Seol, my already gloomy mood hit rock bottom.

“Whatever. What does it matter if I blow him off or not?”

I felt myself becoming reckless.

“It matters. You’re his shuttle.”

“Hey.”

“Sorry, sorry. Just kidding.”

The sight of my friend smirking and winking made me want to punch him.

“Baek Gyeong-ho. You call yourself my friend, yet you find stolen contentit so amusing when you’re the one who told stolen contentme to let you know if Choi Seol bullied me.”

“He’s not actually bullying you, though. Is he?”

“That’s… not it, but.”

“Exactly. Anyone can see that’s not the kind of relationship you two have, so I can enjoy this with peace of mind.”

He’s even enjoying it. I seriously contemplated whether I should dump this friend of ten years, but his previous words caught me.

“If it’s not that kind of relationship, then what does it look like?”

“Huh? Well…”

Gyeong-ho paused, pondering. I waited for the answer, tense. Just as he was about to respond—

“Big news! Choi Seol is getting a confession!”

The classroom door swung open, and the kid known for having [unauthorized copy]the loudest voice in class shouted at the top visit our siteof his lungs. The noisy classroom fell silent for a moment, [visit our site]and then everyone surged outside like an ebbing tide.

“Let’s go watch.”

Gyeong-ho nudged my arm. I, of course, looked dead serious.

“No way. Why eavesdrop on someone else’s confession? That’s rude.”

“Hah, who said anything about eavesdropping? I’m just suggesting a light stroll nearby.”

“If you want to do that, go by yourself.”

I turned my back on Gyeong-ho completely. Yes, just go. I felt like I wouldn’t be able to control my expression if I stayed. However, my ten-year friend knew no surrender.

“My friend, did I not tell you? Regarding that umbrella you forgot, my mother used it when she was about to crack my divorced father’s skull after catching him cheating…”

Wait, was it an object filled with parental memories? If so, I really shouldn’t have lost it.

“You should have told me that sooner—”

“Ah, I misspoke. It’s the umbrella she used to beat my father’s head nearly to pieces before the divorce.”

I was speechless for a moment.

“So?”

“Anyway, it’s a precious item containing my parents’ fierce memories. So, shouldn’t you pay the price for losing it?”

Evil bastard.

“Let’s go.”

In the end, I was forced to follow Gyeong-ho. It didn’t take long for us to easily find the location of the confession.

“What, we didn’t even need to come out.”

As Gyeong-ho said, there was no need to go through the trouble of coming down to the first floor. Choi Seol and a female student, who seemed to [Read on Read BL Novels]be confessing to him, were standing in front of visit our sitethe school gate. The onlookers were either crowded on the playground stairs or leaning out of the classroom windows, having noticed early on. There were even teachers watching from visit our sitethe faculty office. It was a scene that made me realize once again how famous Choi Seol was. Without exaggeration, with the eyes of the entire student body on them, I couldn’t help but admire whoever she was for having the courage to confess to Choi Seol like that.

“Eh? Isn’t that the uniform from the rich school in the next neighborhood?”

At Gyeong-ho’s observation, I widened my eyes and looked. The uniform was indeed different.

So that’s why he called her to the school gate.

About thirty minutes by bus or subway from here was the downtown area where shopping malls were concentrated, and that was the neighborhood where the wealthy lived. The private school nearby was famous for being attended by the children of Korea’s political and business elites for generations. There was once a rumor that Choi Seol was originally supposed to go there, but he ended up here because he caused some trouble.

Perhaps that was why the female student’s aura was quite different. Not only was she confident despite the gaze of the entire school, but she had a polished image, like a celebrity, making it obvious she was from a well-to-do family. Above all, she suited Choi Seol.

Choi Seol had his back turned, so I couldn’t see his expression, but he didn’t seem to dislike it. If he had hated it, he wouldn’t have stayed there in the first place.

“Hey, she’s crying.”

At that moment, the girl covered her small face with both hands and bowed her head. Her long hair, reaching down to her shoulders, fluttered in the wind. Then, Choi Seol moved. He stepped closer to the girl, took hold of her, and led her out through the school gate. In an instant, the two of them vanished like an autumn breeze. The silent campus slowly filled with buzzing chatter.

“What did we just see? Are they filming a [Read on Read BL Novels]movie? Oh! Maybe she’s the unauthorized copyfemale lead in the umbrella story?”

It was a plausible description and guess. I suppose scenes created by protagonists like that are what people call “movie-like.” A scene like the one Choi Seol and I shared on a rainy day could never become a movie.

I knew. Even if the truth came out that I was the protagonist who shared an umbrella with Choi Seol on a rainy day, no grand rumors would spread. At most, people would mistake us for friends, like the teacher did, or interest-driven rumors would circulate that I was Choi Seol’s shuttle. Even in the rumors, I could never be the person who loved Choi Seol, or his lover, even if I died and came back to life.

A dream beyond reach. I let out a hollow laugh. A man liking a man. I would be lucky if people didn’t find such feelings unpleasant or hateful. I, too, had nearly died trying to completely deny those feelings just a week ago. What I suffered that day wasn’t a simple cold. It was a severe fever of the heart.

“Wow, was that not a confession but a dating scene?”

Gyeong-ho clapped his hands, looking impressed.

“Choi Seol is really something. Dating a rich girl. Well, like attracts like. Is that rumor true? That Choi Seol is the illegitimate child of a chaebol family?”

I let out a scoff of disbelief.

“How old is that rumor? The most likely theory is that he’s the youngest son of a gangster family.”

“Eh, well… Gasp! What if it’s [stolen content]both? An only child born between the youngest daughter of [visit our site]a gangster family and the eldest son of a chaebol?”

“I’m going back in.”

“Hey, wait for me!”

Gyeong-ho quickly followed as I turned around.

“Ah, it’s hot, so hot. You should probably wear your summer uniform again starting tomorrow. This heat isn’t going away easily.”

“True.”

As Gyeong-ho said, the midday autumn weather still hadn’t shaken off the summer. The audience, having lost interest in the stage after the protagonists exited, were returning to their classrooms in groups. As expected, most were in summer uniforms. Even that girl had been wearing short sleeves. In this place that remained unchanged from that summer, I was the only one who had changed.

Even so, I didn’t think I could wear short sleeves again. I had been sick for three full days and suffered a heartache that felt like death for nearly four. After draining all my strength, the early morning air when I woke up was bitterly cold. I was sensitive to the cold, so I had no choice but to wear long sleeves. So I had to endure. And until a moment ago, I was confident that I could manage.

How foolish.

In this place where I was the only Read on Read BL Novelsone who had changed, I was also the only one stolen contentwho had to endure. Realizing this, I suddenly longed for a winter that would never come.

• Ah, residents of the village, this is just to inform you…

I woke up to the dawn wake-up call that had returned after a long time. I couldn’t even make a groaning sound anymore. I wasn’t a deep sleeper to begin with, and above all, Choi Seol’s dawn workouts were having a significant impact on me. I wondered if it was finally time for me to start exercising too.

Perhaps I was being brainwashed by Choi Seol’s tireless encouragement, but I found myself wondering if I should try working out whenever I woke up at dawn.

The problem was that the weather had turned cold in the meantime.

The dawn air hitting my bare skin was so chilly that I would shiver all night if I didn’t turn on the heating. Because of that, it was becoming even harder to crawl out from under the covers. Until recently, it had been pleasant enough to move around in the cool air, but I didn’t know what to do now that it was already like this.

I absolutely hated the cold. Should I give up on exercising after all? Or maybe since it’s moderately cool during the day, I could move a bit before sunset—no, that’s not right. I have to cook dinner in the evening, and it would be so tiring if I wasted my energy.

As I lay there in deep contemplation about exercising, a word caught my ear during the village head’s announcement.

• As you know, a typhoon is expected to pass through soon. It is predicted to arrive in our village around tonight, so each farm should prepare thoroughly to avoid any damage.

Come to think of it, I thought I saw an article on the internet last night saying a typhoon was coming.