SMW 51

Choi Seol cut the senior off again and looked at me, and in response, my answer hurried out.

“I have to go. But….”

“Since that’s the case, if you’ve given what needs to be given, I should be going now. They say a typhoon is coming soon, so you should get moving too.”

Did his skill in cutting people off peak today? Regardless, such a blatant order to leave directed at a senior—this sharp reaction from Choi Seol was something I had never seen while we lived together, and it surprised even me.

Actually, there were a few times like that in high school. Most of the time it was directed at others, but there was one time he did it to me. Just as an old memory began to creep up and make my chest feel tight for the first time in a while, the senior called my name.

“Yeo-reum. It really feels like it’s been a long time.”

“…….”

The senior’s poignant appearance actually snapped me back to my senses. Managing my expression as best as I could, I spoke to Choi Seol.

“Go inside first. I’ll see the senior off and then head in.”

I thought he would readily agree, but instead, Choi Seol’s expression hardened frighteningly. As I watched him anxiously, Choi Seol brushed past me and spoke as if in passing.

“Come back quickly.”

As I stood there unable to take my eyes off Choi Seol’s receding back, my name was called once more.

“Yeo-reum.”

In all my life, I had never met anyone who called my name as affectionately as that man did. There was a time when that alone made me feel loved by the whole world, and I loved it. Perhaps because it was the thing I wanted most but could never truly have, I might have craved it like a form of psychological compensation.

“Senior. Why did you come here?”

But not anymore. Like Choi Seol, he was someone I had once been passionate about, but after it passed, he had simply become a memory.

In short, an ex-boyfriend—nothing more, nothing less. I gazed at him indifferently. I wanted to ask this man: why on earth are you standing in front of me?

No matter how close a senior-junior relationship was, it wasn’t easy to spontaneously drive for several hours. The documents were just an excuse.

“Yeo-reum, I missed you.”

I didn’t even waver at those words. I simply looked at the senior indifferently. It was the sky that wavered instead. Before I knew it, the beautiful sunset had vanished, and a heavy, cloud-filled darkness was rolling in. The sound of the wind bleakly sweeping through the rice fields beat against my ears. The typhoon was already beginning.

「This is Han Yeo-reum. He’s the closest friend Seol has in class.」

Why is it that a bad premonition is never wrong?

I should have known from the moment the homeroom teacher kept telling me to get close to Choi Seol. No, perhaps the beginning of my Read on Read BL Novelsmisfortune was when I threw my friend’s umbrella into the creek. If I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have ended up covering Gyeong-ho’s cleaning duty, and I wouldn’t have been pushed by the homeroom teacher in [Read on Read BL Novels]the parking lot while going to throw out the trash to face some middle-aged man wearing glasses.

「Hello, Yeo-reum.」

「……Hello.」

「Right. I heard you’re close with Seol?」

Who on earth was he? Maybe Choi Seol’s father? No, he looked too young for that. At most, this man looked to be in his mid-thirties?

However, he had a polished impression like someone you’d see in a drama, and the suit he was wearing looked far more expensive than the ones my wealthiest uncle on my mother’s side wore. Suddenly, various rumors about Choi Seol’s family background flashed through my mind.

「Who are you?」

Rather than suffering in silence, I decided to just ask openly. Thinking this much would be fine, I asked as innocently as possible, and an answer came immediately.

「I am someone who helps Seol’s father with his work.」

Phew, so he wasn’t the father after…

「You help with his work?」

「Yes. My original profession is a lawyer.」

It was a convincing profession, and I let out a low exclamation. At that moment, the homeroom teacher, who for some reason seemed impatient, cut in.

「Seol is so popular that he gets along well with kids from other classes too, but since they’re in the same class, it seems he takes quite good care of Yeo-reum. I heard he even lent him a book recently, right?」

For the reference, the homeroom teacher was the Korean language teacher. I had no choice but to nod at the sentence constructed from a bit of lies and a lot of truth. At that, the man’s smile deepened.

「I see. Then, Yeo-reum, could I ask you for one favor?」

No, please don’t.

「What… kind of favor?」

「Could you deliver this to Seol for me?」

The man took a white envelope out of a briefcase that looked as expensive as his suit and handed it to me. It felt burdensome. I felt as if the moment I accepted it, I would be crossing a river of no return. I took a step back and waved my hand.

「No, I…」

「Yeo-reum. You should quickly accept things given by adults.」

The teacher took the documents from the man and pressed them into the hand I had raised to refuse. I looked back and forth between the homeroom teacher and the man with vacant eyes. This shouldn’t be happening.

「Can’t the teacher just deliver it directly?」

「Seol left school early today because of something at home.」

Damn, that was right. Not just today, but recently, I hadn’t seen Choi Seol stay at school until the afternoon.

「Then why can’t Choi Seol’s father give it to him directly at home?」

This time, the man wore a troubled expression.

「Seol’s father is very busy with a lot of work. So, it’s almost impossible for him to deliver this personally.」

It was nonsense. My parents were also very busy with dual incomes. Even so, they came home eventually at night; if he was so busy he couldn’t even do that, couldn’t he just leave it in Choi Seol’s room? As I stood there blankly with a face that showed I couldn’t understand at all, the man leaned down slightly to meet my eyes.

「Yeo-reum. These documents are very important. So you must deliver them directly to Choi Seol. I would like you to be the one to do it.」

Strangely, I felt a sense of pressure emanating from his consistently kind smile. It felt as if something terrible would happen if I didn’t listen. It was scary. It was the moment my theory about Choi Seol’s birth shifted toward him being the youngest son of a mob boss.

So it ended up like this.

I trudged out of the school gates, looking down at the white envelope in my hand. This single light piece of paper felt like it weighed a ton. In my heart, I wanted to pretend it was a mistake and throw it on the ground, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It wasn’t just because the glint of the man’s glasses had been scary. It was because he said it was important to Choi Seol.

No matter how I looked at it, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary white envelope. The important part was probably the contents inside. What on earth could it be? I couldn’t understand with my common sense what a father would need to send his child through a lawyer. Is their relationship not very good? If the father is a mobster and the son disapproves of it, that could be it… No. Why do I keep thinking Choi Seol is a mobster’s son?

I shook my head from side to side and looked back at the envelope. Actually, that wasn’t the only reason I was troubled. Since summer had passed, it had been ages since I had properly faced and talked to Choi Seol. We exchanged greetings occasionally, but even then, it ended because I was the one who avoided him first.

There was the anxiety that my feelings for Choi Seol might be discovered, but it was also true that I had hoped that by continuing to reduce our points of contact, my feelings would fade away. However, that part actually had the opposite effect.

Honestly, I was reaching my limit. If I had fallen for him just by looking at his face, that would be one thing, but my feelings weren’t filled by that alone. Facing him, talking to him, and very occasionally feeling his body heat—that was how I had seeped into Choi Seol during the summer.

In short, I was greedy.

That’s why I was inwardly glad that such an excuse had arisen. No, I was actually very excited. I hugged the envelope preciously and resumed my steps after a brief pause.

Anyway, how should I deliver this?

There was the option of giving it at school tomorrow, but then I’d have to worry about other people’s eyes. Gyeong-ho wouldn’t just let it slide, either.

Would it be better to just go to his house? The homeroom teacher had written down the address, but I hadn’t looked at it properly yet.

Honestly, I felt I should avoid this method, even using the excuse that I didn’t know the address. It would be different if I had no feelings for Choi Seol, but I had ulterior motives. Putting myself in his shoes, if someone who liked me found out my home address and visited, I think it would be beyond burdensome—it would be unpleasant.

So that’s out. I guess I have no choice but to give it at school.

I stared at the envelope and let out a deep sigh. It can’t be helped. If I can just see his face and exchange a few words, that’s enough. Let’s not be too greedy. In fact, if we talked for too long, I might reveal my feelings.

Once I made the decision, my heart felt much lighter. It was then that I looked up. Before I knew it, a traffic light appeared before me. And it was green. I looked across. As expected, it was in the direction of the creek. Since some time ago, it felt as if that green light was truly sending me some kind of signal. It was as if it were tempting me, saying that if I crossed here, I would find what I wanted.

Without long deliberation, just as I had in the summer and on rainy days, my feet moved forward first. I ran straight to the creek. By the time I was out of breath, the strong scent of water hit me. It was just as I leaned on my knees to catch my breath after descending to the creek.

「Han Yeo-reum?」

When I looked up, a red rose—rarely seen in autumn—was swaying in the wind before my eyes. The red was so intense against the fading landscape that I couldn’t take my eyes off it for a while. And when I finally met Choi Seol’s surprised eyes, the breath I had barely managed to catch was blocked again.

「Choi Se… ugh!」

As I suddenly jerked my upper body up, a sharp pain stabbed my side, and my waist buckled downward again.

「What’s wrong?」

「No, my side just cramped.」

Because I had sprinted at full speed without any preparation, the aftereffects were no joke. Still, I had to straighten my back quickly. In my haste, I clutched my side and tried to look up again, but a hand was placed on top of my head. Even though he wasn’t pressing down with force, I couldn’t move an inch while bent over.

「Stay like that for a moment. It might hurt again if you get up suddenly, so take three deep breaths and come up slowly.」

「U-uh. Okay.」

Following Choi Seol’s words, I took three breaths and slowly raised my upper body. As if controlling my movements, Choi Seol’s hand remained on my head until I had fully stood up. I had thought this before, but his hands were really large.

「Are you okay now?」

「Yeah.」

「Good job.」

The hand that had been on my head lightly ruffled my hair and moved away. It felt strange, as if he were cooing at a small child. I thought it felt good, but I didn’t know why a part of my heart felt sorrowful. But that wasn’t the real problem.