episode_0326

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“Dabin, are you mad?”

“Mad? Why would I be mad? What did I even do?”

“No, it’s just… You seemed upset.”

“I’m not mad. …Well, maybe a little annoyed.”

“Ah…”

“Like I said earlier, Hayoon. While you were resting, the others kept clinging to me and dragging things out.”

There was still a long way to go before lunchtime. On the way back to the training hall.

Hayoon, who seemed to genuinely think I was angry, stuck close to me, and we chatted about this and that.

Did I really look that upset?

No way.

I was sure I kept my expression as neutral as possible.

Even the involuntary frowns—I tried hard to smooth them out.

And it’s not like I said anything to Seo Woojin either.

Honestly, I did have a few things I wanted to say, but I held back, didn’t I?

I didn’t ignore his greeting, didn’t say a word—just grabbed his wrist and pulled him along.

…At most, that was it.

And when he kept making clueless comments about wanting to consult with me too, I just told him to snap out of it. Other than that, I didn’t do anything.

Yet Hayoon still asked if I was mad.

Maybe it’s just my face.

I absentmindedly pressed my fingertip against the outer corner of my eye, rubbing it as I walked.

…Well, of course.

Not that it’d change anything.

“Anyway, Lee Hayoon. I’m exhausted, so hurry up and go get chewed out by them too.”

“Ugh… I’m starting to struggle with handling them all too…”

“The rumor’s already spread that you’ve been handing out business cards to people. Just give up.”

“It’s all just baseless gossip…”

My sharp eyes.

The kind guys really like.

…The kind my boyfriend likes.

Not that I’d ever have a sweet, innocent puppy face like Hayoon’s.

326

Maybe I really did come off as too harsh to Seol Dabin.

After ringing the call bell, I returned to the infirmary. After treating one student, I leaned back in my chair and let my thoughts wander.

Now that I think about it, even in the last text I got from her, I could faintly sense the anger simmering beneath the words.

Something like, “Since Hayoon seems to like you, I’ll just watch for now—” or something along those lines. That was roughly the gist of the message.

I did think, “Isn’t it a bit much for just a friend to interfere this much?” but it wasn’t something I couldn’t understand.

From all the accounts I’d heard, Seol Dabin was, at her core, a good person.

She probably just didn’t want her close friend hanging around someone bad.

I could guess that much.

The only problem was…

“…”

The fact that Seol Dabin was that kind of “good” person meant…

There was no opening for me to approach her now.

Maybe I should at least show my face around her more often.

I reached out, grabbed a coffee mix from the corner of the desk, and pressed the button on the electric kettle.

Of course, I knew well enough that just showing up often wasn’t the answer.

There had to be some basic level of goodwill first—what’s the point of seeing someone you dislike all the time?

Just thinking back to how Yozora used to annoy me was proof enough.

…So, before showing my face more often…

I should work on building a slightly better image.

From a trashy guy who jumps from girl to girl…

To someone who, while still trashy, has plenty of other redeeming qualities.

One thing that bothered me was whether that would even be enough to slowly edge my way into Seol Dabin’s daily life.

But there was no helping it.

Starting from rock bottom meant I couldn’t afford to be picky.

As I poured hot water into the paper cup filled with coffee powder and sugar, I mulled it over and wondered—what if I subtly let it slip in front of the students that I was dating Lee Hayoon?

Then, if I played the part of a decent boyfriend around Hayoon…

And if Seol Dabin saw that a few times…

Once her opinion of me improved a little…

There might be a 0.1% chance.

That I could become someone she could talk to comfortably.

Complain about her boyfriend.

Exchange little bits of gossip—that kind of relationship.

Or, well, if I got lucky, maybe even make her carry a little emotional baggage like I’d thought before.

But that was relying too much on luck.

—Knock knock

Just as I was carefully sipping the scalding-hot coffee, a brisk knocking sound came from the door.

The force behind it suggested it was probably a guy.

Could it really be Seol Dabin’s boyfriend? …Yeah, right.

Even I knew that was wishful thinking. Telling them to come in, I saw a face with deep wrinkles peeking through the door.

Seok Jaehwa. The muscular old man with proudly slicked-back white hair.

Unlike usual, he wore a deeply troubled expression, which was surprising.

Maybe a relative was seriously ill, and he’d come to ask for my help.

Either way, it was a familiar request, and given his seniority, I set my coffee down and asked:

“What brings you here, Principal?”

“Ah, Teacher Woojin. Good to see you. I’ll keep it brief… Actually, I’m not here for treatment. There’s something else I’d like to ask of you.”

I swallowed the urge to say, “I could tell just by your face.”

“Since you came to me, I assume it’s something related to an illness.”

“Yes, exactly. As the principal, I shouldn’t say this, but… There’s a student I’m particularly fond of, and… Well, they just won’t listen, so I came myself.”

“Won’t listen…?”

“They clearly look unwell, but they keep refusing to come down for treatment, insisting they’re fine. Saying they just need some medicine.”

I’d seen cases like this before.

Some people refused healing from transcendent healers, convinced there had to be some invisible cost for abilities that defied logic.

Whether you called it an overactive imagination or just plain stupidity…

This was probably another one of those cases.

“Then I’ll go see them myself. If they still refuse, well… It’s their choice.”

After a sip of coffee, I stood up before the conversation dragged on.

The coffee would cool by the time I got back, but that didn’t matter.

Still, there was one thing missing before I left.

One question.

“Who is the student, Principal?”

“Ah, Baek Seoyeon. A third-year. She’s been working tirelessly since her first year, all the way up to becoming student council president now…”

“…”

“If you go up to the student council room now, you’ll find her right away.”

After asking, I hesitated for a moment before nodding.

…If it was just her heat cycle, she could’ve just come to me.

Was she really sick but avoiding me?

Or was it something else?

I couldn’t tell.

Creak.

The sound of a marker sliding across a whiteboard followed me as I climbed the stairs to the fourth floor.

After glancing around the hallway, I finally spotted a small plaque in the distance labeled “Student Council Room.”

Back in my school days, the student council was just a bunch of kids handing out hamburgers, but here, it seemed like they actually did something. The atmosphere was different.

It felt less like a regular classroom entrance and more like the area outside the principal’s office.

Especially since it was isolated from other facilities like this.

With idle thoughts out of the way, I reached for the doorknob but stopped and knocked lightly instead.

Not out of courtesy, but…

Because I was curious about how Baek Seoyeon would react.

“…Come in.”

I’d expected such a casual response from a second-year underling, but…

The crisp sound of knocking was followed by a familiar voice.

The only odd thing was that, as I’d heard earlier, her voice did sound a bit strained.

Now that I’d confirmed it, I turned the knob and stepped inside.

The first thing that caught my eye was a large rectangular table, big enough for several people to sit around.

Stacks of unidentified documents suggested this wasn’t just a group that handed out hamburgers.

Ah, the sofa by the window—was that the one Baek Seoyeon had mentioned before?

That thought was quickly followed by the sight of a girl with pale blue hair slumped over the table.

As I pulled up a nearby chair and sat down, her shoulders, which had been tense and still, twitched slightly.

Come to think of it, there were no other students in the room.

“What are you doing?”

“…”

No answer.

For a second, I considered grabbing her hand to startle her, but I held back.

It was true that Baek Seoyeon and I had gotten much closer over the past few days, but that didn’t necessarily mean she’d laugh it off if I deliberately tried to provoke her heat cycle.

Still…

In the silent student council room, with just the two of us sitting there…

I couldn’t help but feel mischievous.

Maybe some of Yozora’s bad habits…

Had rubbed off on me.

Instead of touching her bare skin, I let my fingers brush over her clothes as I spoke.

“The principal came to see me earlier. Said you were sick but refusing to go to the infirmary.”

“…”

“Where does it hurt? Did you catch a cold?”

“…Nn…”

The crisp, white fabric of her school blouse.

The moment my hand rested on her wrist, she stiffened—which was pretty amusing.

I let my hand trail up her arm, over her forearm, to her shoulder, just to see her reaction.

The way she squirmed was cute, so I let my fingers drift lower.

…To the sensitive spot below her ribs.

Or the soft weight of her breasts.

Or the edge of her skirt-covered thighs.

If I kept touching her like this…

You’d have no choice.

But to open your mouth.

“…”

“You up?”

As expected, Baek Seoyeon was the first to raise the white flag.

When she turned her head toward me, her pale blue eyes locked onto mine as I rested my chin on my hand.

…My fingers, still on her body, traced the strap of her bra before my thumb brushed over her breast.

Instead of telling me to stop like any normal person would…

She just…

Stared.

“…Shouldn’t you be telling me to take my hands off you by now?”

“…We’ve already had sex. Do you really think something like this would feel like harassment?”

“So you did think of it as harassment.”

“If it were any other guy… …I’d have reported them to the police, obviously.”

“What about that vice president who follows you around? People like him?”

“…Wouldn’t it be easier to just say ‘everyone but you’?”

“…That makes me feel kinda good.”

“But that doesn’t mean you can just keep… …touching me… You never said I could…”

Yet before long, her voice grew damp, and I pulled my hand away, chastised.

Still leaning playfully on my hand, I met her gaze and cut straight to the point.

“The principal said you seemed sick. Is it true? That’s why I’m here.”

“…”

Her already flushed cheeks darkened further.

Objectively speaking, she looked like someone running a high fever, but…

I couldn’t help it.

Even if she didn’t say it, I couldn’t stop thinking about how we’d had sex over and over just days ago.

Finally sitting up awkwardly, Baek Seoyeon spoke in a small voice.

“…It’s not that I’m sick, it’s… …um…”

“…”

“…Never mind. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“You know saying that just makes me worry more, right?”

“Really, it’s fine… You don’t have to…”

“Then I’ll just check your temperature. It’s fine if I don’t touch you directly, right? Stay still.”

“Nn…”

Pressing my hand against her forehead through the thin fabric, I felt a faint warmth.

But it was just that—faint. Roughly around normal body temperature.

If she had a real fever, this flimsy fabric wouldn’t have been enough to mask it.

Just as I started checking for any visible injuries on her exposed skin—

Baek Seoyeon let out a deep sigh, loud enough to hear, before parting her lips.

“I’ll… tell you later. Right now, it’s a bit… difficult. After classes are over, I’ll explain… So for now, just go…”

Frustrating as it was…

Somehow…

Her voice sounded on the verge of tears, embarrassed.