Protect Yeoncheong!
After days of complaining about being lonely and bored, the bustling days had come and gone. Several more passed where she stayed in, focusing solely on her recovery.
In the quiet room, the black screen of her smartphone lit up on its own. The alarms she'd silenced for the past few days to concentrate on getting better seemed eager to make up for lost time.
But before the alarm could even ring, her hand was already reaching for the nightstand. A body that had done nothing but eat and sleep in bed was up before it knew it.
Yeoncheong naturally picked up her phone, checked the time, and stretched.
"Mmnngh..."
She locked her fingers together and reached both arms high into the air, then folded forward, pushing her hips back like a cat as she worked the stiffness out of her body.
*Maybe I should start getting ready.*
Sliding her pink-pajama-clad legs off the bed, Yeoncheong climbed down.
Today was December 25th.
Christmas—and also the day to finally celebrate Seoha's birthday, the one she'd kept putting off.
***
Because plans had already fallen through once on her account, a corner of Yeoncheong's heart still carried that guilt, and she left for the meeting spot far earlier than necessary.
The downtown shopping district was packed from morning onward. Yeoncheong glanced around, scanning her surroundings, and her steps quickened as she spotted a spot with fewer people passing through.
"Phew..."
With a sigh, she let out the fatigue that had settled in over the short walk.
Only after reaching a relatively deserted corner did she finally have the breathing room to look around. She'd assumed it was just crowded in general, but given the date, the streets seemed even more packed than usual.
For a moment, she wondered if she shouldn't have picked today of all days for their plans—winter break meant the crowds weren't just from her school.
Late December, and it wasn't only Yeoncheong's school on break. Couples and citizens filled the streets, and plenty of boys who looked about her age were among them.
At the sight, Yeoncheong gripped the strap of her crossbody bag—the one holding the presents—with both hands. Lately, even when she'd seen boys her own age, she'd been fine. She'd thought she was recovering faster than expected.
But that had been an illusion. Remembering how she'd flinched at the thought of even brushing against someone, Yeoncheong shook her head.
Trauma was trauma, whether or not Yeoncheong herself admitted it. Simply keeping her distance, it seemed, wouldn't solve the problem so easily.
Whenever she walked anywhere, her friends always glued themselves to her sides, which drove her crazy—never in her wildest dreams had she imagined she'd come to miss it.
But she couldn't exactly go around with a friend attached to her hip forever. She was mulling over the problem of men when reality struck her, utterly unprepared as she was.
"Excuse me."
"Y-yes...?"
Startled by the voice, Yeoncheong took a step back—then another—from a guy who looked, at most, like a college student.
"Are you, uh, here alone?"
"Ah... I, um..."
Her head whipped back and forth. Someone who flinched at the mere thought of physical contact while walking was hardly in any state to hold a conversation.
As Yeoncheong gaped and stammered, the man apparently decided he just had to push harder and grew bolder.
Are you alone? Do you have time? Can I get your number?
Salvation arrived for Yeoncheong, flustered by a situation like this for the very first time.
"Yeoncheong!"
From far off, Suyeon was waving and making her way over. As Yeoncheong's gaze turned, the persistent man's head turned with it. Seizing that split second, Yeoncheong ducked her head and slipped away.
The man stared after her, dumbfounded, while she grabbed Suyeon's hand and plunged into the sea of people.
Suyeon blinked at her friend's behavior. Usually it was Suyeon and the others who initiated the skinship. Yeoncheong reaching out first was practically unheard of.
"Yeoncheong. What happened?"
"Just... just hold my hand for a sec."
Tension was written all over her face, and their clasped hands were drenched in sweat.
Suyeon, who'd only come early to surprise her arriving friends, thought it through calmly. It looked like she'd been talking to a man just now. Yeoncheong would never have approached him first, so the situation was obvious enough.
"Yeoncheong, stay close. Must be because it's Christmas—there's so many people."
"...Yeah."
Instead of asking questions, Suyeon pressed close against her and simply waited for her friend to calm down.
***
The moment Suyeon and Yeoncheong joined the other three friends, they ducked into the nearest café. The streets were packed, and a badly rattled Yeoncheong needed unwinding.
Though not as loud as outside, the bustling café was noisy enough that a private conversation could be held without worry.
Nayun, stirring her drink with a straw, clicked her lips.
"Hey, Yeoncheong. Shouldn't you be seeing a doctor at this point?"
"Seriously. I knew you transferred to our school for a reason—I heard it from the Board Chairman—but I had no idea it was this bad."
Hasol, having just heard the story of what had happened, didn't differ much from Nayun in where she was going with this.
It was only thanks to the school's consideration—and only because it was an all-girls school—but no matter how specific her hypersensitivity was to boys her own age, she couldn't go on like this forever.
Seoha, sitting across the table, didn't say anything either. She simply watched the friend she loved with eyes full of worry.
But Yeoncheong shook her head vigorously, waving off their concern.
"It wasn't really scary or anything. It's just been so long since a guy my age talked to me that I got tense. And also..."
Yeoncheong realized her slip and shut her mouth.
But nothing whets a person's curiosity like a sentence cut off mid-thought.
"And also?"
Even with the café buzzing around them, her friends heard her perfectly well and waited for the rest.
Eight eyes stared straight at her, radiating an ironclad determination to hear the answer no matter what. Cursing her own thoughtless blabbering, Yeoncheong buried her head.
"If itsh you guysh, I'm finsh."
The words tumbled out of Yeoncheong's mouth like rapid fire.
Even her friends, ears straining, couldn't make that one out. They exchanged looks, asked each other if they'd caught it, and then all four pairs of eyes swung back to Yeoncheong.
"Yeoncheong, what was that?"
Or was it that she'd heard perfectly well the first time and was just too embarrassed, asking again to tease her?
It was exactly what she did whenever she was making fun of her. Yeoncheong lifted her head and glared.
"You guys are doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
"Well, how are we supposed to hear you when you mumble like that?"
"Ugh... uuuugh... One more time. I'm only saying it once."
This time Yeoncheong glanced around to check who was listening, then wet her lips. Apparently determined not to repeat herself a third time, she enunciated each syllable carefully.
"As long as I'm with you guys... I'm okay..."
Having said it, Yeoncheong dropped her gaze back to the table. At the shy confession, her friends pretended to busy themselves—sipping their drinks, looking around the café.
The one who said it regretted saying it; the ones who heard it regretted hearing it.
In the thick, awkward air, Yeoncheong spoke to the table.
"So I'm fine for now."
Honestly, she would have loved to down an ice-cold drink in one gulp and cool herself off, but what sat before her was the warm tea her friends had forced on her.
They absolutely refused to hand a cold drink to a girl who'd been fighting off a fever-and-chills bug just days ago.
Left with no choice, Yeoncheong took small sips of her still-steaming tea.
***
Since she was so firmly set in her ways, the matter was dropped, and the conversation turned to everyday things.
"Yeoncheong, now that I think about it—is that really the only coat you have?"
"Why? What's wrong with it?"
Yeoncheong tilted her head, glancing back at the jacket hanging on her chair.
"No, nothing's wrong with it, it just seems way too big, that's all."
"Of course it's big. I've had it since before."
The "before" Yeoncheong meant here carried a slightly different weight than when anyone else said it.
For most people, old clothes run too small, but for Yeoncheong, who used to be a boy, her old clothes were naturally too big.
"No wonder it looked oversized on you."
"It's barely a year old. It'd be a waste to throw it out."
"Just buy a new one. It's not like you're broke."
"Ugh. Would've been nice if you guys had actually recommended a proper winter coat back then."
The usual bickering between Yeoncheong and Nayun. Listening to it like background music, Hasol spoke up.
"Should we get going?"
"Yeah. Let's go grab some food."
Following Nayun's lead as she gathered the cups onto a tray, Yeoncheong and the others rose from their seats.
While the leftover drinks sloshed ambiguously with each of Nayun's steps, the warm tea that had touched Yeoncheong's lips hadn't moved a single drop—she'd scraped it down to the last drop.
Noticing this, Suyeon poked Yeoncheong in the side with a smirk.
"Complaining you wanted something sweet, then you finished the whole thing?"
"Obviously. It'd be a waste to leave any."
"...Huh. So *that's* how it is."
The oversized coat she wore because throwing it out would be a waste. The tea she drained to the bottom despite claiming she didn't even like it—and this from the girl who'd showered everyone with snacks on Pepero Day. When it came to things like this, Yeoncheong was remarkably thrifty.
*I wonder if she'd wear clothes if I just gave them to her as a gift...?*
Maybe if she just wrapped up something lewd, or a costume, and presented it as a present, Yeoncheong would put it on without complaint. As Suyeon harbored this wicked little scheme and dreamed of Yeoncheong's someday birthday—
"Ugh, sitting in here too long is suffocating. Let's go."
Nayun, having left her tray behind, shoved her waiting friends toward the door.
The moment Yeoncheong and her friends stepped out of the café, they had no choice but to halt.
"Whoa... aren't there even more people than before?"
Just as Nayun said, the shopping district had grown even more crowded as lunchtime approached.
Watching the sea of people, the friends' gazes naturally converged on a single point.
"Wh-what...?"
Without a word, Nayun took point in front. Suyeon pressed in flush on the left, Seoha flush on the right. Last of all, Hasol locked in the rear.
When question marks bloomed across the face of Yeoncheong—enclosed on all sides—Suyeon grinned beside her.
"How's that? Should be safe now, right?"
"You... you little...!"
Though nothing had been spelled out, she caught on instantly to the intent behind this formation.
There'd certainly be no repeat of this morning like this. The only problem was that Yeoncheong herself might die of embarrassment.
She couldn't tell if they were teasing her, from the way they grinned, or genuinely worried about her, and the confusion only compounded.
Still, something about this felt fundamentally wrong.
Her face burning scarlet, Yeoncheong squirmed and wriggled to break free, but with the space she could move in so narrow, she couldn't get any real leverage.
Worse, the tiniest movement meant her body pressed against her friends—which, for Yeoncheong, who fundamentally never initiated skinship first, amounted to a restraint if there ever was one.
Watching her flounder, Nayun giggled and shouted.
"Okay—protect Yeoncheong!"
"Protect! Protect!"
Even in the thickest crowd, a shouted chant guarantees that every passerby glances over at least once. Yeoncheong's eyes met those of passing citizens who looked around curiously at the commotion.
Her friends, thoroughly caught up in the fun, apparently felt no shame whatsoever and just kept laughing. Only Yeoncheong rebelled, futilely punching Nayun on the back right in front of her.
But as mentioned, without any real force behind it, all the rebellion amounted to was noise.
"You're all... you're all insane! I said knock it ooooff!"
But what could a rebellion that weak do against friends who'd already made up their minds?
When Nayun and Hasol fell into step with each other, the Yeoncheong caught between them began toddling along too, careful not to bump feet.
Head buried low, she murmured under her breath.
"First... first let's just get to the restaurant."
Right now, that was all Yeoncheong could manage.