The Clueless Ones (2)
It was an absolute circus.
Slime residue clung stubbornly if you didn't wipe it off with care, so cleaning it alone was no easy job. And yet Serena had cheerfully handed that duty off to Junhyuk—and Junhyuk had just as cheerfully accepted it—leaving me in pure agony.
"Philin. If it's that bad, why don't you just go hide in the bushes or something?"
Was that seriously his idea of a solution? I answered Junhyuk's absurd suggestion with nothing but a frigid glare.
Sowon, who was never going to take that well, let out a hollow laugh and rounded on me exactly as expected.
"Is wiping off a pair of horns such a grand affair that you have to go hide somewhere no one can see?"
That was my line. Thanks to Junhyuk's useless comment, Sowon—who already hated how close the two of us looked—had gone even more prickly.
Strictly speaking, this is your fault, you know. Other people I can understand, but you of all people should just stay quiet.
The words burned on my tongue, but I swallowed them. If I picked a fight with Sowon, my whole plan—to play matchmaker between the two of them and then quietly step aside—would fall apart. And then Junhyuk's affection meter would skyrocket straight toward me. That plotline was firmly declined. So while I was still fretting over how to defuse the situation—
Serena, unprompted, launched into an explanation.
"Sowon. Um, look. This is something we should be understanding about."
"Serena. Wait—"
"The truth is, those horns are like a love signature between the two of them. An affection switch, sort of…"
"Hey!!"
I bellowed, and only then did Serena flinch with a little eep and clamp her mouth shut. But Sowon's face had already gone ice-cold.
"A love… what?"
"That's not—"
"An affection switch?"
"No…"
"Didn't you both clearly insist you weren't anything to each other?"
I'm not dating him. I have zero intention of dating him. So why does this misunderstanding keep snowballing? I almost wanted to crack my chest open and show Sowon my heart. I genuinely hoped she and Junhyuk would work out. That was the truth.
"Ah…. So you two were dating in secret?"
If there were a spell for sewing someone's mouth shut, I would have slapped it on Serena's lips that instant. Had she split her sense of tact in half along with the slime and killed it? Every word out of her mouth was a bomb.
"Not in secret. Not dating. Please stop saying weird things."
I clamped both hands over Serena's mouth before she could babble anything else and poured a stream of silent curses into her with my eyes. Only then did she seem to realize something had gone wrong; her eyes went round and she nodded.
Watching the whole farce, Sowon let out a thin sigh and stepped toward me.
"I'll clean the horns for you. It's partly my responsibility anyway…"
"Wha—?! Hold on!"
That was even worse! I crossed my arms into an X and backed away, and Sowon's expression twisted again.
"What is it this time? Is there a reason I can't wipe them either?"
"No, it's not that…"
"I think me cleaning them would make the best picture. Don't you?"
I tried imagining it for a second.
I knew sensitivity varied from person to person, but I still had no idea what the criteria were. If—and this was a big if—Sowon touching both horns unleashed the same kind of jolt as Junhyuk's hands…
Absolutely not!
I would be kicking my blankets for the rest of my life. I could already picture how mercilessly that silver fox would roast me.
So that scenario had to be stopped at all costs. But then how was I supposed to get these things clean?
"You're so frustrating, honestly!"
While I was still agonizing, Sowon darted in and seized both horns at once.
"Whoa?!"
I flinched hard, shoulders jerking as I braced for the rush of sensation. Serena and Junhyuk both went wide-eyed for their own reasons, staring at my horns.
But thankfully—
"…Huh?"
Nothing happened.
Just like when I grabbed them myself, no stimulation came through at all.
Sowon conjured a hair-dryer-level blast of heat in her palm, melted the slime residue off the horns, and brushed it away. Then she fixed me with a look of pure pity and demanded,
"Is that really so difficult and impressive? Difficult enough that you have to go hide in the bushes?"
I had nothing to say. I hung my head. Maybe I should have at least pretended something had happened.
But making a lewd face in front of that silver fox was absolutely off the table. Humiliation play was not my kink.
Sowon folded her arms and looked back and forth between me and Junhyuk.
"Stop the deception and just say it straight."
"Huh? Say what…?"
"No. Asking Miss Philin is pointless at this point. I can't trust her."
Disaster. I'd been walking the tightrope between them, trying to fade into the background like an extra—and now Sowon was staring me down with ice in her eyes before shifting her gaze to Junhyuk.
"Tell me. The two of you. What are you to each other?"
The voice interrogating Junhyuk trembled, just slightly. That proud gaze had lost its chill and was wavering with unease.
Please don't say what I think you're going to say—I could almost hear the words ringing in my ears.
Junhyuk only looked at her with that indifferent face and said nothing.
The silent standoff stretched on. Sowon, unable to take it anymore, was about to open her mouth with an irritated expression when—
Junhyuk suddenly strode straight toward me.
He was a full head taller. When he came right up and looked down, I shrank a little without meaning to.
"…What."
The word had barely left my mouth in a surly mutter when—
Junhyuk gently set his hand against my cheek.
Before I could even gasp, he brought his lips in.
To mine.
Peck.
And in the same instant, my hand flew up on pure reflex.
Crack.
I slapped Junhyuk across the face like a thunderbolt.
Everything had happened so fast that I, Junhyuk, and Sowon all froze solid.
"Uh, um…"
Serena was the first to claw her way out of the panic. She spoke carefully.
"As expected…. Martial artists really do have impact."
At the same time, the reality of the situation settled over Sowon. Her face hardened by degrees, and then tears began to well in those deep, wide eyes.
I was flooded with bewilderment and, on top of it, crushing guilt toward Sowon.
When I do it, it's impact. When someone else watches, isn't it just NTR? Or wait—in this situation, is it NTL? Anyway, that isn't the point.
I felt like the lead in some trashy love-and-war drama who'd just stolen someone's partner right in front of them. Sowon looked at me with exactly that kind of eyes, then turned and vanished.
"I see…. Fine. I understand perfectly."
I reached after her retreating back, but there was nothing I could do, so I had to let my hand fall. Even if I called her back, what would I say?
"What the hell were you thinking…"
Words that couldn't comfort anyone turned into pure anger and accusation aimed at Junhyuk. Even Serena seemed to have some sense of self-preservation this time; she muttered, "Don't fight too much," and edged carefully away.
Once she was far enough—
"Have you completely lost your mind? Huh?!"
I shoved Junhyuk in the chest and shouted.
"What's the problem?"
"What's the problem? So you're saying you did great?"
"The person I like is you. I don't care about Lim Sowon in the slightest. Isn't this better than dancing around it forever?"
If only he couldn't talk. The way he picked everything apart only made me angrier.
"That's not what matters right now."
"Then what is the problem?"
"You used me!"
I snapped in a sharp, furious voice. The empty dungeon rang with the echo.
"You like me, and you don't care about Lim Sowon? Fine. Great. Wonderful."
"Then what—"
"What about my opinion?!"
Junhyuk's face finally hardened.
"Is that the only way you know how to show affection? I don't like you. I don't feel even a little bit of romantic interest! Before you pull a stunt like that, shouldn't you have thought about how I would feel?"
Very regrettably, what had just happened was the first kiss of my life.
And first-kiss memories are vivid enough that you can bring them up with anyone for the rest of your days.
It had been disgusting and revolting.
"You touch my horns a few times and think that makes you something special? You just used me to show off in front of Sowon. You get that?"
"No. I never meant—"
"Your intentions don't matter at all. Because that's already what happened!"
I was so furious I didn't spare a single thought for what Junhyuk might do to me. I just knew this was wrong.
Guilt and rage over having been dragged—against my will—into something that should never have happened swelled until I thought my head would split.
"I'm sorry."
"You piece of trash. Don't talk to me."
I couldn't even stand looking at his face anymore. I left Junhyuk standing there, frozen mid-reach at the words piece of trash, and walked straight for the dungeon exit.
Whatever warmth I'd felt was gone. If he dared show up at my house uninvited again—
I was calling the cops.