Chapter 18: See You Later
"You…!"
Baek Haeun's face suddenly thrust right up to mine.
Her shampoo scent hit me like a wave, and at the same time, those pitch-black, intense eyes filled my entire field of vision.
The unexpected physical pressure and proximity made my face heat up.
"G-get… out of the way."
As I stammered in panic, Haeun twisted her lips into a smile and whispered coolly into my ear.
"Why should I?"
"What…?"
"I'm just doing what I want. You do what you want too, Woojin."
My heart pounded like mad.
Just a little while ago, Haeun had clearly lost interest in me.
At least… that's what I'd believed.
'…No way.'
Those deep, dark eyes—something eerie flickered in their depths.
Facing that chilling abyss sobered my dizzy head in an instant.
If I got caught up in this now, it was over.
I swallowed dryly, suppressed my rising panic, and forced a loathsome smile.
"Hah… fine?"
I grabbed Haeun's shoulders and shoved her back roughly.
"Wha…?"
She'd expected no resistance, so she lost her balance, stumbled back, and let out a dazed sound.
I brushed off the crumpled collar of my uniform and looked down at her coldly.
"You just told me to do what I want. So I did."
I left the frozen Haeun in the hallway and slipped inside, locking the door behind me.
Click.
The front door shut tight.
I leaned against it and slid down to the floor in the exact same pose she'd pushed me into earlier.
'Baek Haeun…'
I pressed a hand to my forehead, stroked my chin, and sank into deep thought.
A premonition that maybe I didn't even need to lift a finger—that she'd soon explode on her own, unable to contain her madness.
That's when I was lost in those cold musings, hand still on my chin.
"…Oppa. What are you doing there?"
"……!"
I didn't know when she'd come out of her room.
Suah looked down at me with a rotten expression, like she couldn't believe what she was seeing—me slumped by the shoe rack, propping my chin up like an idiot.
"……."
In that awful silence, I couldn't muster any excuse and just stared into space.
Dark room.
I sprawled on the bed, scrolling through a webnovel by the glow of my smartphone screen.
"Hah…."
Typical, clichéd yandere novel stuff.
The plot was always the same, enough to get boring, but it had this weird addictiveness I couldn't shake.
As I followed the manic lines on the screen, my mind naturally drifted back to that hallway scene a few hours ago.
'Baek Haeun.'
Those jet-black eyes shoving me against the door, that scent closing in.
Honestly… it felt good. Or at least, not bad at all.
It was the first time she'd shown raw physical possessiveness toward me—the girl who'd ignored me just recently.
In the darkness, I kept silent and let my lips curl into a long smirk.
'Honestly, she's perfectly ripe now.'
Exactly as I'd planned and cultivated.
A wounded, isolated childhood friend craving only me.
All I had to do was open my mouth and savor that sweet fruit… damn it, but things weren't going my way.
'Yu Jiwon. If I can just clean her up neatly…'
She hadn't been useless.
But now, she'd turned into nothing but an obstacle.
"Hah… getting annoying."
I irritably swept back my bangs.
'Maybe on Monday at school, I should just tell her we're done.'
Blackmail or whatever—now that Haeun was fully mine, it was a gamble worth the risk.
Knock, knock, knock.
As I pondered my next move, there was a knock at the door.
"Woojin."
It was Mom.
I replied half-heartedly without looking up from my phone.
"What?"
"Have you been talking to Haeun lately?"
"No."
My short, firm answer barely landed before the door flew open.
"Aigoo, you kid~!"
Smack—!!
"Ow!"
Mom burst in and delivered a stinging smack to my back.
The sharp crack left a burning trail down my spine.
I curled up in protest and glared at her.
"Hey, why'd you hit me!"
"She's right next door— at least say hi when you see her! Ask how she's doing! What's wrong with you? I saw Haeun earlier; she looked like she wanted to come over again!"
Mom had clearly already picked Haeun as her daughter-in-law.
"Acting all cold like that— how do you expect to get married someday?! Geez!"
"Ugh, leave me alone…! I'll handle it, you're so annoying…."
As I snapped and pulled the blanket over my head, Mom gave my back one more whack and clicked her tongue.
"Sigh, won't study when you should, just lying around staring at your phone. I'm so worried~!"
After unloading her nagging barrage, Mom finally shut the door and headed back to the living room.
"Hoo…."
Room quiet again.
I half-pushed off the blanket and stared blankly at the ceiling.
'Mom has no idea. I'm going crazy because things aren't going my way either—what am I supposed to do?'
I pressed my throbbing temples and closed my eyes to chase away the fatigue.
Creeeak—
Sometime later, the door cracked open silently.
I felt the faint presence but kept my eyes shut.
I knew who it was without looking, from the sneaky footsteps.
"……."
"……."
The presence reached the bedside, paused as if catching its breath.
"Hyah!!"
Thud—!!
"Gahk…!!"
Lee Suah suddenly launched herself from nowhere, slamming mercilessly into my unguarded solar plexus.
Straddling my stomach, she cackled and pinched my nose hard.
"Hey… y-you, Lee Suah…! Wanna die for real?!"
I writhed in pain and swatted her arm away.
"G-get off… seriously… or you're dead…."
"Nuh-uh~ Too lazy. Oppa's bed's so comfy."
"Ah, shit. Not moving? Counting to three. I'll really smack you."
My harsh warning didn't faze Suah at all.
She just pouted and rolled around lazily on my stomach.
"Pfft~ You always just threaten. Oppa, this is domestic violence, you know?"
"…What the hell. You crazy bitch."
I bucked my hips seriously to throw her off, and she finally tumbled to the floor.
"Argh, you're so damn annoying!"
Looking thrilled at getting me riled up, she bolted toward the door, sticking out her tongue.
"Meow~!"
She flung the door wide and yelled desperately toward the living room.
"Mommm!! Oppa hit me again!!"
[Hah… Woojin and his sister, always fighting… what am I gonna do with him!]
Deep sigh from Mom in the living room.
Framed as the villain in my room, I punched the wall.
"Tch."
Irritated, I clicked my tongue and pulled the crumpled blanket back over me.
Then, as if nothing happened, I picked up my phone from the floor and resumed the novel where I'd left off.
Lazy weekend morning.
A short buzz from my phone pierced my light sleep; I scowled and cracked my eyes open.
The sender on the screen: Yu Jiwon.
"Hah…."
I let out a deep, annoyed sigh at the morning text.
I could guess what was coming.
Another full day catering to her whims—shopping, cafes, dragged around. Exhausting future vivid in my mind.
"Too annoying…."
I closed the screen and pulled the blanket over my head again.
No harm in delaying a reply; I'd sleep a bit more, wake up, and brush it off vaguely.
When I opened my eyes again from that sweet escape, the clock showed exactly one hour later.
Screen on: two missed calls, one new text.
'…She's so persistent.'
I sensed today was a lost cause for my own time.
I scratched my messy hair and called her.
The signal barely rang once before she picked up.
"Hello."
[Uh, Woojin…!]
"Sorry, just woke up… saw it now."
At my dry apology, I could almost feel Jiwon shaking her head frantically on the other end.
[N-no! You were sleeping… You got time today, right?]
"…Yeah."
Truth be told, I didn't want to go out, but after she'd waited an hour hanging on my response, I couldn't just ghost her.
Plus, she was a time bomb holding my secret—better to play nice than risk setting her off.
"Getting ready. See you later."
I dragged my heavy body to the bathroom.