Heading Home (1)
The lights were off, and the faint light filtering in from outside was just barely enough to make out the silhouettes of the people in front of me. It was an unusually dark night. Seo-rin and Da-on were huddled together, while I, naturally, was keeping my distance.
"Ughhh..."
It was freezing. Spring nights were still pretty chilly. Being so lightly dressed made it hard to tough it out. The girls were at least sticking together, so they seemed better off than me... Damn, I was jealous! I wanted to squeeze in between them! Honestly, it was so cold I wasn't even having weird thoughts.
"Oppa, you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine..."
She noticed and checked on me first. What an angel! But what could I do if I wasn't fine? There was no solution.
"If you're fine... wanna come over here?"
Da-on nailed exactly what I wanted.
"What...?"
"Jeong Da-on, what the hell are you saying all of a sudden?!"
As expected, it wasn't something they'd discussed, and Seo-rin was freaking out. I'd hoped for a second, but no dice.
"No, I'm good..."
I started to refuse, but Da-on jumped in to persuade an unenthusiastic Seo-rin.
"Unnie, can't you see Oppa shivering over there from the cold?"
"N-no... but still... this is..."
She's going this far? For me?
"You think Oppa would do anything weird? Right, Oppa? Unnie knows he's not that kind of guy."
"Y-yeah..."
"He totally looks like he'd try something..."
What the hell does she mean by that? What does she think I am? ...Though she might be spot on. I couldn't exactly deny it. Even if I had no intention at first, if the opportunity arose, I'd want to get handsy!
"If we all huddle together, we can definitely sleep without freezing!"
"......"
Seo-rin went silent. Did that actually convince her? Han Seo-rin, so you do have a heart after all!
"F-fine...! But... if you do anything weird, you die and then I die!"
"W-what would I even do..."
I shelved any lingering thoughts... Why were images of my head burning off from those monsters popping into my mind? If I tried anything stupid, I might actually die for real.
I crept over slowly, and Da-on shifted to the side, leaving the middle spot open for me. She wanted me right in the center? I glanced at Seo-rin's face. Arms crossed tight, eyes shut. She seemed okay...?
I sat in the middle, careful not to touch either side. Whew... Why was I so nervous about this? Just sleep already...
"Oppa, scoot closer. What's the point if we're not actually huddling?"
"Uh, huh...?"
As I moved, Da-on nudged me with her hip from the side. My shoulder accidentally brushed Seo-rin's. I looked over in surprise, but thankfully, she didn't react much.
Oh, this level was okay?
"Oppa, your arm."
"Why my arm?"
Da-on draped my arm over her neck. My heart stopped. Why was she so casual about personal space? Was she always like this? It wasn't my intention, but if my hand slipped down just a bit, it'd be on Da-on's chest. What the hell was this situation?! I froze like a statue. I couldn't move.
But why wasn't she reacting at all? Did she not notice? Or did she not see me as a guy? I'd been rejected before, so maybe she had no confidence... I looked at Da-on. She was leaning on my shoulder, eyes closed. Hard to tell if she was asleep. Maybe I could go a little further? Just touch and die gloriously? I agonized over that for a solid hour—no exaggeration. Do it? Don't? I dragged it out so long I eventually passed out from exhaustion.
A quiet night. The only sound in the prep room was steady breathing. Da-on, whom I'd thought was asleep against me, cracked her eyes open to peek at Do-hyun sleeping soundly. She pouted.
"Oppa, you're more of a scaredy-cat than I thought! ...Aw, what a shame."
Spring sunlight streamed through the windows, and birds chirped to greet the morning. On its own, it looked like a peaceful dawn. The light hit Seo-rin first, closest to the window, rousing her slowly. The brightness made her squint and raise a hand to shield her eyes.
"Mm."
She came to, piecing together what had happened. Memories of last night flooded back.
"Why am I lying down...?"
She remembered Do-hyun coming over and trying to sleep quickly, but not lying down herself. For sleeping on the floor, her head felt surprisingly cushy. Her eyes adjusted to the light, and she looked ahead. Do-hyun's sleeping face was right there.
"Gah—?!"
Not eye contact, but it felt like it. The shame was like getting caught staring. She'd been using Do-hyun's thigh as a pillow.
'W-what did I do...?'
No one to blame but herself. It was clearly her fault. Blame the oblivious sleeping Do-hyun? Nah...
She tried to slip away without waking him. But she kept brushing his face. Had she ever seen this face so close up? She'd always avoided him, so no real memories.
"...Why couldn't I ever look at this properly?"
Forgetting to escape, she just stared. Then Do-hyun twitched suddenly. She startled, thinking he was waking, but it was just sleep-talk.
"Hehe..."
Grinning like he was having a good dream.
"Pfft, he really is asleep...?"
Anyway, get away fast. He could not see her like this! She tried again to slip out unnoticed.
"Da-on-ah..."
"What...?"
Maybe from agonizing before sleep, Da-on was in his dreams. For some reason, anger flared.
Crack—!
"Hup!"
As he stirred or not, Seo-rin bolted up, and their foreheads slammed together.
"Ow—?!"
Do-hyun woke instantly, like a bomb had gone off.
"Wh-what... enemy...?"
"Yaaawn, what's going on...?"
Da-on woke to the crisp head-clunk sound too. The culprit played dumb, clicking her tongue.
"Tsk."
I glared at Seo-rin. She was rubbing her forehead—it was bright red. Hurt too, huh.
"Why'd you headbutt me first thing in the morning?"
"It's all your fault, you blockhead!"
"Blockhead? What kind of gaslighting is this?"
"Unnie, Oppa... why fight first thing? Let's eat breakfast!"
"No appetite!"
Grrrowl—
Her stomach betrayed her words, wailing for food. I couldn't help snickering.
"Pfft, is that your bit?"
"I'll kill you!"
"Stop it!"
We bickered through breakfast until orc noises outside shut us up. Da-on mediated too... We quietly finished with yesterday's leftovers. While eating, we discussed the day's plans.
"I'm heading home today. What about you two? If it's close, I can escort you. If far, come to my place first—I can take you later."
You floated the idea first. We weren't lifers together; if they wanted home, I wouldn't stop them. I'd be bummed, though.
"Me... Oppa, can I come to your house?"
"Your place?"
"Mine's... far! And like that...?"
Da-on trailed off. Some circumstances? I didn't pry. Were we close enough for family matters? Even if close, tough topic.
My gaze shifted to Seo-rin naturally.
"My house is far too..."
"So... you'll come with to mine?"
"Don't wanna, but..."
If she really didn't, she wouldn't. She just talks like that to me. What did I ever do? Still, glad it went my way.
"Alright, to my house it is!"
"Yes!"
"Fine..."
Plan set, we moved. Out the school gate. Spotted monsters en route—all goblins. Monsters didn't seem to recognize each other as kin. Games had them not fight, but reality differed. Saw orcs with goblins, then casually killing them. Clear hierarchy; they had territories too. Our school was goblin-orc turf. Exiting wasn't too hard. No strong orcs even.
"Which way?"
"This way."
Wanting speed, but unknown monsters outside meant caution. At this pace, 30 minutes stretched to an hour. Safety first!
Outside was worse than school. Avoided busy streets, but unavoidable glimpses were grim. Hard on me, Seo-rin, especially Da-on. First direct corpse views. No living souls. Low windows shattered, doors gone. Roads car-clogged.
"Hurry through! You okay, Da-on?"
"Yeah..."
"You good?"
"Don't worry about it."
Still snippy meant Seo-rin was fine. Dodged monsters, cleared main road. Side streets had goblin-orc packs. Our trio synced better, dispatched easy.
"Almost there!"
Really close now. But ominous sounds grew nearer home.
"Hear that?"
"Like breaking stuff?"
Yeah, crashing... Louder closer, anxiety swelled.
"Sorry!"
"Hey, wait—?"
"Unnie, hurry!"
"Okay...!"
I bolted toward the noise. 'No... no!'
Arrived. Our house... Burst through gate. Seo-rin and Da-on followed. Inside: total mess.
"No way, this is...?"
Da-on gasped.
"Nah..."
"What?"
"Huh?"
I looked at them.
"Sorry, my bad! Wrong house—it's next door!"
Thwack—!
Seo-rin smacked my head's back.
"Why hit me—?!"
"Jerk!"
"I panicked and mixed them up!"
"Aigoo."
She raised her hand again.
"Sorry... stop hitting..."
"Oppa, more importantly, over there?"
Da-on pointed. Huge ball there. About two-thirds my torso size. It bounced wildly from house to yard, stopping before us. I checked its name.
Mace Shell Lv.11
"What the hell is that thing...?"