Like a Snake
"What's up with Do Yoo-young today?"
"Didn't sleep last night, apparently."
"Ahh."
The classmate who'd been nodding along added, looking none too satisfied, "…Then what's Ji Hae-soo's excuse?"
"Beats me."
The friend who answered wore an equally sour expression.
What the two of them were looking at was Ji Hae-soo and Do Yoo-young.
More precisely, it was Shin in Do Yoo-young's body.
"Hey, Do Yoo-young, today you—"
"Whoa, whoa. Talk to me instead."
"Why?"
"Do Yoo-young's not feeling well today. Just tell me."
Do Yoo-young had been slumped over his desk all morning, and Ji Hae-soo stood guard beside him like he'd appointed himself a bodyguard.
Every time kids drifted near, he shooed them off—a display that almost looked valiant at a glance. Everyone knew the two were close, but even accounting for that, something about it looked deeply suspicious.
"Are they doing a bit or something?"
"Whoa, if they are, I gotta ask to join."
The classmate bolted straight over to the pair.
"Hey! Let me in on it too!"
"Wh-wha—?"
Jolted by the sudden presence, Ji Hae-soo nearly jumped out of his skin.
"What? What do you want?"
He'd been hunched over whispering something to Do Yoo-young, and his hastily raised face was full of panic.
At the same moment, Do Yoo-young, who'd had his head slightly lifted, dropped back down onto his desk.
Slam! The crack of his cheek hitting the desk rang through the room.
"…?"
The sheer unnaturalness of the two of them only deepened the classmate's puzzlement.
"What's with the reactions? Whatever you two are doing, let me in on it."
"We're not—we're not doing anything."
"Are you doing a bit? Come on, include me. I'm bored."
"…Huh? What are you on about. Get lost. It's nothing like that."
Ji Hae-soo waved his hands with a deflated look on his face.
"Then what have you two been doing all morning? You even ate lunch separately. Why'd you cut me out? Rude."
"Cut you out of what? I'm just nursing a sick friend."
"Oh, please. Do Yoo-young? Sick?"
The classmate—Hong Jin-yeon—snorted.
He happened to be Do Yoo-young's closest friend after Ji Hae-soo.
"The guy who never catches a cold even in the dead of winter? Sick with what, exactly. Hey, Do Yoo-young."
Hong Jin-yeon leaned over.
"Lift your head up."
"Hong Jin-yeon, leave the guy alone."
"If he's really sick, he should go to a hospital. Why's he sitting here like this?"
Dodging Ji Hae-soo's hand, he grabbed Do Yoo-young by the shoulder and shook him.
If Do Yoo-young had truly been ill, he would have snapped, Knock it off, you're giving me a headache.
Instead, he only kept his head buried even under Hong Jin-yeon's grip.
Like someone under strict orders never, ever to raise his face.
What the hell.
Hong Jin-yeon's expression turned increasingly suspicious.
"Why won't you answer me? I said lift your head. Huh? Look at him, he's straining his neck to hold it down."
Watching Do Yoo-young resist with a tensed neck, Hong Jin-yeon let out an awkward laugh.
Since when does a sick person look like this?
Hong Jin-yeon strained to pry Do Yoo-young upright by any means necessary.
But Do Yoo-young clung to that desk as if someone had smeared it with honey.
"I said just leave him alone!"
"Ugh, get out of the way."
Now it had become a matter of pride.
Shaking off Ji Hae-soo, Hong Jin-yeon threw his weight into hauling Do Yoo-young up. Do Yoo-young resisted with everything he had, but Hong Jin-yeon was built on a whole different scale, and it was never a contest.
In the end, overpowered, Do Yoo-young was forced to his feet from the chair.
And every single person in the room stared at him, dumbfounded.
"What the…."
Hong Jin-yeon murmured, his face frozen in bewilderment.
Before his eyes, Do Yoo-young stood rooted in place.
Face still planted against his desk.
Which is to say, he was holding the entire desk up high overhead, facing the ceiling.
"…Is he actually sick?"
Hong Jin-yeon looked utterly aghast.
By this point, it was a little—no, a lot—frightening.
"What is wrong with him?"
"What's Do Yoo-young doing? Random strength show out of nowhere?"
The classmates' reactions weren't much different from Hong Jin-yeon's.
Amid the murmuring crowd, Ji Hae-soo squeezed his eyes shut.
We're doomed.
He lamented inwardly.
This is my fault.
It had been he who'd whispered to Shin—by any means necessary, never, ever lift your face from that desk.
And Shin was simply, faithfully, following instructions.
Damn it.
Do Yoo-young with Shin's soul inside him was nothing at all like the usual Do Yoo-young.
The subtly slack expression, the oddly soft, pliable aura—everything was off. They'd tried making him hold a blank face, but he couldn't even last a minute. The moment his guard slipped, the corners of his mouth curled up into a natural smile that reached his eyes.
Classmates who faced Do Yoo-young every single day couldn't help but notice something was wrong.
I made him look as ordinary as possible.
That was exactly why he'd ordered him to avoid conversation, keep his face hidden, and slump over like he was sick.
And thanks to that, he looked mind-blowingly suspicious instead.
"Hey, first of all, put the desk down. Isn't it heavy?"
To Hong Jin-yeon's words, Do Yoo-young offered silence.
Wood or not, a desk was a desk. His own arms seemed to feel the weight too—the hands holding the desk aloft were trembling visibly.
And yet he stood there without a word, without so much as a groan, which somehow made the whole thing even stranger.
"Do Yoo-young. Just put the desk down."
Finally, Ji Hae-soo spoke through a sigh so heavy it was nearly audible as a groan.
Do Yoo-young hesitated a moment, then slowly lowered the desk to the floor.
After staring down at the floor for a few seconds, he darted a quick glance at Ji Hae-soo.
Huh?
Hong Jin-yeon and the classmates tilted their heads in puzzlement.
Why would Do Yoo-young…
Isn't he checking Ji Hae-soo's reaction?
Like a dog caught chewing up the sofa by its owner, Do Yoo-young looked faintly cowed.
Watching that, the classmates' expressions began to curdle into something odd. For some reason, they all felt it—something was very, very wrong here.
"……"
"……"
For his part, Ji Hae-soo had no idea how to salvage the situation.
Just as the silence flooding the classroom was tightening around their throats—
Knock!
"Do Yoo-young from Class 3! Your homeroom teacher wants you in the staff office!"
The front door of the classroom swung open and a kid from another class hollered inside.
Do Yoo-young's eyes went wide and round.
"The staff office? Homeroom teacher?"
At that instant, every single classmate furrowed their brow at once.
What was that?
Why is he talking like that…?
It made their skin crawl for reasons they couldn't name.
Something's off.
Something was definitely off—they just couldn't pinpoint what. As Hong Jin-yeon and the others stood there baffled, Ji Hae-soo belatedly snapped back to his senses.
"Hey, you. Ugh—go on out. No, wait, let's go together."
Seizing Do Yoo-young by the uniform collar, Ji Hae-soo strode out in long, brisk steps.
"Staff office? Hae-soo—"
"Shh, shh."
Slapping a hand over Do Yoo-young's mouth in record time, Ji Hae-soo slipped into the hallway and shut the back door behind him.
The classmates left in the room stood around with blank faces.
"…What the hell was that just now?"
Hong Jin-yeon murmured quietly.
Unfortunately, no one had an answer for him. A bewildered silence hung over the classroom.
"Cut! Ah, that take was great! Really great!"
The director shouted, grinning from ear to ear.
"Why is your chemistry this good? Not a single weak link in the acting. How much have you all been rehearsing?"
Nothing in this world got actors buzzing quite like a director's praise. The same performers who'd worn blank expressions only moments ago turned shy and sheepish all at once.
After doling out compliments to the extras one by one, the director made his way over to Seo Jio.
"Hey there, Hong Jin-yeon. They told me you were a rookie Wooyeon picked up, but you can really act, huh?"
"Thank you, Director."
"That expression of yours is fantastic. The way you furrow your brow. Mm, beautiful. Only thing I'd want is a bigger voice here—make your presence pop even more."
"…!"
Seo Jio's eyes went wide for a heartbeat before he quickly replied that he would.
The role he was playing was Do Yoo-young's classmate, Hong Jin-yeon. It had a name and lines attached, but in truth it was little more than a simple supporting part, barely distinguishable from an extra.
By total screen time, he was on screen for only a handful of minutes.
Telling the actor playing such a role to make his presence stand out more was, in effect, a kind of permission.
Permission to be greedier from here on out.
"Alright, let's take ten and get right back to it! Everyone hydrate!"
"Yes, sir~!"
At the director's words, the actors and staff answered loudly in unison.
I walked over to Seo Jio, who was staring blankly down at the floor.
"Seo Jio."
"Hm?"
He flinched violently, then turned to see me before mustering an awkward smile.
"Oh, Yeonjae…. What's up? Need something?"
"No."
When I gave a light shake of my head, Seo Jio looked puzzled—the face of a man wondering why I'd bothered coming over if I had nothing to say.
Cold as a blade, this one.
After spending so much time around people like Noh Bi-hyeok or Seong Ijun, being around him gave me a strange feeling. A firmly built wall, I suppose you'd call it. The distance was unmistakable.
Not that I had any desire to cross that line, of course.
There were already far too many people inside it as things stood.
"Yeonjae!"
Barely had that thought crossed my mind when Han Haram came running over.
"It's break time now, so I can talk to you, right? I've been sitting quietly like you said!"
"Good job. You hungry?"
"Nope! You, Yeonjae—I mean, hyung?"
Glancing at Seo Jio beside me, Han Haram hastily corrected himself.
Seo Jio studied Han Haram with evident interest.
"Hey there."
"Hello…."
"I'm Yeonjae's friend. Name's Seo Jio. I've heard about you from Ijun-hyung too—nice to finally see you in person."
"…You know Ijun-hyung?"
Seo Jio smiled a slow, lazy smile.
"Sure do. Yeonjae introduced us. You know him too, right?"
"Yeees…."
Still a bit awkward about it, Han Haram answered with his guard noticeably lower, apparently reassured by the mention of being close with Seong Ijun.
Unbelievable.
Little snake.
I looked at Seo Jio, still wearing that loose, unhurried smile. Having finished his brief exchange with Han Haram, the boy turned his eyes to me.
"Well, you two have a nice chat. I'll be over there."
"Mm."
When I nodded, Seo Jio flashed Han Haram a faint smile and moved away.
With one cheek pressed against my chest, Han Haram watched the back of Seo Jio as he grew more distant.
"Yeonjae. Are you close with that hyung too?"
Hm.
The same question Noh Bi-hyeok had once put to me. I hesitated for a moment.
Obviously he couldn't compare to Noh Bi-hyeok.
"Yeah. We're close."
Still, ours wasn't a bad relationship.
Mostly because his motives for hanging around me were crystal clear.
"I see…."
Han Haram licked his lips.
I snorted a laugh and ruffled his hair.
"What? You don't like him?"
"It's not that. Just… something feels weird."
"Like what?"
"His vibe is different from the other hyungs around you."
Apparently struggling to express it in Korean, Han Haram mumbled in English instead.
"(Something about him gives me the shivers. I don't think he's a bad person, but.)"
I slowly stroked Han Haram's forehead. Savoring my hand, the boy murmured under his breath.
"(He's kind of like a snake….)"
"……"
I froze for an instant.
Kids really do see everything, don't they.
I let out a hollow laugh.
The Seo Jio who'd just chatted with Han Haram had looked perfectly amiable on the surface. The lazy smile that kept people at arm's length was the same as always. Even now, Seo Jio was smiling that unhurried smile beside the extra actors.
But my eyes caught it.
The way his gaze swept over those actors in a quick, methodical scan.
Assessing who's most likely to rise?
What a ruthlessly goal-oriented guy.
He really is something else.
Before I knew it, I was shaking my head. I tore my eyes away from the boy who hid his true face behind that sluggish drawl.
"Still, I think you'll be fine."
"Hm?"
I stroked the head of Han Haram, who was peering up at me with wide, vacant eyes.
"Worst case, he's not a venomous one."
"A venomous what?"
Han Haram tilted his head, asking what on earth I meant. Looking at those pure, guileless eyes, I just smiled.
"Never mind. Don't worry about it. Want to go grab a snack together?"
"Yeah!"
Taking Han Haram's hand, I headed toward the snack table.
Is it just my imagination?
I could feel eyes on my back for some reason.
A pricking gaze—like the fangs of a snake.