Self-Destruction (8)
The days had slipped by since we all gathered for that meal together. School was starting again today, and from here on out, only the truly busy times lay ahead.
That day, Soyeon had seemed strangely anxious, but she quickly returned to her usual self. I never did figure out exactly what had happened to her, but at least she looked fine now. That was a relief.
Separately from that, I found myself hoping that Soyeon and my wife would combine households as soon as possible. For one thing, Soyeon wouldn’t have to live alone and feel lonely anymore. For another, having Soyeon by her side would surely be good for my wife too. Both of them would benefit. And if the two of them lived together, even if I ended up paying a little less attention to Soyeon, I could still feel at ease. It would also give me more time for other things.
With that in mind, I casually floated the idea to Soyeon to see what she thought…
Her reaction was lukewarm at best. It seemed the long period of living apart had made her used to being on her own. Still, I didn’t give up. I also casually sounded out my wife about the idea of living together with Soyeon.
Her response was…
She turned the question back on me instead. After I explained it was because of Soyeon, the matter was settled for the moment, but my wife said that while she herself wouldn’t mind, Soyeon would probably feel more uncomfortable. She had no intention of combining households until Soyeon herself suggested it.
No matter what, a mother is still a mother, I suppose. My wife had seen straight through her daughter’s heart.
In the end, I unintentionally ended up managing three separate households. I commuted between my studio apartment and my wife’s house while attending the Academy, and in the afternoons after classes, I spent time with Soyeon. Even if I had ten bodies, it still wouldn’t be enough.
And then…
“J-Jihwan… Good morning…!”
Before I could even approach her, Gong Haeseon came to me first. Much more proactively than before.
“Morning.”
When I greeted the girl I ran into on the street, she hurriedly fell into step beside me and naturally joined my walk to school. Even though I had drawn a clear line, she approached without hesitation. It seemed Gong Haeseon was no ordinary person either.
I glanced sideways at her walking right next to me. We were so close that our arms would brush if I moved even a little. The scent of her shampoo drifted from her hair and tickled my nose.
Isn’t this a bit too close?
Thinking that, I shifted slightly toward the inside of the sidewalk to put some distance between us, but…
“J-Jihwan. I saw the weather forecast today and…”
She spoke naturally and immediately closed the gap again. This dance of moving away and coming closer repeated several times. Before I knew it, I was practically pinned between Gong Haeseon and the wall.
“Um… Haeseon.”
“Y-Yes…?”
“Could you move over just a little? My shoulder’s touching the wall.”
She flinched in surprise and quickly stepped away.
“S-Sorry… I didn’t realize…”
Was she really doing it without noticing?
“It’s fine. It happens.”
I brushed it off and looked for an opening to steer the conversation toward family matters. But then…
“Th-This time I got my allowance and bought a new bread mold…!”
The more the conversation continued, the closer she drifted toward me again. Her scent kept brushing against my nose of its own accord. It smelled like a sweet dessert.
In the end, I gave up and decided not to pay it any mind. It was a little close, but she wasn’t actually clinging to me, right?
“Then… should I try just one?”
“R-Really?! Just a second…! I’ll take it out right away!”
Watching her frantically dig through her bag, I suddenly wondered whether the plan Jeon Nando and I had agonized over would ever actually get used.
In the meantime, Gong Haeseon took out a beautifully wrapped pastry and handed it to me.
“H-Here…!”
“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”
What she had baked was a bite-sized scone, easy to eat on the go. It looked so appetizing that I unconsciously licked my lips. It was the kind of bread that might feel a bit dry without something to drink, but since I had already accepted it, I figured I’d just eat it quietly and enjoy it. The moment I tore open the wrapping—
“It looked like it might be a little dry, so… I-I also brought some milk…”
Gong Haeseon made an offer I couldn’t easily refuse.
“W-Would you like some…?”
Milk with a scone! My head kept telling me I shouldn’t accept, but at the same time, I thought accepting some of her goodwill might be a good way to get closer to her.
…This much should be fine, right?
After rationalizing it to myself, I ended up accepting the milk too and had it for breakfast. The milk she gave me wasn’t in a regular carton—it came in a clear bottle. The flavor was incredibly rich with a subtle sweetness that made me want to keep drinking. Had she made this herself too?
After emptying the bottle and smacking my lips repeatedly, Gong Haeseon shyly asked for my thoughts.
“H-How is it…? Is it good…?”
Her face was flushed with embarrassment as she kept stealing glances at me. Pretending not to notice her reaction, I simply told her it was delicious. She smiled brightly, as if even that small compliment made her happy, and collected the empty bottle and wrapper.
“L-Look forward to tomorrow too…!”
With those words asking me to anticipate tomorrow as well, we arrived at the classroom before I knew it. Throughout the entire walk, I hadn’t managed to bring up anything about family matters. She had kept throwing out topics nonstop, so it would have seemed incredibly random if I suddenly asked about her home life.
Once we reached the classroom, Gong Haeseon no longer stuck close to me.
“J-Jihwan… Well then, have a good class…!”
She greeted me as if the morning walk to school had been her only allotted time with me, then naturally drifted away. The heart of a teenage girl was truly impossible to understand.
I returned her smile with a small one of my own, then headed to the very back corner—the seat that had essentially become my designated spot.
When I sat down and looked around the classroom, I noticed Min Soyeon was nowhere to be seen even though class was about to start.
…She hasn’t been smoking lately either…
I was wondering whether she was just running late or if she was going to be tardy—maybe I should text her—when the students suddenly began murmuring.
Huh?
I looked up to see Min Soyeon had just entered the classroom, standing at the center of all the attention. She ignored the students’ gazes as if she were used to it and walked naturally to the very back of the room, taking the seat right next to mine.
I could feel the other students glancing back at us, but I deliberately pretended not to notice and casually greeted her.
“Good morning.”
Soyeon didn’t spare the other students even a glance as she accepted my greeting.
“…Yeah.”
Not long after Soyeon arrived, the homeroom teacher entered and class began.
While the teacher’s lecture was in full swing.
“Um… As you all probably know, the Gaura that appeared at Toyland has gone missing. There have been many articles wondering how such a massive beast could simply disappear, and it was covered heavily on the news as well…”
The teacher’s calm, sleep-inducing voice made my eyelids grow heavier and heavier.
So boring…
Having completely lost interest in the class, I quietly turned my head and glanced at Yu Jihwan sitting beside me.
“…”
He seemed just as uninterested; his chin was propped on his hand and he was nodding off. I had seen him doze a few times before, but this was the first time seeing it up close like this.
I copied his posture, resting my chin on my hand, and silently observed his face. His brown hair looked perfectly styled even though he clearly hadn’t touched it. His faintly open, captivating eyes. His perfectly straight nose. His lips were so pretty it made me wonder if he was wearing something on them.
He looked handsome now, but at first I had thought he was just another crazy bastard who relied on his face to hit on girls. If he had gone around seducing women with a face like this, he probably would have broken quite a few hearts. Fortunately, even though his excessive kindness had let a vixen like Gong Haeseon latch onto him, both then and now, he only looked at me with pure eyes. That was something to be grateful for.
Thinking it would have been fine if he were just a little less handsome, I stared at him in a daze when I suddenly remembered the ‘USB’ that had stopped working.
The three videos had been reduced to two, and then the percentage had stopped at 74% with the title shrinking more and more. The woman’s body type in the video was similar to mine, and the man’s was similar to Jihwan’s, so it had been perfect to use… but the deliveries had suddenly stopped coming, and eventually it had been completely cut off.
After rewatching the previous videos many times, I realized that the faces of the man and woman weren’t their real faces. When I paused and compared them, the difference between 100% and 74% was obvious to anyone. I had searched all over the internet thinking that at 0% their real faces might be revealed, but I couldn’t find the original videos anywhere, not even the ones I already had.
“…”
Feeling disappointed, I quietly rubbed my thighs together. Then I suddenly remembered that Jihwan was sitting right next to me. When I glanced over, he was still dozing peacefully.
While I looked at him with regret and continued rubbing my thighs, a good idea suddenly came to me. I immediately took out my phone and opened the camera app. After quickly checking if anyone in the classroom was watching, I carefully lifted the phone.
Jihwan’s face filled the entire screen. Without realizing it, a satisfied smile spread across my lips as I slowly pressed the shutter. The app had a silent mode, so there was no click, only a flash on the screen before it moved to the editing view.
After another quick glance around the classroom, I added a tiny doodle to the side of Jihwan’s photographed face.
Tap— Tap tap—
Yu Jihwan
Mine♥
It was pretty embarrassing once I actually did it, but I was satisfied enough. After quietly saving the photo, I continued fiddling with my phone to kill time. And then…
A package sent by (Lee Yeon-du) for (Min Soyeon) has arrived in the (parcel locker).
Delivery…
I learned that the ‘supplies’ my friend ‘Midori’ had promised to send had finally arrived.
“!”
The moment I saw the message, I unconsciously swallowed a short breath. I glanced sideways to check Jihwan’s reaction. He was still nodding off without a care.
I quietly put my phone away and thought back to the plan I had made with my ‘friends,’ wondering when exactly I should carry it out.