𝗦𝗨𝗡 & 𝗠𝗢𝗢𝗡 | ᴬᶰ ˢᵒᵒᴴᵒ 『English Version』

Chapter 27

"If you see Park Humin, please stay away."

That was the message Hyeori had sent that morning. She hadn't seen Sieun walk by her classroom like he usually did, so she already knew he wasn't going to talk to her—at least not that day. And he didn't. The school day had been unusually short. Hyeori was walking to the bus stop alone; she hadn't tried to look for her friend. She figured, after everything, maybe he needed time.

And honestly, so did she.

Her steps were slow but steady, like she didn't really want to get home. And she didn't. She thought about visiting Sooho, but it hadn't even been a day since the last time at the hospital, and she didn't want to fall back into that loop of needing to be by his side all the time. Her hands slipped into her pocket, pulling out her phone tightly, and she made sure to walk along the wide sidewalk to start typing.

"Today is Thursday. I visited you yesterday. We had some... not-so-pleasant visitors. I was hoping that person wouldn't turn out like this... I never thought you'd get along with someone like him. He's so different from you, that's why I don't want him near you. I warned him... That's okay, right? I didn't do anything wrong this time, I didn't hit him or anything, I just made it clear there's no way I'm letting him near you. Because this time, I won't let anyone hurt you. I couldn't stop it last time, but now that you can't stop me... you're under my care. Don't worry, love. Nothing will happen—to you or to Sieun. I'll take care of it."
— Sent: 3:16 PM

"HYEORI!"

The shout of her name made her turn around, spotting Juntae and Gotak running up to her with big smiles. She smiled a little, watching how Juntae looked like an excited puppy—he even looked smaller standing next to Gotak.

"Noona!" Juntae grinned, holding out a small piece of candy. "I bought this for you. I hope you like strawberry."

She took the candy and smiled sweetly. He really reminded her of Sooho when he was a kid. "I love it. Thank you."

"Yah, stop stealing my future girlfriend," Gotak joked, making Juntae blink innocently, especially as Gotak threw an arm around her shoulders. "We've been calling you since you walked out—what were you so focused on?"

Hyeori quickly locked her phone, shaking her head with a nervous smile. "Nothing, just... some messages."

"Noona, do you know why Sieun looked so weird today?"

"Yeah, he totally blew us off, did you know?"

"He didn't. I think he just prefers being alone... but he's not really good at it."

Hyeori looked at Juntae, who seemed kind of disappointed, and she frowned a little. She hadn't told him to cut everyone off—just to stay away from Humin. It seemed like Humin was the one that boy from yesterday had been interested in.

"Sieun's just... complicated. Maybe he's having a rough day," she murmured. Hyuntak glanced at her; her tone said it was time to change the subject—she looked pretty down.

"They still haven't fixed things," he thought, so he just flicked her forehead lightly and smiled, then stretched out his arm to ruffle Juntae's hair over her shoulder. "C'mon, how about fried chicken? My treat."

"Seriously?" Juntae asked, visibly excited.

"Come on, when have I ever lied to you? I'm a very loyal guy, did you know that, Hyeori? Plus, I know the best fried chicken place in the world."

She looked at Hyuntak with a smile and then grabbed Juntae's arm as she noticed a car coming their way. "You're not dragging us to Baku's dad's restaurant, right?"