NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5
#17
Just when I was caught up in my grievances, battling my drowsiness against the relentless lullabies from the teachers, I felt a zing vibration from the phone I had stashed in my pocket.
Who could be messaging during this sacred class time? Not out of concern, but simply too sleepy to care, I tried to ignore it. But just as I thought that, my phone buzzed again—zing zing zing—as if it could read my mind!
Eventually, I surrendered to my curious heart and discreetly pulled out my phone to check.
[ㅎㅅㅇ]
– Don’t sleep!!
– Joonu~!
– (bunny knocking on a door emoji)
– (bunny knocking on a door emoji)
– (bunny knocking on a door emoji)
– Wake up~!
With sleepy eyes, I checked my phone, and like some kind of psychic, Han Seo-ah had stacked up a series of messages since she somehow knew I was dozing off at the front of the classroom.
– Ugh, Han Seo-ah, it’s you again?
– I was sleeping well, why’d you wake me up? ──
– What’s up with that? It’s class time, you’re so shameless Joonu!
– Can’t you give me a break? I went to bed late, and someone asked to be woken up early, so I couldn’t sleep enough.
– Haha, who could that be! Who kept our Joonu awake? (bunny raising its hand emoji)
– Someone who’s been tormenting me for over ten years.
As I replied, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought and glanced over at Han Seo-ah; she was also giggling, her back slightly shaking.
– But why did you go to bed late? Didn’t we have something to do last night?
I nearly typed “Just gaming,” but stopped short.
Tsk. If I told the truth, she’d just nag me.
Noticing Han Seo-ah seemed different today, I thought I’d try to respond differently too. I deleted what I was typing and started over.
– Haha, I discovered something incredible last night! Got lost watching it.
– Incredible? What was so incredible? A movie? A drama? (bunny with question marks emoji)
– What else? Haha, guess it’s for kids to stay away~
– ?? What does that mean?
– ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
We’d been friends for over ten years, but regardless of how close we were, maybe because she was a girl?
We’d never exchanged those kinds of jokes before, and it felt both thrilling and oddly tense. With a giggle, I shoved my phone back into my pocket.
But, to my surprise, instead of being taken aback by my cheeky tease, she replied right away, and my phone buzzed zing zing again, making me curious about her response. I immediately pulled it out and instantly regretted it.
[ㅎㅅㅇ]
– Joonu, don’t tell me the thing you watched last night was adult content? All night?
– Lee Joon-woo
– …After this class, let’s talk for a bit, or at least go to the snack shop.
Oh no.
I panicked.
Her tone was so cold, I double-checked to see if it was the same person who sent the previous messages. I swiped up and down the screen in disbelief.
Ugh, Lee Joon-woo, you idiot! Why’d you send such a joke…!
– Joonu, why aren’t you answering?
That day, for the first time in my life, I prayed that class would never end.
#18
Ding dong ding dong~
Yet, whether my prayers were unanswered or not, class ended in a flash, and I saw Han Seo-ah getting out of her seat.
Just in case, I quickly leaned over my desk.
It was my last-ditch effort to dodge the situation by pretending to be asleep.
“Ugh….”
“…Joonu? Are you sleeping?”
“Ughhh….”
“Joonu, if you keep this up, I might get seriously mad.”
“Ah, I had a great sleep!!! Right, Seo-ah, we were supposed to go to the snack store, right?”
A cold voice I had never heard before reached my ears, extinguishing my pretense as I shot up in panic.
And there she was—
“Yep, let’s go. Right now.”
“Ugh….”
Looking at me with dead eyes like a commander of the underworld, arms crossed in front of her—Han Seo-ah stood there.
#19
Like livestock being led to the slaughterhouse, I weakly followed behind Han Seo-ah, who looked like she was shouting ‘I’m angry right now~’. Suddenly, she stopped at the end of the hallway and turned to me.
But her expression, instead of being angry, was… actually upset?
“Joonu.”
“Um, yeah…?”
“Did you really stay up late last night watching adult content?”
Her expression, looking up at me with sincere concern, reminded me of the sunshine smile she had when she looked at me in the morning, washing over me with guilt like a tide.
—I’m such a scumbag.
I made the girl who had been smiling so brightly like this…!
I can manipulate Han Seo-ah’s emotions…!
As I froze in my guilt-spiraled thoughts, believing my silence was a positive, Han Seo-ah continued.
“Adult content… is fine. We’re at that age, you know? It’s normal to be curious.”
“But… could you not watch that kind of stuff in front of me or even talk about it?”
“I know it’s a ridiculous request. Still, I would like that, Joonu.”
“If, hypothetically… if you desperately wanted to see something like that…”
“Wanted to…?”
Having committed a sin, I remained quiet as she spoke, but the lack of closure on her sentence made me curious.
“Tell me. If you feel like… wanting to see something like that, be sure to tell me. Got it?”
“Um?”
“Promise you’ll do it, okay, Joonu?”
“Uh? Um… yeah, I promise…!”
“Thank you, Joonu, for agreeing to my request.”
What did I just hear?
To tell her if I felt that… that so-called “horny feeling”?
So what, what would she do?
As countless lewd thoughts scrambled in my mind, Han Seo-ah simply flashed a grateful smile as if happy that I agreed.
Oh man.
“Alright. As long as you’re happy, let’s hurry to the snack store. It’s on me.”
“Okay! I’m thirsty, right, Joonu?”
Unlike when we left the classroom, we returned while laughing over trivial things, just like usual.
So, what would she do if I told her?
I pushed that thought aside.
#20
Just when my mind was spiraling, consumed by the thought of going home, finally, the last class of the day wrapped up.
“Ugh, finally it’s over, finally…!”
Stretching and groaning dramatically, I felt the stares of my classmates like “What’s this guy’s deal?”
What do you want me to do? It was exhausting!
Maybe because today was oddly different from usual since morning, it felt even more tiring.
Excited about going home, I started packing my things when I noticed the loser—no, Kim Seung-hyun—approaching.
“Hey, Lee Joon-woo. Going to the PC Bang today?”
“PC Bang? Hm… but you suck at gaming.”
“Are you joking again? Stop it! Jae-hwan’s going too, so let’s go. Three-player ranked match, let’s go.”
Three-player ranked. I couldn’t resist that. As long as we fill three out of five slots, we could avoid being politically sidelined, so it was a good distribution of players.
Just as I was about to say okay, suddenly—
“Ah, Seung-hyun. Sorry, but Joonu has plans to go somewhere with me today.”
“What? Seriously? Then I guess there’s no choice. But, Seo-ah, Joonu said you were acting weird this morning?”
Han Seo-ah, who had already approached, clasped her hands together and offered a genuine apology to Kim Seung-hyun.
No way. More importantly, where did she say we had plans to go?
With me? Why didn’t I know about our plans?
Question marks filled my mind.
As I was about to ask what she meant, they ignored my intentions and finished their conversation as if my input didn’t matter.
Hey, it’s not like the situation ended; it’s like they dropped a bomb and walked off to their utopia called the PC Bang.
You jerk, why say that and leave me hanging…!
I cursed inwardly, frustrated, when I sensed a cold gaze from one side.
This direction definitely—
“Hmm, Joonu. So, did you tell the others I was acting weird today?”
“Hey, no, I didn’t mean to—”
“No, no. I’ll have our Joonu tell me what exactly was so weird about me this morning, slowly. In detail. Let’s hurry, Joonu!”
I didn’t dare say it out loud, but seriously, she was scary.
And where were we going?
—Those words stayed locked inside me.
With Han Seo-ah smiling and urging me to go, all I could do was drag my feet, shouldering my bag like a prisoner being led to execution.
#21
“Hey, where are we going, anyway?”
I cautiously threw out a question, sensing it might be alright now. Han Seo-ah widened her eyes, as if she’d never heard such a thing.
“Where are we going? Home!”
“?”
What’s going on?
“You just told Seung-hyun that we had plans to go somewhere.”
“Ah~ I did, didn’t I?”
Han Seo-ah giggled as if recalling a funny memory.
“Come on, you can’t keep lying like that and expect me to believe you!”
“Hey, what are you talking about? It’s not like I remembered anything! Why lie?”
“Hmm, why do you think?”
She asked back with a mischievous grin, stepping closer.
What… what was it?
“Do you dislike…?”
“Dislike?”
“Do you dislike going home with me?”
“….”
With her gaze freezing over as if genuinely seeking my answer, I stumbled over mine.
“Haah… I don’t have any reason to dislike Kim Seung-hyun, you know? That’s not it.”
“Then what? Are you saying you want to go home with me or something?”
I casually threw out the question, confused after reaching my limit, and she unexpectedly stood tall, staring at me.
What? When I turned around, I found Han Seo-ah’s face, flushed from her cheeks to her ears.
“Um, hey…?”
“Hmm, hmm… why? Is that a problem?”
“What?”
“Is it bad to want to go home with you?”
Just a moment ago, she had been blushing like an adorable bunny; now she looked like a tiger glaring at me, demanding an “answer.” All I could say was.
“Well, I… uh, I guess that’s fine…”
“Right? I figured you’d say that.”
With a triumphant smile as if I had answered correctly, she cutely grinned, and my heart skipped a beat.
Sure. If you smiled that way, who could possibly say no?
“But Joonu.”
“Yeah?”
Just when I was lost in the thought of how cute she was today, she asked,
“By the way, what was so weird about me this morning? Tell me.”
Forget it.
Cute? More like the creepiest thought just struck me: they say the scariest ghosts are the ones that are smiling.