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Chapter 18
“Throw it.”
“This, all of a sudden?”
“I saw you in P.E. the other day—you were terrible.”
When had he even seen that? She still remembered the despair two days ago when the teacher announced basketball would be part of their performance evaluation.
Yeonwoo, who had always been quick and energetic, was confident in running, but ball games had never been her talent. More than anything, a basketball felt too heavy for her slender wrists.
“…Am I really that bad?”
“You’ll know once you try.”
Looking at his expectant face, Yeonwoo felt a sudden urge to just land a perfect shot and wipe that look off.
She dribbled a few times, then got into position for a shot. The ball still felt heavy in her hands, but somehow, it was a little more manageable than before.
“…Ugh.”
At the last moment, she put too much strength into her shoulders. The ball spun around the rim before cruelly bouncing out.
“…Tch.”
Her bitter sound escaped before she could stop it.
Jeongha bent down to fetch the ball and handed it back to her, as if telling her she could try again anytime.
When Yeonwoo looked up at him, his lashes—longer than she expected—fluttered up and down.
“Hold it like this.”
He carefully adjusted each of her loosely spread fingers. Wherever his warm touch lingered, it felt like small blossoms of heat bloomed. Unable to hide her flustered gaze, Yeonwoo swallowed hard.
“…How did you know?”
Instead of throwing the ball, she lowered her head, lips trembling as she spoke. Of course, she knew he understood what she meant: the incident with Cha Eun-young.
“What do you mean?”
“…That it was Cha Eun-young’s doing.”
“I told you—I borrowed it.”
Clearly, he intended to keep insisting on that story. Which meant Yeonwoo couldn’t even thank him properly.
You’re so stubborn. She bit back the words. His warning not to act like they knew each other in front of others also meant she had to pretend ignorance when things involved her.
Still, she knew she would’ve been in real trouble if he hadn’t stepped in, so she couldn’t bring herself to complain.
“Stop thinking so much. Relax your forehead, or you’ll get wrinkles.”
“…You do know we’re supposed to be in math right now, right?”
“Are we?”
“If they find out we skipped, we’ll be dead.”
Her words sounded sharp, but her face was tinged pink. Always the studious one who focused harder than anyone in class, now she was here with him, skipping. It was ridiculous enough that Jeongha chuckled, making her frown even more.
“You really came without a plan, huh.”
“And you? Did you follow me with some master plan?”
“…I’ll just say I went to the nurse’s office.”
Her face was a little flushed anyway, so it wasn’t entirely a lie. Yeonwoo convinced herself with that excuse, but under Jeongha’s steady gaze, she squirmed, thrusting the basketball back at him.
“You… just say you walked me back.”
“…Sounds like you want us to be accomplices.”
“If you don’t want to, then fine. Just strike my name off the roll call.”
Her face was now a faint pink as she spun around and strode out of the gym in big steps. Still, her pace faltered now and then, as if waiting for him.
Jeongha let out a quiet laugh and crossed the gym to follow. He wasn’t dumb enough not to realize—that was her way of saying thank you.
That day, for the first time, they walked home side by side. Normally, Yeonwoo would’ve kept her head down, worrying about how others looked at her. But now, she walked straighter, shoulders back, keeping pace with him.
It wasn’t that her attitude toward Jeongha had drastically changed, but she realized ignoring him or pushing him away wouldn’t change how others judged her.
Besides, acting cold to the one who had just helped her today would have been simply wrong.
“…”
“…”
Honestly, it was quite a walk from the orchard to school. That was why, after evening self-study, Yeonwoo usually took the bus home. Today, she had considered walking for once. But when she saw Jeongha naturally lining up for the bus, she quickly joined behind him.
…What was I even thinking, walking in this freezing weather?
Trying to hide her flushed cheeks, Yeonwoo fiddled with her earlobe—only to get caught when Jeongha turned around.
“…?”
“Stand in front.”
Without another word, he tugged on her bag strap, pulling her to stand before him.
She blinked, assuming he was just letting her cut in line. She didn’t realize that if she stood in front, he could watch her without turning around.
Before long, the bus rattled up.
“Hello.”
“Ah, good work today.”
Yeonwoo bowed slightly to the driver, Mr. Yang, who gave her a pitying look. Her circumstances were already well-known in the village, so of course he knew.
“…One thousand won, please.”
Behind her, Jeongha handed over a bill, eyes quietly observing the driver. Noting the faint wariness in his gaze, Mr. Yang gave a dry laugh as the change clattered out.
Yeonwoo pushed past the crowding students to grab one of the few empty seats first. Strangely, nobody even considered sitting beside her—they all looked at Jeongha instead.
“…It’s not like I smell or anything.”
“You don’t.”
Feeling sick at the thought of the odd rumors that must be going around school, Yeonwoo cracked the window open. In the meantime, Jeongha casually slid into the seat beside her, their arms brushing naturally.
“Want to listen to music?”
“…Okay.”
Placing his bag neatly on his lap, he pulled a small MP3 player from his pocket and handed her one of the earbuds. Yeonwoo’s face burned hot as she nodded, trying to hide behind her hair.
Why am I the only one so hyper-aware of this situation? Things felt strange, yes, but there was no reason to refuse Jeongha’s offer.
“…”
So, until the bus stopped in front of the hardware store, they shared a pair of earbuds. The songs were mostly new hits and foreign pop Yeonwoo didn’t recognize.
Normally, she wouldn’t have paid them much attention, but she found herself unconsciously following along to the beat.
When they finally got off and climbed the hill together, their mingled breaths felt warm in the chilly night.
Panting more than she’d like after such a short walk, Yeonwoo glared sideways when Jeongha chuckled at her.
Quietly, she pushed open the blue front gate as if sneaking in. The squeaky metal groan made her wish, just for tonight, it could’ve been softer.
When Jeongha followed and closed the gate with a loud thud, she jumped, stiffening—only to sigh in relief when no one came out.
“…Can’t you be quieter? It’s late.”
“Why, are we sneaking back in from a date or something?”
“What are you talking about! That’s not what I meant.”
She stammered like someone caught doing something wrong, yet still snapped her reply. Watching her, Jeongha shook his shoulders with laughter and said his final words of the day:
“Good night.”
