Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The next day, Hajun was furious with Yeonsu—a complete reversal from a few days ago. The trouble started when she, the group leader, showed up a full thirty minutes late, while everyone else had made it to Dalgwa Bada Cafe right on time.

“Shin Yeonsu, wasn’t our study session at five thirty? What kind of group leader pulls this?”

He knew she felt bad. But he was angrier than usual because, right before coming to the cafe, he’d caught her getting confessed to by another guy outside the humanities building.

Couldn’t she have just cut him off and left? It’s not like this is her first confession. Was it really that hard to shut it down? She does it fine any other time.

Oblivious to his inner rant, Yeonsu flashed her signature smile and kept apologizing.

“I’m sorry. Desserts are on me.”

She took everyone’s orders and returned with a tray full of sweets to make up for her tardiness. The rest of the group immediately turned on Hajun. They demanded to know why he was grilling their sweet Yeonsu over a measly thirty minutes.

That just pissed him off more.

Sweet Yeonsu, my ass. She’s not sweet. She’s got a vicious temper.

He would know! She’s a nightmare.

Just because he’d answered her phone once, she’d glared at him in front of the crowded main gates, eyes wide and furious, warning him not to cross the line. He’d had to stand there and take it.

“You’re all being scammed.”

He spat the words out, thoroughly annoyed. He reached for a slice of cake with his fork. Yeonsu smoothly slid the plate over to Seonyeong.

It was a subtle move, but it didn’t escape him. He shot her a glare, silently ordering her to put it back. She stuck her tongue out at him.

Her face clearly said, Make me. For the rest of the meeting, he thought of nothing but revenge.

His eyes landed on her coffee. Since she was leading the discussion and doing most of the talking, she’d barely managed two sips while everyone else had practically finished their drinks.

Hajun pretended to ask a question. He casually picked up her cup.

“Sunbae, that’s my—”

What? I can’t hear you. He feigned ignorance and downed the whole thing in one go. He slowly shifted his gaze to her.

He held up the bone-dry cup and flashed her an innocent look.

“Did you say something?”

“You drank that on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Of course not.”

“You knew it was mine and you drank it anyway.”

“I told you, I didn’t.”

He slid his own half-finished coffee toward her, thoroughly enjoying himself.

“If you’re that mad about it, drink mine.”

It might be a little bitter, but coffee is coffee. It’ll taste the same.

Even backed into a corner, Yeonsu just calmly lowered her eyes and pushed the cup back to him.

“No thanks. You can have it.”

“Oh, right. You like it sweet, don’t you?”

“Yeah. And you hate sweet coffee. So why’d you chug mine?”

“…”

“Anyway, let’s sort out the presentation. Seonyeong, you take from here to here. Jinseok, you’re on this part. And from here to here… Hajun sunbae.”

“H-hold on. Why is my section so long?”

They ended up in another arguing match over the unfair workload. By the time he snapped out of it and looked around, the rest of the group had already left, thoroughly sick of their bickering.

He awkwardly dusted off his knees. Yeonsu stood up and held out a hand.

“What.”

“Good work today.”

“For what.”

“Everything.”

“Whatever.”

He ignored her hand and stood up. “Wait a second,” he told her. He stopped her from leaving and handed her a takeout cup. He’d made sure to order a vanilla latte.

She took it without a word. They left the cafe together, and he quietly trailed behind her as she headed for the bus stop.

She didn’t look back. Her voice, which had been shouting at him just minutes ago, was perfectly level.

“How far are you going to follow me?”

“…”

“Are you walking me home?”

Hajun let out a breathy laugh. Shin Yeonsu never shared a bus ride with anyone.

During the day, she was always surrounded by people, happily mingling with her friends. But when night fell, she always took the bus home alone.

If she ever ran into classmates heading the same way, she’d make up an excuse about having errands to run and insist they go on ahead.

“Would you even let me?” he asked. Although he already knew the answer.

“No. I’d tell you to get lost,” she replied.

“Exactly.”

“I’ll fix the presentation workload and text you when I get home.”

Hajun flashed a cheeky grin. He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. “Don’t try anything funny. You’re just looking for an excuse to text me later.”

Yeonsu burst out laughing. Her eyes crinkled into bright, happy crescents. Hajun’s heart gave a violent lurch.

Of course. That was just how she was. Give Shin Yeonsu serious advice, and she’d bare her teeth. Toss out a stupid, feather-light joke, and she’d give you a smile so harmless it hurt.

He threw out another joke. Just to see her laugh again. Just to keep her in a good mood.

“Shin Yeonsu.”

“Yeah?”

“I fucking hate you.”

He was sure she’d laugh. Instead, her face froze. It only lasted a fraction of a second.

Before a panicked Hajun could backpedal, the smile returned to her lips. “Right back at you.”

“…”

“Oh, my bus is here.”

She scrambled onto the bus. Hajun instinctively stepped forward to follow her, but stopped himself as she practically sprinted down the aisle.

That’s far enough. Don’t come any closer.

She hadn’t said the words, but he could hear them loud and clear.

He stood rooted to the pavement. Yeonsu slid her window open and waved.

“See you tomorrow, sunbae.”

“…Yeah.”

She held up the coffee he’d bought her in a silent gesture of thanks. Hajun forced an awkward smile.

Hajun spotted Yeonsu the second he walked into the old council room. She was usually perched at the battered desk like a gargoyle, textbooks spread out in front of her. Today, she was slumped face-down on the table.

He tossed his bag onto the sofa out of habit.

“What’s this? Shin Yeonsu the bookworm is actually sleeping?”

No answer. She must be out cold. Was she that tired?

Come to think of it, Seonyeong had mentioned something about her taking on extra tutoring gigs lately.

“Shin Yeon—”

Her face was flushed dark red. She was frowning hard in her sleep. He pressed a hand to her forehead.

“Hey. You’re burning up.”

“…”

“Shin Yeonsu, wake up. You’ve got a fever!”

She parted her lips, looking thoroughly annoyed. “Leave me alone,” she mumbled. Hajun grabbed her by the shoulders and hauled her upright.

“Leave you alone? You’re boiling. Come on, I’m taking you to the hospital.”

“Leave it. I just need to sleep it off.”

She scowled at him. She tried to slump back onto the desk, but he caught her and pulled her up by the arm.

A long sigh escaped his lips.

“Do I need to carry you there on my back? Or would you prefer a princess carry?”

His voice was low and unyielding. She finally stopped fighting him.

He bundled her into a taxi and took her straight to the hospital. Within minutes, she was being treated in the ER.

“How long is this going to take?”

Yeonsu chewed on her lip, glaring at the IV line dangling from her wrist.

The nurse shot Hajun a look and chuckled. When they’d first arrived, she’d offered to set the IV drip to a faster speed. Hajun had flat-out refused.

“The drip will take about two hours. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes to check your fever.”

The nurse pulled the curtain shut and left. Yeonsu glared at him.

“I don’t have two hours to sit here. The second my fever breaks, I’m leaving.”

Hajun pressed his palm to her forehead. This stubborn idiot clearly had no idea how sick she was.

He was desperate to make her rest.

“Did you not hear the doctor? You’re at thirty-nine degrees. You’re practically boiling over.”

“I’m not boiling over.”

“Ugh, I swear, your mouth!”

“…”

“Go to sleep. You’ve clearly worked yourself sick.”

She huffed and puffed, trying to fight the high fever, but she didn’t even last ten minutes before passing out.

A little while later, the nurse returned to check her temperature. She gave Hajun a reassuring nod.

“Her fever is slowly coming down, thank goodness.”

“Thank you.”

“Let her sleep. Page me when she wakes up, and I’ll take the IV out.”

“Will do.”

The midday ER was quiet. Just the steady beep of machines, the soft tread of footsteps, the low murmur of nurses chatting.

He sat in silence, watching Yeonsu sleep. She was still frowning heavily, looking anxious and on guard even in her dreams.

Her thin wrists. Her pale face. Her furrowed brow. He reached out and gently smoothed the crease between her eyebrows with his fingertips.

And then…

He just watched her sleep. He watched her for a long time.

Inside that small, curtained-off space, it felt like they were the only two people in the world.

Cut off from the rest of the hospital, isolated from everyone else. For the first time, he liked it.

In that quiet little world, he could hear his own heartbeat. It was beating exactly half a step faster than usual. The feeling was strange. Awkward. Completely unfamiliar.

“…”

It was well over two hours later when Yeonsu finally opened her eyes. Hajun handed her the phone he’d been holding for her.