High school bodyguard
Copyright 2022 몬트 All rights reserved
Ugh... Where am I...? When I opened my eyes, all I saw was a pure white ceiling. I turned my head and looked around. Pure white curtains, pure white pillows, everything was pure white. It was blurry, but I could see a cupboard full of medicine, which seemed to be the school infirmary. I remember bumping into someone in the hallway earlier, but I must have been sleep deprived and passed out.
“You’re sleep deprived and malnourished.”
As I lay there, I heard someone approach me, pull out a chair, and sit down. It was the same voice I'd heard earlier when I fell. As I struggled to get up, trying to see who it was, someone's hand stopped me.
“Should I lie down a little longer?”
“Yunseol…?”
The person I bumped into in the hallway, the person who brought me to the infirmary, and the person who had been caring for me all this time were all unexpected. Of all people, it was none other than Yoonseol… We had a reconciliation back then, but it was a one-sided gesture on my part, so I assumed Yoonseol would still harbor some lingering ill feelings toward me. Startled, I stared blankly at Yoonseol.
“Why, do you find it strange that I am like this?”
“Uh… a little?”
Yunseol sat quietly and winked at me, her face devoid of any ill will toward me. The Yunseol I know... no, had the expression on Yunseol's face ever been so at ease when she looked at me? I wondered. The corners of my mouth slightly turned up, as if that day wasn't just my one-sided conclusion, but one that included Yunseol as well.
“What are you laughing at, you passed out on the street? If you were going to act so cool, you should have eaten well.”
“Chi… Yunseol, are we really friends now?”
“…Yeah. Let’s be friends.”
For the first time, I saw Yunseol smile. Instead of the cold stare she used to give me, she smiled at me, and I almost cried. Until recently, I'd never imagined that Yunseol and I could ever break free and become friends, but our tenacious bond has finally ended.
At Yunseol's suggestion that we be friends, I, too, burst into a hearty laugh. Yunseol and I, without hesitation, immediately followed suit, and before we knew it, we'd grown deeply attached to each other, even after all that time of hatred.
"Everything you said was true. My pitiful inferiority complex was destroying you, and even me. I can't tell you how disappointed I was in myself that day. Who knew I was this kind of person..."
“……”
"I apologize for all the harsh words and actions I've ever said to you. I'm sorry, Kim Yeo-ju."
In fact, back when I didn't know why Yoonseol was tormenting me, I desperately wanted to hear her apology. Perhaps I longed to see her kneel before me. But now, I didn't. I could understand her situation, her inferiority complex. I think I would have felt the same way, so her apology didn't really resonate with me.
"Thank you for apologizing. Honestly, I didn't do anything wrong, so let's just call it "Teacher Teacher." What do you think?"
“No matter what, how can it be the same?”
“We were both childish, weren’t we?”
“… That’s right. That was really childish.”
I reached out to Yunseol first. It wasn't a small thing to be hurt and cry over Yunseol's harsh words and actions. But I, too, had said the same harsh things to her, so I hadn't done anything wrong. So, I offered my right hand, suggesting we both accept our childishness without any regrets. Yunseol immediately took my hand in hers.
“I’ll take back the words that said I was a coward hiding behind Jeon Jungkook.”
"uh?"
“Because it seems like the coward is not you, but Jeon Jungkook.”
What does that mean…? Have you seen Jeon Jungkook?My eyes widened at Yoonseol's words that it seemed like Jeon Jeongguk, not me, was the coward. The thought flashed through my mind that Yoonseol clearly knew something I didn't.
“Jeon Jungkook came to me on the day he was transferring schools. He asked me to watch over you in his place.”
“Jeon Jungkook… really, really did that to you…?”
“He asked me to stay by his side no longer. Not Hwang Min-ah, not anyone else, but me.”
The words coming out of Yoonseol's mouth resonated more deeply than anything I'd heard in the past few days. It was funny how my body still reacted first to Jeon Jungkook's story. Even the tears that had been flowing for days and seemed like they would never flow again welled up again.So…? So what did you say?
“I asked you to tell me, why would you want to leave someone you like so much that it’s obvious?”
“……”
"When Jeon Jungkook decided to work at your house, it seems he made a pact with your father. He said he would never become more than friends with you. That was his condition for staying by your side."
The more I listened to Yoonseol's story about Jeon Jeongguk, the more tears welled up in my eyes. Was it all because of the promise I made to my father? Even when I insisted on it, he pushed me away, and when my father found out, he ended things with me right away... I hugged the blanket covering me and let the tears flow.
“Kim Yeo-ju, this.”
"… what's this?"
Yunseol, who had been gently patting my back as I cried sadly, took out a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to me as soon as I raised my head.
“Jeon Jungkook told me to tell you this.”
Yoonseol said that when Jeon Jungkook handed her this note, he was only worried about her. He said she'd be shocked by his sudden disappearance, that she'd cry a lot. Tears welled up in her eyes again at those words, but she held them back, clasping her trembling hands and unfolding the crumpled note.
I read the note, word by word. Even the crumpled paper couldn't have been this sad. Jeon Jungkook's heart was so full of it that I couldn't stop crying. Receiving Jeon Jungkook's final greeting in a note only ached, and I hated him for never revealing his whereabouts. I clutched the note tightly in my hand and wept uncontrollably.
“Don’t cry, I told you I hope Jeon Jungkook doesn’t cry too much…”
“Ugh, ugh… Why am I like this… Ugh, my heart hurts…?”
“It’s because I like you a lot. I like you so much that it hurts a lot.”
“Huh… Huh, Huh-huh-.”
Yoonseol moved, sat down on the bed, and hugged me tightly. Like a lost child, anxious and nervous, tears streaming down my face, Yoonseol gently patted my back. Yoonseol's touch, like Jeon Jungkook's, always soothing me, made me gasp even more, as if my breath was almost taken away. Then, as if she'd made up her mind, Yoonseol let go and grabbed my shoulders with both hands.
“Kim Yeo-ju, wake up and listen to me carefully.”
“Huh… Jeon Jungkook, Jeon Jungguk…”
“Go to OO Boys’ High School in OO Building.”
“……”
“It’s the school Jeon Jungkook originally went to, and he transferred again.“The school I went to will be there too.”
"what…?"
“I looked it up before, because I was curious about where Jeon Jungkook was from. It’ll take about 40 minutes by taxi.”
“What if it’s not there…?”
“You have to go there to know. Go quickly, Kim Yeo-ju.”
I wiped away tears with my arm as Yoonseol, who was sitting next to me, wondered where and how Jeon Jungkook came from. Clutching Jeon Jungkook's note tightly in my hand, I ran out of the school, hoping he might be there. Jeon Jungkook, please... please stay there...
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