It was only a few minutes before the first class of the day started.
I had no idea who my seatmate was, but they still hadn’t arrived.
Not that I really cared.
Just as the bell rang, the back door of the classroom swung open.
The person who entered had a rough way of handling doors.
Step, step—
Their footsteps were fast, and soon enough, they stopped right next to me.
So this must be my seatmate.
"...So you actually came today?"
I turned my head without answering.
A boy was standing there, wearing a slight smile.
He looked cute.
Everyone in class avoided me, but this guy… he didn’t seem to care.
"Why didn’t you answer your phone?"
"Ah..."
I hadn’t seen it.
I didn’t even know where my phone was, so there was no way I could’ve answered anyone’s call.
"I lost it."
A convenient excuse.
I didn’t have my phone with me anyway, so this was the perfect thing to say.
Not like he could do anything about it.
"Ah..."
After that, we didn’t exchange any more words.
There was nothing more to say, and just then, the homeroom teacher walked in.
"Suji, you’re here? Are you feeling better today?"
"Ah... yes."
At the teacher’s words, all eyes turned to me.
I didn’t like people and hated being stared at, so their gazes made me tense up.
"You don’t look too well. If you feel unwell, you can leave early."
"Okay."
After answering, I immediately lay down on my desk.
I felt like their stares were choking me, so I tried to fall asleep.
.
.
.
.
"Suji. Han Suji."
I must have fallen asleep at some point.
A voice calling me pulled me out of my sleep.
"Are you awake? Next period is P.E., so we have to go to the gym."
"Ah..."
How annoying.
I thought about pretending to be sick and leaving early, but it wasn’t really my life, so I felt guilty doing whatever I wanted.
...High school attendance records matter, after all.
I had never cared about attendance before, and yet here I was, taking care of someone else’s attendance record.
Should I laugh at this or not?
When I arrived at the gym, everyone was lined up.
Since I didn’t have my own gym uniform, I had to wear my seatmate’s.
I didn’t want to at first, but he insisted, saying he was in regular clothes today anyway and wouldn’t be using his gym uniform.
"Is everyone here? Today, we’ll be playing partner dodgeball."
My brows furrowed instinctively.
Partner dodgeball meant you had to pair up with someone.
Not only was I not interested, but I also couldn’t even see my partner anywhere.
"Suji, want to team up with me?"
"Huh...?"
"Park Jimin! You're my partner, right?"
Park Jimin... so that was my seatmate’s name.
"I want to play with Suji."
"With her?"
"Ha... Why are you hanging around Han Suji so much these days?"
"....."
The cold stares directed at me made me uncomfortable.
"I just want to be friends with her."
"You didn’t care about her before."
"Well, now I do."
From the looks of it, Park Jimin and I weren’t exactly close.
It seemed more like he was the one approaching me on his own.
"I'll just team up with whoever's left or sit this one out. You take her."
"Oh, and pairs have to be mixed-gender."
What...??
The P.E. teacher suddenly made that announcement, which annoyed me.
It looked like I had no choice but to pair up with Park Jimin.
.
.
.
.
"Pass!!"
I couldn’t think straight.
Boys and girls were holding onto each other, screaming about not wanting to get hit.
Some were flirting instead of actually playing.
"Can I just get hit and be out already?"
"It’ll hurt. Let’s just finish this quickly; there aren’t many left on the other team."
I was the one getting hit, not him, so why did he care?
Thanks to Park Jimin blocking for me, I managed to survive for a long time.
But for some reason, the opposing team kept targeting me.
"Come on, hit her already!"
They were so desperate to hit me that everyone’s eyes were locked onto me.
What had the owner of this body done to make everyone hate them so much?
I managed to dodge well enough, but then—
A girl with a deadly glare aimed straight at me and threw the ball as hard as she could.
I was stuck close to Park Jimin, so I couldn’t escape.
I figured he would block it for me again, but...
THWACK—!!
"Ugh..."
"Are you okay? Hey, Lee Jina, wasn’t that too hard?"
"....."
What the hell?
"Suji, does it hurt a lot?"
What are you playing at?
"Want to go to the nurse’s office?"
You could’ve caught it.
"Here, take my hand. Get up."
Why did you just stand there?
"You..."
"What?"
"...Never mind."
What’s the point of saying anything?
Even if I thought he did it on purpose, he could always say he just couldn’t react in time.
"I’ll go sit out on the bench."
"Alright."
Something feels... off.
"....."
Why does it feel so wrong?