My body flinched at the words he let out with a sigh.
rolled his eyes and let out a faint sigh.
It wasn’t like I’d meant to eavesdrop on purpose, but
I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d been caught for no reason.
“How much did you hear?”
Tension lingered in the air, which had gone quiet in an instant.
Before I knew it, the first words out of my mouth were a feigned, innocent denial.
Having caught me pretending not to know,
he said I was pretending not to know even after hearing everything already,
and pushed back even harder with a sharp attitude.
“So you heard everything from the start, huh”
I tapped Hwang Hyunjin’s shoulder and then ran off ahead.
I kept looking back several times, worried he might chase after me, but what I saw was
not Hwang Hyunjin, who was hurrying after me in a panic,
but him standing still right therewith his arms folded
staring fixedly atthe back of my fleeing head.
After that incident with Hwang Hyunjin,
for some reason, it felt like Hwang Hyunjin was aware of me.
Whenever I moved my gaze, our eyes always met,
and wherever I went, Hwang Hyunjin was around.
It was the same during class.
When the back of my head started to prick and I turned around,
he was staring straight at my side.
Why had I forgotten my earphones and left them at home that day
and ended up getting dragged into this kind of mess?
On top of that, our seats were annoyingly close,
so even when I tried not to pay attention, I kept becoming aware of him.
One day, when those uncomfortable days kept repeating,
while I was taking Korean class in fifth period,
a note struck my back and dropped limply to the floor.
When I turned around, Hwang Hyunjin was tilting his chin
and pointing at the note that had fallen under the chair.
See me later.
At the note, whose meaning I couldn’t figure out,
I tilted my headand when I looked back again,
he raked his gaze over me from head to toe
and, without a sound,silently mouthed the words.
“If you’re done looking, look ahead.”
