She thought it was a small wound, but it turned out not to be. The girl stared at the wound, which had been stitched with seven stitches, shivering from the cold that suddenly crept over her shoulders.
Jungkook, who had just sat down, was still wearing his coat, but the girl had left all her belongings where they were. She had believed her friends would help, but... it was still cold.
"Hey..."
"Ah. How’s your hand? Is it okay?"
"Yes. Thank you for helping me."
"It’s nothing. If I hadn’t come, Daesik would have taken care of it."
The girl held the warm can of coffee Jungkook handed her, drinking it while quietly observing his profile. He was so... natural. Helping someone he had just met, that aspect of him reminded her of Seokjin.
Sensing the girl's gaze, Jungkook turned to look at her, and she quickly averted her eyes, casually putting the can of coffee into her pocket. The warmth from the can spread through her hand.
"Are you coming to school on Monday?"
"Monday? I wasn’t planning on going since it's just the OT. Why?"
"Oh... I wanted to pay you back for the hospital bills. Since it was an emergency, it probably cost more than usual. I just feel bad about it."
"Ah, don’t worry about it. It didn’t cost much."
"Still..."
"You're probably tired. Go home and rest. Should I call you a taxi?"
Jungkook cut her off and changed the subject, and the girl eventually gave up.
"...I’m fine. I can walk home since it’s close."
"But it’s dark. It could be dangerous. Should I walk you?"
"No, it’s fine. I’ll just appreciate the thought."
"Alright, then. Be careful."
Jungkook waved his hand lightly and turned his back. The girl stayed for a moment, staring at his figure crossing the crosswalk. She thought he would insist on walking her home until the end, but he was cool about it... Was it because she wasn’t Yoon Yeoju?
Part of her was relieved that she could go home easily, and part of her was slightly disappointed, wondering if Yoon Yeoju would have walked her home. It was a contradictory feeling she couldn't shake off, and she too changed her direction.
Chat.
Seokjin Senior
🗨 "Yeah, Yeoju, if anything happens, contact me!"
"..."
"Okay, see you later, Senior."
The agonizing unrequited love was still ongoing. She couldn’t tell whether the warmth in her pocket was from the coffee or her wound.
.
.
.
.
"Yeoju! What’s going on? Are you familiar with that senior?!"
Before she could even change into her clothes, Yujin caught her. Gently pushing Yujin’s hand off her collar, she opened her locker and noticed the items she had left at the drinking party. "Thanks for the bag." A short thank you, and she took off her top. Wearing a white T-shirt underneath, she put on her judo uniform and made eye contact with Yujin and Dami, who were sitting and waiting.
"What did you talk about with the senior after the hospital? Hmm?"
"I just thanked him for helping me. Dami, you don’t have lunch plans today, right? Let’s go eat tonkatsu."
"You said you thanked him? Then what did he say? Did you exchange contacts or anything?"
"Oh, I already have plans for lunch today."
"What? Who with? A guy?"
"Ko Yeoju! Did that senior really walk you home?"
"Yeah. It was a blind date."
"What?"
"What?!"
A brief silence. Yujin, who had been clinging to Yeoju's arm, and Yeoju, who had been ignoring Yujin’s words while talking to Dami, both widened their eyes in surprise at Dami's statement. As if she had expected their reaction, Dami nodded and tapped on her phone screen, while Yujin, who was the most shocked, gaped and trembled her eyelids.
"Dami... Dami went on a blind date?"
"What's going on? Didn't you say you weren't interested in dating?"
"Dami... Dami went... on a blind date..."
"Ah, you should be quiet."
Yeoju frowned and shoved Yujin. Normally, Yujin would pout, but today she said nothing and slouched against her locker, looking lost. "Stop overreacting," Dami scolded her nonchalantly, but there was no change.
"Well... you can’t live alone forever, right?"
"What are you talking about? You’ve been acting like you’ll live alone forever! Who is it? Our school?"
"Yeah. Swim team."
"Whoa. If he’s from the swim team, he’s probably got the right physique. Have you seen a picture?"
"No, I haven’t. I just agreed to meet him without seeing his picture."
"Wow... that’s still important... Well, Dami’s so smart, she’ll handle it."
At Dami's playful remark, she just laughed it off. She put her phone in the locker and nodded towards the door to leave. "Let's go. We have five minutes." Dami went out first, and Yeoju turned off the locker room light. As Yujin, still looking dazed, slowly started to move, Yeoju gave her a little push and led her all the way to the dojo.
.
.
.
.
Entering the dojo with Yujin, Yeoju tilted her head at the sight of people standing in formation. Not everyone was standing like that, but there were familiar faces of second-year students and younger faces indicating first-year students. Surrounding them were third and fourth-year students...?
What is this? She frowned involuntarily as she failed to grasp the situation. A senior standing on the platform saw Yeoju and Yujin and pointed at them.
"Come on! Get in here?!"
"Eek...!"
"...."
Startled, Yujin quickly ran towards them, and Yeoju followed. She wanted to ask what was going on, but everyone’s expressions were so stiff that she couldn’t. Eventually, Yeoju, like everyone else, bowed her head and stood at attention.
"The professor had an unexpected accident, so for the time being, I’ll be in charge of your training. I was going to start off easy today, but how dare first and second years show up exactly on time for training?!"
The sound of a wooden stick hitting the platform echoed. The first years, startled by the noise, stiffened and straightened their backs. Only then did Yeoju understand the situation. ...Military discipline. This wasted time without learning anything felt frustrating.
Where did the class president go? Why is the vice president doing this...? Negative thoughts rose to the tip of her tongue, but she gathered all her strength and bit her lip, trying her best to hold back.
But...
"All first and second years, lie down flat!!!"
....
Maybe it wasn’t necessary to hold back.