[He’s even going to wipe it for you?]
Min Yu-un and I were not the only ones shocked.
Lee Soo-hyeon, who had been gently holding my hand back, loosened his grip in surprise. Yoo Si-eon, who had just been about to drink his banana milk, stared at Han Tae-ryeong with his mouth slightly open.
“Han Tae-ryeong, are you insane?”
Unable to hold back, Yoo Si-eon snapped at him.
Han Tae-ryeong ignored him. His red eyes remained fixed on me, waiting for me to come closer.
I simply could not bring myself to let him do it.
“I’ll do it.”
I reached out and caught the edge of the handkerchief. Han Tae-ryeong handed it over without hesitation.
At that moment, a fierce gust of wind swept across the rooftop.
The fabric was torn from my grasp and sent fluttering wildly through the air, drifting farther and farther away. Without thinking, I jumped to my feet and ran after it, reaching out again and again for the dancing scrap of cloth.
I finally caught it.
But my momentum carried me too far.
My body pitched forward, tipping dangerously over the ledge.
“Min Yu-un!”
I did not even have time to understand what was happening.
One moment, I was looking up at the sky.
The next, I was staring straight down at the ground far below.
Time slowed to a crawl.
Why didn’t I think of this before?
I had been clearing these quests because I wanted to die.
Min Yu-un had brought me here, so I had assumed he would be the one to send me back to rest.
But maybe there was another way.
For example, dying in Min Yu-un’s body.
Since when had I started caring so much about other people?
I had always been selfish. From beginning to end, I had lived only for myself.
So if Min Yu-un died now, and that meant I could finally be at peace—
My shirt jerked violently.
The thought was cut short as I was yanked backward and thrown onto my back. The impact rattled through my spine. I curled in on myself, stunned, as a low curse rang out above me.
Han Tae-ryeong stood there with one hand covering his face, swearing under his breath.
Killing intent poured from him, as if he might tear someone apart at any second.
It was Yoo Si-eon who had grabbed me.
His hand was still clenched tight around the hem of my shirt.
Everyone looked horribly shaken.
They don’t have to be that shocked.
If the villain died, would that not be a blessing?
A happy ending for them?
“Yu-un, are you really okay? You’re not hurt anywhere?”
Lee Soo-hyeon ignored the other two and helped me sit up. His gentle hands supported my back.
“I’m fine.”
“…How can you be that reckless?”
Han Tae-ryeong muttered through clenched teeth. Only his eyes were visible beyond his hand, glinting ominously.
“If you want to die that badly, just say so. I’ll wring your neck and do it for you.”
At his unfiltered words, Lee Soo-hyeon moved as if to step between us, but I stopped him.
I carefully brushed away the hand supporting me, and Lee Soo-hyeon let go without resistance.
Clutching the handkerchief, I held it out to Han Tae-ryeong.
“This is precious to you, isn’t it?”
Hadn’t Min Yu-un said last time that this was a handkerchief Han Tae-ryeong would not even lend to his childhood friend, Yoo Si-eon?
And yet he had willingly lent it to me.
Just now, I had nearly trampled on that kindness.
I could not simply stand there and watch it be carried off by the wind.
That was why I had moved.
“Fu…”
Han Tae-ryeong swallowed back another curse.
“How do you even know it matters to me?”
“I just had a feeling.”
The moment I turned my head, Han Tae-ryeong snatched the handkerchief from my hand. The veins stood out sharply across his clenched fist.
“…Ugh.”
A strangled sob reached my ears.
Startled, I turned toward the sound.
Yoo Si-eon was lying on the ground. His lips were bitten raw, dotted with blood, and silent tears streamed down his cheeks.
“This is driving me crazy.”
He tried to force his voice steady, but the tremor in it betrayed him.
Yoo Si-eon managed a faint, bitter smile.
“Min Yu-un, I hate you.”
“…”
“I really hate you.”
Even as he said it, Yoo Si-eon refused to let go of my shirt until the very end.
*****
Forced to leave school early, I wandered aimlessly across the sports field.
A P.E. class seemed to be in progress. Students were running around energetically, their voices carrying across the field.
I had been sent home early because of Yoo Si-eon.
He had marched straight to the teachers’ office with his swollen eyes on full display, making no attempt to hide them. Naturally, he dragged me along with him.
Standing in front of the teacher, Yoo Si-eon argued passionately for my early dismissal. He exaggerated the rooftop incident to a ridiculous degree, and just like that, I ended up with an unexpected free afternoon.
“Min Yu-un.”
A voice I loathed called my name.
I forced myself to turn around, though I wanted nothing more than to ignore it.
Jin Ha-seong stood there in his gym uniform, apparently in the middle of class.
He had been quiet ever since I shoved Yoo Si-eon’s gym clothes in his face. I thought he had finally gotten the message, but here he was again, still trying to talk to me.
Even the densest person alive should have understood by now.
Not that it mattered.
The memory of his brute strength still haunted me. The sensation of him crushing me beneath his weight had not faded.
If anything, he should have lost the nerve to ever speak to me again.
And yet he smiled as if none of it had ever happened.
“Leaving early? Are you sick?”
“Didn’t I tell you to stop talking to me?”
“You never said that.”
“We’ve already cut ties. What’s there left to talk about?”
I snapped back and started walking away, determined to leave.
Class was still in session, so he would not follow me beyond the school gates.
At least, that was what I hoped as I kept moving.
“Min Yu-un, what’s the problem? Did Han Tae-ryeong threaten you or something?”
My resolve to ignore him shattered instantly.
I whirled around, unable to hold back my frustration.
“That’s not it. I just don’t want to torment Yoo Si-eon anymore.”
“But you like Han Tae-ryeong and Lee Soo-hyeon. And you hate Yoo Si-eon, don’t you?”
“I told you, that’s not it! How many times do I have to say it?!”
The shout tore out of me before I could stop it, and I flinched.
Jin Ha-seong’s unwavering gaze remained fixed on me.
He did not even blink.
There was something eerie about the way he stared at me. Something almost unnatural.
I stepped back on instinct, my body moving before my mind could catch up.
Jin Ha-seong’s smile slowly widened.
“Don’t worry, Yu-un. I’ll take care of everything.”
I should have told him no.
I should have said I did not need his help.
But I could not.
A strange, suffocating fear had seized me.
*****
A teacher called Jin Ha-seong away, giving me a chance to escape.
I hurried past the school gates and crouched down in a corner. It was not just dizziness. Nausea churned inside me, threatening to spill over.
The chill from that encounter still clung to me.
I had met all kinds of lunatics before, but never anyone like him.
As I stared at the ground, pale and shaken, a sharp voice cut through the air.
[Seong Yu-un, Seong Yu-un! Seong Yu-un!]
I grimaced.
“I can hear you now, Min Yu-un.”
[You weren’t ignoring me earlier, were you?]
I rolled my eyes, exhausted.
Now that I thought about it, I had not heard Min Yu-un’s voice since the rooftop.
Too drained to argue, I simply kept walking.
Should I go home?
But it was not really my home.
I did not have a home.
So where was I supposed to go?
I changed direction, walking away from the house. As I moved, Min Yu-un kept shouting.
[Were you seriously trying to die back there?!]
“Sorry.”
[You think “sorry” is enough?! That’s my body, you idiot!]
Min Yu-un’s fury was almost palpable.
Up ahead, a pedestrian bridge came into view.
Painted white, it looked like a stairway leading straight to heaven. Below, cars rushed past, oblivious.
“Min Yu-un.”
[What?]
He snapped, still irritated.
I climbed the steps slowly, gripping the spotless railing.
“If I die, what happens?”
[You just die.]
“No, I mean what happens if I die in your body?”