Work Text:
“Huh?”
A surprised voice shook me out of the banter. Hwang Jiho, who had been laughing while babbling his usual nonsense, also turned at the sound.
“It's not…”
Kim Yuri was searching through her bag with a troubled expression.
Class had just finished, and we were about to head to our respective clubs for further activities, but Kim Yuri, who usually checked on the other kids and left on time, was still here.
Sensing a problem, the few class kids who had yet to leave, including me and the old geezer, quickly huddled towards Yuri.
“What’s wrong?”
“Did you forget something?”
“Yuri, what happened?”
Kim Yuri briefly looked up at the concerned voices before returning her gaze to her bag. Her hands rummaged through the bundle of workbooks and papers, half of it turned into a mess by now.
“I, um…”
Her gaze went to the desk, but it didn't seem like she had found anything there either.
“There was a wristwatch, I kept it here…”
Her voice gradually turned more anxious.
“A wristwatch?”
“Yeah, I took it off for a moment, but I can't find it…”
I glanced at the frowning geezer before speaking up.
“Did you take it off during class?”
“...I think so?”
Judging by her expression and tone, she didn't seem certain at all. Still, even if she had lost it before class, it wouldn't be anywhere outside the school.
“Can't you track it using your device?”
Han Yi chimed in from aside.
I nodded inwardly, wondering the same. With how advanced the technology was in PMH, most accessories, including the students’ devices, could be tracked down when needed for emergencies.
However, it wouldn't be applicable if the model happened to be old-fashioned or simply a plain one without any such additions.
“...no, it's a bit old…”
Seems like my guess was right.
Kim Yuri looked at the class kids with unease, an expression hardly seen on her bright face, and continued.
“...my parents gifted it to me when I was very young, and, well…”
Just before her expression turned any worse, a confident voice resounded in the classroom.
“Don't worry. As long as it remains inside Eungwang district, this one can find it easily.”
Ignoring the fact that he had completely given up on hiding his identity—not that it was needed—I felt relieved that Hwang Jiho spoke up. I could help in finding the watch, but comforting people was never my forte.
“That's true! Jiho is really reliable in these things, so don't worry!”
“...well, he can probably check the cameras and find it, I guess…”
“Right? Yuri, don't worry too much.”
Kim Yuri, listening to her classmates’ comforting voices—with a loud but still relieving laughter mixed in between—finally relaxed her expression. Her face curled up into her usual smile, which made me feel at ease as well.
My playable characters were all good clas-
“Should we start by checking the classroom first?”
Abruptly, my thoughts were cut off.
“Yuri, you've already checked your bag and desk, right?”
“Did you check your desk?”
My body froze, as if the temperature had suddenly dipped and I was standing with the barest of clothing.
“What about him?”
“Should we start with everyone's desk? You might've kept…”
The voice faded out of my ears.
My heart pounded in a frenzy.
“Student Jo Euishin.”
Cold sweat began to trickle down my back. I tried to breathe and move but my body felt stiff, too stiff.
‘Why? Why?’
Tap
I was inside the classroom. Hwang Jiho was with me, so I couldn't have been attacked. There were no physical ailments I was suffering from, so it didn't make sense.
‘Why?’
Tap, tap
The stares of a thousand eyes, boring holes into my stiff figure.
‘Why?’
The sound of footsteps drawing close, the prick of my nails digging into my palms, the incessant whispers.
‘Why? Why? Why?’
The rough hands of someone searching through my pockets, a disappointed sigh drowned out by the sound of my own heartbeat.
I didn't-
“Jo Euishin.”
A firm grip shook me out of my thoughts. I blinked blankly, my ears ringing with a continuous buzz.
Hwang Jiho's hand held onto my arm.
I looked ahead, meeting his gaze.
“What's wrong?”
I blinked.
“Euishin?”
When I looked around the class kids had already began the search. I started to feel short of breath again so I turned back towards Hwang Jiho.
All of a sudden, his hand grabbed my wrist, a frown immediately spreading across his face.
Kim Yuri, who must've found it odd that I was simply standing idle, also looked at Jiho in concern.
“Is he sick?”
Before I could speak and affirm that it was nothing, Hwang Jiho spoke in my stead.
“...no, but it's cold.”
Cold?
Was it a problem if my hands were cold? They had been like that for as long as I could remember.
I shook my hand away from the grip, feeling odd.
“You-”
Just in time, the class bell rang. Under the sudden stream of music, Hwang Jiho's words were blurred out.
“Euishin, you don't look well.”
I turned towards Yuri, who was still standing there, concern evident in her gaze.
“I'll let you know when I find the watch, so please go ahead and rest.”
Vaguely, I felt the urge to show her my bag, my desk, and prove something. The words ‘I don't know’ clawed up to my throat, but it wouldn't make sense to her, it wouldn't make anyone believe me.
“Euishin?”
I managed to nod, or I hoped I did, and Yuri said something more, but I couldn't focus properly.
Almost in a sluggish movement, I picked up my bag, suppressing the urge to spill everything there, and walked out of the classroom.
Tap, tap
‘They didn't ask me.’
Only then did it hit me.
Never once through the whole search had anyone asked me anything. If I was there in the classroom earlier, if I had seen the lost item anywhere, or if they could check my belongings just to make sure.
Was that normal?
No, it couldn't be.
They were all good kids, so even if they doubted anything, they wouldn't let it show just to not hurt me, their supposed classmate.
I, on the other hand.
“...Jo Euishin.”
I needed to head to the Newspaper Club with Hwang Jiho, but I found myself heading to another secluded spot. I usually went there to take a break after class, and today, my steps rushed to that same place, ignoring everything.
A hand grabbed my shoulder.
I roughly swatted it away as I put my bag on the empty bench.
‘Just in case.’
It had been like this back then too.
I rummaged through the books quickly, the neat papers crumbling under the hastiness.
It had been like this.
When I had first entered a new high school, starting a new life I had never asked for.
Someone in the class had lost their wallet, and from then on, my memory was a blur.
I couldn't blame them.
In a familiar classroom of friends and peers, if a stranger suddenly barged in, a face you could see plastered anywhere on the headlines with distinct camera flashes—an orphan—you'd start to doubt them as well.
After all, who else would even attempt to steal beside me?
They all had their families, adults who could provide for them anything they required.
I didn't.
So it was only natural.
My rough breath echoed in my ears.
In front of my sight lay a mess of crumpled papers and workbooks and stationery but nothing resembling a watch.
The class kids were good, but someone might've accidentally placed it in my bag.
I had been thinking of this back then too.
If the wallet was found in my belongings, what would I do?
Who would believe my words then?
Who would they call in the office, informing them their son was a thief?
Who-
“Jo Euishin!”
A piercing roar startled me out of my thoughts.
“What are you doing?!”
I vaguely felt something drip down my palm, onto the pavement.
I looked into the trembling eyes in front of me.
“I didn't-”
No one would ever believe me.
No one ever had.
I didn't either.
“I didn't steal…”
My vision darkened and my words faded, trailing off. Something seemed to strangle my neck, tightening its grip around. Was it what Baek Hogun had mentioned? Was I suppressing my breaths again?
What was wrong about it?
Fwish-
I heard a brief curse as my vision swayed.
“Jo Euishin…”
A golden wave wrapped around my body. The pain dulled in an instant, and I felt oddly lethargic at the sensation.
“Breathe.”
I buried my face into the warm shoulder. My breath hitched occasionally, but it wasn't hurting as much.
“Jo Euishin.”
The feeling of a hand searching for a thief in my pockets, and the hand carefully patting my back, wrapped in superpower waves.
My eyes began to grow unbearably hot.
“It's okay. Breathe properly, Jo Euishin.”
Hwang Jiho's voice was quiet. It was different from how confidently he always spoke, but it also didn't seem like he was angry either.
I took a shaky breath, not knowing what to say. Or explain anything, for that matter.
I thought he'd let go after my breathing was stable, but he only held onto me tighter, rubbing my back continuously, and I didn't feel like pushing him away.
Belatedly, I recalled where we were headed, and that I had carelessly wasted all that time thinking of some nonsense.
“I'm sorry.”
“...”
Hwang Jiho didn't say anything, but his hand patting my back briefly froze, before continuing with the motion.
Should I say sorry again?
I didn't know if he would be interested, but if he asked, I could at least explain why I had acted like that earlier.
“Sorry, I was-”
“Jo Euishin.”
He finally let go, moving back.
“Why did you-”
Hwang Jiho, who had a frown on his face, suddenly stopped speaking.
I waited for him to continue, but he only stared at my face, his expression gradually turning worse.
Why?
What was the problem?
He grabbed my arm and helped me sit on the bench, murmuring something I couldn't quite catch.
My bag and everything inside of it was spilled on the floor, but when I tried to clean up the mess, Hwang Jiho's expression suddenly turned fierce.
“No. Stay seated.”
His tone was so firm that I lost any energy to argue back.
He crouched down and carefully began picking up the scrambled books, arranging the papers inside and even dusting them properly before stacking it inside my bag. I didn't know when he had seen it, but he was putting the workbooks and stationery in the exact order I usually place them, with an uncanny precision.
Tap
I couldn't bear to look at him doing something like that for me, so I turned away, only to be startled.
‘Huh?’
My fingers were scratched at places, and a very thin trail of blood followed down my thumb.
‘When did…’
I did look through my bag in haste, but when exactly had I got these paper cuts? Was that why Jiho was surprised?
I covered my hand unconsciously, but it didn't hide anything, nor did it dull the stinging ache.
Tap, tap
The sound of footsteps reached my ears, alongside the weight of my bag being placed on the side.
“Jo Euishin.”
A hand grabbed my scarred one.
I didn't look at Jiho, but he clearly seemed annoyed with how he clicked his tongue.
“I'm not upset with you. I'm upset you're in pain.”
…Could he read my mind? I was certain I hadn't spoken a word.
Or was it just his ages long experience or something?
I kept quiet, feeling odd.
A familiar golden light covered my hands, and like earlier, the pain nearly disappeared.
“Hmm.”
I was about to thank him, but he still seemed annoyed, so I put it off for now. I heard him mumble something about a recovery item, but surely he wasn't going to use something so precious on a paper cut. He mentioned going to the mansion as well, and even though I wanted to refuse, I couldn't say anything when he mentioned this.
“Jo Euishin. You're not thinking of leaving alone in that condition, right?”
I wanted to say that I was fine, but considering how much he had helped me today, I didn't argue back.
Strangely enough, even though my condition was stable now, I found myself thinking back to that moment before.
Tap
After it was done, after my bag and my belongings and even my pockets had been checked by the homeroom teacher.
And after the wallet was found in another classroom, where the student in question had often gone to for lunch.
What had happened afterwards?
There had been a few glances.
The teacher had scolded the student lightly.
And then.
Class had resumed.
Fwish-
I felt someone sit beside me.
Hwang Jiho was still holding my hand.
I hadn't wanted any apology. I knew I didn't deserve it, and I knew their speculation was only born out of anxiety and immaturity usual for their age, and nothing more.
Still.
It might've been a little better.
It would've been a bit more bearable if I didn't have to walk back to my desk and put everything back inside my bag on my own and pretend that the scorching feeling didn't creep under my skin and that I was never a thief but it still didn't matter.
“Jo Euishin.”
The grip on my hand tightened.
The humiliation lingered.
“Don't think of useless things.”
Hwang Jiho was here, now, but then, on that day, I had walked back to my relative's home, and had done everything I usually did till sleep came.
There had been no one.
That was all it was.
Today, I hadn't even been accused of anything, but seeing Hwang Jiho try to comfort me, seeing the good class kids doubting nothing even when I started to behave strangely, I didn't know what to feel.
Was this normal?
Could this ever be normal for someone like me?
“Jo Euishin.”
I turned to look at Jiho.
His expression seemed sad for a moment, before returning back to usual.
“Kim Yuri informed me. She's found the watch, and she asked me to tell you not to worry.”
Relief surged through my body at the news. Since it was a gift from her parents, she must've been really worried, but it was good that it was resolved without much issue. Even though I shouldn't be feeling like this when I hadn't helped at all, I was still glad nothing major happened.
“...I can guess what you're thinking, but at least you look better now.”
I didn't know what he was talking about, since his face seemed brighter too. He cared a lot about the class kids, and I was glad that he had been worried for Kim Yuri earlier as well.
“Let's go.”
His hand tugged at mine, the grip still firm.
Hwang Jiho stood up, waiting for me.
“Jo Euishin. Let's go back to my mansion. Eunho must be waiting.”
Eunho?
Why would he be waiting?
It was already past lunch, so surely he couldn't have been waiting to eat with us all this while?
I stared blankly at Jiho's hand.
The scratches didn't sting like before.
Nodding, I quietly got up. Without prompting, Hwang Jiho casually picked up my bag, as if it was his own. His gaze seemed to question what was wrong, so I turned away, ignoring the subsequent breeze-like laughter.