2

Coincidence or not, after that day Cha Seonwoo started coming home earlier. That only meant earlier compared to the days when he stayed out all the time, though. He still sometimes spent the night elsewhere, and when he came back, he reeked of something rotten.

I ran into him more often, too. As if it had been ages since he lived in the annex and I could hardly ever see him, he somehow always ended up sitting on the living room sofa.

To go outside, I had to pass through the living room, so I had no choice but to see him. His gaze, which had been wandering lazily over the TV as if he couldn't focus on anything, would sharpen whenever I appeared.

I could endure that much. But then Cha Seonwoo decided, for whatever reason, to move his room.

Into the main house. Right next to the room I stayed in.

'...There are plenty of empty rooms. Why does he have to use that one?'

Even his mother looked displeased, but Cha Seonwoo didn't care at all.

The room my door faced was tucked deepest inside the mansion. He had deliberately chosen it, even though it was isolated from the others and relatively small.

It had already been hard to sleep before, but now I really couldn't sleep peacefully anymore. Not at night, not during the day. On top of that, I couldn't even let out a small sigh without worrying that Cha Seonwoo might hear me.

The only upside was that Cha Taewoo stopped coming by after that. He had been so smug about it before, but apparently he was worried about getting caught by Cha Seonwoo again.

He couldn't come into my room, but whenever we did run into each other, Cha Taewoo would sometimes give me a look I didn't want to understand.

Something was wrong.

It was obvious Cha Seonwoo had some scheme, but I couldn't figure out what it was, so I felt uneasy. The warning he had given me about being careful was laughable, because he was the one acting the most dangerous.

I couldn't take sleeping pills anymore either. On the days I did take them and fall asleep, the room would somehow be disheveled.

At first I thought Mother had come by, but my instincts told me that wasn't it. My instincts had never been wrong. But because the feeling was something so tiny, something only I could sense, I couldn't confront anyone or get angry about it. I could only stop taking sleeping pills and tremble with anxiety.

My nerves grew more and more frayed by the day. I probably wouldn't get any better until Cha Seonwoo left, or until I understood what he was trying to do.

* * *

I couldn't even fall asleep, just lay there with my eyes closed and my mind blank, when I felt my phone vibrate. I fumbled for it and checked the screen. It was a text from the student I tutored. They were asking if I could make today's lesson later than usual. I sent back a reply saying okay, then put the phone down.

That was a little troublesome. If I went out late and came back, the chances of running into Cha Seonwoo again would only go up.

After I fed my younger sibling, helped them wash up, and it was time for them to sleep, I took them to Mother's room.

"I think I'll be late today because of tutoring. Please don't put Chaemin to bed late. You have to..."

"I know, I know. Why are you nagging so much? Whose mom are you anyway?"

"...Right. I'm going."

Seeing my younger sibling blink those big eyes at me, still not understanding anything, made me feel awful. I looked at them with uneasy eyes, and because time was tight, I ended up leaving the room.

But I had no other choice. No matter how unreliable I thought Mother was, she was still the only one in this house who could take care of my younger sibling.

When I opened the front door and stepped outside, the warmth inside the mansion was replaced by a biting cold that made me shrink in on myself. Worse, it was snowing today, too.

"Ha..."

My fingers turned red and numb almost immediately. I couldn't feel them anymore. The downhill road to the bus stop was slippery no matter how careful I tried to be, and I staggered more than once.

In the end, I arrived later than usual, right on the edge of being late. Luckily I made it in time, but I usually arrived ten minutes early, so I was anxious. When I rang the bell, the door soon opened, and Taeyoon sunbae greeted me like always.

"Hurry in. You're freezing, aren't you?"

"A little."

"Your cheeks are all red and frozen."

The tutoring Taeyoon sunbae introduced me to was for his younger brother. My grades were pretty good, but compared to a straight-A student like him, it was obvious I couldn't really compete, and I was honestly flustered. He'd be better off teaching him himself. Besides, his younger brother studied so well there was almost nothing for me to teach.

I wondered if he had given me the tutoring job because he was worried about me for no reason, but Taeyoon sunbae said I was the only hubae he trusted enough to hand this over to, and asked me to work hard. I was grateful, but in return, I felt like I hadn't done anything for him at all.

"I'll go get you something warm. Go into the room."

"Thank you, sunbae."

I had no idea how I was supposed to help someone who seemed to have nothing lacking. Because I wasn't good at expressing myself, I hadn't even been able to thank him properly, not in a way that matched how I felt. I should really buy him a meal soon... But he already looked busy, and I couldn't bring myself to bring it up too casually and waste his time.

When I hesitated instead of going straight into the room, sunbae asked, "Why? Do you need something else?"

"Ah, no. I'm just always so grateful..."

"I haven't really done much. Hurry in. It'll be warmer in there."

As I went into the room, pushed along by sunbae, Taewon, his younger brother, who had been sitting at the desk, gave me a polite little bow.

I apologized for being late, took off my coat, hung it over the chair, and sat down. Taewon, who had been staring at me this whole time, asked, "Ssaem. Are you close with my brother?"

"Huh? Yeah, we are."

"Hmm... okay."

Did he hear us because the door was open? I tilted my head and asked, "Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing."

"Your sunbae is such a good person. I've gotten a lot of help from him."

Apparently that wasn't the answer he wanted. Unlike how he had asked me, Taewon just nodded vaguely like he wasn't interested.

"Then let's start."

I said that awkwardly and opened the workbook on the desk. Not long after, sunbae came back in with hot coffee and dessert.

"Thank you, sunbae."

"Mm. Let me know if you need anything else. Taewon, listen to your teacher."

Why was it? The moment I saw the coffee in front of me, Cha Seonwoo came to mind. And with that, the decent mood I had been in sank straight to the bottom. I shouldn't have been thinking that way, but for the rest of the lesson, Cha Seonwoo kept drifting through my head.

"Has something been going on lately?"

In the end, Taewon asked me.

"Ah, sorry. I guess I wasn't focusing very well."

I bit my lip with an apologetic look. But Taewon shook his head.

"No, I just thought you didn't look like yourself."

"Really? Do I not?"

I touched my cheek and gave an awkward laugh.

"It's nothing serious. I just haven't been sleeping much lately, I guess. Thanks for worrying about me."

"Then that's a relief, I guess. My brother's worried about you."

Taeyoon sunbae was? I looked confused for a moment, then nodded.

Since Cha Seonwoo came, things had started changing little by little. These days, even the smallest thing made me think of Cha Seonwoo, and every time it did, my head throbbed. Cha Seonwoo was constantly chewing through my nerves.

Maybe I had even expected this to happen a little when we first met.

Was it because I couldn't figure out what was in his head? But that didn't seem like enough to explain how much I kept noticing him. My eyes followed Cha Seonwoo almost on instinct.

After class ended, I refused sunbae's offer to drive me home and went back alone. It was later than usual, so I quickened my pace, worried about my younger sibling.

I tried to force thoughts of Cha Seonwoo down and walked briskly up the hill from the bus stop to the mansion. But I was so focused on walking that I didn't even notice the car slowly coming up behind me.

Was Cha Seonwoo home? I didn't want to run into him.

Then, from behind me, a loud horn blared.

I jumped in surprise, lost my balance, and fell onto the icy road.

"Ah..."

I didn't even scream. My wrist, which had taken the brunt of it, felt sharp and twisted, and the pain from my tailbone was bad enough that I could barely move.

As I groaned there, I heard a car door open.

"Are you okay?"

Along with a familiar voice, someone walked over and knelt down in front of me. It was Cha Seonwoo.

"...I'm fine."

I hadn't expected to run into him like this, in a place like this.

My cheeks, already red from the cold, burned even hotter. To show this embarrassing side of myself to none other than Cha Seonwoo. My gaze dropped to the ground on its own, avoiding him.

I tried to get up as if nothing was wrong, but my butt still stung, and I ended up frowning without meaning to. When I froze there, hesitating, Cha Seonwoo held out his hand.

"I'll help you. Get up."

"I can get up by myself."

But my words didn't match my body, because there was no strength in the hand I had planted on the ground. It felt like I'd hurt my wrist when I fell.

"Doesn't look like it."

Cha Seonwoo flexed the hand he was still holding out as if to show me. I didn't like it, but if I kept stubbornly refusing, I would only look more ridiculous, so I had no choice but to take his hand. It was warmer than I expected.

I stood up and tried to let go, but Cha Seonwoo didn't release me.

"...Will you let go already?"

But Cha Seonwoo still kept hold of my hand and led me to his car. He opened the passenger door for me and nodded toward the seat inside.

"Get in."

"No, it's fine."