FL Chapter 15

“How was I?”

Was I good? Kangwoo whispered and chuckled mischievously. He had been nonchalant the whole time, even though he was the one who had beaten Lee Hyukjin and covered it up as a traffic accident.

“Hmm, yeah.”

Heewoon nodded and thought to himself.

Seo Kangwoo is a madman. So there’s no need to speculate on the reason for that assault. Whatever the reason may be, it was Seo Kangwoo who committed it, and it had nothing to do with him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Kangwoo asked, and Heewoon shook his head, saying it was nothing.

As the next group prepared for their presentation, they heard their juniors whispering behind them.

“Hey, did you hear? Hyukjin Sunbae is hospitalized in the VIP ward. He doesn’t look rich, but is he actually?”

“Isn’t that just a rumor? You can’t even visit him, so how do you know for sure?”

“No, I’m fucking sure. You know Minhyeong in our year, right? His girlfriend’s friend works at the hospital and saw him.”

“That kind of thing is called a rumor, dude.”

The whispering duo shut their mouths when the professor’s gaze fell on them.

Heewoon fidgeted under his desk. Next to him, Seo Kangwoo’s palm was covered with a band-aid the same color as his skin. It looked like he’d been hurt a little, too, when he smashed Lee Hyukjin’s head with the glass. Heewoon stared at Kangwoo’s beautiful hand in disbelief, he couldn’t imagine that hand could do such a terrible thing.

“We’ll start our presentation.”

Heewoon was the only one who knew how crazy Seo Kangwoo was.

He turned his head to face straight ahead. His heart was beating so fast.

***

There’s less than a week left until the exam. If it were any other time, he would have taken a nap during his free time between classes, but he couldn’t afford to waste time now.

During exam periods, he always felt short on time because he had tutoring jobs for six days a week. This was especially true because Seo Kangwoo kept calling Heewoon incessantly. He had no choice but to study only after his tutoring job ended. Just yesterday, he returned home at 2 am, and then studied for about four hours. He could only get sleep for two hours. The day before yesterday, he slept for three hours, and the day before that, he slept for two.

He must have reached his limit now because he was extremely tired. He felt like he could fall asleep if his head leaned on anything.

Heewoon wiped his face and looked at his watch. There were about three hours left until his tutoring job. The subject he had to finish today… it’s…

“Haa-…”

Heewoon sighed and covered his eyes. Although he was walking, his mind was definitely asleep. Seo Kangwoo hadn’t contacted him yet, so maybe he wouldn’t call him at all today. In that case, he might go to get some sleep in his department lounge.

It would be a big problem if he became drowsy during the tutoring job. A few days ago, his student told him, “I’ll keep an eye on you, Teacher.”

It would be better for him to sleep a little and then go to the tutoring job.

With that in mind, Heewoon turned around and headed to the library. The thought that he could get some sleep made his heavy steps become lighter.

But then, his phone rang.

[Seo Kangwoo]

Heewoon wiped his face roughly while looking at his phone screen. It wasn’t fear that overwhelmed him when he saw Seo Kangwoo’s name, but rather annoyance. When his fatigue accumulated too much, it seemed that he also lost his fear of him.

He didn’t want to answer his call.

If he could just go to the department lounge and lay his head down on the hard mattress, he would fall asleep quickly. Even an hour’s sleep would be enough to relieve some of his fatigue.

However, he didn’t have the option not to answer.

“… Hello.”

-Why are you taking so long to answer the phone?

The tone was friendly, but it still felt eerie.

“That…”

Heewoon tried to make an excuse but stumbled on his words. Half of his mind was still asleep.

-Come to the parking lot.

“Now?”

-Yes. Right now.

The phone call ended. Heewoon sighed and looked at his phone with a sense of despair. He turned around and started walking, while pressing his throbbing temples. He felt like crying.

What if he falls asleep while tutoring? He would be in big trouble if he got fired. Will he be able to study and sleep at dawn?

As Heewoon walked towards the parking lot, his face became more and more gloomy.

He saw Seo Kangwoo’s car. It wasn’t the foreign car that he drove himself, maybe because he didn’t want to draw attention.

Heewoon took a deep breath and got into Kangwoo’s car. Even before he managed to close the door properly, Kangwoo grabbed Heewoon’s neck and kissed him. Heewoon, wide-eyed, pushed Kangwoo’s shoulder roughly.

“What are you doing?!”

Heewoon confirmed that the car door was closed and glanced outside.

“I’m kissing you.”

Kangwoo replied nonchalantly, tilting his head. He seemed displeased.

“W-why did you do that all of a sudden…”

“I guess Sunbae isn’t scared of me anymore.”

That wasn’t true. Heewoon thought he must have gone crazy to push Seo Kangwoo away. He even raised his voice at him.

It’s not like that… Heewoon tried to make excuses, but Kangwoo just slowly stroked his head.

“I was so glad to see you, but you pushing me away like that made me feel upset.”

“….”

“And if I get into a bad mood….”

Kangwoo trailed off. Heewoon lowered his gaze. Kangwoo suddenly grabbed his hair and pulled him back.

“Uuufh….”

“It’ll be bad for you, Sunbae. What do you think?”

Heewoon gritted his teeth. His scalp felt like it was about to be ripped off. Heewoon grabbed Kangwoo’s hand which was holding his hair with both hands. His gaze naturally went to Kangwoo’s other hand. If that hand clenched into a fist and hit his face, it would make a very creepy sound.

Seo Kangwoo noticed Woo Heewoon was distracted and pulled his head back.

“Hm? I asked, what do you think about it?”

“Aaack! No, I-I was wrong.”

Kangwoo’s cold face came into his sight.

His head, which didn’t get enough sleep, felt flooded.

He felt his life was unfair. Everyone who came into his life, including Seo Kangwoo, the 16-year-old student who complained at every opportunity, loan sharks, his mother, and his older brother too, are all living comfortably in their own way, but he felt like he was the only one living with struggles.

His life was only cruel to himself.

“Why are you crying?”

Heewoon belatedly realized he was crying. Clear tears flowed endlessly down his fair cheeks. In an instant, his wet eyelashes drooped downward.

The tight grip pulling on his head loosened. His scalp was throbbing and tingling.

“Why are you crying over something so trivial?”

It’s not trivial. What might be a trivial behavior to Seo Kangwoo was a big threat and horror to Heewoon. Anger suddenly surged up within him. But he had to swallow it back down, and that felt painful.

“Uhhhhh….”

Heewoon cried out and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Did I hit you?”

Heewoon roughly wiped away the tears that kept falling.

“Huh? Tell me. Did I hit you?”

Kangwoo asked as he lightly poked Heewoon’s wet cheek with his finger. He looked dumbfounded at Heewoon’s sudden outburst of tears.

Heewoon, who had been sobbing, spoke while sniffling.

“You, held my head… so tightly that.. Hic… it hurt…”

“….”

Kangwoo stared at Heewoon in silence. Heewoon’s wet face twisted sadly. Kangwoo chuckled softly as he watched Heewoon feeling around the back of his head. He tilted his head and looked into Heewoon’s face.

“So. Are you crying because I gripped your head hurtfully?”

“Uheuh.. Hicc, no….”

“What no, that’s right, isn’t it?”

He reached out to Heewoon’s head. When Heewoon closed his eyes tightly, he made a Shhh sound, and stroked his scalp slowly with his long fingers, combing through his scalp.

“Stop crying.”

“Euhu…”

“Stop crying, I said.”

The tone became firmer, and Heewoon opened his eyes. He thought Seo Kangwoo would have an annoyed expression, but instead, he had a surprisingly faint smile.

Heewoon blinked his eyes twice. The tears that had been pooling up fell once again. Smiling with his brows furrowed, Kangwoo wiped his tears away.

“Let’s get you some sleep.”

Kangwoo gently pushed his forehead and let Heewoon lean against the seat. Heewoon’s restless movements stopped as soon as Kangwoo clicked his tongue.

“Close your eyes.”

Heewoon closed his eyes. As the tears that had been hanging fell again, Kangwoo wiped them away gently with his tongue. Heewoon’s chest thumped due to the aftermath of crying.

“If you open your eyes, I’ll scold you.”

“Uh, okay.”

Seeing the muscles in his eyelids twitching, Kangwoo ruffled Heewoon’s hair.

Heewoon felt the hand that had been ruffling his hair move away.

The car engine started. Where are they going? Left, then right. They seem to be leaving the parking lot. And…

Heewoon fell into a deep sleep.

He did think that he would fall asleep if he just lay down with his head, but he didn’t know he could do that even next to Seo Kangwoo.

“Wake up.”

The hand shaking his shoulder was so strong that Heewoon groaned as he opened his eyes. He looked out the window and realized it was Seo Kangwoo’s house.

His eyes widened in surprise and a yawn escaped his lips. Kangwoo put his finger in Heewoon’s open mouth and giggled.

“Get out of the car.”

Heewoon opened the passenger door and stumbled out. Seo Kangwoo, who had been watching him pathetically, came up and grabbed his arm, leading him into the house.

Voices could be heard coming from the kitchen as Kangwoo entered. Heewoon looked back and casually went up to Kangwoo’s room on the second floor.

Seo Kangwoo’s room was spacious and clean as always, and it felt a little familiar. Heewoon looked towards the half-open door and flopped onto the bed with the white sheets.

It didn’t take long for Heewoon to fall asleep.

---

Become a member in my ko-fi to get early releases!

Make me feel happy and supported by leaving a comment!

---