Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The next day, Doyeon felt more functional. With a far better body than the day before, he prepared Aeyoung’s breakfast.

“Aeyoung, did my friends visit last night?”

“Mm-hmm. That handsome oppa tied my hair yesterday, remember?”

“No, not Hyunoh. Did any of my other friends visit last night?”

“Kangbin-Oppa and Glasses-Oppa visited. He said his name is Sung Hong.”

“Sunwoo Hong?”

“Yeah.”

So Kangbin and Sunwoo visited too...?

Doyeon felt grateful but also emotional. He was barely conscious last night, so he hadn’t noticed their visit.

“Aeyoung, did Hyunoh visit later last night?”

“No. No one else came.”

“I see...”

Doyeon set down Aeyoung’s glass of water and tilted his head. He thought he’d heard Hyunoh’s voice yesterday, but he could have imagined it.

Besides…

Doyeon rubbed his lips.

He was sure someone fed him medicine mouth-to-mouth, but he wasn’t sure if that was a dream too. It definitely didn’t feel like a dream.

He couldn’t be sure because the heat melted his brain last night, but the lingering feelings told him that wasn’t a dream.

That warm hand that held his neck, the soft lips that consumed his mouth, the warm water that slipped down his throat, and the sour taste of medicine that stung the tip of his tongue... That slow movement that lifted and pressed down on his tongue…

Doyeon fanned his face with his hands. Thinking of it brought heat to his face. He wondered if this was what people called a “ghost” experience, like in those succubus stories, but Doyeon soon recalled something and turned white.

“Wait. Was it... Kangbin?!”

Only Kangbin and Sunwoo visited after Hyunoh, and Sunwoo would never do such a thing.

No way.

No way, Kangbin Baek did that?!

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Doyeon went for Kangbin’s collar the moment he set his bag down in the classroom.

“What the hell did you do to me?”

“Huh?”

“Why didn’t you just leave me to die, why did you…?! Why?!”

Doyeon gritted his teeth, unable to finish his sentence. He couldn’t help but shiver, imagining Kangbin’s tongue roaming his mouth, wet and slimy.

That couldn’t be called a kiss, but still! Still!

This bastard, he had his first kiss already... He did everything already... This piece of garbage...! He just took my first kiss!

Doyeon trembled. He knew Kangbin’s private life better than anyone else, and the fact he... This was not fair. This was injustice. Yes, they had different ideas and beliefs, but what the hell!

Kangbin continued to ask in confusion as Doyeon tightened his grip on his collar, “What’s going on?”

“You, you asswipe, you!”

“What? Me, what?”

“Me, what”?! It seemed like smacking his mouth on his friend was nothing to Kangbin Baek.

“You! You...!”

Doyeon couldn’t say it out loud, and that just made him more frustrated.

You put your mouth on mine to feed me medicine! He could not say that here and now.

That was when an arm came between them, releasing Doyeon’s hands on Kangbin’s collar.

“You’re better now? Great.”

It was Hyunoh Gong.

He was grinning with the phone-storing bag he’d gotten from the teacher’s office. Doyeon’s neck turned red for no reason.

He assumed it was Kangbin, but he also had Hyunoh on the list of suspects, and that made him feel strange.

That probably explained why his heart began to beat quicker when he saw Hyunoh. Because all he could see was Hyunoh’s pretty lips.

“I wasn’t... no, never mind.” Doyeon avoided his gaze and sat down. His shoulders dropped.

He didn’t know why he always felt tense in front of Hyunoh, like some rat scurrying in front of a snake, when Hyunoh wasn’t opening his mouth to bite or anything.

“Come on, you need to give me your phone too, Doyeon.”

“Right.”

Doyeon dropped his phone in Hyunoh’s phone bag. Hyunoh got Kangbin’s phone too and turned to the next row.

Doyeon leaned forward in his chair, reaching over to Kangbin by stretching his body.

“Bro, Kangbin. Did you feed me medicine?” he whispered into Kangbin’s ear.

Kangbin leaned forward as though he couldn’t hear and tilted his head toward Doyeon. “What?”

“I’m asking whether you fed me medicine last night.”

“Me?”

“Yes. But like, in a strange way, you know? Through the mouth or something—”

“Ewww!” Kangbin jumped up from his seat. He rubbed his ears as though he needed them cleansed, then shot Doyeon a horrified look. “What the hell? Why should I? Me? To you?!”

“Shut up! Shut! Up!”

Doyeon pinched Kangbin’s lips together before Kangbin could finish his sentence. He had to prevent Kangbin from saying anything out loud. He leaned forward as Kangbin flailed and hummed out a protest, whispering to threaten him.

“Bro, pretend like you didn’t hear that.”

“Mmmph!!! Mmmmph!!!”

“I dreamed something messed up and said something messed up, got it? So shut up. Shut. Up,” Doyeon threatened with a hint of embarrassment and much relief.

When Kangbin nodded, he released his mouth.

He was worried Kangbin might start shouting, but he was surprisingly calm with his arms folded and his eyes on Doyeon. He suddenly wagged a finger, asking Doyeon to come closer, so Doyeon leaned forward again with a suspicious glare.

“What?”

“Did you dream of kissing me last night?”

“What?”

“You wanna do the deed with me?” Kangbin whispered down his ear.

“Gaaaah!” Doyeon shouted, jumping up from his seat. That whisper had to be the most disgusting thing he heard in his life. Chills ran down his arm. Do the do?!

He’s lost his mind!

“Are you freakin crazy?!”

“You’re the one who mentioned it!”

“Oh, frick off, that’s not what I meant!”

“Then what did you mean?!”

Doyeon drummed on his chest out of frustration. He couldn’t complain about this to anyone either, and that set fire to his insides.

That was when Hyunoh turned around from his phone collection duty and warned them both.

“Lower your voices. Some of the kids are reviewing practice questions.”

“Sorry.”

“Right.”

Kangbin and Doyeon closed their mouths and sat back down.

The moment they were seated, however, Kangbin reached out and tapped Doyeon’s shoulder. Doyeon turned around with a “what.” Kangbin smiled at him, sly and mischievous.

“If you wanted to do the deed, you should have told me. Our Doyeon’s so innocent he’s never had a kiss before; I would have willingly sacrificed my lips to give Doyeon the experience of the—”

Before Kangbin could finish his sentence with that flickering of his tongue, Doyeon turned back around.

Ignore him. Damn it, ignore him.

“Dude. Hey? Bro?”

Kangbin kept poking his back, so Doyeon sent a nice middle finger to him. He was tired of telling Kangbin to shut up.

Why did he have to dream up such a thing? He thought of how to murder Kangbin without anyone knowing so he wouldn’t be roasted about this for the rest of his life.

* * *

At noon on a Sunday, Doyeon stared blankly at Kangbin and Sunwoo, who invaded his home in a very excited mood.

He had been sleeping just seconds ago, so his hair was a bird’s nest and his eyes were still drooping closed.

“Look at this! Isn’t it freaking amazing?!”

“When did Hyunoh register for this?!”

Doyeon stared at the two freaking out at something on their phones as he tidied his bed. He still felt numb, and he wanted to know what the hell they were doing this early—no, in the middle of the day—disrupting his sleep, in his house.

“What the heck is so amazing...?”

Doyeon finally took a look at Kangbin’s phone and found some YouTube video being streamed live.

“Level 8 is in danger again! Oh, will he be backing out? No, Hyunoh Gong! He uses Rise, a skill no one uses these days! He’s amazing!”

With some hills as a background, there was a game going on with the announcer’s voice overlaid.

“What is this?” Doyeon asked, feeling lost. He had no idea what was going on. Why were these two shoving this in his face when the sun was still up in the air?

“Look, this is the official high school competition for Kurendin! This is the final round!”

“So why are you…?”

“Oh, damn it, look here, not the game!”

Kangbin pointed at a small square embedded in the lower half of the screen. It was a small segment that showed the two players.

Doyeon stared at it, then began to shout in surprise.

“What the hey?! That’s Hyunoh!”