Bring It On! - Chapter 83

Chapter 83.

The arms that had been holding me gently loosened. I stumbled slightly as I slipped out of his embrace. It was a relief that there was still somewhere left for me to wash, but Cha Yoon’s bathroom was a little… no, very uncomfortable. 

If anything, the bathroom was a more private space than the bed. I didn’t want to share that with him. I glanced toward the bathroom, sighed deeply, and asked,

“Um… isn’t there another bathroom? The house is this big. Even the one the staff use would be fine…”

“Why would you use that one?”

His curt dismissal drew a sharp line. I pressed my lips together. I wasn’t exactly an intruder, but his attitude, treating me thoroughly like an outsider, made me shrink back a little. As if I wanted to come here in the first place.

But when I thought about it more, it was strange. He wouldn’t let me use the staff bathroom, yet he freely offered me his own. 

If he hadn’t gutted the one I usually used in the first place, none of this would have been an issue.

So yes, he’d definitely wrecked it on purpose to mess with me.

Well, whatever. Things had come this far. At least it was lucky Cha Yoon always woke later than me, so our morning wash times wouldn’t clash. 

I’d just wash as noisily as possible, like playing Samul Nori inside the bathroom. If Cha Yoon, who prized sleep above all, ended up being woken by the racket, well, what a shame.

Accepting the situation eased the chaos inside me a little. That’s when I noticed, belatedly, that Cha Yoon was dressed to go out.

“Didn’t you get off work at eight?”

“Yeah.”

That was the end of his reply. His half-hearted answer made the back of my neck prickle again. When someone asks a question, shouldn’t you give a proper answer? 

Still, I wasn’t curious enough to press him for details. More than that, I didn’t want to waste energy on a pointless argument.

I picked up the clothes I’d tossed onto his bed.

“I’ll wash first.”

“That kid’s surgery is this Friday, right?”

My steps toward the bathroom halted. That kid. That was what Jay always called Suho. Hearing the familiar nickname in Jay’s tone and cadence made my heart pound instinctively. 

But that was all. I didn’t expect anything more. Swallowing hard, I turned back.

“Yeah.”

It surprised me that Cha Yoon knew the surgery date.

“I’ve cleared my schedule until next week.”

“……”

His blunt words came without context. I just blinked at him. Was he bragging about getting time off? I looked at him, silently demanding an explanation, but as usual, his words ended there.

A suffocating silence settled between us, heavy enough that I could hear both our breaths. While waiting for my reaction, Cha Yoon slipped off his wristwatch and set it on the table. 

Clack. The cold scrape of metal against wood seemed to urge me to respond. After hesitating, I cautiously opened my mouth.

“…Well, I’m planning to sleep at the hospital until this weekend.”

“……”

“I’ll come back next week. Might be a little late, though.”

A faint furrow appeared between his brows, his dissatisfaction clear. His lips parted several times, as if he were about to say something, then he rubbed at the corner of his eye irritably. 

What was with him now? Was it really because I said I’d be staying at the hospital? But no matter what threats he made, I couldn’t compromise on this.

“I’m going to wash.”

Before he could say anything more, I escaped into the bathroom. Luckily, even after he lay down on the bed, he didn’t make any further demands. 

He only sighed deeply, then gnawed at my shoulder more persistently than usual.

***

A few months ago.

It was when we were hard at work building the shelter.

We cut down trees, trimmed them to the right size, smoothed the ends, and assembled them. Repeating the process endlessly, I reached the point where I could judge the right size by sight alone without needing a sample. The work picked up speed, and progress moved along rapidly.

But I’d overlooked the truth. The moment you think a task is second nature is when it’s most dangerous.

“Ah!”

A loud crash, followed by a cry. I immediately jammed my axe into the log and turned. Suho was on the ground, clutching his leg after landing hard on his backside.

“Suho!”

Cold sweat prickled down my already sweat-drenched back. I rushed over, rolling up the hem of his pants. His small, thin calf was already turning bright red.

“Damn, that’s going to bruise. Suho, can you move your ankle? How is it?”

“Mhm. It doesn’t hurt. I just got a little startled.”

Suho stood up, brushing the dust off his clothes. Only when I saw him walking fine, without a limp, did I truly feel relieved. As I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand, someone suddenly grabbed my ankle.

“Ahk!”

“…Sun Woori.”

It was Jay. He was lying face-down, crushed mercilessly beneath a log. I had no idea when it had happened. I’d been so focused on Suho that I hadn’t noticed Jay in that state at all. 

Horrified, I quickly pushed one of the logs pressing down on his back.

“Hey, what are you doing like that?”

Jay shot me a glare. His shining eyes were filled with a hurt he couldn’t hide. Just as I was about to clear away another log, he pushed himself upright on his own. 

Thud, thud. The logs tumbled endlessly across the ground.

“I guess I’m invisible to you.”

His gruff tone was almost accusatory. At a loss for words, I scratched my cheek.

“…That’s not it.”

“Not it? I even fell in front of the kid. And yet you leapt right over me and ran to him.”

“Come here. Let me check your injury.”

I cupped Jay’s face in both hands. There was a small scratch beneath his eye, probably from the fall.

“Tch.”

A wound on such a pretty face… It made my chest ache. I rubbed his cheek gently. Though he’d been grumbling and sulky a moment ago, now he buried his face in my hands and stayed still. 

But the crease between his brows never smoothed. His hurt feelings were bound to linger.

“Does it hurt?”

“…Yeah.”

I blew softly on the scratch. His eyelids twitched at the touch.

“Let’s go. I’ll put medicine on it.”

I got up first and held out my hand to him. Jay stared at it with a blank face before finally clasping it and rising. He kept touching the cut beneath his eye, making a show of the pain.

“Keep your hands off it. What if it scars?”

“……”

As soon as we got back inside the shelter, I sat him down in front of me and carefully applied ointment. No sooner had I closed the cap than Jay slumped heavily against me. 

“Ugh.” 

His weight pressed down hard, and I toppled backward without resistance.

“You’re annoying.”

He muttered the words against my neck, his lips brushing my skin.

“What is?”

“I can never be your first, can I?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I saw the future. I’ll keep losing out to that brat, over and over, until I end up some pathetic old man in the back room.”

His voice carried such genuine hurt that I couldn’t help laughing. When I couldn’t stop my giggles, Jay nipped at my neck like he was tickling me.

“Ah, haha! That tickles!”

I struggled to push him off, his sulky face both funny and endearing. Why was he so seriously jealous of a mere nine-year-old? Had all his years gone straight to his size and none to his maturity?

I pinched his earlobe between my fingers. The fine hairs on his forearm instantly stood on end. His thick neck and ears flushed hot. 

Compared to the kind of skinship he usually initiated, this was nothing, but Jay still got embarrassed.

I lowered my hand and wrapped it around his neck, pulling him toward me. He tilted his head obediently. Smiling faintly, I pressed my lips against his, then pulled away.

“Still, you’re the only one I kiss.”

“……”

Our foreheads touched, noses brushing. In his dark, heavy gaze, a clear joy began to spread.

“…From now on, too?”

“Yeah. From now on, too.”

This time, when our lips met, the kiss went deeper than before.

***

His lips were damp and hot, softly rubbing against mine as they enveloped them.

“Mmh…”

A pleasant haze spread through me, leaving me light-headed. His thick tongue parted my lips, and I relaxed my jaw, letting him in.

I opened my eyes. My mind was still heavy, as if half-caught in a dream, my vision blurry.

“Haa… Jay…”

Out of habit, I called his name. The tongue stirring inside my mouth withdrew at once. I instinctively leaned forward, chasing the loss. Only then did my vision clear, and I saw the man before me.

It was Cha Yoon.

The dreamlike haze shattered, dragging me back into reality. Shock and dismay froze my lips. By the time I fully came to my senses, the air around us had turned icy, as if doused with cold water.

“Still looking for that bastard?”

His voice was as frigid as the night air. When I tried to retreat, Cha Yoon seized my wrist and yanked me hard toward him.

“Ah.”

“Did you know. The one you kissed so eagerly was me.”

His lips curled, but the smile didn’t reach his expressionless face. It was twisted, joyless.

“A m-mistake…”

“You’re really good at saying things that piss people off, huh? To me, of all people. Isn’t that right?”