A9 2

“……”

Without saying a word, Suho stared at Minhyuk. His indifferent gaze and tightly closed lips gave no sign of softening, and even his body, turned halfway away as he looked aside, subtly retreated as if drawing a line between them. There wasn’t even a gesture that could be considered a response. As always, Suho thoroughly rejected Minhyuk, pushed him away, and ultimately tried to ignore him.

But in the narrow space between the library shelves, Minhyuk didn’t easily step aside. He not only blocked all possible paths with his body, but also slowly moved his feet forward, as if cornering his prey.

Unwilling to hide his displeasure at Minhyuk’s approach, Suho frowned slightly and raised his head. As if waiting for that moment, Minhyuk met his gaze. A cold glare that said ‘don’t come any closer,’ tangled with another look that, though its reason was unclear, held a fierce determination.

Unfortunately, dragging the standoff out any longer would only benefit Kang Minhyuk. And Suho, fully aware of this, let out a small sigh and turned his head.

“You barge into the library, which you usually don’t even bother with, cornering someone out of nowhere… and ask me what I was doing?”

Even you must know that’s a weird question.

Though his face remained expressionless, his voice was full of caution. Even as he spoke, he brushed Minhyuk’s hand off his shoulder like swatting away a fly, shook the hand that had touched him, and tilted his head with clear irritation.

“Stop picking a pointless fight and go back to class, yeah? The bell rang already.”

“Im Suho.”

“What.”

“……”

Minhyuk didn’t respond to Suho’s question. Without blinking once, he turned his body and stepped aside, clearing the way. Whatever he was thinking, it didn’t seem like he intended to fight right now. Even so, still finding him suspicious, Suho narrowed his eyes as he watched Minhyuk. But only for a moment; soon, he averted his eyes with discomfort and quickly stepped onto the path that had been opened for him, as if afraid Minhyuk might change his mind.

“If you’ve got nothing to say, I’m leaving. If it bothers you that I’m going to class, you can just stand here by yourself.”

With that, Suho sneered at Minhyuk, who stood beside him, then turned to walk away. It looked like their tiresome power struggle was finally about to end.

“That makes it exactly three months today, doesn’t it? I’m guessing you already said ‘let’s break up’ before lunch.”

Minhyuk’s calm voice wrapped around Suho’s ankles like shackles. Without meaning to, Suho froze in place and shut his mouth tightly. He couldn’t understand why those words were coming out of that man’s mouth. They’d spent all that time ignoring each other, so why now, suddenly, was he bringing up the three-month mark?

What the hell does my breakup have to do with you?

Utterly unable to grasp Minhyuk’s intentions, Suho turned back to face him, wearing a reluctant expression.

“You have way too much unnecessary concern.”

“News of the engagement will start spreading soon. Until then, don’t date anyone else. And cleanly wrap things up with the one you dumped today, so nothing gets back to the parents on both sides.”

Minhyuk, seemingly pleased to have Suho’s eyes on him again, focused solely on him without moving a muscle.

“There’s not much time left for me to keep looking the other way.”

His words were a warning, but his voice, laced with a hint of amusement, didn’t match the gravity of the situation. And when a strange glint flickered across his dark eyes, Suho instinctively scrunched his brows and clenched his jaw, clearly shaken.

Even though Suho tried to avoid him whenever possible, unexpected confrontations still occurred. Especially when he happened to run into Jaeyoung in the hallways or empty classrooms, Minhyuk’s sudden appearances became strangely frequent. It got to the point where Suho wondered if the author was deliberately setting up these situations just to bring Minhyuk in.

Every time it happened, Minhyuk reacted the same way—sharp, aggressive, and on edge. Whether it was the sight of Suho being near Jaeyoung that bothered him, or if he simply hated Im Suho as a person, was unclear. In a voice lower than usual, Minhyuk would always issue some vague threat, telling him to watch himself.

And Suho hated it. Absolutely hated it. It’s not like I wanted to run into him either. I’m just getting jerked around by the author’s whims.

Perhaps because of that, Suho found himself growing to genuinely dislike him more and more. He couldn’t stand how Minhyuk always blamed him, even when he wasn’t at fault. After all, he thought, the other wasn’t all that different from himself. As long as it had nothing to do with Jaeyoung, Minhyuk usually kept his mouth shut. So Suho figured Minhyuk was turning a blind eye to him dating around as well, for the same reasons.

But this time, something was different. For the first time, Minhyuk was issuing warnings not about Jaeyoung, but about something else entirely—going so far as to bring up an engagement he’d never mentioned before.

Why is he acting like this all of a sudden? Just yesterday, we treated each other like we were less important than stray dogs…

Wait, why is he quietly getting closer again?

As Minhyuk leaned in toward him, Suho instinctively shrank back. But realizing he couldn’t just stay there, he squeezed his way through the narrow gap Minhyuk had left and quickly slipped past.

Should I just make a run for it?

…No. If he did that, Kang Minhyuk might come after him under some ridiculous misunderstanding. As much as he didn’t want to, he had no choice but to wrap things up somehow, even if it was clumsy.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ve just been oh-so generous, haven’t you?”

Only after putting some distance between them did Suho let his irritation show. In response, Minhyuk straightened his posture and tilted his head, as if inviting him to say more. Finding his face annoying, Suho gladly obliged with a sharp voice.

“If you’re suddenly worried about appearances and want to start dating for real, go find someone else. I’m not interested. You’re boring. I can’t be bothered.

…Ah, actually, I’ve got just the person. Lee Jaeyoung. What do you think? He’d probably pretend to die at your word.”

Watching from the sidelines might be fun. With that, Suho let out a derisive laugh, turned fully away, and gave a casual wave as if to say ‘let’s not run into each other for a while’ before leaving the library.

He thought walking away would make him feel better, but it didn’t. Not at all. Most likely, it was the shift in Minhyuk’s attitude that unsettled him so much.

What if he uses me, just like in the original story, and leaves me completely alone in the end…

That sort of irrational fear clung to him.

* * *

Entrance exams were always hell. Even before possessing this body, they’d tormented him. And now, as Im Suho, the grueling study grind never ended. Did the author really have to be this accurate about everything?

Blaming the unknown writer he’d never even met, Suho bit back tears and gnawed at his workbook.

Sure, the character’s supposed to be 19. It made sense for a student to study. What else would they do? Thinking that way helped him calm down, at least for a little while.

But just as he managed to soothe his nerves, an even greater hardship reared its head. That was… the original Im Suho had already completely screwed up his grades. Which meant early admissions were off the table.

Though he deeply regretted never once having earned the title of early admission in his entire life, Suho steeled his heart and refused to even glance at his ruined academic record. If there was one thing to be thankful for, it was that the person who had possessed Im Suho was none other than “Geonwoo.” Geonwoo had been in the top percentile of students not only at his school but within the entire district. In other words, when it came to college entrance exams, his confidence was through the roof.

Determined to rely on regular admission alone, Suho pushed himself to the limit, grinding through half a workbook a day, training his rock-solid brain like it was boot camp. His Spartan routine quickly paid off because his scores began to rise exponentially, to the point where people started talking, wondering what on earth was going on.

As expected, Park Geonwoo had been right. At this rate, even his first-choice university, Hanguk University, might just be within reach.

And so, the day of the long-awaited final exam, the Suneung, finally arrived. Tense with nerves, Suho headed to the testing center in his older brother Suhyeon’s car. Normally full of jokes and mischief, Suhyeon had promised to act like a chauffeur today, and sure enough, he focused silently on driving without saying a single word. The way he kept his lips firmly shut was so uncharacteristic that it actually made Suho twitch a smile as he looked over at him. Regardless, he was grateful for his brother’s care and sent a warm glance his way.

And for some reason, that made him think of that ugly cabbage from reality.

…That damn ugly cabbage. Thanks to her, he was taking this exam a second time. When he went back, he really wasn’t going to let it slide. He’d throw out all those stuffed animals she used to cling to like lifelines. And that wouldn’t be the end of it; he’d pack up every single item, from the untouched postcard merch in the album, the washi tape, audio drama CDs, even the mousepad, and hurl the whole lot into the Han River.

Just wait and see. Whether I actually do it or not… Better enjoy your peace while you can. The moment I get back, I’m going to gather every last piece of that junk and… really gather it all, and th—

“……”

“…Hm?”

“……”

“Why are you suddenly so quiet, Im Suho? Are you feeling sick?”

Even at Suhyeon’s question, Suho didn’t open his mouth. Seemingly startled by the sudden change in atmosphere, Suhyeon let out a quiet cough and glanced sideways to check his brother’s complexion. His face had gone completely pale. It was clear he wasn’t doing well. Seeing the slight tremble in Suho’s fingertips only added to the worry, but with such a big day ahead, Suhyeon couldn’t afford to panic either. Forcing down his concern, he kept his tone steady as he asked again, “Are you feeling unwell?”

Fortunately, Suho’s color soon began to return. But he looked like someone who had just been pulled out of a deep lake, gasping for breath. He tried not to show it, but he couldn’t quite hide the way his shoulders trembled.

At least he was looking a little better than before.

“…I’m fine.”

“You sure you’re fine?”

“Yeah. I’m fine, so just focus on driving. The light just changed.”

Suho turned his head toward the window, hiding his grim expression from Suhyeon. Though it was obvious he was struggling, he absolutely refused to let it show. Watching him quietly, Suhyeon finally stepped on the gas only after Suho snapped, “I said drive, didn’t I?”