REH 12

Chapter 12

Jaekyung opened her eyes, having apparently fallen asleep almost unconscious.

“Oh! What time is it?”

She felt as though she had only closed her eyes for a moment, but the infirmary was already dark.

Perhaps she had finally caught up on all the sleep she had missed over the past few days. The school nurse was nowhere to be seen, presumably having already gone home.

When Jaekyung stepped outside the building, the athletic events had ended, and the students were carrying the equipment they had used into the gymnasium.

“Ms. Seo. Is your ankle all right?”

Mr. Choi from the neighboring class approached and checked on her warmly.

“The swelling went down quickly after I iced it. It’s a shame I couldn’t participate in the race. I’ll take care of the cleanup, so you should go to the auditorium first. The evening performances are about to start.”

“Should I? Since most of the large equipment has already been moved, I’ll just leave the smaller things like the balls and bats to you. I’ll go check that the children are all seated properly.”

“Yes. Don’t worry and go ahead.”

Jaekyung went into the gymnasium and informed Chief Kwon of her location, but there was no response, perhaps because he was busy. Her phone battery was down to only two percent, so she turned it off.

Badminton rackets, jump ropes, balls…

All she had to do was wipe the dust off them, disinfect them, and put everything back in its designated storage area. It was simple work.

Thud.

The gymnasium door closed.

“Mr. Choi, are you here?”

Freed from all the watchful eyes, Jaekyung felt relieved to have some time alone and hummed softly to herself as she responded to the sound of approaching footsteps.

“I’m over here.”

“……”

“Mr. Choi?”

“It’s another man this time. They keep changing without giving you a break.”

Another man?

The owner of the low voice was Yugam, who had been following her around all day.

“…Chairman.”

Jaekyung stared at Yugam in surprise.

As always, his cold and persistent gaze looked down at her.

“What brings you here?”

What reason could the Chairman, who normally moved around with the principal, vice principal, or Chief Kwon, possibly have for coming all the way to the equipment storage room in the gymnasium?

“Is your ankle all right? There’s no one outside. Here.”

He held out a lunch box.

“Ah…”

“You didn’t eat lunch either. We don’t have much time. Eat and finish cleaning up.”

“Thank you.”

The moment the delicious smell coming from the white shopping bag on the table reached her, Jaekyung remembered that she had gone the entire day without eating.

What upset him this time?

Yugam’s voice was colder than usual, and his eyes looked almost angry.

Watching his mood and hurrying to finish the work, Jaekyung’s palms began to sweat. The plastic box she was holding slipped from her hands and fell to the floor.

A dull thud echoed through the otherwise silent gymnasium.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“Do you make mistakes often?”

“I get hot easily. My hands sweat.”

It was already April.

Perhaps the heating was still on, or perhaps it was because Yugam made her nervous. Heat rose through her body, and cold sweat gathered on her forehead.

“Seo Jaekyung does sweat quite a lot. Are you sick?”

“Not at all. There’s nothing wrong with me.”

She didn’t want to talk about the condition she had inherited from her mother, something she had endured for more than twenty years, thinking of it as nothing more than a tendency to run a fever easily.

When Yugam’s cool hand touched her forehead, Jaekyung’s body flinched.

Perhaps because she liked the coolness, she found herself inexplicably drawn to the refreshing sensation of his touch.

Beep.

The door to the equipment room closed, followed by the short sound of the automatic lock engaging.

Suddenly, all the lights went out.

Through the glass window of the equipment room, the entire gymnasium outside had fallen into darkness.

“…Huh? The lights… I think there’s been a power outage.”

Yugam had apparently already understood what was happening. He glanced around once and spoke casually, as though it were nothing important.

“It’s an emergency lockdown.”

“…What?”

“They’ll unlock it from outside after the event is over.”

“…Then we’re trapped?”

“That’s right.”

His calm response only made Jaekyung more flustered.

She pressed the power button on her phone and turned on the flashlight.

Through the equipment room’s glass window, she looked toward the center of the gymnasium. A few basketballs were scattered around, mats were folded and piled up, and some cheering flags had yet to be put away.

“We need to clean up quickly and get out.”

One of the balls rolled into Jaekyung’s foot.

Moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating the ball faintly.

“We should at least put away these balls lying around.”

Jaekyung threw one toward the basket, but it bounced much farther than she expected and rolled toward Yugam.

He instinctively tried to catch it, but the ball brushed against his fingers and bounced back toward Jaekyung like a tossed ball.

“Ah…”

It hit Jaekyung in the knee before bouncing sideways and rolling away.

“You’re not particularly athletic.”

“Are you making fun of me right now?”

“I’m only stating a fact.”

Jaekyung pouted.

“I was actually good at dodgeball.”

“Oh. So that explains why you fell before even starting to run and got hit by this ball, too.”

“Haa…”

After spending nearly two weeks around him, Jaekyung had learned that Yugam was exceptionally talented at getting on her nerves.

As though he had noticed her glaring at him in the darkness, Yugam gave a short scoff and lifted the corner of his mouth.

“You’re laughing at me, aren’t you?”

“Of course not.”

“I saw you.”

“Apparently you can see well even in the dark.”

Darkness.

It was a forbidden word between them, one that inevitably brought marriage to mind.

A subtle tension settled between them.

In the uncomfortable silence, Jaekyung swallowed dryly.

Trying to move sideways so she could put away at least one more thing, Jaekyung was startled when she found herself standing right beside Yugam’s solid, muscular body.

She instinctively stepped backward.

“…Ah.”

Her already injured ankle began to throb again.

Under the moonlit window, Yugam noticed her trembling, slender wrist and grabbed her hand.

When Jaekyung tried to pull her wrist free, she instinctively tensed.

Yugam’s large hand pulled her body firmly toward him.

“Don’t get hurt again. Stay still.”

The students who had filled the gymnasium with noise only a few hours ago were gone.

Now, only Yugam’s voice remained in the quiet gymnasium.

Jaekyung had to calm her pounding heart.

“Chairman, you’re too close.”

“Wouldn’t it be more dangerous if we moved apart during an emergency?”

Before Yugam had even finished speaking, Jaekyung’s phone, which had been providing the flashlight, ran out of power and shut off.

“We’re unnecessarily close… Do you have a phone? Mine’s dead. Please turn on the flashlight.”

The sound of their breathing so close together made Jaekyung uncomfortable.

She placed her hands against his broad chest and tried to push him away, but he didn’t budge.

“Isn’t it the secretary’s job to take care of her boss’s phone? You should know my number by heart, too. Find it.”

“Where am I supposed to look? Your pocket?”

Yugam, pressed close against her chest, didn’t answer.

“Chairman?”

“I don’t have one.”

His voice remained utterly calm, but his breath felt strangely close.

Yugam’s hand moved from Jaekyung’s arm up toward her shoulder.

When Jaekyung remembered the nights she had spent with her ex-husband, she became so tense that she couldn’t even breathe.

The hand that had rested on her petite shoulder moved downward again, slowly tracing the curve of her waist.

It was an unmistakably deliberate touch, slow enough to make her forget even the aching pain in her ankle.

“What are we going to do without a phone?”

“P-please stop.”

Yugam’s voice was close to her ear as his arm wrapped around her waist.

Jaekyung’s heart felt as though it might burst.

“If you’re not going to keep clinging to me, why don’t you sit down?”

It was fortunate that the lights were out.

At least he couldn’t see how red her face had become.

No.

If there hadn’t been a power outage, they wouldn’t be trapped here together in the first place.

Jaekyung couldn’t believe what she was thinking.

She sat beside him on the mats and rubbed her aching ankle.

The silence was becoming unbearable.

Embarrassed by the sound of her own breathing, Jaekyung cleared her throat and spoke first.

“Do you… like athletic festivals?”

“Not particularly.”

“Of course…”

He was a man whom the words likes something seemed completely unsuited to.

“But…”

“But what?”

Continuing the conversation was far better than sitting in a silence so tense that she felt as though Yugam could hear her heartbeat.

“I don’t dislike seeing the moment when the children get excited and completely absorbed in something.”

Jaekyung’s eyes widened for a moment.

“…That’s unexpected.”

“What is?”

“I thought you didn’t like children. You’ve always been so cold.”

Yugam paused before answering.

“I am cold.”

“I don’t think so.”

If the man who had spent ten months sharing a bed with her wasn’t Yugam, if they had never had anything to do with each other, she could have treated him much more comfortably.

If Yugam hadn’t been the one who drove her away five years ago, then she could say he wasn’t a bad person.

Pointless, meaningless thoughts wandered through Jaekyung’s mind.

Suddenly, Yugam took her hand.

An icy chill spread through her hand, cold enough to extinguish the scorching heat radiating from her body.

“I’m cold, and Seo Jaekyung is hot. Isn’t that why we met?”

Jaekyung pulled her hand out of his grasp and didn’t answer any further.

The reason Executive Director Jin had come all the way to her house and forced her into a contract marriage was because of the feverish condition she had suffered from since childhood, something she had inherited from her mother.

Instead of responding, Jaekyung remained silent and quietly folded the cheering flags lying on the floor.

“Achoo!”

Her sneeze echoed through the equipment room.

“…Sorry.”

Even though her body tended to run hot, she was prone to minor illnesses like colds and the flu.

Perhaps it was because she had a habit of wearing thin clothes simply because she felt hot.

“That’s why I told you not to wear short sleeves.”

Yugam bluntly took off his jacket and pushed it toward Jaekyung.

“Put it on.”

“I’m fine. You know I run hot.”

“I know your body is like a furnace. I held you countless times in bed, after all.”

“……”

Jaekyung pressed her lips tightly together, embarrassed that he had exposed such a private part of their relationship as though they were still that close.

“Having a subordinate complain that she was overworked is exhausting enough. And since we live under the same roof, what are you going to do if you pass that cold on to me?”