After that day,
everything should have gone back to normal.
I should have hated him.Should have treated him like he didn't exist.Should have forgotten everything that happened.
But the truth was—
I couldn't.
"Phat, let's go eat."
A friend called out from the front.
I looked up from my book and nodded lightly.
"Yeah… let's go."
I stood up, trying to act as normal as possible.
The cafeteria was just as noisy as always—voices, laughter, everything unchanged.
Except me.
"Sit here."
My friend said, placing down her tray.
I nodded and sat across from her.
But my eyes—
drifted somewhere else without me realizing.
He was there.
Kan.
Sitting with his friends like usual, laughing, talking, like nothing had ever happened.
His finger was wrapped in a bandage.
The white gauze stood out against his skin.
That sight made me pause.
"Phat, what are you looking at?"
My friend's voice snapped me back.
"Nothing."
I answered quickly and lowered my head to eat.
But the image didn't go away.
His finger.The blood on the paper.The look in his eyes back then.
It kept replaying in my head, over and over.
"Stop thinking about it…"
I muttered to myself, even though it wasn't easy at all.
After school,
I sat alone in the classroom, planning to study.
But I kept flipping the same page again and again without actually reading anything.
The door opened softly.
I looked up—
and saw him.
Kan.
He paused for a moment when he saw me, like he was deciding whether to stay or leave.
In the end—
he walked in.
I quickly lowered my head, pretending not to notice.
Footsteps approached, then stopped beside my desk.
Silence.
No words.
Just a heavy quiet between us.
I tried to keep reading, even though I knew he was standing there, too close.
"Phat."
He called softly.
I didn't respond.
"…I'm not here to argue."
His voice was calmer than usual.
I pressed my lips together, then spoke without looking up.
"Then don't get involved."
Silence fell again.
I thought he would leave.
But he didn't.
"My injury… it's fine."
He said.
That made me pause.
My hand holding the pen froze.
"You don't have to think too much about it."
I tightened my grip on the pen.
"…I'm not thinking about it."
A lie that came out too easily.
Kan let out a quiet laugh, like he knew.
But he didn't say anything.
"I'll go."
He said, turning away.
"Wait."
The word slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.
I froze.
He stopped too, then turned back.
His eyes looked straight at me.
Waiting.
I stayed still, like my mind had stopped working.
"…It's nothing."
I finally said, my voice softer than I expected.
Kan looked at me for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay."
And this time, he really walked out.
The door closed, leaving me alone in the room.
I put my pen down, then covered my face with my hands.
My heart was beating too fast.
Even though nothing had really happened.
"What's wrong with me…"
I murmured.
I was supposed to hate him.Supposed to stay away.
But just him being close—
everything felt different.
And the scariest part was—
I was starting to feel like I was losing.
Not in a competition.
But to my own heart.