afterglow ‣ s.jy

003

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JAKE

Jake tirelessly reminisced about his encounter with Siyeon the past day.

When he returned to the classroom and sat next to her, she acted as if nothing happened, and she successfully did so until the end of class. But that wasn't the thing that bothered him. What truly did was the vague truth she gave him. The truth that the gadgets inside the bag were bribes from someone.

Just what kind of person is Jo Siyeon?

He only woke up from his train of thoughts when he spots Hyejin walking at a very slow pace as she held her head with one hand and a piece of paper with the other. He ran to her but carefully so he wouldn't accidentally surprise her. Hearing his footsteps from behind her, she glances in his direction, and a smile appeared on her lips when it registers to her who it was.

"Are you okay? You're walking very slow." Jake asks her before taking a peek at the paper in her hand, which he now realized was a music sheet.

"I have a terrible headache." She admits. "But I can still walk, so life goes on." She even said it proudly, resulting in him accidentally snorting despite not being amused by the fact she went to school with a headache.

"How much does it hurt?" He continued to ask her.

"It's like my brain wants to crawl out of my head." She adds, clenching her eyes for a second as she held her head.

"Come on. We're going to the infirmary. I don't want your head exploding on me." Holding both her arms, he guided her to the infirmary as if she couldn't walk by herself. She protested for a while but gave in eventually, which gave him the sense that she now understood that she needed to rest or drink medicine.

While opening the door to the infirmary for her, he jumps in surprise when Siyeon stood at the other side of the door. Her hand was extended as well, meaning to say she was going to reach for the doorknob too. Her gaze then travels to Hyejin, who smiled sweetly at her old classmate. Siyeon slightly smiled as a response before muttering a quiet excuse me as she heads out, his eyes following her for a while.

"What's wrong?" The nurse asked them.

"I have a headache," Hyejin said, approaching one of the beds to take a seat.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" The nurse asked while she tried to search for the medicine.

Hyejin scratches the back of her neck as she responds to the question. "I slept for an hour." She admits, gazing at Jake whose expression suddenly shifts upon hearing that she barely got any sleep—scratch that she didn't get any sleep at all.

The nurse gave her a pill and a glass of water. "You should get some rest here first, Hyejin. Or if you want you can go home—"

"No, it's fine! I'll just sleep here then attend my classes when I wake up." The nurse couldn't do anything about her decision, so she let the girl be, glancing at Jake briefly before heading to her table.

He sat on the bed and moved her bangs to the side with his fingers. Afterward, he places the back of his palm on her forehead. "I don't have a fever, don't worry." She assures him, holding his wrist to remove his hand from her head. "I just need a long nap."

"Why don't you go home? I can call your sister for you." He suggests, but she shook her head. "Hyejin."

"It's fine, Jake. I have piano lessons after class. I can't miss that out." She tells him.

He raised his eyebrow. "This is coming from someone who missed her piano lessons because of a newly-opened restaurant."

"Hey! If it weren't for me, you would've been in line for six hours!" She tells him, later on grabbing her head because of how big she smiled. "Yeah, I need to sleep. You should go to class."