Complexity

Kim Chaewon?

Xinyu POV

"Something's fishy about Sohyun," I muttered as soon as we stepped onto the rooftop.

"What do you mean by that?" Nien tilted her head, narrowing her eyes.

"She's been a little distant lately. And I... I found some bruises on her body. But she still acts the same—like nothing's wrong. Like it's all natural, no problem at all."

Nien blinked at me, confused. Her face twisted like she was working out a puzzle only she could see.

"What do you mean, bruises? I saw her earlier. She was clean. Not like before you came around."

"Well... some of them are on her upper arm. And... her stomach."

The next second, Nien smacked my arm. Hard.

"Her stomach?! How far have you already seen her?!"

It took me a whole ten minutes to process what she was implying.

"No—no, it's not like that! She stays at my house!"

"YOUR HOUSE?!"

Damn it. Wrong choice of words again.

I sighed and started explaining everything from the beginning—the day I found her unconscious, offering her a place to stay, her staying in my room... and yeah, technically, we'd been sleeping side by side.

"YOU SLEEP WITH HER?!"

"Can you not shout that loud? Someone might hear you."

"I doubt it. No one comes here except maybe Kotone."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

And then, as if summoned by fate, the rooftop door creaked open.

Both of us whipped our heads so fast I thought my neck would snap. If it were Kotone or Sohyun, I wouldn't care. But no—of course not. It was Kim Yooyeon.

"Oh—hi," I stammered, forcing myself to look normal.

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard some shouting. Three times. Same voice, I'm guessing. Either one of you."

No. Way. We were caught.

"It's nothing. Really," I blurted.

"I just made an awful joke and Nien reacted."

Please, Nien, play along.

"Y-yeah," Nien added, nodding frantically.

"She made a really awful joke. I ended up shouting."

Yooyeon's eyes narrowed. Suspicious. Sharp. But then she exhaled and nodded.

"Just be careful, okay? Lucky it's me. If it was a teacher, you'd both be grounded—and I couldn't help you out of it."

We nodded at the same time, like guilty kids caught red-handed.

Yooyeon scanned the rooftop once more, as if searching for evidence. Thankfully, there was nothing to find. Satisfied, she turned to leave. But before stepping out completely, she glanced back at us.

"Oh, before I forget—Xinyu, what's going on between you and Sohyun? I haven't seen you two together lately."

My heart sank. That was the one question I didn't want to answer.

"I... uh... I don't know," I managed.

"Something bad happen?" Yooyeon's voice was softer now, concerned.