Even with that intimidating face, he was a really polite kid. Chaheun found himself smiling without meaning to. His temperament didn't match his size or looks at all, was it.
"You're right, but honestly, isn't it a shame? You're this good... and hardworking too."
"..."
"You always leave in the evening, right? I know first and second-years don't have supervised study, but I've seen you leaving around when our supervised study ends sometimes."
Chaheun grinned and waved his hand.
Truthfully, it wasn't that I saw you, it was that you glared at me...
He probably didn't realize it himself, but being glared at with those fierce eyes did make Chaheun flinch a little.
Setting that aside, if he was passionate enough to stay late like that, his attachment had to be considerable, and it'd be a shame if he was quitting not from injury but simply from burnout. In athletics, burnout was more common than people thought, and Chaheun had seen plenty of talented students drop out because of it.
"Since you started, might as well take a shot at the National Sports Festival. You worked that hard."
At Chaheun's regretful comment, the boy met his eyes. Straight, deep gray eyes fixed on Chaheun, wavering thinly.
...But hold on, why am I saying this to someone I just met?
Thinking a bit more, he realized he'd said something pretty presumptuous. Honestly, if the boy was that good, he had to know it, and if he'd decided to quit anyway, he probably had his own weighty reason. Like a shift toward academics, wanting to be a doctor, something like that.
Chaheun only then realized he'd overstepped, paused, and started fumbling for words.
"Ah, um... I don't know what your dream is, so I'm sorry for saying things without thinking. If you're chasing your dream, I won't try to stop you. It's just, from what I saw it looked good, so... yeah."
Being stared at by that face was intimidating. The gray eyes, sharp enough to look nearly black, tucked beneath cutting brows, were unnaturally vivid.
How a person could exert this kind of pressure just with a gaze was really something.
Earlier he'd teased Kang Ihyeon so much for being cowed by an underclassman, but this side was pressuring even at Chaheun's age.
Kang Ihyeon, you were something else.
He hadn't been named kendo team captain for nothing.
Chaheun laughed awkwardly and averted his eyes slightly.
"...Uh, right. Now that I think about it, I stuck my nose in too much. Sorry."
He'd absolutely n-not been scared, but... in any case, this was a teenager at a sensitive age. And with a kid that skilled, there was probably some reason for quitting, and he'd interfered too much.
This is how you get called an old geezer. Damn it.
Because inside was an old man who'd graduated over ten years ago. Sorry, really sorry.
Chaheun quietly turned his back and hurried off as if escaping.
Even then, the boy's dark gray gaze stayed fixed on the back of Chaheun's head.
Thud.
At home, he'd been rifling through the necromancy books he'd bought as part of the "Bring Back Seo Chaheun" project, when a book fell behind him, and picking it up he found a book he'd never seen before.
"...Hm?"
"The Book of Soul Summoning"
Looking at the title, this was also a book on necromancy. A book to summon souls, that kind of title, but there was a problem.
...Hm? This is one I haven't seen before. I don't think I bought this...
No matter how he thought about it, he had no memory of buying a book with this title.
Chaheun quietly scanned the books lined up on the shelf.
...Hm, or maybe not. Did I buy it?
Looking at the row of absurdly titled books like "Necromancy Basics" and "Soul Summoning," he started to think he might have bought it after all. He'd gone and bought one whenever he had time, and quite a pile had accumulated. He couldn't even remember what he'd bought.
...If anyone caught this, they'd brand me an occult zealot.
It was a genuine relief that his uninterested family didn't come into Seo Chaheun's room.
Chaheun picked up the book, shoved it into a decent spot on the shelf, and pulled out another one.
"...Ah, fuck, Seo Chaheun."
On the way home after supervised study. At the curse in front of him, Chaheun spent a while wondering if he'd heard wrong, and only understood after seeing the face.
"What, 'Seo' Chaheun? Seo Jaeheon, didn't you say you had one sibling?"
"Ah, screw off. Move."
Seo Chaeil's son, Seo Jaeheon.
He quickly pushed past his friend who was asking, and started glaring at Chaheun.
After the first day, he'd occasionally glared and disappeared whenever they crossed paths, but today, running into him on the road seemed to displease him for some reason. Sure, seeing him at home had been annoying, but seeing him outside felt even more grating, was that it?
"Yah, I told you not to catch my eye. What time is this to be roaming around?"
...Apparently that was it.
What a shitty way to talk.
Seo Chaheun bristled for a moment but pushed the feeling down.
I just finished supervised study. What are you gonna do about it.
For a high-teen romance world, was it really reasonable that third-years had mandatory supervised study three days a week unless enrolled in a cram school? Doing supervised study for the first time in his life, his back was practically breaking.
Well, come to think of it, the main characters in the story, including Seo Hara and Baek Yugyeong, were third-years, so they'd be riding "not-quite" tension during supervised study together...
Then studying together in the library, holding hands, that kind of thing.
While reality was killing him like this.
Chaheun, who had been trying to belatedly catch up on high school studies, shot Jaeheon a resentful look and turned his eyes away out of pure stress.
"...Hyung--"
"Are you crazy? Hyung? Who's your hyung."
"..."
"Some brat born from god-knows-where..."
Chaheun's lips twitched at the unexpected words, and he lowered his gaze.
...The memories were shaking again. Now and then Seo Chaheun's memories rose up like a panorama in his head, and this was exactly one of those moments.
Moments of daily insults like this flashed through his head.
And at the end of each, Seo Chaheun was always crying in a corner of his room.
...
He understood. From Jaeheon's perspective, it'd be hard to find Seo Chaheun likable. Not just Jaeheon, but everyone in this household aside from Seo Chaeil, including the wife, obviously couldn't love Seo Chaheun.
But,
So what.
Why take it out on Seo Chaheun? If Seo Chaheun had once, just once, pushed back and stood up for himself, sure. But he hadn't, all Chaheun could remember was Seo Chaheun always cowed and avoiding.
A high schooler with no mother, no money, no house couldn't leave, and being pitiable applied equally to this side.
If he was just going to ignore him, fine, but this was one-sided bullying. Feeling angry at the thought of the young student being harassed, Chaheun changed his mind.
"Yeah, hey."
"...What?"
"You told me not to call you hyung."
"...What did you just say?"
Seo Jaeheon glared back with sharp eyes. Chaheun, expressionless, met his gaze and cocked his head as if to say, "So what."
Sensing the situation was getting serious, a student who seemed to be Jaeheon's friend stepped in.
"Uh, Seo Jaeheon's younger brother, uh... you should hurry along."
Then he twitched his nose, looked at Jaeheon in obvious confusion, glanced once at Chaheun, turned back to Jaeheon, and pushed Seo Jaeheon backward.
...Ah, so that's it.
Apparently this student was an Alpha.
...To this friend, does it look like Seo Jaeheon is being nasty to a weak little brother who's not quite a "younger sister" but close?
From what he'd read in the books, from an Alpha's perspective, Omegas were seen as something to be protected. It was true that by physical structure Omegas were weaker than Alphas, and to Alphas, Omegas were categorized as potential mates.
Realizing that if this went on, Seo Jaeheon's school reputation would tank, Chaheun clamped his mouth shut. Meanwhile, another friend was trying to hold Jaeheon back.
"For now, Seo Jaeheon, calm down. You said he's your brother. What you said was a bit harsh."
At the word "brother," Jaeheon seemed to snap, slapping the arm away as he shouted.
"Ah fuck, we have different mothers, why the fuck is that bastard my brother!"
"...Right. So since he's not my brother, what am I supposed to call you if not 'hey'?"
Somehow the emotion rose up, and Chaheun found himself lunging in unintentionally. Before Jaeheon could say anything back, the other guy clamped a hand over Jaeheon's mouth and shook his head at Chaheun.
"Yah, yah, Jaeheon's little brother, please, just go. You really don't know his temper?"
"I'm sorry."
Chaheun bowed politely toward him, then glared at Jaeheon.
"I really was trying to hold back."
"Mmph mmph!"
"But when you're bringing my mother into it just because I annoy you... I have to question whether I need to keep holding back. If you don't like me, insult me. Why go that far?"
Unable to stand it any longer, Jaeheon shoved his friend off and grabbed Chaheun by the collar.
"Angry about someone touching your mommy? Your mom being loose and seducing our father is a fact, isn't it? And you, fucking wandering around at this hour, aren't you the same?"
Chaheun smirked, tapped the hand gripping his collar, and looked up at him. His shapely mouth stretched into a clean upward curve.
"Would a man with a wife even fall for something like that? Wow, but come to think of it, that's your dad, isn't it? Impressive, the Seo family!"
"Fucking crazy bastard!"
"Yah, yah, Seo Jaeheon!"
Seo Jaeheon's friend flinched and grabbed him around the waist from behind, but apparently didn't catch his arm, because Chaheun caught the punch Seo Jaeheon threw.
Ah, did this guy read my dodge?
Somehow he'd swung right when Chaheun dodged right.
Chaheun lightly touched his already split, bleeding lip with a finger and glared at Jaeheon.
What, he swung, why's his face like that.
The bewildered look Jaeheon was giving him was suspicious.
"What, want to hit me again? Do it. What else can you actually do, huh? Aren't you embarrassed in front of your friends?"
After provoking him like that, Chaheun grabbed his school bag and moved off with some urgency.
