Just Twilight

If I were to ask about personal preferences, I’d say I prefer my hair left loose. So, if I could fix one side with a pin, wouldn’t that mean I could leave my hair down a little more often? It was just a thought.

On this sleepy afternoon, with the wind blowing in through the classroom window, watching my hair flutter in the breeze made it all feel like a dream—one of those dreams you don’t want to end.@@novelbin@@

In any case, if I looked at him, he’d probably get mad, so it’d be lucky if this helped calm him down.

With that thought in mind, Beomjin climbed the mountain. The house was still standing there. As soon as he saw it, a smile appeared on his face without him realizing it.

He unlocked the door and stepped inside, his brows furrowing. There was a different smell than usual. His eyes scanned the surroundings, landing on the remnants of a picnic they’d had a while ago.

The food had gone bad, left out for days in the summer heat. Everything was fine, but the place didn’t have a refrigerator.

Wait. Does this mean Junyoung hasn’t been here either?

As he started cleaning up the spoiled food from the bag she had brought, he heard hurried footsteps approaching.

Turning his head, the door slammed open. Junyoung, breathless, stood there, still holding the bag.

"..."

Her pale cheeks were even redder than usual. Her large eyes were wide open, as if she’d seen a ghost. She didn’t speak, which made the silence even more awkward. Beomjin casually tightened his grip on the bag and asked flatly,

“Why’re you running? Are you hungry?”

“...”

For a moment, Beomjin instinctively moved his hands when he saw Junyoung’s face twist in anger. He managed to catch the plastic bag she threw at him just in time, thanks to his quick reflexes.

The contents splashed a bit on his chest and face, breaking apart into a soft, gooey mess. A clean, nutty smell filled the air. It was tofu.

Before he could even let out an embarrassed laugh, Junyoung’s tirade exploded like a thunderclap.

“Hey, you idiot! Don’t you have a brain? You live without thinking, don’t you? Why didn’t you speak up? Why didn’t you speak?! What if they ended up thinking you were guilty because you stayed silent?”

“The police in Korea are good at their job. They caught the culprit in less than a week.”

“Well, of course they should! In that situation, you should’ve told the truth! I’m not asking you to make up something, just speak the truth. Do you think I’d hold it against you? Of course, I would! But I’d understand! Who wouldn’t speak up in that situation? What’s so difficult about it?”

Her words rained down on him like machine-gun fire. Beomjin let out a low sigh.

“Yoon Junyoung.”

“You went there because of me, didn’t you? I caused that misunderstanding, so you stayed quiet because of me? Are you out of your mind? You think I should be thankful? Fine, I’ll be thankful! I’m so grateful I could go crazy! Should I kneel and bow to you? Just so you know, I always do two bows. Don’t take it the wrong way.”

“Junyoung.”

“Don’t act like we’re close, you psycho!”

A soft fist hit his chest with a thud, and despite the absurdity of it all, she was behaving like a hedgehog gone wild, losing all sense of reason.

Another punch came, landing near his chest and stomach. This one hurt more.

She was just like her mother…

“The exam’s in three days, and I haven’t studied a thing. If I lose first place this time, it’s all your fault! I don’t need anything other than first place in my life, and now I can’t get it because of you! Do you know how hard I’ve been keeping this up?”

Amid the barrage of complaints, Beomjin grabbed the tofu bag with one hand and rubbed his aching chest with the other.

He hadn’t expected her to hold him responsible for all this. But he understood how much Junyoung cared about her studies. Even her usual unwavering focus, which was almost impossible to break, had been shaken.

So if she hadn’t been able to study, he knew that was truly her fault. She was trying so hard not to smile, but he forced himself to nod gravely.

“No one can beat you in this school. Don’t worry too much. The exam is decided by how much you’ve studied beforehand.”

“Shut up. What do you know, you’ve never studied in your life.”

In these kinds of situations, even if you try to make a dumb joke, you’re just going to get scolded. It wasn’t important what he said. The only important thing was that Junyoung was angry.

“Fine. Whatever you say, you’re right.”

Beomjin quietly looked at Junyoung, who was glaring at him with her eyes wide open, and said calmly, “Don’t cry, Yoon Junyoung.”

Tears that had been gathering in her large eyes finally fell, one by one. With her red eyes still fixed on him, Junyoung ground her teeth.

“I’m not crying. I’m just pissed off.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

If he laughed here, it would be the end of everything. No matter how cute Junyoung was, that was one thing he absolutely couldn’t do. He turned his gaze slightly away and struggled to keep a serious and respectful expression on his face. His cheek twitched as though a spasm was about to hit it.

“You really piss me off.”

“I’ve heard that one before…”

Even if Junyoung swore at him, he was ready to nod in agreement. But after she hurled those words, she came up to him, suddenly wrapping her arms around his waist. Beomjin froze in place.

She buried her face in his chest and burst into tears. His chest immediately warmed, soaked in the heat of her embrace. Her hand pressing against his back left a burning sensation, as if marking him with its heat.

The tofu bag, hanging loosely from his fingers, fell to the ground. But Beomjin couldn’t hear it land, nor the curses mixed in with her sobs. All he could feel was the warmth of the tears of someone who cared about him.

A long sigh escaped his lips. His hands, which had momentarily frozen, slowly tightened around Junyoung’s shaking form. Somewhere deep inside, something he didn’t even know was empty began to fill up, too much to handle.

Yoon Junyoung.

Junyoung.

Beomjin gently tightened his arms around her, his lips pressing against her damp hair.

***

Junyoung cleared her throat with a loud, somewhat strained sound. Her eyes felt heavy and stiff, likely from the tears. How many times in her life had she cried like this? She felt a mix of wanting to run away immediately and, at the same time, the lingering bitterness inside her seemed to melt away, leaving a strange sense of relief.

With a slurp, Beomjin shoveled the last of the ramen into his mouth and glanced at her, asking casually, “What’s wrong? You didn’t like the tofu in the soup? Wasn’t that why you bought it?”

Was that for real?

Junyoung shot him a sideways glance, but seeing Beomjin nonchalantly sipping his broth, the venom in her eyes seemed to drain away. Clicking her tongue, she shoved the last bite of noodles into her mouth. It felt like it had been forever since she ate ramen in this house.

With her lips still pursed, she watched Beomjin out of the corner of her eye. Other than her slightly sunken eyes, she looked fine. Her messy hair and the black t-shirt with jeans… It reminded her of the time she’d seen him lying down in a holding cell, as comfortable as if it were his own home.

She’d heard the news that Beomjin was free again during homeroom. Her teacher had casually mentioned it while giving his usual lecture about preparing for exams, as though it wasn’t an important matter.

"Starting tomorrow, Kwon Beomjin will be back in school. So, stop spreading rumors. If you have energy for that, focus on your studies. Got it?"

Junyoung had almost jumped up right there. As soon as school ended, she bought tofu and came straight here. She’d spent a thousand won, but it wasn’t a waste.

Of course, she hadn’t planned to throw it at him, but seeing Beomjin standing there with that indifferent expression made her blood boil. She hadn’t slept properly for days and hadn’t studied either, so it was only natural to feel frustrated when the person who caused all this was standing there looking perfectly fine.

But that police officer wasn’t a complete fraud after all. He said he was good at investigations, and it seemed like he really was.

“If you’ve got something to say, say it. Don’t explode like that. After all that yelling, do you really have more to say?”

Beomjin, finishing his ramen, got up and began to clean the bowls. Junyoung pursed her lips.

“I didn’t even finish half of it, but I’ll let it slide.”

“Then I’ll take care of it.”

Returning to his seat, Beomjin perched himself on the edge of the desk. Junyoung, who had been sitting on a chair, raised an eyebrow and looked at him sharply.

“What did you talk about with the police?”

“The stuff you didn’t say.”

“Why would you even say something like that? If you stayed quiet, they would’ve caught the real culprit anyway.”

Beomjin narrowed his eyes and spoke in a slightly lecturing tone. Junyoung, exasperated, chuckled and crossed her arms.

“I guess you didn’t know, but until I spoke to that officer, they thought you were the one who did it. Once your alibi checked out, they could focus on finding the real culprit.”

“If the real culprit could be caught that easily, they’d have been caught already. Don’t you think people would start to see you differently if that officer kept running his mouth? You don’t need to get involved in the mess.”

Beomjin’s sharp gaze made Junyoung’s cheeks feel strangely warm. She cleared her throat awkwardly and shifted her eyes.

“If I hadn’t said anything, that officer would’ve looked like an idiot. He would’ve been a fool as a cop.”

“…What does that mean?”

“Anyway.”

Cutting the conversation short, Junyoung looked directly at him, lifting her chin defiantly.

“I don’t care about that stuff. I don’t mind when people throw shit at me. I’ve been stuck in the muck for so long, what’s a little more? Besides, the important thing is that you’re out now. You should be thanking me.”

“Right.”

Beomjin surprisingly accepted her words without hesitation and rubbed his chin.

“To think that the studious Yoon Junyoung cared so much about me to the point of not being able to study—maybe I should bow to you in gratitude.”

When Beomjin shot a brief glance her way, Junyoung felt her neck get hot again and quickly turned her gaze to the side.

“No, it’s not exactly that I was worried about you…”

“Do you like me?”