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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: In the Shower Room
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It was a photo from during the sports day.
It was a picture of Jun-woo holding Kang A-jin's injured hand after she fell, looking at her with worried eyes.
Affection was visible in his gaze.
Unable to control her expression, she had come to the bathroom, washed her hands with cold water, and was on her way back to the home economics room.
Noisy sounds drifted in from outside the window.
"Hey!! Pass the ball, pass it!"
"You've got to put it in the hoop—what the hell are you shooting at?!"
Cho-hee leaned toward the window as if drawn in, peering out.
Right below, on the basketball court, male students with faces reddened by the blazing sun were playing basketball.
Her face was expressionless.
She gazed indifferently at the boys and then shut the window.
Then she reentered the home economics room and approached A-jin.
"Need help?"
"I'm good. I like doing it alone."
"Is it fun?"
"What? Baking?"
"Yeah, you could just buy stuff ready-made."
"True..."
"Why bother with all that hassle?"
"That's why. The whole complicated process is what makes it fun."
Cho-hee fell silent, unable to relate.
But A-jin kept explaining.
"It might seem like it comes together in a snap, but it actually takes a ton of steps and effort."
A-jin's eyes sparkled as she explained.
Seeing her so lively made Cho-hee's expression even blanker.
"Sometimes they seem just like us."
"What do you mean?"
"We might seem like we dropped out of the sky, but it took all kinds of careful effort to become who we are now. Failing sometimes, succeeding sometimes, starting over."
Cho-hee made a bored face, deeming it too profound.
"Sigh. You say such complicated stuff sometimes. It's no fun."
"It's not that complicated."
"Stop reading weird books and study."
"Hey, why's even you bringing up studying?"
A-jin pouted, feeling hurt, and turned to the next task.
Then the spatula on the counter fell off.
"Oh no."
A-jin bent down to pick up the spatula.
At that moment, someone shoved Cho-hee's back.
*Now,* a voice urged. *Pour that chocolate-mixed flour over her head right now.*
She had planned to be careful for a while.
She didn't want to show her jealousy.
The studio incident was still fresh, so she needed to be extra cautious.
But seeing that photo had been the trigger.
Park Jun-woo's affectionate gaze at Kang A-jin had turned her wicked.
The mixing bowl flipped over A-jin's head like a hat.
"Mom!"
A-jin screamed, and Cho-hee quickly lifted the bowl off her head, pretending it was an accident.
"What do we do... I'm sorry. I was trying to help."
The thin, liquid-like flour mixture trickled down A-jin's face and dripped onto her striped T-shirt.
"I told you I could do it alone."
Even A-jin, who never got mad, couldn't smile sweetly covered in chocolate.
She spoke irritably, and Cho-hee pretended to be at a loss with remorse.
"I'm sorry."
Unaware of it all, A-jin softened at Cho-hee's appearance and apologized for snapping.
"Sorry for getting mad. I couldn't help it. It's on my face too, and this is my third batch."
Once for messing up the consistency, once when the oven exploded, and now the third chocolate batter was ruined.
Starting over felt daunting, but right now, her hair all sticky and messy was the biggest problem.
"What do we do? Wait a sec. I'll grab some wet wipes."
"Here."
As Cho-hee flusterred about, A-jin pulled wet wipes from her bag that she'd brought from home.
"I'll do it."
Cho-hee pulled out four or five sheets and wiped the chocolate from A-jin's hair.
She wiped her chocolate-stained T-shirt too.
But it had already soaked in and wouldn't come clean.
"Wet wipes aren't cutting it. You need to shower. The flour's all clumped up like dough—it won't wipe off."
"Should I just wash here?"
A-jin pointed to the sink in the home economics room.
"No soap, and how would you even? It's all over your body too. Our school has the athletic showers."
"Can I use those?"
"Yeah. It's the weekend, so no one's there."
"Just wipe down and take a taxi."
"Hey! If you get in like that, the ajusshi will hate it. It'll stain the seats."
"You think?"
Cho-hee tried to persuade A-jin.
"Go on. I'll grab your gym clothes from the classroom and meet you at the showers."
"Okay."
Cho-hee pushed A-jin toward the showers and turned toward the classroom.
A slow smile crept onto her previously blank face.
* * *
The school only had basketball and baseball teams, so there was no separate girls' shower room.
Luckily, as Cho-hee said, it was the weekend, so the showers were empty. With shampoo and towels there, A-jin quickly showered.
"Cho-hee."
She opened the bathroom door and called for her.
But it seemed Cho-hee hadn't arrived yet.
Wrapping a shower towel around herself, she stepped out to dry her hair first.
As she grabbed the hairdryer, a commotion sounded from outside the showers.
"Hey! You got shit for hands. We lost because of you."
"Why's it my fault? You just suck."
"Shouldn't have benched Jun-woo."
No way they're coming in here?
She stared at the shower room door with tense eyes.
No way...
The noise grew closer, and silhouettes sharpened against the glass door.
*Don't come in! Please stop there.*
She set down the hairdryer and wrapped the shower gown tighter around herself.
She didn't have time to change.
* * *
"Don't eat any pork belly today!"
Jang-hoon burst into the shower room, yanked off his top, and snapped at Hee-won.
"That's bullshit."
Hee-won grumbled about how unfair it was and yanked off his top too.
Jang-hoon spotted Jun-woo sitting on the floor and asked.
"All done?"
"Yeah. Did you win?"
"Lost. We lost 'cause you weren't there. I told you to play till the end. Why'd this guy come halfway through?"
Hee-won had rushed to join the game late.
He'd dropped everything to come, but Jang-hoon just chewed him out for losing.
Feeling hurt, Hee-won vented his frustration.
"You bitch even if I show up! Is the loss my fault? It's 'cause the so-called captain sucks ass? You're not fit for it."
"What'd you say, you punk!"
-Thwack thwack-
Jang-hoon kicked at fully stripped Hee-won's ass.
The shower room echoed with wet smacking sounds.
Hee-won whined about why he was getting hit and fled to the bathroom. Jang-hoon smirked like he'd won and said to Jun-woo.
"Come out."
Jun-woo was leaning against his locker.
But Jun-woo didn't budge and asked back.
"Why?"
"It's my locker."
"Use somewhere else."
Jang-hoon made an aggrieved face, protesting that all his clothes were in there.
"No, my clothes are here. Get out quick."
But Jun-woo showed no sign of moving.
He pressed closer, blocking the locker entirely.
Jang-hoon stared at him in disbelief.
"Shower first, then I'll move."
"I need my toothbrush too."
"You should've brushed at home."
Jun-woo's gaze sharpened.
Its subtle intensity overwhelmed Jang-hoon, who couldn't retort.
"I need my shampoo too..."
Jun-woo's look at Jang-hoon grew even keener.
It screamed annoyance at the hassle.
"Use Hee-won's. You're eating too, right?"
Jang-hoon gave an awkward laugh, tossed his worn clothes on the floor, and headed to the bathroom.
With Jang-hoon gone, everyone was in the bathroom.
Then Jun-woo, who had been watching, opened Jang-hoon's locker.
"You can come out now."
There, huddled inside with a shower towel barely covering her, was A-jin.
Jun-woo averted his eyes, unable to look straight at her barely covered body.
He had no idea why these situations kept happening.
Jun-woo had finished showering and was lying on the locker room floor listening to music.
He'd heard footsteps but never imagined it was A-jin.
Thinking he'd listen a bit longer before leaving, he sat up.
But then she emerged from the bathroom.
Startled by her exposed pale shoulders, he almost yelped.
He whipped his head away, but the image was burned in—his cheeks flushed red.
He hid behind a locker, calming his pounding heart.
He couldn't let her know he was there.
Sneaking out was impossible now.
Then the basketball team filed into the shower room.
She panicked and froze; he panicked too.
He'd planned to stay hidden till she left, but she looked like she needed help.
Left like that, the other guys would see her in just a towel.
"They're all in. Come out quick."
"D-don't look."
"I won't, so hurry."
"Sorry, but can you grab my clothes by the bathroom door?"
Jun-woo fetched her clothes from near the bathroom door.
They were soiled.
Even without sniffing, the chocolate smell wafted strongly.
"You're wearing these?"
"No choice right now. Toss them over here."
"Wait."
Instead of handing them over, Jun-woo headed to his locker.
"Where! Give me my clothes!"
A-jin was desperate.
Undried water dripped from her hair tips.
The cold stole her warmth, chills creeping in.
She huddled tighter.
Then Jun-woo returned from his locker with something.
"Wear this."
"What's this?"
"My clothes."
It was the light blue shirt he'd worn to school.
"Why this?"
"No time. The quick ones are probably done already."
"O-okay."
The basketball players would emerge from showers any moment.
No time for questions.
A-jin threw on Jun-woo's light blue shirt and hurried out of the shower room.
Luckily, she didn't run into anyone.
A-jin let out a long sigh of relief.
Then her face heated up.
Not just anyone.
Jun-woo was there.
When he first appeared before her, she'd nearly fallen backward in shock.
She thought she needed to get out of there fast.
But he followed and called her back.
"Kang A-jin."
"Why—what are you doing out here?"
*Just stay inside.*
*Why follow me out—it's embarrassing.*
"Heading home."
"Oh... okay? See ya."
A-jin waved and walked briskly.
But he caught up with his longer strides and stood beside her.
"I'll go with you."
"No. I have to head up."
"You uncomfortable around me?"
"No, not that, but... anyway..."
Of course she was uncomfortable.
How many embarrassing sights had she shown him?
*Of course it's uncomfortable. He saw me naked...*
"I didn't see anything."
"What?"
"I said nothing. You had the towel on."
"Right. Yeah."
"So let's go together."
"Weren't you waiting to eat with them?"
"Nope."
"Then why were you there?"
As A-jin flailed, the long sleeves flapped.
She tried folding them back to free her hands.
But the unbuttoned cuffs wouldn't cooperate.
Seeing this, he took her wrist, turned her toward him, and folded the sleeves for her.
His manners surprised her, and the situation tensed her up.
Her fingertips twitched.
But she didn't pull away.
"I didn't want to sweat again after showering, so I was lying down. This side too."
He reached for her other arm.
A-jin meekly offered it.
His kindness made one side of her chest flutter.
Was it the chill from her body shaking her, or his tenderness? An unknown tremor reached her heart.
Startled by her pounding heart, A-jin cleared her throat awkwardly and changed the subject.
"But this is hilarious. How long ago did I borrow your clothes, and now I'm borrowing yours again? Haha."
"......"
A-jin's laugh sounded forced.
Having folded both sleeves, Jun-woo lowered her arms and met her eyes steadily.
She looked even prettier today.
Fresh from a shower, her skin gleamed, her damp hair shone.
Her crimson lips were transparent and beautiful.
She had always been dangerous to him.
The small, cute girl sparked endless fantasies in this pubescent boy.
Jun-woo took a step closer.
His gaze sparkled brighter than her skin, burned hotter than her lips.
They faced each other.
Neither looked away, entranced.
He took half a step nearer.
Close enough to feel each other's breath.
