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Join the ServerThere was something off about Seo Gi-hyeon.
The reason for his odd behavior, however, eluded me.
“Ah, I’ll head out first.”
The entire time we’d been together, he’d incessantly glanced at his watch. Now, he slung the bag from the table over his shoulder. Simultaneously, every eye in the room turned toward him.
“What? Leaving already?”
“My classroom is far away.”
‘Since when have you ever diligently headed straight for your classroom?’ I wasn’t the only one thinking it. Park Jun-sung asked, his face etched with surprise.
“Are you really going?”
“Yeah. See you later, then.”
Seo Gi-hyeon waved at everyone, then turned his back without a trace of hesitation. And I hadn’t even properly said goodbye yet.
I was just now absolutely certain.
Seo Gi-hyeon was strange. The reason still escaped me.
Seo Gi-hyeon’s peculiar actions had begun that very morning.
Initially, the day had started as usual. At 7:30 AM, the blaring alarm roused me. I grudgingly pulled my body from the comforting warmth of my blanket and headed into the bathroom. Everything remained perfectly normal until the second alarm rang at 7:45 AM.
The problem arose immediately after.
‘Good morning.’
The moment I heard that voice, I understood what it meant for one’s heart to stop in shock. My heart had truly nearly ceased beating.
I hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet. The third alarm, naturally, hadn’t even rung, and Seo Gi-hyeon still had a good amount of time before he typically woke up.
Yet, there he was before my eyes, Seo Gi-hyeon, wide awake.
‘……’
‘……’
‘……You’re up early.’
When I finally managed a belated reply, his small head bobbed up and down.
‘I just woke up a little early.’
Surprisingly, Seo Gi-hyeon seemed to have already finished preparing for school while I was showering. His school bag, which would normally have been tossed carelessly in a corner, was neatly placed on his desk. He even held a change of clothes in his hand, ready to go. Today, the hoodie was that orange one, the color he considered to be the best.
‘I’ll hurry and shower, so let’s go to the cafeteria for breakfast.’
And so, Seo Gi-hyeon and I had a leisurely commute to school, almost for the first time. He didn’t insist on going outside with some strange stubbornness, claiming it was a nice day, nor did he stare intently at kissing couples.
In a way, today was the most normal day I’d spent with Seo Gi-hyeon since we’d met, but that was precisely the problem.
‘I just woke up a little early?’
I’d sooner believe he’d pulled an all-nighter.
This guy, who only ever woke up to my voice, had risen to the first alarm, not the second or third? And he’d immediately packed his bag and chosen his clothes upon waking? It defied all logic.
No matter how many times I replayed it, it made no sense. Everything was just… strange.
It was the same just now. Normally, he’d follow me even to my locker, but he’d gone to the classroom alone. Even more perplexing, there were still twenty minutes until the first period began.
“What was that all about?”
“What’s up with him today? Did you two fight?”
The onlookers across from us immediately questioned me, but I couldn’t offer any answers.
‘Why is he like that?’ I didn’t know. ‘When had we ever fought?’
It was a morning stranger than any other.
****
I couldn’t concentrate at all during class.
The only time I could suppress all thoughts related to Seo Gi-hyeon was during lessons when he wasn’t around. But today, I’d kept thinking about him even during class, so that sole sanctuary was gone.
What was it?
What on earth was going on inside Seo Gi-hyeon’s head? Just a few days ago, I thought his mind was an open book, but now I couldn’t decipher it at all.
Park Jun-sung and Jang Gi-jae had asked if we’d fought, but if my memory served, we hadn’t. Far from fighting, there hadn’t been even the slightest argument or minor disagreement.
I cast my mind back to yesterday, trying to recall the events. After finishing our club activities, Seo Gi-hyeon and I had gone down to the dining hall a little later than usual for dinner. Afterward, we attended the mandatory study session and returned to our room past eight. Everything had been normal, even until we fell asleep.
‘Is he sick? Or has he suddenly had some profound realization? Perhaps a serious problem arose that caused him mental shock.’
Finally, I considered another possibility. ‘What if he just doesn’t want to be alone with me?’ Even if we hadn’t fought, perhaps he felt slighted by me and preferred to go to the cafeteria, where others were present, rather than be alone. In that case, waking up early would also make sense.
‘No, that can’t be it.’
Seo Gi-hyeon was the type to make a huge fuss even over the slightest grievance.
Then what was it?
I thought and thought, but no reason came to mind.
“I asked if there’s anything you want to eat.”
At the sudden voice, I turned my head. Beside me was the very person who was currently cluttering my mind.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
Seo Gi-hyeon, completely unaware that I had been thinking about him, talked about his club activities all the way to the dorm, then abruptly asked about the menu.
“Why are you asking that?”
“I’m thinking of going to my uncle’s this week, so I can buy something when I come back.”
“You really go twice a month. Your uncle must be tired of picking you up and dropping you off.”
“Hmm… but he says he misses me, you know? Well, this body is quite an irresistible presence, after all.”
Seeing his confident expression, I felt inexplicably annoyed. While my mind was a chaotic mess, the person who caused it seemed utterly unbothered.
‘Am I being too serious again?’
“Come on, tell me quickly what you want to eat.”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Yeah. Nothing.”
“Why nothing? I feel like I’m going to die from eating only flour-based foods every day.”
“Ah.”
A reason suddenly flashed in my mind.
“Are you perhaps tired of the breakfast I make?”
At my question, one of his eyebrows dropped. Seo Gi-hyeon’s face instantly crumpled, and he scowled fiercely. His expression clearly conveyed, ‘What on earth are you talking about?’
“You said you don’t like eating only flour-based foods. I always give you only toast and cereal.”
“No, I don’t. I give you ham and cheese too.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“What do you mean, ‘that’s not what I meant’? How are carbohydrates and protein the same?”
I had asked, wondering if he might have gotten tired of my breakfasts and woken up early to go to the cafeteria, but it seemed not. Seo Gi-hyeon continued his explanation, sounding utterly incredulous.
“And how is buying food any different? Cinnamon rolls and muffins—they’re all flour-based. In fact, those are even worse. They’re just sugar bombs. Your toast is a hundred times better than that.”
“But if those are so bad, why did you suggest we go eat them today?”
“Huh? Oh…”
Seo Gi-hyeon, who had been enthusiastically arguing, suddenly mumbled, offering a ridiculous excuse.
“It’s just, well… it might not be good for you, but it tastes good.”
“So my toast must not have tasted good.”
“No, it’s not.”
“What do you mean, ‘it’s not’?”
I threw his own words back at him.
“It’s not that it doesn’t taste good, and it’s not bad for you, so is it just boring, then?”
“No. I could eat what you make every day.”
I knew that. Just yesterday morning, when I’d asked if he was bored, he’d said no. I knew he wasn’t thinking that, but I felt I had to ask why he was acting so strangely, even if it meant pushing him a little.
“It’s not that…”
“……”
“……”
“…It’s not?”
Seo Gi-hyeon, who had suddenly fallen silent, now wore a serious expression.
“Anyway, it’s not that, so don’t misunderstand. I’ll just go say hi to Ji-ho hyung for a moment.”
Seo Gi-hyeon deliberately ran off to greet an acquaintance far away. Anyone could see he was trying to avoid the conversation with me.
One thing was certain: it definitely wasn’t because he felt slighted by me.
Indeed, the least likely candidate had been eliminated.
That day, after returning to the dorm, Seo Gi-hyeon hurriedly cleaned his room. The Seo Gi-hyeon I knew would never be this diligent, not even if someone was coming to visit.
“What are you looking for?”
“Nothing.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“Cleaning. I think it’s too dirty.”
In the first place, Seo Gi-hyeon’s idea of cleanliness was incredibly superficial. He would diligently vacuum and wipe away dust, but he wouldn’t organize. He believed that if individual items weren’t dirty, it didn’t matter if they were all mixed up. That was Seo Gi-hyeon’s concept of hygiene.
But he was organizing because it was dirty?
“What happened all of a sudden?”
“Huh?”
“You’re strange today.”
“What’s strange?”
“Everything. You’re a bit strange.”
“No, I’m not.”
‘…Yes, you are.’
After finishing the organization of his desk and cabinet, Seo Gi-hyeon collected his belongings scattered across the living room sofa and dining table. Finally, he even tidied the inside of the bathroom shelf and meticulously wiped away water stains from the mirror with tissue.
“See? It’s clean now, right?”
He had done, just once, what I did every day, and he looked incredibly proud.
Ultimately, I fell asleep, concluding that the strange events of the day were merely Seo Gi-hyeon’s capriciousness. Otherwise, this deliberation seemed like it would never end.
But that thought didn’t last long.
The next morning, at the exact same time, I was once again confronted with an unbelievable sight.
“Good morning.”
Seo Gi-hyeon greeted me with a smile.
With the same greeting as yesterday.
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