Chapter 12. You Should Pay Twice the Taxes

There was no reason to explain.

No time to explain, either.

Hyunwoo quickly slipped away and headed straight to the infirmary.

“Pfft. Seriously? You were really hugging in front of everyone?”

The school nurse, after hearing what had just happened, couldn’t suppress a laugh.

“Just check on Chaea’s condition, please.”

“Hmph… Alright, alright.”

Though, truth be told, she didn’t seem to be trying very hard to hold back her amusement.

“You two are really adorable, you know that? Chaea, are you feeling a little better now?”

“Yes….”

Chaea hadn’t received any actual treatment in the infirmary.

She had simply lain down on the bed for a while.

“Hmm? But I didn’t do anything.”

The nurse glanced at Hyunwoo and smirked mischievously.

“Don’t you think she was healed by the power of love?”

Her teasing words made Hyunwoo’s ears turn bright red.

“Stop joking and check her properly.”

He tried to keep a straight face.

But…

He couldn’t really deny what she was saying.

‘She got better because I hugged her.’

The nurse, who had been unable to control her smirk for a while, tapped her cheeks lightly before speaking in a more serious tone.

“Ahem. Jokes aside, there’s actually nothing I can do for her here.”

“Does she need to go to a bigger hospital?”

“Hmm… Honestly, even if she goes to a hospital, it won’t make much of a difference. She’s been taking her medication regularly, right?”

“Yes.”

The nurse shook her head firmly.

“Then there’s really no other solution. The headache is probably psychological.”

“So she just has to keep living like this?”

“It should get better over time, but she might struggle a bit for now.”

Clench.

Hyunwoo tightly clenched his fist.

Since they didn’t know the exact cause of the headaches, there was no way to prevent them.

Which meant…

Every time this happened, he would have to hug her tightly to calm her down?

What kind of bizarre symptom was that…?

“From my perspective, Hyunwoo, the more you hug her, the better she’ll feel.”

“…”

“Don’t glare at me like that. Psychological issues need to be treated psychologically.”

The nurse’s logic was simple.

For some reason, Chaea felt a deep sense of security in Hyunwoo’s arms.

So, hugging her frequently would help alleviate her anxiety.

Fair enough.

Hyunwoo wasn’t glaring at her because he disagreed.

“What if I’m already hugging her a lot?”

“What?”

It was embarrassing to say it out loud.

In a barely audible voice, Hyunwoo admitted,

“…We hug every day. Not a single day has gone by without it.”

“That’s right, Miss. We always hug tightly every day….”

Even Chaea, who was lying on the bed, nodded in agreement.

“Oh my, oh my.”

The nurse covered her mouth, her eyes crinkling in amusement as she looked back and forth between them.

Zing—

Hyunwoo shot her a glare.

“Ahem.”

She quickly composed herself again.

“Then maybe the reason it’s not worse is because you’re hugging her every day. If you weren’t, her headaches might be even more frequent. In severe cases, she could even collapse.”

“Hyunwoo, do you really think I’d lie about something like this?”

“…I suppose not.”

Maybe it was because his own love life wasn’t going well.

Since the school nurse had a habit of pairing up students, he had instinctively doubted her.

Completely unaware of the rude thought Hyunwoo had just entertained, the nurse stood up from her seat.

“Lunch break is almost over. What will you do? Can you go back to class? Or would you rather lie down for another hour?”

“Ugh… No, I can get up.”

Chaea held her head and slowly sat up.

Her headache was still lingering, but…

It wasn’t bad enough to keep lying down.

Being separated from Hyunwoo in class would be even worse.

“If you’re sure. Take care, you two. And Chaea, you can always come back and rest anytime. I’ll make an exception for you.”

“Thank you, Miss.”

After bowing politely and stepping out of the infirmary,

Chaea squeezed Hyunwoo’s hand a little tighter.

“Hyunwoo, can I go to the restroom before heading to class?”

“I’ll walk you there.”

“Thanks, Hyunwoo. I know it’s a hassle—”

Before she could even finish speaking,

“Wait a second, Do Hyunwoo. I’ll take her.”

Jung Enubi suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Whoa!”

Hyunwoo hadn’t expected to experience a jump scare in real life.

Holding his chest to calm his racing heart, he asked,

“Where did you even come from?”

“I was waiting in front of the infirmary.”

Enubi, arms crossed, looked visibly worried.

“Chaea, are you really okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. They didn’t even give me any treatment. I just lay down for a bit.”

“Phew… Alright. I’ll take her from here, so you go on ahead, Hyunwoo.”

Hyunwoo exchanged glances with Enubi for a moment.

“You’re okay going with her, right? I’ll head to class first.”

He gently let go of Chaea’s hand and passed it over to Enubi.

‘Why does she look so serious?’

Enubi seemed like she had a lot to say to Chaea.

So Hyunwoo stepped aside.

Whooosh—

After finishing up in the restroom, Chaea walked out to wash her hands.

“You’re really okay, right?”

“Eek! You scared me.”

Enubi, still looking uneasy, quickly approached her.

Chaea looked fine now, but the image of her earlier at the gym still haunted Enubi’s mind.

‘I only heard that she had an accident. I didn’t realize there were actual aftereffects….’

Back then, Chaea had been deathly pale, clinging to Hyunwoo while trembling uncontrollably.

As her best friend, Enubi couldn’t help but be worried.

“You don’t have to worry. As long as I’m with Hyunwoo, I’m fine.”

“Y-Yeah. About that.”

Enubi seized the moment.

She had volunteered to bring Chaea to the restroom partly out of concern,

but mostly because her curiosity was about to explode.

“What exactly is going on between you two?”

“…?”

Chaea tilted her head, puzzled by the question.

Enubi obviously knew that they were childhood friends.

So what was she asking?

“Sorry, I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“I mean, usually childhood friends don’t hug each other all the time…!”

Frustrated, Enubi lightly pounded her chest.

Her reaction made Chaea pause and think.

“…I thought everyone was like that?”

“No, they’re not!”

Chaea’s strong reaction made Enubi raise an eyebrow.

“Enubi, do you have a childhood friend too?”

“…No? Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“Maybe that’s why you don’t get it? Childhood friends act like this all the time.”

“…”

Enubi was speechless.

She felt as if her common sense had been shattered, making it difficult to say anything.

‘Is that true…? Am I too narrow-minded?’

For a moment, she almost got swept along because of how confidently Chaea spoke.

—Enubi, Enubi. What do you think Hyunwoo would like?

—Huh? Why are you asking that?

—I don’t want to be just childhood friends forever… I can’t take it anymore. Help me out, Enubi.

Before she lost her memory, Chaea had definitely asked Enubi for dating advice.

But if they were just childhood friends, would she have acted like that?

How could she draw out the real feelings Chaea had in the past?

Enubi didn’t have to think for long.

“Isn’t it a bit weird for childhood friends to live together? I mean, let’s say that’s fine. But changing clothes for each other? That’s really not normal.”

Her plan was to make Chaea feel the oddity of the situation herself.

“Hmm… Well, right now, it can’t be helped. I do feel bad for Hyunwoo, though.”

But Chaea only gave a bitter smile and scratched her cheek.

‘O-Okay. Let’s say that’s understandable since he’s in a cast. But still…!’

Backing down now would mean nothing.

Enubi had to keep asking for the sake of keeping the promise she made with her best friend before she lost her memory.

“So, does hyunwoo come to your room every morning to wake you up? I heard him scolding you earlier for sleeping in.”

“No, I do have my own room. But I just sleep in Hyunwoo’s bed.”

“……What?”

Whip. Whip.

Even though she knew no one else was around, Enubi glanced around just to be sure.

If anyone overheard this, ridiculous rumors were bound to spread.

Creak—

She even checked the bathroom stalls one by one to make sure no one was hiding inside.

“You… y-you sleep in the same bed?!”

She grabbed Chaea’s arm in shock.

Jung Enubi, 19 years old.

She knew full well that “sleeping together” didn’t just mean sleeping.

‘No way, right? I mean, unless he’s completely uninterested in her, there’s no way he’s just… sleeping with Chaea…’

“I can’t fall asleep without Hyunwoo by my side, so I hug his arm while I sleep.”

“He really is uninterested….”

“Huh?”

“N-Nothing!”

Enubi instinctively blurted out her thoughts and quickly waved her hands.

Right now, there was something more important than questioning her friend’s lack of interest in romance.

“So after all that, you’re still just ‘childhood friends’?”

She hadn’t intended to be this blunt, but it seemed like no amount of subtlety would get through.

“What if hyunwoo confesses and asks you to date him? Would you still want to stay childhood friends?”

“…………Huh?”

It took a long moment for Chaea to react.

Then her face gradually turned red.

Fsshhh—

Steam practically burst out of her head.

“U-Uh… Uhmm….”

As expected, Chaea completely froze and couldn’t answer.

Seeing her reaction, Enubi patted her shoulder.

“I was just talking nonsense. Just forget about it, Chaea.”

At the same time, she sighed internally.

‘Maybe it’d be faster to just let them have kids while they’re still “childhood friends.”’

Changing the way they thought might be harder than just changing their situation.

While Chaea and Enubi were in the bathroom, Hyunwoo had already returned to the classroom.

Even though he had been annoyed when she was clinging to him earlier—

“…Hmm.”

Now that they were apart for a moment, his side felt oddly empty.

Feeling a bit awkward, he sat down.

“What the hell? Why’d you come back alone? Is Yoo Chaea at the nurse’s office?”

Jinhyuk glanced at Hyunwoo and asked.

“No. She went to the bathroom with Jung Enubi.”

“Is she really okay to be back in class? She looked pretty bad earlier.”

Hyunwoo hesitated briefly before lowering his voice.

“Yeah. I hugged her earlier, so she’s fine now.”

“…”

“Seriously, stop looking at me like I’m crazy.”

“Hmm…….”

Jinhyuk didn’t say anything, just stared at him.

But his persistent gaze was getting unbearable.

“I’m telling you, it’s true.”

—Why are you hiding it— “Hyunwoo.”

“I swear on my late father.”

“…You’re pulling out that card? Fine, I’ll believe you, you lunatic.”

Jinhyuk sighed.

If Hyunwoo was bringing up his father, whom he almost never mentioned, then he had no choice but to believe him.

“But how did you end up with this weird-ass gimmick?”

The way Jinhyuk phrased things always made him sound like a shut-in otaku gamer.

‘Not that he’s wrong.’

Though honestly, it did feel like some kind of weird gimmick—like Hyunwoo was some holy maiden in a game, healing people with his hugs.

“I don’t know. It’s been like this ever since the accident. Ever since then, she’s been sticking to me way too much, and it’s driving me crazy.”

Now that the topic had come up, Hyunwoo started venting all his recent frustrations.

How he ended up living with Chaea, how she clung to him too much, how he struggled to hold himself back whenever she walked around half-dressed, how she wouldn’t let him sleep without her by his side… and so on.

He was so caught up in ranting that he didn’t even notice Jinhyuk’s expression gradually twisting into one of pure disgust.

‘So while I was running around collecting merch, this bastard was getting cozy with Chaea?’

While he was eating overpriced collab meals just to get limited-edition photo cards…

His friend had been living with the prettiest girl in school, sharing a bed with her.

Even though Jinhyuk was a hardcore otaku with zero interest in real-life girls,

Listening to this in person still made him feel some type of way.

“So lately, I can’t even relieve myself properly….”

“Dohyunwoo.”

“Huh?”

Jinhyuk cut him off.

As his friend, there was only one thing he could say.

“You smug bastard. Pay double taxes.”

He swallowed his jealousy and let out a curse.