I had to use my brain even in that fleeting moment. Life is a bitch...
I plugged my nose and carefully watched Mo Taehee, wondering how I could stay here. What should I do? Should I talk to Park Min-ah? Or... or...
"Yeoul."
"...Huh, uh?"
I jumped as if I'd done something wrong at Mo Taehee's sudden call.
"Take your hand away."
Mo Taehee carefully removed my hand covering my nose. The nosebleed that had been pouring out was now almost stopped, just trickling out. Mo Taehee's expression was stern, as if he found the continuous nosebleeds over the past few days quite strange.
""You never used to get nosebleeds."
"Well... if, if heat suddenly rushes up... wouldn't it... cause a nosebleed...?"
I answered like a bit of an idiot. I wanted to say, "What reason is there for a nosebleed, you jerk?" but Mo Taehee was the scariest of the three, so I couldn't just blurt things out without a filter.
I rolled up a tissue and stuck it in my nostril, then met Mo Taehee's eyes with a rather satisfied look.
Mo Taehee's lips twisted as he tapped the protruding tissue with his fingertip. Is it funny...?
"Cute."
I gasped as I watched Mo Taehee make a soft sound at the sight of the tissue stuffed in my nose. I didn't know whether to be happy or not that he found me cute even with something shoved up my nose. I stammered.
"Th... Thank you."
It sounded like a compliment, so I thanked him for now.
I rubbed under my nose out of embarrassment, then slowly got up, thinking my face was probably smeared with blood. The fact that I had been rubbing my lips against his a moment ago suddenly flashed through my mind, and my face flushed again.
I unconsciously stared at Mo Taehee's lips, and then I realized that he was staring at my lips too, so I coughed. It wasn't on purpose, but the cough came at a good time. It seems like being weak can be helpful sometimes...
"Cough! Cough, cough—!!"
Coughing so hard that my chest ached was always unpleasant. Because my chest hurt too much. After coughing, I was out of breath and my body trembled intermittently. I had no choice but to lean forward to find a position that was less painful.
At my action, Mo Taehee reached out and pulled me into his arms. His large, warm hand gently stroked my trembling back.
"It's okay, Yeoul." His voice was so tender that I couldn't believe he had been rubbing his lips against mine just moments before. What a crazy bastard...
I awkwardly took my hand away from my mouth and regulated my breathing. The wheezing sound of my breath scraped out of my throat as a result of the coughing.
"I'm... okay."
"But Yeoul."
"Uh-huh?"
"Are you really going with Kangwoo?"
This bastard asked as if he was trying to start a conversation that was already over. I had a hunch, and sure enough, my mentioning Nam Kangwoo's name wasn't the answer Mo Taehee wanted.
I slightly raised my head, which had been facing down, to observe Mo Taehee's expression. He didn't seem angry... When I nodded slightly, his handsome face crumpled.
"Why, why...?"
"Why are you going with Nam Kangwoo?"
"Huh?"
Why, you ask... Because I'm going with the least scary bastard. Why is he asking such an obvious question?
I looked at Mo Taehee with a slightly puzzled expression, then slowly moved my body.
"Just... I came with Kangwoo, and..."
"Yeoul."
Where are you always trying to go? Mo Taehee's hand suddenly shot out and gripped my arm. This crazy bastard... Does he want me to keep facing him with blood all over my face?
The faint, fishy smell of blood kept making my mouth water. The metallic taste I felt every time I opened my mouth was disgusting, actually. This bastard probably didn't know that I was struggling to hold back my vomit.
"Uh? No, my face... there's a lot of blood on my face and hands... Why, why? Is there something you want to say?"
I didn't want to, but I think I got a little scared. Because this big guy was frowning. I looked down at Mo Taehee's large hand gripping my wrist and unconsciously swallowed hard.
"Why...?"
"I just feel like I keep missing opportunities."
"...Huh?"
What is he talking about now? I barely calmed my churning stomach and twisted the wrist that Mo Taehee was holding.
"I'm... I'm sorry to interrupt, but I keep... smelling blood a little..."
I reflexively covered my mouth. It would be nice if he would let go, but my housemate number 2 or 3, Mo Taehee, didn't seem to want to let go of my wrist. Not only that, but instead of letting go of my wrist, this bastard reached out and cupped my cheek.
"Yeoul."
"...Uh-huh?"
"Did I ever tell you I like you?"
I made a dumbfounded expression at this bastard's one-sided confession parade, which had started yesterday or the day before, like a relay race. Even you...?
"...Sudd... Suddenly...?"
"It's not sudden, but does it seem like it?"
"Oh? Ah..."
"I like you. That's why I want to look good to Yeoul."
I was speechless. What more could I say here?
"No, putting looking good aside, it seems like Yeoul is too scared. I worry a lot about how I can look less scary, even a little bit. But Yeoul is so oblivious that I'm a little sad that you don't seem to notice how hard I'm trying."
"..."
...Crazy... Is this even real...?
The longer Mo Taehee spoke, the more foolish my expression became. I wondered if what I was hearing was a hallucination, because this bastard's tone was so nonchalant.
No, the bastard who wanted me to be less scared. Was he just acting however he wanted and desperate not to let me go home?
"...Was that... so...? Sorry... I'm oblivious... But I..."
"Do you like Park Min-ah?"
"Huh?"
Mo Taehee snatched the words I was about to say and spat them out, then chuckled softly. What was even scarier was that his laughter and lips were all twisted, but his eyes weren't smiling.
This bastard... knew that my saying I liked Park Min-ah was just a way to get out of the situation.
I just... I was afraid that if I kept running into these bastards, I would die of a heart attack. I just wanted to live a little longer. I'm only twenty-two, it's too early to die young.
"I... I really like Park Min-ah..."
"We really like Yeoul too."
"...I'm just curious... Why are you guys acting like such crazy bastards?"
Screw it, damn it. Whether I die young living like this or get killed by these bastards, the ending probably won't be happy anyway, so I just blurted out the question I had in my mind.
"No, you guys and Park Min-ah... you should be madly in love with each other, so why did the arrow suddenly turn to Ha Yeo-wool, I mean me? You crazy bastards... Clearly... all of you... damn it... you should be in a love square with Park Min-ah..."
"Yeoul."
"That's right. Even if you're judging by looks, Park Min-ah is much prettier than me. You crazy bastards touch me all the time, ki... kiss me... and nosebleeds too...!"
Mo Taehee kept laughing at my rambling words. He laughed out loud, as if telling me to say more, and just listened to my words.
No... I'm not good at talking when someone lays out a mat for me... My voice gradually became smaller.
"...Nosebleeds too... because you guys are always so close... always... my heart beats too fast... so the heat rushes to my face, so my nose... no, nosebleeds..."
"So you're saying the nosebleeds are our fault."
Mo Taehee reached out and plucked the tissue that was rolled up and neatly tucked into my nose. The tissue, which was only stained with red traces of blood that had stopped, was held at the tip of Mo Taehee's finger.
"The bleeding stopped."
"Dis... disgusting—"
My face must have turned red. I reached out and snatched the tissue that Mo Taehee's finger was holding preciously, and threw it into the trash can.
"I wasn't thinking about it. I told you back then. I wasn't interested."
"...Then why are you doing this..."
"At first, I just thought you were cute. The way you act. It's different from before, so it's fun to watch."
The way I act? I wondered what I had done in front of these bastards, and carefully retraced my actions. There's nothing that could be called cute. Could my memory be manipulated? A grown man being cute is just...
"Then sometimes like this."
Mo Taehee reached out and pulled my chin up to meet my eyes.
"Like this. Looking straight at my face and meeting my eyes as if you're embarrassed. The way your face, which was only pale, turns slightly red is so pretty."
"...I..."
"I didn't know that you being frail was so hot until now."
Cra... Crazy bastards... I felt the heat rushing to my face again. It was the moment I pulled my face, which was held in Mo Taehee's hand, back.
"So. I'm okay with sharing you with everyone, Yeoul. After all, it's fairer to have all three of us than to have only one of us. I think I hate the idea of another bastard monopolizing you more than I feel jealous."
My mind gradually became clearer at Mo Taehee's quiet words.
I'm going crazy. The protagonist of this novel, whose genre had instantly shifted from romance, was no longer Park Min-ah, but me.
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