His spirit || Seungjin/Hyunmin

Chapter 39

Seungmin navigated the crowded halls of his school. He felt uneasy. He didn't have his friends around him, and Jeongin's words from this morning still lingered in the back of his head. He felt exposed, and his heart was telling him that he should leave the school.

The usual chatter and laughter echoed around him as he entered the classroom. As he settled into his seat, he couldn't shake off the feeling of something being off. It heightened his senses, and he scanned the room cautiously.

Almost in an instant, he saw Seoyeon. The young woman stood near the teacher's desk, apparently talking to one of the other students. But instead of paying attention to the conversation, she was already staring at Seungmin with an unsure expression on her face. Seungmin felt Hyunjin tense up beside him.

Hyunjin had been very nervous the entire morning, and being in school didn't really help his situation much.

"Seungmin, whatever you do, whatever your plan is to observe her, if she tries to give anything to you, don't take it. Promise me to watch her from a distance."

Seungmin gulped. The heavy lump in his throat seemingly getting bigger and bigger. He knew he would have to get close to Seoyeon at some point if he wanted to save Hyunjin. There was no other way. But he couldn't tell Hyunjin. Not in front of the whole class. He had to pretend the spirit wasn't there.

Seoyeon, meanwhile, was already approaching Seungmin, a smile decorating her lips. It didn't take long until she reached him, taking a seat right next to Seungmin.

"Good morning, Seungmin."

Seungmin gave the young woman next to him his best smile, even if it was fake. He needed to pretend like nothing was wrong, so he would at least have a small chance to get close to her. He knew that she would be at least a tiny bit more careful after what happened yesterday.

Hyunjin, on the other hand, tensed up even more. Jeongin's words from the morning were crowding his mind, almost preventing the rational thoughts to shine through that would tell him that Seungmin was safe as long as he was where a lot of people could see him.

"Ah. Hey, Seoyeon."

Seoyeon's eyes were fixated on Seungmin's face. They held warmth on the surface, but it didn't take long for Seungmin and Hyunjin to notice that underlying glimmer of tension in them.

With a sigh, Seoyeon finally averted her eyes after a couple of seconds of staring at Seungmin. She leaned back against the chair, letting her eyes wander to the table in front of them.

"Let's not make this more complicated than it needs to be, Seungmin. Let's clear up everything."

Hyunjin almost choked on the air if he could. Did he and Seungmin lose their possibly only connection to that stalker, if not the stalker herself? What would they do now? Hyunjin glanced over to Seungmin, reading his body language.

The younger sat there as if Seoyeon just asked him to kill the principal. His eyes were wide open, and his eyebrows were so far up his forehead, Hyunjin could swear they reached the younger's scalp by now.

Seoyeon cleared her throat.

"So because of yesterday, I am sorry if Mingi made you feel uncomfortable. He had his difficulties with your... um... friends, and well, the stuff you said to me as well... I can understand that that might have made things a bit awkward-"

Seungmin could feel his heart starting to beat again. It was like it had stopped at Seoyeon's misleading directness. He almost let out a sigh of relief but held himself back. He shouldn't show what he is thinking that easily to her. Instead, he continued to listen to what the young woman in front of him had to say.