Chapter 172: Three Weeks of Silence

I was busy moving about since morning.

Because both my parents had work, they couldn’t accompany me to the hospital, so I had to go alone.

I wondered for a moment whether I should go with my friends, but in the end, I decided to go by myself.

Everyone was probably busy studying for the Suneung, with so little time left, and I didn’t want to bother them.

If today were a weekday, maybe we’d have gone together after school, but it was Saturday morning, so that wasn’t possible.

“I’ve got my bag packed.”

Since I’d finally be able to move both arms freely after so long, I had no intention of heading straight home.

I wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, and savor the freedom of my liberated right arm.

I slung a light eco-bag over my shoulder, with just my wallet and earphones inside, and stepped outside.

I was just about to cross the apartment complex and head through the entrance.

“Dana.”

A low, gentle voice called out from somewhere.

Looking around, searching for the source, I saw Doihyun approaching, waving his hand.

“Oh? What are you doing here?”

“I heard today’s the day you’re getting your cast off. I waited for you at the right time.”

It was just something I’d mentioned in passing, but he’d remembered the date and time, and even came to see me.

I looked at Doihyun, who opened the taxi door for me, with eyes full of gratitude.

Seeing my expression, he smiled sheepishly and got in beside me.

“I was going to go alone, but… How did you know to come find me?”

“I just figured you’d go by yourself. So I came as your guardian.”

The moment he said ‘guardian’, I thought of Ban Eunhyeol.

While I was hospitalized, Ban Eunhyeol had taken it upon himself to be my guardian, and now Doihyun was taking on that role instead…

For some reason, my mouth tasted bitter.

Back when I was hospitalized, I never imagined things would turn out like this.

“Thanks to you, I feel reassured. Thanks, really.”

“Nah, it’s nothing.”

Maybe because I knew how Doihyun felt, going to the hospital with just him as the patient and guardian made me feel self-conscious.

So I deliberately treated Doihyun more like a friend and spoke casually.

Thanks to that, the mood quickly eased.

Doihyun stayed by my side the whole time, until I came out of the hospital with my cast removed.

And as soon as we came out, he asked me,

“Where do you want to go?”

Doihyun matched his pace to mine and asked as we walked side by side.

He’d probably planned to take me straight home once my cast was off, but since I said I wanted to go somewhere, it seemed he was ready to come along.

“Hmm, the Han River, maybe? It’s been a while.”

“Han River sounds good. Let’s have lunch there too.”

Doihyun naturally called a taxi, planning for us to have lunch together as well.

Before long, we arrived at the Han River, found a good spot, and sat down.

It might have been a little lonely if I’d come alone, seeing everyone else hanging out in groups.

“It’s nice you came with me. I’m not bored at all.”

“I’m glad. Honestly, I was worried you might feel uncomfortable hanging out with just me.”

“Because of Ban Eunhyeol?”

Maybe because Ban Eunhyeol and I were in a cold war right now, my words came out sharper than usual.

Doihyun noticed instantly that something was going on and asked carefully.

“Did you fight with Ban Eunhyeol? Is it because of me?”

“We did have a fight. But it’s more because of me than you.”

“Because of you…?”

Doihyun looked puzzled, as if he’d naturally thought he was the cause of our argument.

Honestly, if it weren’t for Doihyun, there wouldn’t have been a fight.

But it wasn’t Doihyun’s fault—Ban Eunhyeol had felt hurt because of my actions, so I figured it was better to see it as my own fault.

‘Should I talk about this or not.’

I wondered if I should tell Doihyun about our fight.

It felt awkward to talk to a guy who liked me about a fight with my boyfriend.

But Doihyun had a way of making people feel comfortable opening up.

Besides, he’d known all along that I was ranked number one and an outsider from another dimension, and he’d kept that secret.

I couldn’t talk to the Four Heavenly Kings about this, and asking Yeon Hayeon for advice was hard, with the Midterm Exam just around the corner.

It wasn’t easy to ask friends for relationship advice when they were busy preparing for the Midterm Exam and Suneung.

‘I’ll just tell him a little.’

I decided not to go into detail about how the fight happened and opened my mouth.

“It’s just, I made him feel bad. I want to apologize, but he keeps avoiding me. The more he does, the less I want to talk about it… I don’t know anymore.”

“So, Ban Eunhyeol isn’t talking to you at all these days?”

Lately, just going to school felt so stifling because of that.

All the other friends are tiptoeing around us too!

Doihyun listened calmly and attentively to everything I said.

Of course, I couldn’t unload all the things troubling my mind, so I wrapped up the conversation at a suitable point.

Doihyun, who’d been quietly listening, seemed to think for a moment, then made a suggestion.

“If it’s okay with you, should I help?”

“How?”

“It’s simple. If we keep hanging out together like this, things will get resolved soon.”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s it…”

I didn’t tell him directly that the fight was because of him, but he probably knew.

After all, Doihyun had seen Ban Eunhyeol leave first at the construction site that day.

But to suggest this?

‘The whole thing started because I paid more attention to Doihyun, and if I hang out with him even more, won’t that just make things worse?’

As I tilted my head in doubt, Doihyun grinned and explained what might happen if we spent a lot of time together.

“Ever since what happened at the construction site, he’s been distancing himself from you, right? It’s not the best method, but if you want to provoke Ban Eunhyeol, there’s nothing better.”

“If you provoke him, won’t things get even worse?”

“No. He won’t want to lose you to me, so he’ll have to make a move.”

“But what if we just end up fighting again?”

“Even if you fight, you’ll end up making up.”

I looked at him, unconvinced.

I’d seen a lot of these jealousy schemes in dramas. But actually doing it myself felt like crossing a line.

For one, making him jealous just to get him to come to me felt wrong, and I worried that it could end up making the two guys fight.

‘Still, if there’s no other way to shake someone so stubborn and unresponsive, maybe this is best.’

No matter what I said, Ban Eunhyeol wasn’t listening, so maybe this approach was better.

Even if we ended up breaking up, we should at least have one real conversation. I needed to know what Ban Eunhyeol was thinking.

“Okay, help me out.”

In the end, I decided to accept Doihyun’s help.

***

Doihyun returned home with a satisfied look on his face.

He hadn’t meant for it to happen, but things were working out unexpectedly well.

‘If you can’t protect something precious, you’ll lose it.’

Before all this happened, he’d never intended to be greedy for Dana.

But seeing Ban Eunhyeol act so recklessly, not even realizing how lucky he was to have Dana by his side, made Doihyun’s mind up.

Rather than watch Dana suffer and worry, it would be better to pull her away from Ban Eunhyeol.

If only he could fill the empty space beside her, nothing would make him happier.

He’d tried not to get greedy up until now, but with things the way they were, he couldn’t help it.

He wouldn’t show this desire in front of Dana right away, but if Ban Eunhyeol approached, he had no intention of hiding it.

“Dana’s upset, and all I think about is myself. How selfish.”

He squatted on the floor, stroking Choco as he muttered.

As promised, Doihyun and Dana began meeting often.

The more they met, the more at ease Dana felt around him, and it almost felt like they’d returned to how things were before the distance grew.

Each day felt like a dream.

On their way home after another fun day together, right before her tears suddenly fell, at least until then.

***

‘Did they break up?’

I couldn’t focus on the class.

I stared at the empty seat next to me with sunken eyes, biting my lip.

Ban Eunhyeol hadn’t come to school for days.

I tried reaching out to see if something had happened, but I couldn’t get through.

He’d never missed school this long before, so I was worried.

At first, I just thought he was skipping for a day or two, but now that he’d missed today, it had been almost a week.

Next week was the Midterm Exam, and at this rate, it seemed he wouldn’t come then either.

“Did something happen to Eunhyeol?”

So I asked the Four Heavenly Kings.

But all of their reactions were suspiciously evasive.

They said they didn’t know, but I got the feeling they weren’t being honest.

Especially Han Jibin, who couldn’t lie to save his life, was obviously hiding something.

“Just tell me the truth. What’s going on?”

“Um… Dana, sorry. It’s a secret, so I can’t tell you.”

“A secret? Eunhyeol asked you to keep it?”

Han Jibin glanced helplessly at Eunbada and Ji Kanghan, as if asking for help.

But Eunbada avoided his gaze, lowered his head, and started working on his workbook, while Ji Kanghan just laid his head down on the desk.

Han Jibin hesitated, then ran out of the classroom, leaving me with no one to ask.

I even tried asking Yeon Hayeon for a moment, but she didn’t seem to know anything.

“What could it be… Surely he’s not skipping school because of me?”

I forced myself to dismiss the thought and tried to focus on class.

But my eyes kept wandering to the empty seat.

Where was Ban Eunhyeol, and what was he doing?

Three weeks passed without a word from him.