Kim Dohyun.
I called him lightly.
“Hey, Kim Dohyun.”
I called out a little louder.
But still, there was no response.
With his bag slung over his shoulder, he stood there with a strangely dazed expression.
From a distance, he was simply staring at the scenery of the practice room.
Strange.
Normally, he would’ve responded at least briefly after just one call.
“…….”
I slowly walked towards him.
I didn’t know what he was thinking, but ever since a moment ago, his gaze kept brushing past me.
Then, as if to escape, he quickly averted his eyes and began moving away.
“What the hell.”
That irritated me for no reason.
Why does he keep avoiding me?
I stepped closer and called him once more.
“Kim Dohyun.”
Yet, he still didn’t react.
As if he hadn’t heard me at all.
As if he wasn’t even here.
So I—
Without warning, I wrapped my arm around his neck in a headlock.
“Hey!
Snap out of it!”
Only then did he finally look at me.
“…?”
“What the hell, didn’t you hear me calling you?”
Just as he pretended not to hear me, I pretended not to notice his act.
But I couldn’t stop my arms from tightening around him.
I held on even tighter.
“What?
Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”
“What do you mean ‘why’?
I called you, and you didn’t answer!”
He let out a reluctant sigh.
But something felt off.
Normally, he would’ve shoved me off with a bothered “Let go.”
But today, his reaction was unexpectedly lukewarm.
It’s not like he couldn’t push me away.
Yet, he wasn’t bothering to do so.
He just let me do whatever I wanted.
Why?
Just then, Yoon Jihoo nudged me from the side and said,
“Hey, he really hates the smell of sweat.”
“…!”
I flinched on the spot.
Oh, right.
Only then did I fully grasp my current state.
A shirt soaked in sweat from practice, hair stuck to my damp face.
Should I let him go right away?
And yet, Kim Dohyun still didn’t move.
He just let me be.
As if it wasn’t that unpleasant after all.
Then, slowly, he reached out and unwrapped my arm from his neck.
His hand, as it touched my arm, was cold—oddly so for a hot summer day.
Then, he handed me a towel.
“You reek of sweat.
Wipe it off.”
I took the towel without thinking.
And then—
That’s when my face turned red.
I quickly backed away from him.
I didn’t want him to smell any more of my sweat.
More than that, I didn’t want him to notice how fast my heart was racing.
The pounding of my heart was so loud it felt like it could be heard outside.
I buried my face in the towel.
I didn’t want him to see my flushed face either.
What the hell, I really didn’t expect that.
That he’d just casually hand me something like this.
I peeked up at him, watching his reaction.
‘Did it make him uncomfortable?’
I sniffed my own shirt sleeve.
“Sorry.
Is it really that bad?”
Kim Dohyun looked at me for a moment before shrugging.
“It was a joke.
It’s not that bad.”
I quietly wiped off my sweat with the towel.
And yet, for some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
The words he said, the fact that he didn’t push me away immediately, and how naturally he handed me the towel—
All of it.
And then—
Kim Dohyun rummaged through his bag and pulled out a barley drink.
On instinct, I reached out my hand.
“Huh?
Are you giving it to me?”
Without even glancing at me, he said,
“No.
You already have one.”
He gestured with his chin toward the water bottle Yoon Jihoo had given me.
“Wow, stingy.
I thought it was buy one, get one free.”
“For some reason, I don’t feel like giving it to you today.”
His gaze flickered toward me for a moment.
No—more precisely, toward the bottle Yoon Jihoo had handed me.
Something about that bothered me.
I pouted and tried to snatch the drink from his hand.
But then—
“Kim Dohyun.”
Someone called my name from afar.
The voice was familiar.
And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to respond right away.
“Hey, Kim Dohyun!”
The voice grew closer.
Still, I didn’t move.
I didn’t even need to turn my head to know.
I already knew who was calling me, what expression they had.
I placed the camera I had been holding into my bag.
Then, naturally, I turned my gaze toward the practice room.
Inside, kids who had just finished practice were sweating.
A space filled with heat.
And in the middle of it, she was there.
Standing still, looking straight at me.
Lee Jian.
Our eyes met, and instinctively, I looked away.
It was nothing, and yet, I was strangely conscious of it.
An unfamiliar sensation.
Have I ever felt this way before?
Maybe this is the first time.
Maybe that’s why it felt unnecessary to dwell on it.
I took a step back without much thought.
But then—
“What the hell.”
She muttered under her breath.
And then, she closed the distance.
Only then did I finally lift my head.
“Kim Dohyun.”
This time, she called from right behind me.
Just as I opened my mouth—
An unexpected force wrapped around my neck.
“Hey! Snap out of it!”
A sudden headlock.
I unconsciously furrowed my eyebrows.
What the hell, all of a sudden?
“What, didn’t you hear me calling you?”
I didn’t answer.
It wasn’t that I didn’t hear her—I deliberately chose not to listen.
I didn’t see the need to respond.
And yet, strangely, I couldn’t bring myself to push her arm away immediately.
Honestly, shaking her off wouldn’t have been difficult.
If I had used just a little strength, she would’ve let go easily.
But I didn’t do that.
Why?
…I don’t really know either.
“Hey, he really hates the smell of sweat.”
Yoon Jihoo casually chimed in from the side.
Instinctively, I turned my gaze.
And then—
For a brief moment, I felt irritated.
I don’t know what kind of expression I made after hearing that.
But one thing was certain.
Suddenly, I felt as if my fingertips had frozen over.
I slowly unwrapped her arm from around my neck.
Then, I naturally reached into my bag and pulled out a towel.
“You reek of sweat.
Wipe it off.”
I handed her the towel as I spoke.
As if nothing was wrong.
As if it really didn’t bother me.
As soon as she took the towel, I turned my head away.
Thump, thump.
The small, steady sound of her heartbeat.
A sound that had always seemed cute still echoed in my ears.
I touched my ear absentmindedly—it still tickled.
For no reason.
Strangely.
My gaze drifted back toward her again.
She remained still, burying her face in the towel.
Then, sniffing lightly, she raised her sleeve and took a whiff.
“Sorry.
Is it really that bad?”
I looked at her for a moment before shrugging nonchalantly.
“It was a joke.
It’s not that bad.”
Even as I said it, I felt oddly awkward.
She quietly wiped off her sweat with the towel.
I reached into my bag and pulled out a can.
Barley drink.
At that moment, she instinctively reached out.
“Huh?
Are you giving it to me?”
I let out a short laugh and replied,
“No.
You already have one.”
I motioned toward the bottle of water in her hand.
To be precise—the bottle of water that Yoon Jihoo had given her.
She followed my gaze and looked down at the bottle.
Then, pouting slightly, she muttered,
“Wow, stingy.
You said it was buy one, get one free.”
I didn’t respond.
Instead—
“For some reason, I don’t feel like giving it to you today.”
I said those words.
Why?
Why didn’t I want to give it to her?
It shouldn’t have meant anything.
It’s just a bottle of water from Yoon Jihoo—so what?
And yet, it bothered me.
I didn’t even know what kind of emotion this was, but I gripped the can unnecessarily tight.
When she tried to snatch it from me, I pressed my palm lightly against her forehead.
She froze.
Quietly, I popped open the can and took a sip.
Pop—
The cool carbonation spread through my mouth.
“Sorry, but I already drank from it.”
I said it absentmindedly.
But her expression shifted in a strange way.
A flicker of surprise.
Seeing that, I almost smirked.
But then—
“Heh, I don’t care about that kind of thing.”
She snatched the can from my hand and took a sip without hesitation.
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
She acted like it was nothing, but her face—
That had just been red—
Now deliberately took on a composed expression.
Watching that, I felt an odd sensation again.
I absently rubbed my lips.
Just slightly, ever so slightly.
A faint heat crept up my face.
If I kept looking at her, I felt like I’d get even warmer.
So, quietly, I turned my head away.
It must be the heat of summer.
I snatched the can away in one swift motion.
Then, as if it were nothing, I brought it straight to my lips.
Pop—
The carbonation fizzed in my mouth.
A refreshing barley scent, crisp and cool, like the blue summer sky.
And then—
At that moment, my heart dropped.
Strange.
I just drank from it like I always do after stealing a drink.
What’s the problem?
As the liquid slid down my throat, my lips tingled inexplicably.
I unconsciously looked down at the can in my hands.
The very can that Kim Dohyun had been drinking from just moments ago.
And only then did I realize.
—This is… an indirect kiss.
My mind went blank.
I should have brushed it off like it was nothing.
I should have acted like I didn’t care.
But for some reason, my face grew hot.
I became strangely aware of the exact spot where my lips had touched.
Without thinking, I raised a hand and rubbed my lips.
‘What’s wrong with me…?’
I had just taken a sip of a drink.
That’s all.
I spun the can absentmindedly between my fingers and glanced at it again.
At the spot where his lips had been.
At the spot where my fingertips had just grazed.
And at the place where my lips had just touched.
Why?
Why does this keep bothering me?
“What?
Is it really that good?
Can I have a taste too?”
Yoon Jihoo reached out his hand.
Without much thought, I was about to hand it over.
We had done this several times before.
But—
Before Jihoo could grab it, another hand swiftly snatched the can away.
Kim Dohyun.
He held the can with a slightly uncomfortable expression.
“Hey, don’t be stingy!
Just let me have a sip!”
“Sorry, but the buy-one-get-one-free deal doesn’t include you.”
And with that, he started drinking straight from the can.
As if determined not to let Jihoo have even a drop, he didn’t take his lips off the can for a single moment.
Gulp
Gulp.
For some reason, the sound seemed louder than usual.
His throat bobbed up and down as he swallowed.
I stared at the scene, dazed.
“Cough.
Cough.”
He choked, probably from drinking too fast.
The carbonation must have burned his throat because his eyes welled up slightly.
Leaning forward with his hands on his knees, he kept coughing.
I lightly patted his back.
“See?
That’s what you get for trying to hog it all.”
Jihoo smirked and teased him.
Still coughing, Dohyun managed to speak.
“Sorry, but…
I finished it.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.
That’s so unfair.”
Jihoo flipped the can upside down and shook it desperately.
But a small trickle of barley drink still dribbled out.
Seeing that, Dohyun let out a short sigh.
“Ah.”
“ThenF you should’ve just given it to me!”
Jihoo clutched his head in despair.
Something about his childish reaction made me burst out laughing.
“Haha!
What are you even doing?”
“I thought it was empty, okay?”
Embarrassed, Dohyun’s ears flushed red.
On this scorching summer day, the cool, refreshing fizz of the drink seemed to sparkle even more.