“We accept your offer.”
But when morning came, the tooth stayed where he left it. No thumb.
Was he mistaken?
Maybe he was.
Maybe he just imagined everything.
Or maybe, he thought, as Seungcheol came into his room, bringing him porridge, still with
the kindest smile in the world, making his anger ebbed away, they only accept the nice, harm-
less wishes.
For the next few days, he stayed at home. Soonyoung, Wonwoo, and Junhui visited him every
day, checking on him in the morning, bringing him snacks and notes from the lessons by
evening. Junhui stayed the longest. Regret darkened his eyes, his voice was heavy with
sadness when he talked to him. Jihoon forced himself to go back to school, even when his
whole body was still sore. He didn’t want to make his brother and friends worried for too
long.
Junhui came to his house early in the morning, helping him put on his uniform (he did it so
carefully like Jihoon was made of glass), and walked so close to his side on the way to school.
He had a threatening look on his face, his gesture cautious. It was rare to see Junhui so serious
and intimidating. Jihoon sneakily entwined their touching fingers, making Junhui stuttered
and a deep shade of red blossomed on his cheeks. Jihoon chuckled, gently tightening his hold
on Junhui’s hand.
“Thank you, Junhui. For everything.”
The rest of the walk was silent, with stolen glances and exchanges of shy smiles. Soonyoung
and Wonwoo had waited for them at the gate, with the excited waves and calming smile. The
day would go well, Jihoon thought.
Then he heard the news.
Joonjae died.
It was said that he got too drunk after celebrating his team winning the match, and the motor-
cycle he was driving crashed into a power pole just a few hours before. There were murmurs
everywhere. Some said it was a pity that they lost a great player for the basketball team, some
said he deserved it.
Jihoon didn’t know what to think.