Chapter 12 — Unspoken Feelings
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The next day Sunlight streamed through the tall windows, casting warm golden light across the wooden tables.
Alicia sat surrounded by textbooks, her pencil tapping lightly against her notebook as she tried to solve a difficult problem.
Across from her, Min-ji was already half asleep.
“You’re supposed to be helping me,” Alicia whispered.
Min-ji groaned and lifted her head.
“I am helping… morally.”
Alicia laughed softly.
Just then, someone dropped into the empty chair beside her.
“Studying again?” a familiar voice said.
Alicia turned.
Jae-hyun.
He leaned back comfortably, stretching his arms behind his head.
“You make university look exhausting.”
“You make it look too easy,” Alicia replied.
Jae-hyun grinned.
“That’s because it is.”
Min-ji sat up immediately.
“Oh good, you’re here. Help Alicia before she starts crying over math.”
“I’m not crying,” Alicia protested.
Jae-hyun slid Alicia’s notebook closer and glanced at the problem.
“Hmm.”
He leaned slightly toward her so he could see better.
“You’re overthinking it.”
“Am I?”
“Yeah,” he said, pointing at the page. “Look here.”
Alicia leaned closer to the notebook.
Their shoulders nearly touched.
Jae-hyun calmly explained the steps, guiding her through the solution.
Across the library, someone noticed.
Min-ho had just arrived.
He had planned to return a book quickly before leaving again.
But as he walked past the tables, he stopped.
Alicia was sitting with Jae-hyun.
Very close.
Jae-hyun was smiling as he explained something, and Alicia was listening with full attention.
Min-ho’s grip tightened slightly around the book in his hand.
Why do they always look so comfortable together?
He didn’t like the thought.
Not at all.
Min-ho turned to leave.
But before he could walk away, Jae-hyun looked up.
Their eyes met across the room.
For a brief moment, neither of them moved.
Then Jae-hyun slowly smiled.
A knowing smile.
Min-ho frowned slightly.
Jae-hyun turned back to Alicia.
But instead of moving away, he leaned even closer.
“See?” he said, pointing at the notebook again. “That’s the trick.”
Alicia’s eyes lit up.
“Oh! I get it now.”
She smiled brightly.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Jae-hyun said casually.
But he didn’t miss the way Min-ho was still standing there.
Watching.
Interesting.
Jae-hyun leaned back in his chair, pretending not to notice.
A moment later, Min-ho walked toward their table.
Min-ji noticed him first.
“Oh, Min-ho! Come sit with us.”
Min-ho hesitated briefly before sitting down.
His expression was calm.
Too calm.
“Studying?” he asked.
Alicia nodded.
“Trying to.”
Jae-hyun stretched lazily.
“She needed my genius brain.”
Min-ho’s eyes moved briefly to Jae-hyun.
“You have one?”
Jae-hyun laughed.
“See? He’s jealous of my intelligence.”
“I doubt that,” Min-ho replied.
Alicia looked between them.
Something about the air suddenly felt… tense.
Min-ji sensed it too.
She quickly stood up.
“I’m getting coffee,” she announced. “Anyone want something?”
“I’ll come with you,” Alicia said, closing her book.
The two girls left the table.
Now only the two boys remained.
Silence filled the space.
Jae-hyun leaned back in his chair.
“You’ve been watching her a lot.”
Min-ho didn’t react.
“You’re imagining things.”
“Am I?” Jae-hyun said lightly.
Min-ho’s gaze stayed on the table.
“You’re bored.”
Jae-hyun chuckled.
“That might be true.”
Then he added casually,
“But it’s interesting watching you pretend you don’t care.”
Min-ho looked at him.
His voice remained steady.
“I don’t.”
Jae-hyun’s smile slowly widened.
“We’ll see.”
A few minutes later Alicia and Min-ji returned with coffee.
The tension instantly disappeared.
Jae-hyun immediately stood up.
“Alright, I’m leaving before you all turn me into a study robot.”
Alicia laughed.
“You’re the one who came.”
“True.”
He grabbed his bag and began walking away.
But before leaving the library, he glanced back once.
Min-ho was helping Alicia with her notebook now.
Explaining something quietly.
Jae-hyun watched for a moment.
Then he smiled to himself.
So it’s true.
And if that was the case…
Making Min-ho jealous might be more fun than he expected.
- Writer
