The Sound of Someone Liking Me

#Fresh and youthful #The top is loved by everyone #Childhood friend top #Widely rumored top #Neighboring-class top #Student-council-president top who also studies well #Shy top #Bottom who lacks awareness #Bottom who can read minds

[…Hey, is he hitting on me?]

What? Hitting on me?

Dawon can hear the other person’s inner thoughts when he looks into their eyes. To make up for last year’s grades, he vows to work hard at school this year. But after being placed in the same class, the childhood friend he wanted to avoid for 12 years, Ga-eul; Geon, the delinquent; Yeon-woo, the model student; and Sang-ui, who seems timid, all begin approaching him actively. Even the pink-haired Nabi from the neighboring class shows interest in Dawon, saying incomprehensible things....

[Preview]

“Kim Nabi, thank you.”

“What?”

“You let me off because you could have gotten me, right?”

“No, I didn’t.”

No, you did, damn it. I could clearly sense it with my mind-reading earlier: because I had shown a frightened expression, Kim Nabi had softened.

Though I was briefly flustered by the unexpected side of him, in any case it was certain that Kim Nabi had been considerate of me.

“Come to the convenience store with me. You can have my ice cream.”

“No need.”

“Don’t be like that.”

I grabbed Kim Nabi’s arm as he acted as if he had no interest and pulled him along. He obediently let himself be dragged for a moment, then bent down and whispered in my ear. It felt a little, perhaps too, close. Every time Kim Nabi spoke, his hot breath brushed my ear.

“...I said no, you eat it.”

[What kind of small thing is trying to feed who?]

...What?

I’m definitely not that small. I don’t know the average height of second-year high school boys, but I can’t be below it. Surely I’m not shorter than average?

Both of these guys are way too quick to treat me like a little person. I wish they’d stop talking about rabbits already. I really didn’t like how they kept comparing boys my age to herbivores.

Anyway, if he doesn’t want to eat it, fine. Since I had unexpectedly worked hard in a dodgeball match, I was craving something cold. I left Kim Nabi behind and joined the guys waiting for me. By now, going around with these guys felt familiar.

These guys still seemed to get along badly, but I was thinking that we had become pretty close. Otherwise, why would this combination keep hanging out together?

Having friends to spend school life with is indeed a good thing. Of course, these guys are highly peculiar and odd, and they cling to me in a way that is almost creepy, but I’ve gotten used to that too. It’s normal to have one or two clingy people around.

Having concluded that in my head, I headed to the convenience store a beat later. Han Ga-eul quietly came up beside me.

“Why were you so close to Kim Nabi?”

“What? I just whispered something.”

It was a little too close for a whisper. It was almost to the point of breathing into my ear. But it didn’t really matter. Maybe he wasn’t used to whispering. Kim Nabi’s voice was rather gentle too, so maybe he had to get that close for me to hear him.

But Han Ga-eul still looked unconvinced. His mouth twisted as if annoyed. He hadn’t been like that before, but lately he seems to show that kind of discomfort often.

“You have perfectly good ears, so why whisper?”