Netkama Punch!!!

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
I was lying on my bed looking at my phone when I heard someone punching in the passcode on the front door lock. Moments later, Shin Heejae burst through the door in his coat, practically running.
He strode straight into the room and stood over me on the bed, glaring down like he was ready to scold me.

“You kidding me? Why didn’t you pick up your phone?”
“……”
I’d ignored all his messages today and declined every single call. Judging by the look on his face, he must’ve gotten pissed and rushed over the second he wrapped up whatever he was doing.

I answered flatly.
“Because I don’t want to hear your voice.”
“……”

Heejae stared at me with suspicion. I could see it all over his face—he couldn’t figure out what gave me the guts to talk back to him.
But the conclusion he came to was completely absurd.
“You mad at me, noona?”

“……What?”
“Ohh, is it ‘cause we were supposed to go shopping together and I canceled?”
“……”

I swore at him silently with my eyes.
Heejae ignored my murderous glare and slowly plopped himself down on the bed next to me. Then he poked my head with his finger.
It wasn’t some arrogant forehead flick or anything, but it was still enough to piss me off. In the end, I snapped and unleashed all my irritation at once.

“Don’t touch me and just go sleep at your own damn house. I’m really not gonna let this slide anymore.”
But Heejae just ignored me and poked me in the cheek again with his finger. The way he acted—like, what are you gonna do about it—snapped something in me.
I kicked off the blanket violently, got up, threw on the padded jacket hanging on the rack, and marched to the front door. That’s when Heejae finally stood up, looking slightly alarmed.
“Where are you going? It’s cold outside.”

“I’m going out because you won’t leave, and I feel fucking filthy!”
At my thunderous yell, Heejae flinched and stopped walking. I slammed the door behind me and stormed out.
Something told me that if I waited too long, he’d come running out after me, drag me back inside, and pretend like nothing happened. So the moment I got out the door, I bolted into the back alleys. I ran through paths Heejae—being a non-local—probably didn’t know. I kept running until I was soaked in sweat.

“Haa… haa…”
But once the sweat started to cool, it hit me—damn, it’s actually really cold. It was supposedly spring, but frost was still clinging to the puddles all over the road.
And thinking about it again, it was kinda stupid. I said I didn’t want to be around Heejae, and yet I’m the one who ran out of my own house?

“…Ha. What the hell was that?”
I just got so irrationally angry the moment I saw his face. I was grinding my teeth thinking I’d put him in his place for real this time, and then… I went too far.
Worse, I hadn’t even taken my wallet or phone. I couldn’t even duck into a café or somewhere to warm up.

“……”
All of this had happened in under thirty minutes.
Eventually, sniffling a bit, I just kept walking. At some point, I found myself on a dimly lit stretch of road near the edge of town with only streetlights and no shops in sight.

After walking for ages down a road that felt endless, I finally snapped back to my senses. What the hell am I doing? I decided to just go back home. If that bastard laughed at me, well… I’d just bash his skull in with a frying pan or something.
“…?”
But when I turned to head back, a car started slowly creeping up behind me.

I froze. I recognized the car.
Then it rolled to a stop at the side of the road. The driver’s door opened, and when I saw who stepped out, my blood pressure spiked.
It was Shin Heejae.

“Haah…”
Heejae let out a deep sigh and walked toward me. Then—like he expected me to take it—he held out his hand.
The wind had cleared my head, but the moment I saw his shameless face, my blood began to boil again.

Smack—!
I harshly slapped his hand away. He stared down at the back of his hand in confusion, then looked up at me, visibly irritated.
“What the hell are you this mad about?”

“Try using some damn common sense. You think what you’re doing to me is normal?”
“What?”
“You don’t know when to fucking quit… Stop mooching off my place and get lost already!”

At that point, maybe he finally realized I wasn’t joking. Heejae’s expression stiffened slightly. But rather than read the room, he just gave an incredulous scoff.
“You think I actually want to crash at your dump of a house?”
“……”

“Seriously, what’s your deal? I just poked your cheek a bit and you’re this pissed? That’s not even my fault.”
“What?”
“You were already mad. You’re just taking it out on me.”

And with that, he grabbed my wrist like it was nothing.
“Let go of me.”
“Sorry for poking your cheek, okay?”

“……”
“Happy now?”
I didn’t even get a chance to answer.

The moment he said that, Heejae yanked my wrist and dragged me with ridiculous strength. He pulled me all the way to the passenger door and gave me a smug little head-nod like I was supposed to just get in.
Rage surged up inside me. So when he let go of my hand for a second, I swung my foot and kicked his car on purpose.
Thud—!

I kicked it so hard the backseat door caved in.
That’s when Heejae, who’d been wearing that same annoying look, widened his eyes in shock. The sheer satisfaction I felt from seeing that face was instant.
Everyone I knew was obsessed with their cars. Especially the ones they bought themselves—they babied them like royalty. Some even snapped at people for closing the doors too hard.

So if I kicked their precious car right in front of them? Yeah, they’d lose it. I half-expected Heejae to start screaming at me, and honestly, I wanted him to.
I was so frustrated I just wanted us to explode. If he wasn’t going to date me seriously, then he needed to stop fucking around and just fight me already.
“You insane, noona?”

Just as I’d hoped, his expression twisted into something I’d never seen before—full-blown fury.
But even then, he didn’t punch me or anything. All he did was keep holding my arm. Maybe that wasn’t enough to get through to him. So while he was still trying to grab me, I kicked the passenger door again, even harder this time.
BANG—!

The sound was louder, and I could clearly see a deeper dent forming.
“……”
Heejae froze in shock, then quickly stood between ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) me and the car like he was trying to protect it. His face, seen full-on, looked terrifying.

“You little—”
“Pissed off now?”
I taunted him, thinking this was it—he’d either explode or finally storm off for good.

But instead, Heejae just crossed his arms and stood there. His expression screamed he was holding back rage, but he didn’t move. He just glared at me with boiling eyes.
Then suddenly, he opened the passenger door and pulled something out. It was a scarf with a familiar pattern—one I bought last year, the one I’d shoved in the closet for almost a year.
“…What the hell?”

I frowned. This was not going how I thought it would.
Heejae walked up with the scarf, and before I could react, he wrapped it tightly around my neck.
“Ugh—!”

He tied it so tight I thought I was gonna choke. Maybe he was doing it on purpose.
I struggled and pushed him away, but Heejae just tied the knot and held onto the scarf like he was grabbing me by the collar. Then suddenly… he yelled at the sky.
“AHHHH!!! Fucking hell, this is driving me crazy—!”

That bastard, who had been acting like such a punk, suddenly looked down at me.
I braced for some nasty insult—but then, he let go.
I stumbled back in confusion. After all that, he just… let me go?

Even then, Heejae stood there, fuming.
“Next time you storm out, at least bring your damn phone. You think I wanted to lug this shit around looking for you?”
“……”

“Fuck’s sake, making people worry like that. And then what, tell me to get lost? Then maybe don’t run out dressed like you’re begging to freeze to death.”
The way he said it shook up everything I thought I knew. He sounded rough, but it didn’t feel like anger—it felt like… he was pleading.
And I’d just put a huge dent in his precious car. Yet here he was, acting like this.

As I stood there dumbfounded, Heejae glared at me, grinding his teeth.
“You think I’m the only one fucking with you? Kim Seyoung, you fuck with me all the time too.”
“……”

“Shit, you’re the one who messed with me first.”
He looked at me with bloodshot eyes.
And the moment I saw his face, my chest tightened in a way I hadn’t felt before. It wasn’t like before. It was something different.

But before I could even figure out what that was, Heejae grabbed my hand again.
“Hey, wait a—!”
I twisted for a moment, but he didn’t give me a chance. He shoved me into the passenger seat.

I could’ve fought back, but the moment our eyes met, I shut up without thinking.
And just like that… we went back home.