#Side Story, Estrus - 1

The spring of fifteen was unusually chilly.

Though it was March, the days were still short and heavy snowfall occasionally fell. In such weather, the school announced a training camp for all sports clubs during spring break, citing mental and physical training as the reason. According to the notice, the location decided for the kendo club's training camp was in a remote mountain valley in Gangwon Province, so secluded it was difficult to reach even by car. Moreover, the duration was 3 nights and 4 days.

Though the training camp wasn't appealing, it was unavoidable. Jeong Seung-jo, being just an ordinary club member, had no power, and above all, his close friend who was difficult to part from had said he really wanted to go with an expectant look, so he had no choice but to go.

On the day of departure for the training camp, Seung-jo stood alone amidst the noisy crowd waiting for the chartered bus.

In fact, he knew there were quite a few boys who wanted to talk to him, and even now some were watching for an opportunity to speak to him, but he didn't want to get entangled with others more than necessary, so he was just looking up at the sky, ignoring everyone's gazes.

In a way, his personality was the least suited for a sports club that valued unity and loyalty, but Seung-jo stubbornly maintained his own place in the club to an unusual degree.

At that moment, he heard the voice of a friend calling out as he ran up, panting.

"Seung-jo, Jeong Seung-jo."

Only then did Seung-jo soften his icy expression and turn around. It was truly a magical transformation. The cold wall that seemed unsuited to his young age crumbled instantly, and his smiling face looked no different from other boys his age.

"You're late, Kang Mu-heon."

Though the boy's smile, which had never been lacking in looks since childhood, was truly radiant, his friend approached and stood beside him, waving his hand with an expression that showed no sense of anything special.

"You came early. Was there any guidance or anything before I came?"

"No, there wasn't."

"That's good. When did they say we're leaving?"

"Eight o'clock. The bus should be here soon."

Mu-heon nodded at Seung-jo's words and, with an expression of relief, tossed down his clothes bag and long bag containing his wooden sword next to him before sitting down.

"I'm sleepy because I woke up too early."

"Don't you wake up at the same time for dawn training usually?"

"Training wakes me up, but now we're not doing anything. I feel refreshed and my body warms up when I sweat, but now I feel cold."

"Are you cold?"

Seung-jo showed interest only in the last words, then after thinking for a moment, patted the clothes bag he was carrying on his shoulder.

"I have a windbreaker jacket inside, want me to give it to you?"

"Hmm... it sounds warm, but I'm fine. I should endure this much."

As Mu-heon said this with a slight smile, Seung-jo unknowingly softened his expression once again and raised the corners of his mouth without realizing it.

As Mu-heon appeared, the attention of many children scattered around began to gather around him.

Mu-heon was the most skilled in the club, and he trained the hardest to a degree that made his skill not enviable, and he was seen to treat everyone with sincerity, so he had the highest trust among the children. Even the seniors tended to secretly adore him rather than dislike him, to the extent that there were already underground talks about him being the next potential club captain.

"Mu-heon! You're here now?"

As one child spoke up, watching Seung-jo's reaction, other children gathered around as if they had been waiting, each adding a word.

"Did you hear about where we're going this time? We only went to summer training camp last year. The seniors say it's really cold and tough."

"Really?"

As Mu-heon showed interest in the comment about the training camp being particularly difficult, the child who had spoken up continued excitedly.

"That's what I'm saying. They wake people up at five and run them ragged. Ugh~"

"Hey, man. Are you going to complain about that level?"

"What? Kid. You were about to cry last time during the five-hour training. 'I can't do it anymore~ I want to quit~ Boo-hoo-hoo.'"

"You little...?"

"Try to keep up with half of what Mu-heon does, man. He's famous for never saying he can't do it. Even that strict senior Soo-eon ended up acknowledging him."

At his name coming up in the children's bickering, Mu-heon scratched the back of his head sheepishly and shook his head.

"No, it's not really like that. I wasn't the only one, Seung-jo was like that too."

"There's a limit to being too modest, man. Everyone who knows, knows you're the next captain."

"I don't really care about that."

"What? If being captain isn't important, what is?"

"I just joined because I wanted to do kendo..."

Seung-jo was staring intently at Mu-heon's expression, which looked both troubled and happy as he conversed, while standing a step back.

Mu-heon's unusually black hair and eyes shone golden in the morning sunlight that was just brightening. Even his eyelashes reflected white, looking strangely mystical.

Of course, it was the same for other people, but in Seung-jo's eyes, no one but Mu-heon entered his vision.

Sometimes, even Seung-jo himself thought it was strange that he had never thought about wanting to become close with people other than Mu-heon.

It had been almost 10 years since he met Mu-heon through kendo before even entering elementary school, but for Seung-jo, Mu-heon had always been his only friend.

From time to time, not only boys but also girls would show interest in him, but Seung-jo had always rejected them. However, Mu-heon listened with equal interest to anyone who spoke to him and didn't hesitate to call them friends.

Still, because he believed that he was Mu-heon's closest friend, he hadn't cared about this at all until now, but recently, Seung-jo found himself feeling a surge of anger every time he saw Mu-heon laughing and talking with other boys like that.

It was happening now too. When Seung-jo unconsciously looked down at his own fist, he saw it was clenched so tightly that his nails were digging into his flesh. He opened his hand with a bitter feeling. Four deep nail marks were imprinted on his palm. His mood was very unpleasant.

What exactly was the name of this emotion?

Seung-jo knew he had an obsessive side to his personality. He had heard that people who focus intensely on a small number of friends can feel emotions close to possessiveness towards their friends or jealousy towards others who are close to their friends.