The days following the incident on the bridge passed in a tense, hazy blur. For Bomi, the world had fundamentally shifted. Every time she looked at Tani, her mind immediately split into two violently contrasting images: the sweet, innocent boy sketching in his notebook, and the dominant, hot-blooded predator who had pinned her against the railing, unbuttoning her blouse with terrifying confidence. She was drowning in guilt. More than that, she was constantly flustered. Every time Tani accidentally brushed his shoulder against hers in the hallway, a bolt of heat would shoot straight to her core, her mind instantly replaying the memory of Kage’s bare hand squeezing the heavy, supple weight of her breast. Because of this, Bomi began to do the one thing she had never done in her entire life. She began to avoid him. When the morning bell rang, instead of waiting for him at the lockers with her usual bright, playful grin, she hurried straight to class. During lunch, she made up excuses about needing to study in the library or helping the teachers, leaving Tani to sit alone on the rooftop with his strawberry milk. --- Tani sat at his desk, his chest aching with a strange, heavy pressure he had never felt before. He looked across the aisle at Bomi’s empty chair—she had left the classroom the second the final bell rang. He didn't understand what was happening. He was innocent, entirely detached from the complicated world of teenage romance, but he wasn't blind. He noticed the subtle, painful shifts in his best friend. He noticed the way her face flushed a deep, violent red whenever he spoke to her, her eyes darting away as if she couldn't bear to look at him. He noticed the way she jumped whenever he tried to play with her hair or touch her shoulder, pulling away like his skin was made of fire. But most of all, Tani noticed the marks. A few days ago, when Bomi had reached up to write something on the chalkboard, her sleeve had slipped down, revealing faint, dark bruises circling both of her delicate wrists—like she had been held down by an unyielding grip. Yesterday, when the wind blew her collar aside, he had caught a glimpse of a deep, purplish mark on the sensitive skin of her neck. And her lips... they always looked slightly swollen, bitten, and flushed. At first, in his pure innocence, Tani hadn't thought much of it. Maybe she had clumsily bruised herself, or maybe it was an allergic reaction. But the pieces were beginning to form a devastating picture in his gentle mind. *A boyfriend,* Tani thought, the realization hitting his stomach like a lead weight. It made sense. The way she was avoiding him, the guilt in her eyes, the secret marks on her body... Bomi must have found a secret boyfriend. She probably kept it a secret because she knew Tani depended on her for everything. She felt sorry for him. She didn't want him to feel left out or lonely, so she was hiding her new romance. Tani clutched the fabric over his heart, a tear threatening to spill from his wide, watery eyes. It hurt. It hurt so badly he could barely breathe. For the first time in his life, the thought of another guy standing beside Bomi, touching her, and taking his place filled him with an overwhelming, suffocating sorrow. --- That evening, the rain began to pour, casting a gray, melancholy sheet over the neighborhood. Tani walked slowly under his umbrella, his heart heavy. He knew Bomi didn't have her umbrella today—she had left it in the classroom. Determined to at least be a good friend, he hurried toward the local convenience store near her house, hoping to catch her and shield her from the storm. As he approached the glowing neon sign of the store, he saw her. Bomi was standing under the small awning, shivering slightly in her damp school uniform, looking out at the rain. "Bomi-ah!" Tani called out, his voice soft and laced with immediate worry. He jogged up to her, holding the umbrella over her head, completely ignoring the way his own shoulder got soaked in the process. "You forgot your umbrella. I brought you mine." Bomi gasped, jumping back a step, her face instantly turning crimson. "T-Tani... what are you doing here?" She looked at him, her heart hammering against her ribs. Seeing his sweet, rain-dampened face made her think of Kage’s ravenous kisses, and she instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, trying to hide the heavy rise and fall of her breasts. Tani noticed the defensive movement. His eyes dropped to her neck, where the faint mark of Kage’s claim was still visible. "Bomi," Tani murmured, his voice trembling slightly, his innocent eyes filled with a profound, quiet sadness. "You don't have to hide it from me anymore. The marks on your wrists... your neck... I know." Bomi froze, the blood running completely cold in her veins. *He knows?* she thought in absolute terror. *Does he know about Kage?* "You have a boyfriend, don't you?" Tani whispered, a tear finally slipping down his cheek. "That's why you're avoiding me. You feel sorry for me because we've always been together. But... it makes my chest hurt so much, Bomi. The thought of another guy touching you... I don't want to lose you." The sheer, raw emotional pain radiating from Tani—the foreign surge of possessiveness and jealousy he had never experienced before—acted as a violent, crushing force against the barrier in his mind. His own innocent jealousy became the ultimate key. --- "Tani? No, it's not—" Bomi started, stepping forward to comfort him. But Tani suddenly dropped the umbrella. It clattered to the wet concrete as he gripped his head, a sharp, agonizing shriek escaping his throat. "Ah! My head... it’s burning... Bomi, it hurts...!" "Tani!" Bomi cried out, reaching for him. Before she could touch him, his hands dropped. The shivering stopped entirely. The rain poured down around them, but the boy standing in front of her didn't care about the cold. Kage lifted his head, a dark, utterly psychotic smirk stretching across his face. His eyes were wide, burning with a twisted, manic adrenaline that was completely fueled by Tani’s latent jealousy. "A boyfriend?" Kage laughed, a low, dangerous, and deeply hot sound that cut through the noise of the rain. He stepped forward, his presence entirely overwhelming as he backed Bomi straight into the glass wall of the convenience store. "The idiot thinks you belong to someone else," Kage whispered, his voice dripping with a heavy, sex-driven mania. He slammed both of his hands onto the glass on either side of her head, trapping her completely. "He felt a little taste of my jealousy, and it broke the lock wide open." Kage leaned in close, his dark eyes fixed onto her trembling, red face. He looked down at her chest, his gaze ravenous as the rain soaked her white blouse, making the thin fabric cling tightly to the heavy, supple curves of her breasts. "You've been avoiding us, Bomi," Kage growled softly, his hand sliding down from the glass to grip her waist, pulling her shivering, hot body flush against his. "Did you think you could run away from me? I told you... you're *mine*. And tonight, I’m going to make sure neither of you ever forgets it."

The Growing Distance