Jaeyoon opened his eyes blankly and blinked to clear his blurry vision. As he felt his vision becoming clearer, he looked around and spotted Jung Jinhoo sitting in a chair checking his phone. The wind came in through the open window, touching Jinhoo’s soft silver hair. Under the gently swaying bangs, his clear golden eyes blinked slowly with a subdued look.
‘He’s handsome.’
Jaeyoon smiled, his lips forming a curve. Perhaps sensing someone looking at him, Jinhoo raised his head and looked at him. His expressionless face instantly brightened. As he watched Jinhoo’s golden eyes narrowing into crescents, Jaeyoon felt his heart pounding and raised his upper body.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Why did you move seats?”
“Huh?”
Jinhoo’s pupils shook rapidly. Seeing this, Jaeyoon let out a small laugh.
“Y-you looked uncomfortable sleeping. It’s cramped for two people to sleep on a single bed, isn’t it?”
“I don’t mind… Do you dislike sleeping in the same bed as me, sunbae?”
“N-no! That’s not it!”
Jaeyoon laughed, shrugging his shoulders at Jinhoo’s visibly flustered appearance.
‘I should stop teasing him now.’
He got up from the bed and stretched his stiff body.
“How long did I sleep?”
“About 30 minutes?”
“Thanks to that, my body feels refreshed.”
“Yeah, your color looks much better than before.”
Jaeyoon smiled slightly as he looked at Jinhoo, who was smiling gently. Turning his head to look outside the window, he saw cherry blossoms fluttering and realized he was thinking about strawberry cookies. He rubbed his stomach and said:
“After waking up, I feel a little hungry…”
“Then crepe… well, you’ve eaten a lot of those. Should we go get something else?”
“I’d like to, but I think I should head back to my classroom soon. It’s almost time for my shift.”
“Then wait in your classroom. I’ll buy something and bring it to you.”
“No, it’s okay!”
“I don’t have anything to do and I’m bored, so it’s fine.”
Jaeyoon smiled helplessly at Jinhoo’s beaming face. Being with Jinhoo made him feel comfortable. This senior was really kind…
“Is there anything in particular you want to eat?”
“Anything… is the hardest request, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Jinhoo nodded with a small laugh.
“Hmm…”
As Jaeyoon narrowed his brow with a serious expression, pondering for a moment, he remembered the candied sweet potatoes that Han Doyoon had taken from him.
“Then, I’d like some candied sweet potatoes, please!”
“Okay, I’ll deliver them quickly so they don’t get cold.”
“It’s okay if they get cold, so don’t run.”
“Okay.”
‘I don’t trust him…’
When Jaeyoon narrowed his eyes and looked at him, Jinhoo smiled and raised the corners of his mouth, his eyes twinkling as if to say “trust me.”
‘He’s cute, anyway.’
Just as Jaeyoon and Jinhoo were about to leave the infirmary, the door burst open and two students appeared. A boy wearing glasses, who was desperately resisting, was forcibly grabbed and thrown into the infirmary by another boy. When their eyes met with Jaeyoon’s, the second boy opened his eyes wide and said:
“Lee Jaeyoon? Why are you in the infirmary?”
“What about you… Oh, did you come to make the class president sleep?”
Heejun answered with a nod. After grabbing the class president by the neck as he tried to sneak away and throwing him onto the bed, he looked Jaeyoon and Jinhoo up and down before quickly understanding the situation.
“Looks like you came to rest in the infirmary.”
“Yeah, I already did all the sightseeing yesterday while walking around.”
“Yesterday and today are pretty similar anyway.”
“Is there something special tomorrow?”
As Heejun was about to answer Jaeyoon’s question, the class president who had been put on the bed suddenly sat up and said:
“Tomorrow we’re doing a performance!”
“Just rest a bit!”
“Urk?!”
Heejun covered the class president with a blanket all the way to the top of his head.
“This guy’s going to call us later saying he collapsed from overwork.”
‘I think the same.’
Jaeyoon nodded in agreement with Heejun’s words. When the class president tried to wriggle out from under the blanket again, Heejun gritted his teeth. The blanket visibly flinched. After hesitating for a moment, the class president finally took off his glasses under the blanket and peeked them out. Heejun sighed softly as he took the glasses and sat cross-legged in the chair where Jinhoo had been sitting earlier, holding the glasses in his hand.
“The classes using the auditorium will do performances or plays. But you should know this since you were in first year during the festival too, right?”
“Ah… I didn’t really watch much of the festival in my first year…”
Jaeyoon had possessed Lee Jaeyoon’s body after becoming a second-year student. He knew nothing about the first-year experiences.
“Hmm…”
Jaeyoon awkwardly smiled and looked elsewhere under Heejun’s narrowed gaze.
“Well, that can happen.”
‘Phew…’
Jaeyoon breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
“I’m going back to the classroom now, what about you?”
“I’ll check that this guy is sleeping and then go back.”
The blanket twitched. So he was still not asleep. Jaeyoon nodded to Heejun and said:
“Then I’ll go first.”
“Okay.”
Leaving Heejun waving his hand behind, Jaeyoon and Jinhoo left the infirmary.
“Then I’ll go buy food and come to you.”
“Yes, I’ll be waiting.”
After staring at Jinhoo’s back as he went to find candied sweet potatoes for him, Jaeyoon headed to the bathroom to change his clothes and then to his classroom once Jinhoo disappeared from view.
Jaeyoon’s class was still doing good business. He entered the classroom, noticing the people lined up in the hallway, and handed over the shift to a classmate who had been working hard, telling them it was time to change.
“Jaeyoon… sugar… give me sugar…”
He took a lollipop out of his pocket and handed it to a boy who was approaching like a zombie, swaying as he walked.
“Today it’s a lollipop…”
The boy struggled to unwrap the candy, so Jaeyoon took it back, removed the wrapper, and put it in his mouth.
“Thank… you…”
Jaeyoon looked with pity at the boy who walked away swaying after putting the candy in his mouth like a recovery potion.
‘Maybe it would have been better to be more relaxed rather than being the top seller…’
Just as Jaeyoon was about to join his classmates and take orders to work hard himself,
“What do you think you’re doing!”
An angry female voice was heard.
As he narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction of the sound, he saw a table clearly meant for two people with four people sitting at it.
‘What’s that?’
Jaeyoon’s eyes narrowed. It appeared that men who had been sitting at an adjacent table had brought chairs over to the women’s table, seemingly with the intention of hitting on them.
Looking at the men who appeared to be in their early twenties, Jaeyoon put his hand to his forehead.
‘This is a high school…’
He really couldn’t understand why they would come to a place like this to hit on women. Would they really want to do this in front of minors? Jaeyoon looked at them with lowered eyes. The men were trying to initiate physical contact and acting friendly, regardless of the women’s discomfort.
‘Should I call a teacher?’
As Jaeyoon was turning toward the faculty office, his eyes opened wide.
‘Wait, wait! That’s not good!’
The woman’s hand grabbed a vase placed as decoration on the table. The way it trembled suggested that if provoked a little more, she might smash the vase on the man’s head. In that case, the man’s sexual harassment would be swept under the rug, and only the woman would be punished for assault.
“Why are you playing so hard to get~ Are you acting pricey because you’re pretty?”
The woman’s eyebrow twitched, and the veins on her hand holding the vase bulged. Jaeyoon quickly changed his course from the faculty office and ran toward the table. He hurriedly grabbed the woman’s wrist as she was about to lift the vase with all her might, stopping her.
“Stop! I understand how you feel, but please calm down first.”
“Let go! I’m going to crack that bastard’s head!”
“What? Does she really think she’s pretty just because I complimented her? Wearing luxury brands and all. Isn’t this a total gold digger?”
“Gold digger? Says the guy with an inferiority complex who can’t even afford luxury brands!”
“What? You bitch!”
As the man was about to throw a punch, Jaeyoon bit his lip hard. This is really too much. He pushed the woman behind him and grabbed the man’s wrist, twisting it behind his back.
“Aargh!”
“Please behave and leave.”
“Hey, you bastard! Let go of me!”
Jaeyoon twisted the struggling man’s arm even more and let the profanities mixed in with the screams go in one ear and out the other.
“Hey! Call the police! Take pictures of this!”
Jaeyoon sighed deeply as he saw the man’s companions hurriedly taking out their phones.
“It would be really embarrassing to tell the police that you were sexually harassing women and got subdued by a high school student.”
“What did you say, you bastard?”
“If it were me, I’d be too ashamed to show my face, but you’re impressive.”
“You little punk who’s still wet behind the ears… AAAAARGH!”
Jaeyoon kicked the back of the man’s knee. As the man groaned and knelt on the floor, Jaeyoon bent down and whispered softly in his ear.
“Since you’re going to be dragged to the police station anyway, should I break this arm?”
“…What?”
The man turned his head to look at Jaeyoon. He met the man’s gaze and smiled with his eyes.
“It’s only used for sexual harassment anyway, so it would be fine if it’s broken, right?”
“S-stop talking nonsense and let me go! You, this is assault!”
“I know.”
Jaeyoon’s eyes lowered. The man’s arm was twisted further inward. Fear gripped the man as he realized his bone might actually break. Seeing Jaeyoon’s expressionless face, the man’s pupils shook rapidly. Writhing in pain from his arm, the man screamed and shouted:
“Stop! Stooop! I was wrong. I was wrong!”
“Not to me, but to them.”
Jaeyoon nodded toward the women. The man shouted apologies to the women who were looking at him. His gaze turned to the woman. Seeing him looking at her, the woman nodded. When Jaeyoon let go of the man’s arm, he quickly got up and ran out of the classroom with his companions, shouting:
“Just our bad luck… Tch!”
Anyway, guys like that never reflect on their actions… Jaeyoon sighed deeply and shook his head. Turning his head, he spoke in a gentle voice to the women who were standing with crumpled expressions, looking toward the classroom door where the men had left:
“Are you okay?”
“Ah, yes. We’re fine. Sorry for causing a disturbance.”
“No, the ones who actually caused the disturbance ran away.”
The woman smiled slightly. After seeing off the women leaving the classroom, Jaeyoon relaxed his tension and pushed back his bangs. It’s been a while since I’ve encountered such a troublemaker. It used to happen occasionally when I was working part-time. Especially recalling people who often caused problems in bars, he let out a hollow laugh.
“The record of those who didn’t pay…”
As Jaeyoon was pointing to the table where the men had been sitting and speaking, he blinked in bewilderment at the stunned faces of his classmates.
After quickly rolling his eyes to survey his surroundings, he awkwardly laughed and scratched his cheek.
‘What is it? Did I do something wrong…?’
Was I too forceful in subduing him? Jaeyoon’s pupils trembled. As he was seriously worrying whether he might have made a mistake, a cheerful sound of applause was heard. When Jaeyoon turned his head toward the sound with wide eyes, he saw Heejun, who had returned at some point, leaning against the classroom door and giving him a thumbs up.
“Yeol~ Daebak, Lee Jaeyoon.”
Considering he said “daebak” (amazing), I probably didn’t do anything wrong. At least… Jaeyoon smiled slightly at Heejun.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
