“If you don’t want to go that badly, then don’t.”
“The summer camp lasts a whole week, right?”
“Yeah, so?”
“That means we won’t see each other for a whole week.”
The milk carton in Heejun’s hand was mercilessly crushed. Honestly, even I thought this was like rubbing salt in the wound.
“Sorry.”
“Whatever.”
Having avoided the situation with a hasty apology, Jaeyoon smiled awkwardly and fidgeted with the questionnaire in his desk drawer. What should I do? While furrowing his brow in serious contemplation, Jaeyoon blinked blankly at the sight of a male student who suddenly entered the classroom and greeted him loudly.
“Lee Jaeyoon! Congratulations on your discharge.”
“…Oh, thanks.”
‘Who is this guy? He’s not from our class…’
Jaeyoon looked questioningly at the male student who placed his arm around his shoulders.
“Has your injury healed well?”
“But… who are you…?”
“I’m glad! I wanted to visit you in the hospital, but they said absolute rest, no visitors allowed.”
“You came to the hospital?”
“No, I asked your homeroom teacher where you were hospitalized so I could visit, but they absolutely wouldn’t tell me. Isn’t that too much? I just wanted to visit a friend.”
‘Why does he keep acting like we’re close?’
Jaeyoon’s brow slightly narrowed. Watching the situation, Heejun casually knocked the male student’s arm off Jaeyoon’s shoulder. Ignoring the male student’s incredulous stare, Heejun dusted off Jaeyoon’s shoulder as if something dirty had been on it.
“Don’t put your heavy arm on someone who was just discharged yesterday.”
“Hey, anyone would think you’re Jaeyoon’s guardian or something.”
At the male student’s words, Heejun’s eyes narrowed. After throwing the milk carton he was holding into the trash with a cheerful sound, Heejun crossed his arms, ignoring the sound of the carton landing in the bin.
“That’s right.”
“What?”
“I also serve as his guardian.”
“What are you talking about?”
The class president came running breathlessly amid the inexplicably tense atmosphere.
“Hey, what are you two doing? Class is about to start, so go back to your seats. And you, go back to your class…”
“This is getting quite annoying.”
At the male student’s glare, Heejun raised one corner of his mouth as if the other was beneath him. The male student’s brow wrinkled sharply in response. Since it looked like he might throw a punch at Heejun if left alone, Jaeyoon deliberately made a loud noise with his chair as he stood up.
“I don’t know who you are, but thanks for your concern. However, I need to prepare for first period, so would you mind moving aside now?”
Jaeyoon looked the male student in the eyes and smiled. At this clear dismissal that anyone would understand, the male student’s expression crumpled. He glanced around briefly before twisting his lips into a smile.
“But, Jaeyoon, I heard a strange rumor.”
“…”
“That you didn’t really fall down the stairs, but staged the whole thing to get rid of people you didn’t like by having them transferred. Something like that?”
‘So that’s why he suddenly came acting all friendly.’
Jaeyoon let out a small sigh. He had thought there would definitely be someone foolishly brave enough, but he didn’t expect someone to come all the way to another classroom to cause trouble. But, I don’t even know this guy, so why is he going this far? Jaeyoon’s question was quickly answered.
“Sunbae Jung Jinhoo really cares about you, right? If you asked him, sending a couple of guys elsewhere wouldn’t be a big deal, would it? Jaeyoon, you’ve really caught the eye of someone impressive, haven’t you?”
Jaeyoon’s eyes narrowed. So the target wasn’t me but Sunbae Jinhoo. As he had expected, the male student was pretending to be envious while trying to bring down Jung Jinhoo.
Like Han Doyoon, Jung Jinhoo received attention from people in both good and bad ways, so there were those who were desperate to find anything they could use against him.
“He usually pretends not to care about others, acts like he’s so pure, but in reality he’s so wicked that he doesn’t hesitate to use underhanded tactics for the junior he cares about…”
Oh, dear. A sigh escaped from Heejun’s lips. And then immediately after, Sim Jaeha called Jaeyoon’s name in a voice that was almost a scream.
“Jaeyooooooon!!!”
Jaeyoon released his grip on the male student’s neck as Sim Jaeha clung to him with an arm around his waist. Somehow now lying on top of the desk, the male student blankly stared at the ceiling lights with eyes widened in shock. Jaeyoon leaned into the bewildered student’s field of vision and slowly opened his mouth.
“There’s one thing I realized when I almost died—guys like you only get worse when people let things slide.”
They don’t understand when someone’s putting up with them. Because they’re stupid. Jaeyoon’s voice was calm.
“It seems like you have a lot of questions and have picked up a lot of nonsense.”
Bang!
Jaeyoon raised his leg as if kicking the desk where the male student was lying and rolled up his pants a bit.
“See this? Fortunately, my legs have healed well, but the cuts and bruises from falling down the stairs haven’t all healed yet.”
Jaeyoon looked at the male student with crinkled eyes and smiled.
“I don’t know if you’d stake your life on staging something, but I wouldn’t. Sunbae Jinhoo used his power to get rid of kids I didn’t like? Say it right. They could have been handed over to the police, but instead they just got transferred.”
In fact, it would have been possible to reveal everything and expose all the things Kim Yeonwoo had done, making him unable to show his face at school. It would also have been possible to completely destroy Kim Doha’s family. But one of the reasons he didn’t do that was precisely this.
Jaeyoon looked in turn at the male student in front of him and the students who had gathered in the hallway to watch. If just letting it go quietly caused this much commotion, it was obvious what would have happened if he’d made a bigger deal out of it.
Those two becoming the talk of the town meant that I, who was involved in the incident, would also become gossip material. While I could just ignore people talking about me, I didn’t want people around me to become the subject of others’ conversations.
Besides, though it was my hopeful perspective, those two guys seemed to have realized something in the end.
“And it seems like you’re desperate to badmouth Sunbae Jinhoo, but if you mention his name one more time…”
Jaeyoon leaned down and whispered quietly in the male student’s ear.
“I’ll show you that I can handle someone like you even without the power you’re talking about.”
The male student’s pupils shook rapidly. Satisfied with that reaction, Jaeyoon put his hands behind his back and took a step backward. The male student sprang up from the desk, stumbled around bumping into things, and then ran out into the hallway.
“Do you think he understood?”
As Jaeyoon asked with a gentle smile, Heejun looked around and said:
“I think he understood perfectly.”
***
“Jaeyoon.”
“Yes?”
“Did something happen?”
“No?”
Jung Jinhoo gazed quietly at Jaeyoon, who was smiling brightly, then briefly glanced behind him. He could see people sneaking glances in their direction and whispering.
Jung Jinhoo was aware of his position. He had expected things to be noisy for a few days, but somehow the atmosphere was different from what he had anticipated. Until this morning, they had been like hyenas eyeing their prey, but now they were no different from herbivores watching out for a predator.
And Jung Jinhoo wasn’t so clueless as to not know who the predator was. Seeing Jaeyoon smiling cheerfully as if refreshed, he let out a small sigh and smiled as if thinking “what can you do?”
“I’m used to it, so I’m fine.”
“But I don’t like it.”
“I don’t like others whispering about you either.”
Jung Jinhoo’s fingers gently tapped the back of Jaeyoon’s hand. As much as he wanted to interlock their fingers, he couldn’t make such a noticeable gesture with everyone’s eyes on them right now.
“If I’d just gone wild like Han Doyoon, people would have dismissed it as no big deal.”
“The more upright someone usually is, the more fuss people make over even a small issue.”
“That’s unfair…”
“It is unfair…”
Jaeyoon chuckled and leaned back in his chair.
“Still, I definitely don’t want to be like Student Council President Han Doyoon.”
“Me neither.”
They looked at each other and smiled.
“Anyway, people’s interest will quickly cool down and they’ll find something else to gossip about, so don’t worry.”
Despite Jaeyoon’s gentle smile, Jung Jinhoo still seemed concerned, but since Jaeyoon didn’t want to continue this conversation, he changed the topic.
“Oh, right. Sunbae, are you going to the summer camp?”
“Huh? Summer camp?”
“Yes.”
Jung Jinhoo looked fondly at Jaeyoon, who was nodding his head vigorously, and nodded slightly as he answered.
“It’s mandatory for club members, and it also helps with the school record.”
“Hmm…”
As Jaeyoon furrowed his brow, Jung Jinhoo tilted his head questioningly.
“Why?”
“No, I was just curious.”
“Aren’t you going?”
At Jung Jinhoo’s questioning look with his eyebrows slightly raised, Jaeyoon bit the inside of his cheek.
‘Ah, he’s really cute… I don’t want to not see someone like him for a whole week.’
“I’d like to go, but…”
“But?”
“…I don’t want to see Student Council President Han Doyoon.”
“Ah.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
