“Haa, this is fucking heavy…”
With his red hair fluttering slightly, Im Hangyeol walked down the hallway with a heavy stack of papers in both hands, grumbling continuously with a scrunched expression.
“Do they think I’m that easy to push around?”
Recently, as he started diligently attending classes and studying, the teachers who were initially surprised now approached him comfortably, teaching him problems he didn’t understand and even sending him on errands. In the past, they would have looked at him with contemptuous eyes and wouldn’t have even approached him, but now their attitude had changed dramatically just because he started studying. It was both funny and strange. Other kids were also gradually approaching him, speaking to him in a friendly manner. It reminded him of middle school, which wasn’t bad.
‘Middle school was good. I had a lot of friends back then, so it was lively and fun…’
Since entering high school, he had become a loner. The only thing that had changed between then and now was that “Lee Jaeyoon” was no longer by his side. During middle school, the two were best friends, so they were always together. It didn’t matter if they were in different classes. They would freely go in and out of each other’s classrooms like it was nothing. Because of this, sometimes the homeroom teacher mistakenly thought they were students from their own class.
‘Looking back now, I think I had many friends because Jaeyoon was by my side. That guy was always the type to attract people. Of course, he never realized it himself…’
He wasn’t particularly kind, nor was he a comedian who made people laugh. But being beside him made people comfortable. If someone was suffering with worries, he would listen. Of course, he would complain with an annoyed expression and tell them to hurry up and talk… Nevertheless, he would seriously listen to the other person’s concerns and think about solutions together. Perhaps that’s why everyone liked him.
How did things end up like this?
The only thing that had changed for Im Hangyeol was that he fell in love with a boy named Kim Yeonwoo, but that led to ending his friendship and becoming a loner.
Im Hangyeol’s eyes lowered.
“Yeonwoo…”
He put his hand in his pants pocket. Just as he hesitated, feeling the phone at his fingertips—
BANG-!!!
“Sunbae, explain yourself!”
“Wait, keeping your mouth shut isn’t going to solve anything… Sunbae?!”
Im Hangyeol’s eyes widened as he made eye contact with Kim Doha, who was rushing out of the club room. Dark circles were visible under his eyes, and his cheeks were hollow as if he hadn’t eaten for days. His hair, which he usually styled carefully every morning, was sticking out in all directions like a broom. Kim Doha gritted his teeth at Im Hangyeol’s appearance and roughly bumped his shoulder as he passed by.
“What’s his problem?”
As he quickly grabbed the stack of papers that almost fell to the corridor floor, frowning, he could hear the drama club members talking through the open door.
“I mean, the play fell apart because of him, but how can the club president not only avoid explaining but not even apologize?”
“Usually he’s all about discipline as the president. But when things get unfavorable for him, look at him run away!”
“I found it most ridiculous when he brought his friend as a substitute during the festival.”
“Right?! Why would he give such an important role to his friend who’s not even a club member? He always does whatever he wants because teachers like him!!”
“But that’s all over now. The teacher is super angry because we can’t perform due to Kim Doha, right? The principal too. That was such an important opportunity!”
Voices filled with complaints burst out continuously. The students who hadn’t even thought about closing the club room door were focused on venting about things they felt were unfair, and soon they converged on one issue.
“Hey, is it true that the president pushed someone down the stairs?”
“The venue rejected us saying a student almost killed someone. Besides the Saturday incident, was there anything else like that recently?”
“On Saturday, an ambulance came to school, and it was no joke! My friend is in the baseball club, and he said he saw someone being carried away covered in blood.”
“Wow! So Kim Doha did that…?”
“That’s not true!”
At the sudden outburst, the club members discussing flinched. What? They turned towards the source of the sound in surprise, finding a first-year club member glaring at them with a deep frown.
“Why are you suddenly yelling? You scared the shit out of me.”
“Doha sunbae didn’t do it!”
“How do you know?”
“That day, Doha sunbae and I went downtown to buy parts needed for the stage. We got back to the dormitory very late in the evening because we couldn’t find the paint we needed. Got it, you idiots?”
“Then why doesn’t he say he didn’t do it?”
“Huh?”
“If it’s not his fault, he should say so. With that fiery temper of his, why is he keeping quiet when he’s being accused of being the culprit? Isn’t he staying silent because he has something to hide?”
“That’s…”
Seeing the boy at a loss for words, the club members shrugged as if to say, “I thought so.” Then they resumed gossiping among themselves.
Im Hangyeol, listening to their conversation from outside the club room, frowned.
“Saturday…”
Upon hearing that Jaeyoon had fallen down the stairs and was seriously injured after parting with him that day, Im Hangyeol’s heart sank. After a moment’s hesitation, he took out his phone. Just as he was about to press the call button, the other person called him first.
“…”
After hesitating for a moment while looking at the name on the phone screen, Im Hangyeol answered the call.
[Hangyeol…]
It was a voice he used to hear every day, but why did it feel so awkward now? As he slowly opened his mouth to respond, a tearful voice came from the other end of the phone.
[Can you come to my room? Please…]
It was a pitiful voice that made his heart ache just from hearing it.
“I’ll be right there.”
But strangely, the feelings he had felt in the past no longer arose.
***
“Hangyeol!”
As soon as he knocked on the dormitory door, Kim Yeonwoo rushed out and hugged him. Im Hangyeol, who had frozen with his eyes wide open in surprise, awkwardly raised his hand and gently pushed back on Yeonwoo’s shoulders. But Kim Yeonwoo tightened his arms around Im Hangyeol’s waist, with no intention of letting go.
“Yeonwoo, let’s go inside first. If other guys see us…”
“I don’t care! I don’t care about things like that.”
Im Hangyeol bit his lip in bewilderment at Kim Yeonwoo’s unreasonable behavior. This was the first time he had acted so selfishly. Since Kim Yeonwoo had always followed what he wanted, Im Hangyeol quickly scanned their surroundings, then slowly patted Yeonwoo’s back to comfort him.
“Is there something wrong that you called me? Let’s go inside first and…”
“Do I need to have a reason to call you?”
“Huh?”
Kim Yeonwoo raised his head. Im Hangyeol tightly clenched and then unclenched his fist as Yeonwoo looked up at him with eyes brimming with tears.
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
“Everyone’s been acting strange lately, so strange… We used to answer calls quickly, and just being together was enjoyable… Why, why?!”
“Yeonwoo, please calm down first and…”
“Is it because of Lee Jaeyoon?”
“…Huh?”
Im Hangyeol’s pupils shook rapidly. Seeing him stiffen, Kim Yeonwoo unwrapped his arms from his waist and stepped back. Tears streamed down Kim Yeonwoo’s cheeks. His trembling shoulders looked pitiful.
“Why does Jaeyoon keep taking things away from me?”
“…”
“I hate it, I hate it… Don’t go. Stay by my side, Hangyeol.”
Im Hangyeol stared at the hand grabbing his sleeve, then gently took Yeonwoo’s hand and carefully closed the dormitory door. A quiet silence filled the room. Raising his hand to wipe away the tears from his eyes, Im Hangyeol led the barefoot Kim Yeonwoo into the room.
Slowly sitting Kim Yeonwoo on the bed, Im Hangyeol sat on a chair opposite him and briefly interlaced his fingers. Unlike usual, he wasn’t hovering around comforting him, and Kim Yeonwoo’s eyes trembled anxiously at his attitude.
“Hangyeol…”
“Yeonwoo.”
Kim Yeonwoo closed his mouth tightly at the sight of Im Hangyeol looking at him with a rather serious expression.
“There’s something I want to ask you.”
“…”
“Do you know that there’s a rumor that Kim Doha is the culprit who pushed Lee Jaeyoon down the stairs?”
“!!”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
