The content written out in bold lettering roughly said this: that Do Won-hyeok, known as the English Department idol, was actually someone who beat people without a second thought—a guy with a split personality. That while acting all nice on the surface, he’d even gone behind someone’s back to seduce a person who already had a partner.
As Won-hyeok read through the post, his eyebrow twitched. This was a first. This situation—where someone had openly exposed the truth behind his mask like this. He didn’t even need to check to know who had written it.
Han Su-hyeon.
He shouldn’t have just let him go like that yesterday. At the very least, he should’ve beaten him until he couldn’t move and then shut his mouth with threats or money while he was trembling in fear. This was nothing short of his own mistake. This wasn’t the same as Han-gyeom simply witnessing him beating someone up.
Back then, it had been seen by one person—but now it had been exposed to an unspecified number of people. At some point in his life, he’d imagined something like this might happen at least once. And every time he imagined a situation where the majority of people saw through the face behind his mask, it felt so filthy and fucking awful.
“This is ranked #1 on the hot posts right now.”
But why was it? Even though a situation like that had actually come to pass, he didn’t feel as shaken as he’d expected.
“Won-hyeok, is this true?”
“That post on Everytime… is it really true?”
At that moment, his classmates who had been scattered around the lecture hall gathered around Won-hyeok all at once. Dozens of eyes stared straight at him, demanding an explanation. The emotions swirling within those eyes were incredibly varied. Trust that it couldn’t possibly be true, doubt and curiosity wondering if it might be, and even a fleeting hint of disappointment.
Then the phone in Won-hyeok’s hand buzzed briefly once.
[Sunbae, did you make it to school safely?]
“……”
It was strange. Those gazes gathered like a swarm of insects should’ve made him feel disgusted. For the first time, the tower he’d carefully built was being threatened—yet he felt nothing.
“Sunbae, I think the standard for what makes someone a good or kind person is different for everyone. To me, sunbae is a good person, and someone I like. And that’s not just because you’re a kind person.”
A laugh slipped out, like he was missing a screw somewhere. There were plenty of ways to erase their doubts. If he simply revealed that Han Su-hyeon was the one who wrote that post, the situation would immediately turn in his favor. At the same time, if he acted a little troubled and said a few words, he could shake off any suspicion.
But why was it? Why did a faint chuckle keep escaping him?
When Won-hyeok didn’t say anything and just kept smiling, the gathered classmates exchanged glances. Sun-woo stared at his friend for a moment, then slammed his hand on the desk.
“Hey, does he look like someone who goes around beating people?”
As Sun-woo shouted, everyone’s attention focused on Won-hyeok.
“This guy can’t even swear properly—like hell he’d beat someone up. And you all remember, right? Han Su-hyeon from second year.”
“Han Su-hyeon? The one who caused a scene at last year’s year-end gathering?”
“Yeah. He wrote this. You can tell just by reading it. He probably wrote it with full intent to get revenge on Won-hyeok—there’s no way you actually believe it, right?”
Sun-woo’s mouth was smiling, but his eyes weren’t at all. A few classmates, startled by that gaze, awkwardly laughed and said of course not.
“Isn’t that guy seriously insane? Oppa, you should sue him for spreading false information.”
“Yeah. People like that need to be taught a lesson by the law before they come to their senses.”
“No, seriously, from the moment I first read it, it was ridiculous. Do Won-hyeok beating people? And what’s that about stealing someone’s partner? He already has someone he’s dating anyway.”
One by one, the classmates added their voices, taking Won-hyeok’s side. Maybe this was why people said you should treat others well in everyday life. In truth, about half of what was written in that exposé post was correct. The only false part was that he’d stolen someone’s partner—he did beat people and act like he had a split personality.
But here and now, no one actually believed that post. His classmates got even more worked up than he did, saying they’d report it, before eventually returning to their seats.
Won-hyeok naturally turned his gaze toward Sun-woo.
“What?”
“No… just, thanks.”
Honestly, he hadn’t expected Sun-woo to step in and help explain things like that. And more than that, unlike the others who defended him based on the image they’d believed in, it felt like Sun-woo had stepped in deliberately because he’d seen something else.
“You should be grateful you’ve got a friend like me.”
Sun-woo smirked and turned away. Watching his back, Won-hyeok quietly pulled out his phone. He opened the email Secretary Min had sent and checked Han Su-hyeon’s criminal record, then took a screenshot. Seeing that there was one prior assault charge, Won-hyeok let out a scoff.
What had happened had already happened, and there was still work to be done. Gossip gets buried by bigger gossip. With a grin, Won-hyeok tapped on his phone screen.
After class ended, Won-hyeok left the lecture hall looking refreshed. As he walked out of the building side by side with Sun-woo, exchanging trivial chatter, someone came running toward him from afar.
“Su-sunbae!”
It was none other than Han-gyeom. With his bangs fluttering, Han-gyeom ran up, grabbed Won-hyeok’s arm, and breathed heavily. Seeing how unusual he looked, Won-hyeok’s face immediately hardened.
“What is it? Did something happen? What’s wrong?”
Won-hyeok grabbed Han-gyeom’s face and lifted it up. His face was flushed red from how much he’d run, and sweat had formed across his forehead. With a seriously concerned expression, Won-hyeok roughly wiped his forehead with his sleeve.
“Are you not feeling well? Huh?”
“No, it’s not that… haah….”
“Then what, should we go to the hospital? Want to go to the hospital?”
Sun-woo took a step back from Won-hyeok. At a glance, Han-gyeom didn’t look sick at all. He was just out of breath from running. Just earlier, when people were throwing comments at him, this guy had looked completely uninterested, grinning like a lunatic—but now he was making such a huge fuss, it was almost funny.
“Everytime… haah, th-that post… I saw it.”
“What? You ran all the way here just because of that? You’re not actually sick or anything?”
“Just because of that?!”
Before first period, when his classmates cautiously told Han-gyeom about it, he’d nearly fallen over backward in shock—no joke. The post on the school community had exploded with views and attention not long after being uploaded, and the content was provocative enough that there was no way he wouldn’t be worried.
Han-gyeom wasn’t completely clueless, either. Just from the content alone, it was obvious who had written it. He immediately looked around the classroom for Han Su-hyeon, but as if he planned to skip, he was nowhere to be seen.
He roughly explained to his classmates what Han Su-hyeon had done yesterday and defended Won-hyeok. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like anyone truly believed the post.
Even so, he was so worried about Won-hyeok after seeing it that the moment class ended, he ran straight to the building where Won-hyeok’s lecture was.
“I—I was really, seriously shocked when I saw that!”
Sun-woo took another step back, watching the two like he was observing a show. Judging by the atmosphere, it felt like Han-gyeom might grab Won-hyeok by the cheeks and shake him at any moment like they were protagonists in some life-or-death crisis.
“It’s really not a big dea—”
“I was really, really worried. You’re okay, right? This isn’t somehow because of me….”
As Han-gyeom bit down on his lip, fidgeting anxiously and gripping Won-hyeok’s hand tightly, something flickered briefly through Won-hyeok’s eyes.
“Actually… I was a little surprised too. My heart still feels like it’s racing.”
“I—I knew it! I figured it would be like that. What do we do… you must’ve been really shocked, right?”
“Still, it’s okay. The others comforted me a lot, and it’s not like anyone really believes it.”
Even as he said that, Won-hyeok put on a deeply sorrowful smile. Like a protagonist who had been hurt but was pretending to be fine so as not to worry others. Watching that, Sun-woo’s expression twisted strangely. It almost felt like he’d just watched an entire movie unfold right in front of him.
“But maybe because I’ve relaxed now, it’s a bit hard to stand. Maybe it’s because I feel relieved after seeing you, Han-gyeom.”
Won-hyeok bent forward at the waist, letting out heavy sighs.
“Then lean on me! I’ll support you. L-let’s go to the club room and get some rest.”
Watching Han-gyeom grab his arm and struggle with his small frame, Won-hyeok’s lips twitched in a ridiculous way. The way he was making such a flustered fuss with that stunned expression was unbearably cute.
Then, as if by chance, Won-hyeok turned his head—and his eyes met Sun-woo’s, who was standing two steps away.
His friend’s face was scrunched up like he’d just witnessed something he absolutely shouldn’t have.
“……”
“……”
When Won-hyeok simply grinned without saying anything, Sun-woo quietly raised his middle finger in response.
