# Chapter 23
“Oh? Isn’t that him? The one who humiliated Park Seowook’s group at the Social Club the day before yesterday.”
“Ah, that’s right. The student council president seems to treat him quite well.”
“He seems to have connections with the others too.”
No, not at all. I’m not even acquainted with those guys, let alone friends. I’ve only known them for a few days. And the absurd rumors were apparently still ongoing, which made me close my eyes tightly in frustration before opening them again.
“But is he really a Low Class as I heard? He does have three stars though.”
As one of them looked me over and mentioned the three stars on my uniform, the others’ expressions turned puzzled. Then one of them snickered and spoke with an arrogant tone.
“I heard he’s in the same class as Moon Seoheon and they seem to be friends. That lucky bastard.”
“Oh, really?”
The guys looking at me seemed to relax, their stiff expressions softening. They seemed to lose interest after realizing I was clearly nobody. But it didn’t look like they were going to let me go peacefully.
“Hey, you. How do you know the student council president and them?”
One of the four, a thin and sharp-looking guy, came right up to me and asked. I could sense his subtle superiority and hostility toward someone of a lower class. Not wanting to get involved with them, I decided to yield.
“We’re not… related at all.”
“That can’t be true! They don’t just talk to anyone.”
“Hey, hey, take it easy. I heard he’s Yoon Taean’s older brother.”
“Yoon Taean? Ah, that’s right. But even so, he’s just a Middle Class guy, what could he possibly do?”
Damn, they didn’t seem like they were going to let this go quietly. What should I do? As I stood there awkwardly with a troubled expression, they pressed on even more confidently.
Just then, I felt someone’s presence behind me. Whoever it was had come so close without being noticed by the guys intimidating me.
“Ah, what the hell?!”
The guys jumped back in surprise when they saw who was standing behind me. I turned my head slightly to look at the person behind me. Well, well, the curly-haired guy was staring down at me. An overwhelming feeling of doom started to wash over me.
“Yoo Wono? You were still here?”
“Shit. I thought he was gone.”
The High Class guys backed away cautiously. They had approached so confidently, but apparently, they didn’t actually know him.
But then the curly-haired guy, who hadn’t given those guys even a glance, tilted his head slightly as he looked at me.
His droopy eyes had regained focus but still showed no sign of life. I involuntarily swallowed as his spine-chilling gaze made me nervous, and he slowly opened his mouth.
“You’re… friends with the Moon?”
“……”
As I stood there speechless, the curly-haired guy, Yoo Wono, stretched his lips into a smile. He already had a face that looked like he was smiling, but with just the corners of his mouth turned up, it looked eerie and frightening.
Apparently having heard what the High Class guys had said, he recognized me as a friend from the same class as Moon Seoheon and reached his arm out toward me.
Thwack!
As Yoo Wono’s arm approached me in what seemed like slow motion, one of the High Class guys who had been muttering something in the background rushed forward and attacked Yoo Wono. To be precise, he struck his head with a cell phone.
Gasp. I let out a stifled breath at the scene that unfolded right before my eyes, while the High Class guys laughed for some reason. Yoo Wono, for someone who had just been hit on the head, didn’t flinch at all and shifted his gaze from me to the High Class guys.
But a stream of blood trickled down from Yoo Wono’s head, as if something had been torn when he was hit. Seeing someone actually get hurt was completely different from watching violent scenes in animations. This was definitely not a joke.
As I stood frozen in shock, feeling like my body was growing cold, Yoo Wono brushed past me. Despite what must have been tremendous pain, his expression showed no impact, which gradually made the High Class guys stop laughing.
“W-What? Hey, did you hit him hard?!”
“Can’t you see the blood? I hit him really hard…”
“B-But he doesn’t seem affected at all…”
With their earlier bravado gone, they now sounded frightened, and I could guess what was about to happen even without looking.
“Aaagh!”
“Ugh!”
Just as I thought… The screams of pain and sounds of merciless violence mixed together and pierced my ears. Feeling cold sweat forming on my forehead, I turned my head slightly.
“Agh! Stop, stop it!”
Is that a stone? And not just a small one, but a rock almost the size of a fist. Yoo Wono was clutching a rock in his left hand, beating the High Class guys with it.
Considering there were no stones of that size, or even dust, anywhere around, he must have been holding it all along. Shit, that means he was holding it even when he was in front of me. The realization that I could have ended up like them sent a chill down my spine.
I realized this was my chance while they were fighting—though in reality, Yoo Wono was one-sidedly attacking them—and decided to escape.
“Die, you bastard!”
The largest of the four shouted and charged at Yoo Wono. His momentum was good, but unfortunately, it didn’t work. Yoo Wono easily dodged and forcefully brought the rock down on the guy’s hand as he swung his fist, causing him to scream in pain.
By the time they had started fighting, I had already made up my mind to get away from there and was running with all my might. Though I quickly got far from the building, I didn’t stop and ran all the way to the field where I wouldn’t be noticed. Only then did I begin to slow down.
“Haa… Haa.”
I think I ran harder than I did during yesterday’s soccer game. My heart felt like it was about to burst after running at full speed with a startled heart.
Is it safe now? As I was catching my breath, I heard the sound of someone rapidly approaching, getting closer and louder.
When I looked up, Yoo Wono was running toward me from a distance. He was so fast that the distance between us was shrinking in the blink of an eye. Unable to hide my terrified expression and not wanting to know why he was chasing me, I tried to run at full speed again, but it was futile.
“Ah!”
Yoo Wono quickly caught up with me and grabbed my arm from behind. Then, using the momentum as I fell backward, he spun my body around and slammed me to the ground.
“Gah!”
Damn, as expected of someone from the track team, he was not only fast but also had good athletic reflexes. Inevitably caught, I fell flat on my back on the sandy field. Dust scattered all around.
Though I hit the ground hard, thanks to the backpack I was wearing, the impact was lessened, and it didn’t hurt too much. Just like when I was hit by the soccer ball on the first day, my bag saved me again.
Even as I was lying on the ground, I checked to see if Yoo Wono was holding a rock. Fortunately, there was no rock, but I was in a difficult situation as I couldn’t see anything I could use as a weapon either.
Soon Yoo Wono twisted my right arm, which he was holding. It was the hand that had already been injured when I fell because of him.
A groan of pain escaped me. Before I could pull my arm away, Yoo Wono released his grip and climbed on top of me. He roughly grabbed my collar and lifted my upper body. The pressure on my throat made me cough lightly. Is this guy crazy?
I understand he’s doing this because of Moon Seoheon, but he’s more violent than I expected. I really don’t get why he’s doing this. All I did was run away without saying anything, and just for that, he chased me down and attacked me like this?
Even though there are cases where people pick fights with those associated with Moon Seoheon, they usually wouldn’t even bother if they realized the person wasn’t a threat. That’s why the current situation made no sense to me.
As I glared at Yoo Wono with trembling eyes, filled with confusion, shock, and pain, the one who had knocked me down merely observed me. This crazy bastard… his eyes were half-crazed.
His persistent gaze, as if trying to confirm something, made me feel like I was being stripped naked and dissected. Feeling suffocated, I raised my hands to grab his arms and try to remove his grip from my collar.
“Ugh!”
But against his unwavering strength, my hands only trembled, and I soon gave up. Ah, so what are you trying to do? Though annoyed, I let go of my hostility and looked at Yoo Wono with a questioning gaze. His eyes soon became calm, and he released his grip on my collar.
As the choking sensation subsided, I broke into a fit of coughing from the sudden rush of air. By now, Yoo Wono was breathing heavily as if he had been excited but had now calmed down, and he relaxed his entire body. I felt the weight pressing down on me lighten, and thought I could push him off and escape, but I didn’t.
It seemed that my running away had triggered his aggressive behavior. So I just lay there quietly, and with a bored expression, Yoo Wono slightly raised his head and looked somewhere, his eyes sparkling. Wondering what it was, I rolled my eyes and saw a familiar face.
“What are you doing?”
It was Moon Seoheon. Having just started soccer practice, he had changed into sportswear and his face still looked fresh.
Moon Seoheon grabbed one of Yoo Wono’s shoulders. Then he turned his gaze to me lying on the ground… His expression didn’t particularly show anything, but his slightly furrowed brow suggested that he, too, found this situation strange.
“Hi, Seoheon.”
“Hello. But what are you doing?”
Yoo Wono smiled brightly, a smile I had never seen before, and said to Moon Seoheon.
“You’re practicing soccer, right? Want to run together again this time? Or should we compete in something else? I’ve been practicing kicking soccer balls lately too.”
Moon Seoheon remained silent for a moment, then let go of Yoo Wono’s shoulder. Wait, I’m still lying here, please help me out. Desperate to get away from this crazy guy, I shot a pleading look at Moon Seoheon, but he didn’t look at me and said to Yoo Wono:
“I’m about to start practice. I’m going to run around the field, so either run with me or leave. Stop causing a scene here.”
He was telling him to stop being a nuisance in the middle of the field. I thought Yoo Wono might go half-crazy and rampage again, but surprisingly, he nodded obediently and soon got off me.
“So you’re saying we should run together? Got it.”
“Yes. Go and warm up.”
Yoo Wono walked toward where Moon Seoheon had pointed, with an excited expression. Moon Seoheon turned to look at me, now relaxed and limp from the release of tension. Our eyes met, but he didn’t say anything special. After looking at me for a moment, he extended his hand. I looked at that hand and took it, managing to stand up with his strong support.
“Are you hurt?”
“…No.”
“Good. Then go home.”
“Okay.”
With just those words, Moon Seoheon ran after Yoo Wono. I stared blankly after them, and only when they had become tiny dots in the distance did I have a chance to examine myself.
My entire body was covered in sand, making me look a complete mess. I wasn’t sure whether to be thankful that I wasn’t actually injured, or to feel troubled by the whole situation.
