Merry Christmas Y’all
# Chapter 46
“Who wants to raise their hand if they have something they want to eat?”
When I looked back and forth between Kwon Dojin and Baek Han, they reacted as if they had heard something completely out of the blue. It wasn’t like I had asked something strange, but seeing them look at me that way made me feel slightly intimidated, so I avoided their gaze.
“Didn’t I say I would buy you whatever you want to eat?”
“Habin, you should eat whatever you want.”
Kwon Dojin and Baek Han said the same thing in different ways simultaneously, then frowned at each other. It was as if they were asking why the other one was saying that.
Soon, they avoided a fight by turning their heads away from each other, but still wore rather uncomfortable expressions. Since I didn’t care as long as they didn’t fight, I ignored them both and thought about the menu.
‘Western, Chinese, Korean, Japanese-.’
Today I was in the mood for something rich. After thinking a bit more, I finally made a decision.
“Let’s have pasta.”
While I was satisfied with having made a relatively quick decision, the two of them were busy discussing which restaurant to go to.
“Is there a place with good pasta nearby?”
“I think we need to go a bit further out.”
Watching the two of them acknowledge the reality and think about where to go, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Then shall we go to the next neighborhood?”
“That would be the best option.”
While I was laughing quietly, the two who had reached a conclusion turned to look at me standing still.
“What are you doing?”
“Let’s go. It’s a bit far, but I know a good place.”
Unlike Baek Han who gestured with his chin, Kwon Dojin took my hand and gently led me. Since I couldn’t just stand there, I followed him.
As we left school before the dismissal ceremony, we did run into a few teachers, but they didn’t stop us as we walked out confidently. I was bewildered when they even turned their heads away pretending not to see us, as if it was perfectly normal.
Honestly, it was convenient in many ways, but on the other hand, I wondered if this was really okay. Of course, if someone were to ask, “Do you want to go back to the classroom now?” I would quickly shake my head.
“Let’s take a taxi.”
Kwon Dojin took out his phone to call a taxi before even hearing what Baek Han had to say. I looked at the two of them who, unlike me, lived without the option of taking the bus.
“Why don’t you take the bus?”
“Huh?”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”
Both of them reacted as if they didn’t understand what I was saying. That’s when I realized that I had omitted a lot, which could make what I said sound strange.
“I’ve never seen you guys take a bus or the subway. Are you avoiding it on purpose?”
“Do you know what could happen if we took those?”
“Well, considering they’re places where many people gather, it can be quite troublesome.”
“Ah-.”
I unintentionally let out a sound of realization. When I thought about it, all sorts of things happened to them even at school where they were relatively familiar with the people, so the situation might be worse on buses or subways where there were many unspecified individuals.
Now I understood their behavior and nodded. I especially shuddered at the thought of them taking the bus during busy commuting hours. It was easy to imagine the already crowded space being even more packed, with people flocking around the two of them and causing all sorts of commotion.
“What about motorcycles then?”
When I mentioned the mode of transportation commonly used in web novels, Baek Han looked at me as if I were crazy. Even Kwon Dojin showed reluctance, so it seemed like I had said something wrong.
“How can we drive without a license? Are you trying to kill someone?”
“It’s not just dangerous for us. It could hurt others too.”
Extremely sensible words flowed from their mouths. It was true, and I completely agreed. However, I couldn’t believe those words were coming from them, so my lips parted in surprise.
One was a member of the Four Heavenly Kings and the other was the high and mighty Rank 3, yet they didn’t ride motorcycles.
“…What about the others?”
“Most of them don’t ride either. Even those who do only ride if they have a license. Of course, even then, since it’s not good for students, we advise them to refrain as much as possible.”
I was genuinely surprised to hear that they even enforced this directly. Kwon Dojin, who had always been by my side after school, occasionally left earlier, and after hearing that it was all for enforcement purposes, I was even more surprised.
“Then what about smoking? Drinking? Do they not do those either?”
“This one’s really got a loose tongue.”
“…Habin-ah. Minors are prohibited from drinking and smoking.”
I was left speechless as Kwon Dojin grabbed my shoulders and seriously asked, “You’re not doing both, are you?” As the silence lengthened, Kwon Dojin’s expression hardened, as if he really thought I was drinking and smoking.
“You shouldn’t even try it out of curiosity—”
“I don’t. As if I would do that…”
Before the ridiculous misunderstanding deepened, I cut off Kwon Dojin’s words and put my hand on my forehead. I didn’t even have the mental capacity to care about Kwon Dojin, who was sighing in relief saying it was fortunate, or Baek Han, who was shaking his head saying that contrary to appearances, I had a loose tongue.
“Let me ask just one more thing.”
“I’m at the point where I’m looking forward to what you’ll say next.”
Baek Han’s words suddenly made me feel wronged. I had only asked a few questions based on the web novels I had seen, but I felt like I had become a very strange person.
Deliberately turning my gaze away from Baek Han, I looked at Kwon Dojin, whose reactions were somewhat better, and parted my lips.
“You don’t use things like wooden clubs when you fight… right?”
“Wow, that’s a vicious question.”
“…If you use something like that, someone could really die, Habin-ah.”
Looking at Kwon Dojin and Baek Han’s reactions, I was certain. The students here had healthier mindsets in other aspects than students from the world before my possession.
* * *
I sat on the stands watching those who were running around the field more enthusiastically than usual. As I rested my chin on my elbow, which was on my thigh, Kwon Dojin placed his hand on my thigh.
“Doesn’t it hurt where your elbow is pressing?”
“…More importantly, why are you here?”
“Hm?”
“Don’t ‘hm’ me.”
Kwon Dojin smiled brightly as if he couldn’t even see the classmates who were running around the field.
“They’re working hard to win this sports festival to protect your honor, so why don’t you join them?”
“My honor wouldn’t be tarnished just because we didn’t win a sports festival. I prefer being with Habin over running around like that.”
Kwon Dojin displayed confident pride and then added unnecessary words. Everyone around us let out small exclamations in unison.
If it weren’t for Kwon Dojin’s request to refrain from excessive reactions because he wanted to maintain a quiet school life, there would have been loud screams that would have shaken the stands.
Originally, it wouldn’t have been possible to have a quiet school life as the second-ranked, but the classmates kept his word, nodding vigorously.
“So you’re not participating in any event?”
Expectant gazes focused on me after my words. Whether Kwon Dojin participated or not didn’t matter to me. However, when he showed a passive attitude toward participating in the sports festival, I was bothered by the classmates who openly showed disappointment.
“Well, I guess not?”
Seeing his eyes curve round, he really didn’t seem to have any intention of participating.
“Really? I was curious to see you doing sports, so that’s a bit disappointing.”
Along with the thought that he might be good at sports since he was good at fighting, I had a slight desire to see Kwon Dojin using his body. I thought this especially because I was aware of the existence of his compact muscles.
“…I’ll participate.”
“Huh? If you don’t want to, you don’t have to—”
“Which event should I participate in? Soccer? Basketball? Or maybe the relay race?”
“Huh? Oh, shouldn’t you do whatever you want to?”
I stammered in surprise at Kwon Dojin’s enthusiastic attitude. Regardless of my reaction, he continued his serious consideration and soon made up his mind.
“I’ll do them all. If Habin wants to see, then of course I should.”
“Aaaaah-! Did you hear that? Did you hear?”
“Dojin-nim said he’ll participate in all events!”
“Quickly pull one of those guys out! Dojin-nim said he’ll do it!”
At this moment, everyone who heard his words shouted in unison, as if they had forgotten Kwon Dojin’s request. Their reactions were so intense that the soccer game that was in full swing stopped.
Kwon Dojin stood up, took off his school uniform jacket, and placed it on the floor. Knowing that the jacket would get dusty on the bare floor, I picked it up, and he flashed a slight smile.
“I’ll be back. Watch me closely, okay?”
“Yeah…”
I wasn’t curious enough to watch enthusiastically, but because of Kwon Dojin’s display of enthusiasm, the classmates showed such explosive reactions that I couldn’t say anything contrary. He seemed satisfied even with my reflexively uttered words and walked toward the field, showing off his long legs.
As if it were natural, the game didn’t resume until Kwon Dojin arrived on the field. It seemed that the person to be replaced had already been decided, as one of the players who had been playing soccer quickly left toward the stands.
“Come to think of it, only Kwon Dojin is wearing a school uniform.”
All the other guys were wearing gym clothes. Perhaps because of this, Kwon Dojin, who alone was wearing his school uniform, stood out. The uniform would be uncomfortable to move in, and if he sweated, it would feel unpleasant until he went home. I wondered if he would be okay.
I was briefly worried, but figuring he would handle it well, I just organized the jacket in my hands.
Peeeep-. As Kwon Dojin took his position on the field, a sharp whistle sound rang in my ears. While watching many people running around the field, fighting over a small ball, I realized something and opened my mouth in disbelief.
“Isn’t this just an exhibition match for him…”
The soccer ball flowed toward Kwon Dojin in a way that anyone could notice. Of course, the guys on the opposing team did their best to steal the ball and didn’t hold back on tackles. However, it was meaningless as Kwon Dojin escaped with elegant movements.
“Kwon Dojin is pretty good though.”
But if the ball is concentrated on just one person, doesn’t it defeat the purpose of a team game?
Meanwhile, the guys were aggressively engaging in physical battles with the opponents to clear the way for Kwon Dojin, so the game was somehow flowing. Occasionally, when Kwon Dojin’s path was blocked, he would pass to a teammate, but the time the ball was away from him was very short.
I shook my head while watching this very peculiar team game. But when I met Kwon Dojin’s gaze as he looked in my direction with a bright smile after scoring a goal, as if it was only natural, I no longer cared.
