In the end, pushed along by Lee Juwon, I entered the nurse’s office with the feeling of entering hell. As I entered the nurse’s office, I spotted a mirror hanging on the wall and looked at my face. My cheek was red enough that anyone could tell, and though faint, it was swollen. The perfect trace of assault was shocking enough for others to see. However, I thought it wasn’t that severe. As long as the one who hit my cheek was Lee Hyeonseok, this didn’t even count as an injury.
Lee Juwon’s face, still faintly bruised even after about a month had passed without the bruise completely disappearing, was proof of that. So this was why they say school ties, regional ties, and blood ties are everything. Since it was school ties plus regional ties as fellow isekai natives, it made sense he’d shown mercy. I had been inwardly afraid of Lee Hyeonseok’s inexplicably generous heart, but now that I’d found the reason, I felt much lighter.
“Does it hurt?”
“…Huh? Oh! Thanks….”
After squeezing ointment onto his index finger, Lee Juwon carefully applied it to my swollen cheek. The moment Lee Juwon’s hand touched me, the air suddenly became stifling enough to take my breath away. It was because Lee Juwon’s men, Han Taeseok and Cheon Jaekyung, were glaring daggers at me. Whether Lee Juwon knew this or not, only he remained calm as he spoke to me. Because I was deliberately spacing out, my response to Lee Juwon’s question was a beat late, but Lee Juwon didn’t particularly mind and let it pass.
“Who hit you?”
“Haha….”
“Not thinking about his own injury, being so kind and all.”
Lee Juwon asked worriedly, but I couldn’t bring myself to say I was hit by Lee Hyeonseok. As I tried to brush it off with a laugh, Han Taeseok muttered as if thoroughly displeased. Lee Juwon pretended not to hear Han Taeseok’s words. Because of that, I became embarrassed for no reason, but I decided to just shrink down.
“I tried it myself, and this ointment works best.”
Han Taeseok and Cheon Jaekyung each furrowed their brows at Lee Juwon’s words. They seemed quite angry that something had happened that required using ointment. Lee Juwon, busy treating my injury and not seeing his men’s fury, was the picture of tranquility itself. Only I was reading the room.
“Oh. Maybe I’m not credible since I still have bruise marks.”
“That’s why I’m asking, who hit you!”
“!”
The two men who had been like balloons ready to burst at any moment finally burst at Lee Juwon’s oblivious words. Honestly, it was no different from sticking a needle in it himself. Lee Juwon seemed to be a bit lacking in awareness. Han Taeseok raised his voice first. He was so full of anger that I felt like I was being scolded too. Unlike me, who had anticipated the burst and mentally prepared myself, Lee Juwon, who had no preparation, was so startled his shoulders jumped. His innocent face, not understanding why Han Taeseok was suddenly raising his voice, was filled with bewilderment and fear.
Before Lee Juwon could calm his startled heart, Cheon Jaekyung asked in a cold voice.
“How long are you planning to keep your mouth shut?”
“…I told you I wasn’t hit by anyone.”
Lee Juwon said gloomily while rolling his eyes. It was a lie that wouldn’t fool even a 7-year-old child.
“You expect us to believe that now? You had a fever up to 40 degrees that day.”
“It took over two weeks just for the swelling to go down, and you think we’d feel like covering for you?”
My god. I had expected it was serious from when he passed out after being hit, but I didn’t know it was that bad. It seemed I really should bow in gratitude to Lee Hyeonseok. At the same time, I kept feeling guilty toward Lee Juwon. Not knowing that the kid who had just been a bit oblivious but tried to help me with good intentions had been injured so severely…. I had completely forgotten about Lee Juwon.
Moreover, if you traced the cause of why Lee Juwon got hit, it was me. If even one of those two people found out that Lee Juwon was hit while trying to protect me, they definitely wouldn’t let me go, not to mention Lee Hyeonseok who did the hitting. I should have run to Lee Juwon long ago to thank or apologize to him.
Now, instead of completely eliminating my aversion, I felt guilt and anxiety right in front of Lee Juwon.
“We’re trying to make sure nothing bad happens to you, so what’s the problem!”
Right. Right in front. Not knowing what to do, I was directly witnessing Han Taeseok and Cheon Jaekyung pressuring Lee Juwon from what was no different from a VIP seat. Every moment I tried to lift my butt to leave the scene, I kept missing the timing because of Han Taeseok making loud noises.
I, who had been trying to quietly disappear with an apologetic heart, had missed the timing to leave several times and lost the emotional thread, making things awkward as hell. They kept pressuring, coaxing, and persuading Lee Juwon in front of me. Please just let me go and do this among yourselves.
“Juwon-ah, it really upsets me when you do this.”
I suddenly felt like I’d become a folding screen capable of thought. With nothing I could do, I watched their love drama with dead fish eyes. I didn’t look for popcorn. If I ate it, I’d definitely get indigestion.
I’d only met Lee Juwon twice, but somehow whenever we got entangled, I felt like a useless sack of barley. The intention was good. It was good, but somehow the European proverb “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” came to mind.
“Thank you so much for worrying. But I really wasn’t hit by any—”
Lee Juwon didn’t talk about what happened that day until the end.
However, apart from feeling grateful and sorry, I wished they’d do this somewhere I wasn’t. Given how Lee Juwon was keeping his mouth firmly shut despite all these complex emotions, I thought he wouldn’t say anything and was sitting quietly when Lee Juwon massively hit the back of my head.
“I wasn’t hit….”
He said it right away while glancing at me. There was no way Han Taeseok and Cheon Jaekyung, sensitive when it came to Lee Juwon, would have missed that. The two immediately looked at me with cold eyes.
“Hey! Why are you guys suddenly acting like that!”
Lee Juwon. Why on earth did you glance at me while speaking fine? Could it be that he glanced because he was worried I, the person involved in that day’s incident, might let something slip? I thought he might be choking, but Lee Juwon scolded them to withdraw their looks that seemed ready to kill a person. But it was already too late. Lee Juwon’s men had already recognized me as someone related to the incident. Their awareness was really something.
“You, do you know something?”
“Wh-what…?”
Cheon Jaekyung interrogated me first. It was a different kind of pressure from Lee Hyeonseok’s. If Lee Hyeonseok emitted a heavy, beast-like pressure, Cheon Jaekyung emitted a sharp pressure like cold ice. The effect was doubled because his appearance was also that of a cold beauty.
“Don’t rack your brain, just speak straight.”
“Ugh….”
First, I tried pretending to be an innocent student who knew nothing. But unfortunately, they didn’t seem to have any intention of believing me. No matter how talented I was at acting, it was useless struggling against bastards who had no intention of believing me.
Unlike Cheon Jaekyung who interrogated first, Han Taeseok moved his hands along with his words. Han Taeseok suddenly grabbed me by the collar. The grabbed collar cut off my breath, naturally producing a pained groan, but Han Taeseok didn’t even snort and firmly held my collar. He seemed quite angry, as if he could kill me with just his murderous eyes alone. His growling like a beast was enough to make me lose my nerve.
“What did he even do for you to act like this!”
Lee Juwon shouted angrily. That was exactly what I wanted to say. It was Lee Juwon or Lee Hyeonseok who did something, not me. I looked at Lee Juwon with eyes full of injustice, begging to be saved. But as if that pissed him off, before Lee Juwon could stop him, Han Taeseok lifted me up by my collar. I let out a shriek and finally got up from the chair I’d wanted to leave so badly. It seemed Lee Juwon’s actions were like pouring oil on fire.
“Wak!”
“Speak and I’ll let you live.”
What? Should I say ‘Lee Juwon tried to help me when I got picked on by Han Hyeonseok and ended up getting beat up. By the way, I didn’t get beaten.’ What’s the difference between that and ignoring the offer to let me live and begging to be killed instead? I wanted to think of another excuse, but like how even thieves need coordination, I was scared to open my mouth not knowing how Lee Juwon would react.
“Hey! I said stop it!”
“You just stay still.”
“What do you mean stay still!”
Cheon Jaekyung stopped Lee Juwon who was trying to stop them. He held his body to prevent him from moving and threatened with his eyes, ‘Speak if you don’t want to die.’
“Han Taeseok! I said let go of that hand!”
I thought I had barely survived Lee Hyeonseok, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. I desperately racked my brain. If I agreed with Lee Juwon’s words, the moment Lee Juwon took his eyes off me, I definitely wouldn’t be safe. If I told the truth, I might die. If I said I knew nothing, I might get beaten until I opened my mouth. No matter what choice I made, I couldn’t see an option where my body would be safe.
“Then will you tell the truth?”
“What! What do I! Nothing happened!”
“Fine. If you won’t talk, I’ll just ask him.”
“Hey!”
It was a conversation no different from a squirrel on a wheel. Just as I was about to give up, thinking would it end with me listening to them bickering and getting beaten up in the end, the nurse’s office door opened vigorously with a rattle.
In an instant, the tense atmosphere broke. At this sudden appearance of yet another person, we all turned around, and there stood Lee Hyeonseok.
Though I couldn’t see Lee Juwon’s expression, Han Taeseok openly grimaced. Cheon Jaekyung didn’t have as large an expression change as Han Taeseok, but just furrowing his eyebrows was enough to tell he was uncomfortable.
Lee Hyeonseok looked at Lee Juwon being held by Cheon Jaekyung and Han Taeseok grabbing my collar, grimaced as if seeing something he shouldn’t have, and said one thing.
“What? What is this shitshow?”
Indeed, it was exactly as he said.
