# Chapter 21
After waving goodbye to Baek Han, who cheerfully waved back, I returned to the classroom surprisingly without incident. When I opened the back door of the classroom, I saw Kwon Dojin looking out the window with a bored expression.
It seemed like it had been a while since I’d seen that face, and I stood there blankly until the class bell rang, which finally snapped me out of it.
“You’re later than I expected. Did something happen?”
“Yeah. But it’s nothing serious.”
I knew there was no point in hiding it; he’d find out somehow. Was it because he was second-ranked, or was Kwon Dojin just good at gathering information? Somehow, whenever something happened like just now, he’d notice it like a ghost and dig out all the details.
“Do I have to find out myself again?”
“I don’t want to say it myself because it feels like I’m tattling.”
“If you put it that way, I guess I have no choice.”
It happened to be Korean class, and since that particular teacher liked to take things easy, we usually had about five extra minutes even after the bell rang. So both Dojin and I just put our textbooks on the desk and continued our conversation.
“It would have been better if I’d gone with you.”
“We can’t be together for every little thing.”
“But you don’t want to get caught up in troublesome situations, right?”
“Then you should have prevented it.”
“I’m trying to, but…”
Again, as Dojin stroked my hair, he smiled bitterly.
“It’s less effective than I thought. I wonder why?”
“I guess your second-ranked position isn’t that intimidating.”
I never expected it to be effective in the first place. If it had been that effective, no one would have even thought of bothering me since Dojin started hanging around me.
Besides, feelings of jealousy and envy tend to interfere with normal thinking processes. What I mean is, when consumed by jealousy and envy, people might do things they normally wouldn’t.
“Can’t freely make friends, can’t do much as second-ranked either.”
“Wow, that comment was seriously uncalled for.”
And what’s with this guy acting like he’s making friends? I narrowed my eyes and glared at Dojin, who was smiling at me—the kind of smile that could easily captivate anyone.
“Anyway, just to be safe, let’s stick together for a while.”
“Should we…?”
Until now, I’d been able to ignore things and move on, but this time it was scary when four guys blocked my path and confronted me threateningly. Seeing his opportunity, Dojin hung onto my shoulder.
“Habin, please?”
“Ah- fine. I get it, so let go. It tickles.”
Having gotten what he wanted, Dojin willingly let go, and I shook off the goosebumps that had risen on my ear. How does he make that sugary voice?
When our eyes met, he gave me a deliberate eye-smile, which made the back of my head throb. I can say with certainty that Kwon Dojin is responsible for at least half of my stress.
After Korean class ended, with just one more class before lunch, this guy who had been attentively listening to the lesson suddenly suggested skipping class. Not just one class either, but all afternoon classes.
“Hmm. Even for me, that expression hurts my feelings.”
“Did you ever consider that I’m making this expression specifically to hurt your feelings?”
“Let’s go have fun, okay? Habin-ah~”
“If you want to skip school, go by yourself. Even though I’m preparing for regular admissions, I’m still considering the early application process too, you know.”
I tried to shake Dojin off my shoulder, but maybe because he had some weight to him, he wouldn’t come off easily. After trying a couple more times, I decided to just give up peacefully since it was clearly impossible.
“Why do you suggest skipping school so easily?”
“Because we only need to attend the minimum number of days to advance to the next grade? Because we just need a diploma to go to university through regular admissions?”
“Ah, yes. Aren’t you impressive.”
As if I didn’t know that. But even so, some minimum guarantee is necessary, though Dojin apparently doesn’t need it. No, wait. Should I be impressed that he’s even mentioning going to university around here?
“Then let’s at least go after school.”
“Where to this time?”
I really can’t study properly because of Dojin. Even when I try to concentrate, he chatters away beside me, breaking my focus immediately. I put down my pen and rested my chin on my hand, and Dojin looked up at me while lying on his desk.
“Have you finally decided to pay attention to me?”
At the sight of him giving me a gentle eye-smile, I raised my arm and flicked his forehead. He talks as if I never pay attention to him, but we’ve been talking face-to-face every day.
“Now you’re even hitting me. Our Habin has grown up so much.”
“You call that hitting?”
“Isn’t it?”
“Your standard is too strict.”
I deliberately kept the meaningless conversation going. For some reason, I had a feeling that wherever Dojin wanted to go this time wasn’t going to be a good place. So I tried to change the subject, hoping to make him forget about going out after school, but the problem is that Dojin isn’t such a simple person.
“So, we’re going out to play, right?”
“…You didn’t give up, huh?”
“Nope. I didn’t.”
Judging by his beaming smile, it seems like I’ll be the one giving up. The moment I realized this, all strength left my body, and I slumped over the desk just like Dojin. He laughed softly, the sound rumbling in his throat.
“Tell me where, and I’ll go.”
“Hmm… If you promise to go, I’ll tell you.”
Is this guy joking right now?
I gave him a cold stare, and Dojin burst out laughing as he turned his head away. Even when I repeatedly poked his side with my index finger, he only flinched his shoulders.
My head was filled with the thought of wanting to cleanly smack the back of his round head. It might be possible right now. Even if Dojin is second-ranked, if he’s off guard like now…
But knowing the aftermath would be difficult, I quietly abandoned the idea. When it’s just the two of us, I might get away with it, but this was a classroom full of people. In other words, I couldn’t display such a provocative act of insubordination as an ordinary person hitting the second-ranked in front of others.
“Hey~ Are you really not going to tell me?”
“I told you I’ll tell you if you promise to go.”
“But I already said I’d go if you told me where first.”
“Did you say that?”
Seeing him feign ignorance so nonchalantly, I truly understood what it means to have one’s blood boil. This bastard was really disgustingly good at acting.
“Hah… Fine, I’ll go. So please tell me quickly where we’re going. I’m dying of curiosity.”
“Oh my, we can’t have our Habin dying, so I’ll tell you.”
When I said I would go, he turned his head back toward me. I wanted to give his forehead another flick with my fist this time, but I kept reminding myself that such provocative insubordination wasn’t allowed.
“Since the ranking has been finalized, there’s a ranking meeting starting at 1 PM today. Let’s go there.”
“…What?”
“You said you’d go, so you can’t back out now, okay?”
What the hell, you bastard?
At this point, isn’t this enough reason to commit a provocative act of insubordination? I seriously wanted to beat Kwon Dojin until dust flew off him like on a rainy day, as he boldly declared he would take me to what sounded like a dangerous place.
“Your eyes look scary, Habin.”
“Want to get hit once?”
“Hmm, are you going to hit me?”
Dojin blinked his large eyelids slowly and acted cutely. Because of that, even though my hands were trembling, I couldn’t bring myself to get angry. I could only blame myself for still not being used to this bastard’s face.
No, I should blame Dojin for making me think I’ve adapted and then becoming even more bewitching—that would be better for my mental health.
“If I could hit you just once, I’d have no other wish.”
But I won’t hit you because that handsome face should be preserved. Let me just hit your back once. Though I didn’t say it out loud, it must have shown on my face because Dojin slowly moved sideways in his chair.
“I didn’t know Habin was such a scary friend.”
“And I didn’t know Kwon Dojin was such an irresponsible friend.”
When I mimicked exactly what he’d said, he made an aggrieved expression. But since going to a ranking meeting together was out of the question without even having to consider it, I didn’t fall for that expression.
“Irresponsible? I would never put you in danger, Habin.”
“Yeah. Taking me to a ranking meeting itself is putting me in danger.”
That place is an event-trigger zone.
Besides, what happened when I went to the ranking determination that Dojin first invited me to? Didn’t I get harassed?
Of course, it’s true that I was alone when I got harassed. Dojin probably didn’t know there would be such brave, foolish people who would pick fights even at the risk of losing their rank. But still!
“I’ll stick right by your side.”
“A person should always consider the what-ifs.”
“Considering those what-ifs, I asked Baek Han to come along too. …Though I don’t like it.”
His small addition was full of displeasure. But the truth was that this alone wasn’t reassuring enough, so I was really reluctant.
“You’re not going to follow me even to the bathroom, right?”
“I am.”
“What the—”
I almost cursed.
Instead, I restrained myself and poked Dojin’s side diligently with a twisted expression. So diligently that the tip of my index finger hurt. At that point, even he seemed to feel the pain and raised his arm to hold my hand, interlocking our fingers.
“We have to go, Habin. To make those bastards eat crow.”
“Those bastards? What crow? What are you talking about?”
He hid his sorrowful eyes gently against his arm and rubbed our interlocked fingers with his thumb. It felt like he was choosing his words, so I decided to wait patiently.
“Last time, that Kang Jinwoo said he could impose some disadvantages, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“It seems more difficult than expected because the opposition from the upper ranks is fierce. I knew there had been complaints from before about young juniors occupying ranks 1 through 5, but I didn’t expect it to manifest in the form of brushing aside the issue we raised.”
He said upper ranks, but among those upper ranks, he must be referring to second and third-year students who are older than Dojin?
First, I understood the background of why he said it would be difficult. But as Dojin said, if first-year students occupy ranks 1 through 5, couldn’t they resolve it by banding together?
Especially since Dojin is a member of the Four Heavenly Kings, why?
