# Chapter 36
The heavy silence that had settled while I was unable to say anything was broken when Kwon Dojin’s phone rang. He paid no attention to his persistently ringing phone, focusing instead on rubbing his cheek against my palm.
“Aren’t you going to answer your phone?”
“It’s probably spam.”
“For spam, it’s already come twice…”
Before I could finish speaking, the second call ended and a third one came through. At this point, both Dojin ignoring the calls and whoever kept calling seemed equally impressive.
As I kept getting distracted by the ringtone, he sighed and took out his phone. After checking the caller, he frowned.
“Who is it that’s making you react like that?”
“Baek Han.”
“When did you two exchange phone numbers?”
It was surprising enough that Baek Han was calling Dojin, but even more surprising that they had each other’s numbers in the first place. They’d been like sworn enemies, desperate to take each other down, so when did they get so close?
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s not like that.”
“…You two aren’t friends? But you know each other’s phone numbers.”
“We have them because of the ranking issue.”
With a definitive tone that they would never become friends, Dojin reluctantly pressed the answer button.
[You took forever to answer! Hey, you were ignoring me on purpose, weren’t you!]
“If you know that, why don’t you try not calling?”
[This bastard is being difficult even when I’m trying to tell him something good.]
Intrigued by the mention of “something good,” I put my ear close to the phone, and Dojin bent slightly to accommodate me. I was tempted to ask him to put it on speaker, but I held back thinking he might find it embarrassing.
“Say it quickly. I don’t have time to talk with you.”
[This guy really-.]
I grabbed Dojin’s arm and pressed it firmly as he kept provoking Baek Han. He glanced at me, clicked his tongue once, and then closed his mouth.
“So what’s the good thing?”
[…Who are you to be together with Kwon Dojin?]
When I spoke instead of Dojin, Baek Han’s bewildered voice came back. It was actually more confusing for me when Baek Han, who had referred to Dojin as my “sticky note,” questioned why I was with Dojin.
“Is there a problem with me being with Habin?”
[I heard Lee Habin was locked in the gym storage room, so I naturally assumed you two were apart.]
At those words, Dojin frowned. I averted my gaze from his rather intimidating expression.
“How did you know that?”
[They spilled everything when I told them to plant their heads in the ground.]
“So they really did fight on purpose.”
Hah, Dojin exhaled in disbelief and swept his hair back. Glancing at him from the corner of my eye, his irritated expression still felt awkward to me, so I looked at the ground and tapped my foot on the floor.
[That’s right. Anyway, it’s good that you found Lee Habin.]
Baek Han stated his business and immediately hung up. Dojin didn’t seem to want a long conversation with him either, as he pocketed his phone without any lingering attachment.
He closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath to compose himself. Then, slowly opening his eyes, he looked at me with a gaze full of apology.
“I’ll handle this matter.”
“I don’t really care about that, but what about my attendance?”
Thanks to having slept comfortably, my fatigue was gone, so I didn’t particularly feel like seeking revenge. What concerned me more was my attendance. I had actually prepared for it, but I thought Dojin might be able to resolve it more easily.
“Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”
“It won’t be marked as an absence due to illness, right?”
“I meant your attendance for the fourth period will be recognized, so don’t worry.”
His voice was filled with certainty. Although his hand stroking my hair was a bit annoying, I could let it slide since he was taking care of the troublesome matters.
“Oh, I’ll send you a file anyway.”
“A file?”
“Yes. I actually recorded it.”
I took out my phone and sent the recording to Dojin. I couldn’t record the entire conversation with the class president from the beginning, but I recorded enough of the dialogue to clearly understand what happened.
“…Habin, you’re amazing.”
After playing the file I sent via text, Dojin laughed weakly. His reaction was different from what I expected, so I tilted my head and pulled at his clothes.
“What’s wrong?”
“I was thinking it might be more comfortable for Habin if I wasn’t around.”
I was stunned seeing Dojin with such a self-deprecating look. Certainly, such incidents would decrease, so it would be more comfortable, but-
“I’d have no one to hang out with if you weren’t around.”
Then I’d feel a bit lonely, which I don’t like. In the past, I was so focused on studying that I never felt such emotions. But now, with the knowledge I’ve already accumulated, I have relatively more free time, so I feel bored.
“…Habin-ah, don’t you have friends?”
“Saying something like that would make me feel really good, right?”
I clenched my teeth at Dojin’s words, which not only hit a sore spot but dug into it. Since no one was around, I wondered if I could throw a punch and raised my fist.
“It’s almost lunchtime, shall we go eat?”
“You really-“
Dojin avoided my gaze with a somewhat awkward smile. I sighed and touched my forehead, and he watched my reaction cautiously.
“Be thankful you have a handsome face.”
“Shall we leave here?”
Dojin, who amazingly sensed I wasn’t planning to get angry, carefully extended his arm and took my hand. When I didn’t shake it off, he gently pulled me with a bit more strength. I followed, pretending to yield to his force, and he displayed a faint smile.
“Let me carry your things.”
“Sure, then.”
Without hesitation, I immediately handed my belongings to him. They weren’t heavy, but the blanket was bulky and had been bothering me.
“Are we going straight to the cafeteria?”
“It’s almost lunchtime anyway.”
“What about Baek Han?”
I was concerned since we always ate together as a trio. However, Dojin didn’t seem to care, as he frowned as soon as I mentioned Baek Han’s name.
“Don’t worry about him, he’ll eat on his own.”
“Both you and Baek Han seem too harsh to each other.”
“I already have my hands full just paying attention to Habin?”
I easily ignored his words as he naturally clung to me and whispered in my ear. By now I knew that if I reacted, he would continue endlessly. When I didn’t respond and just kept walking, I could feel Dojin watching me nervously. Somehow finding this amusing, I tried hard to suppress my laughter.
“Habin-ah…?”
“What?”
When I responded to his timid call, his gloomy face immediately brightened. Maybe I was getting used to Dojin, but he was surprisingly easy to read.
“Should I call Baek Han?”
I could strongly sense his dislike from his subtly stiff brow and slightly trembling voice. Seeing that face, I finally burst into the laughter I had been holding back.
“Why are you so concerned? Let’s just go, Baek Han will probably come soon since it’s almost lunchtime.”
Since I tend to eat slowly, it wouldn’t matter if Baek Han came late. I patted Dojin’s somewhat stiff arm and urged him to keep walking. He exhaled in relief and closed the distance that had formed between us.
“I think Habin is too kind.”
“Me?”
I couldn’t help but scoff at such a ridiculous statement. As I pointed at my chest with my index finger and questioned him, Dojin nodded seriously. He must really think so.
“You’re even concerned about Baek Han. He’ll manage just fine on his own.”
“He’s a friend. Isn’t it normal to be concerned to this extent?”
Nngh, Dojin made a pained sound and casually hung on my shoulder. I led him, who skillfully clung to me even while carrying luggage, and opened the cafeteria door.
“Is it greedy to ask you to only pay attention to me?”
“I’m already paying plenty of attention to you. You’re the only person I’ve ever cared about this much.”
Nineteen years, no, it would be more accurate to say seventeen years now? Anyway, in that short life, I had never been as interested in someone as I was in Kwon Dojin. I had maintained appropriate relationships with appropriate people and focused on my studies.
As I reflected on the past and nodded my head a couple of times with conviction, Dojin hugged me tightly. He applied such strong force to his arms, preventing me from moving at all, that I had to lean my head back and rest the back of my head on his shoulder.
“It really seems like foxes are a separate category…”
“Okay, I understand, so can we get our lunch now?”
Thanks to Dojin confidently hugging me inside the cafeteria without any hesitation, the few gazes in the room turned toward us. Especially feeling the intense stares from the cooks, I raised my arm and placed my hand on his cheek. It was my way of urging him, but Dojin, not understanding my intention, happily rubbed his cheek against my palm.
“These guys have no sense of time and place. Get out of the way instead of blocking the path unnecessarily?”
A familiar and consistently unruly voice came from behind. Still being embraced, I couldn’t see Baek Han, but I raised my arm to greet him instead.
“Why are you here so early?”
“I found out everything I needed to know, so I had some awkward free time and came to eat, why?”
Dojin, who had released his arms from around me, turned to look at Baek Han with a slanted posture. Sensing they were about to argue again, I decided to simply ignore them and went to get my lunch. Dojin and Baek Han, as if it were natural, followed behind me while continuing their argument.
“You just let them go?”
“Who was it that went as a mediator and said not to hurt them?”
“If you’re going to argue, do it outside, not in front of the side dishes.”
It’s not polite to make noise while getting food. They must have thought so too, as they fortunately kept their mouths shut. Thanks to that, it was peaceful while getting the food, but as soon as we sat down, it became noisy again.
“You write the incident report this time.”
“Of course I’m going to write it. Do you know what would happen if I left it to you?”
“You speak so nicely.”
Using their voices as background music, I picked up my spoon and took a spoonful of soup. Perhaps because it had been a while since I’d eaten seaweed soup, it tasted even better. After thoroughly chewing and swallowing the seaweed, I alternately looked at the two who were busy talking without even picking up their spoons.
“By the way, when did you put my stuff here?”
“Hm? Ah-, I put it down before we got our food.”
“How can you be curious about that in this situation?”
“Your arguments aren’t new. If I paid attention to each one, I’d lose my mind.”
Having satisfied my curiosity, I answered Baek Han’s question casually and concentrated on eating my lunch.
“Was it that bad?”
Dojin blinked a couple of times and then stroked the back of my hand with an apologetic look. Since I still had food in my mouth and couldn’t answer, I flipped the hand he was patting and held his hand instead.
“If you don’t want to get closer through such means, how about reducing the arguments?”
After swallowing my food, I spoke, and both Baek Han, who had an unwilling expression, and Dojin nodded. I don’t know how long this commitment will last, but it seemed like it would be peaceful for a while, so I smiled with satisfaction.
