How to Escape the Seduction of the Second-Ranked 48

# Chapter 48

Suddenly becoming a “son of a bitch,” Baek Han went wild and glared at Kwon Dojin as if he was about to devour someone. Even though his gaze wasn’t directed at me, his eyes were so fierce that I unconsciously hid behind Kwon Dojin to avoid Baek Han.

“You’re scaring Habin.”

“If we get to the bottom of it, you’re the root cause.”

The person who provoked Baek Han’s anger remained calm regardless of his reaction. His attitude was relaxed as if it had nothing to do with him. Knowing that such a reaction would only worsen Baek Han’s mood, I hurriedly raised my index finger and poked Kwon Dojin.

“What’s wrong?”

“Stop it, it’s scary.”

When I whispered, lowering my voice as much as possible, Kwon Dojin let out a groaning sound. After measuring something while looking back and forth between me and Baek Han, he let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry.”

A simple apology that no one expected echoed through the hallway. Baek Han raised his eyebrows at the attitude that changed as easily as flipping a palm, and I opened my lips in surprise at the action of readily offering an apology.

“You’re living like a tamed pet.”

Why does it end up like that?

Although I felt dissatisfied with Baek Han, who couldn’t get angrier due to Kwon Dojin’s apology and was just messing up his hair, I suppressed it. There was no need for me to step in and irritate Baek Han further.

“That’s because I like Habin that much.”

What is he saying now?

Despite the somewhat sarcastic meaning in the words, Kwon Dojin smiled nonchalantly. I squinted my eyes and looked at the two of them alternately, but no one paid attention to me.

Kwon Dojin and Baek Han held their own league without caring about the presence of other students who densely filled the hallway.

Seeing that, how should I put it-

“We look like attention seekers.”

“What?!”

“…Are you talking to me?”

Sincerity escaped my mouth without me realizing. I was startled and covered my mouth with both hands, but I couldn’t take back the words that had already left my mouth.

Receiving Kwon Dojin’s eyes that looked like they were about to burst into tears, Baek Han’s indignant gaze, plus the astonished looks from the numerous students in the hallway, I felt immensely burdened.

“…I didn’t say anything.”

I tried to choose my words carefully in my head, but it was a meaningless act. Even to me, it was a lame excuse, so after taking a step away from Kwon Dojin, I stared intently out the window where I could see the clear sky.

Why did I say such a thing and make the atmosphere awkward? I deeply regretted it.

“Habin-ah-.”

As Kwon Dojin called me with a sorrowful tone and clung to me, I neither pushed him away nor embraced him, placing my arms in an ambiguous position.

“Are you serious?”

“I didn’t say anything, so I don’t know what you mean.”

“Don’t you think it’s too late to say that?”

Baek Han cut in with a crooked posture. Even to me, it was too late to clean up the mess. After rolling my eyes around, I lowered my arms from their ambiguous position and wrapped them around Kwon Dojin.

“I’m joking, just joking.”

“Is it really a joke?”

“Of course, it’s a joke.”

“Bullshit.”

I sighed as I patted Kwon Dojin’s back while he whined. After the situation was settled, I realized that I had attracted a lot of attention in a different sense now.

* * *

As the sports festival approached, the class atmosphere rose like a balloon floating to the sky. With my chin resting on my hand, I watched the class president, who hadn’t shown up for a while since the gym storage incident, standing in front of the podium passionately talking about class T-shirts.

I wasn’t particularly interested in whether they matched the T-shirts or decided who would participate. Kwon Dojin seemed to feel the same way, resting his head on my shoulder with a bored expression.

“Are there any other opinions?”

The concepts that had been nominated were written on the blackboard. Additionally, example photos of the concepts were displayed on the TV screen, making it easy to view. As I rolled my eyes to scan everything, I found only themes that could be handled without difficulty.

“Hmm…”

Hearing a sound from right beside me, I felt somewhat ominous and looked at Kwon Dojin. He appeared to have developed an interest that wasn’t there before, so I extended my arm to stop him.

“I wonder if there’s an angel concept.”

“What are you suddenly talking about-“

“Look for the angel concept! Quickly!”

It was just a small murmur, but it seems they heard it. Well, when Kwon Dojin parted his lips, the entire class became as quiet as if a mouse had died, so there was nothing that couldn’t be heard.

With just one word from Kwon Dojin, all the content that had been discussed so far was completely discarded. The sight of the classmates even mobilizing their phones to search for the concept that Kwon Dojin mentioned seemed almost like a kind of madness.

Unable to adapt to the atmosphere that changed in an instant, I unconsciously shrunk my shoulders. Kwon Dojin, who had been leaning on my shoulder, propped himself up on the chair and brought his face close.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah-, it’s nothing.”

I pushed Kwon Dojin’s forehead with my index finger as he approached pressingly. Kwon Dojin, who was pushed back as I pushed, lit up his eyes at the sound of “Found it!” that erupted from a corner of the classroom.

“I’ll display it on the screen!”

Not long after receiving the link, the so-called angel concept class T-shirt was displayed on the TV screen.

“It’s cuter than I thought.”

It’s not cute at all when I think about students with sturdy builds wearing it.

I put my hand on my forehead while standing next to Kwon Dojin, who was carefully examining the clothes. On the back of the clothing, which looked like it belonged in Greek or Roman mythology, were attached wings. Moreover, it expressed an angel’s halo with a headband, making it the epitome of cumbersomeness.

“Do you think you can exercise wearing that?”

The thought of being noticed every time you walked around, not to mention standing out, made my head spin. With the intention of stopping him before Kwon Dojin could give a positive signal, I grabbed his shoulder.

Kwon Dojin, who clearly understood what I meant, took my hand on his shoulder and smiled, “Singgit.” The moment I faced his refreshing smile, an alarm went off in my head. This guy is definitely going to push through with it.

“As Habin said, let’s make active class T-shirts for those participating in events. I think it would be fine to have two concepts.”

I wondered if there was any meaning to class T-shirts then, but once Kwon Dojin said it, it was as good as confirmed. He knew better than anyone that it was only in the form of a suggestion.

“Yes! We’ll proceed as Dojin-nim said!”

As expected, without a single opposing opinion, it proceeded according to Kwon Dojin’s wishes. As the reality of having to wear a flashy class T-shirt in various senses approached, I buried my face in my palms.

The world is really tormenting me.

“Habin-ah, what are you doing this weekend?”

Kwon Dojin cheerfully asked, unaware of my troubled feelings. I lowered my hands that had been covering my face, took a deep breath, and calmed my heart.

“I promised to look after my uncle’s shop for a bit.”

“So I can’t see you?”

“Don’t you think we meet too often?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

Unnecessarily resolute. But since I thought we met too often, I decided to ignore it. If I were to meet Kwon Dojin this weekend too, I’d be too tired to live.

“Anyway, I can’t because I’m busy.”

“Then if I come to that shop-“

“Doesn’t it occur to you that it would be disruptive?”

Although Kwon Dojin was gloomy, he nodded. It seems even he thought it was an unreasonable move.

“But what kind of shop is it?”

“A pool hall. He asked me to organize some stuff.”

In truth, this was just an excuse to give me an allowance. It was an excuse following my uncle’s principle that money received after doing even minor work is more valuable than money given for no reason.

From my perspective, an allowance received without doing any work would have been better, but what could I do? It’s better to receive money after doing work that isn’t even that hard than not receiving any at all.

While I was organizing my thoughts alone, I lowered my head at the touch of a hand on my forearm. The behavior of fiddling seemed closer to confirming something rather than having ulterior motives, so I frowned.

“What are you doing?”

“Hmm-. I was wondering if our Habin has muscles.”

“…I have enough muscles to organize stuff.”

How casually rude.

I poked the back of Kwon Dojin’s hand, which was still holding my forearm, with my index finger. He laughed softly, finding it ticklish rather than painful, and obediently withdrew his hand.

“But Habin hates moving. Isn’t it natural to worry?”

“You know there’s nothing I can say when you put it like that, right?”

Kwon Dojin smiled brightly while making a flower bud shape with his hand. It was a burdensome posture for a 17-year-old high school student, but with his handsome face, anything suited him well. As always, the anger that had suddenly risen subsided, and I sighed.

It felt like I was too soft on Kwon Dojin, but he was equally weak for me too. It was difficult to deal with someone who objectively judged their own beauty and skillfully utilized it.

“I’ll miss Habin on the weekend, what should I do?”

Kwon Dojin whispered with a sad voice, his eyes lowered. It’s not like it’s a big deal if we don’t meet on the weekend, and we’ll see each other at school after just spending two nights apart, so I don’t understand why he’s acting like this.

“Endure it. Even couples probably don’t meet this often.”

“Then let’s be in a deeper relationship than lovers, how about it?”

Hup, I heard the sound of people around us inhaling sharply. Kwon Dojin’s words were that shocking.

“Are you crazy?”

The shock of the classmates deepened at my reflexive words, but there was no time to care about that.

“Isn’t it because you keep doing this that weird rumors spread?”

When I emphasized each syllable, Kwon Dojin pretended not to know. The sight of him blinking his large eyes and slightly nodding his head was quite cute- wait, no.

Realizing that I almost fell for his looks again, I shook my head vigorously. After clearing the fog in my mind, I glared at him.

“Then is it okay when there’s no one else around?”

I put my hand on my forehead at the question that went even further than what he had just said. The reactions from those around us, who not only inhaled sharply but seemed like they might faint from shock, made my head throb with pain.

I want to go home.