# Chapter 66
In this world, the word “absolute” was damn hard to establish. In short, I failed to resist.
As punishment for having these two damned enemies on either side of me, I ended up leaving school wearing an angel concept outfit. Kwon Dojin and Baek Han stood right next to me, each grabbing one of my arms, and proudly walked through the school gate while carrying me as I sat down in refusal to go.
Despite them carrying me together, my pride was hurt by how easily they lifted me up even though I was desperately resisting. Dangling between them as they dragged me along, I eventually gave up and walked on my own due to embarrassment.
If only Baek Han and Kwon Dojin hadn’t suddenly lifted me up, I would have changed my clothes before coming out. They really worked well together only at times like this.
“Damn bastards.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
I wanted to punch both Baek Han, who retorted shamelessly, and Kwon Dojin, who was grinning with a face as bright as if someone had turned on a light. They were equally annoying.
“I’ll buy you something delicious. So cheer up, okay?”
“Do I look like a simple person who can be won over with something like that?”
“Maybe a little.”
“Hey!”
Unable to contain the anger that surged up, I shouted, and Baek Han shrugged his shoulders and walked ahead of us. As I was glaring at him, wondering what to do with him, Kwon Dojin comforted me.
“Everyone knows Habin isn’t such a simple person.”
He put his arm around my shoulders and rested his cheek on the top of my head. While I was impressed by his skillful technique of leaning on me while avoiding the headband, I couldn’t help but raise my eyebrows as I felt the height difference between Kwon Dojin and me. But since it wasn’t worth getting angry about, I just sighed.
“…I’m going to take off this halo.”
“Okay. Want me to hold it?”
“What do you mean hold it? I’m throwing it in the trash can as soon as I see one.”
I caught a glimpse of Kwon Dojin looking disappointed, but this much was enough. I’d worn it for nearly 3 hours already, what more did he want? I took it off myself and clutched it tightly in my hand, thinking that if he held onto it, I probably wouldn’t be able to throw it away.
“Hey, we’re here.”
Baek Han, who had been walking ahead, turned around and gestured toward us. I was briefly relieved that it was really close to school as he’d said, but then I felt deflated thinking that everyone who needed to see me had already seen me, so what difference did it make?
“So what kind of place is this anyway?”
“Braised cutlassfish.”
“Sounds delicious.”
Yeah, braised cutlassfish is good. It’s also easy to remove the bones.
Kwon Dojin seemed satisfied with the menu too, as he entered the restaurant without any further comment. The place must have been popular, as it was already crowded even though it wasn’t even noon yet.
Still, there were seats available so we could sit down without waiting. Since we had practically come to eat braised cutlassfish, and Baek Han had ordered without hesitation, there wasn’t much to think about.
“Isn’t there a trash can around? I want to throw this away.”
“You’re finally getting rid of it? There should be a trash can under the table. But why not keep it? It’ll be funny to look at later.”
“Are you really going to throw it away? Isn’t it a waste?”
I really couldn’t understand why both Baek Han and Kwon Dojin were making such a fuss about this headband. It was frustrating. As I sat there with my expression all scrunched up, the door opened with a cheerful bell sound, and a familiar voice was heard.
“Hyun and Haecheon are both too quiet. Isn’t there anyone around for Ji Yu to talk to?”
The way the voice dragged out the ending of the sentences with aegyo was distinctive enough that I could tell who was speaking just by listening casually. What I mean is, I would have noticed even if he hadn’t mentioned his own name.
“Ah, shit.”
“Isn’t Haeseon Commercial High close by?”
Baek Han scrunched up his face in irritation and ran his hand through his hair. I also couldn’t understand why they were showing up here, and I urgently asked Kwon Dojin while tugging on his clothes, but there wasn’t time to hear his answer.
“Oh? Han-ah! Then are those two Dojin and Habin?”
I put my hand on my forehead at the sound of Ahn Ji Yu’s voice right behind us. Why on earth were they here?
“Your school is far from here, so why did you come?”
Baek Han’s snarky attitude had never been so welcome. I silently prayed that he would treat them even more rudely.
“Well, I heard the food here is good! Hyun likes braised cutlassfish!”
I wanted to give a hard knock on the top of Ahn Ji Yu’s cheerful head. When Baek Han clicked his tongue and gave up dealing with Ahn Ji Yu, Kwon Dojin took over.
“Ji Yu, what about classes?”
“Hmm. What can I do if school is boring?”
He whined and sat down at our table as if it were the most natural thing. As Ahn Ji Yu sat down, Sunwoo Hyun followed suit, and finally, Ji Haecheon, who had expressed his discomfort by raising his eyebrows, also sat down.
“How about going back to school now—”
“Your order is ready.”
The timing, seriously!
If it hadn’t come out yet, I could have asked for takeout, but now we’d definitely have to eat and go. As I clutched Kwon Dojin’s shoulder and silently lamented, Sunwoo Hyun, rarely one to speak, opened his mouth.
“Those clothes.”
“Oh? That’s right! How did Habin end up wearing clothes like that?”
At their remarks, I finally remembered that my outfit was drawing attention in many ways, unlike my usual style. Feeling both embarrassed and self-conscious, I turned my head and put my hand on my forehead to escape reality.
And at this moment, my resentment toward Kwon Dojin and Baek Han grew stronger. If only these damn guys had given me time to change clothes, it would have been less embarrassing.
“It’s sports day today.”
“Ah! I heard there was a big commotion about Dojin and Han facing off, so that was today!”
Before Ahn Ji Yu could finish speaking, a snort of derision was heard. Hearing that sound, I was already tired of it. What kind of reaction was he trying to show by sneering like that?
“Making a fuss over such a trivial matter.”
“If someone heard you, they’d think we were the ones making a fuss.”
“Being revered for playing such a boring game—”
“Didn’t you come to eat? How about ordering at another table instead of being a nuisance?”
Setting aside those trying to engage in unnecessary nerve battles, I was very concerned about the braised cutlassfish in front of me. It was still steaming hot, but it was obvious that it would cool down while waiting for the argument to end.
Since I wanted to taste the warm cutlassfish and the soft radish soaked in seasoning, I showed a somewhat irritated attitude. I regretted it immediately after speaking, but then felt relieved when I realized that nobody here cared anyway.
Above all, I disliked people picking fights over trivial things. Plus, I couldn’t understand why they kept fighting with food in front of them, both last time and this time.
I deliberately fixed my gaze on the table and set up my utensils. Whether they left or not, I was planning to ignore them and just eat. Baek Han looked at me strangely, but Kwon Dojin, already familiar with this attitude of mine, grabbed his utensils following my lead.
“Hmm, so Habin has this kind of personality.”
“Ahn Ji Yu.”
When Ji Haecheon irritably called Ahn Ji Yu, he pretended not to notice and hummed a tune. Regardless of their reactions, I didn’t feel the need to engage, so I just glanced at them once. As I picked up my chopsticks to remove the bones from the cutlassfish on my plate, Kwon Dojin moved first.
“…There’s plenty in that pot, you know?”
“I’m removing the bones for you.”
Oh, so that’s what he was doing.
I thought Kwon Dojin was coveting my portion. Even though I clearly knew that wasn’t his personality, I couldn’t help but misunderstand momentarily.
Meanwhile, Sunwoo Hyun got up from his seat, taking Ahn Ji Yu with him. It seemed they were going to either move to another table or leave the restaurant, which I liked.
“I’d like to see you after school today.”
Kwon Dojin’s hand, which had been neatly removing bones, stopped. I, who had been looking at the cutlassfish covered in bright red seasoning, also raised my gaze to look at Ji Haecheon. Only the remaining three of us were left out, not knowing what was going on.
“…Okay.”
At the delayed response, Ji Haecheon showed a satisfied smile. Contrary to him, Kwon Dojin sighed. It was remarkable how he kept removing the fish bones even in the midst of all this.
With that, the uninvited group disappeared to a distant table. Baek Han stared intently at their backs and only picked up his utensils after they had settled in their seats.
“I’ve removed all the bones. You can eat now.”
“Okay. I’ll enjoy it.”
“Why are you so calm? Lee Habin, why are you meeting Ji Haecheon?”
“Weren’t we eating? You picked up your chopsticks, so I thought that’s what we were doing.”
“We might be eating, but we can still talk while removing bones.”
It was a reasonable point, so I found myself nodding without realizing it. Kwon Dojin spoke up on my behalf as he fished out his portion of cutlassfish.
“I received help from Ji Haecheon before, and in return, he asked to meet once more.”
“Why bother? What are you going to do when you meet?”
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be this concerned.”
As if newly angered, Kwon Dojin tightly gripped the chopsticks in his hand. He was squeezing so hard that his skin turned white, so I covered his hand and gently shook it.
At that, Kwon Dojin relaxed his hand and sighed again. Worried that the ground might collapse at this rate, I put a sweet piece of radish and a well-deboned piece of cutlassfish on his rice bowl.
“So, Lee Habin, are you meeting him alone?”
“No? Of course I included Kwon Dojin. What kind of guts would I need to meet that guy alone?”
“Sometimes when I look at you, you seem to have lost your sense of fear. If you’d said you were going to meet him alone, I would have accepted it.”
Where in the world would you find a coward like me that he’d say such things? Deciding to gracefully ignore such nonsense, I finally ate a piece of cutlassfish.
“…It’s spicy.”
“Is it? I think it’s just right and delicious.”
It was indeed delicious, but it was a kind of spiciness that would make your tongue sore if you kept eating it. As I swallowed with a subtle expression, a glass filled with water was placed in front of me.
“Shall I order a soft drink?”
“It’s not that bad.”
“More importantly, shouldn’t we be thinking about how Ji Haecheon is going to approach this?”
While there was nothing wrong with what he said, it also seemed like a pointless action.
“I don’t know what kind of person Ji Haecheon is, and even if I did know, I can’t avoid meeting him. I don’t want to rack my brains worrying about such things.”
“I really can’t tell if you’re truly bold or not.”
Even with Baek Han sticking out his tongue, my thoughts remained unchanged. I was, without a doubt, a coward.
