Chapter 7
“You really pay attention in class.”
Can’t I just zone out instead?
I kept that thought to myself as I responded. Kwon Dojin snickered like he’d heard something absurd, then stated what he considered an obvious truth.
“We’re students.”
So we should pay attention in class.
It was absolutely correct, but hearing it from the mouth of the universally acknowledged number two ranker felt somewhat ridiculous. More precisely, it was unexpected.
Kwon Dojin was a student, but he was also one of the Four Heavenly Kings. This unofficial title could be described as a delinquent student, or in other words, a school bully.
Haven’t countless stories portrayed such characters as neglecting their studies? Yet this Kwon Dojin was unnecessarily devoted to his duties as a student. He was so diligent that in the month since school started, he hadn’t missed a single day and never even dozed off during class.
Meanwhile, I’d dozed off a bit during history class because it was boring…
Feeling somewhat embarrassed at the memory, I cleared my throat. Meanwhile, the PE teacher roughly counted heads with his finger, then waved his arms, telling us to do whatever we wanted.
At that signal, the so-called popular group from our class approached Dojin. More precisely, those who belonged to the hierarchy.
“Dojin-nim, we’re playing basketball. Would you like to join us?”
Wait, is this for real?
I naturally took two steps back and looked off into the distance. That invitation was directed at Dojin, not me, so it didn’t matter what I did.
“Sure.”
It’s just a simple conversation, so why do I feel so much secondhand embarrassment?
I immediately found the answer to the question occupying my mind. It was the atmosphere surrounding us and their way of speaking. Feeling dizzy from the situation, I touched my forehead and took another step back.
I wished Dojin would hurry up and go play basketball. That way, I could be alone. Plus, I wouldn’t have to witness this cringey scene.
“Where are you going, Habin?”
Another step back. My plan to gradually distance myself crumbled when Dojin suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him.
“Huh? What?”
“You should join us too.”
With a deep smile on his face, he pulled my arm again, dragging me along. The careful distance I’d created was closed in an instant, and I ended up even closer to Dojin than before.
“You don’t want to play?”
“…I’m not good at basketball, so I think it’s better if I don’t.”
And I don’t like moving around either.
I muttered while subtly avoiding Dojin’s eyes. Besides, the people who had invited Dojin to play basketball numbered nine at a glance. Basketball is played with teams of five against five, which meant there was only one spot left.
And that spot would naturally belong to Dojin, not me.
“Really? Is that really the reason?”
Again with this.
He naturally cupped my cheek and subtly lowered his face, bringing our foreheads close enough to nearly touch. I tried to pull away slightly, but Dojin’s hand on my back prevented me from retreating.
“Habin, hmm?”
“…Yeah. I really don’t like basketball that much.”
“Then what sport do you like?”
“None.”
I could say this with complete confidence. How could I—someone who preferred sitting to standing and lying down to sitting—possibly like sports?
At my honest and straightforward answer, Dojin finally stepped back. As his persistent questioning ended, I sighed with relief and turned around without hesitation, quickly claiming a corner of the gym.
Ugh, that gave me goosebumps. Seriously, why is he acting like that?
I vigorously rubbed my arms with my palms as if brushing away the chills. I couldn’t understand what Dojin was thinking, treating me like this.
“It’s not like he’s trying to seduce me.”
As I reflexively muttered this, I felt like I might have actually hit the mark, but then dismissed it as my imagination. What would he gain from doing something like that?
“He just wants to torment me to death.”
Yes, exactly. What other reason could there be? I wasn’t exceptionally handsome like him, the type where people might say he has a glow about him. Nor was I incredibly good at fighting, creating situations where someone like him would say “I’ve never met anyone like you before.” I hadn’t even let him see me fight.
I wanted to grab Dojin by the collar and demand to know what his problem was, but I couldn’t. Dojin was scary, but more than that—
“Hey, Lee Habin.”
Lost in thought with my head against a pillar, I looked up at the wary voice I was hearing for the third time. The protective shield that was Kwon Dojin, which had lasted about two weeks, had completely vanished as we entered the third week.
More precisely, people had started to carefully and secretly reach out when Dojin wasn’t looking. It seemed that incidents of bullying someone who received attention from one of the Four Heavenly Kings, out of jealousy and envy, had begun to occur.
“What is it?”
I put on a friendly smile. The three people who had been glaring at me with irritated expressions suddenly flinched. They briefly lost focus, then returned to their sharp gazes with determined looks, which I calmly observed.
“What’s your relationship with Dojin-nim?”
“What do you mean by relationship?”
If being unilaterally tormented can be defined as a ‘relationship,’ then I guess that’s what it is.
“Why is Dojin-nim treating you so familiarly when you’re a nobody!”
Their sudden shouting startled me, and I flinched. Pressing down on my pounding heart to calm myself, I deliberately lowered my eyes.
‘What should I do?’
The previous two times, Dojin had appeared at just the right moment and whisked me away. That resulted in me receiving even more intense stares, but I had no complaints since it was comfortable at the time.
The answer to avoid further hostility—
‘I can’t think of anything.’
My life had been so peaceful, to the point of being boring, that I couldn’t easily come up with ways to handle situations like this. My mind was spinning. How should I really deal with this? I had no idea.
“Do you think we’ll back off just because you look so pitiful, huh?!”
What? What’s that supposed to mean? I tilted my head at the incomprehensible words. Pitiful? Who? Me?
“Ah, shit! I can’t do this. You try!”
“How am I supposed to do it if you can’t?”
“Then you do it!”
“I don’t want to either!”
I just blinked as I watched the three argue among themselves. Why were they fighting in front of me? It was awkward to intervene, especially since I didn’t even know why they were fighting in the first place.
Still, their voices were getting louder and starting to attract attention from others, so I timidly reached out my hand.
“Excuse me—”
“What!”
All three turned to me and shouted simultaneously, startling me again and making my shoulders jump. My heart began to pound even harder, and I pressed down on my chest.
“Please don’t fight, okay?”
“…This is driving me crazy.”
“Damn, I feel so pathetic.”
I fidgeted with my hands as I watched them mutter while holding their foreheads. If they weren’t going to do anything, I wished they’d just leave. The already uncomfortable attention was becoming more blatant and incredibly burdensome.
“Haah—”
It was a familiar sigh. I gasped when I spotted Kwon Dojin standing behind the three with a somewhat thuggish posture.
“Do-Dojin-nim!”
“What are you doing here?”
The three froze and couldn’t say anything in response to Dojin’s question, which he asked with his habitual smile and slightly tilted head. Naturally, Dojin shifted his gaze from them to me.
Receiving his gaze, I blinked rapidly before slowly parting my lips. There was only one answer I could give here.
“They wanted to hang out together.”
“Hang out together?”
He raised an eyebrow as if to ask whether I really expected him to believe that. In response to Dojin’s reaction, I pressed my lips together, unsure what to add.
“You guys tell me.”
“What?! Well, he was alone, so we were concerned…”
I mentally applauded the apparent leader of the three who, despite stumbling over his words, managed to complete his sentence. Then I interjected at just the right moment.
“What about your basketball game?”
“…I was taking a break.”
As if my answer wasn’t what he wanted to hear, Dojin maintained his smile despite clearly showing his displeasure. He pushed past the three and sat down next to me. I pressed myself against the wall, resting my head there to avoid Dojin, who deliberately—very deliberately—sat close beside me.
“Then we’ll be going now.”
After hastily saying goodbye, I gave a slight wave to the three as they scattered, then closed my eyes. I was tired, so incredibly tired.
“Habin.”
“…What?”
“Nothing to say?”
“Not really.”
Answering immediately, I pressed myself even closer to the wall. Feeling sleepiness creeping in, I sought a more comfortable position. Ignoring the rustling sound beside me, I let out a small yawn.
About 15 minutes had passed since PE class began. With class periods being 50 minutes long, I could probably sleep for at least 30 minutes. Considering that the next class was math, it would be better to sleep now.
Just as I was about to surrender to drowsiness, following the conclusion I’d calmly reached with an already hazy mind, my arm was grabbed and I was pulled along. Caught off guard, I fell forward in the direction of the pull and looked around with bewildered eyes.
“Habin.”
“You—”
“Why won’t you talk to me?”
It’s the easiest way, you know.
Dojin, who had forcibly placed my head on his lap, stroked my hair. I just rolled my eyes at the sensation of his large, firm hand ruffling through my hair.
“What’s the easiest way?”
“Are you pretending not to know?”
I just closed my eyes at Dojin’s words. If it’s pretending not to know, then yes, that’s what I was doing. But contrary to what Dojin said, it wasn’t a clever strategy. Rather, it would only increase the hostility toward me.
I was still in the first semester of my first year, with many semesters left ahead. When we moved up a grade, the classes would shuffle, and there was no guarantee I’d be in the same class as Dojin then. So there was absolutely nothing to gain from building up hostility now.
“Well, I really don’t know.”
I answered with a sigh, swallowing the words that it would be much easier if he just stopped behaving this way.
