# Chapter 76
A strange letter is a strange letter, studying is studying. And being thirsty is being thirsty.
I headed to the vending machine area with my wallet in hand. Since students had just started arriving at school, there weren’t many people around the school store. Nevertheless, I could feel occasional glances in my direction, which made me chuckle wryly.
Since it had come to this, I decided to think of it as experiencing the kind of attention that Kwon Dojin and Baek Han received. Although it was clearly a different kind of attention, it’s better to think positively to reduce stress.
Standing in front of the vending machine, I repeatedly deliberated between my usual ionic drink and a carbonated one to wake me up. Tapping the floor with my foot, I intensified my deliberation until I finally made a decision and got a drink.
After the loud clanking noise stopped, I took out the drink and turned around only to find a familiar face standing right in front of me, causing my eyes to widen.
“Carbonated drink first thing in the morning?”
“Baek Han? Why are you here?”
“I came to buy a drink, why else would I be here?”
As Baek Han finished speaking, he waved his arms precisely twice, which reflexively made me step aside. He passed by me, immediately got his drink, and half-turned.
“You’re going to the classroom, right?”
“Y-yeah, I am.”
“Let’s go.”
After being momentarily stunned, I followed behind Baek Han who had already started walking, and he subtly slowed his pace. Thanks to that, I was able to walk beside him without much effort.
“Where did you ditch your barnacle?”
“You’re the only one who calls Kwon Dojin my barnacle.”
“So where is he?”
“He probably hasn’t come to school yet?”
“Ah, so that’s it.”
As I was just fiddling with my carbonated drink, not confident enough to drink it while walking, I heard a clicking sound of a can being opened beside me. Looking up at the sound, I saw Baek Han with the can at his lips, glancing around slightly.
His already sharp eyes had become even more keen. Perhaps because the can covered his mouth, it wasn’t too noticeable, but being next to him, I could vaguely see his eyeballs moving.
Following Baek Han’s lead, I discreetly rolled my eyes to glance at his face. Truly, it struck me once again that Baek Han was also insanely handsome.
It’s just that Kwon Dojin’s appearance was purely closer to my preference. Even now, with such a scary expression on his face, the fact that his looks caught my eye meant—no. Maybe it’s just that I’ve become used to Baek Han and can look at him without fear.
Anyway, thinking about it, Kwon Dojin and Baek Han’s appearances were at celebrity level, so I could understand why students went crazy over them. Even someone moderately good-looking would be popular, but being at the level of managed celebrities? Well. That’s game over.
With these indifferent thoughts, I just stared at him intently, planning to heal my mood, which had sunk because of the letter, with Baek Han’s handsome face. Come to think of it, there was no reason for me to steal glances at Baek Han’s face like a thief.
Ah, our eyes met.
“What?”
The slightly tilted can straightened up. Baek Han, who had lowered his arm while holding the top of the can, jerked his chin.
“Nothing, I was just thinking how well you can drink while walking.”
“So lame.”
He chuckled and tousled my hair. Having become accustomed to this over the past three months, I quietly used my fingers to fix my disheveled hair. At first, I used to complain each time, but now it was more tiring to do so.
“It’ll be noisy again.”
“What will?”
While I was still fixing my hair, I heard a low murmur beside me and looked at Baek Han.
“It’s time for the prince on a white horse to step in.”
My brow furrowed involuntarily at these incomprehensible words. Plus, a prince on a white horse? Though he didn’t show it usually, did he like fantasy-filled characters?
“Did you like fairy tales?”
“No, I didn’t. Get rid of that disrespectful look.”
If it’s no, then it’s no, there’s no need to glare.
I turned my head away from Baek Han’s gaze and grumbled. Baek Han let out a huff as if exasperated and this time pressed down on my head with his palm.
My newly fixed hair got messed up again, and I made a pitiful face as I stepped a couple paces ahead to avoid his hand. I half-turned and glared at him with full displeasure, but Baek Han remained as confident as ever, which was so typical of him that it made me laugh wryly.
* * *
God still exists. No, doesn’t he?
From the perspective that my small wish came true, one could say God exists, but from the perspective that I was suddenly dropped into this damned world and He still doesn’t know of my existence, God doesn’t exist.
Ah, let’s not think about it. Whenever I think about suddenly being in a different world, it only complicates my feelings and makes me angry, so I barely managed to get over it. What’s important is that the bullying I’ve experienced so far hasn’t deviated from the standard school hierarchy manhwa tropes.
Flipping through the textbook that was tattered with graffiti and knife marks, I wondered what kind of bullying would come next. Anyway, the Korean language textbook I was flipping through wasn’t necessary, so there was no real damage.
This was a spare copy I’d gotten from the teacher to have a clean textbook during exam period. Of course, I didn’t ask for it myself; I poked Kwon Dojin in the side to get it for me as a celebration of becoming somewhat closer to him.
Thanks to that, I got very easily what I had struggled to obtain in my previous world. Thinking about it now made me feel newly satisfied. It was the first time I was glad to be on friendly terms with Kwon Dojin.
While it’s not like I wasn’t annoyed at the thought of not having a clean textbook during the final exam period, it was much better than having my notebook filled with notes get damaged, so it was fine.
Besides, I deliberately left it in my drawer as a sacrificial lamb. All the truly important items were stored in my locker with a lock on it, without exception.
I know that it would be best to get through without suffering anything at all. But if I keep avoiding everything, the other party might get so worked up that there’s no telling what they might do. So I needed to pretend to be suffering a bit.
In that sense, I sighed, paying my respects to the clean textbook that had only had crease marks but became tattered while I was briefly in the bathroom.
As if waiting for my reaction, I heard snickering from somewhere. As a bonus, there was whispering while glancing at me. When I looked around at such blatant behavior, they all hastily avoided my gaze, unable to hide their awkward expressions, as if they didn’t want to be specifically identified.
“H-have you seen Ji Yu-nim’s casual clothes photo that was uploaded this time? As expected, since he’s a spring warm-toned light, pale tone colors suit him well.”
“…What are you talking about? Ji Yu-nim’s personal color is summer cool-toned light! Can you even call yourself Ji Yu-nim’s fan after saying that?!”
“Ah, no, that’s-. Wait-!”
“If you don’t know, memorize it! Ji Yu-nim is a summer cool light!”
I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief as I watched someone who had hastily changed the topic to avoid my gaze get grabbed by the collar, their voice cracking. How did Ahn Ji Yu’s personal color become public knowledge in the first place?
Ignoring the comic situation where someone was getting a special lecture about Ahn Ji Yu’s personal color for one wrong statement, I turned my attention back to the textbook. Regardless of what they were saying, I was curious about how many people had participated in turning a neat textbook into a mess in about 5 minutes.
Since Kwon Dojin was also away with Baek Han due to hierarchy business, they seemed to have proceeded quickly, so maybe more people had been involved than I thought.
Before, Kwon Dojin had unilaterally stuck to me, but the moment I sensed bullying, I started sticking to Kwon Dojin. Kwon Dojin, who was delighted by this, stuck to me even more, and as a result, the gaps that were somewhat visible before were now as rare as finding a needle in a desert.
So those who wanted to bully me but couldn’t let Kwon Dojin find out couldn’t miss an opportunity like today.
I get it, I understand it logically.
“This is annoying…”
The words left my mouth without me realizing it. Surprised by my own action, I bit my lower lip slightly. And then I realized: I was much angrier than I thought.
Well, how could I easily let it go? No matter how much I told myself it was something I could do without, how could I truly be okay with something that someone else damaged, not something I damaged myself? Besides, it was aggravating that they had specifically targeted the time when Kwon Dojin wasn’t around.
If they’re afraid of being caught by Kwon Dojin, then they shouldn’t have started in the first place. Why act so sneakily?
I collapsed onto my desk, pressing my forehead against it. I rubbed my forehead against the relatively cool desk and exhaled deeply to calm the anger inside me.
As I was struggling not to show my feelings, I felt a hand stroking my hair and looked up.
“Tired again?”
“What do you mean ‘again’?”
“Habin often feels sleepy and tired, so I thought that was the case this time too, but it’s not?”
“Not this time.”
I was momentarily at a loss for words since I had often shown Kwon Dojin that I was sleeping or tired. But this time, it really wasn’t that.
“Then?”
“The harsh reality—no. Let’s just say I’m tired.”
In a half-risen position, I closed the open textbook. It seemed better to hide it for now, not knowing how Kwon Dojin would react if he saw it. If I were to tell him, it would be better to do so when we were alone.
“So, did things wrap up well?”
“It’s not over yet, but I think it will be by the end of the day.”
“Then I should head straight home after school.”
“I wanted to study with Habin…”
Thanks to Kwon Dojin who clung to me while groaning, my body tilted towards the window. I quickly steadied myself by grabbing the desk and looked down at Kwon Dojin, who was rubbing his cheek against my shoulder.
“We studied together yesterday too.”
“I want to spend every day together.”
“I see. Unfortunately, I’m a human who also needs time alone.”
“That’s so cruel.”
Kwon Dojin laughed despite his words. Following him, I chuckled too. As I exchanged meaningless conversation with him, my irritation subsided, and I decided to let go of the incident with the damaged textbook.
It’s already happened, so there’s nothing I can do about it.
