# Chapter 85
“Poppo.”
“Woof!”
“Hyung is talking right now. Stay still.”
Baek Han turned his palm towards the ground and slowly lowered his arm. In response, Poppo immediately sat down with his rear touching the ground and puffed out his chest proudly.
Though it was extremely cute, I suppressed my admiration while watching Baek Han and Ji Haecheon’s serious expressions. The atmosphere was such that no one would be allowed to gush, no matter who came.
“Ha. Now even a dog.”
Ji Haecheon, letting out a hollow laugh, glared at Poppo. Seemingly responding to the hostility, Poppo growled towards Ji Haecheon. With the atmosphere suggesting trouble could break out at any moment, I stepped between Poppo and Ji Haecheon.
If there were to be an incident involving a large dog bite, Poppo would definitely be the one to suffer the consequences. So preventing such a thing from happening was the best course of action.
My body moved before I could even think, but fortunately I intervened early. When Poppo, who had been growling, made eye contact with me, he wagged his tail as if nothing had happened.
Since I was facing Poppo with my back to Ji Haecheon and Baek Han, I didn’t know their reactions, but judging from the lack of conversation, they were probably engaged in a staring contest.
“Go. Your business is done.”
“What do you know to be running your mouth?”
“Are you still going to insist your business isn’t finished? Take it easy, Ji Haecheon. It’s obvious you weren’t together for just one or two minutes, and if that’s enough, what more do you have to say? How much more do you want to torment him?”
Since when did your owner become so good at verbally attacking people too?
His words flowed eloquently. Thanks to Baek Han, who spewed words so quickly as if he’d been waiting for this moment, barely pausing to breathe properly, my eyes wavered. I distinctly remembered Baek Han calling Ji Haecheon a monster or something like that, and I wondered if it was okay for him to act like this.
“Torment? Me, him? Don’t talk if you don’t understand the situation. That guy who claims to be ‘tormented’ scratched my nerves so badly, you have no idea.”
“So you’re not leaving? There’s a limit to being pathetic. Take it easy. How harshly could Lee Habin possibly scratch your nerves? Is he even capable of doing that?”
“You—!”
Startled by the forceful shout, I turned around to see veins popping on Ji Haecheon’s neck. Gritting his teeth with an “Aadeuk” sound, he took a deep breath while pressing his forehead. Seeing his gesture of calming himself down by looking at the ground, I felt that if our eyes met, his efforts would be in vain, so I turned back to look at Poppo.
Poppo, who had been vigilantly scanning the surroundings with round eyes after being startled by the loud voice, was busy sniffing the back of my hand that I had extended to him.
“…Fine. I’ll stop here. Lee Habin, you’d better watch what you say. Don’t think Kwon Dojin and Baek Han will protect you forever.”
Ji Haecheon left with rough footsteps after leaving those warning-laden words. Only after the storm had passed did I realize that Ji Haecheon was like a web novel character from his entrance to his exit.
“If you’re going to leave, leave properly. What was that nonsense at the end?”
“He’s already gone. Don’t worry about it. More importantly, you went for a walk even though it rained?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t raining heavily. Poppo likes running around in the rain.”
Hmm, Poppo seems a bit peculiar, maybe because he resembles Baek Han.
Perhaps sensing that the situation was over with his animal instincts, Poppo got up from his sitting position and approached Baek Han. Upon noticing Poppo, Baek Han’s stern expression softened into a bright smile.
“Our Poppo, such a good boy. Thank you for waiting so patiently.”
“Woof—!”
His voice was unbelievably gentle, nothing like what I’d expect from Baek Han. The affection-filled behavior felt so awkward that I unconsciously distanced myself. So Baek Han could make such expressions too.
“Lee Habin, where were you heading?”
“I was going home.”
“Why were you meeting Ji Haecheon on your way home?”
“How would I know? I was walking just fine when Ji Haecheon suddenly dove under my umbrella.”
It was still absurd thinking about it again. As I showed my disgust while recalling the earlier situation, Baek Han clicked his tongue.
“I’ll walk you home while taking Poppo for a walk. Let’s go.”
“Is that okay? I’m fine with it, but don’t you have a regular walking route?”
“Poppo gets bored if we always take the same route. Let’s go.”
Poppo responded to the word “go” faster than anyone. Seeing Poppo moving with light, excited steps, Baek Han laughed heartily and then asked for directions with a gesture.
“Not there, the opposite direction. This way.”
Having just been flustered watching Poppo heading in exactly the opposite direction, I gestured towards the correct path. Baek Han then pulled the leash with a gentle but firm hand gesture.
“Poppo, this way.”
Poppo, who had been walking well but turned smoothly at Baek Han’s one correction, now walked in the right direction, wiggling his rear.
“Cute… so incredibly cute…”
“The name Poppo suits him perfectly, right?”
“Yeah—. It fits him completely, truly.”
The walk home with a sturdy-looking but cute and lovable Shepherd and a grumbling but actually kind person was both safe and enjoyable.
* * *
“Kwon Dojin!”
I’m happy to see you, really happy! So incredibly happy!
I was so delighted that I wondered if it was possible for such a handsome face, seen after nearly a whole day, to look this beautiful. After hesitating momentarily at my enthusiastic greeting, Kwon Dojin soon broke into a gentle smile.
“Was everything okay yesterday?”
There were tons of incidents. However, knowing I’d get tired if I recounted everything, I decided to skip over them. The present was more important than the past.
With Kwon Dojin beside me, similar incidents to yesterday probably wouldn’t happen.
“There were some things, but it’s all fine. It doesn’t matter anymore anyway.”
At my words, Kwon Dojin’s eyes widened and he covered his mouth with his hand. After rolling his eyes around and then lowering his gaze to the floor, he exhaled a thin breath.
Tilting my head at his expression that seemed to embody words like flutter and excitement, I wondered what was wrong with him.
“Is there some problem?”
“Habin.”
“Yes?”
Kwon Dojin’s usually steady voice trembled. As he clutched the area near his heart, my excited mood abruptly subsided, giving way to worry that something serious might be wrong.
“You shouldn’t rush in so suddenly like that…”
His words made my worry seem ridiculous, and my expression hardened. All my happy feelings faded away as I crossed my arms and stood askew.
“Habin?”
Glancing at me with a flicker of his eyes, Kwon Dojin slowly lowered the hand that had been gripping near his heart. Then he moved closer to me.
“Don’t joke like that.”
“Joke—”
Exuding a thoroughly displeased aura, Kwon Dojin nodded slowly. I corrected my slouched posture and started walking ahead. This was because we’d met in the alley on the way to school, not yet having arrived at the classroom.
“How’s your arm?”
“Aside from the inconvenience caused by the cast, everything’s fine.”
He lifted his cast-covered arm and shook it lightly. Though it was an action meant to alleviate my concerns, it actually made me worry more. However, sensing he didn’t want that kind of reaction, I decided to laugh it off. I could just observe and help him when needed.
“Did you go home well?”
“Ah… Yes, I did.”
“Why are you responding like that?”
Though I’d heard from Ji Haecheon yesterday that he disliked his family home, I pretended not to know and asked, since it would be stranger to have no reaction. After maintaining silence with an awkward expression for a while, he exhaled a shallow sigh.
“Just. It’s not really an interesting story.”
“Don’t want to talk about it?”
“…Yeah.”
“Then you don’t have to.”
Kwon Dojin quickly nodded at that. It seemed he really didn’t want to talk about it, making me regret bringing it up.
“More importantly, Kwon Dojin. I met Ji Haecheon yesterday.”
“Ah—, wait a minute. Who did you say you met?”
The faint smile disappeared at the name Ji Haecheon. Kwon Dojin immediately grabbed my hand with a serious expression. Looking down at the hard and rough texture of the cast touching my skin, I glanced at Kwon Dojin’s arm.
Whether to call it the power of habit, Kwon Dojin was holding my right hand with both of his hands.
“When? How did you end up meeting him?”
Kwon Dojin seemed somewhat excited, so I used my free arm to pat the back of his hand covering mine.
“He just barged into my umbrella on his own.”
I knew more explanation was needed, but I couldn’t find more appropriate words than this. As expected, to Kwon Dojin who didn’t understand, I conveyed yesterday’s events as concisely as possible.
Of course, I made sure to omit any mention of Kwon Dojin disliking his home or separating from it.
“…How could such a thing happen?”
Unable to hide his astonishment, Kwon Dojin was speechless for a while. After selecting and re-selecting what to say, he finally spoke when we were nearing the school gates.
“First of all, you weren’t hurt anywhere, right?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Good. That’s what matters.”
Only after I firmly reassured him did Kwon Dojin finally seem relieved. We passed through the student disciplinary committee members who, as always, treated us like we didn’t exist simply because Kwon Dojin was present, and entered the school grounds.
Even though it had been just one day since I’d seen them, the sight of students clearing a path on both sides felt somewhat awkward.
“I’m, I’m exhausted—”
After struggling with the awkwardness and rushing up to the fifth floor in one go without controlling my pace, I was out of breath. As I grabbed Kwon Dojin’s shoulder beside me to catch my breath, he burst into laughter.
“Habin really needs to cut down on studying and exercise more.”
“Absolutely not. I’d rather study than exercise.”
I preferred sitting still and exhausting my brain rather than getting out of breath and sweating. After firmly refusing, I headed first to the classroom, which was not far away now.
“They say good physical condition is important for long-term studying.”
“I’ve never once been hindered in my studies because of physical condition, you know?”
I turned to look at Kwon Dojin who was trying to persuade me to exercise while holding the front door handle of the classroom.
“You’ll get in trouble, Habin. You’ll end up with nothing but fat.”
“I still won’t exercise.”
As I firmly stated my opinion, Kwon Dojin burst into laughter. In response, I also let out a light laugh while applying pressure to the handle I was holding.
“Wait, Habin—!”
Before I could register his protest, I opened the classroom door. Simultaneously, I was pulled by a force from behind. When I closed my eyes tightly and reopened them, I saw Kwon Dojin embracing my body. Beyond the fluttering smoke, I could see the frozen expressions of my classmates.
Although I couldn’t fully grasp what had happened in that instant, one thing was clear.
“Fuck.”
Kwon Dojin was angry.
