# Chapter 87
Giving up was easy. I had calculated that quietly waiting would be easier and more comfortable in many ways than boldly opening a closed door.
I squatted two steps away from the door, resting my chin in my hand and staring blankly at it. Anyway, I had nowhere to go, no friends, and nothing to do.
Reflecting on my circumstances made me feel somber, but since this situation wasn’t anything new, I quickly shook it off.
“When will the door open?”
“Since Baek Han-nim went in, it should open soon…”
“Isn’t the class bell about to ring? Will it open before then?”
Right. The bell’s about to ring, so why aren’t Kwon Dojin and Baek Han coming out?
My legs were starting to hurt, so I considered sitting on the floor while waiting. The floor would be cold, but it was quite hot today, so it should be fine.
The noise from inside the classroom had ceased long ago, but since the door was still closed, I couldn’t guess when this situation would be resolved. So it would be better to sit down now. Just as I finished that thought and stretched my squatting legs to place my rear on the floor, the door opened as if on cue.
“…What are you doing?”
Baek Han narrowed his eyes and looked me up and down in my awkward position, his lips curling into a smile.
“Ouch.”
Looking up at Baek Han from an unsustainable position, my legs gave out and I landed on my bottom. Though the distance to the floor was short so it didn’t hurt much, an involuntary yelp that didn’t quite sound like a scream escaped my lips.
“Isn’t that Habin’s voice? Are you hurt?”
Kwon Dojin, who had rushed out to the corridor past Baek Han in one breath, seemed momentarily speechless upon discovering me sitting on the floor.
“How did this happen?”
Kwon Dojin knelt on the floor and extended his hand. When I reflexively took it, he applied strength and pulled me up.
“I was about to sit on the floor when the door opened…”
Though I omitted the rest of the story out of embarrassment, Kwon Dojin seemed to understand and smiled.
“Everyone, return to the classroom.”
While Kwon Dojin was busy examining me for injuries, turning me around in a full circle, Baek Han took charge of the situation. When he waved his hand a couple of times, those who had been peering into the classroom out of curiosity immediately dispersed.
“Wrap it up and come in. I’m heading to the classroom now.”
As the bustling corridor quieted down, the class bell rang right on cue. Baek Han checked his wristwatch, sighed, and left after a brief farewell.
When I waved goodbye to Baek Han’s retreating figure, he waved back without even turning around, somehow knowing what I was doing. After finishing the casual farewell, I looked at Kwon Dojin, who was still busy examining my body.
“Is it all over now?”
“Huh? Oh—, it’s all done. Let’s go in too.”
Kwon Dojin, who had stepped back, entered the classroom first. Following him in, I saw classmates who were not just well-behaved but completely subdued. Those who had shown nothing but arrogant attitudes towards me were now like this after just one display of Kwon Dojin’s anger, which made me feel both bewildered and irritated.
No, should I say it felt unfair? Various indescribable emotions mixed together, giving me the feeling that my insides were being tied in a knot. Is this what heartburn feels like?
“Was the floor not cold? I should have wrapped things up earlier. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not something you should apologize for.”
I wasn’t so dull that I couldn’t understand why Kwon Dojin had caused this commotion today. After all, the students wouldn’t have wedged an eraser in the door gap targeting Kwon Dojin.
Kwon Dojin also knew who this was aimed at, which is why he got angrier. So I couldn’t express any complaints.
As I approached my seat, I saw my bag that Kwon Dojin had taken from me neatly placed on the desk. While putting my bag down and sitting in my seat, I momentarily widened my eyes when I noticed an empty seat, but I pretended not to see it.
As I was organizing my things one by one and preparing for class, I suddenly realized that my desk was clean. If I wasn’t mistaken, yesterday the students had restored the graffiti they had erased while being wary of Baek Han.
It’s unlikely that those who just caused a commotion not knowing Kwon Dojin would come erased the graffiti. So they must have resolved this too just now? It wasn’t that long a time, but they must have used it efficiently.
“What’s this? Why is it so quiet today?”
The teacher, who arrived a bit later than usual, hesitated, seemingly unable to adjust to the classroom that was as quiet as if a mouse had died. After briefly looking up at where the class sign was, the teacher entered, placed a book on the podium, and cleared their throat awkwardly.
“Did all of you get indigestion together? Are you sick?”
“Of course not. Everyone is fine.”
Kwon Dojin told the lie with a low chuckle. At that, the students who had flinched exchanged glances with each other and let out awkward laughs.
“Are you really okay?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Absolutely fine! It’s just because it’s morning, just because it’s morning!”
“Ha. Ha. Ha. There’s nothing wrong.”
Everyone acted desperately to prove that nothing had happened. Seeing the student sitting diagonally to my right laughing awkwardly and speaking stiffly like a robot, I felt slightly sorry for them.
“Well… let’s go with that. Since you say you’re fine, let’s start the class. Everyone, open your books.”
The teacher seemed somewhat disgruntled, perhaps sharing my sentiment, but started the lesson without asking further questions.
In this space full of awkwardness, only Kwon Dojin remained at ease.
* * *
“What an unreasonable and absurd world this is.”
I’ve only lived for 17, no, 19 years? Anyway, not that many years, and already I’m experiencing such unfair and infuriating things. Thanks to this, just thinking about the days ahead makes me feel like everything is going dark before my eyes, wondering how many difficult situations await.
“Did something happen?”
Kwon Dojin, sitting next to me with his chin resting on his hand, tilted his head. His hair swayed with the small movement, adding a sense of liveliness. I had the idle thought that perhaps because of the spring breeze, even Kwon Dojin’s actions seemed to be touched with freshness.
“Nothing happened…”
And that’s the problem. I swallowed the rest of my thoughts since even I found them strange.
Absurdly and ridiculously enough, the bullying stopped completely after Kwon Dojin set things straight once. All those actions they did while carefully avoiding Kwon Dojin and Baek Han.
Of course, I never actively tried to solve the problem myself. But even if I had been more proactive, could I have achieved better results than what Kwon Dojin did?
Definitely not, I can assert. It might have dragged on and fizzled out inconclusively.
To be honest, I didn’t expect the bullying to completely stop even if Kwon Dojin stepped in. If it could end so easily, why would it be called a web novel cliché?
But as if mocking me, all the actions really did come to an abrupt halt. Now, seeing students being careful even about making eye contact, I couldn’t help but laugh hollowly.
I mean, if you were going to give up this easily, why did you even start in the first place, everyone! It’s really unfair! Weren’t you acting knowing you’d eventually be caught? Why is your surrender so quick?
Of course, it’s not like I enjoy being bullied, so it’s good that the students are behaving. Even though I wasn’t greatly affected, having textbooks damaged, almost tripping, and having my desk defaced with graffiti was annoying.
So the bullying stopping is a good thing. Really.
But separate from the improvement in school life, I felt powerless. It was natural because of Kwon Dojin’s authority among the students, but sometimes natural things are hard to accept.
Still, these feelings will subside with time. Right now, I’m just emotional, having radical thoughts like wanting to flip a desk. Looking back after some time, it will be fine.
I kept repeating similar phrases to myself, to the extent that it could be called self-brainwashing.
“…bin, Habin?”
“Huh, what?”
I snapped back to reality at the touch of hands gently shaking my shoulders. When I immediately looked at Kwon Dojin, he had a concerned expression.
“Are you sick somewhere? Fever—, doesn’t seem like it.”
A large palm covered my forehead. When I hunched my shoulders, tickled by the careful touch checking for fever, Kwon Dojin’s concern deepened.
“I’m not sick. I wasn’t sick, just didn’t hear you because I was thinking for a moment. So, why did you call me?”
Kwon Dojin examined me suspiciously from various angles before reluctantly nodding as if willing to let it go.
“If we go to the amusement park tomorrow. Um—, will you ride the attractions?”
“Isn’t that obvious? Of course I will.”
There’s no reason not to ride when I don’t dislike attractions. There will certainly be schools with overlapping field trip dates, so the waiting lines will be long, but that’s always been the case.
Thanks to Kwon Dojin, my mind was fully occupied with deciding which rides to go on tomorrow, naturally dispelling the gloomy thoughts. I counted on my fingers the rides I wanted to try, calculating if we would have enough time.
“Of course, the roller coaster later—. Why does your expression look like that?”
Excited about going to an amusement park after a long time, I belatedly noticed Kwon Dojin’s expression. He tried to appear nonchalant at my question, blinking his eyelids, but the corners of his mouth that formed an arc were trembling slightly.
“…Should we not ride the attractions?”
There was only one reason why Kwon Dojin was acting so awkwardly. Concerned that others might damage his reputation if they heard, I leaned in and whispered in his ear.
At my words, Kwon Dojin, who had tightly closed his eyes before reopening them, swallowed dryly and then moved his lips.
“Do whatever Habin wants. Don’t, worry about me.”
If Kwon Dojin is trying to appear normal right now, I’d regrettably like to tell him that it’s not working at all.
Noticing his lips trembling even more than before, I quietly placed my hand on Kwon Dojin’s shoulder and patted him.
“Let’s just go see the safari tomorrow.”
For the sake of Kwon Dojin’s pride, I decided to seal off all rides for tomorrow. It seems that even the second-ranked who effortlessly commands students is afraid of amusement park rides.
