# Chapter 99
With quick steps, I hid behind Kwon Dojin, who then kicked the back of the knee of the person whose arm he had twisted, forcing them to kneel. Following that, he pressed down on the area near their shoulder blades and released the arm he was holding, causing the person’s face to be slammed into the ground.
It looked quite painful, and my eyebrows furrowed involuntarily, but I didn’t feel any sympathy. If Kwon Dojin hadn’t arrived just in time, I would have been the one in that position.
Those who had been relaxed until just now changed their attitudes instantly when Kwon Dojin appeared. Some quietly muttered curses, while others moved stealthily as if trying to escape.
“I wonder how lightly they must have thought of me to try to pull something like this.”
His lowered voice resonated through the frozen space. The anger was clearly felt in his words, brief as they were. Perhaps because I sensed something unfamiliar in Kwon Dojin’s attitude that I rarely saw, I unconsciously grabbed the hem of his clothes.
I quickly let go, knowing it would be a hindrance, but Kwon Dojin looked back at me while applying more pressure with the leg he was using to step on his opponent.
“Urgh!”
“Should I stop?”
This time, as if he was truly angry, Kwon Dojin’s eyes remained sharp as he looked at me. Even though I knew his emotions weren’t directed at me, it was intimidating enough to make me hesitate, and my words got stuck.
“Habin?”
At his repeated call, I swallowed dryly and took a shallow deep breath.
“No. Do as you wish.”
Until now, I had always stopped him. It was rare for me not to, and Kwon Dojin hadn’t acted too severely because I was there.
But today, I couldn’t stop him. More precisely, I didn’t want to stop him. I wasn’t a good enough person to forgive others unconditionally. Therefore, I was naturally angry, and beyond anger, I even felt fear from the repeated threats.
So this time, I decided to just step back. I only moved a few steps back, since being too far might put me in danger again. After being briefly surprised by my attitude, he turned his gaze away again.
“It might take a while.”
“It’s okay. No matter how late, you’ll figure something out.”
It might sound absurd, but I believed in his position as the second-ranked. All sorts of actions were permitted for him, so getting an attendance exemption should be easy, right?
I don’t know which part stimulated him, but Kwon Dojin let out a clear laugh that didn’t match the situation.
“That’s right. I’ll figure something out.”
A faint satisfaction was evident in his words, which were full of laughter. I shook my head at his incomprehensible attitude.
Honestly, I felt sorry for stepping back and leaving everything to Kwon Dojin, but it’s not like I suddenly developed the guts to stand and fight. And it was clear as day that if I were to hit someone, there would be a stronger backlash than if they were hit by Kwon Dojin.
I have nothing to say if you call it an excuse. Maybe it is an excuse. Still, this was the best solution I could come up with right now, so I turned my head away the moment Kwon Dojin, who had been stretching, started to move.
My once elated mood sank like the deep sea.
* * *
“It’s cold!”
I flinched in surprise, hunching my shoulders at the sensation of a cool can touching my cheek.
“I heard things have been hectic for you lately?”
“Your news is slower than I thought.”
As I received the drink Baek Han handed to me, he sat down in the seat next to mine. The owner of the seat, Kwon Dojin, was temporarily absent. Due to the unfortunate incident this morning, he ended up missing the first period and had left to take care of the aftermath.
“More than that, why does it seem like you only come when Kwon Dojin isn’t around?”
“I might not want to hear about Kwon Dojin, but it reaches my ears anyway. What can I do when he’s ranked second?”
Baek Han sighed and opened his workbook. As finals approached, I could often see him studying, but the students in the class seemed to find this sight new every day, letting out exclamations of admiration.
It now felt so distant from the days when I was on edge about every reaction that it had become as familiar as background music. Thanks to that, I could now act as if I couldn’t hear anything, just like Baek Han or Kwon Dojin, which should be a good thing.
Newly reminded that humans are creatures of adaptation, I rested my chin on my hand and looked out the window.
“Baek Han.”
“…What.”
Answering half a beat late as he was solving problems, Baek Han didn’t put down his pen. While listening to the irregular scratching sounds, I languidly blinked my eyes. Turning my gaze from the window outside, I slowly moved my lips, looking at Baek Han.
“What do you think about taking a break from Kwon Dojin for a while?”
“That’s your—, huh? What did you say?”
Baek Han, who was about to give a casual answer, suddenly dropped his pen. He turned to look at me, not caring about the pen rolling away.
“What did you just say?”
“I asked what you think about distancing myself from Kwon Dojin.”
I met his eyes, which were filled with emotions like surprise, disbelief, and denial, without avoiding them. Baek Han realized he hadn’t misheard after hearing the same words and reacted as if he was dumbfounded.
“You? From Kwon Dojin?”
“Why? What’s strange about that?”
Baek Han frowned intensely as if telling me not to talk nonsense. His reaction made me puzzled instead. If he knew that things had been hectic for me lately, he should also know that the cause was Ji Haecheon.
It’s not like Baek Han didn’t know the backstory. Above all, didn’t he know that Ji Haecheon’s personality didn’t allow him to stand by and watch someone close to Kwon Dojin?
So why was he so shocked? Maybe he didn’t know that these incidents were happening because of Ji Haecheon?
Just as my thoughts were about to continue one after another, Baek Han leaned towards me and whispered, as if cutting them off.
“You like Kwon Dojin.”
“Huh?”
“But you’re saying you want to distance yourself?”
“What?”
An unexpected bomb exploded with a bang. My head instantly became complicated with just one sentence from Baek Han. As various thoughts became intertwined to the point where I didn’t even know what I was thinking, one question became clear instead.
“How do you know that…?”
“…Are you serious right now?”
For a while, we just stared at each other, unable to understand one another. Baek Han looked at me blankly, made an expression as if he had a lot to say, and then expressed his frustration by pressing his index finger firmly against his head.
“I was wondering why you two weren’t dating yet—. Look at these idiots.”
“No. I’m asking how you know that.”
“Did you ever try to hide it? Huh? Did you? The one who’s stupid is the one who doesn’t know.”
Come to think of it, as Baek Han said, I hadn’t particularly tried to hide it—no, wait. I think I did try to hide it? More precisely, I tried to act as I usually did, so I can’t say I completely revealed it, right?
“So why—, Ah. Never mind. Let’s go to the rooftop, follow me.”
So I’m finally hearing the “follow me to the rooftop” line. But I didn’t expect it to come from Baek Han.
Only shallow thoughts came to me, as if I had encountered something I couldn’t handle. It seems the shock I received was too great for deep thinking. However, I could clearly understand why he wanted to go to the rooftop due to the murmuring around us.
So, without complaint, I followed Baek Han to the rooftop. Although it was locked with a padlock, Baek Han entered the passcode as if it was natural, so it wasn’t a major obstacle.
“Now tell me. Why are you doing this?”
Baek Han, leaning against the wall as if it was his usual spot, stared at me intently.
“Because it’s hard.”
“Huh?”
“It’s hard and I’m tired.”
My voice came out more plainly than I had expected. I was relieved because it sounded no different from my usual voice to me. It wasn’t a story that needed to be told with particular emotion anyway. I moved my body, which had been standing blankly, and leaned next to Baek Han.
“But I’m not going to do it right away.”
“Then?”
“Since I’ve already promised to go on a trip with Kwon Dojin after the break, I’ll go to that too.”
“That’s just saying you’ll do everything you want first.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
But I couldn’t just suddenly break the promise, could I? Besides, it was something we had promised quite a while ago.
…To be honest, I’m looking forward to going to the beach with him.
I’m curious about what kind of place the vacation house is, and it’s my first time going to the beach with a friend. Above all, I’m going alone with Kwon Dojin, so I can’t help but look forward to it.
“It’s not exactly wrong.”
“Are you really going to distance yourself? Seriously?”
“I’m not just thinking about distancing myself from Kwon Dojin. More precisely, it would be more accurate to say that I plan not to go outside.”
“Why?”
“Because outside is truly dangerous.”
Worries like “What if I get kidnapped?” or “What if my bones get broken?” were growing day by day. The threats continued at a level that was on a different dimension from before, which made me reluctant to go out.
I wasn’t originally fond of going out, but it had gotten worse. Baek Han just clicked his tongue but didn’t deny it.
“That won’t solve the problem.”
“I know that too.”
“What are you going to do in the second semester?”
“Then—, I’ll think about it when the time comes.”
I knew it was an irresponsible answer, but unless there was an innovative solution, there was nothing I could do. It’s not like I could grab Ji Haecheon’s hair and fight him, right? Even if I really did that, it’s obvious that only my hair would get pulled out a lot.
Anyway, I was thinking of distancing myself from Kwon Dojin and trying not to go outside as much as possible. It might not be the best solution, but it was certainly enough to avoid the immediate situation.
Above all, the situation seems to have overheated to an abnormal degree, so isn’t it necessary to cool things down?
“Sure, whatever. Let’s say you distance yourself. But why ask me about it?”
“Because I wanted to ask if my idea was good?”
“You’re going to do it even if I tell you not to, right?”
“Umm… I wanted to get confidence in my judgment.”
Even I thought it was an absurd attitude, so I laughed hollowly, feeling embarrassed. It’s remarkable that Baek Han isn’t getting angry.
