# Chapter 10
“Transfer student. Let’s each agree to let things go.”
“Let what go?”
As soon as Yumyeong spoke, the transfer student’s eyes changed. At first, he had pretended to be nice, but now whenever their eyes met, his burned with an ice-blue flame. Faced with this open display of hostility, Yumyeong pulled up just one corner of his mouth.
“I know your secret, and you know what happened then… We’ve each got dirt on the other, so let’s agree to pretend we don’t know anything.”
The transfer student stared blankly at Yumyeong as if he was talking nonsense, then realized what “what happened then” meant and let out a deflating snicker. He clearly still vividly remembered how Yumyeong had shown off his dazzling fist skills and knocked no less than three people into the soapy water in the laundry room.
“Why should I agree to that?”
At this defiant response, Yumyeong felt a hot fire rising from deep in his chest. But it was still only about the size of a small candle flame lit by a lighter. He could easily calm this down.
Regaining his composure, Yumyeong continued.
“Haha… this guy. You won’t say anything anyway.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“If you were going to, you would have done it already. First, you could have immediately reported me to the dorm supervisor. Second, you could have told the teachers the next day. But it’s been two weeks already. You know that testimony loses its credibility as time passes, right?”
“So, aren’t you grateful?”
The transfer student asked with one corner of his mouth twisted up. His handsome, calm face that normally pretended to be a model student completely transformed with just that slight twist of his lips. The gap between how he acted nicely in front of others and how he changed only in front of Yumyeong was downright creepy.
And, grateful?
Far from being grateful, Yumyeong was just annoyed at feeling like the other was playing with him while he was on edge.
Swallowing the rising fire, Yumyeong let out a low “Haha…” Laughing when he felt bad was a habit. Curling his lips up, Yumyeong suddenly leaned toward the transfer student. Then he smiled meaningfully.
“Aren’t you the one who should be grateful to me?”
“For what?”
“I’m keeping your secret.”
“What secret of mine?”
The transfer student boldly met his gaze. His confrontational attitude grated on Yumyeong’s nerves.
“That you like guys.”
Though Yumyeong had hoped to land at least a small blow, the transfer student didn’t even flinch. He tilted his head slightly as if to say “is that all?” and gave Yumyeong a look of complete disdain. The thought that he hadn’t even made a scratch, let alone landed an attack, infuriated Yumyeong.
“Go ahead and spread rumors then.”
The transfer student replied lightly as if it wasn’t his problem.
He really wasn’t an ordinary guy.
But Yumyeong wasn’t stupid. Would he spread baseless rumors when the transfer student’s reputation was this good? Especially such malicious rumors that would out someone? If anything, he’d be the one getting buried if he did.
Unwilling to admit defeat, Yumyeong continued to be petulant.
“Anyway, if you come after me, you’re dead.”
“Ha!”
At that moment, the transfer student genuinely laughed in derision.
“You?”
“…”
“Me? Come after you?”
In an instant, Yumyeong’s mood hit rock bottom at the transfer student’s sincere question. He couldn’t hide his expression.
“No… huh, hey… ha. Why such a strong reaction? This guy has a talent for making people feel bad.”
“Don’t worry. Not after seeing your face.”
“I… can I seriously just hit you once?”
Yumyeong clenched his trembling fist. His tightly bitten lips seemed to taste of blood.
But the transfer student lowered his folded arms and leaned back leisurely in his chair, dropping his guard.
“Go ahead and try.”
“Argh! Seriously!”
Yumyeong finally exploded. His frustration, directed at the empty air, flowed out beyond the practice room window.
***
The personal closet assigned to each dormitory room is just about the width of Yumyeong’s shoulders. It’s enough to get through one season, but much too narrow for organizing belongings.
Still, Yumyeong’s situation was better since his four-person room was only occupied by two people. Generally, the uppermost shelf was for unused blankets or quilts, the bottom drawer for underwear, and depending on one’s preference, perfume, cosmetics, or personal collections could be displayed. Secretly, some guys even kept their closets filled with liquor bottles.
However, Yumyeong’s closet was empty even of those things. Aside from his uniform and gym clothes, he had very few casual clothes. Standing in front of that empty closet, Yumyeong was thoroughly examining his face in the mirror. It had been 20 minutes already. Hanju occasionally glanced at Yumyeong, who was behaving strangely today.
“I see you’re really heartbroken about being rejected. But I think generally girls… like faces like yours. It’s just that you’re not Heeun’s type…”
Unable to stand it any longer, Hanju offered words of comfort while turning a page in his book.
“Not girls, guys… ah, never mind.”
Even during puberty, Yumyeong’s skin had never once experienced the turmoil of acne. A clear radiance flowed from his healthy skin, reflecting light at every contour like his cheekbones and the bridge of his nose. His large eyes revealed rich expressions and always sparkled as if filled with light. Looking at Yumyeong, people would immediately understand how eye expression determines one’s impression.
Additionally, his black hair was straight, swinging lively whenever he ran or moved. His eyebrows and eyelashes also had a strong presence. Female students in particular often envied Yumyeong’s long, distinct lower eyelashes. They would joke about why they were attached to him, and asked him to give them away if he didn’t need them.
Yumyeong’s eyebrows twitched as he combed his hair with his fingers.
‘Does that bastard not have eyes? How could he…’
Suppressing his anger, Yumyeong recalled the transfer student’s face.
Unfortunately, he was too handsome to mock for his appearance. His mere presence immediately brightened the mood among female students, while male students suffered from an existential crisis about their own existence due to his overwhelming looks. The harmony of his excellent eyes, nose, and mouth was amazing even when viewed separately.
At a glance, he looked like a soft and gentle handsome man, but when his pitch-black eyes that seemed to absorb light looked directly at you, there was a coldness that couldn’t be treated carelessly. Of course, Yumyeong knew. That very part he thought of as “annoying eyes” was what others perceived as charisma.
“Haah…”
Perhaps the transfer student, seeing his own face all the time, had become insensitive to beauty and ugliness.
That would make sense. How exceptionally handsome must one be for such a face to become the baseline? Then one’s aesthetic standards would exceed human norms. Though confident his own face wasn’t ugly, Yumyeong wasn’t sure if he could claim superiority when compared to the transfer student. He needed to clearly surpass him to put the guy in his place, and the fact that they were on par didn’t sit well with him.
Of course, even this assessment of being on par was Yumyeong’s alone.
“Ah, forget it.”
Yumyeong muttered to himself and slammed the closet door shut. Without taking his eyes off his book, Hanju chimed in halfheartedly, “Yeah, forget it!”
“The dorm supervisor is coming!”
Doors flung open with a rumble. Yumyeong also sauntered out into the hallway.
How can I piss off this transfer student?
The transfer student had a weakness. The weakness of liking men. But Yumyeong didn’t want to use underhanded methods like spreading rumors to torment him. He wanted to win fair and square.
While suppressing the flames of anger rising toward him, Yumyeong held onto his reason and formulated a strategy. Regardless, the transfer student was, as always, giving Yumyeong a look that trampled him underfoot.
“Let’s see. Everyone’s here, rooms are tidy. Good. Are you adjusting well?”
“Yes, sir.”
As soon as the dorm supervisor moved to the next room and their eyes met, the transfer student’s previously docile gaze frowned again. These were the moments that burned Yumyeong’s insides.
Yumyeong wasn’t stupid. That wasn’t a pretense designed to make him feel bad. It was a genuine emotion. It wasn’t the kind of attitude someone would show because they felt you were beneath their level, or because they found it pathetic that you’d been rejected by some girl they happened to see.
He truly, from the depths of his heart, despised Yumyeong.
Yumyeong was familiar with recognizing such gazes. The attitude of treating him differently from others. But what was most frustrating was that he couldn’t understand why the transfer student, whom he’d known for such a short time, would act this way. No matter how bad their first impressions of each other had been, the transfer student’s emotions seemed to go beyond that.
Unable to bear the hatred directed at him, Yumyeong blurted out without thinking.
“What are you looking at? Am I that pretty to you?”
The transfer student ignored him as if he wasn’t worth responding to and averted his gaze. That’s when it happened.
“Shin Yumyeong, you rascal, you rascal! What’s pretty about you?”
The dorm supervisor, who had come back around to Yumyeong’s room, overheard and chided him.
“The problem with you handsome guys is that you know how you look. But try going around relying on your somewhat decent face…”
The dorm supervisor firmly pressed on Yumyeong’s forehead.
“Ow!”
With his neck pushed back and a double chin forming, Yumyeong quickly pulled away feeling wronged. Though it was just thin skin folding rather than fat, he was bothered that the transfer student was watching the whole scene.
Then a calm voice came from behind the dorm supervisor. It was none other than the transfer student who spoke up.
“Supervisor, I don’t think that’s right.”
“What did you say?”
“Yumyeong isn’t good-looking enough to rely on his face… If you keep saying that, some people might believe it.”
From behind Yumyeong came the sound of someone trying to suppress laughter. It was Hanju.
The words delivered with gentle eyes and a calm demeanor were hard to distinguish as sincere or joking. The dorm supervisor momentarily hesitated, looking at the transfer student’s shining face that seemed to radiate a halo, but soon decided this was a high-quality joke and laughed heartily.
“Oh, this kid knows how to joke too. Haha!”
Meanwhile, Yumyeong, who had been unexpectedly dragged into this and mocked, stood with his mouth open in disbelief.
“Evening roll call done! Dismissed!”
