# Chapter 12
It’s impossible to fully express in words how much salvation he received thanks to the sense of justice of a friend named Shin Yumyeong. And as for what meaning this kindness being bestowed upon him could possibly have, his heart wavered back and forth a dozen times a day—no, a hundred and twenty times. Of course, Lee Sunmin wasn’t stupid, so he knew that all of this was just the fate of a sinfully popular person.
But when a same-sex friend he’d secretly liked for a long time suddenly saves him like a hero one day,
“What do you think of me?”
And then suddenly asks something like this, who wouldn’t harbor expectations?
Lee Sunmin felt a bit miserable about having viewed the earlier situation from his own perspective.
It wasn’t that he’d been trying to confess. He didn’t have the courage for that, nor did he want to earn hatred from a moment of recklessness. It was just that Yumyeong, who had filtered out and heard only one word from among the ones he’d carefully refined and said, felt a little heartless.
“……In the Dormitory fairy’s eyes, I’m handsome. Standards are subjective, so you should change your thinking that your opinion is the right answer too!”
“You two talk about stuff like that?”
The transfer student’s eyes sharpened.
“Yeah. Earlier on the cloud bridge…… Dormitory fairy. Why’s your expression like that? You’re suddenly shutting your mouth, so this bastard doesn’t believe what I’m saying.”
“On the cloud bridge?”
“Yeah!”
Yumyeong felt frustrated. The transfer student’s deep eyes held even deeper suspicion than before. The only third party who could resolve this situation, the Dormitory fairy, was just standing one step away with his head hung low and a heartbroken face, as if this had nothing to do with him.
“Yumyeong, I’m going to go……”
Then he went even further, turning around and trudging toward the door. Yumyeong naturally chased after him.
“You need to say something before you go……!”
But then, something suddenly grabbed hold of Yumyeong. It was the transfer student’s hand.
“Oh.”
Between his wrist and elbow, the transfer student’s hand was large enough to grasp the prominent, thick part of his forearm in one grip. Yumyeong turned around with a look of surprise. In that moment, the door through which the Dormitory fairy had slipped out closed with a quiet click.
Only the two of them remained in the room. Yumyeong was surprised that the transfer student’s hand gripping his forearm was hotter than expected.
“Are you two close?”
The transfer student’s out-of-context question pierced Yumyeong’s ears.
“Since when?”
“Huh?”
The transfer student had an uncomprehending expression. As if asking how that could be possible when they’d only known each other for a short time.
That attitude struck Yumyeong as very strange. He caught a glimpse of a different emotion subtly crossing the face of the transfer student who until now had treated him with indifference and disgust. Yumyeong’s eyes instantly took on an unusual glint.
“You’re full of questions today.”
Yumyeong grinned at the transfer student.
Why so many questions? It was very easy to deduce the answer.
“Are you jealous?”
Out of many words, at that one carefully selected word he spat out, the transfer student’s eyes shook greatly. His long eyelashes trembled as if they would soon close over his straight gaze that rarely lost in a staring contest.
Yumyeong was momentarily swept up in an extremely thrilling sense of pleasure.
“Wow, this bastard’s actually serious……”
Yumyeong deliberately shook off his arm while making a show of disgust with his smirking lips. The transfer student’s hand fell away, his expression looking caught off guard as if even a smiling face could be a weapon.
“Yeah. The Dormitory fairy and I are special. You know he sleeps in our room every night, don’t you.”
Proper agitation arose on the transfer student’s face.
At the same time, Yumyeong understood the true nature of the hatred that had been poured on him until now. The moment he realized it was both relieving and empty.
To hate me because of something like jealousy.
Clicking his tongue in deflation, Yumyeong glanced once at the door the Dormitory fairy had escaped through and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Then why didn’t you look after him? Who was the one who was a step too late that day too?”
“What?”
“If you like him, pay attention and take care of him. Don’t you know he’s being ostracized and can’t even sleep properly?”
At that moment, the transfer student’s expression became peculiar for an instant.
“Ha.”
Along with a short scoff, the face that had shown agitation instantly hardened coldly. The heart that had been rippling like waves seemed to freeze solid in an instant. Realizing that momentary change, Yumyeong raised his eyebrows.
“You, do you even know his name?”
The transfer student threw another unexpected question.
“Lee…… what was it again.”
At the answer that was worse than not answering, the transfer student’s lips curved up at a very subtle angle.
He’s being mocked. Thinking he’d gotten caught up in it again, Yumyeong scrambled together a sophistry.
“How special is the nickname ‘Dormitory fairy’? It’s a name that contains the anecdote and impression from when the two of us first met, and it’s a name only I call him. The fact that only I call him that is what’s special.”
At the words meant to provoke jealousy, the transfer student was no longer swayed. Instead, he deflected the topic and asked something irrelevant.
“Do you know my name?”
“……”
Yumyeong was honestly and shamelessly silent.
At his bold gaze that seemed to say ‘why should I know that,’ the transfer student, as if he’d expected as much but didn’t care, turned around and sat on the edge of his bed. Then he ran his hand through his hair, the ends of which were still wet, felt how wet it was, stood up again, crossed past Yumyeong and headed to the bathroom. From the sound of the hair dryer coming from inside, Yumyeong naturally realized he was being ignored.
“Do all the people in the world need to know your name?”
Between the whirring noise of the strong wind, Yumyeong sneered.
In truth, Yumyeong couldn’t stand being hated or ignored. The transfer student’s behavior had been irritating his temperament from the nerve endings up until now.
No matter how famous his mother was as a celebrity, the mere assumption that people would naturally know his name sparked rebelliousness. How much benefit must he have received until now from that background and the looks he inherited from his mother? The world must have always been kind to the transfer student. Students wanting to build connections were already cunningly clinging to the transfer student under the guise of goodwill.
On the other hand, Yumyeong had no interest in any of this. More precisely, he ignored it. When it came to fame, Yumyeong too had grown up in a household where he’d experienced it thoroughly enough. He was living proof of how harmful those who approached based on background could be.
Meanwhile, the transfer student turned off the hair dryer, wrapped up the cord and organized it neatly, then came out of the bathroom. He passed right by Yumyeong leaning against the bathroom door, turned off the light, and went back to his bed. Treated like air, Yumyeong asked with rising resentment welling up.
“What about you then?”
“……”
“Don’t you know my name?”
At those words, the transfer student, who had been lying down looking at his phone screen, snickered as if it were childish.
“I don’t know, someone like you.”
He really wanted to hit him, but Yumyeong held back.
In any case, the transfer student responded to his provocation with equal provocation. That was telling him that this guy was ultimately at the same level as himself.
So there was no need to act hasty and reveal his cards. After all, wasn’t he holding the transfer student’s greatest weakness?
“Fine. This hyung will concede and back down.”
Yumyeong demonstratively sighed and plopped down on the bed opposite the transfer student. Then he took out his phone and did a portal site search.
“Your mother’s name was……”
Yumyeong typed in the search term. ‘Jin Hwayoung son’.
Then related article content poured out. Most were written around the time of the marriage and were very old articles. Yumyeong clicked on one of them.
[Actress Jin Hwayoung will hold a private wedding ceremony this May.
Jin Hwayoung’s agency A Company announced on the 21st that ‘Ms. Jin Hwayoung will tie the knot with a civilian businessman.’
The prospective groom is known to be entrepreneur Ryu Jeonghak, and he has three children……]
Reading up to there, Yumyeong slightly raised his head. The transfer student’s family seemed quite unique too.
Since the name was hard to find in articles, Yumyeong looked a bit more. Scrolling through blog information that had spread tabloid content rather than official articles, he was able to find his name.
According to rumors, his name was made by taking one character each from his father’s and mother’s names.
“Ryu, Hakyoung……”
The three-character name flowed from Yumyeong’s lips.
When he suddenly raised his head, the transfer student had twisted his body and was staring straight at him. Yumyeong ignored the gaze and quickly absorbed the fragments of information.
Clicking on eye-catching posts and reading them diagonally, he combined the information revealed on the surface to speculate on what wasn’t revealed, and added flesh by incorporating parts of the transfer student he’d experienced. In this process, what was more effective than speed was that Yumyeong’s insights generally hit the mark.
Yumyeong was clever and quick-witted. It was just that until now he hadn’t been interested in the transfer student. The transfer student might have an even more complicated family situation than him.
“There’s a big age gap with your hyungs. You have a noona too. Are you the youngest?”
Yumyeong chuckled. The transfer student said nothing.
“Your siblings have a different mother from you? Ah, well, I don’t mean anything by it. I’m just reading the facts.”
While doing so, Yumyeong suddenly raised his head. It was because the transfer student’s burning gaze felt like it would scorch the top of his head.
“What?”
“……”
The transfer student’s pink lips opened soundlessly. His even teeth were visible inside, but no voice flowed out.
Meanwhile, Yumyeong was thinking that the transfer student was indeed very pretty.
“Hey, do you have any younger siblings by any chance? Or even cousins……”
How nice would it be if his disposition were as beautiful as his face? The fact that his outside and inside were so different felt especially regrettable today. Especially those eyes—you’d have to see in person how much those moistly sparkling black pupils shone.
Because he was staring at that face as if entranced without realizing it, Yumyeong was a bit late to notice that the transfer student—no, Hakyoung—was hesitating.
‘Hesitating?’
It was when Yumyeong’s eyes widened slightly at the unexpected sight. Hakyoung’s lips trembled, and a sound finally flowed out.
“Do you, really not remember me?”
