# Chapter 7
“Hurry to your rooms. It was heard in the corridor too. If you’re not careful, you’ll all get caught.”
Afterward, the transfer student picked up the guys sprawled on the floor one by one. Ignoring their groans, he forcibly made them stand, shook them by the collar to bring them to their senses, or dusted off their clothes and sent them away—actions that were both ruthless and kind.
After the trio left, the transfer student approached this way.
“You hurry and go in too.”
The transfer student spoke to the dormitory fairy. He didn’t change his expression at all even while looking at the fairy’s tear-stained face.
“Ah, okay…”
Thanks to him, the dormitory fairy anxiously scurried out of the laundry room. He was remarkably swift, unlike when Yumyeong had encouraged him earlier.
As the sound of footsteps on the stairs faded away, only two people remained in the laundry room. The transfer student tried to simply walk past Yumyeong, who had been standing there blankly until then.
“Hey. Aren’t you going to look after me too?”
The transfer student silently turned around. It was just something Yumyeong had said casually, but when the other stared at him so directly, he felt awkward for no reason.
Then the transfer student spoke as if Yumyeong was pathetic.
“Why should I?”
And with that, he gracefully departed.
Left alone in the laundry room, indignation welled up from deep within Yumyeong’s stomach.
“What a jerk!”
Of all people to get caught by, it had to be him—it was irritating and annoying. Yumyeong’s fist trembled.
***
The next day, Yumyeong woke up earlier than usual. Then he headed to the cafeteria with Hanju.
“What’s going on, you’re eating breakfast too? You usually skip breakfast to sleep.”
“Hanju, keep it down. If someone hears, they’ll think I sleep in every day.”
Yumyeong said dignifiedly as he picked up his tray. Hanju gave him a look of disbelief.
After the morning roll call, the dining hall was moderately bustling. There was a busy mix of those who had already completed their preparations for school, looking neat in their uniforms, and those still in pajamas who clearly hadn’t washed their faces yet. Hanju was the former, and Yumyeong was the latter. Not caring that his hair was sticking up at the back due to last night’s aftermath, Yumyeong scanned his surroundings with sharp eyes.
Sure enough, in the corner of the cafeteria, two of the three guys he had beaten up last night were eating. As Hanju excitedly headed toward a window seat with his fully loaded tray, Yumyeong stopped him and deliberately headed toward the seats near those guys.
“Ah, why? This spot is too much in the corner.”
Regardless of Hanju’s protests, Yumyeong dragged his chair with a loud clatter. The faces of the guys who had looked up at the noise turned pale as soon as they saw him. Seeing their reaction, Yumyeong grinned.
“Friends. Why are there only two of you today? Where’s your other friend?”
“Ahem… W-why do you ask?”
“Why? Aren’t you three a set? Yesterday too…”
Before Yumyeong could finish his sentence, the two guys hastily cleared their half-eaten meals and hurriedly stood up. Watching their retreating backs, Yumyeong was convinced they wouldn’t snitch on him to the school.
If they were thinking of revenge for yesterday, they would be gnashing their teeth in excitement, but instead, they were uncomfortable around Yumyeong and avoided him.
The reason was obvious. It must be because of the dormitory fairy. Yumyeong was a witness to the bullying toward the dormitory fairy. They were avoiding him for fear that their actions might be revealed if causes were investigated.
“Tch, cowardly bastards.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Nothing. Eat.”
Instead of picking up his spoon, Yumyeong first opened the yogurt that came as dessert. As he was licking the white yogurt stuck to the lid, he noticed a tall figure just entering the cafeteria. At the entrance stood the transfer student, holding a tray.
“Oh?”
“What is it?”
Hanju, who had quickly turned his head, looked in the direction of Yumyeong’s gaze and said:
“Ah, the transfer student? He diligently eats breakfast every day. You wouldn’t know since you always sleep in.”
“Hanju, not eating breakfast is absolutely not because of sleep, it’s my choice.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Hanju responded halfheartedly as he took some of Yumyeong’s untouched side dishes.
Yumyeong frowned. The transfer student moving with his tray was not alone. The dormitory fairy was also with him.
At first, Yumyeong thought they might have entered together by coincidence, but seeing them pass serving tongs to each other, and the way the transfer student tilted his head to listen to what the dormitory fairy was saying, it seemed they had indeed come together. After getting all their food, the two sat facing each other at a window seat far away from his spot.
Yumyeong was extremely bothered by the combination of these two people. In particular, he didn’t like that the transfer student, who had witnessed the assault last night, was now with the dormitory fairy, the only other witness.
***
“Yumyeong, what’s wrong with your hair?”
“How did you sleep last night?”
“Wow, the back of your head looks cool!”
In the brief time it took to get to the classroom, Yumyeong received three compliments about his hair. Even after arriving in the classroom, everyone kept commenting on how his hair was sticking up, so Yumyeong eventually headed to the bathroom before class started.
“Hmm…”
Looking in the mirror, indeed, the left back part of his hair was springing up elastically toward the sky.
When he turned on the faucet and wet his hair, it gradually settled down. By the time he thought he’d pressed it down enough, half of his head was soaking wet. It was a bizarre hairstyle where one side of his hair fluttered lightly in the breeze while the other part was soaked and stuck flat against his head.
During this time, Yumyeong noticed through the mirror that the transfer student was entering the bathroom alone.
“Hey.”
“…”
“Hey, transfer student.”
The transfer student, belatedly noticing Yumyeong’s presence, turned around. Yumyeong approached the transfer student with a broad smile. The transfer student slightly frowned as he looked at Yumyeong’s dripping hair.
“Ah, this? My hair was sticking up, so I wet it.”
“…”
The transfer student didn’t respond at all. He just had an expression that suggested he was puzzled why Yumyeong had suddenly called out to him. When Yumyeong approached him closely, he took a step back.
“What do you want?”
“So dramatic… it’s not like I said I’d wipe it on your clothes.”
One of Yumyeong’s shirt shoulders was getting darker as water dripped down, and the transfer student looked extremely bothered by it. This only irritated Yumyeong more, making him move even closer to the transfer student.
“You.”
In an instant, the transfer student’s face was just inches away. Despite the sudden closeness that would typically be startling, the transfer student didn’t avert his eyes at all.
It was an extension of their staring contest. Yumyeong looked directly at him and spoke.
“Yesterday…”
“…”
“You didn’t see anything.”
At Yumyeong’s words, the transfer student turned his gaze away and let out a short sigh. The tense atmosphere between them dissolved with a thud.
There was a faint contempt on the transfer student’s face as he turned his head. Feeling suddenly very annoyed, Yumyeong shoved his hands into his pockets and asked provocatively:
“What’s with that reaction?”
“That’s all you wanted to say?”
“Yeah.”
When Yumyeong affirmed, the transfer student turned his back sharply. Sensing danger, Yumyeong quickly chased after him.
“Hey!”
But this time, he didn’t turn around as readily as before. Yumyeong quickly lengthened his stride to get ahead of the transfer student and block his path. Only then did the transfer student stop in his tracks when his path was blocked. Yumyeong unconsciously let out a groan.
“If I get caught one more time, I’ll really be suspended.”
“That’s your problem.”
The transfer student spoke briefly and tried to pass Yumyeong. Yumyeong blocked his path again and argued:
“Hey! Even if you set me aside, don’t you think about the dormitory fairy?”
The transfer student stopped at these unexpected words.
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it, friend. If you snitch, I’ll have to explain why I beat those guys up. That won’t do.”
Yumyeong spoke in a deliberately patronizing tone.
Yesterday, the dormitory fairy locked in the supply closet was crying with a sorrowful voice. It was the kind of sobbing that could make anyone who heard it feel suffocated. No one could feel at ease hearing such crying. It stirred compassion.
It seemed the dormitory fairy might like the same gender.
Unintentionally, Yumyeong had discovered someone else’s secret, but this was the kind of secret that shouldn’t be carelessly revealed. He was seeking agreement, asking if the transfer student didn’t think so too, but the transfer student’s response was unexpected.
“Why not?”
“That’s… well… uh… don’t you know?”
Yumyeong asked back, rather taken aback.
He had thought that the dormitory fairy might have explained everything to the transfer student since they were eating breakfast together this morning, but oh no, the transfer student might not have known—that the dormitory fairy liked men.
Yumyeong hesitated briefly. But however he interpreted that hesitant face, the transfer student smiled slightly and answered:
“I know. A sexual minority, right?”
“Oh, yeah. You knew?”
This guy, did he pretend not to know?
Yumyeong somehow felt like he’d been played.
At the same time, he thought, not ‘homo’ or ‘gay’ but ‘sexual minority’—he uses such refined terminology, just like his appearance.
“Right. That kind of thing can’t be revealed just anywhere.”
“You know how to think about things like that?”
“No, I mean… of course. The dormitory fairy has human rights too.”
“Why are you the one thinking about his human rights?”
“Hah…”
Annoyed by the unyielding responses from earlier, Yumyeong shrugged his shoulders and sighed. Then, tilting his head, he playfully asked:
“Are you perhaps jealous?”
This was Yumyeong’s habit that unconsciously emerged when he wanted to fluster the other person. Even if it was a completely meaningless statement, it could deflate the other person in that moment.
And in that moment, Yumyeong caught the transfer student’s face stiffening. His long eyelashes trembled slightly, looking just like he was shivering.
‘He dislikes this kind of joke!’
Yumyeong’s eyes sparkled.
Meanwhile, the transfer student completely ignored Yumyeong and turned away.
“This kid, it’s just a joke, why so sensitive.”
Yumyeong talked nonsense with the sole intention of making the transfer student more upset.
“Oh, are you perhaps that too?”
“That?”
“Are you a homo too, bastard?”
At the crude expression, the transfer student came to an abrupt halt.
