# Chapter 66
Ye Abin’s expression hardened in an instant. I could feel Jo Youngmin and Hong Hachan, who had been looking at me with interest, drawing in sharp breaths.
They stopped eating and awkwardly held their chopsticks, starting to exchange glances with each other. Ye Abin’s eyes trembled slightly. His lips quivered before he soon let out a small “ha” laugh.
He seemed to be trying to laugh naturally, but his flustered state was obvious to anyone. Realizing that his agitation had been exposed, Ye Abin’s gaze toward me turned sharp.
I had expected such a reaction, but I was also surprised. I hadn’t expected Ye Abin to be so shaken, and I had just discovered the feelings of his that I wasn’t completely certain about.
He really does like him, huh.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
I blinked at Ye Abin’s curse words, which I was hearing for the first time. Then I pressed my lips firmly together to hold back the laughter that was about to escape. This was much better than his previously ambiguous reactions where I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“Yesterday and today, you seem to have a lot of questions. I was just asking.”
When I spoke in a casual tone while shrugging my shoulders, Ye Abin’s face contorted with a fierce expression. Seeing how his upper body trembled as he took a deep breath, he seemed to be holding back his anger.
Honestly, it was a bit funny. I couldn’t understand why he was being so sensitive and overreacting just because that one thing had been exposed, not to mention how quickly he crumbled at such a shallow provocation.
Who told you to mess with me first? Though it’s unlikely, what if Yoon Taeho really did like Moon Seoheon? It was fortunate that this was inside a BL animation. At least he didn’t seem to be upset about the fact that his crush on another guy had been discovered.
Of course, having one’s feelings for someone exposed can be worse than death for some people. Fortunately for me, Ye Abin seemed to be one of those people. I couldn’t help but snicker internally at the inevitable amusement this brought me.
Silence hung between us for a while. I glanced sideways at Jo Youngmin and Hong Hachan, who were still frozen. The two were just staring at Ye Abin without making a sound.
Their pupils, tinged with shock, trembled slightly, as if they were surprised enough not to even glance at me. After looking around to check if anyone else had heard, they finally looked at me.
“Hey, are you crazy?”
“What?”
When I replied in a nonchalant tone, Jo Youngmin made a face that was hard to describe. He must have found it quite absurd, as a sound like air escaping came from his gaping mouth.
Seeing such reactions, it seemed they hadn’t failed to notice Ye Abin’s feelings. Regardless of what the truth was, I just blinked casually when Hong Hachan, who was next to me, tactlessly muttered:
“Is that true? Did you like the student council president?”
“Hey!”
Jo Youngmin called out to Hong Hachan with a frown, but the words had already been said. Hong Hachan seemed to realize his mistake and awkwardly pressed his lips together, while Ye Abin, after glaring at him for a moment, let out a low sigh.
Then he put down his spoon with a clatter. Rather than saying he put down his spoon, it would be more accurate to say he had slammed his fist on the table. With his fist still clenched, he gave me a brief glance before immediately turning his head away.
A terrible silence fell, and Jo Youngmin and Hong Hachan restlessly looked around. Thinking I should just continue eating, I took my eyes off them and picked up my utensils.
Ye Abin, who was blankly staring at his food tray as if lost for words, seemed to have no room left to retort. That was quite fortunate.
After that, I ate normally. I was the only one eating properly. Although I thought the guys would leave right away, they just sat there quietly. Hong Hachan at least took a few small bites of food, but Ye Abin didn’t even think about picking up his spoon.
His tightly closed lips and slightly furrowed brow made him look like he was deep in thought.
Rather than trying to gauge what he was thinking, I just silently continued my meal. No matter how deeply I thought about it, I wouldn’t find the answer, so I decided to be relieved that it ended at just this level.
Until just a moment ago, everyone but me had been chatting happily, but now they had gloomy expressions, which made me feel a bit guilty. I didn’t want to act childishly either, but when they deliberately attacked me, I had no choice but to respond in a prickly way.
I felt somewhat depressed, thinking that I’d have a hard time if this atmosphere continued.
* * *
On the way back to the classroom after finishing the meal. Ye Abin called me to a stop as I was walking ahead.
“Yoon Taeho.”
“…What?”
“Do you have any plans after school today?”
His voice was as monotone as his expressionless face. I kept my mouth shut and just shook my head.
I thought he might want to practice together for the presentation, but instead, he asked again as if to confirm:
“So you don’t have any appointments after school?”
“And?”
When I properly voiced my confusion, Ye Abin tilted his head slightly. It was a simple gesture, but his regained composure seemed suspicious.
While he had always been rather blunt, now he seemed deliberately curt, as if openly showing his animosity. Moreover, he now displayed a certain confidence, as if he had an advantage over me.
Instead of letting out a scoffing laugh, I frowned and asked, and Ye Abin bluntly said:
“Then wait after school. You’ll need to wait about an hour.”
This time, a scoffing laugh really did burst out at his outrageously confident demand. He’s telling me to wait for an hour? And without even saying what it’s about, using a commanding tone rather than asking a favor—I was lost for words.
Seeing my expression, Ye Abin raised the corner of his mouth. Unlike his cold eyes, his smile had a strange sense of satisfaction mixed in. Was he originally like this? Or maybe a layer of his mask had just been peeled off. It also felt like typical behavior for a kid his age, which made me laugh in disbelief.
“What’s it about?”
“I just have something I want to say. It won’t take long.”
“Why not say it now?”
I asked with a slightly annoyed expression, wondering how absurd this was. I couldn’t understand why he was saying it would end quickly despite asking me to wait for an hour. I took a step closer to him, as if urging him to get it over with.
We were standing in front of Class 3. Ye Abin had one foot slightly positioned toward the back door, as if ready to go inside once he finished speaking. It was puzzling, considering how these guys had always come to our classroom during lunch breaks.
And naturally, I couldn’t help but think he was up to something.
“Really?”
“What?”
“You really want to talk here? I was planning to stay behind to talk for your sake.”
Ye Abin’s smile looked ominous. I frowned at the creeping sense of unease. I didn’t even like his deliberately provocative tone.
As I stammered, not knowing what to say, familiar figures began to appear one by one from a distant corner. I made eye contact with the purple eyes of the one at the front. Maeng Moa, who had been wearing a disgruntled expression as if something was bothering him, smiled and waved.
I couldn’t spare the composure to respond to that greeting and couldn’t help but flinch. Seeing my reaction, Ye Abin turned around to follow my gaze. After looking at the main characters walking in the distance, he turned back to face me with a mocking expression.
“Not taking pictures anymore, I see?”
For a moment, I almost blurted out “What are you talking about?” but swallowed my words. It was because of the significant implications of the word “taking pictures” that came from his mouth.
The word “taking pictures” could have several meanings, but since I was now Yoon Taeho, I had to recall related incidents from his perspective.
In a very short time, a scene flashed through my mind: Yoon Taeho lying pathetically, surrounded by the main characters. There, Yoon Taean had asked with an incredulous face.
If it was true that he had been spreading photos of Moon Seoheon.
I immediately stared at Ye Abin’s face. Seeing my trembling eyes, he parted his twisted lips and said something. Unlike his previously vague expressions, his words now contained a clearer meaning.
“You don’t even look at Moon Seoheon’s photos these days. You used to show them occasionally. Photos you took with Moon Seoheon.”
Ye Abin placed a strange accent on Moon Seoheon’s name each time he mentioned it. To top it off, he deliberately moved his lips slowly, as if doing it on purpose.
It was a calculated move, having checked the approaching Four who would soon meet us. I felt both dumbfounded and nervous, and reflexively looked at the approaching Four.
The guys who met my eyes showed various expressions, each revealing their own feelings. Given the distance, they probably couldn’t hear Ye Abin’s words clearly, but I turned back to him with a flustered face, anxious nonetheless.
Seeing my expression, Ye Abin smirked. Then he opened his mouth as if to add something.
“Okay. Since you’ll wait…”
Startled, I walked almost rushed toward him and spoke. I barely managed to swallow the words “Stop it.” Ye Abin, seemingly unsurprised by my close approach, just showed a satisfied smile and patted my shoulder.
“Right. See you later then.”
After saying that, Ye Abin immediately went into his classroom, and Hong Hachan followed him inside. Jo Youngmin, who was standing beside them, looked at me with contemptuous eyes.
He quickly slipped into the classroom after turning around at the presence of the main characters who were now just a few steps away, but I had no choice but to stand there motionless. Only then did I recall what Ye Abin had said.
Words mentioning photos of Moon Seoheon.
I stood dazed, silently organizing the situation. Although I had been startled and stopped Ye Abin’s words in that moment, reflecting on what he said, it didn’t seem like the situation I was worried about had actually occurred.
If I understood his meaning correctly, he said I occasionally showed photos I had taken with Moon Seoheon.
Of course, when I checked the previous phone, there were photos of Moon Seoheon in the gallery. But most of them were official photos from competitions, and the ones taken in the classroom were just cheerful moments of the guys joking around.
Looking at the photos where Yoon Taeho and Moon Seoheon were posing side by side for the camera, it was clear that Moon Seoheon knew they were being taken.
Since they had been transferred to my current phone as well, I could check to be more certain.
Looking at those photos, I didn’t suspect they were taken secretly. But the incident that caused Yoon Taeho to be caught by the main characters, be oppressed, and receive disciplinary action after being reported was precisely that.
The suspicion that he had spread photos of Moon Seoheon and taken secret pictures.
I recalled what Yoon Taeho had said when he was sprawled in the storage room. That he had taken photos but never uploaded them, and that Moon Seoheon knew about it. He had pleaded that they weren’t secret photos, but no one believed him.
Damn it. If Yoon Taeho really did such a thing, he deserved to be punished, but my mind became complicated by the circumstance that it might not actually be the case. But it would be fortunate if Yoon Taeho’s claim was correct.
Then what made Ye Abin confident enough to threaten me?
As I bit my lip to hold back a curse that was about to come out, someone grabbed my shoulder as if to wake me from my distant thoughts. Startled by the touch, I trembled like a fish just pulled from the sea.
