Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“Agh!”

The boy fell back with a shout and a crash. Hyunoh, his grip still on the boy’s hair, swung his gaze to the other kid, who let go of Doyeon’s arm in surprise.

“Damn, dude, I let go! My hands are off!”

Finally, Hyunoh released his grip around the boy’s hair. Since he was holding onto Hyunoh’s wrist, he slammed his head on the lockers in front of him at the sudden release and whimpered as he covered his forehead.

Doyeon coughed right next to him, staying close to the lockers. He could finally breathe thanks to Hyunoh, with his neck and body free. When Doyeon took a look around, he could see how chaotic the situation was.

Some of the girls were looking at Hyunoh with concerned eyes, while Taeil hovered near the window, supporting his side.

Hyunoh stared at the two boys crawling over to Taeil and began to swear. “What the hell do they have in their brains...?”

Hyunoh opened and closed his fist, then walked out of the classroom.

Crrrk. Scrrch. Doyeon listened to the sound of his taped-up slides for a moment before snapping out of his daze, throwing Taeil a glare, and running out of the classroom after Hyunoh, who was heading toward the bathroom. He quickly grabbed Hyunoh’s shoulder.

“Hey! Haa... haa...”

It was a short run, but it took the air out of him. Probably because he had been choked seconds ago.

Hyunoh looked stiff when he turned around to face him.

“You... Haaa...” Doyeon struggled to speak as he clung to Hyunoh’s shoulder.

Hyunoh interrupted with a straight face. “What, did I overstep again by interrupting your fight?”

“What?”

“What kind of crap are you going to come up with now? I didn’t want to interrupt, all right? I’m the class president, so I have a—”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything!” Doyeon shouted, cutting off Hyunoh.

Then he sucked in a breath, trying to get his voice back. After a while of glaring at Hyunoh with his chest heaving, he waited until he could breathe before mumbling out, “I just wanted to say thanks.”

Hyunoh said nothing.

“They were attacking me three-on-one, but there was no one to stop them because all the guys were out playing soccer and the girls were the only ones in class. You saved me.”

Doyeon licked his lips, which were starting to throb, and avoided Hyunoh’s eyes, embarrassed. He was a little awkward about receiving Hyunoh’s help immediately after they fought, but Hyunoh didn’t say anything. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on Doyeon’s lips.

Yes, the fight ended before anyone could get a good punch and kick in, but Doyeon’s lips were red and swollen from rolling on the ground.

“Your...” Hyunoh raised his hand to touch the corner of Doyeon’s mouth, but quickly put it down. He folded his arms and locked his hands together.

He stared at the ground with a quiet frown, then sighed as he looked up at Doyeon again.

“So, why did you fight?”

“Huh?”

“Those three I understand, but why did you fight?”

“Because they called me a beggar?” Doyeon decided to say.

He couldn’t bear to say that they’d called Yukyung Yang a skank. Saying such a filthy description out loud wasn’t going to help Yukyung in any way. It was better to not bring up such a word at all.

“Anyways, thanks for stopping them. I started the fight because they pissed me off, but my mom would have gone bankrupt if I punched them because of the hospital fees. I was going to let them beat me up so my mom could ask them for money instead.”

Hyunoh just stared.

“I was joking, dude. What’s with your face? I wouldn’t let myself get beaten up for money... I know my face should be treasured.”

Doyeon patted Hyunoh’s shoulder when he took on a darker look and smiled.

Hyunoh glanced at the hand on his shoulder. He made it clear to Doyeon that whenever he said such things, it didn’t sound like a joke at all.

Doyeon nodded toward the bathroom and headed back to class. “Go wash your hands. I’m going back in.”

Doyeon thought it through as he walked back. Yes, Hyunoh Gong was rude, but he did have a good side to him. I should buy him new slides later… Doyeon nodded to himself.

Hyunoh sat down just before the end-of-lunch bell rang. The scent of soap told Doyeon he’d washed his face, too.

Doyeon handed him the bottle of lotion he left on the window sill. “Put it on.”

“What is it?”

“Something Gahee gave me.”

It was the sample lotion bottle Gahee Bak gave him recently. It was the same one he said smelled good, and the one she threw at him.

Hyunoh took it with a bland expression and rubbed some over his hands and face.

“You put it on like that too?”

“What?”

“Lotion.”

Doyeon copied Hyunoh by rubbing his hands roughly all over his face and laughed. Gahee had scolded him for rubbing it in the same way, so it was funny to see Hyunoh paste lotion on his face like that.

He didn’t know rich kids did that too.

“I thought you would take your time or put in some care because you have good skin.”

“The state of your skin is something you’re born with, isn’t it?” Hyunoh mumbled, returning the lotion bottle. Doyeon couldn’t tell whether he was joking or being serious. That overconfident voice of his, though, didn’t sound rude that time.

“You can keep that. Gahee gave me two,” Doyeon said, handing the bottle back.

Hyunoh shoved the small sample bottle into his front pocket and nodded his thanks.

Doyeon rummaged around his bag to get ready for class. Then, he found a hidden bundle at the bottom of it. It was the little box he brought around with him every day but refused to touch.

Doyeon looked at the box, then glanced at Hyunoh, then at the box again before putting it on his desk. He then fixed his eyes to the front of the room, pretending as though nothing was out of the ordinary.

What Doyeon pulled out was the new pencil case Hyunoh bought for him some time ago.

Back then, he refused it, thinking Hyunoh was treating him like a beggar, but he had unwrapped the whole bag soon afterward. It remained in good care at the bottom of his bag.

Hyunoh noticed the pencil case a moment too late, his chin on his hand. He glanced at the pencil case a few times. His eyes widened, and his hand lowered.

A few seconds later, Hyunoh smiled as though he couldn’t make head or tails of the situation.

“Do you bring that around all the time? Do you like it?”

“Yeah. I have it because it’s new and I like it. So what?”

“If you liked it, you should have just said that instead of complaining.”

“I pretended, all right? Look, all these pens and erasers, and the ruler’s yours. A.K.A. The Hyunoh Gong Collection. I can only fit ten pencils in, though.”

When Doyeon opened up the pencil case to reveal what was inside, he straightened up and leaned away from Hyunoh.

Hyunoh took the pencil case away and took out the name pen. Then, right next to the zipper, he wrote [Doyeon’s ♡].

“Dude, what the hell...?!”

Freaking out, Doyeon snatched it back and rubbed the heart, but it only blurred and expanded, making it look bigger. [Doyeon’s ♡]? Seriously? It was embarrassing to look at, full of self-love.

“Why did you scribble on my pencil case?!”

“I bought it for you, so I’m allowed to write your name on it.”

“The name is not the problem here, the heart is!” Doyeon smacked Hyunoh’s shoulder with his fist. Hyunoh laughed, rubbing his shoulder.

Doyeon had to laugh too.

“Hyunoh Gong, Doyeon Yoo. Stop whispering to each other! You’re first and second place in class. You’re meant to set a better example!”

The two ended up getting in trouble for laughing at the pencil case smack in the middle of their desks.

It was a very natural way of making up, without saying sorry or forgiving each other.

* * *

When class ended and break came around again, Hyunoh suddenly disappeared somewhere, and Kangbin replaced him. He was excited about something because he kept slamming his hands on his desk.

“We should go get hamburgers later! I won in a badminton match earlier, so Sunwoo has to buy us... huh? What’s wrong with your face?”

Kangbin’s expression suddenly froze, his smile dropping immediately.

Kangbin peered into Doyeon’s face as though he was looking at something new. He had realized Doyeon’s injury far too late since he came back to class just before lunch was over.

Kangbin raised Doyeon’s chin with his hands and began to shout.

“Did you get hit?!”

“I didn’t get hit, I just ended up fighting—”

“Damn, fight who?! Who?!”

“Ow, hey, don’t grab me like that.”

Doyeon pushed Kangbin’s rough hands away. His chin began to throb. Someone among the three had gotten an elbow in there.

“Who the hell hit you?! Did this happen over lunch? Who did this to you?!” Kangbin shouted at Doyeon.

The girl in the next row decided to explain. “Taeil Im, Jinjae Kim, and Jungmin Oh did that. Mostly Taeil though. The three of them were saying something to Doyeon during lunch...”

Before she could finish, Kangbin ran to the row next to the corridor and kicked Taeil’s empty desk to the floor.

As the table crashed, books and stationary also scattered below its frame.

“Where are these bastards?!”