“Ah, f*ck, I’m really sorry.”
“I’ve got some family stuff overlapping right now, so I don’t have time.”
“I’ll really take responsibility and do a good job on the presentation.”
Lee Hyeok-jin was blatantly avoiding Hee-woon.
During class, he’d sit far away and leave immediately when it ended, but now they had coincidentally run into each other in front of the lockers and he was talking.
Surprisingly, Seo Kang-woo had made the PPT really well, which lessened Hee-woon’s burden, but if the presentation went badly, it would all be for nothing.
The presentation was as important as the exam; if his score was low, it would be hard to get an A+, and then he wouldn’t be able to get the scholarship.
On top of that, he already had one absence in his other classes, so he was putting even more effort into studying for exams and assignments.
“You can’t present well if you don’t know the content.”
“The professor might ask questions.”
“Just send me the materials you wrote.”
Huh?
Hyeok-jin rubbed Hee-woon’s shoulder.
Hee-woon looked up at Hyeok-jin with an awkward expression, and Kang-woo stared at Hyeok-jin’s hand on Hee-woon’s shoulder before speaking.
“Hyeok-jin sunbae.”
“There are only 3 days left until next Monday.”
“I know.”
“I told you I’ll practice well.”
“Sunbae Hee-woon did a lot of research, so I think it might be difficult for you to just look through it.”
“It would be better if we could go over it together at least once to organize it.”
“What do you think?”
Kang-woo looked down at Hyeok-jin and smiled softly.
“…Well. That’s true.”
“But it’s the weekend now.”
“Coming all the way to school on the weekend is a bit…”
“I have to study for exams too….”
Hee-woon glanced at Kang-woo’s hand resting by his thigh.
It was strange to see the hand that was often on him just staying still.
And it also felt unfair.
Why did he have to suffer like this just because he saw that?
“Hmm….”
When Kang-woo made a humming sound, Hee-woon tensed up sharply.
Hyeok-jin wasn’t paying any attention and was looking at his phone.
Hee-woon thought Hyeok-jin, who knew nothing, was an idiot.
“Then, would you like to do it at my place?”
“Your place?”
Hyeok-jin’s eyes went wide.
There were many rumors that Seo Kang-woo was the third generation of a conglomerate.
Perhaps because he was curious about such a person’s house, Hyeok-jin hesitated.
A few hours later, Hyeok-jin sent an affirmative answer via KakaoTalk.
Hee-woon bit his lip hard.
He couldn’t come to school, but he could go to Seo Kang-woo’s house.
                                                    ****
“Wow, crazy.”
“You live here alone?”
Hyeok-jin, his eyes wide, kept looking around.
He had been like that since passing through the front gate.
After seeing the living room with its high ceiling, the spacious kitchen, and even the study with the large desk, he kept asking Kang-woo this and that.
His massive frame shining his eyes innocently looked comical.
“Are you really a chaebol heir?”
Kang-woo just smiled brightly.
But Hyeok-jin seemed convinced.
Probably, a credible rumor that Seo Kang-woo was a chaebol would soon spread within the department.
They sat around a large table.
Hee-woon and Hyeok-jin sat side by side, and Kang-woo sat across from Hyeok-jin.
A laptop, positioned so all three could see, had the PPT displayed.
Hyeok-jin, flipping through the PPT, exclaimed in admiration.
“Wow, f*ck.”
“You made this really well?”
It meant he was seeing it for the first time.
“I sent it two days ago.”
“You haven’t looked at it yet?”
“I skimmed it, you bastard.”
Hyeok-jin laughed awkwardly and slapped Hee-woon’s back pang pang.
Hyeok-jin had a large frame and thick hands, so being hit by him gave a dull, heavy pain.
Kang-woo stared intently at Hee-woon’s furrowed brow.
Knock knock.
Just then, there was a knock and a housekeeper holding a tray entered.
It was coffee and macarons in pretty glasses with a delicate, embossed pattern.
“Thank you.”
“Yeah.”
“Is this americano?”
“I don’t drink coffee.”
Hyeok-jin, scratching his chin, grabbed a macaron and popped it into his mouth whole.
“Then shall I prepare orange juice for you?”
“Ah.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
At the housekeeper’s question, Hyeok-jin nodded roughly.
Hee-woon knew the type well, like Lee Hyeok-jin.
The typical bully who acts high-handed towards those weaker than himself.
Hee-woon took a sip of coffee and picked up a blue macaron, taking a bite.
It was vanilla flavored.
Eating something sweet seemed to make him feel a little better.
Following a recent habit, Hee-woon frequently put snacks in his mouth.
Kang-woo, watching Hee-woon munch away while underlining materials for Hyeok-jin, rested his chin on his hand.
“Sunbae seems to like that more than meals.”
“…Huh?”
Hee-woon, who asked with wide eyes, had green crumbs on his lips.
Following Kang-woo, who tapped his own lip with a finger, Hee-woon wiped his mouth.
“You just pick at your food, sunbae.”
“Ah….”
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Hyeok-jin, who had been reading the materials, suddenly cut in.
That material was what Hee-woon had sent last week.
“Yeah.”
“You bastard, your type needs to eat a fuckton and lift weights first.”
“Do you usually work out?”
“No.”
“Let me see.”
“Whew, you bastard.”
“You’re just skinny.”
A toad-like hand grabbed and squeezed Hee-woon’s forearm.
Hee-woon, his brow slightly furrowed, said.
“Just finish looking at what you were reading.”
“Look at him changing the subject.”
Hyeok-jin giggled and patted Hee-woon’s back.
Since he had taken off his coat and was only wearing a thin long-sleeve shirt, the patting seemed to hurt more.
After that, Hyeok-jin kept talking about workout methods even though no one asked.
It was when Hee-woon was taking a bite of a macaron while tuning him out.
“Hey, f*ck.”
“But what’s this on you?”
“Isn’t that a hickey?”
Hyeok-jin pressed hard on the back of Hee-woon’s neck without giving him a chance to avoid it.
Hee-woon flinched in surprise and slapped Hyeok-jin’s hand away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Seo Kang-woo bit and sucked on the back of his neck whenever he got the chance.
He thought it was okay since the clothes covered just above the neck, but it seemed Lee Hyeok-jin’s constant back-patting had pulled them down a bit.
“Crazy.”
“A scrawny bastard like you has a girlfriend too.”
“I f*cking don’t get it.”
“Hurry up and finish reading this.”
“Don’t tell me you have them on your body too?”
Hyeok-jin grabbed the neck of Hee-woon’s t-shirt and pulled it forward, giggling.
“Are you crazy?”
Hee-woon shuddered and sharply slapped Hyeok-jin’s hand away.
“Bastard.”
“I thought you were quiet.”
Hee-woon’s face scrunched up as he looked at Hyeok-jin’s lecherous smile.
That was when it happened.
The glass cup that Kang-woo, who had been sitting still, brought down on Hyeok-jin’s head.
With a thwack, glass fragments scattered in all directions.
The glass piece that fell on Hyeok-jin’s shoulder reflected the fluorescent light, sparkling.
It was so sudden Hyeok-jin couldn’t even scream, just fumblingly touched his own head.
“Are you okay?”
Kang-woo asked softly.
“…Is this bastard crazy!”
Hyeok-jin, his face twisted, sprang up and glared at Kang-woo.
But Kang-woo’s gaze remained fixed on Hee-woon.
“None of the glass hit you, right?”
“…No.”
Hee-woon answered, panting slightly.
Beep-beep-beep— A red warning light was blaring loudly in his head.
“Hey.”
“You f*cking bastard!”
“Are you completely insane?”
The chair Hyeok-jin shoved roughly made a crashing sound as it tumbled backwards.
Hyeok-jin, who had done judo in middle school, had a large build that kept most people from picking a fight with him.
Confidence overflowed from the hand he reached out to grab Kang-woo by the collar.
So, having his hand twisted and his face hit without being able to use his strength at all must have been completely unexpected.
With a thud, Hyeok-jin staggered back and slumped down.
“Uh…?”
The large man touched his own nose with a bewildered expression.
Drip, drip— Drops of blood fell from Hyeok-jin’s nose.
Hee-woon, completely tense, looked at Kang-woo.
He got up leisurely from his chair.
His footsteps as he walked around the table to stand in front of Hyeok-jin held not even a hint of urgency.
Seo Kang-woo, who had stopped, looked down at Hyeok-jin for a moment, then kicked him in the chest as if stomping down.
“Kuh-huk….”
As if his breath was cut off, Hyeok-jin couldn’t move for a moment.
Blood streamed down over Hyeok-jin’s twitching leg and onto his forehead.
Hyeok-jin felt his face.
His hand became slick, wet with blood from his nose and forehead.
“You fuu—cking bastard!”
“Why are you doing this all of a sudden!”
“Are you crazy?”
He seemed as incredulous as he was angry.
Blood from above seeped into his lips, which were parted wide from shouting.
The sight of half his face soaked crimson, his eyes wide open as he screamed, was ironically more terrifying than the face of Seo Kang-woo who had made him that way.
Kang-woo looked down indifferently at Hyeok-jin struggling to get up, then stepped on Hyeok-jin’s hand that was planted on the floor as if it were nothing.
“Ack—! You f*cking bastard!”
“Move!”
Immediately after, Seo Kang-woo did something horrifying without blinking an eye.
He pinned Hyeok-jin’s hand down with one foot, and with his other foot, he kicked his arm.
Crunch—!
The sound of a bone breaking rang out, and simultaneously, Hyeok-jin’s scream echoed through the room.
“Aaaah—! Aak—!”
The thick arm in a short-sleeved shirt bent at a grotesque angle.
In extreme pain, Hyeok-jin thrashed around, hitting the floor with his other hand.
Hee-woon’s complexion turned deathly pale.
His breath kept coming out ragged.
The only calm person in this room was Seo Kang-woo.
He beat Lee Hyeok-jin, who couldn’t even move properly.
Hee-woon learned for the first time that such sounds could come from hitting a human body.
The sound of bones breaking, the sound of choking, kuk-kuk.
Goosebumps rose all over his body.
At this rate, it seemed Lee Hyeok-jin would die.
But his body, frozen in fear, could hardly move.
In truth, he didn’t even have the fleeting thought of intervening.
In that moment, Hee-woon wasn’t in the study filled with rows of books, but inside a dark, dusty-smelling abandoned factory.