.
Well, I didn’t take that action in order to show mercy or so; thus, I didn’t expect him to notice that too.
Instead, I wished Ban Hwee Hyul wasn’t aware of it even if it was right that I had caused trouble to help him. Regarding the characters of Hwang Siwoo and his clique, it would be better if no one knew who I really was.
On the other hand, Ban Hwee Hyul definitely seemed to not know that it was me. He didn’t have any interest in me since he forgot my name in the first place. In this regard, he wouldn’t care about whether my backpack was in the classroom or not.
Staring at me for a while, Ban Hwee Hyul dropped a remark, at last, which was indeed just an ordinary greeting.
“Hi,” he uttered.
I asked, “… Um, you aren’t calling my name because you don’t remember it, do you?”
Ban Hwee Hyul didn’t respond. As the tension within me subsided, I laughed in a low voice then went straight to my seat.
Since Ban Hwee Hyul was sitting like a ghost in the classroom while looking soaking wet, he might have drawn others’ attention, which was thankful that Hwang Siwoo and his boys didn’t even notice the existence of my backpack. Thus, if I sat down and began to solve some math questions in my workbook, which I opened up on the desk, I would be committing a perfect crime.
However, something unexpected happened.
Nothing was on my desk. Even my backpack hanging beside my seat was gone. In other words, Hwang Siwoo and his boys weren’t able to find my bag, not because Ban Hwee Hyul was distracting them from it, but since nothing was there for them to notice my presence.
Probably because someone took my bag ahead of that situation…
While I turned stiff with those thoughts in mind, someone called me from behind me. I turned around.
“Here’s your backpack,” said Ban Hwee Hyul, sticking out the familiar bag in the dazzling morning light.
Between his wet black hair attached to his forehead, a pair of clear red eyes were fastened on me. As if my soul was captivated by his eyes, I just received my bag absentmindedly and kept standing still for a while.
His following words then pierced through my ears.
“I owe you, Ham Donnie.”
All of a sudden, I thought that it was the first time after the new semester that he called my name properly. After hesitating for a second, I slowly opened my lips.
“Why…?”
The moment I tried to ask, ‘Why didn’t you resist but just let them harass you not only this time but also last time?’ the front door opened, and someone came in.
“Hey…!” said Shin Suh Hyun. As if he got surprised, he paused his steps for a moment but soon walked into the classroom without constraint.
I also nodded and replied, “You came early today? Don’t you have the morning practice session in the archery team?”
“Tomorrow is the mock exam day, so the coach let us go study earlier today though it’s just half an hour earlier…”
Speaking that way, Shin Suh Hyun headed toward his seat. I stepped aside so that he could easily walk past me, but on the other hand, my heart began to beat nervously.
I glanced at Ban Hwee Hyul. Shin Suh Hyun might have definitely seen the two of us talking since it was just the right timing to not miss it; however, Shin Suh Hyun didn’t ask about it. ‘Weird,’ I thought to myself, but at that moment, Shin Suh Hyun suddenly looked back.
I was frightened for a second but soon realized that he threw his glance behind my back, not me.
“Do you need my gym clothes?”
Those words slipped from Shin Suh Hyun’s mouth so casually. After quite some time, Ban Hwee Hyul finally raised his head. It seemed like he couldn’t even imagine that the question was thrown at him.
“I do have other clothes that I wear in my archery team anyway; your uniform looks messy right now.”
Just like what Shin Suh Hyun said, Ban Hwee Hyul’s uniform wasn’t dried out even a bit; even muddy footprints were dissolved in water that the bottom of his pants was stained brown.
Staring at Shin Suh Hyun, Ban Hwee Hyul soon shook his head.
“… Nah, I’m fine,” he replied.
“Are you gonna take classes like that? The teacher will tell you to change clothes anyway…”
“…”
Shin Suh Hyun asked again, “Don’t you want to avoid attention?”
As if his nonchalant remark had stabbed somewhere painful, Ban Hwee Hyul’s red eyes widened for a moment. Just clenching both fists over the empty desk, Ban Hwee Hyul then slowly stood up.
Shin Suh Hyun immediately took out his gym clothes from his locker and uttered, “Don’t worry, I’ll never gonna talk to you again.”
“…”
“Just put my clothes back in my locker when there’s no one around like now. Make sure you return it until the next PE class though,” added Shin Suh Hyun.
Ban Hwee Hyul nodded again. His attitude looked like a bear that forgot to communicate with humans. Shin Suh Hyun could have pointed out that behavior; instead, he made a gesture to Ban Hwee Hyul as if saying, ‘Leave the classroom to change clothes as soon as possible.’
Having Shin Suh Hyun’s gym clothes in his arms, Ban Hwee Hyul was about to step outside the backdoor.
I called him, “Ah… hey…”
Ban Hwee Hyul turned his head and stared at me in wonder.
“Once you change your clothes, would you like to give me your uniform? I will… try to wash it if I can…” I uttered. It was my way to repay kindness.
“No, thanks,” replied Ban Hwee Hyul. He dropped a refusal right away without a second thought. He then walked straight toward the hallway and closed the door. Only his trudging footsteps came along over the closed door.
Being vacant for a second, I soon turned my head toward someone calling me. Shin Suh Hyun was tossing a question with interested eyes.
“Are you close to him?” he asked.
I replied, “Huh? Well… um… perhaps I can be the closest person to him in this school though…”
I never saw him talking to someone inside the school. Although I didn’t know where he was and what he had been doing during lunchtime, I was confident that he wasn’t seeing anyone regardless.
Shin Suh Hyun dropped another question, “Really? How?” He didn’t show any signs of reproach or aversion on his face such as ‘How on earth can that happen?’ or ‘Why did you do that?’ That was why I can respond without hesitation.
“At first, I thought it was like a time bomb, so in terms of protection of human life, I wasn’t able to just ignore him…”
“Protection of human life?” asked Shin Suh Hyun.
Watching his face turning odd, I tried to neglect that expression and quickly continued speaking.
“But now he’s like a dog lost in the rain… I mean, a bear lost in the rain, so I can’t just ignore and go…”
Even when a stray dog wanders around the neighborhood in hunger or gets harassed by kids, we are likely to go help the poor little animal. When it comes to humans, nothing is different, isn’t it?
‘But…’ As something flashed through my mind, I touched my forehead. The situation that I had to protect the nationwide Number 1 was very weird since I didn’t have even a bit of fighting power or combat skills compared to Ban Hwee Hyul.
‘Geez, if you’re the so-called nationwide Number 1, then show some bravery to save the female main character while fighting against seventeen enemies by yourself after blurting out, ‘Wait, my heart!’ Do something like that!’ I thought to myself, then I came up with another possibility.
Now I had come to think of it, I had never seen Ban Hwee Hyul fighting with others. Though I often considered that he would kill someone soon, that was only limited to the fierce look in his eyes.
Even if I found his astonishing athletic abilities during the PE class, physical education and a fight were quite different, just as in Hwang Siwoo’s case…
My facial expressions became serious. Was he then not good at fighting? Did he inherit the title of nationwide Number 1 from his father or so? Since there were successors to the thrones, why not having successors to the nationwide fighting rankings?
The last possibility I could think of was… what if Ban Hwee Hyul wasn’t the nationwide Number 1? And what if he came to the hospital that day for something else?
“…”
‘Ah, hold on…’
Almost stumbling, I touched my forehead again.
‘No… if that was true, have I been misunderstanding a poor kid, who didn’t know how to fight but was pure and innocent to just get beaten by bullies every time, as a hidden outlaw just by looking at his eye colors and threatening appearance?’
At some point, it made sense. Just a few months ago, I also got Yi Ruda wrong that he was a girl by his gorgeous appearance, absence of Adam’s apple, and suspicious background. My misunderstanding about him lasted almost half a year too.
“Jesus…”
Thinking to that extent, the possibility of Ban Hwee Hyul actually being an innocent student, not a nationwide top fighter, became more and more assured.
