.
She immediately tackled Hwang Siwoo with all her strength, but the group of boys grabbed her arms. Being thrown on the floor, Lee Mina gasped in anger, but she dashed into them once again.
While the boys kept blocking her way, Hwang Siwoo bent his steps without compunction and walked toward Yoon Jung In. Looking at the sight, Lee Mina shrieked again.
“Hey, if you dare to touch Yoon Jung In, you’re gonna pay for that! I mean it!”
As if her words made no sense, Hwang Siwoo sneered and stretched his hand to grab Yoon Jung In by the collar. Then at the moment when Hwang Siwoo pulled Yoon Jung In’s head backward by force, I found a stream of blood flowing from Yoon Jung In’s nose. Something inside my head then broke with a snap.
That was when Hwang Siwoo’s punch came to a halt at the sudden outcry.
“Loser, you always surprise attack people! Didn’t you take the spot in the ranking battle by attempting sudden attack, instead of playing fair?!”
Hwang Siwoo directed his eyes to my side with a doubtful glance. That was because the person who shouted that way was none other than me.
Article 38. The Dark Past of the Nationwide Number 1
As if his most trustful follower had betrayed him, Hwang Siwoo looked like he couldn’t believe the situation. No, since we weren’t having that kind of relationship, it would be more appropriate to describe that he looked like he had been bitten by a mouse forced into a corner.
Anyway, the person competing with Hwang Siwoo on the stage in his mind should be someone else, not me. However, I appeared impudently; such a run-of-the-mill person like me had dared to confront him.
Just as I expected, the look on Hwang Siwoo’s face turned into that of a beast with deeply wounded dignity. Taking a step forward, he roared, “Are you insane?!!”
“…”
I didn’t respond but just scowled at him even without blinking. The look in Hwang Siwoo’s eyes became fiercer. Striding toward me, he struck a retort on every step he took.
“What the hell? Are you really out of your mind? The ball hit him on his head, but why are you going insane? Huh?”
Every time Hwang Siwoo’s sneakers bumped into the wet floor, there was a squeaking noise. Once he stood right in front of me, at last, he raised his hand to sweep back his disheveled hair.
As if he felt speechless, Hwang Siwoo uttered, “Okay, so you’ve been getting along with the Four Heavenly whatever for a couple of years and even in high school. Is that why you’re overrating yourself? It’s enough to think that way now, huh?”
At that moment, I, who was scowling at him even without blinking, had tears in my eyes. A streak of tear ran down my cheek and began to keep dropping like rainfall.
Standing beside me, the Kim twins and Ban Hwee Hyul held their breaths and showed a surprised expression. Ban Hwee Hyul especially looked very astonished as much as Hwang Siwoo just now.
In his perspective, I would indeed look excessively reckless and fearless. I was, of course, not that intrepid, but ever since I was involved with Ban Hwee Hyul, I had been behaving wild, instead, while regarding that everything was just screwed up.
Having that thought in mind, I lifted my hand to wipe out the tears on my cheek. Hwang Siwoo, on the other hand, still looked very dumbfounded. Shoving one hand into his pocket, he talked sarcastically.
“You just blurted out whatever you want, but now you feel scared, huh? Do you think I’ll just let you go, saying, ‘Oh dear, I’m sorry,’ if you cry? Wake up, don’t even dream about it!”
His determined words made me open my tearful lips, at last. Throwing a cold glance at him, I retorted, “I never had those dreams.”
“Then why are you fu*king weeping?”
Being wordless, I directed my eyes to the side over Hwang Siwoo’s shoulders. Yoon Jung In was still tumbling on the ground while covering his stinging cheek. Putting her arms around Yoon Jung In’s shoulders, Lee Mina was crying her heart out with a reddened face.
Following my glance, Hwang Siwoo found what was going on. He diverted his gaze back onto me and threw a question with a sneer.
“Why? Because I hit that preachy jerk? Geez, how devoted you are, but you didn’t even shed a tear when I beat the hell out of that big dude behind you.”
Pointing Yoon Jung In again with his chin, Hwang Siwoo uttered with a nasty smirk.
“Do you have a crush on him? However, you had no choice but to let your friend become his girlfriend, huh? I’ve heard you’re also a couple… then is your boyfriend just a way to camouflage your crush?” Hwang Siwoo added, “That’s funny, haha.”
Even if he giggled that way, I didn’t move a muscle but just kept wiping out my falling tears.
The reason why I was crying had nothing to do with it. I had no energy left to accept that bullshit as a stupid joke.
If we found someone who had something that we truly desired but didn’t exist within us, we became jealous of or admiring that person. I was always the latter.
When I first saw Yoon Jung In, I was dazzled by his look as if he was emitting lights. It wasn’t just because of his handsome appearance. Even when he looked so exhausted while pulling an all-nighter during the examination period or even after rolling on the dirt from the tough training at the retreat, Yoon Jung In looked so radiant. His positive, robust, and altruistic character spread that brilliant aura.
That energy or spirit couldn’t be concealed; the subtle halo around him attracted many people so naturally, therefore.
Yoon Jung In always looked comfortable in the crowds. That was such a naturalness that I could never attain at all. Though I wasn’t sure if I was born that way or there was a problem during my growth process, I always felt uncomfortable and unhappy when I received huge attention or when too many people surrounded me.
It felt like those people would shine their flashlights to look through even the darkest and weakest parts inside me. I also thought the same when I first met the Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung, those who would have had no interest or curiosity in me.
The more I felt that way, the more I admired Yoon Jung In. No matter who he met, he never got overwhelmed or behaved awkwardly. He did joke around or act frivolously, but maybe because of that playful attitude, other people could quickly relieve tension and opened their hearts.
Watching Yoon Jung In befriending Eun Jiho and Yoo Chun Young, who were such uneasy characters to get along with, at the speed of light, I couldn’t help but exclaim how sociable he was. Thus, I actually found Yoon Jung In a more incomprehensible creature than the Four Heavenly Kings.
It didn’t, of course, mean that I liked Yoon Jung In as a guy; instead, it was somehow similar to seeing my favorite celebrity. If our favorite celebrities appeared on a TV show and were facing some shameful moments, we would just switch the channel to something else since it was intolerable to watch them going through such a situation. In other words, there existed some people we felt protective of or wanted to take care of.
Likewise, I wished Yoon Jung In could always show only his confident and brilliant side. Never in my entire life, I wanted to see him behaving timidly or reeling under someone’s attack.
‘But you struck Yoon Jung In after all, huh?’ Assuring my will to fight, I scowled at Hwang Siwoo, who was directing his eyes to me, once again, with a dumbfounded expression.
Since I wasn’t the main character in a web novel stirred by fury, I, of course, had no confidence to fight and win Hwang Siwoo. Thus, I could just let him beat me so that I could later report it to the teacher or police.
They say, in times of war, the law falls silent. However, the law could leave a long-lasting bruise, in the end. In return for making potential black-and-blue marks on my face, Hwang Siwoo’s student record would turn red with bad records.
The moment I murmured such things in my thoughts, a smooth voice intervened in our conversation out of the blue. It sounded chill and even cheerful, at the same time, that I felt it was unsuitable in this tense atmosphere.
“Don’t be too harsh. We have to be in the same class for a year.”
Feeling unbelievable, I slowly turned back.
Yi Ruda was standing beside the side door of the gym with his blue eyes curved into a swiveling smile. I never knew that he would just watch the situation while standing idly that way and even with a bright smile. Thus, I couldn’t help but feel devastated.
