The Girl He Never Knew | SVT THE8

11 | dude

"It's nothing. I just fell." He lied brazenly.

"You fell and got these bruises on your arm? Who are you kidding? You think I'm stupid?" I grew agitated.

Myungho met my eyes and frowned back. "They're just bruises. Don't make a fuss about it. I'm fine."

"Did something happen at home?" I asked with concern. I was reminded of his abusive father and I hoped that was not the reason.

"D-Dude, don't give me that look." He panicked when he saw the look on my face, but I can't help what I feel for him. My eyes began to water.

"I'm not a dude..." I mumbled lowly.

Myungho chuckled amidst the seriousness, causing me to frown back. "What's so funny?" The tears had fuzzed up my vision but I could see a genuine smile on his face.

"It's not funny," he said and used a thumb to brush across my eye. "It's cute."

Me, looking like I'm about to cry, is cute?

"You're crazy." I mumbled while blinking to clear the tears out of my eyes.

Then he reached up to feel my forehead. "And you're hot. Literally. You're still feverish, Yujin."

Before I could react, Myungho stepped away from me searching around the nurse's office again. Seconds later he came to me with a water-filled paper cone and a pill. "Eat this," he instructed and I did as he said. Then he passed me a packet that turned out to be a fever-reducing medicine. "Eat one more tablet in the evening, after your meal. It should bring your fever down."

I took it skeptically but my eyes never left his. "How do you know where to find it?" I asked.

"I'm always here when I play sick. There's nothing I don't know," Myungho answered cheekily.

...

Myungho has a knack for changing topics and I always fell for it. I kept wanting to talk about his bruises but then he would start telling me to go home and recuperate. I obviously refused, because if my parents knew I left school early they may start suspecting my injury.

Back in class, I tried to make him talk about the bruises again but he ended up threatening me. He said if I didn't stop, he would tell the teacher about my injury and send me home.

I stared at the back of his neck, wanting to pinch the crap out of him for making me the loser.

"Yujin?"

I raised my eyes to the person calling me, Mr. Park.

"Y-Yes!" I clasped my hands underneath my desk and tried to answer as calmly as possible.

"I'm asking for your answer to question 4," Mr Park repeated. He didn't look too happy with me.

I flipped through my workbook to find my answer to question 4 but it was blank.

Oh my god, why is it blank?

"It's..." I hesitated, trying to buy time as I read through the question before answering. "It's...erm..."

My anxiety grew as Mr Park took steps towards me. There was no time to think and he was about to reprimand me in front of the whole class. I clenched my fists tight, eyes searching the floor as I prepared for the worst to come. Never did I imagine this day to come.