The door handle continued to twist, and Taesan's heart was pounding intensely, feeling nervous of what would happen if Jaehyun decided to shout.
Jaehyun looked at Taesan, he wondered if it was better to tell everyone what had happened or to keep it to himself and use it to control Taesan. He knew he wouldn't be a loser in both situations, but the second option seemed a bit more thrilling.
There was so much he needed to discover about Taesan, and maybe so much he could use.
'Just leave when they're away from the door,' Jaehyun told him. 'I'm going to keep it to myself, just make sure you stay away from Amy-Janett.'
'Re...really?' Taesan asked in a mixture of surprise and relief. He wondered if he could trust Jaehyun or if he was simply playing with him. But this was definitely better news than he had expected.
Jaehyun nodded. 'Yeah...now listen...I'm keeping probably your deepest secret. Don't you dare cross me again okay?'
'O...okay.' He nodded thankfully.
'I don't think they're in there Leehan!' Amy-Janett said in an annoyed tone outside the door. 'There's no reply.'
'Uh...' Leehan tried to open the door again, twisting the handle. 'Probably the janitor locked it. But I swear they were in here.'
Amy-Janett rolled her eyes, before she wrapped her arms around her body fearfully. 'Oh no, what if Jaehyun hurt him? Poor thing. He's just so innocent and quiet.'
The two of them walked away, the anxiety in Amy-Janett growing.
Inside the janitor's closet, Taesan sighed in relief now that they were gone.
'Jaehyun, should I take you to the nurse's office?' Taesan suggested, seeing that Jaehyun was still in so much pain and was probably holding it in to seem strong in front of the person who had just inflicted pain on him.
'Just go,' Jaehyun uttered, now through gritted teeth.
Taesan decided it's better to be obedient. He nodded and opened the door, then walked out nervously. He was afraid to even get to class, afraid of how this would turn out, but he had no choice but to believe Jaehyun would keep his word.
Taesan checked his outfit, wanting to look clean so that no one would suspect a thing. Finally, he walked into the math class, several minutes late for the class. He could tell everyone's eyes were on him, and some very curious eyes which belonged to Amy-Janett.
'You're late,' the math teacher, a man with a constant boredom that lingered in his voice, spoke.
'I'm sorry sir,' he replied, not having any explanation as to why he was late.
'Well take your seat so that we can go on with this lesson.' The man said, turning back to the board. He continued to write the quadratic equations, while some students watched him and most watched Taesan as he walked over to his seat.
He sat down and took a deep sigh.
He looked forward at the board and started to copy the questions, but a crumpled paper that was thrown at him grabbed his attention.
He looked in the direction of the person who had thrown it and his eyes met with Amy-Janett's.
'Hey are you okay?' she whispered to him.
Taesan slowly nodded. 'I'm okay. Thanks.'
'Where's Jaehyun?' Leehan, who sat a few rows in front of Taesan, asked him in a cross tone.
'I...I don't know.' He shook his head.
'How can you not know?! You were the last person with him...'
'Leehan,' the teacher reprimanded him, seeing his whisper-shouting was getting too audible.
'Sorry,' Leehan mumbled and looked back to the front. Amy-Janett also looked back to the teacher, although her eyes were initially set on Taesan with curiosity.
Once the teacher had explained a sum and was back to writing on the board, both Amy-Janett and Leehan looked back at Taesan.
'So, you're saying you didn't see him?' Leehan continued.
'What are you even insinuating?' Amy-Janett interfered, now looking at Leehan. 'You think Taesan did something to Jaehyun? Are you serious?'
Taesan swallowed hard. At least he knew that nobody would believe he could hit Jaehyun, but what if it was discovered?
'Well,' Leehan looked closely at Taesan. 'Of course not, Jaehyun can beat him up with only a finger. I just don't know what's going on here.'
'I didn't want to say anything,' Lily, who had been hearing the whole conversation, finally commented. 'But I think it's ridiculous for you to even assume Taesan can fight anyone.' She chuckled.
The conversation was hushed the moment the teacher turned around again and continued his lesson. The teacher looked around for a moment before he spotted an empty chair in the classroom that had never been empty.
'Excuse me,' the teacher spoke. 'Where's Myung Jaehyun?'
The class looked around, all of them peering over at Jaehyun's empty seat then looking at each other.
'I've never seen Jaehyun skip a class since he started high school.' The man stated matter-of-factly. 'Did anyone see him today?'
'He did come for the first classes,' Leehan answered. 'I don't know where he could be now.'
Taesan continued to feel the nervousness in his body. The mention of Jaehyun's name sent shivers down his spine.
'He was last seen with Taesan,' Leehan mumbled under his breath, not audible enough for the teacher to hear him.
'Well, I guess something so important occurred that kept him from getting to class.' The man continued his lesson, while Taesan tried his best to keep his composure.
After one more class, it was lunch time. People started to disappear and make their way to the cafeteria.
Taesan continued to stare down at his books, not wanting to look in the eyes of his classmates.
'Taesan,' Amy-Janett said as she approached him. 'Are you sure you're okay? Jaehyun didn't hurt you at all?'
'N – no.' he answered nervously.
'What a relief.' She said as she sat down in the seat in front of him. 'I've never heard of Jaehyun being in a fight before, but he looks pretty strong. And you're just so innocent and reserved.'
'Right,' he looked back down at his books.
'I was really worried.' She said again, knowing what she had imagined in her head when Leehan had informed her that Jaehyun was about to split Taesan open in the janitor's closet.
'You were...worried about me?' Taesan looked up from his book in surprise. Sure, he knew that Amy-Janett was trying to be his friend, but he didn't expect her to actually care this much about him. Why would someone who looked like her and someone who seemed so popular be so invested in his safety.
'Of course,' she replied, her eyes almost glittering with care. 'Is that unexpected?'
'It really is AJ,' he called her by her nickname in a rare moment. 'Thank you. I appreciate it.'
'New kid,' Riwoo demanded as he walked over in their direction, Leehan following closely behind. 'Where the hell is Jaehyun?'
'I have no...idea.' He lied unsurely.
'How can he not even show up for lunch!?' Leehan demanded as he stood next to them. 'I mean...I know you can't fight Jaehyun, that's virtually impossible. But where is he?'
'We don't care about Jaehyun, he's probably just trying to start drama and suspicion.' Amy-Janett rolled her eyes, then looked back at Taesan. 'But anyway, these guys seem really concerned so I guess any information you have can really be helpful.'
Leehan sighed and sat on top of the desk next to Taesan.
'Can you just tell us what happened in the janitor's closet so we can at least get an idea of where Jaehyun is?'
'So I...' he tried to think of a lie, but he didn't know what to say and whether it would coincide with whatever lie Jaehyun was making up. 'Um...I...'
'Say something!' Riwoo taunted him impatiently. 'For crying out loud, is it that hard!?'
'Hey, don't talk to him like that!' Amy-Janett rose up from the seat. 'If you want help, at least ask nicely.'
'We have already been asking nicely,' Leehan got up from the desk. 'Just say it! What's so hard!?'
'You know what...' Amy-Janett put her hands on her waist defiantly. 'He will not tell you anything! Nothing! Not with that tone of yours!'
Taesan could feel the tension in the room. Though he wasn't saying anything and the altercation was between the three, he knew he lied in the center and the lie he was hiding was grand.
'Fine!' Leehan finally gave up. 'It's funny how you're willing to protect a stranger rather than protect someone who has lived and grown up with us. We don't even know...'
A scream in the doorway stopped the sentence midway. Everyone looked in the direction of the shrill scream and saw Lily standing in the doorway of the classroom.
'What the hell Lily?' Leehan asked in an annoyance, his finger on his ear.
She shakily walked into the classroom and approached the group.
'Well apparently Jaehyun has been found a distance away from school, and apparently he's hurt. I don't know how severe it is...I just hope he's okay.' She replied with fear in her voice.
'What!?' Leehan was the first to react. 'What happened!?'
'I don't know!'
Taesan's heart was beating loudly. He was already expecting them to turn around to him and demand that he gave them answers. But fortunately for him, they were more focused on where Jaehyun was.
They quickly left the classroom, wanting to get to Jaehyun as soon as possible.
Lily sat down in her seat, still filled with fear. She looked in Taesan's direction for a moment. 'You know it's funny.'
'What?' Amy-Janett asked, looking at Lily in surprise.
She didn't say anything. But with the way Lily was looking at Taesan, he knew she was suspicious of him.