A series of footsteps were audible, heavy breath as the boy ran in the hallway. The people gave their way to the panicky boy looking at how nervous he was.
The teenager stopped in front of the class while wiping the sweat dropping from his forehead. He was holding his knees for support and regained his breath after the adrenaline run. The boy then slid the door slowly but steadily, hoping that he wasn't too late to arrive.
"Morning, Hobin."
"Morn'."
The class greeted Hobin after their eyes landed on the fluttered boy.
"Morning!"
Hobin replied with a big smile.
"You're late today."
Jihyeok approached the boy as Hobin sat on his own seat. Hobin made a small wave to the red-haired guy who was staring at him the moment he entered the class.
"What were you doing last night?"
Jihyeok casually wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulder, eyeing Hobin suspiciously.
Yeah, last night.....
Hobin had almost forgotten what happened that night.
All he knew was, the first thing he saw after opening his eyes was the creepiest scene he ever had.
A glare coming from a pair of predatory eyes with black circles beneath them.
Hobin almost screamed, but fortunately he was able to hold back after he realized the owner of those scary eyes.
"How long are you going to sleep? Get out."
Taehoon's cold words and gaze that fixed on the anxious yet confused Hobin. The boy blinked at his words, as if trying to comprehend what the mullet said just now. As the tension rose, the next thing he knew, Hobin was kicked out of the room by Taehoon.
"Ouch. You don't have to do that!"
Hobin rubbed his back as he winced. When his black innocent eyes met with the clock hanging on the wall, his soul almost flew out with his hair. He was about to get late!
The boy immediately got up from the floor with his bag, then rushed towards the entrance panicky.
"What? That stupid didn't take the breakfast?"
Taehoon arched one of his brows as he did the red tie. He grabbed the toast and put it into his mouth as he left the house.
ε
"Hobin~"
Hobin sprung out of his memory when he heard a female's voice beside him. Turning his head to the source, it revealed the long orange-haired female with a cute smile.
"Y-Yes?"
"What are you thinking about?"
Rumi tilted her head as she fixedly looked into Hobin's face. She leaned her face even closer to the boy despite him being extremely nervous, his pupils shaking and trying to avert having eye contact with the girl. Ah, her perfume smelled good. Hobin blushed at that thought immediately.
"Yeo Rumi! What are you doing!?"
Jihyeok's voice was omitted above Hobin. Rumi rolled her eyes at the guy when his loud voice was spread throughout the class. She chose to block her ears and walked away to ignore Jihyeok's babbling nonstop.
"Gosh, you're annoying. I wonder how Hobin endured this.
"What!?"
A thick blush coated Jihyeok's cheek when she spurted that. The boy even turned his head to check on Hobin's reaction. But to Hobin's innocence, his blinking eyes were telling him that Hobin didn't understand their conversation actually.
Yeo Rumi, one of the girls who was once partnered with Pakgo in order to get famous on social media. But, things escalated real quick when Yoo Hobin decided to fight back the bully. Yeo Rumi wasn't an awful person, instead she had a good heart. Hobin saw her a few times helping elderly people. Her cheerful smile made him realize that this world wasn't that bad actually. The only bad thing was the rule to survive. Rumi was forced to maintain a good relationship with Pakgo in order to not get involved in the bully case. What's more, she even cheered for Hobin when he was fighting with Pakgo, even though the possibility of winning was almost unnoticeable.
It was not like Hobin was a simp. But, he knew, Yeo Rumi would be a good friend.
"?"
Hobin got back to his attention when he noticed a sweet on the table. He turned his head to the side to meet Munseong's unweaving eyes.
"I thought you might need this."
He answered, with a small smile.
Wow, Hobin never thought Kim Munseong could muster a smile like that. The Munseong he knew was a tough guy and rarely had any expressions on his face. This might be a good start to know that Munseong actually accepted him as a friend.
"Thank you, Munseong."
Hobin replied with a smile.
"Alright, get back to your own seat. I have something to announce."
The homeroom teacher who had been identified as MIA finally entered the class with a few files.
"As I mentioned last week, our school had been selected to join the exchange programme with others. And today, we will have a few students here."
'What? Why didn't I know that?'
Hobin noticed that he was the only one that was surprised by the news.
Students gasped and squeaked when a pair of long legs stepped into the class. Hobin's eyes went extremely large when he saw the smugly smirk from the familiar face. Hobin's mouth never closed when the second student entered the class. The blue-haired guy flashed his smile as he waved at Hobin.
"OMG, has my love story begun right now?"
"Tsk, why are they good-looking?"
Whispering was exchanged between the students. Some were excited about the arrivals, while some felt jealous of them.
"H-Hobin, I'm not seeing the wrong thing, right?"
Jihyeok stuttered as he received the stare from the mullet teenager. As if he could feel the guy's threat, Jihyeok shook like a leaf.
"Introduce yourself."
"Seong Taehoon."
Taehoon ended his section by mentioning his name. Mr. Kim, the homeroom teacher, was having a sweatdropping moment with the kid's attitude, knowing that this Seong Taehoon guy wasn't an easy one to deal with. Mr. Kim prayed that he wouldn't bring trouble for him.
"Seong Taehoon? Is he the Taehoon I know?"
"Taekwondo maniac, and....... He has fought with Munseong before."
The air in the class gradually intensified and went silent suddenly when the students slightly peeked at the MMA fighter who was sitting behind the class.
Kim Munseong and Seong Taehoon, they saw each other as rivals which was well known by everyone. The students in the class could see their future and their peaceful school life was back to disastrous once again.
However, they were all shocked when they found out that Munseong was staring at Hobin with his hand on the palm, as if the scene in front wasn't visible to him.
"Ahem, and you?"
Mr. Kim cleared his throat, trying to bring back the attention of the students.
"I'm Ji Yeonu. It's nice to meet you all."
Yeonu put on his default smile, earning shy looks from the females.
'Look at this girly face...'
Taehoon took a squint at the boy beside him. As he turned his vision back to the black-haired boy, Taehoon noticed his stare still stuck on Yeonu.
'He likes this kind of face?'
Taehoon thought.
"H-Hobin. Is he looking at us?"
Jihyeok grabbed Hobin's arm with fear rising behind his eyes. Hobin knew the origin of his fear towards Seong Taehoon. The attacks had imposed a big trauma for Jihyeok.
"Alright. Taehoon and Yeonu, please sit in the empty spots..."
Mr. Kim quickly finished the section as he signaled the two guys. Yeonu obediently nodded at his words while Taehoon directly headed his way to where Hobin was.
Slowly walking while yawning, his actions had caught everyone's eyes. Each and every step as if making their hearts thumped with nervousness. Taehoon stopped abruptly when he finally reached where he wanted to be.
"?"
The confused one raised his head only to find the cold look of Taehoon. Immediately understood his intention, the pitiful boy quickly cleaned up his place and gave it to Taehoon politely. He had heard how brutal this Taekwondo guy was. It was better to not get involved with this nutjob. Even though he had to sacrifice his own seat.
Everyone watched Taehoon plopped on the chair, then put his long legs on the desk. With a single glance from him, the others hurriedly turned their heads away from Taehoon. Well, Seong Taehoon's aura was truly strong, and with the rumors that spread crazily like wildfire, no one would dare to displease the guy.
Yeonu awkwardly stood there before he found an empty seat to sit in.
"What? You don't like me sitting here?"
"!!!"
Hobin jolted when he felt a poke in his waist. With embarrassment, Hobin saw the smirk from Taehoon.
"Have you forgotten me? I thought we had met just this morning."
Taehoon continued his teasing as Hobin tried his best to ignore the annoying guy.
"Wow, you're getting bold right now...."
Hobin flinched as if he felt a chill wind from the side. The color quickly drained from his face when he realized the origin of the sudden terror. Damn, Taehoon was extremely unsatisfied with his attitude.
"The class is about to start!"
Hobin whispered shouting with Taehoon staring down at him. The boy gulped nervously as he watched the mullet teenager staring at him intensely with an unreadable expression. He couldn't read his mood, and Hobin hated that.
Despite waiting for Taehoon's reply, he just put his legs down off the table and began to take a nap. Hobin let out a shaky breath when he saw that. Fortunately, nothing had happened.
After that incident where Taehoon blocked Hobin and Jihyeok's way, Hobin was a little bit afraid of meeting this maniac. Who knew one day Taehoon would launch his attack on him due to his bad mood? And, who knew when the angel blessing effects would start to wear out? Hobin couldn't risk that.
The scared one shook his vigorously before slapping his cheeks, motivating himself to get stronger.
The whole situation was being caught by Munseong's eyes. He silently looked down with a frown.
ε Chapter Five - Complicated Problems ε
"Hi, Hobin."
"Yeonu!"
Hobin's face lit up when Yeonu greeted him with a smile.
"The book, I think I might need your help tomorrow."
"Sure, no worries. We can have lunch together."
On the surface, Kim Munseong was taking a nap, but in reality, he was actually listening to the conversation attentively.
"Lunch? We were going to the arcade."
Taehoon nonchalantly spoke to Hobin. Even though his words were meant for Hobin, but his playful hazel eyes were actually fixing at Yeonu's. Jihyeok sensed the weird atmosphere in the air, he awkwardly cut in and took Hobin out of the situation.
"Hobin, how about going with you tomorrow?"
The two pairs of eyes were now intensely shifted to Jihyeok.
Oh gosh, Jihyeok felt like he was about to pee when he sensed the glare from the Taekwondo guy. Maybe he shouldn't have intervened. No, how could he leave Hobin into this dilemma.
"I don't think I can. I have someone to meet after that."
Hobin replied sincerely.
And that person could only be....
"Bomi!!"
"Hobin!"
Bomi beamed the moment she saw the boy's figure. While Hobin shyly looked at the girl who was the apple of his eyes.
"Where are we going to eat?"
Bomi Choi, Hobin's first and only crush. She was adorable and a kindhearted person. Yoo Hobin had liked her secretly for a long time. Certainly, who would never fall head over heels for Bomi when she was that kind of perfect!? But Hobin thought he wasn't the best choice for Bomi. He wasn't that handsome like Taehoon, he was poor and weak. Bomi wouldn't like someone like him....
But with a glint of hope, Hobin still wanted to try to be with Bomi. He had the blessings somehow.
"Hobin?"
"Yes?"
"My childhood friend is just around the corner. And he would like to join us. Is that OK?"
Of course, it was totally not ok for Hobin. But in order to show how big his heart was, Hobin could only nod with a weak smile.
Childhood friend, and a HE? It was like a typical love story in a drama.
Could Hobin win against that unknown guy?
"Here!"
Bomi waved excitedly when she saw a tall figure among the crowd.
"Hey."
The man halted when he saw the boy beside Bomi.
"Hobin, this is my childhood friend, Kim Munseong."
Bomi happily introduced him to Hobin. And this time, it was Hobin, the one who stared at the guy baffled.
"He studies at the same school as you. I think you might know him, Hobin."
"Yeah, we're classmates."
"Really!? What a coincidence!"
Bomi clapped her hands excitedly when she heard the news.
Munseong blankly looked between Bomi and Hobin, then lastly stared back at the female. Bomi made a wink to him, as if telling her childhood friend that Hobin was the one she mentioned in the chat. Apparently, Munseong's mood immediately dropped after he got the confirmation from her.
Hobin, who was like a bystander ever since Munseong came, he even saw how Bomi winked at Munseong, then Munseong shyly lowered his head. Maybe he had no chance at all. His freaking love rival was that Kim Munseong, his first friend and his savior. Hobin knew that even the blessings couldn't help him anymore when his rival was that strong.
No matter what, he shouldn't ruin Bomi's day.
With their own different thoughts in their minds, the three decided to have their lunch at a restaurant.
Didn't know why, but Bomi obviously detected the odd mood from her two friends. The ultimate silence and sadness between the two made her wonder the reasons behind it. She tried to light up the mood, but only brief answers were given by them and that didn't help anything.
Maybe they didn't like each other?
Bomi frowned at that thought.
The torturing atmosphere finally ended with Hobin telling them he had something urgent to do. Having no choice, Munseong could only see Hobin's small figure walking away from them.
"Munseong, you don't like Hobin?"
Bomi mustered her courage to ask after Hobin had left. She had to know the strange behavior from her best friend.
"Of course not."
He immediately opposed it.
"Then what's wrong with the mood just now?"
Bomi couldn't understand what was going on between those two.
"Nothing, it's just....."
Munseong trailed off as he looked at his friend who was now staring at him worriedly. He let out a deep sigh afterward. It was better to not tell her.
"Nothing."
"Hey, Munseong. You're not going to leave like that!"
Munseong walked away despite Bomi shouting at him with a puffed cheek.
ε
How did you feel if you found out that your crush had someone she loved?
How did you feel when you found out that the person was actually your best friend?
It was kind of screwed up, wasn't it?
Hobin just felt like he wanted to cry.
Maybe he should focus on doing Newtube contents than to have those sad thoughts occupying his messy mind.
"What? You say you want to fight delinquents?"
Hobin nodded confidently as Jihyeok made a facepalm at that. Why did Hobin always want to find trouble for himself?
"Just why!?"
"Because I hate them."
"Not because of money?@@"
Gaeul spawned out of somewhere and her voice made the two boys flinch.
"That's part of it."
"Are you crazy? Are you going to hurt yourself again!?"
Jihyeok grabbed Hobin by the shoulder. His serious eyes scanned all over Hobin's face, as if trying to find a single crack from his expression, so that Jihyeok could pursue himself that Hobin was just pulling his leg.
"We can do something else. Like Mukbang."
"I don't have a big appetite."
"We have an editor."
"That's cheating."
"I don't care. Just, stop getting yourself hurt again."
Jihyeok stood up with his back facing towards both Hobin and Gaeul. He hated it the most when he saw Hobin get hurt. It was that kind of feeling of being a useless and helpless person to Hobin. He had hurt him enough, he shouldn't let that happen again.
"I mean, you can learn martial arts.@@"
Gaeul simply spoke out. And her words reminded Hobin of that one channel which taught him the basics to fight when he was facing Pakgo.
"But still-"
"Yeah, Gaeul is right."
Hobin got back his energy.
"I can learn to fight and defend."
He said, confidently looking into Jihyeok's unstable eyes.
"Trust me, I won't let myself get hurt."
Hobin continued. Jihyeok couldn't help but trust him. He let out a deep sigh before nodding. He just couldn't say no to Hobin.
ε
"You want to learn martial arts from me?"
Munseong leaned on the ring as he looked down at Hobin's eyes. After getting a curd nod from the boy, he made a small smile.
"Sure."
The velvet-haired man stepped down from the ring, signaling Hobin to go with him.
Well, it was Hobin's idea to seek help from Munseong. He thought that Kim Munseong would help him and his assumption was correct. He thought that learning from the videos wasn't enough. Instead, he had to find an opponent to test. And Kim Munseong was the perfect candidate. Hobin would try his best to defeat him and show it to Bomi that he was strong .
Yeah, Hobin hadn't given up his love for Bomi...
"Take off your clothes."
"What?"
The first thing Hobin did was to block his body with his arms. Munseong blinked his eyes multiple times before realizing the concern from the boy. He burst into laughter before starting with his explanation.
"I mean it's fine if you want to train with your shirt on."
"Ah.... I'm sorry."
Hobin's cheek heated up with embarrassment. Why did he think Munseong was that kind of person?
He swiftly removed his shirt and waited for the next instructions. Instead of replying, Munseong was taking a look at Hobin's body. Hobin was truly skin and bone, as if he could see the ribs, and apparently his body couldn't endure any single attacks, even a slight one. How did Hobin manage all the pain from Pakgo? Munseong could never figured that out.
"Munseong?"
The mentioned man realized that he was taking pity on this poor boy, Hobin. He decided to make Hobin stronger and fitter, so that he could actually protect himself when he wasn't there.
"Alright. Are you ready?"
"Yes."
Seeing how Hobin replied energetically, Munseong knew how he desired he was to become stronger.
"I-I can't anymore....."
Even though that energy only lasted for thirty minutes.
Hobin lied on the ground while panting heavily. He was about to pass out, he never thought learning to fight was that difficult.
"You're doing great, Hobin."
Munseong passed the water to Hobin, then sat beside him.
The moment Hobin took the water from Munseong, as if he was grabbing a life straw, Hobin immediately gulped down the solution to quench his thirst. That was his first time actually taking a like on the plain water.
"Slow down."
Munseong patted his small figure when Hobin almost choked on a mouthful of water. His face turned red from coughing.
"Hobin...."
"?"
Munseong held back his words when Hobin stared at him, waiting for his next sentence.
'Do you like Bomi?'
Munseong didn't have enough bravery to listen to his answer.
"Never mind, you should go back and rest."
Munseong patted him a few times before leaving the place, making Hobin confused about Munseong's sudden low mood.
ε
"That's all from the video. Don't forget to subscribe, like and share!"
A slim pale finger closed the video as he stared deadly at the boy who was now refusing to look at him. His long legs were steadily moving away from the table, and now resting them on the chair where the boy was sitting. With a slight pull, their distance got closer. Hobin could feel his heart almost jumped out from his mouth when Taehoon did that. And now, the boy could feel the hostile stare kept poking on his head.
"Yoo Hobin, where did you learn those moves, huh?"
Even though Hobin didn't choose to look at the man behind him, but he knew, how Taehoon might look right now.
"Don't tell me, you learn from that bastard?"
A hand crept and grasped on Hobin's shoulder. Hobin flinched immediately when the cold sensation of his finger touched his neck.
"Ah, I just remembered that I need to eat with Yeonu."
Hobin attempted to leave the current situation by sending signals to Yeonu who was pointing at himself after he heard Hobin mention his name.
"Oh, really? How nice, I'm hungry as well."
"God damnit."
Hobin spurted out softly when he felt the force increased eventually.
Just why was this maniac kept bothering him!?
"Hobin, tell me, are you learning MMA?"
Taehoon stuck a spoonful of food into his mouth as he observed Hobin's face, as if to find a single trace of lying from the boy.
"N-No. Of course not."
Hobin flashed a stupid smile to the teenager in front of him, attempting to get away the question with a smile.
"Oh? Hobin is interested in fighting?"
Yeonu chimed in when he heard the conversation.
"I can teach you if you want."
"Yeonu knows how to fight!?"
Hobin excitedly asked Yeonu who was having an eye closed smile to him. Taehoon arched his eyebrows at that, obviously not knowing that the girly face knew fighting as well.
"Yes. I've been learning Karate."
"Pft."
Both Hobin and Yeonu moved their eyes to the teenager who was fakedly holding back his laughter.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."
An insincere apologize and the obvious mock from Taehoon instantly received Yeonu's darkened face. The teenager was enjoying the changed expression from Yeonu who had been wearing a nice mask all the time.
Hobin fidgeted the methods to change the topics after he sensed the air between his friends. They might have started a fight if this atmosphere lasted.
"Ah, do you want me to get some drinks for you?"
"Hobin."
Yeonu cut in with a serious look, his brown eyes that still stuck on Taehoon's smugly smirk.
"I will get that for us."
Just a second, Yeonu got back to his original smile to reassure Hobin's anxiety.
Taehoon's playful smirk still lasted even though Yeonu had left to get the drinks.
"Hah, no fun."
He nonchalantly let out a breath and continued to eat his lunch.
"Taehoon, why did you do that?"
"What? What did I do?"
"You laughed."
Even Hobin had no clues where he got those boldness to ask Taehoon about this question.
Seong Taehoon lifted his brown eyes to look at the black haired boy who was staring at him nervously, before flashing a smirk on his face.
"You are afraid of me."
He pointed Hobin with a fork.
"What? Who says I am?"
"Put my tray when you're done."
Taehoon didn't give any opportunity for Hobin to fight back as he stood up suddenly and headed towards the entrance.
Hobin's eyes fixed at the tall figure before he moved his eyes back to the empty plates in front of him.
Why did he sense the sadness and disappointment from Taehoon when he said that Hobin was afraid of him? Did he actually expect Hobin to not be afraid of him even though his daily acts were enough to intimidate the whole class?
"Ahhhh, I don't know anymore. Why do I even care!?"
Why did everyone act like this these days!?
Hobin scratched his head at his thought.
ε
BONUS
"Guys, our school is going to choose a few students to......"
Taehoon drummed his fingers on the table as he heard the teacher announced the recent news to the students. Instead of looking in front, he decided to move his attention to the window beside, staring down at the empty big field.
"Wait, that recently famous Newtuber is in that school right?"
"Yeah, the one who fought with the bully."
"I heard there's a lot of pretty girls there."
"Damn, I wish I could go there."
Taehoon's fingers stopped moving when he heard those whispering in front of him. Realizing who they might be referring to, he lifted his lips into a beautiful smirk as he raised his arm when the teacher was still talking.
"Y-Yes, Taehoon?"
The teacher stuttered when he noticed the arm belonged to the troublemaker, Seong Taehoon.
"Sir, let me go there."
"B-But there's no empty slots anymore."
The air got tense when Taehoon remained silent. Everyone held down their breath waiting for the crazy man to reply.
"Ah~ no choice I guess. Maybe I can ask them to exchange it with me."
Taehoon showed a wide evil grin when he said that. His words immediately earned a commotion in the class.
'Ask' ?
There was no such thing for Seong Taehoon.
Seong Taehoon would never ask nicely when he could just threaten them to get what he wanted.
"I wonder who's the one going."
Taehoon continued as he glanced around nonchalantly, as if he was asking sincerely.
"I-I don't think I can go. Maybe I will give the chance to Taehoon..."
One boy voiced out with a shaking tone. Obviously, he had had enough with Taehoon's exerted fears.
"Wow, I appreciate it, Jichan."
Taehoon replied, with a fake smile.
The boy who was named Jichan was on the verge of crying.
"Hmm~ I wonder about any interesting things there?"
Taehoon hummed.