A Friend's Girlfriend
Juran only bothered to button her shirt once we reached the school gates. Even then, she left the top few undone, doing nothing to hide the deep valley of her cleavage.
"Hey... don't you usually skip school at this hour?"
I had no memory of ever seeing Juran in the morning. So, wouldn't it be better if you just turned around and went home today?
"Hmm... did I?"
Just how little did she care about attending school? Did she even have the right to lecture Hong Gyuhwan about graduating?
Familiar faces appeared among the students heading to class. Classmates who would usually exchange casual nods with me flinched in disbelief the moment they saw us together, quickly averting their eyes.
This is going to be even worse in the classroom... My prediction was spot on. As we stepped through the classroom door, our classmates noticed us one by one. Some quickly pretended to be busy, while others were so stunned they just stared at us with blank, gaping expressions.
"What are you looking at?"
Juran's low, threatening voice snapped them out of their daze, and they hurriedly scrambled to look away. Ignoring them, Juran headed straight for the back seat by the window. Although seats were rearranged once a month, that spot was effectively her permanent throne as long as she was in the classroom. Completely disregarding the established rules, throwing consideration out the window, and doing whatever she pleased. Thinking she was the absolute worst, I turned to head to my own assigned seat, but—
"Your seat is here." She pulled out the chair next to her and tapped the seat, calling me over. I really needed to say something here. No, my assigned seat for this month is over there.
"Well... I was assigned to this seat..." What a coward I was. We had gotten a little closer, hadn't we? Couldn't I have been a bit more assertive?
"What?" Juran's face twisted into a menacing scowl. I was glad I hadn't been assertive. I could feel the desperate pleas in the glances my classmates were throwing at me. Unable to withstand the silent pressure begging me to just do as she said for the sake of classroom peace, I ultimately sat down next to Juran.
"Do you hate sitting next to me?"
"No... I just figured you wouldn't really have any reason to pay attention to me anymore..." After all, on our way here, I had cleared up the misunderstanding that I was the one who beat up Byeongtae, while also begging her not to mention it to Gyuhwan.
"But I am interested." Ah, I see. So she's the type of girl who secretly likes cute things, huh? ...I didn't want to think about any other possibilities. I unconsciously nodded, and when I opened my closed eyes, Juran's face was right in front of mine, wearing a soft, silly grin.
"You... actually know how to make a face like that." She was pretty. It was obvious why guys would fall for her.
"Whatever..." Juran's smile vanished, her brow furrowing. I felt like I had said something I shouldn't have.
"Ha-woon?" A girl's voice called out from behind me as I was wallowing in regret. Turning around, I saw Ji Sua, still wearing her backpack, staring at me with a shocked expression. Yeah, this combination. It was definitely shocking. But I was shocked too, you know. To think you spent the night with Taehyun. Of course, there was no benefit in letting her know that her boyfriend had bragged to his friend about sleeping with her, so I had no intention of bringing it up.
"Did Taehyun come with you?" Knowing him, he would have waited for Sua to leave her house and faithfully escorted her all the way to school.
"He went to his own classroom." Taehyun had been my best friend since we were in the same class during our first year. Our classes split in our second year, and I met Sua for the first time when I was placed in her class. Sua was a truly wonderful girl. She was highly social, getting along with everyone in class, and possessed a stunning beauty that even other girls admired. —Hey guys, stop it. You're making Ha-woon uncomfortable. And most importantly, she had tried to rescue me from the girls who treated me like a toy. Though her attempt ended in failure. Eventually, even she was corrupted by the other girls' conditioning, finding joy in pinning colorful hairpins into my hair. Still, because of the days when she genuinely cared for me, we had grown close, which led to Taehyun falling for her and begging me to play matchmaker. Since my own love life was nonexistent, I didn't want to do anything grand like a blind date, so we just hung out after school, eating dinner and playing together until they got close. And in the end, Taehyun crossed the point of no return, leaving me behind.
I didn't have time to be held captive by this delinquent girl who lived her life so recklessly. Since I had decided to hold out hope for just one day, I needed to find a girl who would actually look at me as a man. But walking into the classroom with Juran had made such a massive impact that it was now impossible to tell who might be a potential candidate. I tried to escape the classroom first, but Juran stopped me, asking where I was going.
"Oh, yeah... just going to see a friend in another class."
"When are you coming back?"
"Before morning roll call, probably."
"Hurry back."
When I came back, I would naturally go sit in my own seat. As I walked out of the classroom, the conversation between Sua and Juran faded behind my back.
"Since when did you get close with Ha-woon?"
"Starting today."
As expected, Sua was fearless. She was good at reading the room and leading conversations, so she wouldn't do anything foolish like plucking a lion's whiskers and making her angry. Feeling relieved, I headed toward Taehyun's classroom.
"Oh, Ha-woon!" He was a polite guy who didn't call me names like shorty, shrimp, pipsqueak, dwarf, chestnut, crossdresser, fap-bait, cutie, missy, or princess, but instead properly addressed me by my name. That was the reason I wanted to be friends with him for life. And today, I especially needed to hang out with him.
"Hey, let's grab some food together after school today." Since there was a chance Juran, who had suddenly taken a mysterious interest in me, might cling to me even after school, I decided to lock in a prior engagement.
"Eh? But I'm supposed to go shopping with Sua."
"Then I'll tell Sua for you."
"Well, sure... if it's you asking, Sua will probably understand, but... this isn't like you."
After all, I had never gone out of my way to cancel other plans just to hang out with him before.
"Aha! You want to hear about what happened last night, don't you?"
"No. I don't want to hear it." It would only make me feel miserable.
"Actually... I've got some annoying stuff going on..." I told him about what had happened this morning.
"Whoa... holy shit... that's fucking wild." I left out the humiliating attempted sexual assault, of course. I just glossed over it, saying Gyuhwan had suddenly started beating up Byeongtae.
"Whoa... that bastard Hong Gyuhwan... I've only heard rumors, but he's a total fucking psycho." It was slightly different from the truth, but he was definitely a psycho. He was a guy who tried to beat someone up just because he didn't like their face. As it turned out, he was quite famous. He had already knocked out the strongest third-year when he was just a first-year, conquering the school. To think I had caught the eye of a guy like that. I really needed to find a way to survive. Getting away from Juran and escaping his radar was the best option, but if that wasn't possible, showing that I was trying to help Gyuhwan get with her might be another way.
"Pfft, hahaha... So they thought you were the one who took down Byeongtae? Man... what a waste. Why did you tell them the truth? A misunderstanding trope like that would have been so much fun."
"Hey... stop treating this like a novel just because it's not happening to you."
"No, seriously... since you're already in a misunderstanding scenario, why not try to get with Kwon Juran? From what you've said, it doesn't seem like she looks at you the way other girls do. And above all, she's got a pretty face, huge tits, an apple hip, and her body line is..."
"Whoer should I pass those words to? Kwon Juran? Or Hong Gyuhwan?"
"Why Hong Gyuhwan?"
"It seems like he has feelings for Kwon Juran."
"That's crazy. The male school boss liking the female school boss... But if they fought, Hong Gyuhwan would win, right?"
"Well, for now, it seems like Hong Gyuhwan can't even lift a finger against her."
"Yeah, well... the one who loves more always loses. Just like me..."
What do you mean "just like me"? You had sex, you're the winner.
"Hey, our teacher is coming. See you later. I'll talk to Sua."
Parting ways with Taehyun as he rushed back into his classroom, I returned to my own class only to find someone else already sitting in my original seat. I purposely avoided looking in Juran's direction as I walked over, but—
"Ha-woon... thank you... for sitting next to her instead of me..." I received an unwanted thank-you from the kid sitting in my seat. Juran grinned, gesturing for me to come over to her side.
Before I could even come up with a plan, trouble found me. As soon as the second period ended, Hong Gyuhwan showed up at our classroom.
"Hey... what the hell are you guys doing?" We weren't doing anything, just sitting there.
"Don't bother us and get lost." Juran's growl might actually be my opportunity. During class, Juran had kept poking me or waving her hand in front of my face to get my attention. And whenever I looked at her, she would flash a cute smile that didn't suit her rough image at all. This was definitely affection. Depending on what kind of affection it was, it could get troublesome, but at least she didn't show any signs of wanting to use violence against me. So, I decided to take Gyuhwan's side.
"Juran, it looks like Gyuhwan came all the way here just to see you. Don't you think it'd be better to be a bit gentler with him?" How's that, Hong Gyuhwan? How do you like my assist?
"Do you like gentle girls, Ha-woon?" Not to me, to him! Gyuhwan's glare was burning a hole through me.
"Uh... well... that's not what I meant..."
"If you like that kind of girl, I'll try my best." Could you please read the room first?
"Come out, Kwon Juran. Let's talk." Thank goodness. It seemed Gyuhwan didn't plan on throwing a punch at me right away.
"I told you not to bother us, didn't I?" Her tone was softer than before, but that wasn't what was important right now.
"What do you mean, bother us? He just wants to talk, you could at least listen to him, right?" I said it for Gyuhwan's sake, but—
"You shut the fuck up, you bastard." It seemed the guy's pride had been wounded instead.
"Hey, who the fuck do you think you're talking to?" Juran's voice dropped low. The air in the room instantly grew heavy. Her rage manifested with a presence that felt like it would swallow the entire classroom whole.
"Ugh..." Even Hong Gyuhwan flinched. Taking a slight step back, Gyuhwan turned around and began to walk away. Just as I thought I had survived, crash, clatter—! "Kyaaa—!" The desks and chairs Gyuhwan kicked fell over like dominoes, turning the classroom into utter chaos.
"Hey, Kwon Juran! Do you think I'm a joke to you?!" Unable to hold back any longer, Gyuhwan roared.
"What is the meaning of this disturbance in a sacred place of education?!" An even louder, resonant female voice echoed from the hallway. The owner of the voice, appearing just outside the classroom door, was the Student Council President, Min Seohye.