By Zephyria 
Realizing my mistake, I immediately apologized to Min Si-hu.
“Ah, sorry…”
“Kyah, if Jjuni is sorry, then Si-hu and~.”
Just as Min Si-hu was about to make an unreasonable suggestion, Lee Beom walked over with firm steps and smacked Min Si-hu on the back of the head.
“Ouch!”
Min Si-hu, clutching his head, teared up a little. While I thought, ‘That must really hurt…,’ I couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction.
“Hey! If you say things like that, Hae-jun will misunderstand.”
“Hiii…”
Lee Beom, on behalf of the crestfallen Min Si-hu, gave a brief explanation.
“It’s because Min Si-hu has a bad relationship with his parents.”
“Even so, you shouldn’t just not give them the parent-teacher communication form? It’s not difficult.”
However, instead of clarifying, it made me understand even less. No matter how bad their relationship, why?
‘Is it a common rebellion for that age?’
It wasn’t difficult to give them the parent-teacher communication form. If he didn’t want to face them directly, he could just leave it somewhere their paths crossed. He could toss it on the kitchen or living room table, stick it on the front door, or leave it in the shoe rack.
But he made it into trash and threw it away. How did he handle important matters involving money, like tuition payments?
Thinking of the teachers who must have suffered, caught between him and a student with such poor behavior, I couldn’t help but click my tongue. It was clear they had a hard time dealing with one problematic student.
But this was the first time I heard that Min Si-hu had a bad relationship with his parents. Unlike Do Yun-hyeok or Yeon Su-hwan’s younger sister, or Jeon Jae-hyung’s younger brother, such family histories weren’t detailed in the novel.
Honestly, regarding the family backgrounds of the novel’s characters, I knew nothing except for Ban Pyo-ran and Ban Seo-yi’s families. All I remembered about Min Si-hu was that he was incredibly rich. I recalled him previously boasting about using his connections to get someone out of a detention center if they ended up there, like this kid.
Lee Beom, sensing my questioning gaze, gestured with his chin towards Min Si-hu. Min Si-hu slowly looked at me.
“Jjuni.”
“Yeah.”
“Jjuni…”
Min Si-hu parted his lips delicately, like a tragic protagonist about to reveal a hidden truth. His usually annoying and bothersome face seemed unusually subdued today.
“Do you… have anyone you hate?”
But his question was absurd. How could someone not have anyone they hate? For starters, I hated you!
“Yes.”
“Then… someone you hate enough to die?”
I pursed my lips and scowled. No matter how much you hate someone, hating them to the point of death? That was too much.
He always wore a cute, smiling face, but he harbored such resentment inside. I knew it, but he was truly top-tier when it came to hypocrisy.
“No.”
“I see…”
Min Si-hu let out a deflated laugh and looked at me with a forlorn gaze. His eyes were fixed on me, but it didn’t seem like he was looking at me.
“Si-hu… does.”
“Ah, yes.”
I wanted to tell him to stop talking now that I understood, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it directly, so I tried to interrupt him in a gentle way.
However, Min Si-hu didn’t seem to care that I interrupted and stubbornly continued speaking. Eventually, I missed the timing to stop him.
“Because I hated that person… so, so much…”
“…….”
“Because I really, really hated them…”
“…….”
“Si-hu wanted to disappear from the world.”
Min Si-hu blinked his large eyes with an air of profound sadness.
Seeing him serious, I tried to take it seriously too, thinking, ‘There must be some circumstances,’ but I couldn’t. I clenched my fists, trying to suppress the urge to cringe.
“But… Si-hu endured it and decided to smile.”
Min Si-hu looked at me again and smiled brightly. I felt a sense of unease, as if my insides were churning.
‘Why are you pouring your heart out when I didn’t even ask!’
At this point, it was clear he had been waiting for someone to ask. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have unlocked his feelings so easily. In such a situation, his smiling face only felt unsettling.
If I were the overly emotional narrator of an internet novel,
‘Brightest of all…
Suffering the most…
Smiling with a radiant smile…^-^’
I would have had to write something like this, a smile that supposedly held a story!
His repertoire of holding people back was the same as Jeon Jae-hyung’s. He rambled on about things I hadn’t asked about, and the serious atmosphere made it impossible to stop him or tell him to stop! I couldn’t fall for such a ploy. I closed my mouth coldly.
However, Min Si-hu, like a weed that rises again after being trampled a hundred times, persisted and whispered. The gentle breeze behind him carried an eerily warm aura.
“The person who smiles wins!”
“…….”
“So… keep smiling until the end. Even if you feel like you’re falling apart…”
“…….”
“The one who smiles at the end… is the winner.”
Stop talking. It’s too much!
I screamed only in my mind.
‘The one who smiles until the end wins.’ It was the kind of phrase you’d hear in self-help books or YouTube healing lectures, but hearing it from Min Si-hu made my skin crawl. I was never good at enduring overly emotional self-help videos.
Min Si-hu smiled faintly, as if he were the most wistful person in the world. His lowered large eyes seemed wet for a moment. I blinked rapidly without realizing it. But upon looking again, there was no moisture near his eyes. My tongue involuntarily curled.
Is this… one of the Four Heavenly Kings from a web novel?
“R-right.”
I nodded, stammering. Despite feeling cringey moments ago, I was startled by the thought that he might be crying.
Thinking it was over, I turned to leave, but Min Si-hu, as if he had more to say, murmured plaintively.
“But…”
“…….”
“It’s hard to even look at my mother’s face anymore.”
“…….”
“That person dislikes me, and I dislike that person too.”
Min Si-hu lowered his head and bit his lip tightly.
I stood there awkwardly, like a neighbor who notices the smell of burning rice from a nearby house, as I smelled the faint scent of burning wafting in through the window.
Since I had no idea what his situation was, I had nothing to say. It might sound cold, but I was the type to be quiet in such situations. As a person who was inherently bad at comforting others, it was half the battle to stay silent rather than force out words.
The other Four Heavenly Kings were also silent. After a moment of silence, Min Si-hu suddenly lifted his head and giggled like a baby.
“Ehehe- Jjuni was surprised! Wow!”
“…….”
“Jjuni was really surprised? Ooh~.”
I finally understood the expression “I want to punch them.”
Still, perhaps it was because I had known Min Si-hu for several months, but I could see him forcing cheerfulness. Knowing that, I played along. Although I disliked Min Si-hu’s flippancy, seeing him in such an unfamiliar state was more uncomfortable.
I wasn’t the only one acting this way. Just as a machine starts to run properly only when its missing screws are replaced, once Min Si-hu regained his energy and started bouncing around, the other Four Heavenly Kings naturally began to move as well.
After school and returning home, Seong Hae-min, while eating dinner, suddenly brought up Min Si-hu. It was an attitude that suggested he thought I was inwardly curious about the nature of the conversation I’d overheard during the day.
“You must have been surprised a lot earlier, right? Si-hu doesn’t usually open up about his feelings.”
“Ah, right.”
Unfortunately, Seong Hae-min’s consideration was excessive. I no longer wanted to know anything more about Min Si-hu!
Yet, for some reason, I found it difficult to openly express that feeling to Seong Hae-min, who was close with Min Si-hu. So, I couldn’t cut him off curtly and instead had to listen while diligently spooning food into my mouth.
“He seems the most honest, but he’s also the one who hides the most.”
It was a relief that everyone already knew Min Si-hu had a dual personality. I thought I was the only one who knew.
I responded vaguely with a nod and silently shoveled down my food. I was too busy concentrating on the delicious meal Seong Hae-min had personally prepared. But Seong Hae-min, perhaps interpreting that as a reaction trying to suppress curiosity, put down his chopsticks and adopted a serious expression.
“Well… it’s a bit of a long story.”
“Mmm! You don’t have to tell me! Eat your food.”
I diligently chewed and swallowed the food I’d stuffed into my mouth, waving my chopsticks to express my intent.
If I knew, I’d only feel burdened by having learned a secret. Secrets are fair to everyone. It’s something I didn’t want to carelessly reveal to just anyone. I didn’t want to pry either.
Even after hearing about Jeon Jae-hyung last time, I’d been subtly bothered. I definitely didn’t want to owe such a debt to Min Si-hu, of all people!
“It’s not like that.”
But Seong Hae-min shook his head. I wanted to immediately retort, “What do you mean it’s not like that?” but I couldn’t react in time because my mouth was full of rice and side dishes.
“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you…”
I could tell from Seong Hae-min’s expression. He had clearly started imagining things and misunderstood again. When would Seong Hae-min be able to take my words at face value, without the self-sabotage of thinking he wasn’t taking good care of me? With a sense of helplessness, I moved my jaw up and down, swallowing my food.
“Si-hu doesn’t have a good relationship with his mother.”
“Mm. Speaking of which.”
I swallowed my food and replied hastily. If I couldn’t stop him from talking, I intended to change the subject.
“Si-hu’s father passed away when Si-hu was young…”
But to my dismay, Seong Hae-min continued his story.