By Zephyria 
It wasn’t the first or second time I’d seen this. I could tell just by looking at their faces. What was so difficult to talk about?
Lee Beom, Min Si-hu, and Seong Hae-min all feigned ignorance, acting as if it were difficult to answer about the matter they were keeping quiet about. Only Jeon Jae-hyung was left.
I stared intently at Jeon Jae-hyung, and he slowly opened his mouth after hesitating.
“Just… a Sunbae…”
“Sunbae?”
As one of my eyebrows rose in confusion, Seong Hae-min intervened, trying to calm me down.
“It’s nothing serious. They get called sometimes because they’re the Four Heavenly Kings. Don’t worry, stay with Beom. I’ll be back quickly. Beom, please take good care of Hae-jun.”
“Hey, Seong Hae-min!”
Seong Hae-min, who had quickly wrapped things up, grabbed the others and dashed out of the hospital.
Normally, he was the type to always say he had plans and leave, but this was the first time I’d seen him leave in such a hurry. I watched Seong Hae-min leave through the main entrance with suspicion.
Is the Sunbae that important?
I felt uneasy. Considering their personalities in the novel, they didn’t seem like the type to live their lives deferring to a Sunbae. In fact, there was no room for Sunbaes to appear in the novel in the first place. It was a story about them. That’s why I only remembered Yeon Su-hwan’s name later.
“……”
Left alone with Lee Beom, I had nothing more to say. We had been mostly silent when we were alone on the rooftop earlier.
Lee Beom was the one who walked towards me first as I stood there blankly.
“I have to go downtown. You coming?”
I considered just going home, but remembering Seong Hae-min’s promise to return quickly, I decided to wait.
Since I had nothing else to do alone at the hospital, I followed Lee Beom, who was heading downtown. However, he just ambled along the streets like a teacher on a field trip, rather than actually going to buy something.
All he had done so far was buy Pikachu-shaped cutlet from a snack bar and hand it to me. Holding the predictably flavored Pikachu cutlet, I hurried after Lee Beom. Lee Beom, with his hands casually in his pockets, was enjoying a leisurely pace.
“So what are you supposed to buy?”
“Just, you know.”
Lee Beom just shrugged. So, he had just come out to change the atmosphere. I thought he’d be back after a quick errand, but that wasn’t the case. I should have just gone home. I regretted following him. I thought this as I diligently ate the Pikachu cutlet.
“So where are we going now?”
“Seong Hae-jun.”
“Huh?”
“Are you… that uncomfortable being with me…”
“…?”
I looked at Lee Beom, who was striking a pose, with a bewildered expression. When our eyes met, he awkwardly turned his head away.
“…Never mind.”
Never mind what.
He probably saw my bewildered expression, despite trying to hide it, and coughed awkwardly, then continued walking as if he hadn’t seen anything.
I discreetly looked around and followed him. But at some point, the restaurants and novelty shops around us started to decrease, and karaoke rooms began to appear. For some reason, we seemed to be heading into a corner unsuitable for shopping.
This place was brimming with an aura of a place only delinquent students would frequent… As I eyed Lee Beom suspiciously, I was contemplating how I could report this situation to the student guidance teacher.
A group of people in black clothes poured out of a building in the distance.
“Hey!! Get that bastard!”
“That rude bastard?”
The people in black clothes were chasing someone, cursing.
The sight of people pouring out of the building felt strangely familiar. Thinking hard, I realized it was a scene I’d seen in a work called
Seriously, is this world just a collection of homages to that novel?
A bald man, whose face was inexplicably wet with tears, threw something at someone fleeing ahead. The object flew lightly and hit the fleeing person, who was wearing a black hood, directly on the head before rolling onto the ground. The person stumbled for a moment, regained their balance, and fled quickly.
“Huh?”
But as the black hood slipped, I thought I saw familiar red hair…
“Why?”
Lee Beom turned to look at me. Without time to answer, I narrowed my eyes, trying to confirm if I had seen correctly.
Is that… Do Yun-hyeok?
My lips parted. Now that I realized it, I could see the face hidden by the hood. It was definitely Do Yun-hyeok.
Why is he being chased like that?
Do Yun-hyeok and the group chasing him were gradually approaching us. It was only natural to avoid getting involved in such a sudden chase, and I intended to ignore it as usual.
But… suddenly, I remembered Do Yun-hyeok lying there, covered in blood, not long ago. My breath caught in my throat.
What should I do?
A conflict, like red text, filled my mind.
I didn’t know what the situation was, but should I help? Ah, or not? Not seeing it and walking away was the more characteristic choice for me. I knew it was better not to get involved in other people’s business… Unconsciously, I took out my phone from my pocket and dialed 112.
But who was chasing him, and why?
The confused questions scattered like cigarette smoke stirred by Lee Beom, who firmly grasped my shoulders.
“Seong Hae-jun, calm down.”
“Ah, Lee Beom…”
Lee Beom’s dark, black eyes, gripping my shoulders, looked straight at me. My flustered expression was reflected in them. For a moment, my mind became calm.
As I was about to press the call button to report, Lee Beom stepped forward, pushing me aside.
“Wait here.”
“Lee Beom? Where are you going?”
“Hide.”
“Wait…!”
After speaking, Lee Beom gently pushed me and ran off quickly. I was pushed behind a nearby parked car, feeling empty. I couldn’t even grab him. Staring blankly at his retreating back, I suddenly came to my senses.
Why did he step forward?
Do Yun-hyeok’s expression contorted as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have upon spotting Lee Beom. Since there was no way their relationship had improved without my knowledge, it was a natural reaction. I watched anxiously, wondering if Lee Beom might take this opportunity to hit Do Yun-hyeok.
“I came because of Seong Hae-jun.”
Although I couldn’t hear clearly from a distance, it sounded like Lee Beom mentioned my name. Do Yun-hyeok glared at Lee Beom with sharp eyes. But why was my name brought up?
Could it be?
Did he step forward because of me?
I glanced back and forth between the mobile phone screen, which showed a stark “112,” and the figures standing far away.
Do Yun-hyeok let out a cold, mirthless laugh. The men in black chasing Do Yun-hyeok stopped their pursuit as they spotted Lee Beom standing beside him.
“Who the hell is this guy?”
“Kid, if you don’t want to see blood, just walk away,” one of them said.
“If you leave the red-headed one behind, we’ll let you go peacefully.”
A bald man, his head glistening as if wet, swaggered slowly towards Lee Beom and Do Yun-hyeok. Lee Beom, glaring at the bald man, rolled up his sleeves. His firm arms, crisscrossed with veins, were revealed. It was a menacing pair of forearms that didn’t quite match his handsome, delicate face.
“What if I don’t want to?”
“Huh? You insolent brat?”
“Do you have two lives to spare?”
The dialogue that followed was predictably cliché and juvenile. I watched the confrontation from a distance, hidden. If this were a movie, I would have laughed it off as cheesy and predictable, but as a real-life standoff, it was impossible not to feel tense. My palms grew sweaty.
Why did Lee Beom step up like this? I felt like I should call the police immediately, but he must have had a reason for telling me to wait.
If things go south, I’ll call the police and run. Clutching my mobile phone as if it were a lifeline sent from heaven, I waited.
“Trying to call your friends? Huh?”
“Friends? What friends…”
Lee Beom scoffed at the bald man’s taunt. Do Yun-hyeok shook his head, his expression one of utter distaste.
“If not friends, then hand him over! You impudent brat… have you lost all fear?”
The men in black began to close in, step by step, as if to tighten the noose around Lee Beom and Do Yun-hyeok.
Lee Beom, who had been staring at them without moving, curved his lips into a smile. The bald man’s eyebrows shot up in displeasure.
“You’re smiling?”
“It’s common sense.”
“What?”
“Helping someone in trouble.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“What did you guys learn growing up?”
Familiar words drifted out.
‘…Didn’t I say that?’
Memories flashed by. Wasn’t that what I said at the amusement park, to the girl who was about to fall towards Ban Pyo-ran? Cold sweat trickled down my back. Hearing it now, it sounded incredibly like a middle schooler trying to sound cool.
“You little punk, you’re pushing your luck…!”
The bald man, his face flushed red from the insult, pointed at Lee Beom and Do Yun-hyeok and shouted.
“Just beat them both!”
As if waiting for the command, the men in black swarmed towards Lee Beom and Do Yun-hyeok. I instinctively held my breath and pressed myself against the car.
Lee Beom, adopting a familiar stance, lowered his body and easily dodged the initial attack. Moving swiftly, he struck the jaw of the closest man.
Thwack.
With a powerful sound, the man’s body defied gravity and flew into the air. The men around him were stunned.
“Du-sik-ah—!”
“You bastard, how dare you hit Du-sik’s jaw!!”
A man standing nearby, eyes blazing, lunged at Lee Beom. Lee Beom dodged the punch with a slight shift of his shoulder and struck the man’s abdomen with his knee.
“Gack!”
The man spat out saliva. Lee Beom quickly turned, avoiding the spray, and looked at the group in black with a blank expression. Then, he slowly beckoned them twice with his finger. His bent index finger looked decidedly menacing.
“Since it’s bothersome, let’s do this all at once.”