By Zephyria 
The next day, as class was ending, I made an excuse about needing to use the restroom and headed home. I even used a trick, moving my bag to a locker in the hallway beforehand. As class was drawing to a close, the gentle teacher didn’t suspect a thing when the model student claimed to have a stomachache.
Leaving school like this. My former self, the diligent goody-two-shoes, could never have imagined it, but well… I’ve become bolder with age, and besides, this is an internet novel world, so what does it matter?
“Whatever happens, happens!”
I never dreamed I’d experience skipping class, one of the fantasies I’d had since becoming a university student, but I desperately wanted to avoid going home with Min Si-hu. If I could even give Min Si-hu the middle finger, it would be killing two birds with one stone.
I walked briskly. By the time I passed the sports field, the bell signaling the end of class rang out from the school building, and I saw other students emerging into the hallways one by one. I felt a sense of relief.
‘Min Si-hu, waiting in the hallway, I’m leaving!’
And then the trouble started, not long after I passed through the school gate.
It was the usual route home. The only difference was a group of unfamiliar students in school uniforms loitering a short distance from the gate.
“That’s him!”
“Him? The one who’s Seong Hae-min’s twin?”
As I tried to dash home, a bulky guy from the same school as Do Yun-hyeok, whom I’d seen on the bus a few days prior, pointed at me. Flustered, I looked around. A whole line of guys in unfamiliar school uniforms were spread out.
My steps faltered. Their fingers and gazes were fixed squarely on me.
Only one word echoed in my mind.
‘I’m screwed.’
My feet, which had stepped out of the gate cheerfully, froze. The moment I saw the delinquent group from another school, I turned on my heel and headed back the way I came without hesitation.
“Catch him!”
“Stop right there!”
They didn’t seem to intend to let me go peacefully, as I heard them chasing after me from behind. I swallowed my tears and ran. Thump, thump, the ground vibrated with their fierce pursuit.
‘Why is this trial happening to me!’
Was it such a great sin to want to go home peacefully and quietly! Why today, of all days, when I tried to escape! If this was my fate, to be dragged away by guys like that, I would have just befriended the Four Heavenly Kings! (Of course, I didn’t actually want to be friends with the Four Heavenly Kings.) I felt a surge of injustice, wondering how my life could have gotten so twisted, and tears welled up.
I ran blindly towards the school building, past the gate. Then, I collided with someone who burst out from around the corner of the entrance and was sent flying backward.
“Aargh!”
“……”
I was thrown back with such force that I rolled on the ground. My whole body ached.
My body is weak now, of all times. This life in this novel is hopeless. I just wish someone would send me home… I endured the unrealistic dialogue of teen romance novels, but to be caught up in a kidnapping because of a mere school brawl, not even a scheme by a giant mafia organization, I shuddered with humiliation.
“Seong Hae-jun? Are you okay?”
As I rubbed my forehead from the hard collision, I saw a pair of legs that looked familiar. I looked up. Lee Beom was looking down at me, one eye squinted, completely unharmed.
Why would I meet the leader of the Four Heavenly Kings at a time like this? I have such terrible luck.
“Joonie!! Where were you!!”
From behind, Min Si-hu was approaching with long strides, his cheeks puffed out. Seeing Min Si-hu too, I felt like I wanted to vanish from this world without a second thought.
“Wait a minute. Joonie, are you crying?”
“No…”
“What do you mean no!!”
Seeing my state, Min Si-hu abandoned all his usual charm and pretense of cuteness and flew into a rage. I couldn’t understand why he was acting like this. Wasn’t it good for me to be screwed?
Before Min Si-hu’s misunderstanding could deepen, I roughly rubbed my face. I was trying to show that I wasn’t crying. This wasn’t the time to explain things like this. Other school delinquents were chasing me…
However, that was the wrong choice.
Min Si-hu’s face hardened further as he watched me roughly rub my dry face.
Min Si-hu stopped dead and roared.
“The Four Heavenly Kings, Min Si-hu, asks! Who made our Joonie cry!!”
“……”
This is insane.
Min Si-hu was doing this at the entrance where all the students going home were passing by. Students from our school in uniform stopped on their way home and whispered, looking towards me.
I wish someone would knock me out…
Meanwhile, Lee Beom was looking at me with a stoic and calm expression.
“The school gate?”
“What?”
“Are those guys the ones?”
Unlike the agitated Min Si-hu, Lee Beom, with a cold, settled demeanor, gestured with his chin towards the school gate. The group of delinquents from the other school who had chased me were looking around the sports field.
It was true that I was running away because of those delinquents, but I didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t even want to talk to the Four Heavenly Kings. Honestly, they were no different from the group of students at the gate!
Without waiting for an answer, and somehow gaining conviction, Lee Beom strode towards the school gate with his long legs. Min Si-hu, regaining his composure, entrusted me to a passing student and also headed for the gate.
I awkwardly rubbed my aching arms and legs. Actually, my mind felt more numb than my limbs.
Life was truly unpredictable. I just rode the bus a few days ago, and this is what happened?
“Hae-jun?”
Then I ran into Seong Hae-min. Seong Hae-min looked shocked, as if struck by lightning, seeing me being supported by another student.
Yeon Su-hwan and Jeon Jae-hyung were standing next to Seong Hae-min, who was about to head somewhere with the Four Heavenly Kings. They also looked surprised when they saw me.
“Hae-jun…? What, what is this, huh? Hae-jun.”
Seong Hae-min rushed over and grabbed me. The student supporting me awkwardly stepped away. I heard the sound of my ordinary, model student life crumbling.
Seong Hae-min brushed my hair back with trembling fingers.
“It seems to be because of those guys.”
Yeon Su-hwan, who had come closer in the meantime, gestured towards the school gate. Yeon Su-hwan’s eyes narrowed like a snake’s as he recognized the faces of the crowd of students in uniform gathered at the school entrance.
“Do Yun-hyeok…”
At the mere three syllables Yeon Su-hwan muttered, my eyes snapped open.
Could it be? That villain Do Yun-hyeok? He came all the way to school?
It was one problem after another.
‘Why are you looking for me so desperately!’
Why do I keep getting caught up in disasters? I felt like I needed an exorcism.
“These Jeseong High bastards… have they lost their minds? Where do they think they are… How dare they… touch our Hae-jun…!”
Seong Hae-min, who was practically holding me up, didn’t understand my despair and glared at the school gate. Veins throbbed on his temples as he burned with anger. I figured he had completely forgotten my repeated pleas, ‘Don’t acknowledge me at school!’ I just stood there like a useless lump. It was a total disaster.
Seong Hae-min, consumed by rage, entrusted me to Yeon Su-hwan of all people and ran towards the school gate.
And Yeon Su-hwan scooped me up in a classic princess carry.
“Th-that, that!”
“Hm?”
“Put me down!!”
I screamed as my body was suddenly lifted, frantically waving my arms.
“No. You’re hurt.”
“Huh? I can walk on my own two feet?”
“It’s dangerous.”
“Can’t you please put me down? Really, please.”
“No.”
All the students watched Yeon Su-hwan carrying me towards the gate, covering their mouths with their hands. Seeing that, I wanted to die more than anything.
It’s been no fun, internet novel world.
“Please put me down. Being supported is enough. Please.”
“Hae-jun, you’re as stubborn as someone else, aren’t you?”
However, with the determination that I couldn’t endure this humiliating posture for even a second longer, I struggled desperately in Yeon Su-hwan’s arms and managed to get what I wanted.
Yeon Su-hwan stopped where the school gate was clearly visible and put me down.
“Ow.”
“Heh.”
The moment my feet touched the ground, my legs gave out, and I wobbled embarrassingly like a newborn deer. Yeon Su-hwan let out a strange chuckle and supported me. I was mortified.
“Anyway, what business does Do Yun-hyeok have with our Hae-jun?”
As soon as Yeon Su-hwan turned his gaze to the school gate, his gentle expression vanished, replaced by a chilling smile. I wriggled, trying to break free from his arm supporting me, but then stopped my resistance upon seeing his expression.
Yeon Su-hwan was smiling, but there was no hint of joy. His expression was terrifying.
‘…Is he a split personality, comparable to Min Si-hu?’
At the school gate, the Four Heavenly Kings and the students from the other school stood facing each other, hands shoved in their pockets. Through them, I felt as if a sandstorm, the kind you’d see in the American West, was blowing. This was truly a novel.
It seemed I was the only one who wanted to escape this ridiculous situation. Students who had been leisurely heading home held their breath, then gathered one by one, watching with keen interest. They kept a safe distance, just in case a fight broke out.
The murmuring of the students, who had gathered like clouds, gradually subsided, and as the tension reached its peak, Lee Beom stepped forward, breaking the transparent silence like glass.
“What business do you have here?”
“It’s been a while, Lee Beom.”
A male student with deep red hair called out to Lee Beom and stepped forward.