WW | Chapter 30

“Close your eyes, Choi Seohee!” Yul screamed with vengeance.

“You bitch!” Seohee shrieked, caught off guard by this unexpected reversal, her voice rising in panic. Yul glared at her fiercely, gripping Seohee’s hair even tighter.

“I said close your damn eyes!” Yul spat out curses she rarely used, furiously dragging the marker across Seohee’s face. With each black mark that appeared on Seohee’s face, Yul felt a surge of satisfaction. She’s shorter than me, weaker than me, and no better than me in any way. So what gives her the right to torment people?

“Aahh!” Seohee screamed and began to cry. Curses erupted all around as the spectators scrambled, some rushing in to pull Yul off Seohee. But Yul held on with relentless strength, refusing to let go even as others tried to pry her away. If they kept pulling, Seohee’s hair would probably end up entirely yanked out.

I should’ve done this from the start.

In that moment, Yul felt a thrill, a kind of elation she’d never experienced before. She was finally releasing all the emotions that had built up not only toward Seohee but toward everything and everyone who’d mistreated her up to this point. And any thought of the aftermath was nowhere in her mind.

“Well, this isn’t your average show,” Geonju muttered in awe as he finally stepped in, grabbing Yul by the back of her neck with a force she hadn’t expected. She winced in pain as Geonju roughly yanked her arm, throwing her aside with ease.

So, this is the end. Yul saw the sharp edge of a chair in her peripheral vision, bracing herself for impact and closing her eyes. But just then, she felt herself pulled into a protective embrace. A large, strong body cushioned her, absorbing the force of the fall, grounding her safely.

As Yul gradually came back to her senses, she looked up and saw the solid jawline, sharp gaze, and familiar intensity of Yoonjo’s face.

“Kang Yoonjo?” It felt like time had frozen, then resumed in slow motion. She couldn’t comprehend why he was here or why he was helping her, someone with whom he had no real connection.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one confused. The entire room had gone silent, stunned by Yoonjo’s sudden intervention. Only Seohee, now disheveled and humiliated, whimpered with a mixture of rage and frustration as she held her tangled hair.

“Let’s go.” Yoonjo’s voice was calm, his hand reaching to grip Yul’s wrist as though she was the only one there.

“You son of a bitch!” Geonju, pride bruised, grabbed Yoonjo’s shoulder and raised his fist. But Yoonjo, releasing Yul’s wrist, spun around and landed a solid punch squarely on Geonju’s face. With a dull thud, Geonju cried out and collapsed to the ground, curling up as he struggled to catch his breath.

It happened so quickly that everyone, including Yul, was left in shock. The scene brought back a vivid memory for Yul of Yoonjo’s powerful serve during volleyball.

“Coming?” Yoonjo asked with an almost casual expression.

“Y-yeah.” Flustered, Yul stammered in response. When she didn’t move, still dazed, he took her wrist and led her out.

As soon as she felt the fresh air outside, Yul finally snapped back to reality. The ache in her scalp and the back of her neck flared up, and a sense of regret started creeping in. She’d gone too far.

“I’ll go ahead. You should stop by the bathroom and take a look in the mirror,” Yoonjo said, letting go of her wrist. She nodded absently, watching him head back toward the classroom.

In the bathroom, Yul caught sight of her reflection and was horrified. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were red from crying, and her uniform was wrinkled and disheveled. Though she’d avoided the worst, she still had marks on her face, hands, and wrists from the permanent marker. She scrubbed at them as best she could, though faint traces remained.

At least I look somewhat human again.

She took a deep breath, drying her face with tissue. Seohee and her gang wouldn’t let this go easily—they might resort to violence or try to frame her somehow.

Yul looked at her reflection with a hardened resolve. Forget about surviving by lying low. She knew exactly what she needed to do now.

Returning to the classroom, Yul looked for Kang Yoonjo. He was at his desk, surprisingly not asleep but actually reading a book. Approaching him without hesitation, Yul’s gaze fell on the drawing in his book. It was her sketchbook, the one she always kept in her bag. Somehow, he’d found it. This guy really is something else.

When Yul remained standing there, Yoonjo noticed her, closed the notebook, and held it out to her.

“You left it on the bus.”

“Oh…” So that’s what happened. She hadn’t even realized it was missing. Relieved, she took the notebook back and hugged it to her chest, looking back at Yoonjo. Though she was grateful, retrieving the notebook wasn’t her real reason for coming.

“Kang Yoonjo.” Yul’s voice was calm as she called his name. “Can I stay by your side now?”

“…”

“I handled my own problem, but I don’t think I can deal with the aftermath on my own.” She gave a small, self-deprecating smile, knowing how absurd she must sound. But she didn’t care. She wasn’t planning to be dragged around anymore, and she needed him for that. She wanted to keep going to school, and if Yoonjo was her last option, she’d cling to him without shame.

Yoonjo stared at her intently, then slid the chair beside him over, gesturing with his eyes toward his former seat. When she didn’t move, unsure of his intent, he spoke in a low voice.

“Didn’t you want to date?”

“What?”

“If you want it that much, then go ahead—stay next to me.”

Yoonjo’s permission was finally granted. What had once seemed so difficult was now so easy.

All the tension from earlier faded into a strange, quiet calm. She didn’t feel particularly happy or sad—just a sense of beginning, as if she was finally at the starting line.

Yul walked over to his former seat and sat down. Exhausted, she rested her arms on the desk and leaned sideways. Yoonjo, resting his chin on his palm, looked down at her calmly, as if he were genuinely her boyfriend, unaffected by the stares of others.

He really is a strange guy.

“What do you want from me?” she murmured, looking at him.

“What?”

“What do you want from me?” she repeated, wondering what price she’d have to pay for staying by his side. He wasn’t exactly a “nice guy,” so his desires wouldn’t be ordinary.

“Nothing.” He answered, looking down at her with a faint, understanding smile. “I already got my shade’s worth.”

Then, he placed his large hand over her eyes, as if telling her to rest, to stop thinking so much. In the darkness he created, Yul slowly closed her eyes. Her seat was by the window, all the way in the back corner. With a wall to her left and Yoonjo to her right, no one could approach her.

For the first time in a long while, Yul felt perfectly safe as she closed her eyes.

The rumor that Yul was dating Kang Yoonjo spread like wildfire. The kids who overheard their conversation added details and embellishments, turning her into a girl clinging to Yoonjo like a parasite. She felt like a monkey in a zoo under the blatant or subtle stares from all directions.

But she didn’t care. If she’d feared this, she wouldn’t have asked Yoonjo for help in the first place. She knew that living shamelessly made life easier.

She glanced at Yoonjo sitting beside her, who seemed completely unfazed, leaning on his hand with his eyes closed.

“What?” He opened his eyes like a ghost sensing her gaze.

“Oh, nothing.” In truth, she worried that the normally free-spirited Yoonjo might get annoyed by the sudden change. But his indifferent expression assured her that it was just her own anxiety. With just a few words, he had secured permission to switch seats with her original desk mate and even fetched her bag, dropping it on her desk. He was incredibly bold, effortlessly deflecting the curious gazes around them with just one sharp look.

“Ouch…” The familiar cramps made her clutch her stomach as she opened her book. As she raised her head, her eyes met Seohee’s, who was sitting across the aisle. Having been humiliated earlier, Seohee’s expression was even more venomous, seething with resentment. She was likely scheming ways to pay Yul back, but strangely, Yul didn’t feel scared anymore. Maybe it was because she’d already confronted them once, or maybe it was because she now had someone to lean on.

“What’s the next class?” Yoonjo asked out of the blue, turning to her.

“English.”

“Hmm. No book, though.”

“You don’t need one, do you?” Yul replied absentmindedly, glancing at him. Yoonjo, notorious for never opening his locker or carrying books, was hardly one to talk.

“Aren’t you planning to sleep?”

“Hah.” He chuckled, amused by her innocent comment. She didn’t understand why he was laughing, but she found herself thinking how unexpectedly attractive he looked, his perfect teeth showing as he smiled.

“Yeah, I probably should sleep.” He turned fully toward her, propping his head on his hand, eyes locked on her.

“But with my girlfriend next to me, I’m too excited to sleep.”