SS Chapter 2.2

Heewoon High School’s 3rd-year classrooms were on the 1st and 2nd floors of the main building. I wondered if it was the school’s consideration to have us sit and study instead of wasting time going up and down the stairs, but since the classrooms were close to the playground, the outside noise came in directly, so it didn’t seem to have much effect.

Eunho’s classroom was located at the very end, so more than half of the window was covered by the trees. The artificial turf on the playground was shining in the early summer sun, and the tree shade fell on the seat at the end of the first row, so Eunho often sat still and looked out the window.

With the sound of music leaking faintly from someone’s earphones in the background, sitting in the classroom and blankly looking outside made him feel like he was in a world apart from others.

The other kids were studying so hard to get into college, and he felt a little heavy-hearted thinking about what he should do after graduation. Thanks to his parents, who told him that he didn’t necessarily have to go to college and could take his time to think about it, he was doing this, but there wasn’t anything he particularly wanted to do.

Whenever Eunho had these thoughts, he envied the resolve of Cha Dohyeon, who had quit taekwondo, which he was good at, and started preparing for the college entrance exam.

A small chuckle was heard in the quiet classroom, and when he looked up, Jaewon, who was sitting in the next row, made a sound. When their eyes met, he casually picked up his phone and pretended to type something.

Eunho took out his phone, which he had put on silent and shoved into a corner of his drawer.

-Yoo Wonho: Hey, hey, hey, surprise. A transfer student is coming to our class today.

-Jaewon: Bullshit, how do you know that?

-Yoo Wonho: Ah, it’s true. I got caught by the school disciplinary teacher this morning and went to the teacher’s office.

-Yoo Wonho: There was a guy I’d never seen before talking to the homeroom teacher, you know?

-Yoo Wonho: 100% a transfer student.

-Kim Geonwoo: What kind of crazy bastard transfers in their 3rd year of high school?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Jaewon: Isn’t it like a forced transfer?

-Yoo Wonho: I don’t know. But the homeroom teacher’s expression looked like shit, so it seemed similar.

-Kim Geonwoo: Ah, damn~ Why does it have to be a guy when he transfers? I wish a pretty girl would come.

-Jaewon: Kim Geonwoo is so funnyㅋㅋㅋ What are you going to do if he comes?ㅋㅋ

-Kim Gunwoo: No, you crazy bastard, I’m just saying it would be nice. You’re being so prickly since this morning, you crazy kidㅋㅋ

-Yoo Wonho: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

When he pressed on the chatroom with over 70 unread messages, the 1s attached to the end of the sentences disappeared all at once. It seemed like he was the last one to check.

After roughly skimming through the speech bubbles, everything was useless except for the fact that a transfer student was coming. In fact, the arrival of a transfer student wasn’t really a big deal to Eun-ho either.

Eunho left the chat window, leaving behind the message bubbles filled with various swear words and ‘ㅋ’s. He had no intention of participating in low-quality conversations and giggling. When he came out to the window listing the conversations, he saw Cha Dohyeon’s name with a red circle at the top.

When he entered the chat room, a photo below the short, single-word message bubbles immediately caught his eye. It was a picture of a young cat, a mix of white and yellow, taken from above.

Eunho held back a gasp and clicked on the photo. When he touched the screen and zoomed in with both hands, the screen was filled with spiky fur like dandelion fluff. Looking at the floor pattern, it was definitely Cha Dohyeon’s house, but he couldn’t tell where the cat suddenly came from.

-What, isn’t it your house?

-Wow, it’s crazy. It’s so cute.

He was looking at the light blue chat room, but the 1 next to it didn’t disappear. It seemed he was busy studying during self-study time.

Eunho unnecessarily zoomed in and out of the photo, repeating meaningless actions. The small ball of fur, which looked less than a handspan, was so cute as it crouched down, trying to be a cat.

He waited patiently, but there was no sign of a reply, so Eunho turned off the screen and turned his gaze towards the window.

Looking at the clouds that were whiter than usual, the fluffy back of the head he had just seen lingered in his mind. Eunho, who had originally planned to rush to the PC bang after school, changed his mind and decided to go to Cha Dohyeon’s house.

An unfamiliar sound of a door echoed in the classroom, which had been calmly quieted by the giggling of Kim Geonwoo’s group.

Everyone’s gaze was drawn to the front, and a male student followed the homeroom teacher with short hair. It seemed to be the transfer student Kim Geonwoo had seen in the teacher’s office. He had a generally small build and a sensitive-looking face.

Eunho sighed softly as he watched the transfer student standing still, holding his bag strap.

‘Guys like Kim Geonwoo and Seo Jaewon are going to have a field day establishing dominance.’

Since it was rare for someone to transfer in during the summer of senior year, when everyone was busy preparing for college entrance exams, Eun-ho had roughly expected someone with a fierce and swaggering impression. He thought that unless it was mandatory, there would be no reason to transfer in at this time. But the transfer student he actually faced was a bit far from the image he had imagined. Of course, he could be completely different from how he looked.

“Everyone, this is Kwon Yihyeon, who transferred today. He’s come at a busy time in his 3rd year, so it must be hard for him too, so please help him out.”

It was an insincere introduction that didn’t even give him time to introduce himself. The transfer student stood still, looking straight ahead without any particular expression.

Whee-oh-

When Kim Geonwoo whistled playfully, the guys sitting next to him chuckled happily. The homeroom teacher frowned and scanned the classroom once, then turned his head and looked towards where Eunho was sitting.

“The seat next to Yeo Eunho is empty, so sit there. The very back of the first row.”

Ah… He had asked the original owner of the seat to leave it empty because having someone next to him was bothersome. He had tried to get rid of a wart but ended up with a bigger one.

Eunho, slightly frowning, was putting down his bag that he had casually placed on the chair next to him, when his eyes met the transfer student walking towards him. His gaze was full of wariness.

The transfer student looked back and forth between Eunho’s face and name tag, then avoided his gaze and sat down.

“You know nothing much changes just because a transfer student came, right? The college entrance exam isn’t far away. Everyone, listen to the class carefully. The class representative, come see me later.”

As soon as the homeroom teacher spoke indifferently and left, gazes filled with strange curiosity flew towards the transfer student. Whether he knew or not that the kids sitting in front were unnecessarily turning around and glancing, the transfer student took out his books and notebooks from his bag and then lay down on his desk.

Kim Geonwoo’s group, who had pushed their chairs loudly from the right, gathered one by one towards this side.

They were walking with a deliberately swaggering posture, looking like they were trying to pick a fight under the pretext of establishing dominance, but the transfer student lying down couldn’t possibly see them. As I watched their pathetic behavior, I felt a short vibration in my pocket. Eunho took out his phone and checked the message.

-Cha Dohyeon: He was crying in front of the house all night.

-Cha Dohyeon: It seems hard to raise him. I need to find a place to send him after treating his illness.

-Cha Dohyeon: Photo

The last message was a front view photo of the cat sitting still on a beige blanket. His one eye, swollen red, couldn’t open properly, which naturally made him frown.

Seeing that he had been alone all night, it seemed he had been abandoned by his mother because he was sick. I didn’t know how big a kitten was supposed to be, but he looked too small compared to the box, which made me worried.

While Eunho was turning on the internet and searching for things like ‘kitten eye infection’, ‘cat conjunctivitis’, Kim Geonwoo’s group surrounding the transfer student next to him started to chuckle.

“Hey, where are you from? If you transferred, you should tell us that. Look at you, lying down as soon as you arrive.”

“Why transfer in your 3rd year of high school? Wasn’t it a forced transfer?”

Kim Geonwoo, who had roughly pulled a chair from the side and sat down, said with a swagger. Despite this, the transfer student just lay there without responding, so Geonwoo raised his voice as if he was dumbfounded.

“You son of a bitch, when someone talks to you, you should look them in the face and answer. Are you deaf?”

“This guy seems to be ignoring you right now.”

“Hello? Excuse me, can you hear me?”

Jaewon said comically and clicked his fingers next to the transfer student’s ear. Seeing that, Kim Geonwoo laughed next to him, and the transfer student raised his head.There was no particular expression on the pale face.

“What does it matter to you if I’m expelled or whatever? Everyone, just shut up, you’re being noisy.”

Those were the first words the transfer student, who hadn’t said a word until now, uttered after entering the classroom.

Surprised by the unexpectedly low voice, Eunho took his eyes off his phone and looked at the transfer student. The expression was not much different from when he was standing in front.

A transfer student who wasn’t intimidated even when surrounded by several delinquent male students and said what he wanted to say. Seeing that the situation was about to become interesting, Eunho put his phone in his pocket and propped his chin on one arm.

At the transfer student’s sharp words, the expressions of the group surrounding him hardened. It seemed they felt insulted in a situation where the entire class was listening, whether consciously or unconsciously.

Noticing that Kim Geonwoo and Seo Jaewon’s expressions were unusual, Yoo Wonho, who was standing in the middle, grinned and changed the subject.

“Hey, but doesn’t this guy look really pretty for a guy? If you put a wig on him and just look at his face, people would be completely fooled.”

The transfer student, who had maintained a poker face, visibly frowned for the first time. Perhaps finding his reaction amusing, Wonho added excitedly.

“Hey, if you put a wig and a skirt on him, is it possible? Doesn’t he look a bit hot from behind?”

“You idiot, are you gay? That’s disgusting for a guy with a dick.”

In contrast to the transfer student who frowned unpleasantly, Geonwoo’s expression softened. The snickering voices started getting louder. Wonho’s laughter, who seemed excited by the appearance of someone who seemed lower in rank than himself, was particularly loud.

At the sexual jokes about him, the transfer student’s expression was more hardened than before.

Eunho stared at Wonho. He found it pathetic that he was giggling and making jokes that weren’t even funny.

Wonho seemed flustered by Eunho’s gaze and hesitated for a moment, then sent a playful look and grinned. Then he raised his hand and started stroking the transfer student’s head. It seemed he took the silence as implicit consent.

“Look at this. This guy’s hair is so soft. Maybe he has bandages wrapped around his chest or something? Like those cross-dressing guys you see in movies.”

“Look at Wonho’s level of imagination. He’s writing a novel.”

“No, you touch it. He looks so pale and weak, can he even function as a man?”

It was a conversation that made even him, who was listening from the side, feel unpleasant, but Eunho didn’t think he needed to step in. He didn’t think the situation would change by stopping these pathetic guys from playing low-quality pranks once or twice, and at nineteen, it was an age where one should take care of themselves.

-I looked it up, and his eyes look like conjunctivitis.

-I should take him to the vet after this.

-let’s go together.

Eunho ignored the commotion happening next to him and took out his phone again. As he went into the chat window to send a message to Cha Dohyeon, he heard a small tap. When he looked up, he saw a white hand suspended in the air. It seemed the transfer student had swatted away Wonho’s hand, which was continuously stroking his head.

A moment of silence fell on Wonho’s fingertips, which had nowhere to go.

“Wow. You have more personality than you look. Hey, did you see him hit Yoo Wonho’s hand just now?”

“Oh, what? Is the transfer student upset? We were just trying to be friendly, why are you so sensitive?”

Geonwoo and Jaewon, who were watching from the side, seemed even more excited by the transfer student’s reaction. Wonho stood there, unable to control his expression, perhaps hurt by the transfer student’s action.

With a hardened face, Wonho placed his hand on the back of the transfer student’s head again. The transfer student’s head was pushed forward by the touch, which seemed to have more force than before.

Each time Wonho raised his hand, there was a dull sound. The transfer student’s head nodded forward from the force applied from behind.

The students sitting in front started glancing back. The transfer student, even in the heavy atmosphere, kept his back straight and stared only ahead.

“Why are you looking at me like that, you little shit? Who would dare talk to you if they saw that? Anyone would think we’re bullying you. Hey, aren’t you going to relax your expression?”

Yoo Wonho seemed both excited and angry at the fact that Seo Jaewon, Kim Geonwoo, and all the students in the classroom were focused on this side. The level of what Wonho was saying to the transfer student was getting higher and higher. Seo Jaewon and Kim Geonwoo were just watching from the side with amused expressions.

Eunho placed his phone on the desk with a thud. The sight of them surrounding one person and snickering among themselves was a spectacle.

‘These crazy bastards, there’s a limit to pranks.’

He knew that guys like Seo Jaewon and Kim Geonwoo were bastards who were incredibly good at spotting opponents lower in rank than themselves, but seeing them cross the line right in front of his eyes made him uncomfortable.

Just as the transfer student’s head was dropping for the third time from the force pushing the back of his head, the transfer student suddenly stood up and grabbed Wonho’s wrist.

Someone gasped, surprised by the transfer student’s sudden action. The transfer student, holding Wonho’s wrist, tilted his head and glared to the side. Despite having to look up due to the height difference, he showed no hesitation.

“I’m going to stay quiet and graduate, so can you mind your own business and cooperate?”

Contrary to the content, the tone was calm with almost no fluctuation in pitch. It seemed to be addressed not only to Wonho but also to all the students in the class who were listening.

Silence fell in the classroom, and Wonho’s face turned red and then blue. He seemed quite upset about being openly ignored while having his wrist grabbed in front of people.

“This little shit talks in an interesting way. I was just playing around because I was happy to see a little dick like you, but how can I live like this, it’s scary.”

“……”

“Cooperate? What cooperation? What are you going to do if you glare at me? Hey, hey, smile. You should smile.”

The highly agitated Wonho started poking the transfer student’s forehead with his index finger. The atmosphere in the classroom became chillingly quiet.

The other two standing next to them just grinned with their arms crossed, as if the situation was merely interesting, and the students sitting in the front whispered among themselves and watched this side. They seemed to be tense in the worsening atmosphere.

Tap.

The transfer student swatted away Wonho’s hand, which was pressing on his forehead, once again. Wonho’s expression hardened in a way Eunho had never seen before.

Eunho, realizing the atmosphere had become more serious than he expected, took his arm off his chin and straightened his posture.

He scanned the classroom and made eye contact with the class president, who was looking at this side with concern. He seemed to be contemplating whether to call the teacher. Not only the class president, but most of the students were frowning and focusing on the situation here.

‘No, you fucking… These bastards don’t know how to keep within bounds.’

Eunho, his face twisted in annoyance, sighed and stood up from his seat. As the chair scraped back with an unpleasant sound, he felt everyone’s gaze turn towards him.

“Hey, Yoo Wonho. Stop it.”

“Huh?”

“I said stop it. Are you the only ones in the classroom right now?”

“No, you fucking… You saw that little shit being rude too.”

Wonho, who had been glaring fiercely at the transfer student, seemed flustered by the sudden call and widened his eyes. Even so, he said everything he wanted to say while glaring at the transfer student, as if his pride was hurt.

Seeing the guy who had no problem harassing a new transfer student by poking his head in front of peers he had never met before, now getting angry when the situation was reversed, a sense of undirected disgust welled up.

Yoo Wonho, who was excitedly acting up, Kim Geonwoo, who was snickering next to him, and himself, who had just stood by and watched, were all on the same level.

“You’re the rude one, you little shit. You’re sexually harassing him by poking his head, and you expect him to greet you happily. Right?”

Eunho started imitating what Wonho had done a moment ago. As he looked down into Wonho’s eyes and poked his forehead area with only his index finger, the classroom became quiet with a different atmosphere than before.

Wonho’s face turned red, whether from anger or shame. Eunho frowned, seeing Wonho’s reaction, which was the complete opposite of a moment ago.

If he was going to act tough, he should have maintained the same attitude. The way he was acting, like someone who stretches their legs only after seeing where they can lie down, was utterly repulsive and made him furious.”Wonho, smile.”

Whether the rumor spread that the new transfer student in this class was pretty and handsome, or whether the story spread that Yoo Wonho and his friends were bullying the transfer student, the hallway and the front and back doors were already crowded with groups of people looking at them with interest.

Wonho clenched his fists as if the public humiliation he suffered in front of everyone was shameful.

“Hey, hey. Eunho, what’s wrong~ Wonho, you stop too.”

“Yeah, Yoo Wonho. You went too far this time, you bastard.”

Geonwoo and Jaewon stepped between Eunho and Wonho as if to defuse the tense atmosphere. Eunho lowered his hand and stood still, looking down at Wonho.

Then Wonho muttered a small curse and pushed through the crowd gathered at the back door and walked out. Seeing him forget what he had done and only get angry at the humiliation he had suffered, a slight annoyance arose. Eunho frowned, regretting having such people by his side.

Geonwoo and Jaewon, who seemed to be chasing Wonho who had gone outside, called his name once or twice in the hallway and then walked back this way.

“Eunho, just bear with it. That bastard Yoo Wonho doesn’t know the limits. Right?”

“What do I have to bear with?”

Eunho muttered irritably and sat back down. He slowly took out his phone to check messages and made eye contact with the transfer student who was looking at him. It was still a look full of wariness.

“Hey, transfer student. You know it was just a joke, right?”

“Sorry if you felt bad. If you’re angry, let it go.”

“Hey, what are you guys? Are you here to watch, you bastards? Get lost?”

To Geonwoo and Jaewon, who were casually saying things that weren’t even apologies, Yihyeon nodded almost imperceptibly. The two went back to their seats and unnecessarily shouted at the kids in the hallway.

“Thank you.”

He rested his chin on his hand again and looked out the window when a small voice came from the side. It was a low, firm voice, just like he had heard before. He had done it because he was annoyed watching Kim Geonwoo’s group cross the line, but hearing “thank you” made him feel like he had acted out of some trivial sense of justice. Eunho scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“Those bastards are always like that, so just don’t react to them.”

Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, Eunho said something he didn’t mean. He felt the gaze from the side looking at him, but Eunho pretended not to see it. He felt like if he turned his head, he would meet those upright eyes.

Eunho unnecessarily opened his phone to check if there was a reply from Cha Dohyeon.

-let’s go together.

The ‘1’ on the last message had not yet disappeared.

“Why is the atmosphere in here like this? Let’s air it out. Shall we open the window?”

The English teacher, who had entered at some point, organized the chaotic classroom atmosphere. Eunho reached out and pushed the window open. A wind carrying a humid feeling suddenly rushed into the classroom, and the light green curtains fluttered greatly. Eunho lay down as he was and closed his eyes.