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Chapter 24
“What am I supposed to apologize for?”
“…….”
“Say something, damn it.”
“I thought you’d be at that level, but this is even more pathetic.”
Seok-woo’s pride flared as he met Jeong-ha’s lazy gaze, and his face stiffened. The situation had taken an odd turn.
Though Yeon-woo had shouted for an apology, the tense standoff made it feel like a fight could break out any second. She carefully grabbed Jeong-ha’s collar.
“Forget it. Talking any further won’t help.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It means it’s low and crude. Jang Seok-woo, Chae Eun-young, both of you.”
Jeong-ha blocked their path, but the words that fell from Yeon-woo’s mouth were like knives. Seok-woo’s brows furrowed sharply.
At that moment, Chae Eun-young, who had been standing still, suddenly lunged forward and grabbed a fistful of Yeon-woo’s hair.
“You want me to make it even more pathetic?”
“Ah! Let go! Won’t you let go?!”
Yeon-woo shouted as she struggled on her injured leg. Then, Eun-young’s angry, almost growling voice came back.
“Uh, I won’t! I won’t let go! Why are you acting like you’re so perfect?!”
“Let go, I said!”
“Nope!”
“You wanna test me right now, huh?”
Pain shot through her leg, but at a time like this, Yeon-woo didn’t care. Instead, she flailed and grabbed a handful of Eun-young’s short hair with her long arms.
Eun-young’s face flushed from the pain, and that’s when it began.
It was nothing short of a disaster. When Jang Seok-woo tried to intervene, Jeong-ha firmly grabbed his shoulder.
“You play with me.”
Seok-woo, confused, turned his head—and Jeong-ha’s fist struck his cheek with a dull thwack! Blood trickled from the corner of his lips.
“You son of a—”
Seok-woo swung at Jeong-ha immediately, but missed.
The boys fought the boys’ fight, and the girls fought the girls’ fight.
“Let go or not?”
“You let go first!”
“For whose sake?”
Unlike the two girls screaming at each other, Seok-woo and Jeong-ha exchanged punches just once each. But as time passed, Jeong-ha unexpectedly began to dominate the situation.
How long it lasted, no one could tell.
Eun-young, shoulders shaking and face scratched, eventually burst into tears. No matter how fierce she usually was, there was no way she could overpower Yeon-woo, who carried a bucket every morning.
Seeing that the fight between Seok-woo and Jeong-ha was leaning toward Jeong-ha’s victory, Yeon-woo wiped the blood from her nose with the back of her hand.
“What did I ever do to you that you always pick a fight? If I ignore you, you think I’m ignoring you, and if I let it slide, it gets worse?”
“I just… hate you! I hate you so much!”
Hot tears streamed down Eun-young’s cheeks.
“I hate you too. I hate you so much. So just stop paying any attention to me. I’m really sick of it, annoyed, you know.”
“Then just disappear! Please, disappear!”
“I can’t. I’m graduating because of this school work anyway.”
Seeing Yeon-woo’s brazen face, Eun-young’s own face turned red. Even the boys had stopped fighting and were watching the two girls.
“If you’re so confident, don’t resort to this low behavior—study and beat me properly.”
“You’re seriously annoying as hell.”
Eun-young muttered while Yeon-woo spoke clearly and deliberately. But Yeon-woo wasn’t about to stand quietly.
“I know.”
Jeong-ha, standing nearby, chuckled softly, but Yeon-woo just shrugged.
Seeing Eun-young and Seok-woo, who had lost all will to fight, standing still, Yeon-woo turned her head.
It was a signal to go.
Jeong-ha gave Seok-woo a quick glance from top to bottom and then stood beside Yeon-woo.
“How’s your leg?”
“Not good.”
“Foolish.”
Jeong-ha supported Yeon-woo’s arm as they turned. As for the two of them, since the teacher had called, it was their problem whether they returned to school or not.
Jeong-ha frowned as Yeon-woo limped more than when she first got hurt, and Yeon-woo stuck out her tongue playfully.
“But we won, right?”
“…We should’ve gone straight to the hospital.”
“You fought well too, didn’t you?”
Watching Yeon-woo mimic punches, Jeong-ha snorted and shook his head with a small smile.
“Let’s go to the hospital.”
“Alright.”
This time, Yeon-woo followed without a word. Feeling the warmth from Jeong-ha supporting her, she leaned her head slightly against him.
“It felt comfortable being carried, you know.”
“You want me to carry you now?”
“No, it’s fine. We’ll take the bus anyway. The bus driver here isn’t too many, so rumors would spread fast.”
“Rumors? What’s strange about that?”
Jeong-ha’s plain reply made Yeon-woo blush even more.
Up until yesterday—or even just this morning—they barely spoke, yet now they walked together so naturally it was as if nothing had happened.
Their footsteps slowed, falling in sync. Tap, tap.
Eventually, Yeon-woo, with a splint on her leg, got home only to get scolded by her aunt:
“Where did you fall this time? You’re never whole for even a single day, girl.”
Her aunt grumbled the whole time while preparing food for the main house. Because Yeon-woo’s leg injury made crouching difficult, she could help less, which irritated her aunt even more.
Plus, Jeong-woon’s whereabouts were unknown, making her aunt even more irritable than usual. Yeon-woo, used to her aunt’s sharp tongue, couldn’t help but be curious about Jeong-woon’s whereabouts.
Would something terrible happen?
“…They said it’ll heal soon.”
“Heal soon? Judging by the way you’re limping, it’ll take weeks.”
Yeon-woo sighed and stepped out onto the porch in her changed school uniform, groaning as she tried to move. Though early, she had to leave if she wanted to get to school with this leg.
“I’m off.”
“Come back quickly! I’m already worried about Yang-kyu’s house, so at least go and help somehow.”
“Got it.”
Since Jeong-woon wasn’t around to help in the fields, Yang-kyu had even given money to bring in a young man from the village. That money came from the lady of the house, so Yeon-woo’s aunt couldn’t help but fume.
At that moment, the main house door opened and Jeong-ha appeared, wearing sneakers, looking sharp as ever.
“…….”
Their eyes met. Yeon-woo quickly looked away as she saw Jeong-ha raise his eyebrows. It was best that no one in the household noticed how close they were.
Yeon-woo limped across the blue gate as fast as she could, her senses twitching at Jeong-ha’s familiar scent approaching from behind.
As expected, Jeong-ha caught up and took her schoolbag in one hand.
With the heavy load gone from her back, a cool shiver ran down Yeon-woo’s spine.
“Wh-what is this?”
