A Scorching Day Chapter 25

“What are you doing. Right now.”

It was a gruff voice. Although he looked visibly annoyed, his irritation at being hit by strangers seemed greater than any shock from the assault itself. Watching Ki Joon chew his words with a defiant attitude, the senior who had kicked the chair let out a hollow laugh.

“But this fucking bastard, acting all high and mighty…!”

He raised his hand with a flourish. But Ki Joon caught the wrist flying toward his cheek and twisted it backward. The movement was extremely natural, closer to a reflex than a deliberate action. The senior, whose wrist was now trapped, turned pale and glared.

“Ahhh! Hey, fuck, let go! You bastard. Won’t you let go?!”

“Why the hell did you suddenly hit a sleeping person and start this shit?”

“Hey! What are you all just standing around watching for!”

Desperately trying to free his trapped wrist, he yelped toward his group. Three or four of them immediately surrounded Ki Joon and lunged at him.

In the instantly chaotic atmosphere, Gawon sprang to his feet. He was about to go get a teacher, or anyone. How could everyone just watch this without intervening…!

Even seeing the men surrounding him, Ki Joon didn’t panic or cower. The emotion in his eyes was closer to dismay than fear.

The moment his gaze, which was about a head higher than theirs, met Gawon’s, Ki Joon quickly and briefly shook his head. That alone was enough for Gawon to understand.

Don’t go to the teachers’ office.

What he wanted to convey was clear. The senior’s mocking words about being forcibly transferred came to mind. Although Ki Joon was the one who had been quietly minding his own business and got picked on, the teachers who knew about his forced transfer would already view him with prejudice just from the fact that a fight had broken out. They might even lump him together with those delinquents and brand him the same.

But he couldn’t just stand by and watch the fight either. Gawon bit his lips, unable to do either. His clenched fists tightened with tension. No matter how big and athletic Ki Joon was… how could he handle that many older guys by himself…

On one hand, Gawon did trust Ki Joon. Since he was supposedly so good at martial arts, he wouldn’t just be taking hits defenselessly. If he could just seize the initiative and chase the seniors out of the classroom, the delinquents, who valued their pride so much, probably wouldn’t go running to tattle to the teachers afterward.

But.

“Hey, fuck. Hit him already. Not gonna hit? Should I hit him?”

Thwack! One of their fists cut through the air. It was a blow strong enough to snap Ki Joon’s face to the side. His large body swayed slightly but didn’t fall or stagger.

As he straightened his head back to the front, a wild glint surged in Ki Joon’s eyes. A fierce rebelliousness flared up like a flame, but it was only for a moment.

When facing one person, Ki Joon’s attitude had been so casually dismissive, but the moment several rushed at him, it completely changed. With his hands shoved deep into his pockets, Ki Joon simply stood still among them, not even properly defending himself.

The seniors snickered in unpleasant voices.

“Looks like this bastard’s scared.”

“What the hell. He’s just a nobody. Was it all just rumors?”

“He must be on probation if he causes another incident. Fucking idiot.”

Another one struck Ki Joon’s face with a clenched fist. Thwack, a gesture mixed with bravado, like hitting a punching machine. Ki Joon’s face snapped to the side again. This time, his nose started bleeding.

“Ki Joon!”

Gawon screamed. It was horrifying. So horrifying that he couldn’t bear to watch any longer. Any resolve to trust and wait for Ki Joon vanished in an instant.

How could they hit someone like that? Where was all that pretending to be close, calling him Ki Joon, Ki Joon, and now watching him get beaten with nothing but intrigued eyes—those bastards in the class were disgusting too.

His entire body trembled as if electrocuted. Gawon gritted his teeth and rose to run out of the classroom. Forced transfer or whatever—none of it mattered. Whatever the consequences, he had to save the kid first.

A ringing tinnitus echoed in his ears. Suddenly, Heo Yeonggyu blocked the classroom doorway. He was saying something, but it was cut off by a beeep sound and Gawon couldn’t hear him properly. Gawon shouted roughly and shoved Heo Yeonggyu aside.

“Move!”

It was a superhuman strength he’d never displayed before. As Heo Yeonggyu faltered, Gawon slipped through the small gap like a loach and ran toward the teachers’ office on trembling legs. Thump, thump. He could only hear the fierce pounding of his heart.

He threw open the teachers’ office door roughly. Bearing the startled gazes of the teachers all at once, he approached his homeroom teacher. His panting breaths just wouldn’t calm down. In an urgent voice, Gawon reported that the seniors were beating Ki Joon and rattled off all their names.

“What? Those little shits…”

The homeroom teacher stood up with a dark expression. Unlike Gawon’s frantic urgency, the teacher’s steps toward the classroom were maddeningly slow, his face stern.

Unable to bear it any longer, Gawon left the teacher behind and ran across the hallway. The bell signaling the end of break rang. The front and back doors of the classroom were already crowded with students from other classes who had heard the news and come to watch. Some from other grades were mixed in as well.

“Hey, you little shits! What the hell do you think you’re doing!”

When the homeroom teacher shouted loudly from a distance, the onlookers scattered in a flurry. By the time Gawon rushed into the classroom, everything was already over. The seniors, sauntering out through the front door, just snickered among themselves even when they saw the teacher, muttering, “Ah shit, we’re screwed.”

Ki Joon, sitting sideways on a desk with his hips perched on the edge, spat out a bloody wad of saliva. His cheek, which he ran his tongue over, was badly swollen. Exhaling a murky breath, he looked like a great beast that had failed its hunt and been wounded instead. They must have focused on his face—his eyes were swollen and his cheeks were split and a mess.

“Ki, Ki Joon. You, you…”

Gawon rushed over to Ki Joon in one breath. He called out to him in a trembling voice. His eyes kept growing hot, but Gawon used all his strength to hold back the tears.

The gazes of the other kids were suffocatingly fixed on him and Ki Joon. If he started sniffling here, it would really look strange. He himself had nothing further to lose, but Ki Joon might face dirty misunderstandings because of him. He had to prevent that at all costs. He forced himself to speak in a deliberately cold voice.

“Come with me right now… to the nurse’s office. No, we need to go to the hospital.”

Ki Joon, who had been carelessly wiping his nosebleed with his sleeve, softened his eyes the moment he saw Gawon. Unlike Gawon, whose whole body was trembling with rage and despair, he acted as if nothing was wrong.

“I’m fine, Gawon-ah.”

“What do you mean you’re fine!”

“Really. Truly.”

Even with his face a mess, Ki Joon grinned. His teeth were all stained with blood, as if the inside of his mouth had been torn up. Ah. Ki Joon let out a short sound and covered his mouth with his hand.

“That’s right, I must look fucking ugly right now. Ah shit, Yoon Gawon, you can’t fall for me like this.”

“Are you seriously saying that right now…!”

“Ki Joon. You come to the teachers’ office too.”

The homeroom teacher, with a stiff, stern face, took Ki Joon away. The seniors who had beaten him up went along too. Despite such a commotion, the next class proceeded as normal.

Was the investigation really the issue right now? The kid was injured that badly—why weren’t they sending him to the hospital first? To Gawon, everything seemed utterly unreasonable.

He couldn’t concentrate at all. Because he was so furious at the ones who had beaten Ki Joon that badly, and because of Ki Joon, who had smiled and said he was fine even after being hit that hard. And on top of that, the whispers from the other kids were even worse.

“Hey. But wasn’t Ki Joon supposed to be really good at fighting? He just stood there getting hit, though?”

“No matter how good he is, those seniors were probably pretty scary.”

“He didn’t even seem willing to fight back at all? He had his hands in his pockets and just took the hits.”

“Tsk, kinda disappointing. Isn’t the whole thing about being close with An Seongjoon-hyung a lie too?”

“But is the Gwangyeom High thing true?”

“After seeing today, doesn’t it seem like it’s not? He just got his ass kicked and kicked out, looks like.”

The snickering, whispering sounds were disgusting. Gawon’s clenched fists trembled. Cowardly bastards. Gutless bastards. They’d all followed him around calling him cool just the other day.

A school violence committee would obviously be convened. If they needed a witness, he’d definitely attend and testify. Everyone had probably been secretly filming too—he planned to get hold of that footage somehow. With those thoughts, he barely managed to endure 6th period.

Ki Joon returned only after all the classes were over. The moment he walked back into the classroom, the kids who had been excitedly gossiping about him fell silent. Though they pretended otherwise, curious gazes still remained fixed on him.

Ki Joon’s expression was unremarkable. His nose was stuffed with a cotton ball, indicating he’d at least received simple first aid. Gawon had so many things he wanted to ask that he felt dizzy. What happened to those seniors, when the school violence committee would be held, whether his injuries were okay… But with so much attention focused on them, he couldn’t easily approach.

“Hey… Ki Joon, are you okay?”

The first to get up and approach Ki Joon was Kim Wonjae. Ki Joon chuckled at Kim Wonjae’s awkwardly asked question.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“What were those crazy bastards suddenly on about?”

“How would I know. I was sleeping and suddenly got hit and sent flying.”

At his light, joking tone, Kim Wonjae burst out laughing. The class atmosphere flipped in an instant. Taking that as a signal, the rest of the stragglers who had been only glancing sidelong also rushed over and crowded around Ki Joon. They hadn’t had an ounce of real concern, only clinging out of curiosity—the sight was disgusting, and Gawon frowned.

“Hey. What happened to those seniors?”

“What did the homeroom teacher say?”

“Is there going to be a school violence committee? Did they call your parents?”