Jihoon pulled his arms down a bit, peeking. Ah. It’s Kwon Soonyoung. One of the richest kids
in their high school. No wonder. He slowly tried to sit up. Pain echoed through his body,
making him wince. Soonyoung looked at him worriedly. Why, though? It wasn’t like they
were friends. Jihoon had no friends.
“That looks painful... Can you stand? We should get your wounds treated!”
“No, I’m fine.”
“But you’re bruised and bleeding, it must hurt a lot... Why did they even do that to you?”
“I’m fine.”
“We should tell the teachers! We can’t let them do that to you again—“
“I said I’m fine.”
His tone was harsher than he meant it to be, but it got Soonyoung to shut up. His gaze
softened as he saw Soonyoung’s stunned expression. He could still see the concern in his
eyes. And sadness. Why? Why did he care?
“I’m fine, Kwon Soonyoung. Thank you for helping.” He got up, immediately gritted his
teeth. Man, they were right about stupid people got stronger fists to make up for their lack of
brain. His whole body ached, his joints screamed as he moved. But that’s fine. He could
handle it. “I will really appreciate it if you don’t tell anyone about it. Especially not the teach-
ers. I don’t want to make any ruckus. It’s just a little fight. Nothing serious.”
Soonyoung looked like he was about to say something, to argue, but Jihoon gave him a stern
look. Soonyoung sighed.
“Okay.”
“Thank you.”
He took his dirty bag from the ground, dragging his feet, leaving Soonyoung behind. He
really wished the boy wouldn’t let out any word about the incident. He needed the scholar-
ship. He needed to finish high school. For that, he should not make any trouble, even when he
was not the one starting it. He needed his name clean. Even if it means he had to pretend that
nothing happened.
Too bad he didn’t know any tricks to make the bruises disappear.
“Oh my God, Jihoonie, what happened to you??”
The more he tried to protect his face from wounds and his ribs from getting broken, the more