The not-so-wide alley was dark and deserted. Because she didn't want Han Seong-jin following her, Yu-ri Lee had walked into a random alley. She immediately regretted her decision, but she didn't want to go back either.
'What happened? I'm going home anyway, and this is actually a shortcut, so it's a good thing. It's better than following a bastard like him.'
Yu-ri Lee turned the corner. At that moment, she saw five male students in front of her with cigarettes in their mouths.
"Eek."
"Huh? What is it?"
"Did you say some girls would come, too?"
"No. Who is this? I was surprised because I thought it was a salt bird."
'Ugh, the smell of cigarettes…'
Yu-ri Lee frowned because of the smoke. Looking at their hair, which was very long for a student, their rough attitudes, and the way they had a cigarette in their mouths, she could tell that they were the same type of bullies as Han Seong-jin. Still, Yu-ri calmly took a deep breath and carefully took a step forward.
'Yeah, I'm just on my way home. Nothing happened.'
As she walked forward little by little, she said, "I'm sorry, but I'm on my way home right now. I'll just pass by."
"You're going home? Yes, you can go."
Surprisingly, the gangsters willingly opened the way. Yu-ri Lee let out a sigh of relief and quickly walked past them. However, the moment Yu-ri Lee tried to pass, the bullies immediately surrounded her.
"What?!"
"But if you want to go home, you can just follow the main road. Don't you think coming here has a different meaning?"
"For example, did you want to play with us?"
"W-what do you mean?! I don't even know who you guys are! Get out of the way so I can pass by!"
"It's fate that we met like this, so how about we hang out for a bit? It's not like you came here without knowing what you were doing."
"Hey, now that I look at her face, she's gorgeous. And her tits are so big."
"P-please, get out of the way! I'm going home!"
"Oh, who said we wouldn't let you go? We just want you to hang out with us for a little bit before you go home."
"Aaaah! W-won't you let go of this?!"
The smell of the cigarettes they had been smoking wafted from the gangsters' bodies. The smell and the situation she was in made her feel like she was going to vomit.
'No way… Anyone… Someone please help me!'
As Yu-ri Lee screamed inside, a low, deep voice that she had become particularly familiar with today came from the direction she had come from.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
When she turned her head back, with both of her arms held by the gangsters, a very tall and well-muscled man was standing there. When Yu-ri Lee saw him trotting away holding a convenience store bag in one hand, she felt like crying out of relief. Even though he was a bully that she hated so much.
"Ha, Han Seong-jin!"
"What, Han Seong-jin?"
"Could it be the Han Seong-jin of Jinsoo High?"
"Isn't it?"
"Hey, what are you doing to our president?"
As Han Seong-jin approached, the gangsters got scared and started to back away. Even though he didn't do anything, he made the gangsters back down with just his presence.
"What are you doing?"
"You, it has nothing to do with you. We didn't come to fight you, so just go ahead, and we won't do anything—"
"Ha, these bastards don't understand."
Han Seong-jin tilted his head to the side, still holding the convenience store bag in his hand.
"You're asking me what I'm doing to my woman, you bastards."
"!!!"
The boys' complexions turned pale, and they swallowed their saliva. At the same time, the restraints holding Yu-ri Lee were released at once. Normally, Yu-ri would have screamed, 'Who is your girl?!' but she instinctively felt that it was better for both of them to just stay quiet for now.
"Yu-ri Lee, come behind me."
When Han Seong-jin made a gesture, Yu-ri Lee ran and clung to his back like a dog that listened to its owner.
"Hey, looking at your school uniform, you're from Eunbong School, right? You probably tried to touch my girl, huh?"
"Oh, no! We really didn't know! We didn't do it on purpose, but we really had no idea—"
"Whether you knew it or not, that's not an excuse for what you were just about to do."
Han Seong-jin walked forward and closed the distance between him and the group of bullies. Yu-ri Lee followed closely behind Han Seong-jin.
"And there's one more thing you didn't know."
"…"
"You said earlier that you wouldn't do anything if I just went, right?"
"Well, that's—"
"I guess I was mistaken."
Whoa!
Han Seong-jin swung his fist and hit the chin of the bully who was in front of him. The guy who was suddenly attacked fell sideways like a broken wooden doll.
"It's me, not you, who decides whether to do something or not."
"What the f—"
Deciding that it was already too late to run away, the remaining four gangsters attacked Han Seong-jin.
"Aaaaah!"
Yu-ri Lee screamed at the sudden violence and grabbed Han Seong-jin's collar even harder.
Whoa! Poop!
There were four gangsters, and there was only one Han Seong-jin. However, because the alley was narrow, it was difficult for the gangsters to use their numerical advantage. Han Seong-jin, on the other hand, was able to use his weight class to block the alley and fight. Because of his overwhelming superiority in size and strength, Han Seong-jin easily eliminated the gangsters. The gangsters' punches and kicks were easily blocked by Han Seong-jin, who knocked them down one by one. It took less than five minutes for all the gangsters to be stretched out and knocked down on the street.
"The bastards had nothing to do, so from early evening, the five of them decided to do something to one woman. Hehe."
Han Seong-jin spat on the floor and turned to look at Yu-ri Lee.
"Are you okay?"
"Uh? Uh…"
Yu-ri Lee tried to take a step, but as soon as she realized that she was okay, she relaxed and fell to the ground.
"Ugh…"
"What's wrong?"
"My legs feel weak… I can't go on…"
"It takes a lot of work to get to the end. Now."
Han Seong-jin bent his knees and gave his back to Yu-ri Lee. Yu-ri Lee tilted her head when she saw that.
"What are you doing? Get on my back."
"Huh, piggybacking?!"
"If you don't, I don't know when they will wake up, so would you like to stay here until your leg strength comes back?"
Because she didn't like the idea of staying, Yu-ri Lee ended up riding on Han Seong-jin's back.
'He's so big…'
Yu-ri Lee leaned in, thinking that to herself without realizing it. As he left the alley carrying Yu-ri Lee on his back, Han Seong-jin broke the awkward silence and spoke first.
"I'm sorry."
"Huh? What?"
"For lying and saying you're mine. You must have been disgusted inside. But I thought that was the only way they would let you go."
"That… oh, no. It's okay."
Yu-ri Lee, who was still feeling the warmth of Han Seong-jin's back, suddenly caught sight of the convenience store bag hanging on his arm. In the chaos, all the lunch boxes were crushed, and the contents had popped out, making them uneatable. The cola bottle was full of gas inside, so if he opened the lid, something unfortunate would happen.
"Hey, your lunch box…"
"Huh? Oh, everything broke during the fight. Those bastards. That was my dinner for tonight and breakfast for tomorrow."
Yu-ri Lee buried her face in Han Seong-jin's back. She had already received help from Han Seong-jin twice today. Once in the morning, and again now. In addition, Han Seong-jin had helped him by sacrificing his food, but all she had given Han Seong-jin in return was her sharp attitude and tone. Yu-ri Lee felt extremely ashamed of herself.
Then she finally opened her mouth with difficulty.
"Thank you."
"What?"
"For helping me… Even this morning. And even now…"
"What else can I say? It's okay. Also, this is a place where a lot of bullies live, so if you can, don't come here. No, don't ever come here."
"…Do you often come here, too?"
"I used to."
I answered in the past tense. The reason it's in the past tense is that from now on, I won't be drinking or smoking here anymore.
"I'll take you home, so tell me where you live. Where should I go?"
"What? It's okay now! I can go alone, so get off—"
"I can still feel your legs shaking, but you're okay? Don't be stubborn and just tell me where your house is."
"Ugh… Room 401, xx Apartment, Building xx."
"It's not that far from my house."
And then the silence continued again. As Yu-ri Lee, who had always been in the position of protecting Gong Young-bae and had never been protected, the emotions she felt now were very unfamiliar and awkward.
A Change of Heart
I walked to the entrance of her apartment that she told me about, carrying Yu-ri Lee on my back.
"We're here."
Yu-ri Lee lowered her head and wiggled her fingers, as if she was embarrassed that a man, or even a fellow student, had brought her home.
"Then I'm leaving. Be careful from now on, and never go into that alley. Do you understand?"
"Oh, your lunch box…"
Yu-ri Lee shouted at me, blurting out an unexpected word as I was about to leave.
"?"
"Your lunch box… I'm sorry I made you unable to eat it."
"The ones who made it impossible for me to eat were the ones who attacked me."
"But I wish I hadn't gone in there for no reason… It's my fault, too. Therefore… sorry. I'll make it up to you later."
"It's okay. Don't worry."
"And… thank you."
Instead of answering, I held out my hand and gestured for her to go inside. Yu-ri also slightly bowed her head in greeting, and we turned away from each other.
And the next day…
"What is this?"
I asked after seeing the small bundle that Yu-ri Lee had placed on my desk. Yu-ri Lee was avoiding my gaze as much as possible, her face turning bright red as if it were about to explode.
"Oh, it's a lunch box… Because I didn't let you eat yesterday… It was made as an apology! It has no other meaning!"