“Ah, I’m really freaking sorry. I have some personal stuff to do right now, so I don’t have enough time for this. But I’ll fully take responsibility and do well for the presentation.”
Lee Hyukjin was blatantly avoiding Heewoon. Even during class, he would sit far away and leave immediately afterward, so it was awkward when they coincidentally met in front of the lockers.
Surprisingly, Seo Kangwoo had made a really good PPT, which eased some of Heewoon’s burden, but if they messed up the presentation, he would be screwed. It was just as important as an exam, and if they got a low score, it would be difficult for him to get an A+ and then he wouldn’t be able to get a scholarship. Heewoon had already been absent from some classes, so he was studying harder for exams and assignments.
“If you don’t know the PPT content, you won’t be able to present it well. The professor might ask questions too.”
“Just send me the materials you wrote.”
Huh? Hyukjin patted Heewoon’s shoulder. Heewoon looked up at Hyukjin with an uneasy expression, and Kangwoo stared at Hyukjin’s hand on Heewoon’s shoulder. He then opened his mouth.
“Hyukjin sunbae. We have three days left until next Monday, now.”
“I know. I’m good at practicing, trust me.”
“Heewoon Sunbae did a lot of research, so it might be confusing for you to see it alone. Don’t you think it would be better to work on it together at least once? What do you think?”
Kangwoo looked down at Hyukjin and smiled gently.
“Well… that’s true. But it’s the weekend now. It’s a bit too much to come to school on the weekend. I also have to study for exams…”
Heewoon glanced at Kangwoo’s hand that had landed next to his thigh. He was amazed that his hand, which often was raised on him, was now still. And he felt unfair. Why did he have to suffer like this just from seeing that?
“Um…”
When Kangwoo cleared his throat, Heewoon tensed up. Hyukjin didn’t pay any attention to it and was looking at his phone. Hyukjin, who didn’t know anything about Kangwoo, looked stupid to Heewoon.
“Then, do you want to do it at our house?”
“Your house?”
Hyukjin’s eyes widened. Seo Kangwoo was rumored to be a third-generation chaebol. Hyukjin hesitated, as he must have been curious about Kangwoo’s house.
A few hours later, Hyukjin gave an affirmative reply on KakaoTalk.
Heewoon bit his lip.
That guy couldn’t come to school, yet he could go to Seo Kangwoo’s house.
***
“Wow, this is insane. You live alone in this kind of house?”
Hyukjin looked around with his widened eyes. He had been doing so since he passed through the front gate. He had been bombarding Kangwoo with questions about everything he saw, from the high-ceiling living room, spacious kitchen, to the study with a large desk. It was funny to see the giant man’s eyes shine so naively.
“Are you really a chaebol?”
Kangwoo simply smiled at the question, but Hyukjin seemed convinced. Kangwoo’s reputation as a chaebol would probably spread like wildfire around campus soon.
The three of them sat around a large table. Heewoon and Hyukjin sat next to each other, while Kangwoo sat across from Hyukjin. A laptop was placed in a position where all three could see, displaying their presentation. After flipping through it, Hyukjin exclaimed in admiration.
“Wow, damn. That was really well-made.”
So it’s his first time seeing it.
“I sent it to you two days ago. You haven’t seen it yet?”
“I just saw the outline, you punk.”
Hyukjin chuckled and patted Heewoon’s back. Hyukjin’s large build and thick hands felt painful, causing a dull ache in his back. Kangwoo glanced at Heewoon’s frown.
Knock knock. Just then, there was a knock at the door and a housekeeper with a tray entered. It was coffee and macaroons in pretty glass cups with delicate patterns.
“Thank you.”
“Oh, Americano? I don’t drink coffee.”
Scratching his chin, Hyukjin grabbed a macaron and popped it into his mouth.
“Shall I prepare orange juice then?”
“Ah, yes. Sure.”
Hyukjin nodded vaguely at the housekeeper’s question.
Heewoon knew exactly what type of person Hyukjin was. He was the typical typical strong man who would take advantage of anyone weaker than himself.
Heewoon took a sip of coffee and took a bite of the blue macaron. It was vanilla-flavored. Eating something sweet made him feel a little better. Recently, he had a habit of snacking frequently.
Kangwoo stared at Heewoon as he continued to have the macarons while underlining the presentation material for Hyukjin. Then he rested his chin on his hand.
“It seems like Sunbae likes that better than meals.”
“…Huh?”
With green crumbs still smeared on his lips, Heewoon’s eyes widened. Kangwoo tapped his own lips, and following him, Heewoon wiped his mouth with his fingers.
“You’re usually picky with your meals, Sunbae.”
“Ah…”
Heewoon was about to say something, but Hyukjin, who was reading through some materials, suddenly interrupted. Heewoon had already sent those materials to him last week.
“Right. Dude, someone like you needs to eat a lot and work out like crazy. Do you even exercise regularly?”
“No.”
“See? Ah, man. You’ve just been too skinny.”
Hyukjin’s thick hands grabbed onto Heewoon’s arm and shook it. Heewoon’s brow furrowed slightly as he spoke.
“Just finish reading what you were reading.”
“Look at you, you’re changing the fucking subject.”
Hyukjin laughed out loud as he patted Heewoon’s back. He had taken off his coat, so the pats hurt more as he was only wearing a thin top. From then on, Hyukjin kept talking about how to work out without anyone asking.
But then, when Heewoon was barely listening in and bit into a macaron.
“Holy shit. You, what the hell is this? Isn’t this a kiss mark?”
Without any warning, Hyukjin pressed his hand against the back of Heewoon’s neck. Flinching in surprise, Heewoon swatted his hand away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Seo Kangwoo would always nibble and suck on the back of his neck. He thought it was okay since it was covered by his shirt, but it seemed like it had slipped down a bit when Hyukjin patted his back.
“Damn, how does this wimpy guy have a girlfriend? I can’t fucking understand.”
“Can you just finish reading it already?”
“Are there even more on your body?”
Hyukjin pulled the neckline of Heewoon’s T-shirt forward and laughed.
“Are you crazy?”
Heewoon snapped, slapping Hyukjin’s hand away. You asshole, and I thought you were well-behaved. He thought Hyukjin was well-behaved. Heewoon scowled at Hyukjin who was grinning sinisterly.
It was then.
Kangwoo, who had been quiet, smashed a glass cup over Hyukjin’s head.
With a cracking sound, glass shards scattered in all directions. The glass shard that fell on Hyukjin’s shoulder glowed in the fluorescent light. It happened so suddenly that Hyukjin couldn’t even scream, and he just held his head.
“Are you okay?”
Kangwoo asked softly.
“… Is this fucker crazy?!”
Hyukjin grimaced and stood up, glaring at Kangwoo. But Kangwoo’s gaze was fixed on Heewoon.
“The shards didn’t reach you, right?”
“…Yeah”
Heewoon replied with a little gasp, feeling a sense of panic as a red warning signal blared loudly in his mind. Beep- beep- beep-
“Hey, you son of a bitch! Aren’t you a totally crazy bastard?”
Hyukjin roughly pushed his chair back with a loud thud and stumbled backward. Having practiced judo in middle school, Hyukjin was big enough that most people couldn’t stand up to him. He reached out to grab Kangwoo by the collar, overflowing with confidence.
But even before he could do anything, he didn’t expect his hand to be broken and his face to be punched. With a crack, Hyukjin stumbled backward and fell to the ground.
“Uh-huh…?”
The large man touched his nose, looking bewildered. Drops of blood dripped from Hyukjin’s nose. Heewoon looked at Kangwoo with a tense expression. Kangwoo got up from his chair slowly and walked around the desk to stand in front of Hyukjin.
Heewoon stood frozen as he watched Seo Kangwoo lazily get up from his chair. There wasn’t any sign of impatience in his steps as he rounded the desk and stood up in front of Hyukjin.
He then stopped and looked down at Hyukjin for a short moment, before landing a blow on Hyukjin’s chest as if he was aiming for it.
“Urghh….”
Hyukjin froze for a moment, choking on his breath. Blood trickled down his forehead as his legs convulsed.
Hyukjin felt his face. His hands were covered in blood from his nose and forehead.
“What the fucking hell! Why are you suddenly like this?! Did you go crazy?”
His bewilderment was as great as his anger. Blood seeped through his lips as he screamed. His face, half of which was soaked in red, was ironically scarier than the face of Seo Kangwoo who did that to him.
Kangwoo looked down at Hyukjin nonchalantly as he was struggling to get up, then casually stepped on Hyukjin’s hand on the floor.
“Ah! You bastard. Move out of the way!”
Then, without even blinking, Kangwoo did something horrifying. He fixed Hyukjin’s hand with one foot and kicked his arm with the other.
Snap-! The sound of bones breaking echoed throughout the room, as did
Hyukjin’s screams.
“Aaaack-! Aack-!”
The thick arm inside the long-sleeved shirt was grotesquely broken. Hyukjin writhed in severe pain, hitting the ground with his other hand and rolling his body.
Heewoon’s face turned white as a sheet. His breathing was in ragged gasps.
In that room, only Kangwoo seemed unfazed. He continued to beat Hyukjin, who couldn’t even move properly.
Heewoon had never realized that hitting a human body could produce such sounds. The sound of bones breaking and the sound of choking grunts. His whole body shuddered. If this continued, Hyukjin was going to die. However, he was frozen in fear and unable to move.
In fact, he didn’t even consider stopping him for a moment.
Because at that moment, Heewoon realized that he wasn’t in a study room packed with books, but he was in a dusty, dark abandoned factory.
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