Ch.26Taking Off Your Glasses Doesn’t Exactly Make You a Hottie (1)

“Sam! Hamin’s got a nosebleed!”

“What? Quick, to the infirmary!”

We headed to the infirmary with Hamin, whose nose had been broken after getting hit by a ball, accompanied by our PE teacher.

Normally, the infirmary—along with the gym storage room and unused club rooms at dusk—was absolutely off-limits for bringing Hamin to. But now, with the area below his philtrum stained bright red with blood from his nose, we were in no position to be picky.

Besides, the PE teacher was with us as a guardian, so there wouldn’t be another incident like what happened with Ahn Seong-kyeong before.

I was also keeping watch beside him.

“Nurse! We have a critical patient! It’s not just a nosebleed—it’s a double nosebleed! Where should we lay the patient down?”

“Patients with nosebleeds shouldn’t lie down. Just have him sit in a chair. I’ll bring tissues and medicine.”

Fortunately, true to this being a world from an all-ages Korean webtoon, the school nurse at Bulsa High School wasn’t wearing a tight corset, didn’t have garter belts below her legs, and didn’t have H-cup breasts. She was an extremely ordinary, intellectual-looking teacher.

Still, just to be safe, I told Sahyang, Hyerang, and our class president Ahn Seong-kyeong to wait outside the infirmary. I stayed inside with the PE teacher to watch over the guy getting treated.

“It’s okay. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be a serious injury. This level of injury is common among students who play ball during lunch break.”

Come to think of it, I remembered going to the infirmary during my school days after getting a double nosebleed while playing soccer. I’d try to make it seem serious enough to get sent home early, but the school nurses would calmly treat the wound without making a fuss.

The nurse here wasn’t much different. She skillfully treated Hamin’s wound, finishing the first aid by placing white cotton and tape over it.

“There, all done.”

“Th-thank you, teacher… I think I’m fine now. The bleeding has stopped.”

Hamin was touching the cotton and bandage on his nose, clearly uncomfortable with the unfamiliar sensation on his bridge. Probably because nothing but his glasses had ever rested there before, the feeling must have been strangely itchy.

“Hey, model student. Can you recognize who I am?”

I waved my fingers in front of Hamin after his treatment was done.

“How many fingers do you see?”

“Two… Wait, could you stop pretending I’m someone who just regained consciousness?”

“Ah, sorry. I just wanted to try that once.”

Though he was a bit dazed from getting his nose broken by the soccer ball, Hamin hadn’t passed out from the impact like in some detective manga.

He did need support from a guardian, but that was it. He had walked to the infirmary on his own two feet.

Though there was an eerie trail of blood following his footsteps.

“I’m fine, so don’t worry.”

“How can I not worry? Your face wasn’t protagonist material to begin with.”

Poor Ban Do-young who has to live with you after the ending. At least I get to go home.

“Now with a broken nose on top of that. Who would want to set up house with someone like you?”

“…Sorry for having an ugly face. I was… desperately trying to block the ball so you guys wouldn’t get hit.”

Hamin frowned with a reddened face. Even if he didn’t have much self-esteem about his appearance, it seemed he couldn’t easily laugh off such comments.

“Pfft. Are you upset? Because an ugly guy called you ugly?”

“…Stating facts can still be defamation, you know.”

“Bwahaha, that’s right, you’re smart. So smart. With grades like yours, maybe your future wife’s face might change for the better? Bwahahaha.”

Despite his pouty face, he was taking my teasing as usual, so there seemed to be no need to worry.

Unlike my school days when I’d use any injury as an excuse to leave early and goof off, Hamin wouldn’t think of skipping class over something like this.

“Whew, anyway, you were lucky this time. Better the face than elsewhere.”

“Huh? What do you mean lucky?”

The PE teacher asked as the nurse sighed in relief.

“Well, besides Hamin, there’s another student who was rushed in urgently.”

The nurse slightly tilted her chin toward a hospital bed hidden behind a partition.

“Aaagh… ahh…”

“Hey, Shim Young-tae. Are you okay?”

“I can’t feel anything down there… ugh!”

The partition, which was little more than a blind or curtain, couldn’t block out all the painful screams coming from the bed.

“If we get two or three students a month with broken noses from soccer, we also get one or two students a year with something else broken. This year it happened a bit earlier than usual.”

“…Ah.”

Knowing the details of the incident and well aware of what kind of pain the young man behind the partition was experiencing, Hamin and the PE teacher instinctively placed their hands protectively over their groins.

I also knew the pain, but having no joystick to protect with an intersection of hands, I let it pass.

“Urrrgh! Just when I thought it was getting better, it starts again!”

“Senior Young-tae!? You’re okay, right? Senior Young-tae?”

“Be quiet! It hurts more when you’re making noise next to me! That bitch Ban Do-young… I was so good to her, why would she do this to me…”

“Teacher, please give that senior an injection to quiet him down. Something strong enough to knock out an elephant.”

“We don’t have anything like that in the infirmary.”

*THUD*

The nurse, apparently also annoyed by the senior’s screams, slammed the door to the ward shut.

Thanks to that, the meaningless local broadcast sound that I would never look at again also subsided.

“Hamin, you were fortunate that your glasses frame was old and fell off your face as soon as the ball hit. Those glasses are quite old, right?”

“Ah, yes… I got them in fifth grade, so about five years ago.”

Five years, not just two or three.

Considering this wasn’t a reading glass fitted for an elderly person whose growth had stopped, but during a period of active physical development and the onset of puberty, these were glasses that had long passed their replacement date.

It was actually impressive that they had maintained their shape after taking a direct hit from a soccer ball.

Well, given Hamin’s current height, he probably stopped growing around his second year of middle school, so he probably never felt his frames were too small and needed replacing.

“Heh.”

“Why… why are you laughing…?”

“It’s nothing, nothing at all.”

“Something feels off…”

No, no, no.

If I say anything more about this, I might really damage Hamin’s likability this time.

Then all the effort of telling him about menstrual cycles would be wasted.

“Five years… I could tell they were old from the deep oil stains on the frames and lenses. But five years is a bit dangerous…”

“Well, my family isn’t in a position to replace glasses regularly…”

“No matter how tight finances are, wouldn’t your parents buy new ones for a studying student?”

“B-but you said yourself that I was safe because the lenses didn’t break thanks to the old frame, teacher!”

“Well, you were lucky this time that the frame bent and flew off without breaking the lenses. If the lenses had shattered along with the frame and gotten into your eyes, you could have risked blindness. I recommend replacing at least the frame with a new one within this week, if not today.”

“B-but I can still use these, look. They’re perfectly…”

*SNAP*

Before he could finish speaking, one of the legs of Hamin’s glasses broke off. Having reached the end of its lifespan, the glasses hung precariously on his nose with the remaining leg dangling.

“…”

“Uh…”

“See what I mean? I guess that was its last dance. Continuing to wear broken glasses can be dangerous too, so make sure to replace them soon. You don’t seem to have any other issues, so you can go back to your classroom now.”

“…I understand.”

Hamin left the infirmary with his broken glasses. As soon as we exited, Sahyang, Hyerang, and our class president Ahn Seong-kyeong checked on Hamin’s condition.

“Ko-min! Are you okay?”

“Don’t shorten my name like that.”

When someone has cotton and bandages wrapped around their nose, even for a minor injury, they’re bound to attract attention. Sahyang and Hyerang reflexively looked at Hamin’s condition with concern.

“What’s this? You guys haven’t gone back to the classroom yet?”

“When a friend is injured, how could we wait in the classroom? Of course we had to wait outside the infirmary.”

“You’re not just trying to avoid the next class, are you?”

The two of them avoided eye contact and just looked guilty. The PE teacher nodded as if that confirmed his suspicions.

“You girls. I’ve seen all your faces, so that kind of lie won’t work.”

“No, teacher. I suggested we wait together. He took the hit for us, so of course we were worried. As class president, I proposed that we wait together.”

“Hmm… I see. The class president has a point. Anyway, Hamin is fine, so stop dawdling and get back to class. I have another class to teach, so I’ll go ahead.”

“Yes, thank you, teacher.”

The position of class president had the power to turn a hastily made excuse into a plausible reason.

“Does everyone have time after school? Our model student’s glasses frame is broken, and his only good stat, INT, is dropping. Anyone want to go to the optical shop with this guy after school?”

“Let’s go to the one near the terminal. They have lots of nice frames, and there’s a good café inside too.”

“I’m free today. No plans.”

Unlike last Friday when everyone scattered, this time everyone’s schedules aligned well.

“Ah, no… I don’t think I can go.”

Everyone except the most important person, Hamin.

“What do you mean you can’t go? This whole plan is for you. How can you not come, model student?”

“I, I don’t think I can…”

“What’s your reason for not being able to go? Let’s hear it.”

“…Evening self-study starts today.”

“…”

Ah, damn Korean webtoon cliché.