episode_0005

The not-so-wide alley was dark and deserted.

Yu-ri Lee didn’t want Han Seong-jin following her, so she just walked into a random alley and immediately regretted her decision, but she didn’t want to go back either.

‘What happened? It’s the direction I’m going home anyway, and passing this way is actually a shortcut, so it’s a good thing. It’s better than following such a bastard… ‘

Yu-ri Lee turned the corner along the alley, and at that moment, in front of her were five male students with cigarettes in their mouths.

“Ex.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Did you say girls would come too?”

“No. Who is this? I was surprised because I thought it was a spy.”

‘Ugh, the smell of cigarettes… ‘

Yuri Lee frowned because of the cigarettes the male students were smoking.

For a student, I could see that they were the same type of gangsters as Han Seong-jin, as they had very long hair, a rough attitude, and a cigarette in their mouth.

Still, Yuri calmly took a deep breath and carefully took a step forward.

‘Yeah, I’m just on my way home. ‘Nothing happened.’

Then he walked forward little by little and spoke.

“I’m sorry, but I’m on my way home right now. I’ll just pass by.”

“You’re going home? Yes, it passes.”

Surprisingly, the gangsters willingly opened the way.

Yuri Lee breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked past the gangsters.

However, the moment Yu-ri Lee tried to pass between them, the gangsters instantly surrounded her.

“What?!”

“But, if you want to go home, you can just follow the road. Doesn’t coming here have a different meaning?”

“For example, did you want to play with us?”

“What do you mean? I don’t even know who you guys are! Hey, get out of the way!”

“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’re doing.”

“Hey, now that I look at her face, she’s really pretty. The fucking straw is so fucking big.”

“Rain, get out of the way! I’m going home!”

“Ah, who said they wouldn’t send it? We just want to hang out with us for a little bit before we go home.”

“Aaagh! W-don’t you let go of this?!”

The smell of the cigarettes they had been smoking just moments before wafted from the gangsters’ bodies, and Yuri Lee felt like she was going to vomit at any moment because of the smell and the situation she was in.

‘No way… anyone… Someone please help me-‘

When Lee Yu-ri screams inside.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

A low, deep voice that I had become particularly familiar with today came from the direction I had come from.

When I turned my head back with both arms held by the gangsters, there was a very tall and well-muscled man standing there.

When Lee Yu-ri 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 I hated so much.

“Ha, Han Seongjin!”

“What, Han Seongjin?”

“Surely Jin Su-gyo is that Han Seong-jin? No?”

“Hey, what are you guys 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 retreat with just his presence.

“What are you doing?”

“You, it has nothing to do with you. We didn’t come to fight you either, so just go ahead and we won’t do anything-”

“Ha, these bastards don’t understand what I’m saying.”

Han Seong-jin tilted his head to the side, still holding the convenience store bag in his hand.

“You are asking me what you are 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 Lee would have screamed, ‘Who’s your girl!’, but she instinctively felt that it was better for both of us to just stay quiet now, so she stayed still.

“Lee Yuri, come behind me.”

When Han Seong-jin motioned, Yu-ri Lee ran like an obedient puppy and clung to Han Seong-jin’s back.

“Hey, looking at your school uniform, you are Eunbong School bastards, right? You probably tried to touch my girl, huh?”

“Oh, no! We really didn’t know! I didn’t do it on purpose because I knew, I 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 further forward and narrowed the distance between him and the group of gangsters, and Lee Yu-ri 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?”

“That, that-”

“I guess I was mistaken.”

Whoa!

Han Seong-jin swung his fist and hit the chin of the bully in front.

The guy who was suddenly attacked fell sideways like a broken wooden doll.

“It’s not you who decide whether to do something or not, it’s me.”

“Such a piece of shit-”

Deciding that it was already too late to run away, the remaining four gangsters attacked Han Seong-jin.

“Aaagh!”

Lee Yu-ri screamed at the sudden violence and grabbed Han Seong-jin’s collar even harder.

Whoa! Pow!

There are four gangsters, and this one is Han Seong-jin.

However, because the alley was narrow, it was difficult for the gangsters to utilize their numerical advantage, while Han Seong-jin was able to use his weight class to block the alley and engage in a field battle.

Because he had an overwhelming advantage in physique and strength, Han Seong-jin easily eliminated the gangsters.

The gangsters’ punches and kicks were used by Han Seong-jin, but Han Seong-jin easily received them and knocked them down one by one.

It took less than five minutes for all the gangsters to stretch out and fall down on the street.

“The kids had nothing to do, so from early evening, the five of us decided to do something to one girl. Ugh.”

Han Seong-jin spat on the floor and turned to look at Yu-ri Lee.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? uh… ”

Yu-ri Lee tried to take a step, but as soon as she realized that she was okay, she relaxed and fell into her seat.

“Ugh… ”

“What’s wrong?”

“Da, my legs are strong… Don’t go in… ”

“It takes a lot of work to finish. Now.”

Han Seong-jin bent his knees and turned his back towards Lee Yu-ri.

Yuri Lee looked at that and tilted her head.

“What are you doing? Piggybacking.”

“Uh, piggybacking?!”

“Then I don’t know when they will wake up. Would you like to stay here until your leg strength returns?”

Because she didn’t like it, Lee Yu-ri ended up riding on Han Seong-jin’s back.

‘etc… It’s big… ‘

Yuri Lee leaned in, thinking that to herself without even 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?”

“By lying and saying she was my girl. You must have been disgusted inside. But I thought that only then would they let you go.”

“That… Oh, no. It’s okay.”

Lee Yu-ri, who was still feeling the warmth of Han Seong-jin’s back, suddenly caught her eye on the convenience store bag hanging on his arm.

In the chaos, all the lunch boxes were crushed and the contents were sticking out, making them uneatable, and the PET Cola bottle was filled with carbonic acid inside, so if you open the lid, something unfortunate will happen.

“Hey, lunch box… ”

“Huh? Oh, everything broke out during the fight earlier. You bastards, it was tonight and tomorrow morning.”

Lee Yu-ri buried her face in Han Seong-jin’s back.

I have already received help from Han Seong-jin twice today alone.

Once in the morning, and again now.

In addition, Han Seong-jin helped him by throwing away his food, but all he did to Han Seong-jin was his sharp attitude and sharp language.

Yuri Lee felt extremely ashamed of herself.

Then, I finally opened my 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 reside, so if you can, don’t come here. No, not if you can, just don’t come.”

“… Do you come often too?”

“Previously.”

I answered in past tense.

The reason it’s in past tense is because from now on I won’t be drinking or smoking here anymore.

“I’ll take you home, so tell me the location. Where can I go?”

“What? It’s okay now! I can go alone, so get off-”

“I can still feel my legs shaking, but I’m not okay. Don’t be stubborn and just tell me where your house is.”

“Uuuh… Room 401, Apartment xx, Building xx.”

“It’s not that far from my house.”

And then silence followed again.

For Lee Yu-ri, who had always been in the position of protecting Gong Young-bae but had never been protected, the emotions she felt now were very unfamiliar and awkward.

#####

Carrying Yuri Lee on my back, I walked to the entrance to the apartment she told me about.

“We’re here.”

Yu-ri Lee lowered her head and wiggled her fingers, as if she was embarrassed that she had been carried all the way to her house by a man, especially a fellow student.

“Then I’m leaving. Be careful from now on, and never go into that alley. Did you understand?”

“Do, lunch box… !”

As I was about to leave, Yuri Lee spat out an unexpected word and shouted at me.

“?”

“Lunch box… I’m sorry for making you unable to eat it.”

“The ones who made me not able to eat it were the ones who reached out to me.”

“Still, I wish I hadn’t gone in there for no reason… It’s my fault too. therefore… sorry. I’ll compensate you later.”

“That’s it. Don’t worry about it.”

“And… Thank you.”

Instead of answering that question, I held out my hand and gestured for him to go in.

Yuri 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 Lee Yu-ri had placed on my desk.

Lee Yu-ri was avoiding my gaze as much as possible, her face turning bright red as if it were about to explode.

“Do, lunch box… Because I didn’t let you eat yesterday… It was made as an apology! There is no other meaning!”