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It was a relief that school finished early. I was relieved to know there would be no attendance check. But we didn’t say anything on the way home. The bathroom’s gloomy aura continued.
I didn’t know how to fight like this, so I just stood there watching him. But I didn’t want to be too concerned. I really wanted to get home as soon as possible. My older brother will most likely be there when I come home. I was afraid to see my older brother. However, doing something separately with Lim Dae-han, who knew nothing, and Dae-han, who had exhausted his emotions just a few hours before, was inconvenient.
I should have put on a mask. I took it off slightly on my way home, making it difficult to hide my expression.
When I arrived at the front gate, there was a familiar person standing in front of the apartment complex. It was Lee Hyun-woo. Lee Hyun-woo was wearing the same clothes he was wearing yesterday, but he was holding a jumper.
“…”
I stopped about 10 meters ahead. Then I noticed Lim Dae-han’s stare at Lee Hyun-woo. I had to walk as casually as possible while ignoring him. And as I approached the front of the building, I heard an irritated voice.
“Hey, Ki Young-hyun.”
“…”
I stopped and turned my head. Lee Hyun-woo approached me aggressively. Unlike me, he looked fine. I just put some strength in my eyes. However, unlike when he called me, Lee Hyun-woo smiled broadly at Lim Dae-han.
“Dae-han, long time no see.”
Lee Hyun-woo spoke to Lim Dae-han in a harsher tone than he had with me. That’s right. That’s understandable. Lim Dae-han… He used to be one of those guys that hung around in a group, and Lee Hyun-woo was just a punk.
Lim Dae-han just stared at Lee Hyun-woo without answering. I looked into Lim Dae-han’s eyes from the side. Please, I didn’t want to get involved.  Lee Hyun-woo, on the other hand, showed himself without filtration, most likely because Lim Dae-han and I didn’t appear to be friends.
“Ki Young-hyun, you have to pay for my clothes. You son of a bitch. I know you have a lot of money.”
Then he ripped the zipper off the jumper and threw it in my face. The zipper’s sharp edge grazed my face before falling off. I lowered my head slowly toward the jumper which had fallen to the ground. But it wasn’t me who had broken the line of reasoning.
Lim Dae-han slapped Lee Hyun-woo on the cheek as soon as he took a large step. There was no time to respond because it happened so quickly. The sound was different from when Lee Hyun-woo slapped me on the cheek the day before and when I smacked my older brother on the head.
“Lim, Lim Dae-han…”
Lim Dae-han grabbed Lee Hyun-woo by the neck and slapped him on the cheek many times. Slap, slap! The sound rang several times. I was suffocated. In a short time, blood gushed from Lee Hyun-woo’s nose and mouth.
“Wha, what are you doing…”
I didn’t feel better. Lim Dae-han frightened me. He didn’t seem to be the one I knew. Lee Hyun-woo’s head turned to the side every time Lim Dae-han raised and lowered his hand. It was not like the fight I had the night before with Lee Hyun-woo. It was more blatant and violent.
“Who,”
Slap!
“Who did you think you were touching. You bastard.”
Slap…!
Lim Dae-han slapped Lee Hyun-woo on the cheek without remorse. Lee Hyun-woo resisted and tried to escape, but it was useless because he had already been grabbed by the collar.
It seemed that Lim Dae-han had been patient with me. Maybe that slap was meant for me instead of Lee Hyun-woo. A wave of fear rushed over me.
At that time, Lee Hyun-woo gasped and screamed, “Fuck… Help me!”. But there was no one around. Lim Dae-han grabbed Lee Hyun-woo’s hair and dragged him with the force. I couldn’t even move because I was scared.
“Do, don’t do that…”
I barely moved my hand and grabbed Lim Dae-han’s back. As soon as my unsteady, trembling finger touched his back, Dae-han stopped abruptly.
“…”
He slowly turned his back. His widened eye reflected the frightened me. I shrugged my shoulders like a child, hardly inhaling through my nose.
Lim Dae-han, who looked at me with surprise and anxiety, threw Lee Hyun-woo away. He collapsed with a loud sound. I made brief eye contact with Dae-han before lowering my gaze. Lim Dae-han’s hands were stained with blood. Blood dripped down. Of course, it was not Dae-han’s blood.
“…”
I lowered my gaze. I collapsed on the ground and turned to see Lee Hyun-woo, who was panting heavily. His face was completely covered by blood. I closed my eyes tightly. Words leaked from my trembling lips.
“… I’m scared.”
Lim Dae-han’s eyes shook aimlessly. I, I mean,  I didn’t think things would get this serious. Lee Hyun-woo rose to his feet from the ground, barely breathing. He screamed as he ran.
“Bastard… I’ll report you to the police. You sons of bitches! ”
But I know Lee Hyun-woo couldn’t do it. He’d already committed far too many offenses to report being slapped in the face to the police.
I’ve seen him drive freely without even a driver’s license since middle school. He purposefully drove back and forth on the road as if he was going to hit the guys, and he used to drink and smoke a lot at the playground, so the police used to go there. So I’m sure he couldn’t…
“…”
The problem was Dae-han. Lim Dae-han must have beaten Lee Hyun-woo because of me. But, I never wanted it. And I was horrified after witnessing the violent moment of Lim Dae-han, which I had only heard about through rumors and I did not know how to deal with it.
I’d rather be home.
I wanted to go home.
I didn’t know I was a person who was good at avoiding things. I took a step back from Dae-han without realizing it. Dae-han who was going to approach me stopped.
“… Home, I want to go home…”
I said it quietly. Lim Dae-han looked down at my hand. I remembered him slapping Lee Hyun-woo’s cheek with his blood-stained hands again and again.
Lim Dae-han’s wary gaze returned to me.
“Ki Young-hyun.”
“…”
“Are you afraid of me?”
I couldn’t respond to Lim Dae-han’s words. And as if reading the silence, Lim Dae-han chuckled briefly. He continued to speak while breathing heavily.
“You asked earlier. If you’re the bad one.”
“…”
“You’re not a bad person. I don’t think I can say it either.”
Lim Dae-han’s eyes returned as usual. Even though I looked at those calm and blunt eyes as usual, I remembered the crazy eyes he had when he slap Lee Hyun-woo’s cheek a while ago. I wanted to cry. Lim Dae-han has always been nice to me, but seeing the current situation, I’m scared.
Lim Dae-han hid his blood-stained hands behind his back as he clenched his fists. He bit his lips for a moment and said.
“Go home. I will go too.”
He then turned without hesitation. I barely gave my weak legs strength as I watched his back slowly disappear. Lim Dae-han never looked back. I slowly lowered my gaze to the ground. The jumper Lee Hyun-woo threw at me was left crumpled on the ground.