Rumors Made Real
Cha-heon lifted his head, certain he must have misheard the word that had just left his homeroom teacher’s mouth, but Ji Seok-hwan spoke on without the slightest hesitation.
“From what I’ve heard, Cha-heon, your reputation’s gotten pretty wild. Huh? You’re stuck to that Baek Yu-gyeong kid, running around with him, they say.”
“That’s—”
“So if you’re going to play around so loosely, huh? Have you thought about how that makes you look?”
As he spoke, Ji Seok-hwan kept jabbing the end of a sheet of paper against Cha-heon’s upper body, pressing and striking. The thoughts that entered Cha-heon’s mind in that moment were crystal clear.
Teachers aren’t supposed to hit. Teachers aren’t supposed to hit….
For the sake of Shin Cha-heon’s future, assaulting a public official was out of the question. Cha-heon crushed down the rage that made him want to knock the man flat right then and there, letting out a stifled breath.
…I don’t get it.
Even if it were true, for a teacher to talk like that? The situation was utterly unbelievable.
Cha-heon unconsciously furrowed his brow and let out another sigh.
“Oh? You’re sighing right in front of your teacher?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Endure it. I have to endure this.
Despite not believing in any religion, Cha-heon tried to calm his mind and body by chanting sutras inside his head.
“Cha-heon, snap out of it. Do you know how bad the rumors about you are these days? Skipping school, hanging out with the guys. You’re basically just coming to school to meet boys, aren’t you?”
Your face is going to get worse rumors than that, Teacher.
It was the classic “your face” retort. Of course Cha-heon knew he shouldn’t stoop to personal attacks, but he started tearing into the man inwardly just to endure it somehow. Realizing this wasn’t someone logic would work on, he began firing back however he liked in his head. If he didn’t, he had the feeling his fists would fly by the end of this lunch break.
Even if it’s discipline, talking like that would get you buried alive in the real world. Hell, even if you weren’t a teacher, saying that would just be the end of it, Teach.
With dead-fish eyes, Cha-heon lowered his gaze and silently listened to the teacher’s words. If he ever returned to his original body and resumed teaching, would he end up as colleagues with humans like this? He simply couldn’t believe this reality.
I must never become like that. …Assuming I’m still alive, that is.
Even so, Ji Seok-hwan’s nagging, thinly veiled as concern, continued on.
“Among the teachers too—”
“Teacher, are you aware that that kind of talk is a problem these days?”
For a moment he wondered if he’d finally snapped and talked back to a teacher out of sheer anger, but thankfully it wasn’t his voice. Someone draped an arm around his shoulder and pressed close.
“Baek Yu-gyeong?”
He didn’t even need to lift his head; the teacher’s flustered voice told him the owner of this voice and the hand on his shoulder was Baek Yu-gyeong. When Cha-heon cast a half-lidded glance that way, Yu-gyeong still wore a bright expression, eyes half-closed in a sweet smile.
“And why are your thoughts so short-sighted? If I like hyung, then—”
Only then grasping the situation, Cha-heon hurriedly clamped a hand over Yu-gyeong’s mouth. Then he bowed repeatedly toward Ji Seok-hwan.
“I’m so sorry, Teacher! We’ll be going now! We’re sorry!”
He practically dragged Yu-gyeong as he hastily escaped the teachers’ office.
Because of you, the earlier words just became reality.
He’d managed to haul Baek Yu-gyeong out of the office, but his brow furrowed of its own accord at the grim reality that had resulted.
Hanging out with guys. The moment you butted in, it instantly turned nonfiction.
Come to think of it, wasn’t ninety percent of that rumor your fault? The other ten percent was on the guys who confessed.
More worrying than that—
“…Baek Yu-gyeong, what are you doing trying to pick a fight with a teacher like that.”
Yu-gyeong’s tone earlier had clearly been full of intent to clash with Ji Seok-hwan. If Baek Ha-gyeong’s words a few days ago weren’t fabricated, he seemed to be on bad terms with his father, so Cha-heon worried that trading words like this might get him blacklisted at home.
…Teachers like that go straight to the parents…. Since he’s a minor, if he causes trouble and gets on his father’s bad side, that wouldn’t be good, but this kid’s pretty reckless without thinking ahead.
Watching Baek Yu-gyeong with that concern, Cha-heon sighed at the way Yu-gyeong just blinked, as if he had no idea how serious it was. Still, compared to what he’d expected, the kid’s face was bright, which was a relief.
“There’s nothing good about getting on a teacher’s bad side at school. Got it?”
“…What do I do.”
“Why, is there something else on your mind?”
“…I thought about it over the weekend, and I think I really do like hyung.”
At least pretend to listen. He’s clearly already off in his own world thinking about something else.
At this point Cha-heon’s head started to hurt; he pressed his forehead and exhaled a long breath. Being with this guy just made the sighs pour out.
“So what, the liking up till now was all a joke?”
“……”
Yu-gyeong avoided his gaze without answering. Staring blankly at the corridor window, he looked as if he’d fallen into rather deep thought.
He really can’t answer. What’s this?
This guy’s hard to read.
He’d thought it would be like this from the start, but he simply couldn’t imagine why the kid would pretend to like him.
…From the way he’s chasing me asking to date, he does see me as a romantic interest, but…. So far it wasn’t sincere?
Just what was the ulterior motive behind his actions? Baek Yu-gyeong’s words and actions didn’t match at all, so he couldn’t understand.
As Cha-heon’s own thoughts deepened a little, Yu-gyeong’s gaze, which had been directed at the blue sky after the rain had cleared, gradually turned this way.
“…Hyung, I know this isn’t the right timing to say this.”
Cha-heon let out a dry chuckle.
“I’m curious when you’ve ever timed your words carefully.”
“…If we get married.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty confident by now that I won’t be shocked no matter what you say, so feel free to speak your mind.”
“…Thinking about hyung marrying into my family….”
“Yeah, yeah, just go ahead and babble however you like.”
Cha-heon answered roughly as he walked forward, then stopped when he felt the footsteps behind him cease.
Looking back, Yu-gyeong’s brows were furrowed. That pretty face wore a slight scowl, cream-colored eyes fixed seriously on Cha-heon.
…What, is this something serious?
Just as he was about to check the kid’s complexion out of concern, Baek Yu-gyeong closed the distance in one go, wrapped his arms around Cha-heon’s waist, pressed their lower bodies flush together, and whispered into his ear.
“I… think I’m a little excited. What do I do.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
Somehow something had just brushed against his stomach area. Cha-heon hurriedly shoved Yu-gyeong off and strode forward as if fleeing.
“Hyuuung, you have to take responsibility. Can you just run away after this?”
“It’s your body, so you take responsibility!”
“I’m saying I’ll give it to hyung?”
“I said I don’t need it!”
Doing this in the middle of a hallway full of students made his head spin. He glanced around seeking help, but the kids just flushed red the moment their eyes met and whipped their heads away. Some of them were even clapping.
This is insane. Someone stop him.
This world isn’t normal.
And Baek Yu-gyeong is even less normal.
Seowol High had a total of three gymnasiums. It was a large private school with a wealthy foundation, and it seemed not only academically excellent students but also quite a few athletic scholarship students held places. Among them the kendo club was especially outstanding, so he’d heard they used the entire second gymnasium. The third gym was for the volleyball club or something—anyway, a ball-using club, he’d been told.
I can play volleyball a bit myself~
But with Shin Cha-heon’s body, sports seemed out of the question.
Anyway, he was supposed to do evening self-study today, but after what he’d heard at lunch he was so pissed he couldn’t just sit still and follow along. Cha-heon roughly dumped his bag in the classroom and came along with Kang I-hyeon to watch the after-school kendo practice. He at least had to pretend he was at school, and watching athletic club training was fun just to do.
“Why do you keep looking skinnier the more time passes.”
Kang I-hyeon tossed him a drink and a cream bun while looking at Cha-heon sprawled on the second-floor spectator seats of the gym.
…Barley tea.
Looking at the pale barley tea somehow made him think of Baek Yu-gyeong, who resembled that color. Cha-heon sighed, having finally been forced to hand over his phone number to Baek Yu-gyeong, who had clung right after him on those long legs and whined for it earlier.
Persistent bastard.
Starting from that “I think I really like you” line, he was being thoroughly annoying, as if he intended to seriously pester him from now on.
At first Cha-heon had written down some random number, but after the nonsense about waiting at the classroom door starting tomorrow and sending notes instead of texts if it was wrong, he’d just properly typed in his number.
“…Just…. Dog walking, or whatever…. It’s a pain but I’m doing it….”
The problem was that there was no need or duty to take responsibility, yet he was being forced to do it. Was this that butler selection thing or whatever?
Cha-heon suddenly got heated, cracked open the barley tea, and downed it in one go.
“You raise a dog? What breed?”
“…Border collie, …retriever kind of thing….”
“…Kind of thing…? Ah, a mix?”
Kang I-hyeon looked at Cha-heon with a surprised gaze. Then he sat beside him and tore open the cream bun to shove into his own mouth.
Cha-heon momentarily wondered if it hadn’t been brought for him, shot him a sidelong glance, then calmly drank his barley tea. With his insides burning, he definitely wanted water more than cream bun right now.
“…Then you must run every day, so why …no muscle and just losing weight….”
“……”
If he’d actually been walking a dog, muscle would build and fat would drop, but since he was walking a person, only his mental health was draining away. As he was just moistening his throat, another bread was placed on his knee this time. Looking at I-hyeon in puzzlement, the other nonchalantly swallowed the cream bun in one bite and said,
“I briefly forgot you don’t like sweet stuff. When you came over to my place you only ate the plain snacks too. Those tofu chips or whatever.”
I thought the tofu chips Mom made tasted bad.
Kang I-hyeon muttered that his mom was into healthy food these days and made all sorts of things, sounding a bit fed up, then tossed him other snacks from his bag as well. Cha-heon tore open the red bean bun and let out a snort of laughter.
“Ah. And I completely kicked that kid out of the club. Today’s his last day.”
“Huh? Who?”
“That kid, the one you were interested in last time.”
The one I was interested in?
Cha-heon stopped tearing the red bean bun and stared in the direction I-hyeon pointed.
Ah, that student council kid.
The boy from last time who was ridiculously good at kendo. A secondary male lead, so a boy who was as incredibly handsome as Baek Yu-gyeong.
The boy seemed to have just finished all practice; he was wiping his kendo mask as if organizing his protective gear.