Everyone immediately turned toward the entrance.

And froze.

Because standing there—

Was Tae.

The moment Tae saw Yun sitting on the floor while holding the side of his face, something inside him instantly snapped.

Without hesitation, Tae walked straight into the classroom.

His footsteps echoed heavily across the silent room.

For the first time that day, those cold green eyes slowly darkened.

The atmosphere inside the classroom instantly became suffocating.

No one dared to speak.

Near the floor, Yun slowly lifted his head.

The second their eyes met, Tae immediately noticed the faint red mark on Yun’s cheek.

And his expression completely changed.

“…What the fuck happened here?”

His voice sounded terrifyingly calm.

Nobody answered.

Tae’s gaze slowly moved toward Jun and the others.

“I told you people to take care of him.”

His jaw tightened slightly afterward.

“So why the fuck are you treating him like shit?”

The room stayed painfully silent.

Not a single person moved.

A few seconds later, Ye-Rim nervously stepped forward.

“T-Tae… it’s not like that—”

Her voice trembled slightly after seeing his expression.

“He became cocky because you kept hanging around him.”

She pointed toward Yun quickly.

“He spread rumors about me.”

“And talked badly about me behind my back.”

Her breathing became uneven while trying to explain herself.

“Even when you weren’t here, I still treated him nicely!”

“But now he thinks too highly of himself, so I slapped him!”

Desperately, Ye-Rim grabbed Tae’s arm.

“We’re friends, right Tae?”

“I wouldn’t do something wrong for no reason—”

Before she could finish speaking, Tae coldly removed her hand from his arm.

“I don’t care what he did.”

His voice remained calm.

But somehow, that calmness felt even scarier than shouting.

“I only care that you slapped him.”

Ye-Rim’s expression instantly froze.

Tae briefly glanced toward Yun again before speaking quietly,

“I know him.”

Then his eyes turned cold once more.

“He wouldn’t do something like that.”

After a short pause, Tae added,

“Even if he did…”

His sharp gaze locked directly onto Ye-Rim.

“I would still support him.”

The entire classroom went silent instantly.

Nobody expected those words.

Ye-Rim’s face slowly turned pale.

At the same time, Tae took one slow step closer toward her.

“And listen carefully.”

For the first time, open anger appeared clearly in his voice.

“I don’t care if you’re a girl or not.”

“If you touch him again…”

His cold green eyes stayed fixed on hers completely.

“I’ll ruin you.”

Ye-Rim immediately stopped breathing properly.

Tae continued speaking coldly,

“I’ll make sure you can’t even step inside this college again.”

Heavy silence filled the classroom afterward.

Even Jun looked visibly shaken.

A moment later, Jun stepped forward nervously.

“Tae… we’re sorry.”

His voice sounded much less confident now.

“We didn’t know Ye-Rim was lying.”

“We thought those rumors were true.”

He quickly lowered his head slightly afterward.

“We’re really sorry.”

Jun glanced toward Yun briefly before speaking again.

“If something happens to Yun from now on…”

“We’ll protect him.”

Then quietly added,

“I’m apologizing on behalf of her too.”

Tae didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he silently walked past everyone.

Then stopped directly in front of Yun.

The terrifying coldness in Tae’s eyes slowly disappeared afterward.

“…Can you stand?”

His voice became softer now.

Only for Yun.

For a brief moment, Tae simply stared at Yun’s trembling figure sitting on the floor.

Then he slowly crouched down in front of him.

The classroom stayed completely silent while everyone watched nervously from a distance.

Carefully, Tae reached one hand toward Yun’s face.

The instant his fingers touched the red mark on Yun’s cheek, his expression darkened again for a second.

But his touch remained unbelievably gentle.

His thumb softly rubbed over the swollen skin like he was afraid of hurting him more.

“…Does it hurt?”

His voice sounded much quieter now.

Completely different from the cold voice he used earlier.

Across from him, Yun’s breathing still remained uneven.

Not because of Jun.

Not because of Ye-Rim.

But because of Tae.

For the very first time, Yun had seen Tae truly angry.

And honestly—

It scared him a little.

Those cold green eyes.

That suffocating pressure.

That terrifying calmness.

For one uncomfortable moment, Tae didn’t feel like the same person Yun knew anymore.

Slowly, Yun grabbed Tae’s sleeve weakly.

“Tae…”

His voice sounded small.

“Can we leave?”

After hesitating briefly, he quietly added,

“…I’m scared.”

Inside his mind, Yun immediately tightened his hands slightly.

But the truth was—

He wasn’t scared of the others anymore.

Right now, he was scared of Tae.

Scared of how cold he became.

Scared of how dark his eyes looked earlier.

For one terrifying second, Yun genuinely felt like he was staring at a completely different person.

The moment Tae heard those words, something inside him instantly softened.

The coldness lingering in his eyes slowly faded afterward.

Without saying anything else, Tae stood up before extending one hand toward Yun.

“Let’s go.”

Yun quietly placed his hand in Tae’s.

Tae carefully pulled him back onto his feet without another word.

Nobody inside the classroom dared to stop them.

Not Jun.

Not Ye-Rim.

No one.

The heavy silence followed them while Tae guided Yun out of the classroom quietly.

Their footsteps echoed softly through the empty hallway for a while before Tae finally spoke again.

His voice sounded calm now.

“…Let’s eat something.”

The classroom stayed completely silent even after Tae left with Yun.

Nobody moved.

The suffocating tension still lingered heavily in the air.

A few students quietly avoided eye contact while others slowly sat back down nervously.

And finally—

Jun slammed his hand hard against the desk.

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO?!”

Ye-Rim immediately flinched slightly at his sudden shouting.

Jun ran one frustrated hand through his hair before glaring directly at her.

“Because of you everything got ruined!”

His voice echoed sharply across the classroom.

“If you didn’t slap Yun, we still could’ve made excuses!”

“But now everything’s completely fucked!”

The others standing nearby stayed unusually quiet.

Because honestly—

Even they were still shaken after seeing Tae earlier.

Especially those cold green eyes.

Jun kicked the chair beside him angrily before speaking again.

“What if Tae stops hanging out with us now?”

“Then what?”

“Are YOU going to pay every time we go to bars, clubs and restaurants?”

Ye-Rim’s expression slowly stiffened.

But Jun didn’t stop.

“You know exactly why we stay close to him.”

“Because he’s rich and HAN'S group chairman's son.”

“And because nobody dares to mess with people around him.”

His jaw tightened slightly afterward.

“But you ruined everything in one second.”

One of the boys beside him let out a nervous sigh.

“…Didn’t you see Tae’s face earlier?”

His voice sounded quieter now.

“He seriously looked like he wanted to destroy someone.”

Another student slowly nodded.

“For the first time…”

“I was actually scared of him.”

The atmosphere inside the classroom became heavy again.

Everyone remembered the way Tae looked at Ye-Rim earlier.

That terrifying calmness.

That cold pressure.

It honestly didn’t feel normal.

Jun looked back toward Ye-Rim again before speaking coldly,

“And did you notice something?”

“He didn’t even care that you were a girl.”

For a brief second, nobody spoke.

Because everyone realized it too.

Tae truly meant every word he said earlier.

Jun clicked his tongue irritably before pointing toward her.

“So listen carefully.”

“If you ever pull something insane like this again…”

His expression hardened.

“We’ll leave you behind ourselves.”

Then coldly—

“You bloody bitch.”

Ye-Rim silently clenched her fists tighter after hearing that.

Humiliation.

Fear.

Anger.

Everything mixed together inside her expression.

And for the very first time—

She realized something clearly.

No matter what happened—

Tae would always choose Yun over everyone else.