Chapter-14😴
Standing there was Tae, and the moment his eyes landed on Yun sitting on the floor with one hand pressed against his cheek and tears covering his face, something inside him instantly snapped because he had trusted these people to protect him, yet instead they had been making fun of him, humiliating him, and treating him as though he were nothing.
Without hesitation, Tae walked straight into the classroom, his footsteps echoing heavily across the suddenly silent room as everyone slowly turned toward him, while Yuji, who noticed him approaching, immediately thought that this was the perfect opportunity to get close to him and use the situation to her advantage.
She quickly walked toward Tae, locked her hands around his arm, and looked up at him with a small smile before pointing toward Yun.
“Tae, that fucking pathetic loser didn't listen to what I told him.”
Tae didn't react, and although his expression remained completely calm, something inside him was burning as he looked past Yuji toward Yun, who was still sitting on the floor with his head lowered and tears gathering in his eyes.
Several students around them began laughing quietly, completely unaware of the tension that had settled over the room, while Yun looked up at Tae and felt a strange fear slowly replacing the small amount of hope he had been holding onto because he suddenly wondered whether Tae would abandon him as well and whether everything that had happened between them had simply been an act.
The thought hurt more than he wanted to admit, and the tears in his eyes only became heavier as he lowered his head again, unable to control the sadness spreading through his chest.
One of the boys noticed him crying and laughed.
“Look at him, he's crying even more.”
The boy stepped toward Yun and lifted his leg, apparently intending to kick him while Yun instinctively closed his eyes and prepared himself for another wave of pain.
But before the boy could do anything, Tae's expression changed.
The light green in his eyes seemed to darken into a shade none of them had ever seen before, and without saying a word, he suddenly forced Yuji away from him and sent her stumbling backward.
For a second, Yuji simply stared at him in confusion.
“What happened, T...”
Before she could finish speaking, Tae raised his hand and slapped her across the face.
SMACK.
The sound echoed throughout the classroom, leaving everyone completely stunned as Yuji remained frozen in place with one hand slowly rising toward her cheek, while the entire room seemed to become suffocatingly quiet under Tae's cold gaze.
Tae looked directly into her eyes and spoke in a low voice.
“What did you say about Yun?”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“Pathetic loser?”
He paused for a moment before continuing.
“Once look at yourself in the mirror. You look like a slut who licks anyone's dicks just for money.”
Jun immediately stepped forward, his expression becoming angry as he looked at Tae.
“Tae, what the fuck are you talking ?”
“She’s a girl.”
Tae barely looked at him before answering coldly.
“So what?”
“I don't care whether she's a girl or a boy, because all I care about is the way she treated Yun, and if that's how you people treat someone who can't fight back, then I'll treat all of you exactly the same way.”
Jun's expression changed immediately, and although he still didn't seem genuinely sorry for what they had done, fear slowly replaced his anger when he realized how serious Tae was.
“Tae, we're sorry.”
“It was just a joke.”
The moment Tae heard the word “joke,” his expression became even colder as he stepped toward Jun.
“You call that a joke?”
Without another warning, Tae punched Jun, causing him to stumble backward and collapse onto the floor as the entire classroom became tense, with nobody daring to move or speak after seeing how quickly Tae's mood had changed.
Tae then turned toward the boy who had tried to kick Yun and slowly walked toward him, making the boy instinctively step backward until Tae stopped directly in front of him.
“Don't ever raise your foot toward him again.”
The boy swallowed nervously and nodded.
Tae finally turned toward Yun, walked over, and helped him back onto his feet before positioning himself between Yun and the others as though making it completely clear that nobody was going to get close to him again.
Yuji, however, was furious that Tae had taken Yun's side and immediately stepped forward.
“Tae, this is his fault because he's too naive, and it's not our fault that he never says no when we ask him to do something.”
“We only started treating it like a joke because he kept doing everything we asked, and looking at his pathetic face made us laugh, so what's wrong with that?”
She pointed toward Yun before continuing.
“If you do this, I'll complain to the principal, and I'll make sure Yun never steps inside this college again.”
Tae simply stared at her for several seconds before a faint smile appeared on his face.
“I think what you said is correct.” Yuji's expression immediately brightened.
“What?”
“You understand, right?”
“I knew you would agree with me.”
Tae slowly walked closer to her.
“He is naive.”
Yuji smiled triumphantly.
“Exactly.”
“He doesn't understand how the world works.”
Tae nodded slightly before looking toward Yun.
“So if he's naive, I'll take care of him.”
Yuji's smile slowly disappeared.
Tae's voice became colder.
“And if anyone touches him again, I'll make sure they regret it.”
Yuji stared at him in confusion before grabbing the front of his shirt.
“What I said is correct, right?”
“I don't do anything without a reason, Tae, and I think you understand that.”
She glanced toward Yun with a small, confident smirk.
Yun's heart immediately began beating faster as the calm he had managed to regain disappeared, because for a brief moment he couldn't understand what Tae was going to do next.
Tae slowly raised his hand and gently touched the side of Yuji's cheek where he had slapped her earlier, lightly brushing his fingers over the reddened skin as she instinctively moved her head away from his touch.
Then Tae raised his hand again and slapped her a second time.
SMACK.
The sound echoed through the classroom once more, and Yuji stumbled backward before collapsing onto the floor as everyone around her froze. Tae looked down at her without showing any emotion.
“I don't care whether he's being naive or not.”
“If he is naive, then I'll take care of him.”
“And if you ever touch him again with your fucking hands, I'll make sure you regret it, and I'll make sure you never step inside this college again.” Then Tae suddenly remembered something and looked at Yuji with a faint smile.
“Oh, right.”
“You said you were going to complain to the principal.”
“Go ahead.”
“I'm not worried about it even one percent.”
He turned away from her before walking toward Yun, and the coldness that had filled his expression slowly disappeared the moment his eyes landed on him. Tae gently placed his hand against Yun's cheek.
“Don't worry.”
“I came.”
“Let's go.”
He reached for Yun's hand and led him outside, while Yun's fingers trembled slightly, although this time he wasn't trembling because of Jun or Yuji but because he had never seen Tae become this cold before, and for a brief moment Tae had felt like someone completely different from the person Yun thought he knew.
Back inside the classroom, everyone remained frozen for several minutes because nobody seemed to understand what had just happened, but one thing had become completely clear to all of them, and that was the fact that if anyone touched Yun again, Tae would not simply ignore it.
Yuji eventually pushed herself up from the floor, still furious and humiliated as she clenched her fists.
“Fuck, what does he think he is?”
“I really am going to complain to the higher-ups.”
“Just wait, I'm going to ruin him.”
Jun walked toward her with an angry expression before slapping her across the face.
“Didn't you get enough already?”
“You still want to mess with them?”
“Listen carefully, he's the son of the Chairman of Han Group, and ruining us would probably take him less than a second, so do you understand what you've done?”
Jun's anger continued to grow as he looked at her.
“All of this happened because of you.”
“If you hadn't slapped Yun, everything would have been fine.”
“You turned the entire situation into a disaster.”
Yuji stood silently for a moment as the others also began blaming one another, but eventually they all left the classroom, leaving her standing there alone.
Elsewhere, Tae and Yun sat together on a bench near the campus while eating ramen they had bought from a convenience store, and the atmosphere around them was completely different from the classroom because the only sounds surrounding them were the distant chirping of birds, the gentle movement of the leaves, and the soft breeze passing through the trees.
For several minutes, neither of them spoke, and the silence between them didn't feel uncomfortable so much as strangely peaceful after everything that had happened. Eventually, Tae raised his eyes toward Yun.
“Why didn't you call me when things started getting difficult?” Yun lowered his gaze before quietly answering.
“I didn't have your number.”
“Everything happened too quickly.”
“I didn't have time to think.”
Tae frowned slightly.
“You should still call someone when something like that happens.” Yun nodded quietly.
He continued eating his ramen while Tae watched him for a few seconds before reaching one hand toward his face and gently touching the reddened area on his cheek.
“Does it hurt?”
Yun immediately shook his head and waved both hands slightly.
“No.”
“It's fine.”
Tae still looked concerned.
“You don't have to keep saying you're fine.”
“If something happens again, call me.”
Yun quietly nodded.
“…Okay.”
He continued eating while Tae remained beside him, quietly watching until he was certain Yun had calmed down.
Meanwhile, Yuji was still standing alone inside the classroom, angrily biting her nails as she continued blaming Yun, Jun, and everyone else for what had happened.
Her fists slowly clenched tighter as fear, anger, and humiliation mixed together inside her expression, and for the first time, she finally understood something clearly.
No matter what happened, Tae would always choose Yun over everyone else.
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