When Gun received the text from Hyuk, he was in the middle of an interrogation with his homeroom teacher, Lee Dong Ho.
Lee Dong Ho let out a frustrated sigh.
He was deeply worried about the silent boy in front of him.
The boy had came to school sporting a bleeding head and a bruised jaw. Yet, the boy refused to say anything about it.
"It's nothing to be concerned about," Gun repeated for the last time, his tone hard. He was clearly lying, but he didn't want other people to meddle in his business.
"Stop lying, Lee Gun! That's clearly something to be concerned about!" Lee Dong Ho yelled. He sighed, running his fingers through his hair for the nth time, calming himself down. "Look, you can tell me; I'm on your side. I promise nothing will happen to you. Whoever did this to you will definitely get what he deserves," he assured. "Just... please, just tell me, okay?" The teacher pleaded the boy once again.
"I fell," Gun flatly lied.
"..." Lee Dong Ho sighed again. He was getting nowhere with this kid.
Gun took advantage of his teacher's brief loss of attention, glancing at his phone.
'We left da house, went to D Motel. Come here afta skool,' the text read. Gun's eye twitched at the typos, but he ignored them and quickly texted back, 'Got it.'
"Forget it," Lee Dong Ho gave up. There was no talking sense into the kid. Since he didn't want to say anything, then he should just let him go, despite his worry for the boy. "Just... just go home. You're probably tired and need some rest, don't you?"
"Yes. Thank you, teacher," Gun replied perfunctorily and bowed his head.
Outside the room, a few students were milling about, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation. They were curious about Gun, who had suddenly came to school that morning looking as if he had gotten into a fight. They wondered if he had gotten into trouble with the gangs in the area or something.
Choi Da Na and Noh Ha Jun were also mixed among the curious students.
As soon as the door opened, all the students were sent scattering. They might get in trouble for dallying in the hallways so they scrammed quickly without being told.
Da Na and Ha Jun quarrelled in hushed voices.
"You go and ask him what's wrong," Da Na pushed her friend forward. Gun was walking away and she was dying to find out what happened.
"Huh? Why me? You go!" Ha Jun, in turn, pushed her back.
"No, you go!"
"No, you!"
In the end, the small scuffle was noticed by Gun. Sensing the commotion behind him, Gun turned around. He looked at them strangely, "what are you guys doing?"
Both Da Na and Ha Jun abruptly froze. They smiled at him, chuckling awkwardly. "Nothing! We—um—we were just... playing around. Right, Ha Jun?"
"Uh—yeah, yeah," Ha Jun parroted the girl.
"Okay?" Gun raised an eyebrow. The excuse was poor but he didn't really care. Besides, he had ears, and the two were not exactly being subtle. He knew they were curious about him. 'Was this what having friends feel like?' He asked himself inwardly. Somehow, he felt warm inside.
"A-anyways! Are you okay?" Da Na quickly changed the topic.
"Yes, I'm fine," Gun replied. "Is there anything else you need from me?" He wanted to go and check up on Yeo Ri quickly.
"Ah... no..." Da Na forced a smile. "Are you going home? Take care." She waved her hand towards Gun, bidding him farewell.
"Thanks. You too," Gun nodded towards the two, preparing to head towards the place where Hyuk and Yeo Ri were staying for now.
Da Na and Ha Jun saw him off, a faux smile on their faces as they waved at him until he was out of sight.
Abruptly, Choi Da Na dropped her smile, "hurry, let's go! We might lose sight of him if we're too slow!"
"Huh? Wha—" Ha Jun didn't have the time to comprehend her words before she dragged him off to tail Gun. "What are we doing, Da Na-ya?!"
"Shh! Quiet, or he'll hear you!" Da Na shushed him glaringly. They hid behind a tree, keeping an eye on him who was waiting for the bus.
Ha Jun frowned at the girl. "Why are we following him?"
"Aren't you curious?" Da Na asked him, her eyes trained on Gun. "Don't you want to know what he's been up to after school?"
"Well... I do... but..." Ha Jun hesitated. "Isn't this illegal? We're basically stalking him!" He whisper-yelled.
"It's fine if he doesn't find out," Da Na boldly stated.
"Hey—!" Ha Jun had no time to admonish her.
The bus came, and Gun boarded it. Immediately afterwards, Da Na hailed a cab. Ha Jun had no choice but to follow her, just in case she did something stupider.
"Uncle, follow that bus!" Da Na says towards the taxi driver.
"Alright~"
Instead of getting angry at her impoliteness, the middle-aged driver immediately drove off, tailing the bus she had pointed to. The kids seemed to be in some sort of high tension situation, and as he manoeuvred through the traffic, he felt his adrenaline tingle along with theirs. It had been a while since he got to show his driving skills!
The bus stopped four times before Gun finally got off.
Noticing this, Da Na hastily asked the driver to stop. "Uncle, uncle! Stop here!"
"Here, okay!" The driver made a sharp turn with practiced ease, and safely parked by the sidewalks.
"Thank you, uncle!" Da Na rummaged through her wallet quickly, fishing for the taxi fare. After paying, she rushed out, afraid of losing sight of Gun.
"Hey, wait for me!" Ha Jun ran after the girl who had already ran out of the cab. After a succinct word of gratitude to the driver, he wove through the pedestrians in search of Da Na.
Finally, he caught sight of her, who was hiding behind a large signboard, looking as if she was eavesdropping. He joined beside her quietly, careful not to alert the other boy.
Choi Da Na perked her ears as Gun stopped to answer a call.
"What is it?" He brusquely asked the person on the other line.
"Oi, I need to go somewhere right now, so go watch over Yeo Ri for me. She's waiting at the motel. Room 21."
They were too far to hear the whole conversation, and all Da Na could hear from the person that Gun was speaking to was a muffled voice.
"What?" After a slight pause, he exclaimed. "And you just left her there all alone?" Gun sighed, "no, it doesn't matter. I'm already here."
"Hey, you're wearing your uniform, right? Try to hide it. Minors aren't allowed to stay without a guardian, so watch out, sh*thead."
"Yeah, my coat is covering up the uniform. It'll be fine. Probably."
"Probably? Oi, don't cause any trouble for me, you sh*tty—forget it."
"Then I'll just wait outside for you, Hyung." Gun frowned. "Hy—" Before Gun could say anything else, he stopped. "Hello? Hyung? Hello!"
Hyuk hung up on him!
"Sh*t, so f*cking annoying," he clicked his tongue.
Gun stowed away his phone as he stormed off with suppressed anger.
Da Na had a shocked look on her face. "Did you hear that?! Gun just swore!" She exclaimed.
"Yes, I heard." Ha Jun stared at her weirdly. What was so shocking about hearing a guy swear?
"You don't understand! It's Lee Gun we're talking about! He—he's so... polite! He never swears!"
Ha Jun couldn't help but roll his eyes at her, "stop thinking that he's some perfect guy, my sweet, naive Da Na-ya."
"But he is..." Da Na sulkily mumbled.
"Anyways, he's getting away. Shouldn't we follow him?" Ha Jun changed the subject.
"Ah? Yeah! Let's go!" Seeing that Gun had started walking again, Da Na quickly trailed behind.
After a few minutes, Gun reached his destination.
"Yeo Ri-ah!" Seeing Yeo Ri waiting outside in the cold, Gun couldn't help but exclaim. He jogged towards her.
She was standing next to the entrance of a sketchy-looking motel. The signboard that was hung atop the glass door signified that it was the D Motel that Hyuk had mentioned in his text.
"Oppa?! What's wrong with your face?!" Yeo Ri almost shouted. She had immediately noticed the bruise on his jaw. And with a little more attention, she could see the bandaged spot on his head. Her heart trembled at the sight. Could it be because of that man...?
"Don't worry about it. It's just the usual," he told her. He knew she would understand what he meant and didn't bother elaborating.
Yeo Ri frowned with a concerned look, but did not ask further. She reached out her hand to touch his jaw briefly, feeling very conflicted.
"Where's Hyung?" He rubbed her reddened, cold cheeks, trying to bring warmth back to them. His face scrunched worriedly, a sliver of dissatisfaction in his eyes. She had just recovered from hypothermia, and here she was, just begging to fall sick again!
Seeing his crossed look, Yeo Ri timidly apologised. "Sorry, Oppa. I was worried that you might not find the motel, so I waited outside."
"You should have just stayed inside," he muttered. "Aren't you cold?"
"Mm. But..." Yeo Ri glanced sideways, looking at the motel door. She leaned close to him, whispering, "I don't think the owner likes us very much. He gave us the stink eye when Hyuk-oppa was booking our room."
Gun smiled helplessly. "That's to be expected. We're minors, after all."
"Also, Oppa said he had something to do later," Yeo Ri replied, finally remembering his first question.
"Do you know what he's doing?"
Yeo Ri shook her head. "I don't know. I asked him, but he didn't reply."
"Oh..." Gun narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Anyways, let's go inside, okay?"
"Mm!"
Gun walked into the motel with Yeo Ri.
They were so close that Da Na and Ha Jun who was watching them secretly could not help but gape. They didn't hear the conversation due to the distance, but from their intimate gestures, it was obvious that they were very familiar with each other.
"It's that girl!" Recognising Yeo Ri's face, Da Na grabbed Ha Jun's coat, shaking him.
"What girl?"
"The girl on his phone! The maybe-girlfriend!"
"Isn't it already confirmed? They just walked into a motel together! Could it be that they already... my gosh, I never knew Lee Gun was already so advanced!" Ha Jun exclaimed in amazement.
"Hey!" Da Na hit his arm, glaring angrily. Was it fun to rub salt on her wound?
"What?" Ha Jun returned her glare, rubbing his pained arm.
Choi Da Na sulked, her shoulders drooping. Her heart twisted painfully at the thought of Gun already in a relationship. If the girl was really his girlfriend, then she shouldn't become a third wheel and just give up on him. She silently muttered a goodbye to her love that didn't have a chance to bloom.
"Cheer up, Da Na-ya." Seeing her downtrodden expression, Ha Jun felt bad. He soothingly rubbed her back, "Wanna go binge on some snacks? We can hang out at my place and watch scary movies together!" He offered.
Da Na sniffled. "...Yeah. Let's do that."
And so, the stalking duo left.