"Uhm, uh, Lee Dojin, right?" Ji-ah asked meekly. She was too shocked to even realize that she had fallen. "Uhm..."
Lee Dojin propped her up. He feared she may fall once more, and seeing how she had just left the hospital, that would not have been ideal. Thus, for now, he held onto her. "Stand back a little. You may get hurt. Don't really want that on my conscience." After all, she was the future Mother of Ravens. There was no telling the consequence by angering her.
The students around held their mouths. "They're fighting, they're fighting!" They took out their phones to film everything. The male teacher that had just run away did not know what to do.
Kim Jyejin ran towards them. She gasped for breath as she arrived, sweat trickling down her forehead. "Huh? What? How? But you were . . . " The girl looked at Lee Dojin, then at her back. "Well, nevermind that! Are you two okay?"
The scarred man finally escaped from Lee Dojin's grasp. He had a red imprint on his face. "You little brat!" The man threw a kick at him.
Lee Dojin twirled around, with Baek Ji-ah in his arms, as if doing a pirouette, and arrived in from of Kim Jyejin. "As you can see, we are fine."
The man, realizing his kick did not connect, fell down due to the leftover inertia. The embarrassment made him turn beet-red. He almost did not want to stand up again.
"Hyung!" One of the men shouted and helped him up. "Are you fine? Are you fine?"
"Shut the hell up, you're screaming in my ears," the man shouted back and shoved him away. "Just get that bastard and bring me his head.
Lee Dojin groaned as he looked at the goons approaching him with bad will. "Do I really have to fight every day?" He readied himself to counter these people.
However, his worries soon proved to be unfounded. "Stop!" Park Hansoo screamed in the distance. His loud voice echoed in everyone's ears. He ran to Lee Dojin and the others, with two girls trailing behind him in confusion. "I said everyone, stop!"
Maybe just out of sheer bewilderment, but every person there really halted their actions. They stared at the newcomer, wondering what he was planning.
"My name is Park Hansoo," he announced proudly and watched their reactions. For some reason, they did not react as expected, instead, looking at him with faces full of confusion. He coughed twice. "Ahem. You guys know Sinhyun Electronics? My father's an executive there. You, you there." He pointed at one man. "You are using a phone made by that company. Isn't that impressive?"
The scarred man broke the awkwardness first. "...Who is this fool?" He rubbed his head, feeling a headache. The anger inside his mind rapidly cooled down as if it was not there in the first place. Now that reason had returned to him, he began to feel tired.
"What?" Park Hansoo's voice turned threatening. "How dare you call me that? My name is Park Hansoo!"
"I don't care who you are." The man waved his hand and walked away. "Boys, take care of this, will ya? I can't believe this. Now every random passerby thinks they can get a piece of us, huh?"
"Hey, you! Where do you think you're going? I'm not done with you," Park Hansoo screamed, though he was soon overshadowed by the towering men in front of him.
"Sorry dude, nothing personal," one person said and shoved him around.
Park Hansoo pushed back. "You think I'm scared of guys like you? I don't care if you come alone or together, I'll fight you off."
Lee Dojin, Kim Jyejin, Baek Ji-ah, and all the other students staring at the scene were rather stupefied by the situation unfolding before them. Was there something wrong in that guy's head? Seeing how he acted, their serious atmosphere appeared rather stupid too. The adrenaline within everyone quickly dissipated.
"That reminds me," Kim Jyejin said, "we'll be late for school. Also, how long are you planning on holding Seungsengnim?"
Ji-ah turned her sight to Lee Dojin and realized that he was still holding her tight. Embarrassment quickly overcame her and she escaped out of his grasp. Her nose became slightly aflush, as she realized how long she had been in a student's arms. As a teacher, no matter what, that was incredibly shameful.
"Man, did I enter some soap opera?" Kim Jyejin stuck her tongue out and pretended to retch. "Feels like I'm watching some illicit relationship."
"Miss Kim, you, uh, you are different from what I expected." Ji-ah quickly composed herself, brushing her hair back and trying to appear composed.
Kim Jyejin shrugged. "Hope you didn't expect me to be the snow-white, like everyone else. That'd be annoying." She laughed. "I'd say I'm more like the queen in that story. Strong and almost independent."
Ji-ah thought about how those were not the words she'd describe the Evil Queen. "Well, stay healthy, I guess."
In the meantime, the gang of men squared off with Park Hansoo. At one point, one girl shouted, "I've called the police! If you don't scram now, it's gonna turn ugly!"
The men shrunk back. "That crazy bitch, she's got the cops involved! Scram!" They grabbed the scarred man and ran away. The whole experience started abruptly and ended abruptly. It was all rather bizarre, leaving the onlookers confused at what had actually occurred, all soon forgetting the reason why they had been here in the first place.
The teacher in a tracksuit—who had gone in hiding—approached Park Hansoo and his friends. But it didn't seem like he had come to congratulate them. His neck was red and visible blood vessels had appeared on his forehead. "Hey, what do you mean you called the police? What if the news picks it up? You'll make a mountain out of a molehill. Our reputation will be ruined!"
Park Hansoo shouted back. "What? Are you kidding me? She just saved lives; How can you as a teacher care more about the reputation than the students inside?"
"You! You're all going to the principal's office." Hearing the student belittle him like that, the blood flooded his face. If he continued like that, he might just die of a stroke. "If you talk back, I'll have you all expelled."
"What? Do you know who my fa—"
"Everybody, relax please." The girl cut them off. She showed her smartphone. Its power was off. "I did not really call them. I only pretended to do so to get them away. Now can we all continue life? If you guys are so energetic in the morning, how will you last until evening?"
Park Hansoo stepped back, thinking she was right, and the teacher did too, now that he knew there were no police involved—though he huffed angrily while walking away. As such, the event ended like that.
Park Hansoo went towards Lee Dojin and the group, though he only had eyes for Kim Jyejin. He asked her if she was alright.
"Huh, me?" Kim Jyejin looked around. From all the people here, she did the least, so why did that goofball come for her? "I'm fine and dandy. Thanks for asking. Though I really have to go now. According to my supernatural ability to be perfectly punctual every time, it is time for me to go now." She took Lee Dojin by his hand and jogged away.
Park Hansoo, who was ignored completely, stood rooted to the ground, unsure what to say. He stared at Lee Dojin as he held onto Kim Jyejin and gritted his teeth. Just what was it that made him become that princess Kim Jyejins' go-to choice?
Ji-ah, standing by his side, told him. "You should probably go too. Or else, you're going to be late. I won't vouch for you, just so you know."
Hearing that, Park Hansoo and the two girls next to him quickly made their way to their respective classes, everyone arriving just as the bell rang for the first lesson—as predicted by Kim Jyejin.
The rest of the classes went on like normal. If there was one thing different than before, he realized that Oh Sanbaek wasn't in school. Kim Jyejin explained that he hadn't been since yesterday. He must have truly been spooked by Lee Dojin's actions. According to her, the guy kept muttering weird words after Lee Dojin went away. It almost sounded like a curse.
However, that was all of little interest to him. In fact, the info went into one ear, then out the other. And the class was beginning anyway, so he did not think about it again. He met the history teacher again, though she did not try starting anything with him. The English lesson was easy for him, as he had learned that language a long time ago. And since the previous him had been rather smart to begin with, he did not gather any more attention. Such serene life continued until lunch break came in the blink of an eye.
"Yo, Dojin, you got any food prepared?" Kim Heeson called out to him. "If not, wanna go buy something in the cantine?"