BMGSN 6

“Hey, Choi Jinki. Let’s go play soccer, huh? I couldn’t find a substitute.”

“Why’s he suddenly saying he won’t play?”

“I don’t know. This guy is kind of prickly today.”

“Oh my, oppa… Why are you so prickly today?”

Jinki subtly turned his head to the right. Sure enough, Baek Jaehee was squatting there, grinning brightly.

“Did you come just because of that soccer thing?”

Right now, he was in no state to play along with their jokes. He didn’t even have the presence of mind to maintain Choi Jinki’s usual personality, and he was just insanely sleepy. When he glared with his eyes sharply narrowed, the guy went, “Oh my,” and covered his mouth.

“When Choi Jinki frowns, it’s so damn sexy.”

“F*ck.”

As soon as he shoved his head into his folded arms, Baek Jaehee snickered and laughed before suddenly wrapping his arms tightly around Jinki’s waist. There was a strangely sweet scent, as if he had put on perfume.

“Let go.”

“Aww, whyyy.”

“I said I’m not playing, so go away.”

He didn’t understand why the guy was acting like this toward him when Joo Unyoung was right there. This was the beginning of volume two, so wasn’t this about the time he should be starting to like Joo Unyoung? Instead of doing this, he should go say at least one word to Joo Unyoung. Frowning deeply, Jinki shoved him away roughly, clearly annoyed.

“Ah, he’s so f*cking cute. What’s gotten into you today? This isn’t like Choi Jinki.”

When Jinki closed his eyes again, Baek Jaehee stopped bothering him and obediently pulled his arms back. He must’ve looked considerably irritated.  Just before his eyes fully closed, Jinki noticed Joo Unyoung staring intently at Baek Jaehee through the crowd of guys.

The second sub-gong, Baek Jaehee. Aside from the fact that he completely lost control once he went crazy, he was a pretty decent guy. Well, as one of the leads, Baek Jaehee was fairly good-looking, too.

If Joo Unyoung liked men, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for him to quickly grab either Go Yeol or Baek Jaehee.

Jinki relaxed his body as much as possible, hoping to sleep for even a short time of less than five minutes. Just like being dragged away by a sleep demon, he drifted off to sleep.

Yeah… They say love is healed by new love.

He’d never dated anyone, not even in his past life, but that’s what he’d heard, anyway. Hoping that Joo Unyoung would meet a good man and be happy, Jinki began to snore softly.

* * *

The moment the bell rang, the students shot out like arrows.

Without even having time to feel any sentiment about the bell, Jinki looked at the empty classroom and slowly slung his bag over his shoulder. For some reason, Joo Unyoung hadn’t spoken to him at all today. It was almost laughable how tense he had been all day. Go Yeol had been completely absorbed in practice from morning until now, so he hadn’t even caught a glimpse of him, and he had eaten lunch with Baek Jaehee.

All throughout the meal, Baek Jaehee had made such a fuss, asking him to come to the soccer match. Jinki gathered his things and left the school.

The leisurely sinking crimson sun hung halfway over the athletic field. Baek Jaehee was there as well. It seemed he had scored a goal, because he was shouting loudly in excitement, and the guys who looked like they were on the same team were hugging one another and laughing happily.

Eighteen years old was a good age. Even after turning back the clock by four years, kids still looked like kids to him. Thinking about how he hadn’t been able to do that when he should have been running around with such youthful vigor made him feel a bit envious.

The boys, wearing only their summer uniform tops and gym shorts, scattered again to take their positions. The opposing team cursed loudly and waved their hands around. Even in the middle of all that, Baek Jaehee was confidently smiling as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

His unusually tall height, thick arms, and reddish-brown hair that looked like it had been dyed red and then faded stood out. It seemed others thought so too, as several girls beyond the school gate were sneaking glances at him as they watched.

“Hey, run! They say it’s arriving soon!”

At that moment, two male students sprinted past him toward the bus stop. A crowd of students was already swarming in front of it.

Should I take the bus too? I don’t want to climb the hill.

Maybe because he had been with friends these past few days, being alone felt especially real today. And they no longer felt like mere fictional characters someone had created.

Yeah, let’s take the bus. I don’t want to walk.

He rummaged through one side of his bag to pull out his wallet, and after waiting for a while, the bus arrived. Jinki boarded along with the remaining few students.

The students crammed themselves in until the bus doors finally closed with a couple of rattles. For the most part, they were not students from his school. As he was pushed further inside, the low ceiling brushed against his head again and again. With a sense of novelty, Jinki glanced up at the ceiling.

Wow, tall guys really do reach the bus ceiling.

After barely managing to grab onto a single overhead bar, a crooked smile slowly spread across his face. Feeling anew how much taller he had become made him feel so good that he thought he might float away.

—“The next stop is…”

Ah, a familiar voice!

Hearing the familiar voice of the announcer made him feel strangely happy. Even on the packed, overcrowded bus, Jinki felt uplifted by the unchanged voice. Being dropped alone into an unfamiliar world, the lingering nostalgia for the past he had been feeling was soothed, if only a little. 

Whether it was smartphones or the politicians and major corporations on TV, this place was not all that different from reality. Still gripping the bar above rather than the strap, Jinki shifted his feet slightly. With people getting on and off, the inside grew noisy for a moment.

At that moment, he felt an unfamiliar and unpleasant sensation.

A thick, hot palm was groping around his waist. When he flinched in surprise, the hand paused briefly. Swallowing hard, Jinki lowered his gaze. Because of the crowd, he could not see his legs at all.

This, this is a pickpocket, right?

“Hey, get off. Get off.”

Screeech! As the bus stopped, passengers leaned to one side. At the same time, the rough hand that was unmistakably a man’s, which had been fumbling near his thigh, slipped straight into the pocket of his school uniform pants.

“…F*ck.”

Unable to hold it in, a curse escaped his lips. A student sitting in front of Jinki heard it and glanced back at him. Jinki clenched his teeth and avoided the gaze. He knew he should grab that hand right away. He was not skinny and small like before, and yet…

Stay calm. There’s nothing in the pocket anyway.

If he could have done as he pleased, he would have turned around immediately and twisted the bastard’s wrist. His insides boiled with rage, but his body refused to move. More than shame, he felt disgust first. Irritation surged up inside him, and the situations that would unfold afterward played out vividly in his head.  

He did not want the bus to get noisy because of him. Causing a scene in an already cramped and humid bus would surely draw endless complaints. On top of that, this thief would shamelessly deny it and snap back with something like, ‘Kids these days!’ while throwing a tantrum.

After rummaging through both pockets, the hand finally withdrew. Only then did Jinki release his stiff shoulders and let out a deep breath. He should avoid taking the bus at this time if possible. Being stuck there, unable to move, felt humiliating.

“Ugh!”

The bus stopped once again. As the impatient driver braked abruptly, passengers muttered complaints here and there. Just one more stop and he could get off. Jinki lightly patted his own cheek with his palm, trying to shake off the stifling feeling.

He lowered his head, certain his face was flushing red and turning pale by turns.

Nothing had been stolen, but he was furious. Most of all, he was angry at himself for freezing up and not being able to say a single word. Even though the air conditioner was blasting cool air, dizziness washed over him. It was just as he anxiously ran his tongue over his dry lips and glared out the window—

“Sir, please stop.”

The male student who had been sitting in front of him unexpectedly stood up. He was tall enough that he could easily reach the ceiling, and as he leaned his waist, he naturally pushed Jinki down into the seat.

Perhaps because of his low, deep voice, even though he had not spoken loudly, silence instantly spread through the bus. His unusually tall height and solid build also played a part in drawing everyone’s attention.

“W-what? Student, what’s this! Let go of my hand!”

“You just stole my wallet from my bag.”

He had blond hair. For a moment, Jinki thought of Joo Unyoung, then frowned. Even though he was not carrying a bag at all, the male student shamelessly twisted the thief’s wrist in his grip.

His first impression was that he was mixed-race. He had an appearance that felt out of place, as if he alone were breathing a different air. His deeply set eyes were soft, like a carefully sculpted statue, and his high nose bridge and facial features felt unfamiliar.

The male student, his ash-tinted blond hair tightly tied back, had a strangely androgynous air about him. Yet his height and build were enormous.

“Would you like to go to the police station? Or would you like to apologize here and now?”

“You little punk, do you have p-proof? Do you have any proof?!”

“Ah, yes. Of course. It’s in your pocket. My wallet.”

Jinki stared up at the male student rather than the middle-aged man whose face had turned bright red. They were wearing the same uniform. And from the left pocket of his summer uniform top, a name tag was sticking out slightly. Black. That meant a third year.

It was obvious. This was the appearance of a new character. The proof was in his face. A strikingly refined, handsome face. An appearance on an entirely different level from an extra made him recognizable as a ‘character’.

Was there a character I didn’t know about? Or is it someone who just hadn’t appeared yet?

While Jinki sat there blankly, lost in thought, a commotion broke out. As passengers whispered, pointed at the thief, and hurled insults, the man turned beet red and fidgeted in place.

“I recorded everything, even you rummaging around. Want to see it?”

As the murmuring grew louder and more chaotic, the male student smiled, his eyes curving.

“You thought I wouldn’t know just because my bag was behind me?”

As the shadow fell over his deeply set eye sockets, the thief flinched and grabbed the overhead bar, preparing to flee. Right then, the announcement for the next stop played.

“Where do you think you’re going without apologizing?”

“How dare a little brat like you—! Hey, let go! F*ck, hey! I’m getting off, so stop the bus!”

“Then shall we go to the police station together?”

At the gentle yet powerful warning, the man’s face turned pale. At the same time, the bus came to a stop. The driver, already aware of the disturbance in the back, quickly opened the doors, and the thief bolted out without thinking. As if it were only natural, the male student grabbed the back of his neck tightly and got off with him.

Then he slightly turned his head and looked at Jinki. Quietly mouthing, ‘Coming?’ he asked. Seeing that, Jinki stood up. For a moment, Jinki wondered if the pickpocket had shifted his target from himself to that student, but that did not seem to be the case.

So that meant the student had helped him. Jinki got off the bus with his bag, and the rear door closed quickly. People pressed up against the windows stared at them with faces full of curiosity.

“Let’s go to the police station. The police station. Don’t get mad at me. Let’s go and deal with it according to the law.”

Holding onto the man’s arm, the male student immediately took out his phone and dialed 112.