Chapter 20 What happened?

"Joon-Woo, get up." With a blank expression, he stood up, having to listen to the other kids talk. "Haha it's him?",

"Boo. Damn, he really crossed the line."

"I'm not suspecting you, I'm just asking you, since you always come to school early. If you don't want to tell me here, you can tell me in the office." At least the teacher was calm unlike the other kids immediately suspecting him and loudly making him feel bad.

"Um.. Yeah. But I didn't see anything..."

'He's not suspecting me?'

"I get it. Come to the office after class, though."

Joon-Woo's eyes glowed red in response to his anger. 'Bullshit! He does suspect me! He's always hanging out with the thugs and he still thinks he's a passionate teacher. And ignores the students he shouldn't ignore.'

He glared at everyone in his field of view. 'You assholes are all alike. As long as you're not the one being picked on, right? Fuck...'

'I feel so wronged. I don't have any friends and I can't even defend myself... Please...'

He calmed down again. 'Please, can someone, just one person, help me?'

"He probably doesn't know anything at all." Seung Ah smirked as she stood up, gaining attention of everyone.

Not even once had he thought about Seung Ah helping him here and blushed. 'Seung Ah?'

"I was room monitor at the start of term. He only comes early to sleep. He doesn't even get up unless I talk to him first. He wouldn't know if anyone came."

"You think that makes sense? What if he wasn't sleeping this time?" Though Seung Ah wasn't lying, it of course was the teachers job to not blindly trust the students and believe everything they say. Especially if it's about 800 dollars.

"He... Really doesn't know. You know how he is" She confidently pointed at him. "He doesn't care about his surroundings. You're our teacher, you should know."

'Seung Ah... Is sticking up for me!' His eyes lit up and Seung Ah smiled at him like everything was going to be fine.

Letting out a sigh the teachet said "Fine... We're out of time so that's the end of class. Joon-Woo, you might still have to show up to a disciplinary meeting, ok? You can sit."

'Thank goodness...' He immediately let his body fall into the chair. 'But...'

"Oo, what luck", Tae Yang leaned closer to Joon-Woo from behind, "If you went to the office I'd have to wait for you."

'It's not over yet.'

"Everybody got the retreat notes, right? They're due next week. Ok... That's about it. Who's in charge of cleaning the windows today?"

'What do I do, what do I do, what do I do...?' Joon-Woo was brainstorming. There had to be a way to get out of all this misery.

"Hey, Deuk Hyun, Yong Bum, how did you clean the windows?"

Slamming the door open, Yuri Lee came in shouting "Teach! Excuse me! It's urgent!!"

"What is it, Yuri? You're in class five. Isn't class about to end?"

"Our teacher.. Asked me to bring Joon-Woo Choi."

What timing.

"Can't you see I'm wrapping up right now? Wait 'till the end, then take him." - "The teacher said it's really urgent."

The teach was hesitant. 'If it's class five... Mister Jung... Can we do things right around here?'

Bong Jo Lee, a truly scary teacher. Being 48 he is the teacher of class five. Bong Jo Lee is an ex-soldier.

"Fine, you can leave, Joon-Woo."

Yuri threw a smirk at him. Behind him, there was Tae Yang visibly pissed off. 'Bullshit... She's lying to save his ass', he thought. 'I won't let you off that easy!'

'I'm saved!! Thank you class five teacher! Why is he calling me though...'

Yuri Lee and Joon-Woo were walking down the hallway, him being behind. "You're still clueless. I lied to get you out." - "What? You lied? Why? What about afterwards?"

'Why is she helping me? I only hindered her chances of getting closer to Tae Yang.'

"I'll take care of it. Shouldn't you get going before Tae Yang comes?"

"Oh... But, he told me not to run off..."

"Dummy! So you're just going to get your butt wiped?"

"It's not that..."

They both stopped.

"I'm sorry..." Yuri turned around. "I'm really sorry." She looked at him, shamefaced. "I... Had no clue you guys were like that now."

"What happened?"

'What happened?'

His eyes wandered to the ground.

Two years ago.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Swinging in every direction Joon-Woo continued to hit the sandbag. He stopped when he was out of breath.

"You're beating up the sandbag again?" Tae Yang approached him. "Sparring is way more fun..."

"Hey. You finally showed up, Tae Yang! You're late!"

Joon-Woo Choi, 15, Dae Jae middle school. Second year. Back then his hair was shorter and you could see he was only a child. Nonetheless, old him was stronger than his current self.

"Yeah, I'm here haha. But why do you only hit the sandbag?"

Tae Yang Lee, 15, same grade, same school. He had spiky hair back then, probably used gel to have it go upwards like that.

"He can't hit people."

Tae Yang looked at the coach who was sitting down, reading newspapers. "The kid has a good eye, but he's too scared. He lacks in strength and stamina. I don't think he's taking this thing seriously." He looked up. "Aren't you two close? Why are you so different? A guy should have guts!"

"Aww, coach! Here you go with that stuff again. But still, he's really fast." - "What good is that when he gets too scared to use his full speed? Forget that, you're late again Tae Yang!"

"I'm late because my teacher held me back!"

Joon-Woo listlessly stood there, resting his hand on the punching bag, watching Tae Yang and the coach.

'Honestly, it didn't matter if I got scolded by the coach. Boxing didn't interest me and fighting even less.'

"Show me the jabs and steps from last time. If you mess up, you're getting your ass smacked." - "Okay."

'I only went because Tae Yang was my friend. I was weak...'

Tae Yang got into position for his showcase.

'...And he was strong. I liked being friends with the old Tae Yang.'

This was what the current Joon-Woo thought.

"Do you have a sandbag fetish?" Once they were done wity training, they went home. "Shut up!"

"Tell me the truth, you're afraid I'll knock you out if we spar, right?"

"Uh-huh, sure."

They were meeting their old friends.

"Yo, the dummies are here, haha. Text the seniors."

Taewon Kim, 15. Beside him, the two other friends, Young Yoon Shin. A slightly overweight guy who thought it was cool to smoke with the age of 15 and Sung-Wook Jung. Again, same age. They all went to the same middle school along with Tae Yang and Joon-Woo.

Putting his arm around Joon-Woo's shoulder he made fun of him. "Yo, Taewon. This idiot beat the sandbag again today."

"Shit yo! So what?" Joon-Woo stared at him.

"Crazy sandbag lover, haha", he replied. "The seniors called. What was it? If we go to the Seng Tae Internet Cafe they'll give us cigarettes."

"I was out too", Young Yoon said.

'There were friends I made in middle school with Tae Yang.'

"You friggin' addicts! You're going to be in so much trouble."

'I just wanted to be a part of the group.'

"Go out with a big bang, right?"

"Hey, Joon-Woo you're coming too, right?"

'The feeling of being part of a group was priceless.'

"Let's go. Might as well go to the internet cafe while we're there" Tae Yang suggested happily.

"Ah... I cut cram school too often so they called at my house... I gotta go today..."

His happiness turned into disappointment.

'I wanted to be a part of them no matter how.'

"Fine, haha. See you tomorrow." - "Yep! Have fun."

'Then one day...'

Joon-Woo was in class. (Probably cram school?)

'I'm starving now after working out' he thought while taking notes. In that exact same moment he heard some rustling beside him. That rustling turned into munching.

He glanced over to his left. 'What is it? What is she eating?' He was drooling. 'I wish I could ask her for a bite..'

She noticed him staring at her.

'I met Yuri.'

~Chapter 20, end.

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