Chapter 14: Worrying for Joon-ho

The thing Joon-ho feared happened. He remembered that day when Kim Tae-hyun broke his mobile phone in anger, saying, "How did you get her number?"

There were many thoughts crossing his mind, but only one word remained: Soo-jin. As he let go of thinking, his face became emotionless. Fear vanished as if he had never been afraid from the start. With a dangerous glint in his eyes, looking at Kim Tae-hyun, he spoke with a raspy voice:

"Never!"

As Joon-ho's words echoed in the room, Kim Tae-hyun was dumbfounded. From when they were little until now, he had never seen Joon-ho defiant. He was never subservient, but neither was he disobedient.

After hearing the word "never," his anger intensified as he remembered the moment when he saw Joon-ho and Soo-jin together from the window outside, looking at each other, flirting with their eyes in the film club room.

Remembering that moment, the look in his eyes became creased with a bloodthirsty aura surrounding him. He shouted with the loudest voice he had ever made.

"Joon-hoooooo! I don't want to see him alive! You all go and beat him to death!"

As the words fell, his bodyguards disguised as lackeys started to beat Joon-ho. Time ticked by silently; even after two hours, not a single scream was heard from Joon-ho. He endured silently, unlike other days.

His silence was proof to Kim Tae-hyun that he was never going to leave Soo-jin's side. Enduring silently, every bamboo strike tested his patience. Whenever he was unable to hold back and wanted to scream out loud, he would bite his tongue to stay quiet.

As time passed, he did not know how many times he fainted from the pain only to wake up to it again. While getting beaten, he wanted to die many, many times to end this miserable and pitiful life of his. Then, from nowhere, Soo-jin's face, grinning at him, popped into his head for a brief moment.

A girl who made him smile for the first time, a girl who brought a shine to his dimming life, and now he was willing to live to see her smile and was willing to die to see her happy.

This was the day when Joon-ho realized that power and money are everything in this cursed world. Without these two things, nothing can be achieved, and he could never make Soo-jin smile without them.

Like that, the night passed.

Waking up, Joon-ho saw the familiar ceiling drowsily. With a heavy head, he looked around, seeing medical equipment surrounding him. While looking around, the door opened, and a nurse walked in. Seeing the nurse, he sobered up.

Recalling the last night's incident, pain gushed from every part of his body. The nurse, looking at him with a weird expression as his face became difficult to look at, rushed out after changing the drip.

Last night, after seeing Joon-ho not scream a single word, Kim Tae-hyun's eyes became red with anger. After his bodyguards stopped the beating, not listening to him to continue because continuing any further would kill Joon-ho, they admitted Joon-ho to the hospital at midnight and left.

As Joon-ho was admitted to the hospital, he was thinking about Soo-jin. What will she do after class now? If she doesn't find me, will she wait for me, or will she leave after some time? Will she be worried about me, or will she forget about me?

After class, Soo-jin was waiting for Joon-ho to come, glancing at the time on her mobile phone while playing a game. She thought, Even after one hour, he hasn't come. After he comes, I will definitely teach him a lesson. And like that, two hours passed.

He did it again. If he was not coming, he should have told me, she thought. Dialing his number, Soo-jin heard a recorded voice saying, The number you have dialed is out of range or switched off. Hearing that, she recalled that his mobile phone was broken. Sighing, she left, determined to scold him properly tomorrow.

The next day, after completing the script for the short film, the same thing happened. Even after two hours, Joon-ho did not come. But this time, she was worried about Joon-ho, thinking, Is he sick or gone somewhere? At the hospital, Joon-ho was bored. He was bandaged from head to toe. Moving slightly caused him pain, and staying still was really becoming cumbersome. And like that, the day passed.

After class the next day, even after this time when Joon-ho failed to show up in the club room, Soo-jin, now worried and tired of waiting, was going towards the staff room. Arriving there, she saw Professor Lee.

She approached him, saying, "Hello, professor, good afternoon." When Professor Lee saw Soo-jin, he was happy, thinking she was here to give him the short film's script. But unfortunately, he was bound to be disappointed. "Soo-jin, are you here to give me the short film script? Is the script finished?"

Soo-jin, hearing that, apologized in her head, Sorry, Professor Lee. The script is finished, but I cannot give it to you until Joon-ho sees it first. So please forgive me for lying.

"No, the script for the short film is not yet finished. I am here for a different matter."

Hearing Soo-jin, Professor Lee was disappointed. Sighing, he spoke,

"So what's the matter? For which matter do you need my assistance?"

"Um, do you know where Joon-ho's class might be or who Joon-ho's homeroom professor is?"

Professor Lee was confused, thinking, Why does she want to know about Joon-ho's class and his homeroom teacher? Can't she ask Joon-ho that? Why did she come here? But still, he answered her question after seeing Soo-jin worried about something.

"Joon-ho's homeroom professor is Professor Park, and he is currently in his class. Let's go; I will take you there."

After a few moments, as Professor Lee and Soo-jin arrived at Joon-ho's class, opening the door, Professor Park was writing on the blackboard. Seeing Professor Lee at the door, he stopped, saying, 

"What a pleasant surprise. How may I help you, Professor Lee?"

"Sorry for disturbing you, Professor Park, but there is an urgent matter. Can you please come outside? There is someone who wants to meet you."