Chapter 28: Autumn and Sunset

Kim Noeul had shown mercy twice. And the students of Hankook High had kicked that mercy away both times.

Without hesitation, Kim Noeul reached out and grabbed a female student by the neck. The girl, caught off guard, struggled to pry her hand off, but it was useless.

You don’t understand Kim Noeul’s grip strength until you experience it firsthand.

Back when Ahn Hyojin and I had our standoff, there was a moment when Kim Noeul grabbed my wrist.

Even though she held me back, considering that I was a guy, I still couldn’t shake her off—even with the strength I carried over from my past life.

And right now, Kim Noeul had no reason to hold back.

“Just leave. If you understand, nod.”

The girl’s throat quickly turned red, and her face paled. As she trembled helplessly, another female student swung her fist at Kim Noeul.

But since I had been closely following behind her, I arrived just in time to catch that punch with one hand.

“Huh…?”

Maybe it was because a guy had stopped her attack, but she just stood there staring blankly at my face.

I yanked her forward and drove my knee into her stomach. The impact forced her mouth open, and she collapsed onto her knees.

Once again, I showed them mercy.

“Just go before things get worse. Once she loses control, no one can stop her.”

There was only one person in this entire academy who could completely restrain Kim Noeul when she went on a rampage.

The problem was that this person was far away at Shinsung High.

Hearing my words, the girl whose throat was still being gripped managed a shaky nod. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Only after receiving confirmation did Kim Noeul finally push her away. She hit the ground and started coughing, gasping for breath.

“L-Let’s go….”

The less-injured girl supported her crying friend and hurried away.

The spectators who had been watching with interest also scattered.

The middle school students repeatedly bowed their heads to us.

“Thank you so much… really, thank you….”

“We’ll be more careful from now on….”

Even as they disappeared from sight, they kept expressing their gratitude.

Now, only one middle school student remained with us.

“Kim Gaeul, I told you not to act on your own.”

“Sorry. My body moved on its own.”

Kim Gaeul, who looked just like Kim Noeul, had slightly shorter hair.

If Kim Noeul’s hair reached down to his waist, then Kim Gaeul’s hair length was somewhere between her shoulders and waist.

She turned her attention toward me.

“Thank you for your help. Um… Maru oppa.”

She glanced at the name tag on my uniform and called my name.

The way she addressed me felt unfamiliar.

‘Oppa… huh.’

After entering this school, I never really had any close friends.

On the rare occasions when juniors needed something from me, they would call me “Maru sunbae,” but no one had ever addressed me so casually as “oppa.”

“Why are you calling him oppa? Be respectful and call him sunbae.”

At Kim Noeul’s remark, Kim Gaeul turned to me and asked,

“Do you not like being called oppa?”

“…It’s not that I don’t like it.”

Her innocent gaze made it hard to flat-out reject her.

Not that I was planning to reject it in the first place.

“Then I’ll call you oppa, Maru oppa.”

When Kim Gaeul looked up at me like a puppy and called me oppa, it felt strangely comforting.

It was like all the stress of dealing with the wolf that was Kim Noeul had suddenly melted away.

Seeing my expression soften, Kim Noeul narrowed his eyes.

“Look at that face.”

“…What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with that. You’re just too strict with your sister.”

At some point, Na Yuna and Han Doa had casually joined our conversation.

“You handled that well. It wasn’t a big enough commotion for the teachers to make a fuss over.”

“Maru, you know… you don’t have to call me sunbae either. You can just call me noona (older sister or a close female friend)….”

Na Yuna made an oddly suggestive remark with a sly grin.

Sensing that the conversation was heading in an unfavorable direction for me, I quickly changed the subject.

“So, you guys don’t have anything else to do at the academy? Don’t the seniors have a test to take?”

“Oh, right, that.”

“R-Right! We have to get there on time!”

“Should we wait for you?”

When I asked, Han Doa shook her head.

“I heard it takes quite a while, so you can go ahead.”

“Good luck.”

The two walked off toward the testing room.

We had no more reason to stay at the academy.

We had already drawn plenty of attention, so I wanted to leave as soon as possible.

“Unnie, are you leaving now?”

“Yeah. Don’t you have class?”

“Nope. I was just about to leave when I saw that fight breaking out.”

The Kim siblings and I left the academy together.

The sun was already beginning to set.

It felt like every time an incident wrapped up at the academy, I ended up watching the sunset.

Kim Noel asked her sister how she was planning to get home.

“Wasn’t it the shuttle bus that goes outside the academy? Do you still take that?”

“Yeah. If I go outside, there’s a bus that goes all the way home, so I just take that one.”

“If possible, try to go with friends. You never know when something like today might happen again.”

“You know I’m not in a position to do that.”

“…….”

At Kim Gaeul’s words, Kim Noeul closed her mouth. Both of them seemed to be checking my reaction, ending their conversation at an ambiguous point.

It was an awkward silence, but I didn’t find it unpleasant.

I didn’t want to erase the silence by forcibly bringing up their trauma. This silence was a form of consideration for the Kim Noeul sisters.

When we arrived at the bus stop, we checked the remaining time until the bus arrived. It seemed like we’d have to wait quite a while.

“Then, I’ll get going first.”

I bid farewell to the two women. Naturally, Kim Noeul objected.

“It’s dangerous to go alone.”

“Hey, my dorm is really close from here. Besides, the Ojakgyo guys have rarely been seen in the outskirts like this.”

“But still….”

“And you met your sister. Catch up properly.”

At the mention of her sister, Kim Noeul’s expression softened noticeably. Of course, since they hadn’t seen each other in a long time, there must have been a lot they wanted to talk about.

Leaving the two women behind, I headed to my dormitory.

The sisters watched Kim Maru walking away for a moment before eventually looking at each other. The younger sister was the first to speak.

“He seems to be doing well. I thought he hadn’t completely moved on.”

“He hasn’t.”

“I always say this, but that wasn’t your fault, unnie. If anything, I was the one who became a burden to oppa, so it’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault. If anything, the fault is mine. I should have been more attentive. As the eldest….”

“Unnie. You don’t have to blame yourself like that.”

“…….”

“I understand how you feel, but do you know what Mom and I think whenever we see you like this?”

“I know. Logically, I understand that it wasn’t my fault. But….”

Kim Noeul paused and took in the view of the setting sun in the sky. Her eyes reflected the sunset’s glow, turning red.

“But if I don’t at least blame myself like this, I feel like I won’t be able to endure it.”

“…Does oppa know? About this?”

“Maru…? No, he doesn’t.”

“He seems like a good person. When unnie was with him, your expression looked relieved.”

At her younger sister’s calm words, Kim Noeul recalled Kim Maru’s face.

A face that naturally drew the attention of women.

Yet, despite that, a man who never hesitated to step forward and willingly put himself in danger.

“You don’t know. That guy stresses me out so much. You saw it today. He recklessly approaches women without a second thought.”

He felt like a precious treasure.

One that could be damaged at any moment, leaving Kim Noeul anxiously on edge.

She wanted to keep him somewhere safe, out of reach of others. But since he had a grand goal of changing the academy, she held back that possessive urge.

“He fought well, though. At the very least, the kind of thing we worry about won’t happen to him. He’s different from us.”

“Different…”

“And unnie is by his side. This time, you’re going to protect him for sure, right?”

Kim Gaeul was convinced that Kim Maru was the key to helping Kim Noeul overcome her trauma. Watching their interactions today, she was certain of it.

‘Should I support them?’

But considering how striking his appearance was, there seemed to be quite a few women around him.

A particular woman with bangs covering her eyes and a rather large chest, and another who looked like a high-class noble lady—those two seemed like potential threats.

‘Well, even so, unnie is more than good enough.’

Noticing her sister’s scheming expression, Kim Noeul let out a sigh.

“Focus on your own life. I’ll handle things my own way.”

“Just make a decision quickly. Don’t end up regretting it after someone else takes him away.”

“That won’t happen.”

Kim Noeul looked at Kim Gaeul with unwavering eyes.

Her clear gaze, reflecting the sunset, took on a strangely ominous red hue.

A chill ran down Kim Gaeul’s spine. She rubbed her arms and replied awkwardly.

“…Okay. If you’re that confident.”

“The bus is here.”

The ominous red glow in Kim Noeul’s pupils returned to normal. Her gaze shifted to the approaching bus.

Kim Gaeul boarded the bus and took a seat. Kim Noeul watched her younger sister until the very end.

As the bus departed, leaving her alone, Kim Noeul stood up and walked along the academy streets.

‘Someday, I’ll have to tell him.’

She had made a promise with Kim Maru—to tell him about the past one day. She had no intention of breaking that promise.

But she wasn’t ready yet.

Once her heart was settled and she had prepared herself to move forward, she would reveal everything to Kim Maru.

And at that moment, the nature of their relationship would be decided.

***
“F*ck… F*ck….”

Behind Hankook High School, a female student muttered curses under her breath, biting her nails anxiously.

The name tag on her uniform read “Je Galhwarin.”

Je Galhwarin’s pupils were trembling violently as she stared at her phone. The device buzzed non-stop with message notifications.

[Je Galyeonhwa: Eun Yuri called me today.]

[Je Galyeonhwa: Not a video call—face-to-face.]

[Je Galyeonhwa: What kind of mess am I walking into?]

[Je Galyeonhwa: Thanks to my clueless blood relative screwing up royally, I’m the one taking the fall.]

[Je Galyeonhwa: Eun Yuri is going to punish me under the pretense of ‘poor management.’]

[Je Galyeonhwa: Knowing her, she’ll run straight to Alice and snitch. Do you think Alice will let me off the hook?]

[Je Galyeonhwa: I’ll have to tighten my grip from now on to make sure this never happens again.]

A cold sweat trickled down Je Galhwarin’s back as she read her sister’s steady stream of messages.

[Je Galyeonhwa: Once my punishment is over, I’ll deal with my dear little sister first.]

“Ugh!”

Shocked, Je Galhwarin dropped her phone. Her body trembled as she grabbed her shoulders with both hands.

She had sworn to escape her sister’s shadow, but that was nothing more than a fantasy.

Having suffered under Je Galyeonhwa’s sadistic tendencies since childhood, she was still firmly trapped in her sister’s grasp.

‘No! I can’t just sit here and do nothing…!’

In her panicked state, her eyes landed on two female students smoking in the distance. They looked worse for wear.

One was rubbing her neck, while the other was clutching her solar plexus.

“That crazy gorilla b*tch. What the hell does she eat to be that strong?”

“I only found out later, but that was Kim Noeul. She wasn’t wearing her uniform jacket, so I didn’t see her name tag.”

“What!? F*ck! If I knew it was Kim Noeul, I wouldn’t have messed with her! I heard Je Galhwarin got wrecked by the counseling club she runs!”

Je Galhwarin dashed toward the two girls.

They were grumbling until they noticed her rushing toward them. Their cigarettes fell from their hands, their faces frozen in shock.

Her expression was that terrifying.

She was terrified herself, yet her gaze was predatory, as if she was ready to devour them. Her ragged breathing only made her look more deranged.

The two girls swallowed nervously.

“Hey, you guys got beaten up by Kim Noeul?”

“Uh, yeah, well…”

“Answer me!”

Je Galhwarin suddenly kicked the girl who had been holding her neck. The girl gasped in pain and immediately spilled the truth.

“Ugh! Y-yeah…! She got us at the cram school today! Agh!”

“Haa… The cram school, huh?”

Je Galhwarin’s mind raced.

‘Inside the cram school, that’s Lee Jihye’s turf. She’s planted her lackeys there as students. There’s no way she’ll just let this slide.’

Given the circumstances, the best course of action was to join forces with Lee Jihye to take down Haneul High. That way, she could use Lee Jihye as a shield to deflect Je Galyeonhwa’s wrath.

‘I need to call… Call… Where’s Lee Jihye’s number…?’

Clenching her teeth, she barely managed to dial Lee Jihye’s number. She held her breath as she listened to the dial tone.

A boy band’s song played for a while before the call was finally answered.

A voice, surprisingly youthful for a high schooler, came through the phone.

[Who is this?]

“It—it’s me, Je Galhwarin. You don’t recognize my number?”

[Why would I bother saving your number?]

‘F*cking brat.’

She was a year younger, yet had zero respect. But right now, Je Galhwarin was the one in need.

“Have you heard? Hankook High kids got wrecked in your territory. They were the ones running wild in my sister’s turf. You’re just going to let that slide?”

[TT Cram School?]

“Yeah! They were causing trouble without knowing their place!”

[I haven’t heard anything about that yet.]

“It just happened today! I’m giving you a heads-up first! Shouldn’t you be gathering your people and retaliating? If you let this go, do you really think Eun Yuri and Alice will sit still?”

[I’m at Eun Yuri’s school for a meeting right now, so watch your mouth.]

“O-oh.”

Je Galhwarin quickly shut up, worried that Eun Yuri might have overheard.

[So, what you’re saying is, you want me to deal with it quickly?]

“Y-yeah.”

Silence stretched on the other end of the call.

The wait felt endless.

Finally, Lee Jihye spoke.

[Why should I?]

“What?”