My head hurts so badly. As opposed to most weak drinkers, I actually love drinking, but I get drunk easily. Intae was spot on about that; I just don’t like him finding out my weakness.

I wish I could just get back at my table and have a moment of silence; it’s how I sort out messy thoughts. There’s Intae’s proposal, and the skull-splitting headache, and the excuse letter for missing half day of work. But not now, I guess. The vice principal might still have an hour worth of lecture in store for me. I stare at my feet, letting my slightly wet hair cover up my face.

“Of all people, you, Miss Bae! A teacher! A role model for the youths! Showing up late with no concrete reason? That doesn’t sound reasonable to me!”

I nod meekly, just to show him that I am paying attention when in reality his words and nagging tone simply buzz through one ear to the other. I take deep breathes to gain strength to get through his lecture.

Further into his lecture which now touches Buddhism and Confucianism, I peek through my wet locks and saw a couple of students passing by the Staff Room through the window glass along the hallway. One of the students’ eyes meet mine. He is Kim Seunghoon, one of the students in my class. He always gets into troubles and I am always the one who nag at him (because I don’t want to bring him to the vice principal, that guy is just nasty). My patience is being tested to the core when I see his lips crook to a smirk.

I’m going to get that punk.

-

When I checked on my class that evening, Seunghoon was absent. None of the students had any ideas of his whereabouts since they don’t really hang out with him. Seunghoon is known for having a bad temper, nearly all the students are scared of him; though the girls secretly gush over his good look. Sigh. I’ll just call him out tomorrow.

It’s only eight o’ clock in the evening right now, so the cram session is only beginning. I’m in charge for my class for the night until the session ends at ten. After taking a short break to the restroom, I pass by a staircase and accidentally hear a rather suspicious one-sided conversation in lowered voice.

“Are you crazy? You don’t go there alone! That’s it! I’m going there right now! What if anything happens to you?! Do you hear me? Hey, Kim Seunghoon!”

I hear that troublemaker’s name. And it doesn’t sound good. What is going on? I cross my arm and patiently stand still at my spot, waiting for the kid who talked in the phone just now to turn around and meets his surprise. And he does.

“T-Teacher!” The boy jumps, his cellphone fell to the cement floor. He has nowhere to go since I block the path between the staircase and the wall enclosed around it.

“Do you mind telling me what’s going on?” I stare at him. I know him, but he’s not from my class. He is one of the few kids who hang around Seunghoon, Lee Sanghyuk.

“N-nothing! I- I just- I really need to pee now so-” Sanghyuk makes an attempt to dash through the small gap by my side but I manage to have a firm grip on his ear first. Twisting it in my fingers, Sanghyuk is easily tamed though he makes so much noise.

“I’m not letting you go until you spill it. What is going on with Seunghoon?”

“Teacher, please! I need to go now! He’s in danger!”

“Then tell me about it!”

-

I get off from the taxi in front of a building with large neon sign that reads ‘D2K’ at Hongdae area, a place that is famous for its nightlife and entertainment. It’s really big trouble if a high school student ever gets caught in this area, especially in most of the entertainment premises here. I don’t want Seunghoon to face the vice principal or the principal himself yet. Those two has been suspicious of his infamous misdeeds but I still have plans for him.

I run into the club without a second thought. My conservative attire seems to attract unwanted attention. Even though I don’t like how some of the guys have nasty smirks on their faces as they see me, I turn a blind eye to them and work through the crowd to the back of the club. Thankfully, it’s still considered early here so the place isn’t as packed as I thought it would be.

Ignoring some warnings from the staffs, I make my way towards the back entrance. It’s a little dark outside but I could see a group of youngsters from a near distant. Some of them are beating one guy while a number of them are sitting on the hood of the car that is used to light up the scene, cheering for their friends. A mix of obscene words, insults, ecstatic howls and hard knocks of kicks and punches all blend into a mess, filling up the dusty night sky.

“Hey, you guys! Stop that!” I yell as I make my way towards them. They pause for a moment to look at me, only to chorus a fit of obnoxious laugh soon after.

“Is that the ‘help’ you’re talking about? A girl?” The bunch of youngsters laugh their heads off. They are obviously laughing at Seunghoon who seems to be the only one who is not a part of the bunch. The rest of the guys there seem older than him, five years at most, but they are all younger than me.

Seunghoon, who is crumpled on the ground, make an effort to look up. He hisses as soon as our eyes meet.

“What the hell are you doing here? Where’s Sanghyuk?” He asks before spitting out blood. In all honesty, I’ve never been in this situation. I couldn’t gauge how serious the situation we are in right now, but Seunghoon looks really bad. My heart is racing but I ball my fists tight, bracing this as tough as I can.

“I can’t let Sanghyuk get involved in this!” I tell him and then glare at the guys who are standing around him. “You guys better leave now. The police will be here any second!”

The guys exchange looks with each other and shrug. A moment later, they laugh again.

“Look at her clothes. Seunghoon, you have rotten taste in girls!”

“But she’s so sweet though!”

“Poor thing has to save the prince in distress!”

“What are you going to do if I do this?” One of them smirks and swings a hard kick at the middle of Seunghoon’s lanky body. My eyes widen. I immediately run to them, trying to stop them in any way at all but they simply push me away. I fall to the ground as they continue to beat Seunghoon. Before I could pull myself up, one guy comes from behind me and pulls me up. I thought he is trying to help me but he is actually harassing me. He pulls my body against him and traps me in his arms.

“Let’s just enjoy the show, shall we?” He whispers to me with a smirk. I follow my instinct and give him a slap across his face. He let me go for a brief second only to slap me back. For the second time, I fall to the ground again. I look up to expect the previous guy to get back at me but instead, a tall stature stands in the way, blocking my view. I think I can tell who it is.

“Ganging up on one person and hitting a woman. What are you guys? A bunch of losers?” The guy who stands in front of me speaks calmly. I recognize that voice really well too. He turns around briefly and helps me on my feet.

“Are you okay?” he frowns, looking genuinely concerned. I am about to answer him but quickly get distracted by the guy behind him who is about to throw a punch at him.

“Intae!” I warn him, but I am too late. The punch land square on his jaw, causing him to stagger a couple of steps back. Intae looks up again and smirk. My heart skips a beat when I see blood dripping from his mouth. Intae isn’t planning to play passive with these guys as he charges forward and returns double the favor. He fights well, even when there are three guys attacking him simultaneously. He is still outnumbered though, despite a few of them already fallen and immobilized with injuries.

“Do you have any idea who you’re messing with?” Intae asks him, his voice dark and threatening.

“Oh, !” One of the guys suddenly exclaimed as he goes eye to eye with Intae. “Guys, this is Inati! Let’s get the hell out of here!”

The guys gather at the car and escape the scene in lightning speed, leaving some of their injured friends behind. I quickly run to Seunghoon and help him up. He is badly injured, but I’m glad that he is at least still conscious.

“Can you get up?” I ask him. Seunghoon stands on his feet and pushes me away.

“Hey, hey. That’s not how you treat your teacher.” Intae warns him. Seunghoon simply ignores him.

I want to help but I know the kid is stubborn. I tail him as he limps away from the scene. From the distant, I can hear the police siren grows louder like an annoying mosquito’s buzz.

 “.” Seunghoon curses. I understands well that he doesn’t want anything to do with the police because that will just bring attention to his parents and the school. I sigh and put up a stoic face. I catch up to him and raises his arm above my head, acquiring a loud grunt form him, and helps him get away from that place before the police see him. Intae on the other hand silently follows from behind.

-

Seunghoon calls his driver and safely gets home without much fuss; after I strictly order him to personally report himself to me at school later. On the other hand, Intae insists that he drives me home. We get into his car and I watch him as he leans against the backrest with a sharp sigh. He seems to be in a lot of pain that I couldn’t help but wince everytime he does. Intae seems to be taking his time, breathing deeply at a time. He looks at his reddening fist, which might turn blue soon, and shakes it, as if shaking the pain off. I could hear the obscene words he mutters under his breath. I can imagine the random blue patches spread all over his body, causing me to shudder at the thought.

“Are you sure you’re going to drive? Maybe we should take the taxi. I’ll take you to the hospital first.” I suggest.

He groans. “Nah... Too much work for such minor injuries.”

“But still-”

“I don’t mind if you treat me instead.” Intae grins, but winces quickly after. The wound at the tip of his lips looks like it stings; a lot. I sigh, half annoyed, half sorry for him.

“Do you have a first aid kit in the car?”

Intae points behind my seat. I look around me and found the white box. I reach for the box and look for the disinfectant. After I clean the wounds with clear water, I carefully dab the yellow liquid with care on the open wound. There is one at his lips, one on his cheekbone, and another on his eyebrow.

“How did you suddenly appear though?” I ask him.

“I was there at the club. D2K is owned by a friend of mine so I frequent the place a lot. When I saw you passed by, I thought my eyes were playing tricks, so I tried to look for you to be sure. Luckily, I found you at the back.”

“Anyways...” I say carefully, as to not appear as if I’m interested in him or anything, “thank you. For helping me back there.”

“There’s no need for that. I’m your boyfriend. It’s my job to protect you.”

It sounds weird when he words it like that. It’s not like we’re officially official, right? I still haven’t given him my answer regarding his proposal. I clear my throat in hope to slap off the awkward in the air.

“I’m sorry that you got hurt. It won’t happen again.” I try to distract the topic.

“I don’t care if it happens a hundred more times. Just don’t put yourself to danger like that anymore. Whenever you need help, just call me. I’ll get there in a split second.” Intae make a small gesture with his hand, like a jet plane flying in the air and then he smiles. Handsomely. Well, he’s attractive to start with, but...

“I swear I’m not simply sweet talking. I mean every word. You can trust me.” He adds.

His attraction goes way further than skin deep now.

“Do you say that to girls a lot?” I purposely ask, testing the waters.

“Nope. Actually, you’re the first.”

And I suddenly find myself to be tongue-tied. All I am capable of now is to just focus on treating his wounds. Tsk. I hate sweet talker.

[Author's Note] I'll explain more about Seunghoon and how he get involved in this mess next chapter. Thank you for reading! :D