Chapter 13: Instagram

[L POV]

"Are you okay?" I asked.

The girl turned around, and I realized it was DaIn.

"D-DaIn!" My eyes widened.

"Yeah, I'm alright," She smiled, but I could sense that she was in more pain than 'alright.' She was holding a bundle of papers with one hand while trying to get up with the other. I helped her up.

"Why are you out of class, DaIn?"

"Oh, I have study hall right now, so I was doing some errands for the school."

"N-Never mind that," I shook my head, "C'mon."

I led her to the bench nearby. I squatted and saw that her ankle was starting to swell. She probably has a sprained ankle.

"May I?"

She hesitated and then nodded. I felt her ankle and she quickly winced. I looked up and she was already crying.

"Don't worry, it's just a little sprain! You'll feel better soon!" I smiled.

---

I supported her to the student help center, and Dr. Yoon's eyes widened.

"DaIn, what did you do? Where did you hurt yourself? Why--"

He looked up at me.

"Don't worry, he helped me here," DaIn said casually, "I sprained my ankle, so I needed someone to lean on."

Dr. Yoon continued to look at me for a few more seconds and then turned over to DaIn, "You should've been careful, DaIn-ah.."

"It's okay, Dad..." She said as I led her to the chair and helped her sit down, "I was just posting flyers for theater club."

Dad...? Dr. Yoon is her father?

He tsked as he raised her leg, "Little honeybee, I know you're clumsy, but please be careful..."

"I will, I will," she chuckled, "Oh! Dad, this is my friend, L."

Friend. I still like that word...

"N-Nice to meet you," I quickly bowed and shook his hand, "I'm Kim MyungSoo."

"L? MyungSoo? Which one is it?" He asked as he went over to the ice machine.

"He goes by the nickname L at school," DaIn replied.

He came back with a bag of ice and placed it on her ankle, "A-Ah! Now I remember! You're one of the new students aren't you? I overheard the teachers talking about you!"

I blinked a few times. Teachers talking about me?

"Something about... being a genius? I dunno, but they said you even ace the pop quizzes."

Ah, yes... We had a pop quiz this morning...

"How are you liking the school? Good?"

I nodded lightly.

"...You're a little quiet, aren't you?"

"Well, I didn't really need to talk until I came to this school."

"... Huh?"

"Er-- I mean... We didn't talk much at the orphanage. They were very strict about that."

He frowned a bit, "Well, MyungSoo, just know that we're always here to listen to whatever you have to say. There's no need to keep back and stay quiet. This is GiEunChan High School! We welcome people from everywhere!"

I smiled.

"So why don't you talk about your day so far, MyungSoo, since we've got you to talk a bit just now."

I gulped.

"Don't worry, MyungSoo..." DaIn giggled, "My dad is always like this... He's actually a psychiatrist with his own practice but he works part-time for the school."

Dr. Yoon chuckled and handed me a thick paper card. I looked up at him.

"What... is this?" I asked cautiously.

"It's my business card! You can call it if you ever want to talk to someone."

I smiled and stuffed it into my pocket, "Thank you!"

"Oh, MyungSoo! MinSeok told me you were joining Theater club. Is that true?"

"O-Oh, yes."

"I'm in that club, too!"

It seemed like I found myself encountering this female human way more than I had considered. First, Calculus class, then PE class, then the cat cafe, then the nurse's office, and now even Theater club? Well, it's not like it's a bad thing. DaIn seemed like a nice human.

"H-Hey."

The three of us looked at the door and saw Hoya.

"Um... Ms. Jung said that you need to meet her..." Hoya scratched his head.

---

"Now, student MyungSoo, can you tell me why you decided to walk out in the middle of my class today?" Ms. Jung said.

I gulped as I sat in a seat across from her desk.

"I-I'm sorry. I just saw DaIn injured outside, so I... instinctively..."

Ms. Jung frowned, "Well, it is nice of you to do that, but you should have raised your hand and asked before you suddenly ran."

"S-Sorry."

"It's alright, I'm not scolding you. I just have a duty to make sure the students are in class. Just think before you do anything out of impulse," Ms. Jung smiled, "Okay?"

I nodded. There was a knock on the door and a female human walked in. Her eyes went to me. I blinked.

"Yes, student YuJin?" Ms. Jung coughed.

She turned her eyes back to the teacher, "Oh, I came to turn in my homework."

"You can leave it here."

She walked over and placed it on Ms. Jung's desk.

"You can leave for lunch, now, too, MyungSoo."

I nodded and headed out. The girl was waiting outside the door.

"Hey," she called out. I stopped in my tracks and turned around.

"You're the new guy, right? Are you single?" The girl continued, "Can I have your number?"

"W-What?"

"Oh, gosh, you're so cute," She giggled, "Give me your hand."

I didn't even say anything before she ended up grabbing my hand anyway. She wrote some digits on my hand.

"Call me, okay? You have t