* * *

There was no way he’d be unharmed, not after falling from this height with so much force behind him.

His heart pounded like someone was gripping it tight, leaving him breathless from guilt and shock.

“I… I’m sorry… hnn, I’m so sorry… Wh-what do I….”

A sob escaped through clenched teeth as he struggled to think.

Feeling like an utter fool, Jungin cupped Beomhyeon’s face, which was still and unresponsive, fumbling for his phone in his pocket.

“119… we need to… call 119….”

As his hand, slippery with sweat, kept slipping on the screen, Jungin bit down on his lip to focus, when suddenly, Beomhyeon’s dark eyes slowly opened.

“Don’t… call them.”

“Ki Beomhyeon? You’re awake?”

He winced, as if his head hurt, but gave a slight nod.

“Are you alright? Come closer. Let me check if you’re hurt anywhere.”

“Ugh…”

Unable to hold back, Jungin threw his arms around his neck and clung to him, though he was much taller, making me dangle a bit.

But he didn’t care about that right now.

“Who’s worrying about who here?!”

He was the one injured, yet he looked at him with such regret, as if he was the one sorry.

Jungin felt like he’d die from guilt.

“Of course I’d worry about you.”

Though his hands were unsteady, he patted my back so gently that it made him want to cry even more.

Tears streamed down as Jungin clenched his teeth, thinking of that mad teacher who’d pushed them to this point.

“That madman…”

He turned and glared up at their homeroom teacher, who was still watching from the stairs.

Was he too stunned to run, or was he just waiting to shift the blame to him again?

Not this time.

Determined, Jungin clenched his fists and began to stand, but his ankle throbbed, causing him to stumble.

“Ow.”

“You’re hurt?”

“…Looks like it.”

“……”

Suddenly, the air around us turned ice-cold.

Beomhyeon’s gaze shifted up to the teacher on the stairs.

Feeling his stare, the teacher flinched and stepped back.

But Beomhyeon spoke first.

“Mr. Hyun Juwon.”

“…Oh, uh, yeah. Are… you guys alright? Hey, Jungin, you should really be more careful….”

The teacher finally rushed down the steps with teary eyes, acting as if he was genuinely concerned for us.

“Are you hurt? No dizziness or broken bones?”

Of course, Jungin expected him to react like this.

He always blamed Jungin, found it easier that way, thinking he’d get away with it as usual.

But this time was different.

Jungin glanced at his glasses on the ground.

They’d fallen off during the tumble, but they’d still managed to capture the image of the teacher pushing him.

Thankfully, they were still recording, the little green light blinking.

“It’s not that I wasn’t careful. You pushed me, didn’t you, sir?”

“What are you saying? Ha-ha… Jungin, you must be confused—”

“Mr. Hyun!”

A furious voice came from behind.

The principal strode toward us, glaring as he looked from Beomhyeon lying on the ground to me.

His face flushed as he directed his anger at our teacher.

“Have you lost your mind?”

“Principal…?”

Feigning innocence, our teacher widened his eyes until the principal thrust his phone in his face.

A look of horror spread over the teacher’s face.

“How… how did this…”

Jungin knew my brothers would be watching out for him.

He didn’t expect them to act this quickly, though.

The video playing on the screen clearly showed the teacher shoving me down the stairs.

“Good thing I had these glasses on.”

Without them, he would’ve slithered his way out of this again.

“This isn’t something I intend to leave to school discipline alone.”

Jungin spoke firmly, staring down the principal, who was nervously glancing between him and Beomhyeon.

Unlike the other bullies, the teacher was an adult, with a responsibility to protect him.

Instead, he was the one pushing the situation.

“I’ll see you at the police station.”

“You… have proof? This is defamation!”

He trembled, his expression turning hostile, dropping all pretense.

Jungin stepped toward him, glaring, then raised his voice just enough for everyone watching to hear.

“You mean like when you threw a potted plant at me? Or pushed me down the stairs? Or when you falsely accused me of things I never did and punished me in front of everyone?”

With each accusation, his face paled even more.

The students who’d come to watch gasped at his words.

Originally, he’d wanted to settle things quietly, as he’d suggested, but he was the one who blew this up.

He remembered a video his eldest brother had sent right before he got out of the car.

Jungin didn’t know how he’d gotten it, but the video clearly showed the teacher’s face as he threw a potted plant at me.

“I’d love to know why you hate me so much, sir.”

“…You…”

“I’ll hear your reason when the time comes. If you want even the slightest chance for a settlement, you’d better have a convincing explanation ready.”

Jungin’s ankle still hurt with each step, but with everyone watching, he kept a calm expression.

He met Beomhyeon’s gaze.

He looked as if he wanted to hold him right then and there, but Jungin shook his head firmly, noticing he’d hurt his arm too.

“Mr. Hyun, come with me to the principal’s office immediately. As for you students, return to your classrooms at once! Or you’ll each get five penalty points.”

He slowly turned, casting a sidelong glance at the teacher, and whispered quietly enough that only he could hear.

“Watch your back. I may be willing to let this go, but my brothers… not so much.”

Jungin laughed bitterly at his bloodshot glare, then left the school, moving slowly with Beomhyeon beside me.

“I just want to go home now.”

If the teacher’s case was resolved, hr’d have no reason to stay here.

Until hr could go back to normal, hr just wanted to spend his time quietly at home.

But reality was never that simple.

---

“In movies, they sometimes kill people with drugs while they’re asleep. Do you think that would be difficult?”

“Then he’d die too easily. Instead, if we turned off all the CCTV and took him to the hills…”

“You know we can hear you, right?”

How did things end up like this?

Ki Beomhyeon could clearly hear the conversation, but he skillfully pretended not to notice, acting as though nothing was amiss.

In the end, his brothers had caused such a commotion that even though there wasn’t a fracture, he ended up with a cast and had to stay in the hospital for a few days.

Jungin sighed as he lay on his bed, glancing over at Beomhyeon on the bed beside him.

He, too, had his arm in a cast.

Clearly, he’d hurt his arm trying to catch him when they both fell on the stairs.

“Hey… what do you think about getting a private room and just moving out?”

Ever since they’d been put in the same room, his brothers had been taking shifts, day and night, to stay with him.

With how tiring it was getting, was there even a reason to stay in the same room?

“Aren’t you worn out from having them around too?”

“I actually feel pretty good here. Maybe it’s because I’m an only child, but I get lonely easily, Jungin.”

Trying to coax him into moving had completely backfired.

The look he gave showed he had no plans to leave.

“Huh!”

A nurse who entered the room to check vitals looked surprised to see the three brothers surrounding Jungin.

Especially seeing the chair positioned with its back to her between him and Ki Beomhyeon… Jungin himself felt a bit… embarrassed.

* * *