* * *
Jungseo was a college student, but the other two were supposed to have jobs, yet Jungin had never seen them leave for work.
“Don’t you guys ever go to work?”
“We work from home.”
“Yeah, right. Like a new employee can work from home for over two weeks. Stop lying—”
Thud.
Thump.
Jungseo’s head was knocked forward as he was hit by both brothers, rubbing his head as he grumbled.
“They’re all telling me to go to school, but I’ve decided—I’m taking a break. I didn’t even get to rest after military service, so I’ll just take care of the kid and chill for a while.”
“Says who? Mom will never allow that.”
“Exactly. And if you get another F, you’re going straight back to the dorms. Jungwoo, you’re going to work, and I’ll take the kid to the hospital myself. Jungseo’s right. You shouldn’t be slacking off as a new employee.”
The relationship between the three brothers seemed both bad and good at the same time.
Despite their bickering, the way they looked out for each other made Jungin feel a bit warm inside.
“Ah, hyung!”
“I don’t have any classes this morning. I’ll go in the afternoon—”
“Jungwoo, Jungseo.”
In the end, as the eldest, they couldn’t say no.
They ruffled Jungin’s hair before saying their goodbyes.
“Jungin, take care at the hospital. Call us if you need anything, alright?”
“Take care, kid. Don’t get sick.”
“Yeah… You guys, too. Take care.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
Jungin left the house with Jungjin driving him to the hospital.
Normally, they’d have to take a number and wait, but since Y Hospital was part of the Hyun Group
Foundation, they were able to see Dr. Choi, the family doctor, right away.
“It’s just a mild fever.”
“But his temperature was over 38 degrees…”
“Actually, it’s 37.6 degrees.”
The doctor had conveniently rounded up.
No wonder Jungin didn’t feel like he was dying.
“Still, don’t you think he should be admitted? He’s a fragile child…”
“Growing kids need to be outside.”
Nice one, Doctor.
With that, the eldest brother’s subtle pressure to admit Jungin was neatly dismissed.
“Cough, see? He said I can go to school now.”
“…You’re still coughing…”
Sometimes, Jungin wondered if Jungjin was more like his dad than his brother.
The way he looked at him with such concern tugged at his heart.
As he chewed on his lip, they heard a knock at the door.
“Sir, there’s been an emergency. The factory in Gangwon-do has caught fire.”
Jungjin’s assistant came rushing in, pale-faced, holding a tablet to show him the situation.
Jungin didn’t understand the details, but he knew something had gone wrong with the factory equipment.
Shouldn’t his brother be rushing off to the company or the factory right now?
Jungin glanced at his brother’s face, and sure enough, the assistant anxiously urged him to hurry.
“Sir, we need to leave right away.”
Their eyes met briefly, and Jungin felt a little bad for the assistant.
Maybe he should help him out…?
“Hyung, I want to go to school now.”
“Kiddo…”
“It’s not far from here to school. Just drop me off, and you can go straight to the company.”
Still hesitant, Jungjin was clearly worried, so Jungin wrapped his arms around his waist and said something that made even him cringe.
“Please, Jungjin hyung….”
“…Fine. But if you feel sick, you call right away. Don’t push yourself. Got it?”
“Okay!”
Whatever medicine Dr. Choi had prescribed was working wonders—his headache had subsided, and the coughing had stopped.
Jungin nodded eagerly, flashing a smile, and finally, Jungjin seemed relieved. He patted his brother’s head.
“Alright, take care.”
“I will. Don’t worry.”
“Okay. Now go. Your assistant looks like he’s going to cry.”
Jungin figured his brother wouldn’t move until he left first, so he quickly turned around and walked briskly toward the school.
He thought his brother must have gone by now, so he stopped and glanced back. Jungjin was still standing there, watching him.
Catching his brother’s gaze, Jungin felt a lump rise in his throat and waved at him.
Once inside the school, Jungin crossed the playground and was about to enter the building when ‘thud’, something fell behind him.
A sense of foreboding washed over him as he slowly turned his head and saw a broken flowerpot lying on the ground.
“Are you out of your mind?”
Jungin’s eyes trembled as he stared at the shattered pot.
When he looked up, he caught sight of someone hurriedly closing a window and disappearing from view.
“Hah… you think hiding will help? I saw everything.”
Clenching his jaw, Jungin felt sweat pooling in his palm as he exhaled shakily.
He was sure it was his homeroom teacher.
How ridiculous…
It wasn’t something you’d expect from classmates, let alone a teacher.
Was this what it felt like to be so flabbergasted that you couldn’t even speak?
Jungin let out a dry laugh and gazed at the shattered debris in front of him.
If that had hit him in the head…
“Tsk, how awful.”
Resolving to make sure his homeroom teacher was added to his list of targets for revenge, Jungin headed up the stairs toward his classroom.
As soon as the bell rang, signaling break time, a few students in the hallway stared at him curiously.
Actually, they were openly gawking.
“Ugh.”
“Nice~”
Jungin suddenly tripped over an outstretched leg and banged his knee on the floor.
Of all places, it had to be where he was already injured, and the pain nearly brought tears to his eyes.
As he raised his head, gritting his teeth, he saw a group of students behind him high-fiving each other in delight.
With a deep sigh, Jungin squinted as if he had expected this.
Was that the same guy who played that stupid foot trick yesterday?
“Hey.”
Jungin approached the guy, noting the name on his name tag—Choi Jingeon.
He mentally added another name to his list of revenge targets before stomping on Jingeon’s foot.
“Argh! Ow!”
Jingeon screamed and reached out toward Jungin, but Jungin quickly stepped back, blinking innocently as if he didn’t know Jingeon’s foot had been there.
“Screw you! What the hell is wrong with you?!”
“Oh, sorry, didn’t realize your foot was there. Cough, does it hurt a lot?”
Feigning weakness, Jungin coughed lightly, pretending to inspect Jingeon’s foot with a concerned expression.
He had sharpened the tips of his crampons just enough not to be lethal, but stepping on someone’s foot with them still had to hurt like hell.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you? Damn it, what the hell is wrong with you?!”
Did you really think I’d just keep putting up with this?
Noticing people’s attention starting to focus on them, Jungin took a deep breath, making his face flush red as tears welled up in his eyes.
He blinked slowly, letting the tears trickle down his cheeks.
“Hey, Lee Jungin!”
“S-sorry, sniff, I didn’t mean to…”
Jungin wiped his eyes beneath his glasses, his voice trembling as he apologized.
Some of the students who had been watching for entertainment began to speak up.
“Come on, isn’t this going too far?”
“Seriously. It’s not like Jungin did it on purpose. Jingeon’s a Bastard too.”
“Hey, cut it out already.”
Jingeon seemed flustered by the jeers directed at him.
As Jungin hung his head, tears dripping onto the floor, the corners of his mouth curled slightly.
“Fine… just be careful from now on, okay?”
“Y-yeah, sorry.”
Jungin nodded and turned toward his seat as Jingeon let go of him.
‘Ah, sweet victory.’
Jingeon rubbed his foot, clearly uncomfortable under the watching eyes of others, and for a brief moment, Jungin felt a pang of guilt.
But the satisfaction far outweighed it.
Trying not to hum with glee, Jungin, who was still slightly flushed from excitement, popped a vitamin gummy—courtesy of his older brother—and started preparing for the next class.
* * *
Nice one lmaooo
GET HIM AGAIN
Thanks
Thanks
I really need to see the school shuts down cuz of the bullying
Thanks