Chapter 129: Brotherly Love, Solved Transfer, and Rose Day

What is this?

What’s going on?

Because of Ban Eunhyeol, I was the only one who couldn’t grasp the situation.

“No, how on earth did this happen? When did this even happen?”

“My goodness! If you were this badly hurt, you should’ve told us!”

Hearing Eunbada’s parents shout in panic, it seemed Eun Haneul had been seriously injured.

The wound was probably on his shoulder or back—somewhere you’d only see if you lifted his shirt.

I grabbed Ban Eunhyeol’s wrist and sharply pulled it down.

The arm he’d been trying to resist with fell helplessly.

The moment my blocked view cleared, I unconsciously inhaled at the sight before me.

‘That’s a wound from a monster attack?’

A scar that would’ve been impossible under normal circumstances had healed into an ugly mark.

The expressions on the parents’ faces as they looked at their son’s shoulder scar were soaked with shock and heartbreak.

“Does this look like a scar from an accident?”

“Yes.”

“Did you get caught up in a Gate or something?”

Eun Haneul answered shortly, then straightened his shirt and buttoned it up again.

The scar was no longer visible, but no one seemed to recover from the shock easily.

Especially Eunbada, who had only just learned the truth, and was visibly shaken knowing his older brother had suffered such a severe injury from a monster.

“These days, this is the world we live in.”

Eun Haneul’s dry gaze landed on Eunbada’s father.

“Sir, even after seeing this, do you still think that being number one in the nation is superior to the fifth-ranked Awakener in the hierarchy?”

“…Even if you get caught in a Gate, if you’re smart about it…”

“There’s a way to survive? So that’s why you survived with Bada’s help?”

Eunbada’s father, struck right at the heart, closed his mouth.

Watching him remain silent under Eun Haneul’s cold stare, Eun Haneul tapped the scarred spot and said,

“If it had been any worse, it wouldn’t have ended like this. If it weren’t for me, he’d be dead.”

Why was my name coming up all of a sudden?

‘Did I ever save Eunbada’s older brother?’

I’d been closing so many Gates that I hadn’t memorized every face I saved.

To think I had met Eunbada’s older brother without even realizing it, and even saved him!

My eyes widened in surprise before quickly masking my expression.

Eun Haneul let out a deep sigh.

“Gates opened, and the world was turned upside down. How long do you plan to keep living in the past?”

He could say “stop obsessing over grades and rankings” in such a roundabout way.

It actually sounded much better than our original plan to beg for Eunbada’s transfer.

As the eldest son he was so proud of brought this up, Eunbada’s parents showed signs of wavering.

“You saved my life, thanks to my son.”

With that brief but powerful remark, Eunbada’s father seemed completely knocked down.

He couldn’t even argue back and kept his mouth tightly shut.

Eunbada and his mother looked helplessly at the two fierce men’s conversation, unable to intervene.

‘Did we stop the transfer?’

I hoped this would also change Eunbada’s father’s mindset a bit.

Before obsessing over rankings and forcing a transfer, I wished he could see how powerful Eunbada really was.

“I’m going now.”

Leaving his father standing motionless in the living room, Eun Haneul went into his room and came out again, heading straight for the front door.

Since he wasn’t holding anything when he came in, he must have come to get something from home.

He stepped forward after hearing about Eunbada’s transfer situation.

‘Showing his scars to persuade his father…

He must care more about Eunbada than I thought.’

Otherwise, why would he lift his shirt and reveal the scar in front of his brother’s friends gathered in the living room?

Eun Haneul had done all he could now.

From here on, it was Eunbada’s turn to ride this momentum and persuade his father.

Bang—

The door shut, and Eunbada, with a dazed expression after seeing off his brother, turned to his father with a determined look.

“Father, I have something to say.”

We decided it was best to leave, so we quickly said our goodbyes and left the house.

***

After the weekend, the moment I saw Eunbada’s face at school, he looked much brighter than usual.

“Did it get settled well?”

“Yeah. I’m staying here and not transferring.”

Hearing such welcome news, everyone broke into broad smiles and congratulated him.

I didn’t know what they had talked about, but it was touching that Eunbada, who had always been obedient, was finally standing up for himself.

Later, the girls who had found out Eunbada might have transferred went wild.

“How could the Four Heavenly Kings be broken? That’s the only reason I come to school.”

“To think someone tried to tear down the emblems of Sensung High… Unforgivable.”

“We can’t let our Four Heavenly Kings be sent anywhere else.”

“Not even in death.”

No matter where I went, the transfer rumors were everywhere.

‘If he really had transferred, it would’ve been a group transfer at least.’

Especially the girls who called themselves Eunbada’s followers would have followed him wherever he went.

“Bada! Don’t go anywhere, got it?”

“No, wherever you go, we’ll follow!”

“This is something we all prepared with love! Read it slowly.”

As the girls who kept looking for Eunbada during breaks became a familiar sight, one of them stepped forward and handed Eunbada a thick notebook.

‘LE?’

I think I know what that is.

Judging by her shy expression and trembling hands as she gave the notebook, I was probably right.

“Thanks.”

Eunbada smiled warmly and accepted the notebook, then the girl dashed out of the classroom.

“What’s so special about this?”

Curious, Ban Eunhyeol flipped open the notebook Eunbada held.

Sitting beside him, I could see the phrases and drawings at a glance.

“Find the end of this line? How are you supposed to find that?”

“It’s written down here. The day you find the end is the day things end with that girl and the other one from before?”

It looked pretty interesting, so Yeon Ha-yeon, who had been studying, peeked at the notebook too.

Pointing at the phrases under the tangled lines and laughing, Yeon Ha-yeon mocked Ban Eunhyeol, who frowned at the chaotic drawing.

“This is fun. Anything else?”

I already felt like I didn’t need to see more.

I turned my gaze from the notebook to the window, but I could clearly hear Yeon Ha-yeon reading the phrases aloud.

“I picked you? Ahaha, look! There’s a heart inside a pot here.”

“Where? Wow, there’s a mirror too! Bada, do you see the words ‘I love you’ on the mirror?”

Joining in, Han Ji-bin laughed with Yeon Ha-yeon and started looking through the notebook.

Ji-bin deliberately covered the words written under the mirror drawing with her palm and smiled broadly, handing the notebook back to Eunbada.

“I don’t see it. Where is it written?”

There was no way I could see it.

The drawings were made for another purpose in the first place…

Unlike me, whose eyes were slowly losing focus, the others seemed genuinely excited.

No matter how many times they received these, it always felt new.

“If you don’t see it, then you’re blind to my love, oppa.”

Ji-bin read the phrase directly from the notebook and gave Eunbada a teasing wink.

“Ugh, that’s gross.”

“It’s fun! Let’s look at something else.”

The love notes carefully prepared by the Eunhasu followers were truly elaborate.

I wondered how long it took them to prepare all this—every drawing was pretty, and every line was charming.

They had clearly put in a lot of effort.

“Bada!”

“Yeah?”

“Which do you like best—chocolate milk, strawberry milk, or banana milk?”

“Hmm, they’re all delicious.”

“I have a special milk I want to give you. Love milk!”

Isn’t it about time to stop looking?

Since they were having so much fun, I couldn’t just pour cold water on them.

I decided to block my ears instead.

I rummaged through my bag and pulled out some earplugs.

Ban Eunhyeol, watching me with his chin resting on his hand, chuckled softly and scribbled something on his desk.

[You have to get used to this now.]

When I was in that other dimension, I never dared tell anyone this was a world inside a novel, but there was one thing I mentioned.

The school scenery in my original dimension was very different from this place.

Just that one sentence was enough for Ban Eunhyeol to roughly figure out why I hated this so much.

There was nothing like this in that other dimension.

I hesitated for a moment before writing below what he had scribbled.

Then I put the earplugs back in my bag.

Ordinary days went by, no different from usual.

I kept trying to adapt to this dimension, and Ban Eunhyeol watched me with approving eyes day after day.

Today too, I left home thinking nothing special would happen.

But…

‘Why is it all roses everywhere?’

People holding red roses were seen everywhere.

There were even roses being sold in front of the school.

Only after reading the large banner did I understand why everyone was carrying roses like this.

[ Express your heart with a single rose!]

Somehow, I felt I shouldn’t go into the classroom today.