“Has something been going on lately?”
Eun Ba Da didn’t hesitate and went straight to the point.
At that moment, all of us looked only at Ji Kang Han’s mouth, waiting for his response.
“Something? No, nothing.”
His answer deflated the mood instantly, but Ban Eun Hyeol took a step forward and slammed his hand down on the desk.
“Nothing? Anyone can tell just by looking.”
“There’s really nothing.”
Ji Kang Han gently pushed Ban Eun Hyeol’s hand away and sank back into his chair.
At that moment, with wide, startled eyes, we exchanged glances and quietly watched Ji Kang Han’s back as he tried to get some sleep after a long time.
“Nothing?”
Ban Eun Hyeol walked over to us, narrowing his eyes.
“See? I told you there’s nothing going on. Even without him saying a word, you could tell just by looking at his expression.”
We left Ji Kang Han to sleep and went up to the rooftop.
“Maybe he’s just been less tired lately?”
“No, that’s not it… He really looked troubled.”
“Not just the lack of sleep, but didn’t his expression seem kind of off?”
“Yeah, that too.”
No conclusion was reached.
No matter how many times we gathered and speculated about what was going on, since Ji Kang Han said nothing was wrong, we couldn’t press further.
Even after spending about an hour on the rooftop and coming down, Ji Kang Han was still asleep.
Since he didn’t seem bothered despite saying nothing was wrong, we decided to just turn off our worries completely.
Drip drip drip—
“Stop shaking your leg.”
“Huh? Was I shaking my leg? But why do you keep biting your nails?”
I must have been shaking my leg without realizing it.
Ban Eun Hyeol looked at me with a strange expression while fiddling with my desk, and it wasn’t a good look.
He was biting his nails anxiously, probably feeling the same way I did.
At the same time, we glanced sideways toward Eun Ba Da and Yeon Ha Yeon to see what they were up to.
“Looks like they’re working on problem sets.”
Yeon Ha Yeon was repeatedly clicking a section of a problem set with a mechanical pencil.
If he pressed just a bit harder, he’d probably pierce the pages with the pencil tip.
Eun Ba Da wasn’t much different.
Since the possession, it was the first time I’d seen Eun Ba Da sitting dazed during class.
Ji Seong Bin, pretending not to notice, kept resting his chin on his hand and stealing glances at the sleeping Ji Kang Han.
“…Hey, this isn’t going to work.”
In the end, after the ceremony ended, we let Ji Kang Han leave first and gathered for a strategy meeting.
“Should we follow him?”
“That’s kind of too much, don’t you think?”
“Right? Then what do we do?”
Even after brainstorming together, no good plan came up.
Exhausted, we just decided to head downtown to shake off our worries about Ji Kang Han.
“Hey, isn’t that Ji Kang Han?”
We didn’t plan to follow him, but by luck, we caught sight of him walking somewhere in the city.
“This isn’t the way to Kang Han’s house.”
Han Ji Bin’s eyes shone sharply as he signaled us to follow discreetly.
We suppressed our presence and quietly trailed Ji Kang Han, keeping a distance.
Only after reaching the neighboring district did we finally see his destination.
“This is Jangnam High School?”
Han Ji Bin tilted his head with a suspicious look, staring at the high school before us.
“Jangnam High?”
We knew about the school’s existence, but it wasn’t attended by any of the higher-ranking Gifteds, and we had little contact with its students.
But I knew Ji Kang Han didn’t have many friends besides us, so why would he voluntarily go to another school?
“This is an all-boys school. Could Kang Han have a friend there?”
“He doesn’t have friends other than us.”
“Then family?”
“He’s an only child.”
Come to think of it, I’d never heard he had siblings.
We hid near Jangnam High, trying to see what Ji Kang Han was up to.
If he was waiting for a friend, he’d wait in front of the main gate, but Ji Kang Han, like us, stayed hidden.
“Hey, what’s he doing?”
Just as we were watching with puzzled eyes, Ji Kang Han’s expression suddenly changed as he gazed indifferently at a group of male students coming out of the school gate.
Still moving stealthily, Ji Kang Han followed behind the group like a highly skilled dungeon crawler, with swift and delicate movements.
We silently exchanged glances and quietly followed Ji Kang Han’s trail behind the boys.
But Ji Kang Han’s behavior was very strange.
His gaze was fixed on the shortest boy in the group.
Moreover, whenever the other boys ruffled that boy’s hair or patted his shoulder, Ji Kang Han’s glare became fierce.
It felt like a deeply personal matter, so we gave up watching and headed back into the city.
Nobody spoke first while we walked.
All our faces looked full of complicated thoughts.
“…We were out of line.”
“It’s their secret. We shouldn’t have followed them.”
“We should have waited for Kang Han to tell us first…”
“This is something we never imagined.”
“But what if we misjudged? Seeing just a little might not be enough to decide…”
“That might be true. But let’s not try to find out more.”
At Ban Eun Hyeol’s firm words, everyone nodded and parted with complicated expressions.
After that, we accidentally found out more bits about Ji Kang Han’s unusual behavior several times.
The boy Ji Kang Han was watching was a second-year student who had recently transferred to Jangnam High. Rumor had it he came from overseas and had fully settled in Korea.
There was also talk he had been in the US for a long time for surgery due to illness.
His name was Ji Seong Bin.
Because he shared the same surname as Ji Kang Han, we wondered if they might be relatives, but Ji Kang Han wouldn’t be following a relative like that, so it was unlikely.
“Are you sure Ji Kang Han isn’t related to him?”
“We’ve been close since childhood; how would we not know?”
These days, Ji Kang Han had gone out harshly right after the ceremony, so we were just hanging out in the park.
“Hey, look there…!”
Han Ji Bin suddenly pointed somewhere with wide eyes.
Following his finger, we saw Ji Kang Han walking behind Ji Seong Bin with his hands shoved deep in his pockets.
Without a word, we quietly got up from the bench.
“Let’s go together.”
“I told you to keep some distance. I don’t want to draw attention.”
“Got it. Just walk slowly. Don’t trip.”
Hmm?
“Did you think you could secretly follow him every day without me noticing?”
“You knew?”
Hmm?
Even Ban Eun Hyeol, who was usually unshaken, was clearly shaken by this confrontation.
The two of them then walked separately, keeping a respectful distance without much conversation.
“What? I thought he looked cute, but it turns out he’s a guy?”
“Why is he so short?”
Just then, some bullies approached Ji Seong Bin from behind.
We could only see the back of the scene, but Ji Kang Han’s tense mood was obvious.
“Get lost while you still can.”
“Did you hear that?”
“Looks like he lost his nerve, this bastard.”
“Think we’ll go easy on you because you look cute?”
Ji Seong Bin’s low warning voice was met with laughter from the bullies, who moved threateningly closer.
Ji Kang Han looked ready to jump in, but for some reason, he couldn’t step forward first.
The bullies, unaware of Ji Kang Han behind them, raised their fists as if ready to attack.
“Ahh!”
At that moment, Ji Seong Bin—who looked like he had no strength—grabbed the bully’s wrist and fiercely twisted it.
“Uh…?”
“Do we really need to step in?”
“Ji Kang Han’s just standing there too.”
“Good job! The guy behind you, too!”
We watched nervously as Yeon Ha Yeon, excited and gripping his fists, was looked at with disbelief.
Contrary to our worries, Ji Seong Bin fought very well.
It was the first time in a while we’d seen such a fight, and it was secretly thrilling.
Ji Kang Han stood frozen, watching Ji Seong Bin fight.
After knocking all the bullies down, Ji Seong Bin dusted his hands off and turned toward Ji Kang Han.
“Hey! Behind you!”
One of the knocked-down bullies suddenly grabbed Ji Seong Bin’s ankle, causing him to stagger and nearly fall forward.
Ji Kang Han quickly rushed over, catching Ji Seong Bin, eyes blazing with determination, and stepped toward the bullies one by one.
“Ji… Ji Kang Han?”
“What is this… Wait! We didn’t know you were friends! We should have taken more…”
Bam!
Ji Kang Han’s punch slammed the bully’s head sideways.
“Hey, stop, stop!”
Seeing this, Ban Eun Hyeol jumped forward, shouting.
Back in the day, throwing punches like this wouldn’t have been a big deal, but now it was different.
“If a Gifted beats a non-Gifted, they’ll definitely get caught!”
“Being in a guild is a fine! The guild pays the fine! No way!”
Ban Eun Hyeol shouted as he grabbed Ji Kang Han, who seemed ready to take down the bullies alone.
Holding Ji Kang Han’s shoulders from behind, Ban Eun Hyeol glanced at Yeon Ha Yeon.
“We’ll handle this at Hyeolhwa. Calm down.”
“W-What is this…”
Ji Seong Bin was shocked to see us suddenly appear and took a step back.
“Yeah.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.