Romantic Gangster

#39

Gazes clung to them everywhere they went together. Hyun-joon must have heard those stories too, but he didn’t say anything about it. So Ji-woo didn’t bring it up either.

Although Choi Young-jae’s obvious caution created an awkward atmosphere occasionally, no one spoke up first, so they ate lunch as if nothing had happened.

After lunch, their homeroom teacher was in front of the classroom. The teacher said he had something to talk about and took Hyun-joon away. Ji-woo worriedly watched Hyun-joon, who followed reluctantly with a clearly unwilling face, as he entered the classroom with Choi Young-jae.

“I couldn’t say anything because Hyun-joon was always around, but you heard too, right? About the first-year being dragged away.”

“Yeah. I heard this morning. But why are you being so cautious around Hyun-joon?”

“It’s a bit awkward, isn’t it? It’s obvious the kids he hangs out with did it. Hyun-joon might have been involved too.”

“Hyun-joon didn’t do it. He came to the convenience store yesterday and stayed there. After I finished, we went to his house because we were hungry.”

“Oh, really? Then I guess he wasn’t involved.”

Ji-woo disliked how easily Young-jae suspected and then just as easily dismissed it with an “I guess not” attitude. Although he couldn’t blame only Young-jae since everyone was easily swayed, it still made him feel terrible.

“I’m telling you, Hyun-joon isn’t that kind of person.”

“Birds of a feather flock together, and Hyun-joon has been hanging out with them, right? So naturally, when one of them causes trouble, Hyun-joon gets lumped in. Plus, they all suck up to Hyun-joon. That’s why there are rumors that Hyun-joon ordered it.”

“…”

“Well, I get that Hyun-joon didn’t do it, but there’s a reason for the rumors, you know. That’s why Hyun-joon should cut ties with those bastards quickly.”

Ji-woo felt frustrated. Apart from feeling disappointed in Young-jae, he was worried about Hyun-joon. He should have been preparing for the 6th period test, but he couldn’t focus and kept thinking about Hyun-joon. Feeling that waiting like this was pointless, he decided to at least go towards the staff room and stood up. Young-jae grabbed his sleeve.

“Where are you going? Are you angry?”

“I’m not angry. I’ll just go to the staff room for a moment.”

“Oh…”

Ji-woo looked away from Young-jae, who was watching him carefully, and left the classroom heading for the staff room. He could feel occasional glances, but they were just looks because he was visible, not furtive glances while whispering and secretly watching. Realizing that the countless stares he had felt since morning until just now were all directed at Hyun-joon made him feel even more conflicted.

“…”

Peeking into the staff room, he saw that the homeroom teacher’s seat was empty. It seemed they were talking in the inner counseling room.

As he was lingering by the window, thinking he should wait outside for a while, two familiar but not quite familiar faces came out of the staff room. He could easily recall where he had seen these boys. They were the ones who had harassed him at the pool hall before, touching him slyly.

“Oh?”

Although he avoided their gaze, they seemed to recognize him and approached with unpleasant smiles, blocking his way. Ji-woo checked the name tags of the two people in front of him. Kim Seung-chan, Jo Seung-jae. They were exactly the ones his classmates had mentioned.

“Waiting for Hyun-joon?”

“…”

“It’ll take a while for him to come out.”

“Is he with our homeroom teacher?”

“No, it’s chaos in there.”

“Why? Is Hyun-joon under suspicion?”

“Curious? Want us to tell you?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go over there. It’s not good to talk about it here.”

Honestly, although he was curious about what was happening with Hyun-joon inside, he had no intention of following these two. He had already confirmed how low-class they were. He wasn’t stupid enough to experience the same thing twice.

“No. I’ll just wait and ask him directly.”

“We told you it’ll take a while for him to come out.”

“I’ll wait, that’s all.”

“You weren’t like this at the pool hall before, but now you’re acting like Hyun-joon’s wife. I guess Hyun-joon must have poked you well all over. You’ve completely lost it.”

They were indeed people he shouldn’t associate with. If they could say such things openly in front of the staff room where a teacher could come out at any time, something terrible would happen if they went to a less frequented place. Ji-woo tried to pass by them towards the staff room door. It seemed better to safely go inside and stand by the homeroom teacher’s desk.

“What the hell? What did we do for you to run away? We said we’d tell you!”

The grip on his wrist was rough. Helplessly dragged by the tremendous force, Ji-woo tried to shake off his wrist to be released, but it was futile.

“Let go.”

“Ah, you really don’t listen. Hey, release your pheromones.”

As soon as those words ended, a strong alpha pheromone engulfed him. The mix of different scents made it hard to breathe. It felt different from Hyun-joon’s careful, helpful pheromones. It was unpleasant and made him feel bad. He was scared and kept losing strength in his body.

Arms from both sides grabbed him as if supporting him and headed somewhere. Even though he tried to put strength in his feet to not touch the ground, his body moved.

Facing such strong pheromones, and a mix of two people’s at that, his vision blurred. Even though he had no strength in his body, Ji-woo tried his best to escape. But it had no effect on the two guys.

“Hey, open the door.”

With the sound of the door opening, there was an acrid smell. Cigarette smoke. Thrown inside, Ji-woo sat on the floor and opened his mouth, trying to breathe properly. Due to the alpha pheromones, his body alternated between feeling hot and cold. It was so hard to breathe that he thought he might really die.

“Hey, the teachers are already suspicious, is it okay to do this at school?”

“What do you mean is it okay? What did we do?”

“We’re not supposed to release pheromones at school.”

“We released them to bring him because he wouldn’t listen, did we release them to fuck him? You’re talking weird. Are you trying to back out now, like you were forced to do it because I told you to?”

“That’s right. I didn’t say a single word after leaving the staff room, fuck.”

“Then you should have said not to do it earlier. You released your pheromones right away when I said to, and now you’re making a fuss?”

Whether it was due to heightened emotions or not, the alpha pheromones seemed to spread even stronger. Even trying to breathe through his mouth, Ji-woo couldn’t catch his breath properly. As he lowered his head to the floor, panting, and exhaled deeply, his body felt like it was melting with heat, and unstable pheromones began to burst out.

“What the hell?”

Surprised by the omega’s immense pheromone release, both of them looked down at the panting Ji-woo simultaneously.

“Shit, what’s going on? Is he going to die like this?”

“You crazy bastard, fuck. This is why I said not to talk to him…! Ah. Hey, I don’t know. You talked to him and you told him to release his pheromones, so if something happens to him, you take responsibility alone.”

The sound of one person’s footsteps faded away, and the door was opened and closed forcefully. Soon, the two feet standing in front of Ji-woo disappeared as well.

“…Haa…”

When he opened his eyes after closing them, tears were falling onto the floor. His whole body was trembling, and he felt dizzy. Hyun-joon. Only Hyun-joon’s face came to mind. Ji-woo managed to take out his phone from his pocket.

The screen kept blurring in his hazy vision. Wiping away tears and wiping again, he tried to make a call, but the screen turned black and the desperate name ‘Hyun-joon’ appeared. Ji-woo pressed the call button and barely managed to put the phone to his ear with his forehead against the floor.

“Where are you? Why aren’t you in the classroom?”

“Hyun-joon…”

“Hey, why does your voice sound like that? Where are you?”

“Here, here… I don’t know, here…”

“Who are you with?”

“Alone, I’m alone…”

“Tell me slowly. Young-jae said you went to the staff room, but you weren’t in front of it.”

Maybe it was because he heard Hyun-joon’s voice, but he felt a little relieved. Ji-woo curled up and voiced what came to his hazy mind.

“I was in front of the staff room… Your friends came out and suddenly released their pheromones. Stairs, we went up stairs, I can’t, can’t breathe well… Haa, what should I do… Hyun-joon… Can you, come?”

“Stairs? Stairs in front of the staff room?”

“…Yeah…”

Whether it was because the pheromones were flowing severely, his body felt like it was melting all over. Ji-woo couldn’t say anything more and barely managed to keep the phone to his ear. He wanted to hold onto at least Hyun-joon’s voice, feeling like something terrible would happen if he didn’t have even that.

“I’ll be there soon.”

How long had it been since those words saying he’d come soon? He heard the sound of the door opening again. Tensing up, he wondered if it was those two people who had left earlier coming back.

“Seo Ji-woo!”

The moment he heard the approaching footsteps and the voice calling his name, the tension that had filled his body from fear drained away. Ji-woo lifted his head at the firm but not at all frightening touch grabbing his arm. Through his teary, blurry vision, he saw Hyun-joon’s face.