Chapter XLVII – To Be A Hero

Closing their textbooks, the English class was finally coming to an end. It’s been a week since the school trip and everyone was once again focused deeply on their studies.

“Alright class,” Miss Kim said while approaching the whiteboard. “As you all know, in a few weeks we’ll be holding the finals. I’m warning you ahead of time so that you can improve upon your midterm scores. While they weren’t bad, I know for a fact that this class can top those results easily.”

“Ugh. . . Again?” Max dreaded her announcement. “It feels like it’s been a week since midterms. . .”

“I know right. . .” Tjay sighed, as the two made Arthur chuckle.

“Quiet. . .” the teacher warned them.

The bell rang signifying the end of their final period, but everyone remained seated.

“Class dismissed. . .” Miss Kim sighed as she watched everyone impatiently waiting for her to dismiss them.

Packing her things she slowly left the classroom. It didn’t even take a second upon her leaving for everyone to get up and start chatting. Everyone was complaining about the tests ahead of time.

“So. . . Finals huh. . .” Max said as he jumped onto Don’s desk.

“I don’t even get why we have to do them. . .” Tjay rolled his eyes.

“That’s cuz you cheat. . .” Arthur called him out on it.

“Dude. . . Not here. . .” Tjay tried to silence him.

“He’s right though,” Irene backed up Arthur.

“Of course, the princess would side with her prince,” Tjay crossed his arm.

“I do like the sound of that,” Irene chuckled.

“You guys are unbelievable. . .” Max mumbled looking towards Don and Nabi who remained quiet.

“Want to form a study group?” Don suggested. “I bet we could score high if we work together.”

“Sounds like a great idea,” Irene answered. “We could also invite the rest of the girls. Nabi you in?”

“I ugh. . .” she mumbled hesitantly.

“I’m in,” Max said taking out his phone to ask Iseul.

“We could do it at my place,” Don suggested again. “Got enough room, and I think I’m closest to everyone.”

“True. . .” Arthur mumbled but then realized that he doesn’t know where Tjay lived. “Tjay, where are you from?”

“Huh?” Tjay looked at him confused.

“I mean where do you live right now?”

“Oh, Cheongdam-dong in Gangnam.”

Arthur was surprised, but it explained a lot. Cheongdam-dong boasts some of the most expensive real estate in the country.

He hadn’t realized it before, but all of his friends were well off. Max and Iseul came from a family that owned a small business. Tjay’s family remains a complete mystery, but considering where he lived, it was easy to assume he was loaded, which also explained how he got away with everything. It wouldn’t surprise him to learn that his parents sponsored the school in some way. Arthur knew that Nabi’s parents were also somewhat influential people, as far as he remembered they were business-oriented. From what Sophie told Arthur, Ari isn’t exactly from a wealthy family either but they are upper-middle class. He also didn’t know what Irene’s and Don’s parents did. However, considering they lived on their own within large apartments, it was a safe guess that they were well off.

This raised all sorts of questions, but it also made Arthur wonder just how the rest were financially. Much like his old world, money ruled everything.

Well. . . Nothing can be done about it right now. . .

“So, you joining us Art?” Don asked.

“Do I even have a choice?” he looked towards Irene who just smiled at him while shaking her head.

“Nonna said she’ll skip today, but there’s time later for her to join us,” Max said while looking at his phone.

“I’ll text Sophie,” Irene said seeing as Arthur still hasn’t done it.

As the classroom doors opened for the hundredth time, since everyone was slowly making their way out, Tjay was confused by the sudden unprovoked annoyance that he felt.

“Hey,” he heard a familiar voice.

Turning around, his confusion was cleared up as he saw Wang Hyun standing behind him, Nabi’s boyfriend. It was as if he had a sixth sense for detecting him.

“Hyun?” Nabi looked at him surprised. “I thought you were gonna wait for me outside.”

“I thought about it but decided to come here instead. Hope you don’t mind,” he waved to the rest. “Hey, guys.”

“Hey,” they all mumbled.

“Hope you don’t mind me stealing Nabi away from you, but we’ll miss the movie if we don’t head out now,” he approached her and without hesitation kissed her on the lips in front of everyone.

It wasn’t a simple peck either.

“Hyun. . .” Nabi whispered flustered as she felt uncomfortable doing so in front of her friends, but at the same time felt like she couldn’t castigate him for it.

It was safe to say that things got a bit awkward with Tjay around, but somehow he remained cool through it.

“You two going to go see a movie?” Irene inquired, trying to ease the situation and act somewhat normal.

“Yeah. . . I’ll tell you about it later,” Nabi answered, grabbing Hyun by his arm and dragging him away. “Cya guys later.”

It was a short and unpleasant interaction. Arthur hadn’t spoken to him, so he didn’t necessarily have an opinion formed yet. Max on the other hand disliked him purely based on the fact that he was Tjay’s love rival, even if he didn’t want to admit it. Don felt bad for Tjay, but he couldn’t bring himself to dislike someone. Irene on the other hand had more than a few interactions with him when she hung out with Nabi, but she never stated her opinion of him apart from respecting Nabi’s decision.

“I hate that guy. . .” Tjay said rolling his eyes and letting out a sigh. Irene approached him, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Just say it. . .”

“Say what?” she asked.

“Come on. . . I know you can’t wait to poke fun at me.”

“Nah, the guy’s a dick. . .” she surprised everyone. “Sure, he’s nice to her and all, but he knew exactly what he was doing.”

“Right?” Max said rhetorically, stating his annoyance.

“So. . . That study group?” Arthur interrupted.

“Oh, right!” Irene checked her phone. “Hmm. . . Seems like Sophie and Ari will be joining us, but they’re already outside so they’ll wait in the park.”

“I’ll be joining you guys,” Tjay said.

“You’ll be studying?” Max asked confusedly.

“No, but it beats the hell out of hanging out alone. . . Don’t worry, I won’t distract you. Maybe I could even test you guys. Would be fun to have the role of a teacher!”

“I’m down for that,” Irene smiled, tapping him on the shoulder.

“Then it’s settled,” Max said jumping off the table.

“I’ll go home and grab my notes,” Irene said. “It shouldn’t take me long, and between Don’s and mine, we should have all the material covered.”

“I’ll go with you,” Arthur cut in, finally getting out of his chair.

“We should go get us some drinks and snacks then,” Tjay suggested to Max.

“Sure.”

“Then I guess I’ll meet up with Ari and Sophie at the park and we can all meet up at my place once everyone has their things,” Don said.

Upon agreeing on a plan of action, everybody took their leave.

Cleaning up his glasses, Don walked along a narrow path within the park. He was on his way to meet up with Ari and Sophie as per agreement.

He typically wouldn’t go through the park, but it wasn’t as if it was a long way home either.

Adjusting his glasses, he saw the girls standing in the distance, but they weren’t alone. Three more guys were standing next to them. They were wearing West High uniforms.

He could sense trouble ahead which made him stop approaching.

His vision wasn’t exactly the best even with the glasses on, so he took out his phone and zoomed in on their faces only to recognize two out of the three. They were the same guys that confronted Max when they were headed to Cyber Shark.

Based on body language, even Don could tell that the girls felt uncomfortable.

He didn’t know what to do, so in the end, he sent a group message to everyone along with a picture of the five of them.

Guys... I don’t want to alarm anyone, but it seems we might have an issue. – Don

He attached the photo.

Within seconds messages kept flooding the chat, making it too chaotic to read. In summary, they told him to stay put and that they were on their way.

Sophie engaged in a conversation with them, politely trying to back out of it, but they kept close. She was on a constant lookout and eventually managed to spot Don. While Don assumed she was looking for help, he quickly realized that wasn’t the case.

She took a few steps around them, making them have their backs to Don. Even while they were in trouble, Don realized that Sophie was trying to save him from getting involved, hoping she could defuse the situation.

While clashes between West High and J High weren’t uncommon among the troublemakers, especially if we’re talking about Tjay, there weren’t any mentions of conflicts with girls. That alone gave both Sophie and Ari a false sense of security to a certain degree.

Don stood frozen in place, watching as one of them wrapped their arm around Ari’s neck. Sophie grabbed Ari by the wrist and pulled her in, breaking away from his grapple which made the rest of them laugh.

His phone rang as Arthur gave up on trying to reach Sophie who had her phone on silent.

“Hey. . .” Don uttered.

“I just saw the picture, I’ll be there as soon as I can. . .”

As they talked on the phone, he could hear Arthur’s breathing as he was already running to them.

“Nothing yet. . .” he reassured Arthur but was soon proven wrong.

The guys became more assertive as they started approaching them even closer, even placing their hands on them and trying to insist they go along. Don kept quiet, zoned out, and lost in thought, desperately trying to figure out what to do.

“Don!” Arthur repeated without Don even realizing.

“I have to go. . .” Don trembled in fear, hanging up the call.

He knew the girls were in trouble and that no matter how fast the guys were, they wouldn’t make it in time.

Ari was mortified, while Sophie kept a smile on her face. She kept holding Ari close to her. Sophie was stunningly good at pretending.

Don was unaware of Sophie’s struggles with Hana, making a scene like that far too familiar. However, this time it wasn’t as forceful, and she felt the safety of being out in the open during daylight even if nobody was around at the time.

One thing Sophie knew for sure as all women shared that view, screaming for help never actually helped.

“In the time of need, that’s when true men act.”

The words Max told Don stuck with him ever since. He never felt brave, nor strong. He was never the best at anything. Whenever trouble appeared, he was always on the sidelines, never able to do anything. When his parents sent him to Seoul to study at J High, they hoped that he’d man up a bit. His father being an extremely strict figure left him feeling unbearable pressure. Don couldn’t even deny his inability, as even now when facing trouble, Sophie was the one who was putting on a brave face while protecting both Ari and Don at the same time.

Reaching the breaking point, without realizing he took a step forward. After the first step, every step afterward became easier. His frustration had built up to the point where he had accepted his fate. Before he even knew it, he was running towards them.

“Stop!” he yelled out, feeling as if his heart was going to pop out of his chest.

The guys turned to him surprised while Sophie looked at him wide-eyed. Ari’s grip on Sophie’s hand tightened.

“What do you want dork?” one of them asked.

He recognized him as the kid who got into Max’s face.

“Where do you think you’re taking them?” Don asked while feeling weak in the knees.

“What does that have to do with you?”

Sophie shook her head, hoping he’d back off. The last thing she wanted was for this to escalate.

“Let go of my friends. . .” he tried his best not to avert his gaze and to speak with confidence.

“You’re friends with girls like these? No way nerd. . .” The other two chuckled. “Besides, we aren’t forcing them to hang out with us.”

“It doesn’t look like they have much of a choice to me. . .”

“I don’t know who you think you are, but we ain’t forcing them shit,” he grinned looking at the girls. “You wanna tell me who this loser is? No way you’re his friends.”

The girls remained quiet. It was the final opportunity Sophie had to deny Don and try and save him, but in return, she’d humiliate him. While it’s true that they weren’t exactly forcing the girls to go with them, their reputation kept the girls in check and unable to refuse.

The guy that kept talking to Don was Yong Tae. Tae was known for his reputation of being in multiple fights and even allegedly committing minor crimes. Due to his father being rich, he got away with it. He was also a year older than Don, and his most famous fight was with Hana’s older brother, which was the only fight Jeon Sung-Ho lost before losing to Arthur.

“I don’t know who you are. . .” Don said forming fists in hand and taking up a fighting stance that looked ridiculously funny to the West High students. “But I won’t let you take my friends against their will.”

“Don. . .” Sophie mumbled as her expression softened.

“You’re so weird. . . Fucking loser,” he said turning to Don once more as he slowly approached him. “Fine, I’ll let them go. . . Your resolve is admirable.”

Don looked at him shocked, lowering his guard for a split second, making the punch that Tae threw all the more devastating. With a single strike, he knocked Don to the ground, shattering his glasses.

“Don!” Sophie yelled out. “Stop it!”

She wanted to rush to him but was intercepted by the other two.

“Quiet down,” Tae said stretching his arm. “Didn’t you hear what I said? I don’t lie. . . You’re free to go once I’m done with him.”

“We’ll go with you, just don’t hurt him!” Sophie kept yelling.

With the sun slowly setting, the part of the park that they were in was somewhat secluded.

Despite what she said, Tae had no interest in them anymore. While Don was unaware of his reputation, the gossip among the girls was a lot more prominent. Especially in Sophie’s class since she overheard the rumors when Hana’s brother lost, with most speculating that Tae beat him up again.

“I said let them go!” Don yelled out, slowly getting up with a bloody nose.

Ari kept looking at Don with tearful eyes, still unable to utter a single word.

“Looks like we got a cockroach. . .” he chuckled. “I was going to go easy on you since you looked weak, but since you can get up from that I guess I can take it up a notch.”

Without his glasses, Don had a hard time telling what was happening. His sight was extremely bad, and while he didn’t need reading glasses, he wore them during class to see the board. With his head being dizzy, all he could tell were shapes of those in front of him.

Tae approached him quickly, grabbing him by the shoulder, and driving his knee into Don’s stomach. However, instead of letting him drop to the ground, he kept Don up only to slam his forehead into Don’s already bleeding nose.

Don let out a painful cry, as his nose broke.

Sophie was in utter shock, covering her mouth. Meanwhile, Ari trembled with each landed hit.

A full minute passed, and his attacks were relentless. He kept striking Don in places that wouldn’t leave permanent damage, such as breaking bones or ribs, apart from his busted nose. That didn’t make the experience any less painful.

“You look awfully familiar. . .” he said holding Don by his messy hair, tilting his head back. “Have we met before?”

“Go to hell. . .” Don mustered the courage to speak up, but he sounded unintelligible.

He was aware that winning the fight was impossible. It was all about keeping them at bay long enough for the rest to arrive. Don kept repeating Max’s words, using them as fuel to keep on going.

“I remember now. . . You hung out with that shitty brat Max!” he yelled out excited but was interrupted when he heard Don’s phone vibrating. “Now what do we have here?”

He took Don’s phone out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. It was labeled Arthur along with multiple missed calls.

“Seems you told your friends beforehand. Not bad,” he dropped Don’s phone to the ground before pulling Don up on his feet.

“In time of need-” Don mumbled Max’s words while coughing.

“What?” Tae asked, but all he saw was Don’s glare. “Punk. . .”

Don wasn’t sure how close the rest were, but it appeared that Tae was losing interest in him. He also couldn’t bet on Tae’s word to let the girls go. To keep him focused, Don kept mumbling unintelligibly, trying to pique Tae’s interest.

“Ugh. . . Weakling can’t even speak,” he said leaning in closer, but Don chuckled and spat into Tae’s face. It left Tae in shock, as he wiped it off against his shoulder. Realizing what had happened, he looked at Don menacingly. “So, you wish to die?”

With another knee to Don’s stomach, he drops him to the ground.

“No. . .” the girls were frightened, their voices taken away by the horror of watching someone they know being repeatedly kicked while prone and helpless in a fetus position.

Don tried to minimize the damage, but he kept smiling the entire time. He didn’t know if he was going insane from the pain that he was unfamiliar with, or was it because he finally dared to do something he never even imagined.

“You’re going to kill him if you keep doing that. . .” another West High student pointed out. “Let’s just get out of here. . .”

With one last kick, he spat on Don.

“This fucking loser! Ugh. . .” he yelled out in frustration, turning towards the rest. Taking off his jacket, he threw it to one of his friends before glancing at the girls. “This ruined my fun. . . Whatever. Let’s just get out of here.”

Shocked, the girls were left alone as the three of them walked away.

Left alone with Don, the girls rushed to him.

“Don!” both yelled out tearfully, as Sophie took out her phone hoping to reach the others.

They helped Don up as he limped towards a nearby bench. Ari picked up his phone and glasses, while Sophie took out wet wipes and started cleaning up his visible wounds. While there weren’t any severe injuries, the sheer amount of hits he took left him hurting pretty bad.

“Thank you. . .” Sophie whispered as Ari leaned into his shoulder tearfully.

There were no other words that the girls could’ve said that would make Don feel better. While he did get beat up senselessly, he still felt like he won somehow.

Within the next few minutes, everybody eventually arrived, with Irene and Arthur being last due to being farthest away.

“Don!” Irene yelled out, instantly starting to check his injuries.

Max and Tjay kept their eyes on the surrounding area, making sure that they weren’t still around. Arthur on the other hand kept looking at the traces of blood left behind, picturing the scene vividly.

Sophie and Ari explained what happened as Don sat in silence, unable to speak up.

Once they were done checking him up, they summarized all his injuries. He sprained his ankle, had a broken nose, and had numerous smaller cuts from being on the ground. Not to mention bruises across his body, but they refrained from stripping him in the park to check how bad it was. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any other breaks or internal injuries.

“We should take him to the hospital,” Ari said.

“I agree,” Irene approved of the idea as she sat down next to him, checking his eyes.

“No. . .” Don whispered.

“What do you mean no?” Max asked with a disapproving tone.

“I don’t want to go to the hospital.”

“You’re badly hurt. . .” Irene pointed out without the intention of letting him protest.

“I know. . . But if I go to the hospital, my dad will find out what happened.”

“So? We should also call the cops,” Sophie cut in.

Max and Tjay weren’t too happy with Sophie’s suggestion, but they couldn’t deny the need for it either.

“Just take me home, and I’ll call my doctor to come over.”

“You have a doctor?” Irene asked.

“Yeah. . . I hate hospitals, so I have a doctor that comes to my house. . .” he explained, chuckling in pain. “Silly, isn’t it?”

Everyone remained quiet and frustrated.

“We still need to take you to the hospital. . . You need to report this,” Irene insisted.

“If I do that then I’ll be the one losing everything,” Don interrupted her. “My dad will transfer me to a different school, and make me move back to my hometown. . .”

“Why would he-” Sophie tried to speak up.

“Because he is just like that. . .” Don coughed. “I promised I’d stay out of trouble, and that I’d be a good student if I was left on my own. If I end up going back there, I’d lose all of you. . . I don’t want that. So, please. . . Just take me home and keep quiet about this. I swear I’m fine.”

Once again, everybody was left speechless.

“Take him home,” Arthur spoke up, looking towards Don.

“But. . .” Irene wasn’t sure about the decision.

“It’s his choice,” Arthur pointed out. He approached Don and kneeled in front of him. “I’ll never forget your bravery. Thank you. . .”

“Irene, can you and the girls take Don home?” Max asked.

“Huh?” she looked at him confused for a second.

“He doesn’t live far. We forgot a few things, but I’m sure we’ll meet up at his place soon enough,” Tjay said averting his gaze the entire time.

“Let me guess, you didn’t buy the snacks?” Irene sighed as they kept quiet.

There were no more words that needed to be said.

“We can take him. . .” Sophie interrupted the silence. “Ari, help me get him up. . .”

Ari nodded as the girls slowly helped Don stand back up. With his arms wrapped around them, the girls supported him. Irene picked up their bags.

“Max. . .” Don whispered barely audible.

To hear him better, Max leaned in.

“I did it. I was a man. . . Thank you,” he whispered into Max’s ear, which made him avert his gaze.

“Yeah, you were. . .” Max’s voice trembled a bit as he whispered.

“We’re leaving now. . .” Irene mentioned as Max pulled away, letting the girls lead him towards his house. “Be careful on your way to the store. . . But make sure to get something for me as well.”

Arthur nodded as he watched the girls leave before shifting his attention to Max and Tjay.

“I know where they hang out,” Max whispered, pained by the fact that his words motivated his friend to get beat up.

His frustration was perhaps the greatest.

“Good, cuz I’m about to kill them,” Tjay’s gaze was the darkest Arthur had ever seen it.

“Arthur?” Max looked at him.

“Lead the way.”

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.