TW 11

Chapter 11

It was the first time Danbi had ever been this close to a member of the opposite sex. Every sense in her body went on high alert, and a wave of heat rushed to her face. She instinctively tried to pull away, but with her arm held firmly, she couldn’t move an inch.

“Hey, let go…….”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“No, it’s just that you suddenly…….”

Unlike Danbi’s embarrassment, Hae-il remained calm. As though he were conducting an eye examination, he stared closely at her features. Apparently satisfied, he released her arm.

“Whatever. Go find some medicine.”

“Me?”

“It’s already been about five minutes, and the teacher still isn’t back. We have to get to our next class. They put things the history teacher talks about in class on the exams.”

“Ah, right. We do.”

The student ranked twenty-first in the entire school, who cared about her grades almost as much as the student ranked first, suddenly became anxious.

She rummaged through the first-aid kit, grabbed some disinfectant, cotton swabs, ointment, and other supplies, then returned.

“But is it okay for me to use these without permission?”

“It’s the teacher’s fault for leaving.”

When Danbi approached him, Hae-il slightly tilted his head toward her.

It was as though he were telling her to go ahead and apply it.

Danbi swallowed nervously and carefully brought the cotton swab to his wound.

The swollen, reddened flesh above his tightly chapped lips.

“Ah…… Be gentle…….”

He narrowed his brows with a low groan.

Danbi relaxed her hand as much as possible and applied more ointment.

At such a close distance, she was even careful about her breathing. Not knowing where else to look, her eyes wandered over his face.

Strangely enough, everything was incredibly clear.

Even the tiny mole on his cheek that she had never noticed before.

It was a face she saw every day, yet it felt unfamiliar, as though she were seeing a stranger for the first time.

At that dizzying sense of unfamiliarity, her heart began pounding wildly again.

Once she finished treating him, he naturally held out his hand to Danbi.

He looked like a princess waiting to be escorted.

After hesitating, Danbi extended her arm, and he fumbled around before grabbing her wrist.

The walk back to the classroom was short, but for some reason, it felt incredibly long.

The gazes of the students they passed were blatantly fixed on them.

Confusion, curiosity, and, from some, even jealousy.

All those gazes stabbed into Danbi, but Hae-il didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

Just then, several girls from another class who happened to be walking down the hallway spotted Hae-il and greeted him brightly.

Their faces were filled with unmistakable affection and admiration.

Hae-il turned his head toward the direction of their voices.

“Oh, hey.”

A faintly softer expression crossed his face.

The girls began chattering excitedly after receiving his greeting.

“I heard you fought with Lee Suhyeon? I knew he seemed jealous of you…….”

“I heard your glasses broke. Are you okay?”

Questions poured out, impossible to tell whether they came from concern or curiosity.

Hae-il answered briefly or gave a small smile as he continued the conversation.

Danbi, who had unknowingly been hiding behind his back, lowered herself even further.

Then Hae-il suddenly raised Danbi’s wrist and casually said,

“Yeah, so she’s my temporary eyes right now.”

Danbi saw the girls’ expressions instantly turn cold.

But Hae-il didn’t care at all. Instead of waving his own hand, he lightly shook Danbi’s hand before turning away first.

The gazes boring into her back felt as sharp as needles.

One thing was certain.

He didn’t care at all about what kind of misunderstanding his behavior might cause.

After that, Danbi continued to serve as Hae-il’s eyes and carry out various tasks for him.

Put nicely, she was his assistant.

Put less nicely, she was practically his servant.

Wherever he went, she had to accompany him. She took notes for him, and she even had to take care of his meals.

“Just get a moderate amount of rice. Don’t get any kimchi. I’m hungry. Hurry back.”

She was on her way to get his rice after receiving another command from her young master.

“Hey, Lee Danbi!”

Danbi turned at the voice calling her from behind.

Several girls from her class who normally wouldn’t even spare her a glance were beckoning her over.

When she approached them with a bewildered expression, the girls glanced around before lowering their voices.

“Are you dating Hae-il?”

Danbi nearly choked.

She frantically waved her hands.

“No? Of course not.”

“Then why does Han Hae-il keep hanging around you? Was his fight with Lee Suhyeon during PE because of you?”

The girls’ eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Only then did Danbi understand what was going on.

Apparently, the fight between Hae-il and Suhyeon had been twisted into some kind of lovers’ quarrel over her.

From an outsider’s perspective, she realized, it could certainly look that way.

“Well…… Hae-il separated me from Suhyeon because he said it was too noisy whenever Suhyeon was around me. He said it was annoying. I don’t know the details, but it seemed like the two of them don’t get along.”

Danbi explained as truthfully as possible without damaging Hae-il’s image.

The girls still didn’t look convinced.

“And logically speaking, you wouldn’t bully a girl you’re dating and make her go get your food, would you?”

After Danbi added that, the girls finally nodded.

“I guess not.”

“That’s true. See? I told you they weren’t dating.”

After whispering among themselves, the girls finally looked satisfied and let Danbi go.

Having barely cleared up the misunderstanding, Danbi let out a long sigh, filled Hae-il’s tray with food, and returned to him.

“Hey, what took you so long? I almost fell asleep.”

Hae-il was already thoroughly irritated.

Danbi hurriedly set his tray down in front of him and even placed the utensils in his hand.

She felt like she was taking care of a particularly fussy father-in-law.

She sat across from him and began eating, but she could feel sharp gazes on them.

When she looked up, nearly every student in the cafeteria was sneaking glances toward their table.

No, to be precise, they were staring at Hae-il.

Was it because of the rumor that he’d broken a classmate’s fingers?

Or was it simply because of his overwhelmingly handsome appearance, as usual?

With his glasses off, his clean, handsome face was completely exposed without anything hiding it.

Suddenly, Danbi remembered the faces of the girls who had shyly greeted Hae-il in the hallway.

“By the way…… the other kids about you and Suhyeon fighting…….”

“I. told. you. to say Lee Suhyeon properly.”

Hae-il cut her off with a frown.

“Ah, right. Lee Suhyeon. They misunderstood and thought the fight was because of me, so I explained everything properly. Don’t worry.”

“What did you explain? Strictly speaking, it was because of you.”

“Huh?”

Danbi stared at him in confusion.

“It’s obvious that Lee Suhyeon was hitting on you because he was interested in you. From his perspective, he could’ve thought I stole you from him.”

“……Stole me?”

“Look at us. We’re sitting together like this and even eating together. It’s understandable that someone would misunderstand.”

It was indeed a rather delicate age for a boy and a girl to casually spend all their time together.

What surprised Danbi, however, was that Hae-il was perfectly aware of that fact.

“That’s why he broke my glasses because of you. He got pissed because you didn’t let him throw the ball at me. If you’d let him throw it, none of this would’ve happened, right?”

Come to think of it, Suhyeon’s expression had looked unpleasant when Danbi had redirected the ball elsewhere.

Whatever the reason, it was clear that she had offended Suhyeon somehow.

“Ah…… Anyway, if the others ask again, I’ll make sure to tell them clearly that there’s nothing between us. I don’t know if they’ll listen, though. Or could you tell them yourself that we’re not dating?”

“Forget it. Why bother explaining every little thing? What a hassle.”

“Hmm…… Still, what if the girls who like you get hurt because of the misunderstanding?”

“You worry about the strangest things. Even if I had a girlfriend, I’d still be popular, so put that pointless concern out of your mind.”

At his utterly self-assured attitude, Danbi actually felt relieved and burst out laughing.

“Wow. I’ve never met anyone as confident as you in my entire life.”

“There’s no reason for me not to be confident.”

Danbi nodded at that.

His looks, family background, grades.

There really wasn’t a single thing he lacked.

I wonder what someone like him will become later.

“Are you studying so hard because you’re planning to inherit your dad’s company?”

“Me? No. Dad is Dad, and I’m me.”

“Huh? So you’re not going to inherit the company?”

“I have no intention of becoming some second-generation heir to a company. I’m going to start a company that’s much more successful than my dad’s. Like Company B or Company G.”

He listed the names of several famous IT companies.

It was a scale of ambition Danbi wouldn’t even dare dream of, yet somehow, when Hae-il said it, it felt as though it really was possible.

For some reason, he looked cool.

“That’s amazing. Being the founder of an IT company.”

“I haven’t even become one yet. It’s just my future dream. You think that’s cool, too?”

“Yeah. Just having such a big dream is cool. Then are you going to the United States?”

“Yeah. I’m going soon.”

Come to think of it, many of the children in this neighborhood went abroad to study.

For children from wealthy families, moving on to a bigger stage was perhaps only natural.

Just as Danbi’s parents had done, parents wanted their children to do better than they had.

“What about you?”

“Huh?”

“What are you planning to do? From what I’ve seen, you seem to study pretty hard.”

It was an unexpected question in return.

The truth was, Danbi had come to this school because her parents had pushed her into it, and she was studying desperately simply because she didn’t want to disappoint them.

She had no clear dream.

“Um…… I guess…… get a job at a major company?”

“That’s your dream?”

At the question, Danbi narrowed her eyes and looked at Hae-il.

Not everyone in the world had a father who was the CEO of a company.

For an ordinary student like Danbi, getting a job at a major corporation was more than a respectable goal.

She was beginning to feel slightly offended, wondering if he thought she was pathetic, when Hae-il seemed to realize what her silence meant and asked in more detail.

“No, I mean, there are lots of different kinds of major companies. There must be a department you want to work in, or something you actually want to do. That’s what I’m asking.”

“Hmm…… I don’t really have anything…….”

“You don’t have anything you want to do?”

“Yeah. I just…… want to make a lot of money, but I don’t have what it takes to build a business on as large a scale as you do. And I’m…… someone who can’t afford to fail.”

“Why can’t you afford to fail?”

“Because if I fail, my family will be in trouble? Most of the opportunities I’ve been given were bought with my parents’ entire fortune, so I can’t afford to fail.”

Danbi calmly explained her current circumstances.

“And it’s not like I’m particularly good at anything besides studying. So I’ll just get into a good university, prepare for employment like everyone else, get into a reasonably well-known major corporation…… and if Mom and Dad are happy with that, then that’s enough for me.”

“Still, wouldn’t it be better to have at least some idea? Then you’ll know what major to choose later.”

“Hmm…… After hearing you talk about it, I think an IT company might be pretty good, too. It seems kind of future-oriented…….”

“Wow, you really are easily influenced.”

Hae-il grabbed his own ear and shook it teasingly.

Danbi let out a small laugh.

“I’m kind of like that. I tend to listen to what other people say. And I work hard when someone tells me to. I’m just naturally suited to being an office worker, I guess.”

“Yeah. It really does seem like it’s in your nature. Want to come work for my company later? I need employees who listen well.”

At his words, Danbi chewed on her sausage and made a thoughtful “Hmm……,” as though considering it.

“If you’re going to start the company in Korea.”

“I’m going to the United States.”

“Ah…… I don’t have enough money to go to America.”

“Money isn’t a problem. If your skills are useful enough, I might even pay for you.”

“Tsk. Even though we’re acquaintances, you still have conditions…….”

“Of course there are conditions. We’re talking about money. Work hard and build up your skills.”

“Hmm…… I’ll try.”

“You should give it everything you’ve got. What’s with ‘I’ll try’? ‘I’ll try’…… Honestly, kids these days don’t have enough grit.”

He spoke as though he were already Danbi’s employer.

For just a moment, Danbi imagined herself working at the company Hae-il would someday establish—a somewhat unrealistic fantasy.

She smiled softly.

It was only for a moment, but she felt as though she had actually dreamed of a future for herself.