|Weak Hero| Can't Tame the Dingo [Rewrite of Fallen Angel]

Chapter 10

"Yo, Stephen!" Jake happily greeted as he and his friends arrived at Cafe Gamma. "We'll have our usual order,"

Stephen began preparing their drinks and food. "The cake was good,"

Jake blinked and stared at him.

"The one you bought for me yesterday," Stephen reminded. "It was good,"

Jake grinned. "I'm glad you liked it! I should buy you some food at the end of every one of your shifts!"

'I don't get this guy,' Stephen shook his head. "No," 'He's strange. He's always insisting on spending time with me. I've rejected his invites countless times and even his friends told him to not be overbearing, but he's persistent. Was this how Gray saw me as when I first started spending time with him out of the blue?'

Since it was a very slow day during Stephen's shift, Jake tried to strike up a conversation with him. It was pretty much a one-sided conversation though with Stephen just nodding or going "Hmm" every couple sentences.

Once Stephen's shift was over, Jake approached him and presented him with another box that Sylvelle had packed up. "I got you a slice of blueberry pie this time,"

"I said no," Stephen deadpanned.

"I refuse your refusal!"

"That's not how things work," Stephen just shook his head and resigned himself to his fate. "But...thanks again, I guess,"

XXX

In this universe, Eugene Gale didn't attend Hero Cram School because Gray Yeon wasn't around to tell him to focus on his studies. His childhood best friend, Rowan Im, still attended Hero Cram School though. Eugene ended up bumping into him on his way home.

"Rowan!" Eugene greeted after the tall redhead and startled him. "It's you! It's been a while! It's so nice to see you!"

"I was on my way to cram school when I saw a familiar face," Rowan said. "After arriving in Korea, it was decided I'd be going to Eunjang,"

"Really? That's great!" Eugene commented, noting that Rowan's grades must've not been the best either. 

"I was worried that I wouldn't know anybody, but I see that you're wearing the Eunjang High uniform," Rowan told him. 

"So what happened, man?" Eugene asked. "When did you come back to South Korea? You said your family was moving out of the country back in middle school,"

"Oh, it hasn't been long. You haven't changed at all, Eugene," Rowan claimed. "Dad's business didn't go so well, so we had to come back. Now that I've sorted out what school I'm going to, I thought I'd get the basics down beforehand at cram school. I'd like to stay and chat some more, but I gotta get going,"

Eugene waved to his friend as he continued heading to his destination. 'Rowan seems to have changed. He's grown taller and has a whole different vibe to him. He seems more confident. He's even attending cram school!'

XXX

Stephen was caught off guard when Jake was sobbing his eyes out one day. "Are you alright?"

He immediately regretted asking that.

"Stephen Ahn, did you know a catastrophe has occurred!?"

Stephen blinked. 

"ACE DIED!" Jake wailed.

Dean shook his head at his best friend's antics. "We'll just have our usual order,"

"Ace?" Stephen asked. "You mean the Two Piece character?"

"YES!" Jake answered. "You read Two Piece too?"

"Yeah," Stephen nodded. "Ace died in the Marineford War. It was rather sad that after everything that had happened, after he was so close to freedom, he was killed,"

"You understand my pain!" Jake suddenly hugged Stephen tightly.

Stephen tensed up and instinctively shoved Jake away. 

"Sorry," Jake apologized through sniffles. "I-It's just that Dean's so heartless about the whole thing! He's such an emotionless psycho!"

"Jake, he's a fictional character!" Dean reminded. 

"We're all probably fictional characters in some other story," One of the customers spoke up.

"Shut up Alistair," Another customer said.

"It's one of the saddest deaths in the manga," Stephen commented. "So many people died for him but he ended up turning back and charging at Akainu for insulting Whitebeard,"

"He should've ignored Akainu!" Jake agreed. "But I understand his anger. If someone badmouthed those I care about, I'd want to shut them up,"

"At least Ace doesn't have to deal with the guilt of his friends and family having gotten hurt or killed because of him..." Stephen mumbled to himself. 'If he were still alive, he'd hate himself. He'd blame himself for all of the deaths and injuries of the Whitebeard Pirates,'

Jake had stopped sobbing and was now staring at Stephen with a worried expression. "Are you alright?" 

"I'm fine," Stephen claimed as he finished up Jake and Dean's order. "Sylvelle, I'm gonna head home for the day," 

"Sure," Sylvelle nodded.

"His eyes looked sad when he said that," Jake commented. "Not sad because of Two Piece...It looked like he was thinking back to a personal experience, like he was thinking about his own guilt,"

"I'm surprised you managed to have this long of a conversation with him," Dean said. "He didn't shut you down immediately after finding out you were crying over Ace,"

"Maybe he's warming up to us?" Jake shrugged. "The Power of Two Piece brings people together! But...it's so sad that it was Ace's death that helped me get closer to him!"

XXX

"Hey Stephen, are you free after school?" Ben asked. "We plan on all hanging out together. Me, you, Alex, Gerard, and Eugene, if you're up for it,"

'I...I can trust them a little. But I'll still keep my guard up,' Stephen thought. "Yeah, I'm free,"

"We're going to hang out at either the Master Arcade or the pool hall," Ben offered. "Which one do you prefer?"

"Arcade," Stephen answered, knowing that he'd find it more entertaining than billiards.

"Eugene, are you in?" Ben turned to the bespectacled teen.

"Yeah," Eugene nodded. 'I haven't really had much trouble since last time Ben invited me to hang out with his gang. Since he's inviting me again, then I guess I really am part of his gang now!'

"Alright, we'll meet at the front gate and then head on over there together!" Ben grinned as he left.

"Is...Is Ben Park really a good person?" Stephen quietly asked Eugene.

"Huh?" Eugene blinked in confusion. "Yeah, he's a really good guy. His class, Class Eight, is the most peaceful class in the entire school. He was unanimously chosen as the head of his class and is the Number One of the entire school. No one dares to challenge him,"

"He doesn't bully anyone?" Stephen asked. "He doesn't use other students as bread shuttles?"

"No," Eugene shook his head. "He's not a hero that goes around stopping every single fight, but he's a good guy. He doesn't start fights but will fight to protect his friends. He knows there are people who talk about him behind his back, but he just ignores those comments if they remain verbal and never become physical threats,"

'Someone as kind and good as him...' Stephen found it to be unbelievable. 'He did step in to help me in the fight at the underpass. But still...it's too dangerous to ever give someone my full trust. I can only give them a little of my trust...at least for now,'

Stephen's slowly opening up some more.