CAUTION: Love Ahead! | HAOBIN |

Fourteen

"So..." Zhang Hao began hesitantly, looking over to the person sitting next to him, Seok Matthew. "Can I ask you something?"

"Oui?" Matthew said, turning to look at him.

They were sitting in the gallery, waiting for the basketball match to start. It was a free period, and they had decided to come down to the court to watch the match between two of the best teams in the school, the Blazing Royals and the Fiery Lions.

Unsurprisingly, Yu-jin was a part of the Blazing Royals, considering his athletic character and ability. He had begged, with puppy eyes, for them to come watch the match that would decide which of the two teams would get selected from the school level and advance to the district level.

The other guys were busy or had classes, so Matthew had promised Yu-jin that he would definitely come. It just happened to be a free period, to his luck, and he dragged Zhang Hao along after closing all the French textbooks very happily.

He loved learning French, but he loved Yu-jin just as much.

"Why do you look worried?" Matthew asked, scooting closer to Zhang Hao and tilting his head with a look of confusion.

Zhang Hao avoided eye contact, looking at the court before slowly asking, "When exactly is...he joining?". His voice trembled as he spoke, and that was enough for Matthew to move closer to him and pat his head softly with a look of reassurance in his eyes.

"Tomorrow, but don't be afraid, Hyung," he whispered gently. "Hanbin will make sure that no one hurts you," he comforted.

Zhang Hao sighed, slowly nodding, feeling the fear begin to consume him.

"And..." Matthew said, creating a dramatic pause to make it sound more effective, "you even have Jiwoong Hyung!" He said it loudly with a smile, displaying his perfectly white teeth. "Don't forget about the offer!"

This sentence made Zhang Hao smile a bit, knowing that the bully hunter was there to help him and about the apparent exclusive offer he got from him that Jiwoong would protect the younger boy from anyone who troubles or bullies him.

"That sounds comforting." Zhang Hao whispered softly, causing Matthew to raise a suspicious eyebrow in his direction.

"So you find it more comforting that Jiwoong said he would protect you? What about Hanbin?" Matthew asked.

"I mean, uh, you know," Zhang Hao stuttered. "Since Hanbin's the president and all, it doesn't seem likely for him to help me physically when I'm in trouble. Jiwoong, on the other hand, did fight for me once, so I find more solace in the fact that Jiwoong would help me," Zhang Hao said slowly, trying not to make it sound like he was belittling Hanbin, but Matthew just laughed it off.

"I guess that makes sense from your point of view." Matthew shrugged before whispering to himself, "Oh, but the things Hanbin would do for you..."

"Hyung!" came a young boy running, jumping right into the arms of an older boy who caught him just in time. "I made it! We are going to the next level!" he screamed out of pure joy.

"Congratulations, Yujin-ah!" Gun-wook said, appearing from behind and giving the clingy boy a light pat on his shoulder, a sign of appreciation.

"Wait! You mean to say that the Battle Royals defeated the Fiery Lions? Aw, shucks!" Ricky groaned in dismay, rolling his eyes at the younger guy who stuck his tongue out at him.

"It's Blazing Royals, Hyung, not Battle Royals. Besides, the win was pretty much decided for us anyway. The other team kept changing their players at the last minute, which left them no time to properly decide their formations of attack, defend, and shoot." Yu-jin said proudly, as the one holding him, Jiwoong cooed at his cuteness.

"Alright, but get down, kid; my arms are staring to hurt," Jiwoong said as Yujin got down.

"What's happening here?" asked a curious Tae-Rae, who happened to see his friends outside the sports arena, huddled in a circle.

"Hyung, you're free?" Matthew asked excitedly, to which TaeRae shook his head.

"Nu-uh, I was just running some errands when I saw you guys being all excited," he said, and he looked over to Yujin, who by now had grabbed Zhang Hao's hand and was continuously shaking him while repeating how amazingly he had defeated the ace player of the opposite team. "And what's Yu-jin so happy about?"

"The Blazing Royals defeated the Fiery Lions in the selection match to qualify for the higher level," Gunwook said as Taerae nodded.

"I see. Congratulations, Yujin," he said, but the boy paid no heed, merely nodding as he resumed his self-praise.

"What errand were you running, Hyung? As far as I know, the Council has nothing extra planned today," Gunwook said.

Taerae shook his head and said, "It's not related directly to the Council. It's about that guy; he seems to be playing his cards well."

"Jae-Yun?" Ricky questioned, to which Taerae nodded. "Why do you say that?"

"With great difficulty, Hanbin managed to convince the Head of the Office to put him in Class 5 so that he stays as far away from Zhang Hao as possible. But guess what Yoon Jae-Yun did?

He abused his power and asked his grandfather to make sure that he studied in the same class as Zhang Hao. I'm afraid Zhang Hao has more trouble waiting for him now that his supposed murderer is in the same class as him," TaeRae muttered, looking at the happy Zhang Hao, who was still talking to Yujin, with sad eyes, the same as the rest of them.

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What is the reason Jae-Yun is being stubborn about facing Zhang Hao every day, to the point where he even asked for a class change? AND HE GOT AWAY WITH IT!

I'll upload the next part in a few days; stay tuned!