CAUTION: Love Ahead! | HAOBIN |

Sixteen

"A criminal record?" Gyuvin gasped with his eyes wide open, unable to believe his friends' words.

All the boys had similar expressions plastered on their faces, some more shocked than the next. It wasn't a common thing for the students of such a prestigious school to have a criminal record. In fact, such students weren't even accepted by the school; they weren't even given any admission.

"Well, I guess that confirms our suspicions of his alliance with someone assuming greater power within the school administrative heads. And by that, I mean not just his grandfather, but also someone else." Gunwook muttered in a low tone.

"Why someone else?" Ricky asked. "Isn't his grandfather enough to get him back into school even with a criminal record?"

"His grandfather, despite being the Head of the school, does not have much authority over controlling the re-admission of students. Such decisions are made by the members of the Office." Taerae explained.

"But, I heard that the Office has around three times as many members as the Student Council." Yujin said.

"That's true, which is why we might have to pause this discussion and decide on what to do once Hanbin Hyung gets here. He is the one with the information, after all." Matthew said as the bell rang, observing how the corridors got more crowded by the second as students eagerly exited their classrooms, knowing that they would have to pause their conversation here if they did not wish to be overheard.

"The next class will begin soon. Let's disperse." Jiwoong suggested, as the rest of the boys nodded.

They waved goodbye, promising to meet at dispersal time, before heading off in the direction of their respective classrooms.

"So, Zhang Hao, tell me more about yourself." Taerae tried to make a small conversation to get rid of the awkward silence as they walked to the lab.

He wasn't very close to the new boy, at least not as much as Hanbin and Matthew, so he wanted to try making friends with him.

"Well, I was born on July 25th, and my blood type is A and-" He was cut off as Taerae chuckled, shaking his head.

"That wasn't what I meant. You can fill out these details in the form. I'm asking you, more generally, about yourself." Taerae said, but upon seeing the confused look on Zhang Hao's face, he added the sentence, "I want to be your friend."

"Oh," Zhang said slowly, his mouth forming an 'O' shape as he contemplated what to tell him.

What does he want to know about me? Zhang Hao thought, not knowing what to say about himself.

Seeing Zhang Hao's unsure expression, Taerae said, "Alright then, I'll ask questions; is that okay?"

Zhang Hao nodded.

"Okay, my biggest question is: Are you Korean?" Taerae asked.

Zhang Hao chuckled lightly and said, "I'm not. I'm from China."

"No wonder. I was really confused when I saw you for the first time. I thought you were Japanese or something," Taerae said, starting to feel more comfortable.

"When is Hanbin coming?" Jiwoong questioned Matthew as they sat next to each other in the cafeteria.

"He said he'd make it within half an hour, and it's already been more than an hour, so I guess he's come already. We'll have to wait and see if he joins us for lunch." Jiwoong nodded as Matthew spoke, looking around to spot their group of friends.

"Over here!" he waved, catching the attention of the group of boys who just walked in through the doors of the cafeteria.

"Hey guys. How was class?" Gyuvin asked as he settled himself down on their usual table, alongside the rest of the boys.

"Pretty boring," Matthew said, yawning.

A ding of a phone was heard, indicating that someone had gotten a notification.

"Me," Matthew said, unlocking his phone while keeping it hidden from view to check the message.

"Matthew!" Gunwook hissed, "At least put your phone in silent mode!"

But Matthew did not react to the statement. He simply lifted his head and scanned his eyes throughout the big room, his eyes widening at a point.

"What is it?" Jiwoong asked. Matthew showed his phone to the older male, gesturing to Zhang Hao. Jiwoong nodded as he stood up, saying, "Well, you guys still haven't got your lunch yet? I'll get it for you. Zhang Hao, could you come with me? I can't carry all the trays on my own."

Jiwoong gave him puppy eyes as Zhang Hao looked around, meeting eyes with Taerae, who nodded him to 'go'. Sure, he was confused about what was happening. He wanted to know why they weren't including him in their conversations anymore. But at the same time, he did not want to get on the bad side of anybody, so he reluctantly stood up.

As they left the group to head for the stalls, Matthew gestured for someone across the cafeteria to come quickly with a gesture of his hands.

Gunwook turned just in time to see Hanbin whizzing past him and taking a seat on the other side of the table, panting hard.

"I...I've got some information to share with you guys," he said, struggling to breath, "but you musn't let it reach Zhang Hao." The rest of the guys nodded as Hanbin continued speaking. "I'm sure Matthew has already told you about Jae-Yun being a criminal, but you wouldn't believe the crimes he committed!"

"Murder?" came a reply.

"Robbery? I mean, his face in the picture looks like that of a robber."

"Bribery? That's a crime too, right?"

"No way! Kidnapping?!"

Hanbin shushed them with a finger to his lips, shaking his head 'no'. "None of those. Instead, it's something far worse!" He paused, looking around to make sure he wasn't being overheard, then continued, "Third and fourth-degree felonies!"

"Which are...?" Yujin traced off, not knowing the crimes.

"Involuntary manslaughter and assault, along with illegal drug trafficking and a considered first-degree felony of hitting a police officer while on duty!" Hanbin whispered with his eyes wide open as the boys around the table had similar expressions by the time he completed his sentence.

"That's...a lot of crimes," Gunwook muttered, his face getting paler by the second. "Shouldn't he be a wanted criminal with all those records? According to my knowledge, he should be serving years in prison."

"He was never sent to prison in the first place!" Hanbin said.

"But why? He shouldn't be roaming around so freely; he's a dangerous criminal!" Taerae said, clutching his hair in frustration.

Hearing about the past deeds of their future schoolmate made his head ache and his heart beat fast. A student with such threatening records would do no good, both for the school and his own reputation, when he joined. And God only knows what he might do to students who would make fun of him when they learned about his involvement in criminal activities.

"I know that," Hanbin said calmly, "but you know what money does."

"Hyung, why are you so calm about this?!" Matthew said this with his eyebrows furrowed in anger and uncertainty.

"I'm not, Matthew. This concerns each and every person in the school at this point, not just Zhang Hao.

And I'm going to make sure that he won't touch a single person in this school!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the next episode, our main hero, Yoon Jae-Yun (insert eye roll), is going to make a dramatic entrance. What do you think he is going to do?

Has he changed, or will he still go after our pretty boy, Zhang Hao?