OPPOSITES | Weak Hero Class 1

06|

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YUNHEE LET OUT A SIGH and looked at Suho, who was shouting at his phone, caught up in a game with Bum-Seok. Every sudden shout startled her, jolting her from her thoughts.

"Why do you have to be so loud?!" Yunhee snapped, irritation clear in her voice. Suho didn’t even seem to hear her, still absorbed in the game. With a frustrated shake of her head, she turned her attention back to her phone, sitting directly across from Si-eun. She was so focused that she didn’t notice Si-eun’s quick, furtive glances, his attempts to hide the way his eyes lingered on her.

A familiar figure suddenly loomed over them.

“Yeon Si-eun, Oh Yunhee,” Seok Dae’s voice cut through the air, smooth yet unmistakably edged. Yunhee’s eyes flicked up, instantly wary.

“Do you have a minute?” he asked, his tone almost polite.

“I have nothing to talk to you about,” Si-eun said coldly, not even bothering to look at him.

Yunhee’s patience snapped. “Didn't you hear him?” she said sharply, putting her phone down with a decisive thud. “He has nothing to talk to you about.”

Seok Dae didn’t budge, his eyes locking on Yunhee’s with a cool, challenging stare. “I’ll be quick,” he promised.

The four teens reluctantly followed him to an empty classroom. Yunhee’s instincts were screaming that nothing good would come from this. “What do you want?” she demanded as soon as they stepped inside.

“Help me,” Seok Dae said, desperation creeping into his voice. “Yunhee, Si-eun, please meet my lawyer. Tell him that the fentanyl wasn’t mine.” He turned to Bum-Seok. “You too.”

Without warning, he dropped to his knees, faking sobs. Yunhee’s lips curled into a sneer. She exchanged a knowing glance with Suho.

“Look at his crocodile tears,” Suho said mockingly.

“I know, right?” Yunhee agreed, rolling her eyes.

“I’m begging you. They’ll throw me into a juvenile detention center,” Seok Dae whined, his voice breaking as he looked up at them with exaggerated sorrow. Bum-Seok hesitated, leaning closer to Si-eun and Yunhee.

“Si-eun, Yunhee,” he urged, “should we just testify? It’s not a hard thing to do.”

Yunhee exchanged a look with Si-eun, the tension between them palpable. “What do you think?” he asked.

“I think it’s a trap,” Yunhee said bluntly, her eyes never leaving Seok Dae’s. “But if you want to do it, I’ll go with you.”

---

Yunhee and Suho sped through the city on their bikes, chasing the taxi Seok Dae had directed them to follow. The dark alleyways and narrow streets seemed to close in around them as they neared the destination. Yunhee’s knuckles whitened as she gripped the handlebars. “What if it’s really a trap?” she shouted over the roar of the engine.

“If it is, we’ll figure something out!” Suho yelled back.

The taxi finally stopped, and they dismounted, trailing Seok Dae into a rundown building. He led them towards a dimly lit basement. Yunhee’s instincts prickled with unease. “Hey,” Suho called after him, “why the basement?”