When I came out of the palm tree, Tay was standing at the back door of the school.
The smell of cigarettes followed him everywhere he went. He stood with his legs crossed and looked at me. I pretended I didn't know him and walked past him, but he followed me quietly.
There were a couple of small stationery stores behind the school, and the rest were several villas in a winding alleyway. The back side has yet to be developed, so I had to go past it to get to the main road.
To be honest, cars are difficult to come by around here, and there weren't many people around 10 o'clock in the first place when the night self-study was finished. It was only natural that I would be bullied here. The streetlights were turned on, but I was still worried. Is the CCTV working properly? It made me pay more attention to crime prevention as I was standing next to Tay.
I was still suspicious of Tay, despite the fact that his ears turned red and his eyes lit up when he saw me, or that he gave me angX, and even bought me ice cream. First of all, he might have lured me with food, but from then on, he might slowly get to the point.
For example, waiting for us to be alone in such a dark and deserted alley.
I clutched the bag strap around my shoulder. I strengthened my forefoot so that I could run away if necessary. My older brother has a quite violent temper. I was a fast runner because I was always running away from my brother.
"New."
Did Tay notice how wary I was? He carefully called me. To respond to him, I said, "Yeah."
"Did it hurt when I messaged your shoulder?"
"Yeah."
He asked the obvious question. Tay lowered his gaze to his hand. He clenched his fist and asked me once more.
"Is it really inconvenient for you?"
Tay's voice filled the early summer night. I licked my lips. I didn't feel uncomfortable with Tay because of the constant entanglement throughout the day. It was rather comfortable. He couldn't control his strength and acted a little arbitrarily. Despite the fact that he reigned like a king, didn't he fill my stomach, massage me, and showed me a lot of his strange behavior as if I were at a zoo?
"... Are you taking me home?"
When I asked the question carefully, Tay answered softly. "Yeah."
I didn't know what to say, so I just licked my lips.
"If it's uncomfortable," Tay continued. "I'll only take you near the neighborhood."
Tay occasionally slept on his stomach in class while reeking alcohol or cigarettes, and during lunchtime, he would play soccer with the other guys or disappear somewhere. I had never seen him properly in the afternoon class.
To be honest, it felt weird to have Tay do this and take me home after the late-night study. I wiggled my fingers forward, glanced at Tay, and bowed my head again.
"Tay?"
"Yeah."
"Why do you like me?"
It was just as I was about to enter the last alley. After passing through this area and walking for about five minutes on the main road, I will arrive at the apartment complex where I live. I was going to say goodbye there because Tay said that he'll only take me near the neighborhood.
Tay stopped walking at my question. I took a few steps ahead of him and raised my head. Tay's shadow was stretched out as it appears from beneath the streetlamp above. The villa lit up in the center. Sweat seemed to be dripping down my back. Tay bowed his head, then he raised his eyes slightly to look at me, and covered his face with his palm.
