Malsun protecting Soonja (Yeonbin) / (말순, 순자를 지킬거야)

Chapter 26

"I'll blow on it because it might sting a little, okay?" Yeonjun was treating Soobin just like a two years old baby. Soobin stayed still because his heart was racing at its top speed and he was hesitating whether he should hold the waist and lean on it.

He remembered the time when he was a kid. He fell down while playing and scratched his knee. It was bleeding, but when he came to his mom, she started nagging at him just like the way Yeonjun did a while ago. While treating him, she calmed down because she saw little Soobin was struggling because of his injury.

After she bandaged him, she caressed his hair and left. Little Soobin knew it better than anyone that she was yelling at him because she cared for him. So, he ran to his mom and hugged her waist silently. His mom was surprised, but her heart melted by it and she couldn't stay angry with her son anymore.

Just like the way Soobin hugged his mom's waist back then, he wanted to hold Yeonjun's as well. But he wasn't courageous enough to do so. He remained silent though his eyes were full of tears. Suddenly, Yeonjun cupped Soobin's chin and made him look up. Soobin could see the blurred face of Yeonjun because of his tears. Yeonjun put some ointment on Soobin's forehead which made him gasp.

"O-O! Is it hurting? Don't worry. It's not bleeding anymore. So, I think it should be fine. But do you want to get it checked once again? What if it gets infected? Let's go to the hospital and sew it up, hm?" Yeonjun was saying though he was too focused that he didn't notice the tears on Soobin's eyes. Soobin wanted to say he didn't want to go to hospital, but he was afraid he wouldn't be able to hide his feelings if he opened his mouth. So, he chose not to speak and stay still.

"Sssh!" Yeonjun made a sound as if he was the one with the injury. But the one who was receiving treatment, stayed silent as if he was a stone. Even kept staring at Yeonjun who was blowing on his forehead after finished applying the medicine.

The tears which were gathered in Soobin's eyes fell down and he could clearly see the face who was nursing him with kindness. He felt as if he could fill his empty heart with kindness. At that time, he noticed how handsome the guy was. Even if he was a bit talkative, he was very charming when he's focused on something. Soobin suddenly blushed and he felt his face was burning.

"Done!" Yeonjun smiled and moved away a little as he was done with bandaging Soobin's forehead.

"Does it hurt here?" Yeonjun touched Soobin's lips and asked as the right corner of Soobin's lips was red and swollen. Soobin gulped because all he was feeling was a burning sensation inside him. He couldn't feel any kind of pain at that moment.

"I-I....am getting l-late!" Soobin tried to push Yeonjun away, but Yeonjun pulled him and hugged him, making Soobin shocked. But he got another level of shock when he noticed Yeonjun actually didn't hug him, but he was pulling Soobin's shirt up.

"W-what are y-you doing?" Soobin pushed Yeonjun as he was too embarrassed. Yeonjun didn't move and insisted on what he was doing.

"Aish! Stay still! Let me take a look at your back! I WANNA SEE WHAT YOU DID TO IT!" Yeonjun held Soobin's head and made him lean on himself and shouted to stop Soobin. When he finally saw the mark on his back, he gasped with surprise.

"How did this happen?" Yeonjun asked though he didn't expect any answer from Soobin. His heart started aching by seeing the big cut and sewn mark on Soobin's back. It was clear that the mark wasn't fresh but it didn't heal for a long time.

"D-does it hurt?" Yeonjun became too worried that he wanted to take Soobin to the hospital right at that moment.

"Not anymore." Soobin replied and suddenly some memories flashed back in his mind. He was reminiscing about the day he nearly met his death. He did nothing wrong that day. He saw a helpless girl getting bullied. He spoke up for the girl in front of the whole class which made those bullies blood boil. That day when he was coming back home, he was completely defenseless. Those boys attacked him when he was all alone. They beat him into a pulp and hit him with a thick rod and that's how he got the cut mark on his back.

Remembering that time, he shivered with fear.

"Which one should I apply there?" Yeonjun asked, caressing the mark with his fingers gently.

"Umh!" Soobin made a weird noise as he could feel the undesirable excitement all over his body. He was astounded for a moment. He pressed his mouth to cover the embarrassment. His eyes got as big as a tennis ball. He couldn't understand why he did that and what he should do next.

"See? I knew it hurt! Why do you always lie to me? Do I look like that bad of a person to you?" Yeonjun asked and moved his hand from Soobin. Soobin was still very shocked so he couldn't deny that his back wasn't hurting anymore.

"Turn around! Let me see it properly." Yeonjun ordered and Soobin obediently followed the order.

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"Sunbae! What are you doing here?" Eunchae came towards the teachers' room and asked Soobin who was standing outside of the room, holding a bunch of papers.

"I came to submit the homeworks. Why are you here?" Soobin asked.
"Oh! My homeroom teacher called me since I got a bad score. Hehe!" She acted shy because it was really a shameful matter for any student.

"Have you decided what I asked you to think about?" The female teacher asked Soobin after he submitted the papers.

"Uh! About that? Seonsaengnim! Um..... I don't think I really can. I'm not financially stable right now. And it'd be very costly if I accept your proposal. So, I think I'll pass the idea. Thank you for your great concern." Soobin bowed to the teacher gently and came outside. When he was walking in the corridor thinking about the conversation he had with the teacher a while ago, Eunchae called him loudly. He stopped walking and looked back. He saw Eunchae was running towards him.

"Sunbae! Huh! Sun...bae!" *Huff* *huff* "I was calling you!" Eunchae was huffing as she got tired from the running. She actually ran fast to catch up with Soobin.

"What? What happened?" Soobin asked curiously.

"What did you talk about with the teacher? What would be very costly? Are you going foreign?" Eunchae asked while taking a long breath.

"No! Who'll go foreign? I'll just quit studying after school. She asked me to fill up the college list earlier and I told her I'm not going to college. That's it!" Soobin found the girl cute and funny so he laughed a little while replying.

"Ah! But why? Do you really have no money?" Eunchae was relaxed because she wasn't tired anymore but it seemed like all of her tiredness went away as she was curious to know about Soobin.

"You don't need to worry! I think I'm fine by the way I am right now." Soobin smiled again.

"Can you meet me after school? I have something to tell you." Eunchae said. Soobin was curious what she was gonna talk about so he agreed.