It was a Monday, the start of another school week. Rye Il has been acting ever since he stepped into the classroom. He would avoid Jihyo's gaze every time she talks to him. Hye Won noticed it and only Gary knew the reason behind it.
They walked to the cafeteria and sat down at their usual spot.
"Oppa, what's wrong with you today?" Hye Won asked, directing it at Rye Il.
"What's wrong with me? Nothing is wrong." He replied and continued to keep his gaze focused on the table.
"Oppa," Hye Won mouthed to Gary. There was obviously something wrong and she just couldn't let it go without feeding her curiosity.
"He is feeling embarrassed about something," Gary let on. Rye Il looked at him wide-eyed, and tried to place his hands over Gary's mouth to stop him from spilling it out. Gary raised his left arm to block Rye Il's hands from coming near his face. "He felt embarrassed that Jihyo saw him in his drunken state. So he had been trying to avoid her." Gary quickly added on.
Now that the secret was finally out of the bag, Rye Il bowed his head lower and eventually buried his face in his folded arms on the table.
"Just because of that, and you've been acting weird the whole morning?" Hye Won burst out laughing. Jihyo couldn't hide her laughter as well.
"Go on. Laugh at me. Thank you so much, Gary." Rye Il said sarcastically.
"You're welcome!" Gary replied and snickered. "I'm going to get some coffee. Any for you guys?"
"Americano!" Jihyo shouted.
"Make it two!" Hye Won chipped in.
"None for me." Rye Il said with his face still buried.
Gary was making his way to the coffee shop that was just round the corner, near the cafeteria when he heard his name being called from behind.
"Kang Gary!"
He recognised that voice. He stopped walking and turned around. As predicted, it was Gwon and his buddy, Kyu Ji. They aren't exactly the friendliest people around in the university. They love picking on others who they feel are too weak or incapable of retaliating but for Gary, they just like to pick on him due to his appearance.
Not wanting to interact with them, he turned to leave. Gwon grabbed his shoulder firmly to prevent him from leaving.
"I heard you are getting rather chummy with that new girl. Don't you think a person like you should distance yourself away from her?" Gwon smirked.
Gary yanked Gwon's hand away and stared at me. "Why should I? There's nothing wrong with that. Unless you're jealous that she's hanging out with us instead of you." He replied.
Gwon scoffed. "Jealous? Kyu Ji-yah, did you hear what he said? This guy actually thinks that we're jealous of him."
"How shameless," Kyu Ji muttered.
Gary narrowed his eyes at them while still trying his best to keep his cool. "Look, I don't have the time and I'm not interested to deal with the both of you." He finished his sentence and turned around to walk away. Kyu Ji stick his leg out causing Gary to trip over and fall flat on the floor.
"How unfortunate." Kyu Ji said sarcastically.
Gary bit his lower lips and clenched his fists tightly. He got up from the floor and dusted the dirt of his jeans, and continued to walk on.
"Leaving just like that?" Gwon shouted from the back but Gary paid no attention to it. He entered the coffee shop and ordered two Americanos and one caramel macchiato. Gary received his drinks and headed back. The duos were no longer standing outside.
Rye Il was getting up from the bench when Hye Won pointed to behind him and saw Gary approaching them. "What took you so long? I was about to go and look for you." Rye Il sat back down and looked at him. There was something unusual about Gary but he couldn't figure out what it was.
"The queue was quite long. I had to wait awhile." Gary removed the drinks from the holder and pass it to them.
Jihyo took the drink from him and noticed a gash on his right forearm. "Did you injure yourself?" She looked at Gary and he looked back at her, confused.
Jihyo twisted his arm gently to show him the wound. He wasn't aware that he injured himself. He was too angry to feel any pain.
"I guess I did, " he replied quietly. Jihyo took out a band aid from her wallet and passed it to him.
"Thanks. I'm going to the washroom to clean the wound."
Once he was no longer in sight, Hye Won nudged Rye Il to go and check on him. She was sure that something had happened while on his way to, or back from the coffee shop.
Rye Il nodded and went to find Gary. He was washing his wound over running tap water. There was no one else inside the toilet except for the both of them.
"What happened?" Rye Il leaned against the wall and questioned.
"It's them." Gary replied.
Rye Il pushed himself off the wall and looked at him. "Gwon and Kyu Ji?"
Gary pulled out a few pieces of tissue from the dispenser to wipe dry his hands and the wound. "I couldn't say it because the girls were there."
"Aren't they ever tired of picking on you?" He watched as Gary paste the band aid over the wound. "What is it about this time?" Rye Il continued.
"They dislike seeing that I'm hanging out with the new girl."
"Jihyo?" Gary nodded. "And what did you say?"
"I asked if they were jealous and they replied in a mockery manner. Then I decided to leave and ended up getting tripped by Kyu Ji."
"Why didn't you fight back? I would have thrown a few punches at them."
"Fight them and get myself expelled? Too big of a risk." Gary shook his head and laughed. "If the girls were to ask, just say I fell. They don't need to know about this." He added.
Rye Il silently nodded. They went back to the table and Jihyo couldn't stop fixing her gaze on Gary.
"Time to get back to class." Gary grabbed his drink and led the way.
Hye Won tugged Rye Il's arm and pulled him back. "So what happened?" She whispered.
"Nothing serious. He fell down, that's all." He grabbed Hye Won's americano and took a sip, before returning it to her.
"Yah! Get your own drink!" Hye Won shouted and smacked his head. It hurts but at least he managed to changed the topic.
"We're going to be late for class if you guys continue to stand there." Gary turned and reminded them.
