HWAMB — Chapter 27

Side Story 0. From Someone Else’s Eyes

To Sang-su, the two of them seemed a little too strange to be called just friends.

Seo Young-ho, who had lived nearby and been close since elementary school, was famously clueless.

That was probably why he hadn’t noticed anything unusual about the two of them, but Sang-su was different.

Sang-su first met Eun-jae in the third year of middle school.

He had heard Eun-jae’s name once or twice during first and second year, and thought he was fairly well-known.

His cheerful and refreshing personality seemed to bring joy to those around him. Especially the way he treated anyone who approached him in such a friendly manner—it played a big part.

Sang-su thought he was more noticeable than expected.

Eun-jae showed his face often in other classes too, so even if people didn’t know his name, many recognized his face.

Unlike his lighthearted first impression, he was also top of the class in academics, above average in sports and art. On top of that, he was kind and polite to everyone, which once sparked rumors that he wasn’t a beta but actually an alpha.

But since he was so often caught up in gossip, there were just as many bad rumors as there were good ones.

Some said his kindness was just an act, that he was sly and foxlike. Others whispered that his good grades came from cheating.

Or that he seduced and bribed the teachers. Or that he was really an omega pretending not to be…

Even those who smiled at Kang Eun-jae to his face would talk badly about him behind his back.

What was strange, though, was that even when ugly rumors spread for a while, they would vanish as if they had never existed after just a few days.

Sang-su, who had been suspicious of this for a long time, once wondered if Eun-jae himself was secretly cleaning up all the negative rumors.

But that thought changed in their third year, when they ended up in the same class.

Sang-su had taken the position of vice class president for the sake of padding his school record, while Eun-jae was the class president.

Spending more time together after school, he naturally came to understand Eun-jae’s true personality.

Contrary to the rumors, Kang Eun-jae was clueless and innocent.

And what surprised him most of all was how close he was with someone Sang-su never expected—Shim Hyun-woo.

Shim Hyun-woo and Kang Eun-jae.

No matter how he thought about it, they didn’t seem like a match.

To be honest, their closeness was beyond normal—it was extreme. At least, that was how it looked to Sang-su.

“Hyun-woo? He’s my childhood friend.”

Eun-jae, who seemed used to such questions, would answer naturally. Sang-su tilted his head but let it go, thinking, “There must be something I don’t know.”

But Shim Hyun-woo glared at anyone who got close to Eun-jae like he wanted to bore a hole through the back of their head.

Of course, in front of Kang Eun-jae, he was nothing but a wagging-tailed, obedient puppy.

Anyone who had dealt with him could see it, except clueless Kang Eun-jae himself.

Then one day, trouble broke out in class.

It was started by the ones who had always looked at Eun-jae with disapproval.

One of them was particularly nasty, the type who roamed around with a small gang spreading nasty rumors about Eun-jae.

That day too, as always, they were loitering in the hallway, playing with a ball.

When they spotted Eun-jae walking from a distance, they started snickering and picked a fight for no reason.

Eun-jae let out a shallow sigh and, as usual, ignored them completely as he passed by.

Perhaps their pride was wounded, because they hurled the ball at him. The ball struck the back of Eun-jae’s head just as he was going down the stairs.

Hit squarely, Eun-jae staggered, missed his step, and tumbled down the staircase.

There was a loud crash, followed by the shrieks of passing students.

“Whoa~ direct hit!”

“Holy crap, did he fall? Did he fall?”

“Bet he’s too embarrassed to get up!”

At first, not realizing how serious the situation was, they laughed among themselves, saying things like, “Man, I wouldn’t be able to get up either from embarrassment,” and “Cut it out, he’s probably crying right now.”

They must have assumed that since the fall wasn’t from very high, he would only have some light scratches.

“That’s what you get for talking back to people, unlucky bastard.”

“Hey! Stop the act and get up already!”

“…”

But when Eun-jae lay motionless for a long while, their expressions began to stiffen as they realized something was wrong.

“Hey, hey!”

“What the hell, did he actually die?”

“……”

“Uh……”

Among the boys staring blankly at Eun-jae collapsed at the bottom of the stairs, the one who had thrown the ball bolted away.

Meanwhile, Kang Eun-jae was immediately taken by 119 to the hospital emergency room.

Fortunately, he wasn’t seriously injured.

But since he had almost struck his temple on the ground and suffered a mild concussion, he was told he’d need to be monitored in the hospital for a week. He would have to take a break from school for the time being.

During Eun-jae’s hospitalization, Sang-su visited him and even scanned and shared the class notes he had taken that day.

Kang Eun-jae, smiling like a fool, thanked him sincerely.

The instigator of the incident only made excuses, saying it was just a prank, that Eun-jae falling down the stairs wasn’t his fault but merely an accident.

Yet he never once apologized to Kang Eun-jae.

The school, not wanting the matter to escalate, brushed everything under the rug.

The day after Sang-su visited Eun-jae, he was heading around the back of the school building to empty the trash cans.

There, he heard the sound of harsh panting and groaning.

Startled by the strange noise, Sang-su carefully approached the source and peeked in secretly.

What unfolded was a brutal scene.

Two familiar figures.

Shim Hyun-woo was beating the crap out of another boy.

It was the same one who had thrown the ball at Eun-jae the day before.

He seemed to be getting pummeled with the very same ball that had struck Eun-jae’s head.

The boy’s eyes were swollen with bruises, and blood was streaming from his nose.

Even as he sobbed and begged forgiveness, Shim Hyun-woo didn’t stop. He only muttered, “Should’ve done this earlier,” before grabbing his hair and slamming his head into the ground.

It was a satisfying sight, but rationally, it was going too far.

At this rate, someone was going to end up dead. Thinking that, Sang-su hurried to intervene.

Even when Sang-su suddenly appeared, Hyun-woo didn’t flinch or break stride.

His fists swung with a cold, detached expression.

“Are you insane? If you keep this up, you’ll actually kill him!”

“Kang Eun-jae’s skull got smashed in, so this bastard needs his skull smashed too to learn his lesson.”

Sang-su had no choice but to call Young-ho for help, and together they barely managed to restrain the crazed Hyun-woo.

They took a few blows in the process—like shrimps caught between whales fighting—but thankfully Young-ho’s sheer physical strength made it possible.

Sang-su and Young-ho dragged both Hyun-woo and the beaten boy in front of Eun-jae.

The boy, his face swollen beyond recognition, apologized tearfully to Eun-jae. Seeing the situation, Eun-jae glared at Hyun-woo.

Hyun-woo pouted with his lips stuck out in dissatisfaction, looking sulky.

To Sang-su, the sight was infuriating—just moments ago he’d been a wild beast with eyes rolling back in rage, and now he was pouting like a child.

Hyun-woo grumbled, “Why’s your body so weak? That’s why you should drink your milk,” only to earn a sharp slap on the back from Eun-jae.

Afterward, Eun-jae spoke privately with the culprit before sending him away.

Sang-su didn’t know what they talked about, but he realized then that even though Kang Eun-jae seemed like a pushover, when it came down to it, he could speak firmly and decisively.

And he also witnessed Hyun-woo getting utterly crushed under Eun-jae’s nagging.

Of course, the gist of that nagging was, “If you’re going to beat someone up like that, at least do it in secret. What if you end up in jail or ruin your future because of trash like him?”—nonsense in its own way.

From that point, Sang-su began to notice the strange atmosphere between the two.

Time passed, and two years later.

Even in their second year of high school, their relationship remained unchanged. It was obvious whose lack of awareness was causing their snail-paced progress, and so Sang-su decided this was the time to give them a push.

He even admired his own kindness for doing so.

Before the obstacle relay began, while setting up the box, Sang-su quietly slipped in a few notes he had written beforehand right on top.

Since Eun-jae was the fastest runner among them, Sang-su predicted he would reach the box before anyone else.

In a rush, Eun-jae wouldn’t carefully shuffle through the slips inside.

He’d surely grab one from the top without much thought.

Of course, there was always the chance someone else reached it first and mixed up the contents, or that Eun-jae chose a different slip.

But even if that happened, so be it. Unexpected variables always occur.

If something is never meant to be, no matter how much you push and cheer from behind, it won’t happen—at least, that’s how Sang-su saw it.

Still, what mattered most was creating the opportunity.

And opportunities could always be made.

If Kang Eun-jae found out, all hell would break loose.

Shrugging his shoulders, Sang-su finished setting the box and walked away.

In any case, the first one to be suspected would obviously be Young-ho, since he was always pulling pranks during lunch.

As long as he wasn’t caught, it didn’t matter.