Unrequited Love Thresher-Chapter 33: Necessary Words

Son Suhyeon occasionally walked to and from school with Ha Giyeon.

Since his home was an hour away from the school, Suhyeon hated how crowded the buses got, so he always left early.

If he passed near the school by bus around 7 a.m., he could often see a familiar profile through the window. Ha Giyeon, walking with a notepad in one hand and earphones in his ears. With his head lowered, eyes glued to the notebook—it was obvious he was memorizing English vocabulary.

It looked dangerous... You’re supposed to watch where you’re going when you walk. The way he was so absorbed in the notebook was extremely unsettling.

Beep. Suhyeon pressed the stop button. He still had one more stop to go, but he got off the bus early.

And there he was—Ha Giyeon, walking nearby.

Suhyeon began to approach naturally to greet him—when it happened.

“Hey...!”

“...?!”

Suhyeon reached out and pulled Ha Giyeon toward him as a motorcycle sped toward them from behind.

Giyeon’s thin body came °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° flying into his arms without resistance, and the motorcycle roared past right beside them.

Ha Giyeon, cradled against Suhyeon’s chest, looked up at him wide-eyed.

“Ah, hello...?”

“You’re seriously saying hi right now?”

Seeing him pretend everything was fine after being startled like that, Suhyeon spoke sharply. Giyeon shrank a little, then gave an awkward smile and said thanks.

Suhyeon picked up the vocabulary notebook that had fallen to the ground and handed it back to him.

“It’s dangerous, so don’t look at your vocab notebook while you walk. At least take out the earphones.”

“Okaaay...”

Suhyeon let out a sigh.

Sometimes he was so mature—and then he’d do stuff like this and seem like a clueless kid. And when he hung his head like a rain-soaked puppy, it made it hard to even get mad at him.

“Did you eat breakfast?” freёnovelkiss.com

“Yes. What about you, sunbae?”

“I ate.”

They exchanged small talk and naturally walked toward school together. Since it was early, they were the only students on the road.

Suhyeon recalled something from their previous conversation and brought it up.

“Did you decide on a club?”

“Yes, I joined the Reading Club.”

The Reading Club...

In truth, Ha Giyeon hadn’t even known such a club existed. He’d found out about it through Suhyeon, and just like the name suggested, it was a quiet, ordinary club for reading and studying. There weren’t many members—just enough to meet the bare minimum requirement, including himself. It was the perfect fit for Giyeon.

It was a quiet place to study. Unlike other clubs, it wasn’t crowded, and there was a good chance no one there would recognize him. If he joined a popular club, people might start talking about Ha Dohoon’s little brother—and then someone might try to get close. Just the thought of it was exhausting.

So the Reading Club, where none of that mattered, was ideal.

...And the fact that Suhyeon was there was what he liked most.

“You don’t have to join just because I recommended it.”

“No, I really like it. I can study quietly.”

“Then it’s fine...”

From Suhyeon’s perspective, it was a relief that Ha Giyeon joined the club. The third-years had graduated, and including Suhyeon, there were only four members left—on the verge of being shut down. And just then, Giyeon had joined.

Suhyeon, who wanted to remain in the quiet club, was grateful.

...And he was also happy that it was Ha Giyeon who joined.

Yeah, just like that, they’d talked that morning.

And now they’re saying Ha Giyeon switched to the Debate Club?

That was what Suhyeon had just heard after running an errand to the teacher’s office.

Only thirty minutes after parting ways with Giyeon, hearing he’d switched clubs left Suhyeon standing frozen in disbelief in front of the office.

He stared at the person who’d said it. Judging by the name tag, he was a fellow first-year, probably in the same class as Giyeon—but since Giyeon usually walked around alone, it was hard to tell if they were friends.

What Suhyeon was sure of was that the guy in front of him seemed suspicious.

Giyeon had clearly said he was joining the Reading Club to study quietly. And now he was switching to the Debate Club? That didn’t make sense. Despite the name, the Debate Club was full of so-called delinquents—kids known throughout the school. Ha Dohoon, for example, was a famous member.

If someone said he changed his mind and followed a friend, maybe that could be believable, but...

Suhyeon trusted Ha Giyeon more than the person in front of him.

...This stinks.

Just then, he recalled the bruise on Giyeon’s arm.

And Suhyeon opened his mouth without even realizing it.

“Excuse me. I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“...Huh?”

Nam Taekyung and the teacher turned to look at Suhyeon. He decided to probe the situation a bit.

“Ha Giyeon told me this morning that he was joining the Reading Club.”

“...Ah, well, I just came from talking to him in the classroom.”

Taekyung paused slightly before speaking, acting all confident like he wasn’t lying—but Suhyeon was staring straight at the subtle tremble in his eyes.

“And who are you?”

Ignoring him, Suhyeon turned to the teacher.

“I’m the club president. I need to confirm the members and inform the teacher. Since we don’t have many people, if Giyeon leaves, we’ll be disbanded and have to reassign everyone. Should I check with him right now?”

As Suhyeon pulled out his phone, Taekyung’s face paled with panic. His eyes trembled even harder now, like he was just about to get caught.

Taekyung blurted out hastily.

“I heard it from Junseung yesterday... He must not have told Giyeon yet.”

“You’re supposed to confirm with each other first before saying anything. Today’s the last day for changes—if it’s done wrong, that’s it.”

“I’ll talk to him properly. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about. It’s Junseung who didn’t explain things right...”

Kim Junseung had a bad reputation with the teachers since early in the year—he slouched around, talked back, and had the image of a troublemaker. So the teacher didn’t think much of it and sided with Nam Taekyung. Taekyung knew this well and used Junseung’s name to slip through the cracks.

Suhyeon bowed and left the office. Nam Taekyung followed behind him.

“Hey.”

Suhyeon had just taken a few steps down the hallway when Taekyung called to him. They were alone in the corridor, and Suhyeon turned slightly to look at him.

“What’s your relationship with Ha Giyeon?”

“...?”

“Are you close?”

Taekyung’s face was twisted in irritation as he asked, his expression full of barely concealed annoyance.

To him, this tall, awkward-looking third-year who had suddenly butted in was just some pathetic loser. Even if he was a senior, he didn’t look like much. Big glasses, unkempt hair—no need to make a good impression. And what, Reading Club president?

“I don’t care if you’re some club president. Giyeon can do whatever he wants. Why are you suddenly sticking your nose in?”

His attitude had completely changed from how he’d been in front of the teacher, but Suhyeon didn’t flinch. He’d dealt with punks like this more times than he could count. The way they pretended to care while trying to control others.

Normally, Suhyeon would’ve ignored them or avoided getting involved—but that was only when it was about himself.

If it was someone else, and that person was Ha Giyeon, it was different.

He couldn’t stop picturing the bruise on Giyeon’s arm.

Suhyeon was quiet at school and barely talked—but it wasn’t because he couldn’t speak. He just didn’t say anything unnecessary.

“You’re the one who doesn’t get it. I said I needed to finalize the club members today. The one sticking his nose in without knowing anything is you.”

Which meant—this was a necessary thing to say. Whether for Giyeon’s sake or his own.

“Why, you—!”

Ignoring Nam Taekyung, whose face had turned red with anger, Suhyeon turned and walked away.

“What the hell is that bastard’s problem?”

Taekyung clenched his teeth. Giyeon always kept annoying pieces of shit like that around him. Of all people, why did that guy have to be in the office today?

His plan failed again, and Nam Taekyung muttered curses as he headed to class.

***

It was just before midterms.

Ha Giyeon glanced sideways at Nam Taekyung as he solved problems from his workbook. Oddly enough, Taekyung hadn’t spoken to him at all during the one-day club change period last Friday.

He still acted like he wanted to eat lunch together, but he hadn’t brought up clubs again. And maybe because exams were coming up, he spent breaks studying too, and didn’t try talking to Giyeon.

Which made things perfect for Giyeon. During exam season, he could use studying as an excuse to skip lunch, and if he kept studying, no one would come up to him.

This was exactly the kind of environment he wanted.

“Alright, study hard for the exams! Homeroom’s over.”

As soon as homeroom ended, Giyeon grabbed his bag and rushed to leave. If he left quickly and walked around the schoolyard, he might run into Suhyeon and they could head to the café together.

He slung his bag over his shoulder and headed for the back door—only to be blocked by Nam Taekyung.

“Giyeon, we said we’d study together. Want to join me?”

“Ah, no... I have somewhere to be.”

“Where are you going?”

“Uh... I just have plans.”

“What kind of plans?”

Taekyung clung to him persistently, and Giyeon was puzzled. He was even physically blocking the door. Why did it feel like he was trying to stop him from going home? Almost like he was deliberately trying to trap him.

When Giyeon didn’t answer properly, Taekyung pushed harder.

“What kind of plans? Hm? Is it more important than me?”

He thought about lying and saying it was a family thing—but if Taekyung dug into it through Kwon Jongseok or Ha Dohoon, it might come back to bite him. He couldn’t say anything carelessly.

“Giyeon, do you really have plans?”

“Yeah, I do...”

“Then why do I feel like you’re always rejecting me... It kinda hurts, you know.”

There it was again.

Most of the class had already left, and only Taekyung’s group was still hanging around. He seemed determined to drag Giyeon along no matter what today.

Giyeon forced a smile.

“Sorry. Let’s do it next time.”

“When? Will you invite me to your house then?”

“Oooh! For real?”

“Can we come tomorrow? I’m so curious!”

The moment someone mentioned his house, Taekyung’s usually quiet friends burst into cheers and over-the-top reactions.

Taekyung sneered at them inwardly. They were acting like they cared about whether he was close with Giyeon—but really, they just wanted to go to Ha Dohoon’s house too.

Two-faced bastards.

Meanwhile, Giyeon was thrown off by the unexpected mention of his house and flustered by how they were pushing it. Seeing his expression, Taekyung moved in for the kill.

“Alright then, let’s go tomorrow—”

“What the hell are you doing?”

A sudden low voice cut in, and Giyeon turned his head.

Choi Mujin was standing at the door.

“Come on. Let’s go, Ha Giyeon.”