I don’t know since when I had gotten lost in this one-on-one fight that started over such a trivial matter. What I realized was that I had already thrown dozens of raw punches at the face of the stupid bastard underneath me.
"Damn it, I give up. This was just a punishment challenge for me, but you completely wrecked me!" he shouted, pushing me away a bit roughly.
I pulled myself back, starting to understand what he meant. Ah, so I had become the target of his challenge.
He stood up with difficulty, and several of his friends suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"Wow, I didn’t expect you to end up this beaten up," one of them remarked while helping the guy I had just fought with.
"Y/n is pretty tough too," another added.
I spat lightly, blood coming out of my mouth. All this time they had underestimated me because I was always quiet and alone? Bastards. I just didn’t want to be friends with trash like them.
I chose to turn around and leave the group of idiots who treated fighting like a game. And look at what he got — it didn’t seem worth it.
Right after I turned around, I found Nayeon staring at me in shock. Her facial expression was hard to read. Even though I was sure I looked ridiculous with several bruises on my face, I still threw a smile at her.
Nayeon’s gaze suddenly changed. The girl rarely looked at me directly, so this time I felt a bit nervous at the way she was staring at me. Without warning, she grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from there. Taking me somewhere — I had no idea. Still trying to process the situation, I could only follow along.
We stopped at the quiet garden behind the language faculty building. She guided me to sit on an old wooden bench.
"What’s going on?" I asked innocently. Actually, this was a bit strange. We weren’t as close as other people might think (especially after Nayeon openly pulled me away). We just kept running into each other and I often tried to talk to her.
Nayeon didn’t say anything. She just took out a pouch from her backpack and pulled out a tube of wound ointment. Wow, she was so well-prepared.
She sat beside me and turned my body to face her. Her hand accidentally pressed on one of my wounds, making me wince softly.
Can I be honest? It seemed like Nayeon was angry? I don’t know, maybe I was just overthinking it.
She started applying the ointment to my wounds quite roughly.
"Ouch, is this how you treat someone? They could die from the pain," I protested, moving her hand away from my face.
"Who told you to fight?" she replied dismissively, complete with a scornful look. That stung my pride a little.
"If you don’t want to help, at least don’t"
I started to feel frustrated. Why was Nayeon suddenly crying? I should be the one groaning here.
The same sorrowful look she showed me that day in the rain appeared again now. It made me curious about what had hurt the girl so deeply.
"Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry," I said softly, taking a handkerchief from my pants pocket and offering it to her.
Nayeon shook her head, keeping her head down. She wiped her tear-streaked face.
"I just have trauma with fights. Sorry for startling you," she said quietly.
Nayeon always cared about other people. She didn’t hesitate to show it openly. That was one more point in her favor that made me want to get to know her better.
"I know this might be a bit forward, but if I may ask, what caused your trauma?" I asked carefully so as not to hurt her feelings.
She let out a soft sigh, closed the ointment in her hand, and placed it in mine.
"It’s nothing. You can do the rest yourself, right? I have to go home."
Nayeon stood up, leaving me struggling with the curiosity that gnawed at my mind. Without another word, the girl left. Leaving me as if she didn’t know me at all.
1 like from PinkBlood.