IYBML 06

Chapter 06

Why This Man Has to Be the Male Lead (3)

“What the….”

The fight ended rather anticlimactically. After just a few kicks from Eunho, the three boys were sprawled out on the ground.

I held hands with the Class 8 president as we stared at the boys, who were bleeding from their noses.

“Wow, Bae Eunho. You’re amazing.”

“Did you really think I’d lose to these guys after fighting them for my life? They’re nothing.”

“That’s not something to brag about. Forget it. Let’s hurry and get out of here.”

“You said you called the police.”

“Exactly! So we need to run!”

I hurriedly stepped over the fallen boys and grabbed Eunho’s hand. Soon, the sound of a police patrol car could be heard.

If we got caught like this, we’d be the ones losing out. With Eunho’s hand in my right hand and the Class 8 president’s in my left, I ran in the opposite direction from the sound.

“Run!”

“Hey, you crazy—!”

That was when it happened. One of the boys, whom I thought had already passed out, got back up and picked up a broken wooden club.

When the Class 8 president warned me to be careful, I quickly let go of his hand and took a defensive stance.

The direction from which the wooden club was being swung suddenly changed. I thought he was aiming for the Class 8 president, but this bastard was actually targeting me.

I squeezed my eyes shut as the wooden club came down toward my field of vision.

I’m really going to get hit this time!

Along with a dull thud, I felt something warm.

“E-Eunho!”

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a firm chest.

Eunho was shielding me with his body, raising his arm to block the wooden club.

His brows were slightly furrowed.

The police officers rushed toward the man and restrained him. The man was breathing heavily as he glared at Eunho and me.

“Are you okay, student?”

“What, Bae Eunho? You again?”

“Bae Eunho? He’d been quiet for a while.”

The police officers clicked their tongues briefly, as if they already knew Eunho.

Then they separated Eunho and me and checked my condition.

Even though I was perfectly fine and Eunho was the one who had been injured.

My heart sank when I saw Eunho’s injured arm.

Blood was beginning to soak through Eunho’s navy-blue jersey.

I immediately looked away.

There was blood on the wooden club the man had swung, too.

“Bae Eunho, get in.”

“No!”

“What?”

“Look at his arm! He’s hurt. We need to take him to the hospital first.”

“Our… boy?”

The police officer, the Class 8 president, and even Eunho all looked at me in surprise, but I didn’t care about their reactions.

“Look! He’s bleeding! He got hurt protecting me, so we’re going to the hospital first. I have the right to do that!”

“Yeah, yeah. Officer Kim, put Eunho and this student in that car.”

Surprisingly, Eunho calmly allowed the police officer to support him as they left the alley.

The students gathered near the entrance of the alley alternated between staring at the bleeding Eunho and the boys lying on the ground, whispering among themselves.

“Wasn’t he the one who did that?”

“Wow, Bae Eunho really became a delinquent.”

In the end, I had become someone who failed to change Eunho’s reputation and only managed to get my favorite hurt.

*

“It was scraped by the wood, so it’s not a serious wound. However, there’s a hairline fracture in the bone, so he’ll need to wear a cast for a while.”

“Thank you.”

Eunho moved the cast around his arm experimentally.

When the emergency room doctor went to examine another patient, silence descended once again.

Lying flat on the bed, Eunho carefully watched the familiar yet unfamiliar silhouette reflected against the curtain.

Then, as if he had figured out what was going on, he quickly pulled the curtain aside with one foot.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, well… Yerim told me to come take a look.”

“Yerim? Oh, right. That’s her name….”

Eunho sat up and looked toward Yerim, who was watching him from the far corner of the room.

“But why is she just standing over there watching?”

“She says she feels too sorry to come over.”

“Ha. If she’s sorry, tell her to come over herself. At least let me hear her say thank you. She’s acting like she did nothing after I got hurt because of her.”

At Eunho’s words, the Class 8 president nodded and approached Yerim.

The two whispered to each other for a while before nodding.

Not long after, Yerim approached Eunho with timid steps, her messy bun sticking out in all directions.

What was she going to say?

That since he had saved her life, she wouldn’t bother him anymore?

Even just thinking about the recent past, Eunho had gone through nothing but trouble because of Yerim.

It seemed like everything would be fine if she just disappeared from his life.

Eunho raised his head.

“I’m really sorry. Eunho….”

When he saw Yerim’s large eyes filled with tears, Eunho’s mouth fell slightly open.

What’s wrong with you?

Eunho’s question only seemed to light a fuse.

Yerim covered her face with her hands and sank to the floor.

“It’s all because of me. I was being too reckless… Someone who gets her favorite hurt isn’t even a fan. I’m just trash.”

“Hey, it’s not that bad… They said I’m not seriously injured. It’s just a fracture.”

“Doesn’t a fracture hurt? Even a minor injury hurts people, so why do you keep saying it doesn’t?”

“…….”

“They didn’t stitch it, right? Is it covered by insurance? When are you supposed to go back for disinfecting?”

Even while wiping away her tears, Yerim was worrying about things like insurance and disinfecting the wound.

Eunho found it ridiculous.

Pfft.

In the end, Eunho burst out laughing.

At Eunho’s sudden laughter, the Class 8 president and Yerim, who had been watching from the side, looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

“You really are crazy.”

“Huh?”

“Anyway, you owe me one. I saved your life.”

I wonder what kind of deal I should make.

Just as Eunho was rolling his tongue inside his mouth, Yerim, who had been acting as though the world had collapsed moments ago, suddenly burst into laughter.

Her eyes were red and teary, and the corners of her lips were raised in a smile.

Eunho silently looked at Yerim.

“Yeah. I owe you another one, don’t I?”

Another?

Eunho’s gaze fell on the name tag pinned to Yerim’s chest.

「Moon Yerim」

It was the moment Yerim’s name became clearly engraved in Eunho’s mind, even though until then he had been too busy trying to run away from her because she was such a nuisance.

*

“Wait, how did you end up going to the hospital? And what happened with the police?”

“You heard everything, didn’t you? They said it’s nothing serious.”

“Nothing serious, my foot! Do you know how shocked I was when I got a call from the police chief?”

When I arrived home a little after ten, my parents were waiting for me with worried expressions.

Moreover, my father was apparently quite close to the chief of the police station, so he had heard the entire story.

“Moon Yerim, is something troubling you these days? You seemed fine this morning, and then suddenly….”

“It’s nothing like that. I’m sorry for making you worry.”

“…If that’s the case, then fine. Dad trusts you. You know that, right?”

I nodded absentmindedly at my father’s words.

The way to get along well with my parents was simple: don’t do the things they told me not to do, and do the things they told me to do.

I was about to wrap up the conversation quickly and go to my room when my father stopped me.

“Oh, I heard Dogyeom transferred to your school?”

“Dad, do you know Dogyeom?”

“Why wouldn’t I? He’s Isul’s son, isn’t he? Isul is filming something this time, so… that’s why Dogyeom came along too.”

“Ah… right. But how do you know about that, Dad?”

“What are you talking about?”

So those circumstances were… only supposed to be known by the readers and the background characters at school because they were explained in the novel.

How does her father know about them?

Only then did I notice the dozens of trophies behind my father and the personal photograph of my father hanging beneath the huge family portrait.

「Scene by Scene, CEO Moon Joongwon」

If it was Scene by Scene, then it was the biggest and most famous film production company in this world.

My father, whom I had thought was just a background character, was actually its CEO.

So that was why we had so much money.

“This is a total cinephile family….”

“What are you suddenly talking about? Since we’re on the subject, you absolutely have to win a prize in this summer’s film competition. Make your father proud.”

“Yes, yes. I’m going to my room.”

I closed the door and pouted in the direction where my father was.

I knew.

In this world, Moon Yerim was the president of her Korean high school’s film club, ‘Summer Film.’

But Summer Film wasn’t what mattered to me.

What good would it do if I worked hard there?

That was the crucial place where Dogyeom and Semin would eventually get together.

What mattered wasn’t the club.

It was Eunho.

“I have to make sure I properly change what happened, since he got hurt because of me.”

I took out a sheet of paper and began drawing up a serious plan to turn Eunho into the male lead.

“What else is there… Ah.”

As I made a list of the conditions for becoming the male lead, my wrist began to ache.

I raised my head and slowly looked over the ten conditions.

Yeah.

If I just did this….

“Making our Eunho the male lead will be a piece of cake.”