IRLPLBIO Chapter 21 Part 2

Middle school students, lacking maturity, were said to be closer to ‘pack animals’ than humans. As such, they were even more sensitive to hierarchy. These young animals, instinctively following and revering the stronger individual, recognized Park Kwang-cheol as the leader of this school.

Kwang-cheol had never resorted to violence. However, his towering height and solid physique, remarkable for his age, hinted at his strength.

Even when Kwang-cheol showed diligence in his studies and achieved good grades, they perceived him not as an ordinary peer, but as a ‘leader who was even smart.’ They thought that his early manifestation and his secondary gender as a Dominant Alpha were merely adornments that made Kwang-cheol shine even brighter.

At first, Kwang-cheol felt burdened by the admiring gazes directed at him. But at some point, he grew accustomed to them.

He could pinpoint exactly when that change occurred. It was from the moment he harbored feelings for Jae-gu.

When he was little, he was proud that the neighborhood older brother, who was good at fighting, was always on his side. As he grew a little older, he wished that his older brother would play with him more than with his other friends.

The feelings he had once thought were merely due to closeness, familiarity from growing up together, or a slightly stronger liking than what he felt for others, at some point transformed into possessiveness. Even as he comforted Jae-gu, who grieved for his lost mother, there was a base part of himself that rejoiced at the thought of Jae-gu living in the same house.

It was some time later that he fully recognized his feelings.

One day, the moment he woke up and looked at Jae-gu, Kwang-cheol realized something. There were things in life that you just knew, without any special reason or catalyst. The feelings Kwang-cheol experienced then were exactly like that.

Jae-gu’s profile, faintly illuminated by the streetlamp outside, etched itself past his cornea and into his brain. Simultaneously, he knew the name of that emotion.

He liked this person. It was a ‘liking’ different from how he felt about his mother or his friends.

It was his first love, and unrequited love.

To earn even a shred of attention from Jae-gu, who still only saw him as a younger brother, Kwang-cheol would do anything. Entering Dae-yeong, forming a temporary alliance with Han Yun-cheol, or keeping Han Seong-cheol in check, none of it was a problem. More than that, he could even accept working in the shadows for a very long time.

Jae-gu had said he would raise Kwang-cheol to the highest position, but Kwang-cheol felt the exact same way. He wanted to hold Jae-gu’s hand and do whatever it took to fulfill all of Jae-gu’s desires. It was a desire far removed from the ‘good’ Kwang-cheol that Jae-gu saw.

Even at school, as Kwang-cheol was thinking of Jae-gu, someone spoke to him.

“Wait… Park Kwang-cheol. Could you listen to me for a moment? I, I’m Kim Min-jae from class 3, and I heard that if I tell you something like this, you might help…”

The kid, wearing the same uniform as Kwang-cheol, was trembling, both his voice and his tightly clasped hands. He must have mustered considerable courage to approach Kwang-cheol, who usually kept people at arm’s length. If he was scared, he could have just stayed away, yet it was remarkable that he spoke directly.

Kwang-cheol had a soft spot for brave people who didn’t back down even when afraid. Or, to be precise, he became very soft if the person ‘showed a similar side to Jae-gu.’

“What is it about?”

When Kwang-cheol unexpectedly replied without hesitation, Kim Min-jae immediately started to tear up. As if determined to still speak, he shoved his fingers under his round glasses to wipe away tears, rambling incoherently.

His voice was trembling so much it sounded almost like a goat bleating, but the content was mostly understandable. He had made a friend online, that friend said they were coming to visit, but some kid from his class who ‘messed around’ had snatched his mobile phone, and was planning to meet his friend pretending to be him…

Ah.

Kwang-cheol suddenly thought. Although he hadn’t heard any description of her appearance, he somehow felt like he knew what the internet friend looked like. A neat bob, with a dark mole precisely placed beneath round eyes…

“…Is it a girl?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“And she said she’d be wearing a white dress?”

“……!”

Startled, Kim Min-jae, instead of crying, now regarded Kwang-cheol warily. The thought that Kwang-cheol might have already gotten the information from the guys who took his mobile phone was clear on his face.

However, Kwang-cheol hadn’t heard it from anyone. Without even knowing how he knew, he simply stood up. He could think later, but his body needed to move right now.