Having a friend doesn't sound so bad

Hello Dear Readers.

Author here!

This is a chapter from a different POV. This is not the continuation of the previous chapter, rather this chapter happened between ch 1 and ch 2.

I hope you guys will like it. It's Hobin's POV after all.

Peace.

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[ 3 days before ]

[ Hobin's POV ]

I don't like coming to school anymore.

"Hey Hobin! Say hi to our viewers buddy!"

Why don't I like coming to school you ask?

"Hobin, didn't you hear me? I said say hi to our viewers." Pakgo, our class's bully said, his face close to mine and his voice turning cold "And give them a smile."

"Haha hahahahaa...." An idiot introduced himself with a silly laugh. That idiot is me.

Because of this bastard, I hate coming to school!

~

My name is Yoo Hobin. I am 18 years old, and I am a student at Gyerong High. I have a height barely reaching 170 centimetres, and I probably weigh as much as about 53 kg I think. Overall, you can say I am a pretty scrawny guy, at least compared to this brute Pakgo.

In the beginning of my highschool year, I was sociable. At least sociable enough to not come off as a loser. It all changed however, when this bastard started harassing me. He just started beating me up for no particular reason, and now I am nothing more than a punching bag for this asshole.

Seriously, I hate coming to school!

"So my amazing subscribers, today, My friend Hobin here is going to teach us how to do a handstand! C'mon Hobin, show us!" God, this fucking sucks. If you are going to use me, then the least you can do is give me a cut of your money.

"Haha, I am doing a handsta- oof!" I said before falling down face first on the ground. I am lucky we are currently in the school playground. I don't even want to imagine how hard it would have hurt if I fell on a concrete floor.

"Oh no, Hobin, are you alright?!" Pakgo asked 'worriedly' while coming to my 'aid'. "I am sorry dear viewers, but I need to tend to my friend for a while. Oh no Hobin! Your nose is bleeding! Here, let me help you!" Pakgo took out his handkerchief and started rubbing my bleeding nose, in a not so gentle manner.

Stop rubbing my nose so harshly, It stings you fucking moron! Are you trying to take it off my face?! If you are trying to act like a nice guy, then at least do it properly. Wait, isn't that the same handkerchief you used to wipe your nose? Don't use it on me you fucker!

"Hey Pakgo, you are hurting him you lunatic."

A calm and collected voice said from behind me, and judging by the furious expression on Pakgo's face, I can easily tell whose voice it is.

Alex Jin. The biggest loser of our school. I am just a little ahead of him in the social ladder. Despite that, I still feel a little inferior to him, because unlike me, he has a handsome face, a good body and he looks intimidating as fuck. Pakgo hates him with all his heart, and people tries to ignore him just so they don't get on Pakgo's badside.

He is still really popular in our school. I have heard many girls saying how hot Alex looks even while getting beaten up and how much of a bastard Pakgo is for hitting such a handsome guy.

Seriously, I can't stand how good looking he is.

"Alex...you want to be a part of my video too?" Pakgo asked with a really, and I mean REALLY pissed off look on his face. I feel so glad it's not aimed at me...

"Huh? No I don't." Alex being the one subjected to that scary look, doesn't look scared at all as he replied to Pakgo with a bored look on his face.

Yeah, there's one more thing I have noticed about Alex. He is really weird.

He is one of the biggest guys I have come across in my life, hell, he looks even stronger than Munseong! But that's all there is to him, cuz he can't fight for shit. And Pakgo takes advantage of that fact.

Just the previous day, Pakgo and him had a fight in the classroom. I have never seen Pakgo so furiously pummeling someone on the ground. He was literally smashing his leg on Alex's face. I thought he was going to kill the guy, but I was too scared to stop him, lest I become the one getting pummeled instead.

At that time, Rumi, the most popular girl in my class, came to Alex's aid which took all of us by surprise. We never thought SHE would be the one to actually help Alex out. I have never even seen those two talk before!

But that was a mistake that cost Rumi her popularity, and now she is not as popular as she was before. Pakgo is pissed at her, and I think he must be planning something.

After getting pummeled like that, anyone would think that Alex wouldn't have it in him to even walk straight, but what he did next shook me to my core. He stood up, dusted himself off and cracked his knuckles.

He was standing there without a scratch on his body.

I have noticed it before, but that incident confirmed it to me. Alex Jin, is stronger than Pakgo.

If that is the case, then why is he getting his ass beat on a regular basis you ask? Well, I don't know myself and I don't care either.

Alex might be strong sure, but does it change anything for me? No.

I am still a fucking loser.

"Ho? Then why are you here Alex? We are kind of busy here. I think it would be good for the both of us if you just, you know, leave?" Pakgo cracked his knuckles in a very intimidating manner. "I am shooting a video right now, and my viewers wouldn't like it very much if you interrupted us."

Instead of being scared, Alex actually had the audacity to shoot Pakgo a middle finger before speaking

"Piss off. Who are you trying to fool you fucking moron? You are just bullying him." Alex pointed a finger at me, "I don't think he even wants to be here." That's true.

If Pakgo was mad before, then right now he was downright furious. I have never seen such an expression on his face before. Alex really gets under his skin doesn't he? Man, he looks really scary right now. I think I peed a little.

He is not going to start fighting when his video is going live is he? He can't show his bad side to his subscribers after all.

Alex must have noticed that too, as his bored expression soon turned smug and he started talking in a teasing tone of voice, which was able to infuriate Pakgo even more.

"Heh. It's not like you can hit me when your video is going live now can you? Boohoo, poor Baldy~" OHMYFUCKINGGOD! He actually said that to Pakgo's face! What's with that smug expression on your face? Pakgo is going to kill you when his stream ends you know!

Just as I expected, Pakgo got even more red in the face and the veins on his bald head became visible for all to see. But despite being as furious as he was, Pakgo simply turned around to look at Snapper and said with an angry smirk on his face.

"Hey Snapper, did the video come out okay?" Huh? Weren't we live?

"Y-yes it came out fantastic Pakgo! I will edit it and upload it tomorrow!" Snapper blabbered with a scared expression on his face, his face turned pale as he tried to give out a smirk, "B-beat his ass Pakgo. Teach him a lesson..."

Pakgo turned around to look at Alex again who looked really annoyed instead of scared, as he started muttering to himself loud enough for me to hear.

"Tch." Did he just click his tongue? "Mission failed, better luck next time...." Was he trying to trick Pakgo into hitting him in front of his subscribers or something?

What happened next, was fairly obvious. Pakgo lunged at Alex and delievered a nasty kick on his stomach. Without wasting a second, he threw an uppercut at Alex's face which connected with a cracking sound.

If it was me instead of Alex who was receiving such a beat down, then those attacks would have been enough to knock me out. But Alex was bigger than me, so he was still conscious, hell, it looked like those attacks didn't even tickle him! His bored looking face was proof enough for that.

Seeing the expression on Alex's face, Pakgo got even more pissed off than before and grabbed his hair. Without stopping for even a second, Pakgo smacked Alex's face with his fist bringing Alex down on the ground. Pakgo didn't look satisfied with just that much, so he sat on Alex's stomach and started smacking Alex on his face repeatedly with all his strength.

Alex on the other hand, simply raised his hands to cover his face, which didn't help that much as most of Pakgo's punches still connected with his face.

When all of this was going on, I was watching from the sidelines with wide eyes and a pale expression on my face. Snapper was just beside me with a similar expression, and if my guess is correct then the both of us were thinking the same thing

'Pakgo is going to kill him!!'

Upon having this realisation, I looked at Snapper with a frantic expression. I was about to tell him to try and stop his friend from potentially murdering a classmate of ours, but just as I expected, Snapper has simply closed his eyes and was looking away with a guilty look on his face.

Seeing that, I was sure Snapper wouldn't be too helpful in this case. The sound of flesh meeting flesh was resounding in the school playground, and with no one being present here at the moment made me sure of one thing, it's all up to me.

If I don't help Alex out, he might really die!

In my panicked state of mind, I was about to go and do something as stupid as tackling Pakgo with my body, but before I can do that, I met Alex's eyes and saw him shooting me a look as if to say 'You stay out of it.'

I was not sure if that's what he really meant by that, maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on me by giving me an excuse to not help Alex out. But one thing was certain. After meeting Alex's eyes, my body froze in its place.

I wasn't able to move at all. It was as if my entire being was telling me to obey the man currently getting his ass kicked by my bully. His eyes were scary, way more scarier than Pakgo. This time, I actually pissed my pants.

At that moment, I noticed one more thing that made my eyes widen in disbelief.

Pakgo's fist were bloody. He was sweating from his forehead and was beginning to get exhausted. But the thing that surprised me the most was the state Alex was in. Being the one subjected to a literal beat down without any means of escape, the state I thought I would find Alex in was nowhere in sight.

The blood on Pakgo's fist wasn't his. Rather, it was Pakgo's own. He was hitting Alex for more than five minutes now and his fist has started taking damage. Alex on the other hand looked completely fine. There wasn't a hint of fear on his face.

Neither was there any blood.

'Oh...so that's how it is, huh?'

At that moment, I learned two things about my mysterious classmate. Alex Jin was an oddball.

And he was stronger than Pakgo, way stronger.

~

"Take this as a lesson you prick... don't you dare mess with me again..." Pakgo, after ten minutes of beating Alex up, finally calmed down and stood up from Alex with an exhausted look on his face. His fists were a bloody mess, and now that I know that it's not Alex's blood, it makes me feel a little happy that this bastard got hurt.

"L-let's go Pakgo. I-I think he learned his lesson..." Snapper said uncertainly, but before he can say anything else, Pakgo started walking ahead of him without saying a word. Being the ass licker he was, he started following Pakgo with a little hesitation.

I looked at my side to see Alex, who had his face covered with his right hand, as he was lying down on the ground. I thought of saying something to him. Maybe ask him why he let Pakgo beat him up like that? But before any words can leave my mouth, I heard him mutter something to himself.

"... Don't...hurt those who are weaker than you..." His voice was cold, and it sent chills down my spine "...I want to kill that prick so bad...damnit..." He stood up from the ground and started dusting himself off. Just like I expected, he had no scratches on him whatsoever. The only difference was the large footprint on his school uniform.

I don't get it. I don't get it at all.

If he is so strong that getting beaten up like that doesn't even leave a scratch on him, then why does he take Pakgo's beating like that? How can someone be so stupid? If I had that kind of strength, the first thing I am doing is kicking Pakgo's ass.

I have noticed it before, but he never tries to fight back. It's always just him silently taking all the hits Pakgo throws at him, he doesn't even make a sound while getting pummeled.

Is he trying to be a character who is mysteriously strong? Is that it? If that is the case then he is a dumbass. If you are not going to fight back, why did you even interrupt Pakgo just now? Do you get off on getting hurt or something?

Just as I thought this, I noticed Alex was not at my side anymore. Where did he go now—

"Here. For your nose." Waah! You scared me!

"What are you gawking at?" Alex asked me with a raised eyebrow, "I said take this. You hurt your nose remember?" He handed me his handkerchief. It looks clean.

I took his handkerchief from him. What's he trying to do here?

"Now sit upright and lean forward." He instructed gently, surprising me in the process. Is he trying to help me? Why?

"Hey... Didn't you hear me? I said sit upright and lean forward. Do you want to swallow your blood that badly?" His stern voice made me do just that. After seeing I was finally listening to him, he cracked a small smile.

"Good, now use the hankey I gave you and blow your nose in it. Remember, do it gently." His warning made its way to my ears, prompting me to act on it. I blew my nose in his handkerchief gently, a few drops of blood came out. "Uhm, you can take that hanky with you. No need to give it back..." Ofcourse you wouldn't want it back. It has my blood on it.

I noticed him grabbing something out of his pocket, and he threw it at me. Surprisingly, I was able to catch it. It felt as if it was meant to land on my hand. Upon inspecting it, I found it was an Afrin Nose spray. Why does he have this on him?

"Spray it on both sides of your nose." He started doing some stretches, "That bastard Pakgo, he could have worsen your nose with the way he was rubbing it. Fucking moron." He spat on the ground with an angry scowl on his face. Scary! This guy is scary!

Instead of saying anything, I just did what he told me to do. I sprayed both sides of my nose with the spray he gave me. Before I can return it to him, he started speaking again

"Keep that with you," He raised a hand to stop me from throwing it back to him, "Now, use your thumb and index finger to keep your nostrils shut. Breathe through your mouth for about....12 minutes. Keep pinching your nose for just as long." He pinched his nose to show me how it's done. I did what he told me and started breathing through my mouth. He is really good at instructions isn't he?

"Now, try to avoid bending down for several hours. Keep your head higher than the level of your heart. Don't try to peek at your nose. Here, grab my hand." He gave me his hand, after a few seconds, I decided to take his help and stood up.

"...You...know a lot about this.." I decided to finally speak to him. He doesn't seem like a bad guy.

"I guess. I used to get hurt a lot when I was a kid. So it became a habit of me to carry that," He pointed towards the Afrin spray at my hand, "With me at all times. You can keep it with you by the way, alongside that handkerchief. No need to wash that thing just to give it back to me." Alex said with shrug of his shoulders as we started walking back to the class together.

"Uhm, thanks for helping me..." I said while scratching my cheek with my index finger. God I am not used to this.

After hearing me thanking him, he just gave me a small smile and dismissed it with a simple 'No need'. I feel like he is not used to talking to people just like me.

"You know, the next time that Baldy tries to mess with you...just kick him in the nuts." Alex advised with a straight face making me snort at his words. That's evil! Even for Pakgo, that's too evil!

After seeing the expression on my face, he chuckled to himself and shook his head. I heard him mutter something close to 'a second Daniel' or 'a thin Daniel', I don't know which one was it.

Looking at his amused expression, I decided to ask him a question that has been bugging me for a while.

Why did he help me? What's his game?

I know many people who try to act nice with you, but deep down everyone wants something in return. I might be an idiot, but naive is something that I am not. I think just like everyone else, he must be after something too.

"Say, why did you help me? Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to you but, what's your game? I don't have anything you would want from me." I asked him with genuine curiousity in my eyes. Seriously, why would someone try to help someone like me?

"Huh? What do you mean? Wasn't that the right thing to do? I couldn't have just let Pakgo mess with your nose when it was bleeding like that. He could've injured it more." Alex replied with a shrug of his shoulders as if what he did was just a normal thing for him.

I... don't know how to take this. Nobody has ever helped me out from situations like this before. He didn't actually do anything shocking like beating Pakgo up for my sake, but he helped me out from the injury I got. And judging from the way he is speaking, I can tell he interfered before so that Pakgo's attention would shift on him. The beating he took, despite not taking any injury, I can tell it hurt his pride. Hell, he looked so furious when Pakgo left that I felt like a deer in headlights in his presence.

He did all of that, just so that he can help a loser like me.

I don't know the reason for him to not fight back, but what he did for me still counts as him showing kindness to me in my books. He is not a bad guy after all.

I smiled.

"If that's the case, then thanks. You really saved my skin back there." I gave him a smirk which turned into a grimace as my nose started bleeding again. Upon seeing me in pain, this bastard started laughing at my face. I take it all back, he is just as much of an asshole as Pakgo!

Just as his laughter subsided, he gave me a cheeky grin before introducing himself.

"Alex Jin."

"I know. We are in the same class."

"Really? Never saw you. Must be because of your height." This bastard!

"Tch, I am still growing you asshole!" I said with an angry look on my face, which soon turned into a grimace as my nose started hurting again. Once again, the sound of his laughter reached my ears.

"Hey hey, I am kidding. Take it easy. Let's just introduce ourselves again. My name is Alex Jin, and you are....?" He really doesn't know me does he?

"...Hobin. Yoo Hobin." I introduced myself while pinching my nose. I hate you Pakgo!

"Hm? It's nice to meet you Hobin. I hope we can be friends." He said with the same cheeky grin on his face. God, I wish Bomi doesn't meet this guy. He is too handsome for his own good!

But... friends huh? Now that I think about it, I don't have any of those.

I never had friends. As long as I can remember, I have always been busy with my part-time jobs to care about making friends. I decided to change that when I go to high school, but it all went down the drain because of that fucker Pakgo beating me up just a few days after the start of the first year. Nobody is interested in talking to a guy who is at the bottom of the social ladder.

But, me being friends with this punk? As far as I know, he is even below me in the social ladder. Talking to him would do me no good. If Pakgo found out I am friends with this guy, then he would start treating me like shit.

What the fuck am I even thinking? It's not like Pakgo treats me like a princess even without me talking to Alex. Nothing would change for me. Just as I am now, I would still be a loser.

No wait, something will definitely change.

I will still be a loser, but I will have a friend.

We both hate Pakgo with all our hearts, so that's one thing common between us. I can already see the sight of both of us roasting Pakgo behind his back. What a beautiful friendship we will have(lol).

But seriously.... having a friend doesn't...doesn't sound so bad now that I think about it.

I smiled just as cheekily at Alex, making him smile wider as I said

"It's nice to meet you too Alex."

Coming to school doesn't feel as bad as before.