Chapter 15: Saving Lu Yuze's name [2]

Song Yujin held his breath as if letting it go would break their frozen stance and the vice president would bolt to him as fast as lightning.

Lee Hyun's face darkened, and Song Yujin cursed inwardly before lunging in and grabbing the book.

In an instant, the two of them were running around the library. Song Yujin ran while taking out the red card from the book and Lee Hyun chased him, forgetting his composure and dignity.

Song Yujin was screaming around, breaking the silence in the library. But who wouldn't? When the one chasing him looks like the Grim Reaper!

They circled the shelves like ducks playing tag, but only Song Yujin quacked in nervousness and amusement. After several minutes of running, he finally took the red card, however, he was struck by another problem.

How else is he going to hide it?

Stupidly, he reached a dead end.

Song Yujin racked his brain on what to do next when the looming shadow of the vice president cast on him, he closed his eyes and ripped the part of the paper where Lu Yuze's name was written, then he ripped it again to pieces before throwing them into his mouth.

He hadn't swallowed them all when his shoulder was yanked and he was forcefully turned around. His body slammed into the wall, locked between the shelf on his right, and the wall, on his left, and angered Lee Hyun in his front.

Without warning, Lee Hyun's hands shot up.

Song Yujin closed his eyes, thinking that the vice president finally lost his patience with his shenanigans and decided to punch him, but instead, he felt hands on his face, warm and smooth, forcefully opening his mouth.

Song Yujin's eyes fluttered open hastily, staring at Lee Hyun's darkened expression with shock. He then heard the vice president speak angrily, "Are your parents not feeding you properly? Why do you keep eating paper? Do you even know how they're made?"

Song Yujin shook his head, his lips pursed tightly.

Lee Hyun's eyes only went furious after he refused to open his mouth willingly. The vice president then continued, "These papers used for these small notes are created by the Paper Crafting Club in this school."

There's a club like that?! Song Yujin couldn't help but think despite his predicament.

"They recycled used paper in the school – milk cartons, printed papers, newspapers, cardboard, envelopes, dirty paper bags, and even used napkins. They pulped it down, throwing it in a grinder full of ink stains, dirt, pulp remnants, and residual mold from previous use. All of that dirt, you just eat them. Spit it out," Lee Hyun added.

Song Yujin's eyes sparkled in awe. A thought formed in his head, so this bastard can speak more than two sentences! His voice sounds mature and deeper when he's mad.

Lee Hyun, furrowing his brows deeper when Song Yujin did nothing but ignore him, snapped. He pressed his thumb finger on the student's lips, opening them apart.

Song Yujin's eyes widened. He moved his head away. "Mph!"

But his struggle was in vain when Lee Hyun pinched his nose instead. He lost his only airway and without a choice, he had to open his mouth to breathe because the vice president wasn't letting his nose go even when he clutched on his arms.

Song Yujin, "Hah!"

Lee Hyun grabbed the opportunity and opened his mouth widely, only to see that it was already empty. He couldn't get the evidence back, and now his thumb is wet with a guy's saliva. He took his hands away, expressing his anger despite his icy calm.

"You're impossible," Lee Hyun muttered, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping his fingers.

Song Yujin, catching his breath, looked at him sheepishly, "But…vice president…do you know who owns that book?"

Lee Hyun's jaw clenched in the obvious provocation of his fellow student. Who owns the book now that the name on the card is gone? He pursed his lips, unable to answer. After a while, he turned his back on Song Yujin and walked away, saying, "I will make sure to report this, so you will be punished again."

"Report what? On what charges?" Song Yujin followed, his voice challenging the vice president.

Lee Hyun answered, firm and definite, "Destruction of evidence."

Song Yujin gaped at him for a few seconds, before he burst out laughing. After his laughter subsided, he pointed at Lee Hyun and replied amusingly, "Woah, are we on some court trial now? This is just a school!"

"Bound by rules, yes," Lee Hyun spoke, bending down to pick up the book Song Yujin dropped.

Song Yujin shook his head in disbelief and stubbornness of his fellow student. "Tsk…hey, but you're just going to report it without evidence? That is not how the court works. Without a witness, you can't pin me down for the crime. Or are you going to submit this paper for fingerprinting? You have yours here as well~."

He pointed at the remaining piece of red paper and waved it at the vice president. Lee Hyun's expression visibly changed into a scornful one, much to Song Yujin's awe. It was the first time he saw him look down at people instead of just his usual cold and detached expression.

And rather than be annoyed, Song Yujin found himself fond of Lee Hyun's openness to him. He grinned widely, spouting nonsense again. "I'm going to report you for slander. What will people think if they hear that I eat paper like cotton candy? They will laugh at me and call me nuts and food-deprived! Just like you did! Geez, my handsome reputation will hit rock bottom. How else am I going to pick girls now? They won't even dare to kiss me if they hear that I swallowed a very dirty paper!"

Listening to Song Yujin's yapping, the tip of Lee Hyun's eyebrow twitched. He pinched the bridge of his nose, displaying his frustration at his classmate.

"Why do you want to save Lu Yuze from this?" Lee Hyun asked after a few sighs.

Song Yujin paused to ponder. Why? "Because we're friends?"

"You just met him two days ago, and he's a friend already?" Lee Hyun asked, baffled.

Song Yujin looked at him with pitiful eyes, seemingly pitying his difficulty in understanding human connections that sometimes work faster than light. Lee Hyun's finger twitched in annoyance, tempted to poke those eyes in.

"What's wrong with that?" Song Yujin asked.

Lee Hyun narrowed his eyes at him, "Lu Yuze was rumored to frequent dark allies and is a member of a fraternity group. He's a delinquent, they say."

"Well, it's a rumor, you said," Song Yujin shrugged his shoulders.

Lee Hyun looked at him intently, his eyes unreadable, but his words were like a spell that put Song Yujin in deep thought, "Yes. I do hope that it is just a rumor."

The vice president walked away after that. Song Yujin was left in the library, weighing the truth behind his words.