Chapter 29: Chasing

--2004--

“Ri Tae Yoon!”

I stopped from my tracks and turned around from the direction of the voice. A Junior student, based on his bar pin, came marching towards me. He swung his arm, striking the book I was reading, and grabbed me by the collar. The book landed on a student who was passing by and the other students stopped curiously.

His eyes were fiery, glaring at me like a madman. I would have understood if he punched me with all the anger he was showing, but instead, he remained standing in front of me, gritting his teeth.

“What do you want?” I asked in my usual stoic manner. His glare didn’t scare me, not because I towered over him a few inches, nor because I was strongly built even in my age. But because there’s no reason for me to be scared about. I am a peaceful and quiet guy.

“How could you act so righteous even now? My friend is already dead!” he yelled, tears welling up in his eyes, threatening to fall. But his resolve was stronger than his mourning.