Chapter 380: Outlier

No wonder the school seemed familiar. June had never been to Minjun's school before, but the uniforms were identical to the ones that Minjun wore.

There was no doubt.

The kid they were bullying was none other than Minjun.

June stood there for a while, not knowing what to do. It dawned on him why Minjun had a shift in his attitude. He had always been bright, snarky, and never took anyone's shit.

However, the Minjun he saw in the hospital was distant, cold, and passive.

June snapped out of his thoughts when he heard what seemed to be a punch. His eyes widened, and he was about to intervene when he heard another voice.

"Hey!" a girl's voice, still young but undoubtedly older than Minjun, intercepted the scene.

"What the hell are you kids doing?" she asked.

June peeked from his spot and saw a trio of teenagers, appearing to be in high school, looking at the three bullies with reprimanding stares.

"Why are you ganging up on him?" the girl who originally stopped the fight asked.

She continued to reprimand the bullies along with her two other friends, but June couldn't hear a thing they were saying.

Instead, his gaze was focused on Minjun.

June's jaw clenched when he saw a forming bruise on his arm. Minjun clutched onto the discolored area, his eyes cast to the ground with a subtle glare. His lips were pursed together, and he was breathing heavily as if he was holding back his emotions.

June snapped out of his thoughts when the bullies spoke again.

"This is not over, Minjun," one of them said.

June's eyes narrowed on the kid, his eyes focused on the nametag attached to his uniform.

"Kim Duri," he muttered under his breath.

"Kids these days, really," the girl said as she glared at the bullies' figures from a distance.

Then, she walked to where Minjun was, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she softly asked.

However, Minjun didn't respond and broke away from her hold before she could ensure his safety.

June's frown deepened as he followed Minjun's figure.

"Little bro," he said but quickly hid in his spot when the trio seemed to have heard his words.

"Did you guys hear that?" the girl asked.

"I didn't," another responded.

"Do you guys think it's a ghost?" a new voice asked.

"Who cares?" the second person said. "Let's go to the cafeteria. I want some cream bread."

With that, June waited for their footsteps to grow distant before he walked back to the music room.

He finally arrived at the music room with a half-eaten cream bread in his hand.

"There you are!" Zeth exclaimed. "That took so long. We thought you got caught."

"I didn't," June mindlessly said, his thoughts still focused on what he saw a while ago.

"You can check the footage I've filmed," he added. "I didn't run into any high-schoolers."

"And the bread?" Ren asked.

June showed them the crumpled bread in his hand, causing the members and the staff members to laugh.

"Aww, did you grow hungry?" Jaeyong teased.

"You should have bought more for us," Akira added.

June merely smiled, not having the energy to respond to their teases.

"Congratulations, EVE!" the producer exclaimed, confetti falling over the members' heads.

"You have completed all of your missions and are now granted permission to perform at the school's assembly!"

"This assembly will comprise of the highest years from the middle school and high school department. So, only the seniors and 8th-graders will be a part of it."

June's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

Minjun was in 7th grade.

June was hoping he'd see him, but it seemed like fate didn't allow it.

"Now, go ahead and get ready for the performance!"

***

"What's this for?" Yoonhee asked as she entered the assembly hall with her friends.

"Beats me," Jaekyung, her closest male friend, shrugged. "It's weird that they're linking us with the 8th-graders, though."

"Speaking of 8th-graders," Nami, her other friend, pointed to the little tweens in front of them, "I think your sister is stirring some drama again."

Yoonhee shook her head as she observed her sister. The 8th-grader was surrounded by a bunch of boys, two of them fawning over her like a queen.

"I swear, Yunha is the complete opposite of you," Jaekyung said.

"Tell me about it," Nami chuckled. "I'm scared of her even though she's younger than me."

Yoonhee sighed in defeat, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I'm just glad she isn't like those 7th grade bullies we met during the break."

"Yeah," Nami sighed. "I felt so bad for the other kid. It seems like it has been going on for a while."

Their conversation was cut short as their principal's voice resounded through the hall.

"Students," he started off. "Thank you for coming here despite the short notice. I have a few announcements that involve your grades, so please listen well."

Yoonhee groaned, leaning her head against Jaekyung. The teenage boy blushed, placing his hand over his heart as he felt it racing.

"A few announcements mean we'll be here until lunch," she complained.

Nami looked at Jaekyung, her heart aching as he watched her being giddy over Yunha.

However, she cleared her throat and quickly responded to Yunha.

"Yeah," Nami said. "His announcements always stray to his life stories."

"Well, at least we wouldn't have to take the quiz with Mrs. Sim," Jaekyung chimed.

Yoonhee chuckled. "Yeah, you're right."

"Now, settle down," their principal said.

"My first announcement is—"

Just then, cameras emerged from left and right, and a new voice resounded through the hall.

People started screaming as they saw a familiar face coming up the stage, greeting their principal with a wide smile.

"DJ Dog?" Nami exclaimed, standing from her seat.

"Accomplishing missions in the land of education—this is School Invasion!" DJ Dog loudly said the tagline of the show, some of the students chanting along with him.

"Oh my gosh. School Invasion?"

"Fuck, I never thought the day would come."

"This is the very first time I didn't regret coming to school."

The crowd was in shambles as DJ Dog continued speaking.

Yoonhee stopped leaning on Jaekyung, causing the latter to become disappointed.

She kept her gaze on the stage, curious as to who was going to invade their school.

Yoonhee was a fan of Korean rap and hip-hop, so she wasn't too interested in idols. However, there was one outlier in her usual taste.

Nami, on the other hand, was a hardcore fan of every K-pop group out there.

"Without further ado," DJ Dog said, his voice bursting through the speakers, "I present to you—EVE!"