Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 142: 142-Like Aliens, Fool

Read chapter 142 of Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

It was a Saturday morning, and yet, everyone was seated in the auditorium, dressed in their tracksuits, and silently looking forward to the empty podium as they waited patiently for the main event of the day. Hakyun didn’t like it. But when had he ever? “This is utter nonsense,” the boy grumbled. At this point, it was a ritual. He always did it whenever they were pulled out for an event. “Why do we have to be away from our dorms so early in the morning, eh?” “When are you ever going to stop this?” Chima asked from the safety of his seat. He had put Merlin in between him and Hakyun, well aware that if they sat beside each other, they would end up reaching for each other’s throats. Merlin wouldn't lie. He was kind of exhausted from playing mediator. And it was even worse today, because he couldn’t forget about Choi Sangook’s conversation. He muffled Hakyun and Chima’s conversation and his eyes swept over the auditorium, seeking the bully. He found him not long after, to the far side of the other row, resting his cheek on his palm as he stared silently at the podium like the rest of the lot. Merlin’s brows furrowed, surprised at how calm the lad looked when he kept his tongue in his mouth, and, for a brief moment, wondered about how his relationship with his family went. From what Merlin had gleaned from the conversation he had listened to, they didn’t seem like a lovely family. In fact, if he used his as a basis for comparison, he would claim that his family was a lot more loving. Perhaps he was reaching. How could he come to such a conclusion from just a minute or two of a conversation between a father and a son? But he couldn’t help but feel that such was the case. Choi Sangook had a lot of pressure on his shoulders as the heir to his father’s guild and company, Merlin realized. And maybe that played into why he was so adamant to be an ass to every person he thought below him. Merlin had heard his father explicitly state that the boy avoided any relationship with friends of unacceptable caliber to theirs. And Merlin disapproved of such advice. Friends were the best things to ever happen to a person. No one could do anything alone. Not even the son of the guildmaster of one of the top guilds in South Korea. That was even evident in the fact that the curriculum of Prestige Academy appreciated teamwork. “Hakyun,” Merlin started, and Hakyun and Chima’s argument came to an abrupt stop. “Is there anything you can tell me about Choi Sangook’s family?” Hakyun’s eyebrows twitched. “Why are you suddenly interested in his family?” Merlin glanced at his roommate, who was studying him with that probing gaze of his, and licked his lips. “I overheard his discussion with his father,” he answered truthfully. “They didn’t sound like a loving family. That’s why.” “Listening in on another’s phone call aside, golden spoon families are barely always held together by love, Mel,” Chima chimed in. “So I’m not surprised you got that impression.” Chima’s first words had been spoken with a reprimanding tone. Merlin sighed at that. He had known it wasn’t right to sneak up on another and listen to their conversations without their consent. But what could he have done when they had been inviting him to? Okay, that wasn’t an excuse. But it didn’t matter any longer now. The deed had been done. “I’m not sure,” said Hakyun after taking a few seconds to arrange his thoughts. “It’s not like I ever got the chance to truly know him.” He paused. “I did go to his house once. Mrs. Choi was lovely. She even baked me cookies. And she was lovely to Sangook too. Ah. He has a sister too. But she was still a baby at the time. I never got the impression that there was something up with their family at the time. But, granted, I didn’t meet with his father. And that was the last time I also paid them a visit. Sangook stopped being my friend right after, like I said before.” “I see.” Merlin sighed, nodding in appreciation. He had never thought about it before, but Choi Sangook