.  I raised my head and touched my forehead lying on the bed. My heart was beating fast.

  Ban Yeo Ryung and I were friends since we were young. All the bizarreness I went through today had finally reached its peak, from start till the end. Nothing seemed to have happened even after a well-earned rest.

  I decided to accept that. The only truth this parallel world was indicating to me from the very beginning. The thing I was denying since the ultimate starting point.

  As I woke up, the world suddenly changed into that of a web novel. In front of me, there were handsome guys with colorful hairs named the Four Heavenly Kings. Along with them all was a stunning and smart girl.

  The boy, who had silver hair and the sole heir to a wealthy family, was not only attractive, but he was also academically competent. What all these meant were apparent. Eun Jiho was the male protagonist of this novel.

  The girl whom the stars had written on his destiny, the so-called female protagonist of this web novel, was Ban Yeo Ryung. From what I had observed since my arrival in this place, it was obviously true.

  My role in this novel seemed to be the girl living next door to Ban Yeo Ryung. You know, in web novels, there is a girl who steadily appears as the female protagonist’s friend. That was me. There was nothing else written for me to make me special. That was all.

  The reason why my school changed was something I cannot answer. However, the reason why the infamous Four Heavenly Kings were in the same class as I was because I happened to be Ban Yeo Ryung’s classmate. She must be in the same class as the Four Heavenly Kings too. That was the only reason.

  Oh, shoot! I pulled out my hair as I lost myself in my own thoughts.

  Just because I was chosen as the female protagonist’s best friend, should I have to watch them from the sidelines for the next three years? Should I endure the Ji Jon Middle School or the Four Heavenly Kings or whatever these people flocking around them were? What did I do wrong!?

  I grumbled for a while as I staggered to my desk. I took the lid off a marker with my teeth and wrote something on the calendar, applying pressure on every letter.

  March 2, 2007. The day the web novel began.

  After I finished writing, I took a step back, looked at the calendar with a disturbed expression, and nodded. Then I screamed pulling my hair out.

  “Oh, this is crazy! Unbelievable! What the heck is this! Oh!”


  “Donnie! What’s the matter? Did something really happen in school?”


  “Oh!!!!!”


  I shrieked for a long time, jumping in my room. I only stopped going insane when my mom tried to leave the house and ask Yeo Ryung Ban, the girl living next door, about what happened at school.

  That day, I made up my mind. What would be so good about involving me with Ban Yeo Ryung? She’s smart, pretty, and popular among the boys, but she does not know about her beauty. Wouldn’t it be suffocating to be friends with her? The boys around Ban Yeo Ryung were even worse.

  The conglomerate heir, Eun Jiho. Woo Jooin who seemed to be interested in Ban Yeo Ryung. Finally, the blue-eyed and the red-haired boys in the classroom! The epic love and thriller story of all their affairs, jealousy, and abduction!

  I did not want to be involved in this storm of fate.

  Let’s get out! I made up my mind.

  Let’s get out of Ban Yeo Ryung!

  Three years had passed since that day.

  I was now gazing blankly at the calendar of March 2, 2007, I found in my belongings.

  I did not know it was still here. The calendar was from 3 years ago, but I might have put it in a box and stored it somewhere at the bookshelf instead of throwing it away.

  I giggled at the carefully written letters that had specks of dust all over. Then I gave a deep sigh with the smile on.

  “Whew…”


  Yeah, those were the days. At those times, I was innocent enough to believe it was possible to get far away from Ban Yeo Ryung, the Four Heavenly Kings, and to live a life out of the novel.

  Three years had passed since then but still, nothing has changed. Ban Yeo Ryung, the dazzling beauty and the female protagonist, is still living next door. Now, we’re about to go to the same high school.

  Like salt and pepper, not only Ban Yeo Ryung, but the Four Heavenly Kings were coming with us. No wonder.

  “…”


  I touched ‘The day the web novel began,’ the letters carefully written on the calendar 3 years ago, and held onto the wall. Then I dropped my head and sighed again.

  Yes, I failed in getting away from the web novel. The boys and Ban Yeo Ryung, those who were integrated with all the elements of a novel, were still around me and turned my daily life into a surreal nightmare. What could I do? This was the reality I was going through.

  The complicated feelings combined with strange emotions of regrets and sympathy provoked me. I could hardly throw out the calendar of 2007 eventually. I put the dusty thing back in the box and pushed it into the corner. As I sighed again, the phone rang inside my pocket.

  I took out my phone and found the three letters ‘Jiho Eun’ flashing on the screen. I opened the folder.

  “Sent by: Eun Jiho

  “Don’t be late tomorrow”


  I stared at the message silently.

  Eun Jiho, the male protagonist of this novel, was, as expected, truly the same as the character in the novel. He was icy cold to all the girls except for Ban Yeo Ryung.

  “…”


  Just kidding. He was just a jerk as we got closer.

  I moved my fingers to type a message.

  Send to: Eun Jiho

  Mind your own business ??

  After sending the message, I lifted my heavy body and stretched myself.

  Yes. Anyway, three years have passed. I thought things such as my relationship between with those novel characters would not change. However, as it turns out, that was what I got: different. This is not a story about Ban Yeo Ryung, but it was a story about me.

  This is a story about me, who has been a best friend with the female protagonist for the last three years in middle school, and who will continue being with her throughout my high school days.

  Article 2. In School, there are the Four Heavenly Kings.

  The most important thing in the law of the web novels is, of course, describing the appearance of the male and female protagonists. As for the male protagonist, a sharp blade-like nose ridge, well-shaped lips, and so on… Whereas, the female protagonist has a small face and juicy red lips.

  However, I described all that already and confirmed that Ban Yeo Ryung and Eun Jiho qualified with these elements. Thus, we will move on.

  Then what is the next important thing then, one might ask? That is when we will start discussing the male protagonist’s friends.

  In web novels, the male protagonist has generally two or three friends. Their characteristics are simply like the things listed below:

  ― ―: A cold handsome guy called, the ice prince

  ^_^: A sweetheart type with a never-ending smile

  >_<: A cute guy full of charms

  It was predictable, but the three friends of the male protagonist were all found in the same class, 1-4, where Ban Yeo Ryung and I were during middle school. The reason is easy to guess. It’s because the female protagonist and the Four Heavenly Kings should get closer!

  Yoo Chun Young, the cold Adonis with blue-black hair and blue eyes, was aloof as expected. He did not even talk with girls. During a conversation, he always had short answers. He surely deserved to have the role of the ‘― ―.’


  Kwon Eun Hyung, the redhead with his green-black eyes playing the role of ‘^_^,’ was such an honest and hardworking boy. To explain, he was never late to school! Not to mention, he would always dress neatly, and he became the class president after a unanimous decision from everyone in the class. I later discovered that he was elected as the annual class president for the last six years since elementary school.

  Finally, the ‘>_<‘ was Woo Jooin, the brown-haired friend of Eun Jiho. He was bright as I’ve seen. He was incredibly sociable thus making him everybody’s little brother in class after less than a month since the beginning of the semester.

  At that time, everyone in Class 1-4 said it was a great blessing to have these four people including Eun Jiho as their classmates. I, however, did not share the same opinion.

  Due to their looks, I was undergoing a vision problem. To briefly explain, I was suffering the most since others looked like squids. The Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung made other people look like ugly creatures in comparison. They were causing significant harm to others!

  Whenever possible, I stalked their faces with no hidden intention to feast my eyes. I mean, a little on purpose…


  Whether I peeped them or not, they did not seem to care. Maybe they would have not noticed my eyes on them. When most of the girls in class were looking at them, it was not impossible.

  Since Kwon Eun Hyung was the class president, there were a few chances to talk with him. That was it though.

  Eun Jiho barely spoke to me after the day we first met on our way to school. Woo Jooin was so popular especially among the girls, so we had no time to personally have a conversation.

  Yoo Chun Young gave an icy glare to the girls who dared to talk with him. It was also too intense and frightening to me. The girls felt the same, so no girls spoke more than a word with Yoo Chun Young until the end of the semester. Except for Ban Yeo Ryung.