.  “Yeah.”


  “His… his hair is blond! You know, I once read from a book that having blond hair is genetically more recessive compared to other color variants, so blond people should marry another blond person for their children to inherit their blondness. What I’m trying to say is that it’s impossible for Yi Ruda to have been naturally born with both blonde hair and blue eyes.”


  “…?”


  Ban Yeo Ryung clenched her fist tightly. She then continued her words with an expression filled with resolve.

  “It’s impossible for a mixed-race Korean person to have both blond hair and blue eyes. With that in mind, I am fairly certain that Yi Ruda would have needed to apply hair-dye and worn contact lenses! Gosh, isn’t it inappropriate for a student to do such things? What a punk!”


  “…”


  “Why?”


  As Ban Yeo Ryung made an impassioned speech, she might have felt the strangeness of how I stared at her. I looked at her shining, purplish hair under the sunlight as I shook my head. When I turned back, I saw the Four Heavenly Kings looking at the limos from the distance with a calm attitude as if our conversation did not faze them.

  I looked at the colors of their hair which were blue-black, red, golden-brown, and several other various colors; however, by far, Eun Jiho’s silver hair was the best among the rest as I saw the sunlight beamed through him, sprinkling us with its fine lights.

  Looking at his shiny platinum blonde hair made me feel perturbed. As I kept a frown on my face, Eun Jiho asked abruptly.

  “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”


  “Oh, no, nothing…”


  I guess Ban Yeo Ryung had just unraveled the secrets behind his heredity… I had those words in mind, but I decided to keep my words to myself instead. Also, according to what Yeo Ryung said earlier, it was also impossible for Yoo Chun Young to be a mixed-race Korean since he has blue eyes; however, I did not say that out loud too.

  All right, I had decided. I would just leave this matter behind, refusing to do anything to alter it whatsoever. They were not doing anything wrong, after all; however, just because they were the main characters of a web novel, it didn’t mean they should suspect their pedigrees.

  Eun Jiho still asked me with a wry face.

  “Oh, you’re making me uncomfortable. Come on, what’s wrong?”


  “Um…”


  As I kept stuttering while turning my head away from them, I saw Ban Yeo Ryung pulling my pinky finger towards her bosom out of the blue and linked mine with hers like a chain. She then shook it crazily. What the…? When I looked at her with a surprised expression, she yelled out as if on cue.

  “So…! Never date that punk! Understood?!”


  “Um, okay. I got it. Geez, Ban Yeo Ryung. You’re worrying about nothing.”


  I then giggled after staring at Ban Yeo Ryung, who was looking at me nervously.

  Oh, there really was something this girl didn’t know. I would never date Yi Ruda unless my sexual orientation and gender identity changed. I thought to myself and raised my hand to pat Ban Yeo Ryung’s shiny, silky hair.

  Then I said, “No worries, seriously. I will never go out with Yi Ruda no matter what.”


  “For real? What if he keeps on begging you to go out?”


  “That will never happen unless the heavens fall.”


  “Yay!!!”


  Ban Yeo Ryung then jumped for joy and wrapped her arms around my neck. Soon, as I released my hand away from her after our momentary hug, I turned around; I saw Yoo Chun Young and Eun Hyung there with troubled expressions. When I raised one of my brows in wonder, Eun Hyung spoke hesitantly.

  The murderous spirit within him seemed to have eased. Instead, his usual gentle voice rang through my ears.

  He said, “Um, about what you said…”


  “What about it?”


  “Does that mean you don’t want to go out with other men in general and not just him…?”


  “Come on, that makes no sense.”


  I felt so ludicrous that I chuckled at what he said. Eun Hyung seemed to have calmed down compared to his earlier temperament as he nodded. He then lifted his hand to pat my head. Behind Eun Hyung, I found a group of boys beside the school entrance, burying their heads on the ground as punishment.

  Those who stood in front of them were, however, not our teachers; besides, classes had been over for quite some time now.

  Those who stood in front of them were two boys wearing fixed uniforms. Are they the seniors?

  As I stared at them while frowning, I noticed Yoo Chun Young shaking his head and pulling me over to his direction. He then said in a low voice.

  “Nothing good to look at.”


  “Who are they?”


  “Bullies in our school.”


  We did not have any of them in our middle school. As I kept looking at that side in wonder, Yoo Chun Young tried to stop the way I peered at the “bullies” by pulling my arms and turning my head so I only had him in my eyes.

  Even at a glance, they looked like aggressive junkies with sour attitudes. I felt that once our eyes met, they would challenge us to a fight.

  There was nothing strange with the way Yoo Chun Young turned my attention away from them. However, Kwon Eun Hyung and Eun Jiho, on the other hand, were looking at them while clicking their tongues with fearless faces.

  Eun Jiho said, “Hey, that’s not how they should put their heads down on the ground. Look at them bending their knees, no way!”


  “Eve you know what that is? Who would ever do that to you?”


  “My dad. He says that a man should know how to do military stretches, so if I do something wrong, he would make me do what they’re doing.”


  “Wow, he is really a one of a kind father.”


  “Yeah, he is. We had those training when I was ten. Oh, come on! They’re totally screwing it up. Would that even make them sweat?”


  Eun Jiho looked like he was a senior soldier as I saw him clicking his tongue and glaring at them. That made me giggle, which made me want to turn my head back to look at them again, but there, I found a familiar face among the bullies.

  No, that’s impossible. I denied whatever I was thinking outright.

  The beach guy, Eun Kyum, whom we met from a place far away from here, which took about an hour by subway and another hour by bus to get there, was standing near the school entrance too. How could that guy, who left the scene after receiving Kwon Eun Hyung’s fancy flying kick, be there?

  I pulled Yoo Chun Young’s arm with a pale face. He asked me abruptly.

  “What’s wrong?”


  “Um, I just want to leave.”


  I added no other response but strode along the schoolyard instead. Fortunately, the seniors and the group of about ten students who were being punished did not stop us from our way out of the school. They just stared at us, but they said no words to us.

  Article 6. I Have a Secreted Past… It’s Okay, Every Female Protagonist Has One

  The new face of Yi Ruda defined the opening of my glorious high school life. Ever since she jumped off from the 2nd floor, I thought it would conclude all the oddities I had to experience in my first day.

  However, maybe I was wrong. I looked before me with a dazed smile.

  This Chinese restaurant I was staring at was near Seoul Station, where many foreigners visited, and it was the busiest business around. As if they wanted to create a Chinatown-looking vibe, they hung many red lampshades on the storefront. That was why the street was bright with red lights around 10 pm.

  Among the crowd passing by the busy steps, Ban Yeo Ryung, Yi Ruda, and I stood blankly as we stared at each other.

  Explain the reason why the three of us were standing in front of the huge Chinese restaurant near Seoul Station would take some time. I lifted my eyes to look back and forth between Yi Ruda and Ban Yeo Ryung’s blank faces then turned my head to the front.

  The huge restaurant had all their bright lights from open, starting from the 1st floor up to the 4th, which made my eyes sore. The three men standing on the stone entry steps of the building were my dad, Ban Yeo Ryung’s dad, and a blonde foreigner whom I had met only today.

  Wasn’t it obvious who that man was? He was Yi Ruda’s father, Ian.

  People were rushing there around, but they would seldom stop to glimpse at the three men. Maybe the scenery was quite weird to them as well.

  My dad, who looked just like an ordinary Korean father; Ban Yeo Ryung’s dad, who had a 17-year-old daughter but was a tall, lean, and fit man with a generous look; and the blonde gentleman, who boasted a handsome appearance, proving that the gene he passed on to his daughter was not a lie. It was actually surprising to see these three men smoking in front of a fancy Chinese restaurant and just standing along idly.