.  “I didn’t know how our conversation got this far, but what I want to say is that……”


  “…?”


  “You might think you’re the one who needed to change… but in my opinion, you’re amazing just the way you are. It’s better than pushing yourself too hard and getting hurt to feel better.”


  I kept my silence with my eyes wide opened. Yoo Chun Young, who dropped his gaze escape my line of sight, opened his lips once again.

  “None of us is perfect, you know?”


  “Even Eun Hyung?”


  “Eun Hyung, you, and I as well…”


  Yoo Chun Young kept his gaze at the floor for a while. Then he stretched out his hand and pressed my head.

  Before I could ask him the reason behind his words, he laid my head gently on the pillow. Yoo Chun Young then showed a slight grin on his face and pulled the blanket up to my neck.

  “What are you doing?” I asked him with a dumbfounded expression.

  “You said you’re not feeling well. Just lay yourself down like that.”


  “Um… okay.”


  “Good luck.”


  He then left my room. His last words rang in my ears. Good luck with what? I murmured in wonder then soon realized that he meant to egg me on making up with my parents.

  ‘To be alive is to be vulnerable.’ I repeated those words inside my mouth. ‘I am amazing just the way I am.’ His words suddenly lightened my heart. I feel that the things clenching my heart until now had finally left my system once and for all.

  After staring at the door he left, I slowly closed my eyes. I took a nap once more and got up again; I felt like I was ready to talk with my parents again. I didn’t know why, but that was how I felt for now.

  Article 8. No.1 in Korea, So Where Is He Right Now?

  They say that genetics determine intelligence. As evidence, Ban Yeo Ryung’s families in both of her parents’ side all boasted fancy educational backgrounds. Some went to KAIST, medical schools, and even Harvard–when Ham Donnie learned about this, she felt like the world had left her to suffer in the dusty corners of life. Woo Jooin’s father’s side was also the same.

  Woo Jooin’s cousins were all smart but strangely, none of them were diligent in school, including Woo Jooin himself.

  People around carefully shared an opinion on the Woo’s as uninspired students, which led them to show a less attentive school life.

  Woo San was the perfect specimen of the Woo’s, splendidly brilliant but lazy at the same time.

  ‘Hmm, but am I smart?’ Woo San scrunched up his forehead then scratched his head. ‘Everybody said that but I’m not sure if it’s true,’ he thought.

  However, it was true that he scored well in exams while simultaneously spending relatively less time than others. All he did was skimming the textbook for 10 minutes before the exam, but he never ranked lower than the top 5 in the school. Therefore, he simply concluded, ‘Hmm, maybe not bad.’ In fact, the Woos also didn’t care about their levels or ranks compared to others.

  He raised his head and looked around the classroom. Over the window, the schoolyard looked blurry through the early morning fog and he heard not even a footstep sound from the hallway.

  There was no reason for him to come as soon as he did today to school. He woke up early in the morning after a long time and just came out of the house habitually without looking at the clock.

  ‘House,’ Woo San mumbled the word and felt a little complicated. He went to his favorite cousin’s house last weekend, which was Woo Jooin’s house. Jooin was regarded as all the Woo’s favorite cousin.

  To be honest, it was difficult to describe the Woos as a family that had a close relationship.

  Let’s look at Woo San’s family tree. His grandparents gave birth to five children, but strangely, except Woo San’s parents, the rest of the four each had a son and a daughter. That being said, Woo San had nine cousins including himself, five guys and four girls. These nine Woos, however, slandered and fought with each other whenever they met. If someone asked if they were sincerely holding a grudge against each other, the answer would be no; however, they all had different characters and even if they tried to be nice to each other, it would only take about 5 seconds for them to start another squabble. Despite how they hated each other so much when they were in front of Woo Jooin, the situation would change completely.

  When Woo San first saw Woo Jooin, he was a small, thin and pale 9-year-old boy. Before Jooin’s parents got divorced, Jooin went through a tough time since his mother would always drag him to various gambling joints. Maybe that was why everyone was so into this little boy.

  As peaceful days went by, the boy grew plumper. His white cheeks had finally shown a cute blush, and his soft brown eyes got brighter. It seemed like yesterday when Woo Jooin was still a boy who would smile awkwardly, but now he would burst out laughing even at silly jokes.

  However, it was still impossible for one to take their eyes off of Woo Jooin. Was it because he gave a lasting impression? His brown eyes that seemed to have carried all the sadness in the world, which was unbelievable to think as the eyes of a child, were still vividly engraved at Woo San’s head.

  ‘Hmm, I never thought he would ask me such a favor.’


  Woo San touched his brown hair since he felt a little disconcerted; however, he didn’t take it seriously.

  Woo Jooin always wanted to give than to take, so it was Woo San’s first time to have Jooin ask him for a favor. It could sound weird but this delighted Woo San.

  To Woo San, doing something for him felt like he became a reliable person and a brother for the first time.

  While Woo San snickered out of his bursting joy, he saw that the classroom had gotten brighter.

  Other students arrived one after another and said their greetings to Woo San, but he was not really listening to them, for he was laughing with happiness. Some kids found it frightening beforehand, so they just passed by him without saying hi.

  In this school, Woo San was quite, I mean, very famous.

  First, he was incredibly handsome. What about his brain? No matter how much he slept in class, he was intelligent enough to be a part of the top 5 student-ranking in school-related exams. Above all, he was a born-to-be fighter, who pioneered the ranking of being the strongest fighter in the school as soon as he stepped foot in it.

  Woo San had a cute face with soft and mild-looking eyes; however, the kids never forgot how Woo San beat a senior to a pulp in the hallway with that gentle and cute look.

  Hmm, when Woo San glanced around with a bored face, some kids showed a surprised look. At the same time, the back door opened and some guys with fancy hairs entered.

  Woo San’s face turned brighter. He tapped the chair beside him and spoke with a smile.

  “Hey, come take a seat! What took you guys so long?”


  The two boys didn’t show a sign of interest to Woo San’s cute reaction. To be more precise, their face turned pale after seeing him like that.

  Woo San’s besties, Suh Jin Woon and Hwang Hae, looked at each other and attempted to communicate their thoughts through their eyes. What’s wrong with him? Is he on drugs? However, these two boys were not close nor smart enough to share a telepathic dialogue with one another. Therefore, they just sat beside Woo San and began to talk.

  “Dude, what’s wrong? Why are you greeting us so desperately? You’re making us nervous.”


  “What took us so long? Isn’t it amazing that we aren’t running late? Why are you doing this to us?”


  Hwang Hae asked in wonder right after Suh Jin Woon inquired with a grimace. Woo San’s eyes widened, and he soon responded with a grin.

  “Oh, really? Okay, good job. It’s great to be on time. Peekaboo~”


  Woo San then put his palms under their chins and tickled them like he was petting a dog.

  Damn it! The two boys took his hands off them with an annoyed look on their faces. It was then did Woo San stopped tickling them.

  He then stared at them with a smile, but his eyes were cold like ice.

  He said, “Guys.”


  “Huh?”


  “Oh, this sucks, why?”


  Suh Jin Woon and Hwang Hae responded while scratching their chins. They didn’t even look at Woo San’s face while thinking that trifling stories would emerge from his lips; however, they stopped their actions as soon as Woo San continued his words.

  “Let’s fight somebody outside,” Woo San said.

  “What?”


  “What did you say?”


  The two boys threw those questions at the same time and looked at each other. They read the same feeling of perplexity in each other’s eyes.