.  “A place to hide?”


  Yi Ruda gently furrowed her eyes and looked up at the ceiling in consideration. As she dropped her gaze at me, she opened her mouth.

  “There’s a few. Do you have to go right now?”


  I shook my head.

  “No, when the teacher comes out later, you will get blamed, so just tell me. I’ll go there by myself.”


  “It’s kind of hard to explain though.”


  Yi Ruda kept her grimace then responded with her eyes on me.

  “Let’s go together. I’m not afraid of getting scolded.”


  “No way!”


  “Those places are secluded, so what if people break in when you’re alone? Just follow me. You need to be away until the end of the break, right?”


  “Yeah.”


  I nodded with little confidence. The guys won’t be that crazy to stay in my classroom until the next class starts.

  Yi Ruda beckoned to me as if she felt satisfied with my response.

  “Follow me.”


  As I went down the desolate staircase after Yi Ruda, my phone vibrated once again. Who is it? I took out my phone from my pocket.

  Sent by: Son

  Mama lol

  Sent by: Son

  Where are you going? lololol

  I felt a shiver down my spine. When I stopped myself from descending the stairs to turn my head, I saw two shadows standing from far away down the hallway. They were standing at quite a distance to figure out their exact appearances, but one of them had long hair, which would definitely mean that one of them was Ban Yeo Ryung. The one beside her would be indeed Woo Jooin then. I assumed that they got kicked out to the hallway to keep a close eye on me.

  Instead of replying to the text, I yelled to Yi Ruda while increasing my pace.

  “Ruda!”


  “Huh?”


  “Give… give me your hand.”


  From her previous demeanor, I considered she would not refuse my hand. It was too frightening for me to bear the situation. After a second of hesitation, Yi Ruda soon stretched out her hand. I held her tight not to fall on the stairs while walking down with my trembling legs.

  Coming out of the freshmen building, I drew my breath in and then I found out that I had just received yet another message.

  Sent by: Son

  Mama, what did I tell you about having a new dad?? lol

  ‘Yeah, you said you will kill him.’ I replied to myself.

  * * *

  Ban Yeo Ryung and Woo Jooin narrowed their eyes and watched the two disappear at the end of the hallway. In the school, both received splendidly positive comments such as ‘Ban Yeo Ryung, beautiful and innocent, is a walking trophy,’ ‘Woo Jooin is the definition of a cutie pie.’ However, if the kids saw how tenacious they were right now, it seemed dubious for them to retain the same admiration they held for these two.

  Ban Yeo Ryung’s sparkling jet-black eyes, which Ham Donnie often complimented for having a galaxy within, froze like ice. Woo Jooin’s eyes didn’t show any signs of delight although his adorable grin still remained on his lip. His golden pupils splashed ferocious glares at them like a beast.

  Ban Yeo Ryung then pouted her lips to ask, “Did you see them hugging?”


  “Yup.”


  “I’m not getting it wrong?”


  “Nope.”


  Then they both had their eyes on each other with a smile that speaks in more ways than one.

  “Cool, but first we have something to do beforehand, right?” Ban Yeo Ryung said. It sounded like they could have dealt with Yi Ruda immediately; however, they had something to handle first. What she meant was not that different from the truth.

  Woo Jooin responded with a nod and a bright smile before moving his fingers on the keypad quickly.

  To: Brother Sanny ???

  Hey bro, things all good? Are they all there?

  Despite Woo Jooin’s charming personality, seeing a 17-year-old boy putting three hearts right after his cousin’s name saved in his contact was a sight that was seldom to see.

  Woo San added and saved those hearts since Woo Jooin’s cousins thought the more heart they put after their name corresponds to the level of love Woo Jooin had for them. In short, the competition among the cousins to win their love of Woo Jooin was a dog eat dog situation.

  The one who currently had the most hearts was a cousin named ‘Woo Rinara.’ She had eight hearts next to her name.

  As soon as Woo Jooin sent the text, a message arrived within a few seconds.

  Sent by: Brother Sanny ???

  Yup, no worries. Do you believe me??

  To: Brother Sanny ???

  Of course… Thanks, bro

  From: Brother Sanny ???

  Someone’s here. I’ll talk to you later

  Woo Jooin checked the texts and closed his flip phone. When he raised his head to see Ban Yeo Ryung, she showed a pale grim face with her stare fixed at the stairway where Yi Ruda and Ham Donnie disappeared.

  A dark shadow cast over Ban Yeo Ryung’s face under the bright sunlight coming through the hallway windows. While standing still and waving the black hair, her profile looked like a delicately sculptured art piece.

  Woo Jooin repeated the plan within his head while glancing at her appearance.

  One, no one would ever touch Ban Yeo Ryung and others again.

  Second, no future troubles would take place.

  To execute a plan that satisfied both requirements, Woo San’s help was mandatory. In this regard, Woo San played a significant role in this plan; however, Woo Jooin never concerned himself with the possibility that his cousin would fail.

  * * *

  Meanwhile, Woo San was sitting inside the dark equipment room in the gym of Sun Jin High School. He was waiting for someone.

  The first one who came into the room had purple hair. He, surprisingly, had his bobbed hair tied into a ponytail which looked gorgeous for a guy. His facial features were sharp and masculine, and he seemed to reach about 190cm. He wore a school uniform of Tae Pyung High School; everyone in the neighborhood knew who he was.

  Gong Haru, the captain of Tae Pyung High School and the Number 2 of the nationwide fighters. Since Ban Hwee Hyul was missing, he was the same as the Number 1 in the fighting scene. While he strode into the equipment room and found Woo San sitting next to four empty chairs, his brows met in the middle.

  “Is no one here?” he asked.

  “Yeah, just take a seat.”


  Woo San pointed the chair beside him with a laid-back smile.

  Gong Haru glanced down at Woo San in confusion for a second but soon sat next to him.

  As from the official fighting challenge, Woo San ranked 102nd, not even in the top 100; however, Woo San did not show a sign of intimidation upon seeing Gong Haru. Everybody knew that Woo San didn’t do his best in the ranking battle.

  How long did the two boys sit down in silence? Vroom! Soon, they heard a loud noise of a motorcycle, and the door suddenly opened. Then a guy who took off his helmet entered with a girl.

  Both the boy and the girl had marvelous appearances that resembled each other, so others might confuse them as members of the same family. In fact, they were a half-brother and a sister, and they shared the same blood.

  The nationwide fighter Number 5, Gang Han, and the Number 11, Dae Lisa. Both had flame-like red hairs, cat eyes, and slim but wiry bodies. While looking at Dae Lisa, Gong Haru waved his hand and spoke nonchalantly.

  “Hi, Mona Lisa.”


  “How dare you compare me with that brow-less bitch?”


  Dae Lisa pulled up her dark red brows and sat beside Gong Haru. Her actions were loud but cool. Gang Han then nodded slightly and sat next to Woo San.

  Now only one seat was vacant, but they were lucky enough to wait shortly.

  The one who arrived, at last, appeared too gently to end the finale. All he did was just to knock the door twice.

  The four people, sitting with their legs crossed, slowly shared eye contacts. Dae Lisa broke the ice.

  “Did he just knocked on the door?”


  “Are we inside a bathroom?” Gong Haru asked back while feeling ridiculous.

  “He deserved his name. Hey, Kim Pyung Bum, come in!”


  When Woo San screamed out loud to the door, the door soon swung on its squeaky hinge. Then a run-of-the-mill boy walked in carefully, who hardly looked like a captain of a school.