.  “Um……”


  [You guys also drank…… that would be the only reason why you’re not asleep. Oh, I’m thirsty.]

  Yoo Chun Young then heard a rustling noise in the background as if Donnie was getting out of bed. He waited for a while quietly but held the balustrade in surprise when a short scream suddenly came over from the phone.

  “What’s wrong?”


  [I mean……]

  Her voice sounded bitter. It looked as though she saw something unbelievable.

  [Holy shoot! When I opened the door, someone walked in all fours out of the blue.]

  “Walk in all fours……?”


  [Yeah. Oh, I thought I was watching the Exorcist. What’s up, anyway? If you’re calling me 2 in the morning, is there an emergency?]

  “I just…… wondered if you’re in bed.”


  [Uh-huh, I just got up. I should go back to sleep after drinking some water.]

  Her voice revealed how drowsy she was. After the call, she would definitely go back to sleep immediately. It made Yoo Chun Young a little nervous thinking, ‘before she hangs up, I should say something……’


  Such an outlandishly silent darkness pressed him down. Inside his head, something seemed to fly around chaotically, but at the next moment, he felt like blanking out. He was about to say something important; however, nothing came out in a sentence at all. After a prolonged silence, Yoo Chun Young broke the ice.

  “I have a question.”


  [Uh-huh.]

  Fortunately, Ham Donnie’s voice sounded cheerful. Yoo Chun Young spoke at a slow pace.

  “If what someone said about me keeps popping in my head……”


  [Yeah.]

  “Does it mean that the person was right?”


  [Hmm…… well, it could happen when it was such an impressive remark to you. Oh, or maybe it was right on the mark, which became memorable. So, you may be right.]

  “I see,” Yoo Chung Young replied shortly while pouting his lips.

  Rather than an actual answer, he felt ok to just listen to her voice for quite a while. When Yoo Chun Young was about to hang up the phone in consideration of Donnie being drowsy, she asked back, unexpectedly.

  [Who said what to you? It’d be also different depending on the person.]

  “Who said what……?”


  Yoo Chun Young fell into thought for a second then soon responded, “Yi Ruda.”


  [Good night.]

  Ham Donnie’s voice turned dark immediately. ‘What’s wrong? Is she feeling so tired now?’ While Yoo Chun Young had those thoughts in mind, Ham Donnie hung up the phone. It happened in a flash that he didn’t have any chance to say goodbye.

  He came back to the room and dropped his gaze at the phone for quite a while. Still, he couldn’t find what Ham Donnie meant at all.

  Article 13. They Say It’s a Confession Trip Than a Retreat? (Part 2)

  The next day, I brought the kids, who walked in all fours out of their minds, down to the cafeteria and witnessed a rare sight. As if what Yoon Jung In said was true, no one inside here could barely open their eyes properly. Even a kid started to retch while getting his food, which made everyone around him step back out of astonishment.

  ‘What a mess,’ I thought and found an empty table to sit down with my girls. Someone then came closer and sat next to me. Looking at the empty hand without a tray, I raised my head to see who it was.

  The person who grimaced as if he was still having a hangover was no other than Yoon Jung In. ‘Whoa,’ as soon as he came into my sight, I asked with a smile.

  “Dude, I heard you weren’t a human last time?”


  “What? Who says that?”


  As if he understood clearly while having a hard time pulling himself together, he furrowed his face even more then answered back. I shrugged and pointed across the table with my chin.

  Shin Suh Hyun, whom Yoon Jung In had a savage gaze at, showed no signs of fear on his face. He swallowed the food inside his mouth then said nonchalantly.

  “How’s your conscience doing?”


  “What? What about me? Why am I not human last night?”


  “Geez, don’t you remember yelling and singing loudly on the boy’s floor and calling me, noona?”


  “.……”


  Yoon Jung In became silent for a moment then turned his head to look at Kim Hye Woo, beside him.

  “Did I?”


  “Yeah.”


  “For real?”


  “There was something truly exceptional too. Do you want to hear that?”


  Shin Suh Hyun intervened and continued his words. Lee Mina, sitting across, burst out laughing so hard that she couldn’t swallow her food. Kim Hye Hill was staring at Yoon Jung In in serene eyes.

  Yoon Jung In rolled his eyeballs twice in perplexity.

  He asked, “Wh……at…… did I do……?”


  “You lost your phone yesterday and asked people where it was. As you searched for it all over, someone found and gave it to you saying, ‘Here’s your phone.’ But do you know what you answered back?”


  “What did I say?”


  “This ain’t a phone. You kept saying that, so I asked you what it is if it’s not a phone.”


  “So?”


  “So, you said, ‘Magic Hole~’ with a bright smile and fell back. You were asleep then. Don’t you remember”


  “.……”


  Magic Hole was the model name of Yoon Jung In’s flip phone. As I quietly dropped my gaze at his phone, he carefully put it in his pocket.

  Yoon Jung In, who shoved his phone inside the pocket, suddenly laughed out loud.

  “Guys, Bon appetite!” he shouted.

  “.……”


  His voice was so loud that even the kids, who were filling their trays in tipsy eyes around him, looked at us. The overall situation reminded me of something. I glanced around the cafeteria.

  Since Yoo Chun Young called me 2 in the morning, the other boys might have drunk together; however, I couldn’t see any of their fancy hair colors. While I chewed the foods inside my mouth, Yi Ruda came to me from the side.

  “Hey, Donnie.”


  “Good morning.”


  Her face looked brighter and fresh in the morning. Her wet golden hair tangled on her forehead and her smiling eyes were shining pure and blue. Among the kids with sunken eyes, her refreshing face looked so pleasurable that I welcomed her more warmly than usual.

  As soon as Yi Ruda patted my hair with a grin and walked away with other boys, Yoon Jung In, right beside me, leaned his body toward me. He whispered like a tease.

  “What a sweet couple from the morning. Any phone calls last night?”


  “Nope.”


  “Well, who knows if he surprises you with a love confession on the stage today?”


  “Oh, come on. We’re nothing like that.”


  “Maybe not you but he looks pretty obvious. Hey, are you saying like that seriously?”


  Yoon Jung In’s question made me shut my mouth in uncomfortableness. ‘He looks pretty obvious? Hell, yeah……’ The phone call with Yoo Chun Young last night came across my head. At the same time, something like damp air and bright lamplight seemed to entwine and rise in front of me.

  I thought about his voice that rang around my ears and scattered away. It sounded cold as usual yet prudent enough.

  ‘Yi Ruda.’


  I took out a spoon of rice from the bowl then soaked it in the bean sprout soup in a grimace. Yi Ruda, next to me, asked in surprise.

  “What an appetite from early in the morning!”


  “Yeah, I’m hungry.”


  “Other kids don’t even feel good.”


  I did too; however, I had to shove the rice inside me to get away from this subdued feeling.

  Things happening around them were, for me, like a storybook that I already knew the ending even before opening it up. I, therefore, didn’t want to flip the pages. I didn’t feel curious. Regardless of what I felt, some damn thing wouldn’t let me take my hands off of this storybook. I closed my eyes with a sigh. I felt nauseous.

  As if it was a given sequence, I had an upset stomach. Doing some outdoor activities seemed fine for me to feel better but I was wrong.

  I was completely wiped out, at last, around lunchtime, so I just sat on the cafeteria table without having anything. Yi Ruda asked me in surprise while walking pass me by.

  “Are you ok?”


  “Um, no. I’m just not feeling good.”


  “Can you be on stage?”


  “I should or else, what can I do? I’m not the only one on stage.”


  When I replied like that, Yi Ruda furrowed her forehead then tapped my shoulder to comfort me.

  So was at dinner, I couldn’t eat anything at all. This time, I didn’t go downstairs to the cafeteria but leaned against the wall inside the empty room, which was turning dark alongside the sunset. There, I sat on the floor and texted a few messages.

  Sent by: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho

  You’re not the main role on the stage? Then do it ASAP and take a break.

  To: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho

  Actually, I’m the lead.

  Sent by: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho

  What a joke;

  Gosh, this sun of a beach! I tapped the keyboard in rage.

  To: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho

  For real, stay tuned!

  Eun Jiho didn’t reply to me for quite a while. Perhaps he would be moving to the auditorium with the instructor. With that thought in mind, I put my phone back to the pocket.