.  ‘What the……?’ I frowned, ‘Is she thinking that I’m not surprised at all but having a nervous face because I got caught up?’ Listening to us with crossed arms, Yoon Jung In just pushed her to talk further in a nonchalant face.

  “So?”


  “But they say that someone disclosed things about Ban Yeo Ryung during her middle school senior year very thoroughly on that anti-fan café. Besides, the person, who made the club, posted stories about her that could only be written from Ban Yeo Ryung’s close acquaintance’s perspective or someone who saw her every day.”


  “So, the one who created the anti-fan café is a close friend of Ban Yeo Ryung?”


  Flinging the question, Yoon Jung In’s voice sounded outstandingly uncomfortable. He looked as if he couldn’t understand why he had to hear about a girl in Class 1-1 having her anti-fan café.

  We tried to speak as quietly as possible; however, every eye in our class was bent to us. The light summer air still held the cold silence. Everyone in the class could hear us if they wanted to.

  When Lee Soo Yeon shook her head, her hair waved through the sunlight. She then put a twisted smile while looking at me. The words that came out of her mouth afterward made my eyes wide open.

  She said, “No, from what I’ve heard, the person who made the anti-fan café is Ham Donnie.”


  “What?”


  ‘What did you say?’ Feeling dumbfounded, I was at a loss of words. Earlier, if Lee Mina and Kim Hye Hill didn’t speak behalf of me, I would’ve definitely become speechless at her. I was a type of person who just got tongue-tied instead of quibbling over the preposterous situation, but fortunately, Yoon Jung In intervened for now.

  “What did you say?”


  “I don’t know, but, at least, it would be Ham Donnie who spoke about the things in middle school. I heard that Ham Donnie went through many things like this from a long time ago. You know, she pretended to be Ban Yeo Ryung’s friend but spread rumors behind her and played both sides against the middle? Those who, at first, hung out with Ban Yeo Ryung but later turned away from her and did backbiting came out to be best friends with not only Ban Yeo Ryung but also Ham Donnie. They say this has happened many times, so doesn’t it really tells a story?”


  With that said, Lee Soo Yeon suddenly scowled at me. While I blinked in perplexity, she continued her words.

  “Hey, since Ban Yeo Ryung and the Four Heavenly Kings are close, you’ve pretended to be friends in front of her, right? But actually, you were feeling the sense of inferiority, jealousy, and hatred? That’s why you spread fake rumors of her and played both sides against the middle, huh? Or else, how could those who backbite and gossip about Ban Yeo Ryung always turn out to be your best friends?”


  Lee Soo Yeon’s last words penetrated the heavy silence hanging inside our class like a sharp arrow.

  The whole class remained silent for a while. The kids then began to look at each other and buzz with some gossips. They didn’t look hostile yet; however, it was sure that I was earning their suspicious gazes. Lee Mina and Kim Hye Hill were, on the other hand, still scowling at Lee Soo Yeon.

  I looked at the front. Yoon Jung In was staring at Lee Soo Yeon in a dumbfounded face. It made me feel a little relieved. My visions seemed blurry. Through the blurred sight, I glowered at Lee Soo Yeon.

  Her words, of course, connoted a certain extent of truth such as Baek Yeo Min, the girl who got along with me at first during middle school freshmen year. She suggested me to turn away from Ban Yeo Ryung, but later, when I refused to do so, she backbit both me and Ban Yeo Ryung.

  Those girls existed, at least, one in each grade, so Lee Soo Yeon’s remark was quite true at some point; however, how could she assume that it was me who planned everything just by that incident? Biting my lips, I scowled at Lee Soo Yeon, but she had a proud smile on her face. In between us, there stood Yoon Jung just staring at me in silence.

  It was then that Kim Hye Hill’s calm voice slipped through us.

  “Isn’t that the opposite?”


  “What?”


  When Yoon Jung In asked back, everyone’s attention was on Kim Hye Hill. She just shrugged then swept her hair back tranquilly.

  She continued, “I mean, the girl who were friends at first but later turned away from Ban Yeo Ryung and backbit her…… it wasn’t Donnie who played both sides against the middle for the girl to do that but…… wasn’t it her who hated Ban Yeo Ryung at the first place?”


  “What are you talking about?”


  As a response to Lee Soo Yeon’s question, Kim Hye Hill kept on her words nonchalantly with crossed arms.

  “Ban Yeo Ryung and Donnie have been childhood best friends. If I truly hated Ban Yeo Ryung, I would’ve first taken Donnie away from her. Don’t you think so?”


  “.……”


  As I raised my eyes to glance at Lee Soo Yeon, she was looking at Kim Hye Hill speechlessly with her jaws dropped. Through the silence prevailing the space, the noise from the kids began to spread further.

  The tense atmosphere then got loosened up. A few kids spoke to Kim Hye Hill in admiration.

  “Oh, it sure is. If Ham Donnie really hated Ban Yeo Ryung, why would she still be friends with her for the last 3 years despite all the criticism she received?”


  “Geez, Kim Hye Hill…… so smart.”


  Shin Suh Hyun, who looked at Kim Hye Hill with awe in the middle of the fuss, turned his head to see this side. He then asked me in a particularly composed face.

  “Ham Donnie, tell us what happened in your own words.”


  Shin Suh Hyun’s voice also had a unique echo that the whole class suddenly bent their eyes on me. Looking a bit relaxed than before, Yoon Jung In, beside us, was also staring at me. I rolled my eyeballs then opened my mouth.

  “Um, there was a girl during my middle school freshmen year…… she suddenly acted very close, which I thought a little strange too. One day, she said to me, ‘Don’t hang out with Ban Yeo Ryung but just hang out with me,’ and I refused that…… Later she also backbit me, so…… I didn’t speak to her anymore afterward.”


  Like pieces of sliced wood, I stammered my words in perplexity and anger, but luckily, kids seemed to have no problem understanding them. A few murmured in a sympathetic voice.

  “Gosh, Ham Donnie…… I feel sorry for you.”


  “Holy mother of pearl! How bitchy are they?!”


  I heard someone, who would probably be Lee Mina, mumbling in an enraged tone. It took the edge off my tension. With a bitter grin, I scratched my head then continued.

  “Despite the incidents I’ve gone through, I still don’t understand about myself being a poor judge of character. Maybe that’s why I’m a little careful when making friends. There is, at least, one among the girls who approach me to target Ban Yeo Ryung, and the same happens to Ban Yeo Ryung in order to target the Four Heavenly Kings.”


  My remark, finally, loosened up the strained atmosphere in the space.

  Honestly, it was true that what Kim Hye Hill said was more persuadable than myself putting a barrier between Ban Yeo Ryung and other girls out of jealousy over the last three years. Besides, Lee Soo Yeo didn’t belong to those who saw and experienced these directly. When Yoon Jung In then patted my shoulder, Lee Soo Yeon turned a little pale.

  “Hey, you shouldn’t talk like that just by hearing some gossips. Why are you trying to harass someone with an unidentified rumor? Especially, to your classmate?” Yoon Jung In said.

  Lee Soo Yeon bit her lips then left the space before Yoon Jung In was about to add a few more words. Waving her hair, she stormed out of the classroom.

  ‘It’s soon to be the morning assembly……’ Staring blankly at the back of her leaving, I saw a few other girls following her outside the class. They were Lee Soo Yeon’s friends. I took my glance away from them and came back to my seat.

  “How relentless she was when harassing you, but once she turned out to be wrong, she just fled away without an apology,” looking at them, Kim Hye Hill said in a grimace.

  “Hey, Lee Soo Yeon seems to be crying?”


  When one of the boys said like that, Kim Hye Hill suddenly displayed anger in her eyes then snapped fiercely at the boy.

  “So? What about my boyfriend who got talked behind his back by a girl he never saw in his life? Did she ever care about his feelings? What did she do right to cry like an idiot?”


  I never heard Kim Hye Hill sounding so frigid like that. As if he read the rage inside her voice, the boy rounded his shoulders then stepped back falteringly.

  Ignoring the boys whispering about how frightening Kim Hye Hill turned out to be, Lee Mina gnashed her teeth in anger. She mumbled in an intimidating face.

  “Fuck, she must have not made any troubles if she can’t handle it.

  I agreed with what she just said. Sitting on my seat with a sigh, I checked my phone.

  The happening just now would’ve not spread to Class 1-1 yet. Only Lee Soo Yeon and a few girls went outside the classroom. They wouldn’t spread what just happened today to the kids in Class 1-1.

  If the Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung of Class 1-1 got to know about this, it would be around lunchtime. I swept my hair back with a sigh.