.  “I……”


  It wasn’t easy to respond. Fortunately, Woo Jooin wasn’t really interested in hearing Yi Ruda’s answer.

  He then continued, “90 percent of the people answers that they won’t push the fat guy although it will lead to the death of five people. If that’s the answer, then do you know why?”


  “.……”


  “That is because ‘we shall not use human life as a tool- Still, people can’t find out why for quite a while, even after answering it. Moral judgment is governed by the unconscious side of our brain rather than actively participating in it. Then, let’s change the words.”


  With that said, Woo Jooin lifted his eyes to glance at Yi Ruda, who was smiling.

  “I say I’m gonna push that guy off.”


  “.……”


  “I don’t know, maybe my moral judgment had been broken down since I was a kid. I was like that since my childhood. I didn’t know when to laugh and when to cry. I couldn’t relate to others’ feelings.”


  “What are you trying to say?”


  “I couldn’t relate to others, so why would I mind hurting others?” said Woo Jooin with a soft blink.

  Yi Ruda rubbed the back of his neck unconsciously. ‘What kind of bastard is he?’ he thought. If Woo Jooin spoke such a thing in a straight face or, at least, with a frigid look, it wouldn’t be this scary. He, however, talked about something horrible with a pure smile on his face, which meant that he always acted bright and na?ve while hiding his real intention. Yi Ruda fell into thought about him. Woo Jooin then quietly kept on his words with downcast eyes.

  “If I could hurt and isolate her like that, then she would have already been mine.”


  “You?” Yi Ruda asked in spite of himself.

  “Not only me, but many people would have already done that, but let’s just say that I’m the only one who could pull it off. No one else can feel no compunction about hurting others than me.”


  Woo Jooin spoke with a shrug as Yi Ruda frowned, for it was hard for him to understand. Yi Ruda had only a few months; however, Woo Jooin spent three years with Donnie in middle school.

  Yi Ruda asked, “Then why didn’t you do that? If you could make her yours by hurting her, you could have already done that, right?”


  It was what he specifically said. Woo Jooin’s brain could have achieved such an opportunity without any difficulties. As if he received an unexpected question, Woo Jooin stared at Yi Ruda with a blink. He then grinned.

  “Once, I thought that it would be fine to do it, but now I know how much Donnie will get hurt.”


  “What?”


  “Although you’re not doing it, Donnie already thinks that she’s alone. I think so too. No one in this world is as isolated as Donnie,” said Woo Jooin, touching his hands. It sounded challenging for Yi Ruda to understand.

  She had a squabbling yet harmonious family and plenty of people around to stand up for her when she cried out of sorrow. How could he say that she was isolated, then? It was, at least, not a word that suited Donnie. Yi Ruda, however, couldn’t dispute Woo Jooin’s remark immediately.

  A few things then came across Yi Ruda’s head. Her utterly different atmosphere, her gaze that wandered around the test sheets today, her looking over the window sometimes while resting her chin in her hand, and her feeling the wind that blew in through her scattering dark brown hair…… He might have seen something apparently outlandish like that from Donnie sometimes. Woo Jooin’s words then surged into his ears slowly.

  “To Donnie, this world is like…… how can I say this? A fleeting dream. It’s not a dream to others, but only to Donnie, this world is a dream that makes her alone once she wakes up. Lonesome and sorrow are already enough to her.”


  “.……”


  “You look very curious, but I can’t tell you more than that. This is a huge secret to us.”


  Woo Jooin then jumped off the windowsill, where he perched on the whole time. He walked across the dark classroom as briskly as he did at the beginning.

  When Yi Ruda gathered his senses and turned his head to see him, Woo Jooin already left to the hallway while putting his hand on the back door. He was staring at Yi Ruda like that as his eyes smiled sulkily. He then spoke to Yi Ruda with a naughty grin.

  “Think about it carefully. Oh, and I recorded all our conversation just now!”


  His last remark thunderstruck Yi Ruda to the point that he almost burst into coughing, ‘WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!’


  Lurching unconsciously, Yi Ruda was about to slip from the chair, but he barely stood straight. A loud voice then rang around Yi Ruda’s head.

  “Then, adios! I’ll be looking for your positive answer!”


  “Hey! How insane are the Four Heavenly Kings in this school?!”


  Yi Ruda heard no response. As if he tried to avoid being deprived of the recorder, Woo Jooin seemed to have flown away. When Yi Ruda was about to give his answer, he heard an echo coming from the end of the hallway.

  “Don’t say that! It’s an excuse to Jiho!”


  ‘Does that mean everyone’s crazy except the silver-haired dude, Eun Jiho?’ Yi Ruda became so dumbfounded that he scratched the back of his head roughly before kicking the chair he sat down until just now. ‘How dare you deceive me the entire time with that na?ve face?’ he huffed.

  Yi Ruda, however, paused while gasping as he cooled down. He then stared at the windowsill where Woo Jooin leaned.

  Over the empty space, the dimming red light came to recede.

  “Lonesome and sorrow already? Why?” Yi Ruda mumbled.

  Woo Jooin said that the rest was all a secret, a huge secret. Well, Woo Jooin initiated the conversation slyly, but he sounded serious enough when he talked about Ham Donnie’s sorrow.

  ‘What would be that secret?’ With that thought in mind, Yi Ruda walked out of the classroom ploddingly. Anyway, he should still think further about Woo Jooin’s suggestion.

  When I did something wrong or was known for doing something wrong, there were four types of criticism that I would receive.

  One, when I did something wrong, the people around me would blame me for it. Second, when I didn’t do anything wrong, but the people I knew were blaming me for it. Third, when I did something wrong, and the people who weren’t aware of it were blaming me. The fourth was when I didn’t do anything wrong, but strangers were gossiping about me.

  Getting criticized is, of course, not enjoyable, especially when it comes to people blaming me about things about a fake rumor that I didn’t do; therefore, the worst case is the fourth. If I did something wrong, I would, at least, learn some lessons not to do such things next time; however, when I get criticized for a thing that I didn’t do, then there’s nothing else I could do other than to weep.

  Fortunately, I never got involved directly into such things in the rumors, which felt quite mysterious and lucky in and of itself. Objectively, I was in an excellent position to engage in gossip since I was Ban Yeo Ryung’s best friend and her only female friend whom she confided. Besides, I knew and got along with the Four Heavenly Kings from middle school. Since I lived next door to Ban Yeo Ryung, I was also close to her breathtakingly hot and handsome brother, Ban Yeo Dan.

  Despite all that, the only fake rumor that I got involved in was, ‘That girl, she’s next to Ban Yeo Ryung to pretend that she’s close with the Four Heavenly Kings.’


  One could consider this as an assumption rather than a rumor. Thank god, Ban Yeo Ryung and I have been friends since we were born. Besides, Ban Yeo Ryung and the Four Heavenly Kings weren’t my only friends, so those who believed such things were limited to a few radical fans of the Four Heavenly Kings. ‘Hmm,’ I frowned, ‘Strangely, there were only those rumors out there. Why is that?’


  We were now in different classes, but I spent much time with the Four Heavenly Kings, especially with Yoo Chun Young and Woo Jooin; however, why weren’t there any scandalous rumors such as ‘he and she are going out!’ or something like that?

  Law of the Web Novel, Article 9. Isn’t there always a girl with tearful eyes approaching the female protagonist while asking, ‘Hey, are you the one who’s dating XOXO of the Four Heavenly Kings?’ Geez…… that was when I adjusted my mind.

  ‘Oh, I’m not the female protagonist! I forgot that important fact! Oh, that’s why I’ve never got involved in any rumors like that!’


  As I cleared my head, I looked forward; however, unlike my refreshed mind, the atmosphere in the classroom was appalling. No, it was more of an annoyance than disarray.