.  ‘Oh, lord. What the hell is going on right now?’ As I directed my attention to the side where the boys were quarreling in anger, Eun Hyung and Yoon Jung In looked at each other with a ghastly expression. Both weren’t that close, but now that I got to see them, it looked like they could already communicate through their eyes.

  What happened afterward was just a complete mess.

  The girls were cursing or crying, and the boys were physically involved in a fight. Eun Hyung and Yoon Jung In did their best to control the situation; however, it was useless. The only thing they successfully did, in the end, was just merely separating the kids and putting them back to each class.

  “Hmm… I see, so that was what happened.”


  When Yoon Jung In heard what had happened, he looked very weary.

  They hit me on the head. The girl in Class 1-1 then talked about ridiculous things. Because of that, the atmosphere between the two classes became nasty. Meanwhile, we brought up the topic back then…


  After quite a while, Yoon Jung In leaned against the back of his chair and spoke, feeling dumbfounded.

  “Are they still salty because of that thing? How can they talk like that after smashing someone’s head four times? Unbelievable.”


  “Fu*king guilty conscience,” a girl then replied in annoyance.

  ‘What do you mean by ‘guilty conscience’?’ ‘You know, he that has a great nose thinks everybody is speaking of it.’ ‘Oh…’


  As the conversation went through, Yoon Jung In shoved his face into his hands while groaning inwardly. I could see what was going on inside his head, so I just stretched out my hand and patted his back in silence.

  When a relationship worsened, it’s hard to recover; besides, today was the day before summer vacation. If we all started our break like this, then no one could predict what would happen when the kids confront each other outside.

  I was afraid of a brawl taking place outside the school… it could genuinely happen. When I saw that Yoon Jung In was already filled with anguish, I heard an uproar in the hallway.

  “Class 1-8, come outside! Let’s fight! How dare you make Kim Sung Ah cry?!”


  It looked like he was the boyfriend of the girl who was crying earlier; however, he just yelled out those words and ran away as if he didn’t really want to fight. When we stuck our heads out to the hallway, he was already far away while only showing his retreating back to us.

  In our classroom, a burst of anger also fumed.

  “Geez, is he really insane? Should I go to teach him a lesson?”


  “Dude, this is war. Let’s go show them something.”


  Listening to such words popping out everywhere in the class, Yoon Jung In wrapped his forehead with his hands again while feeling pain in his head.

  Oh, god. That was when I stared at him with a frown. I heard my phone vibrating in my pocket.

  When I took it out and checked the message, my eyes widened a bit. Then I walked toward Yoon Jung In again.

  Until I stepped closer to him, Yoon Jung In was still wrapping his forehead with his hands in pain. I lowered my body and whispered to him.

  “Hey.”


  “Why?”


  Lifting his head apathetically, Yoon Jung In stayed silent as he saw the words on my phone screen.

  Sent by: Kwon Eun Hyung

  Donnie, can you ask your class president to talk for a second with me? Oh, I’m not trying to fight. We need to really talk about this situation.

  “Is this…”


  “It was from Eun Hyung who freaked out and tried to stop the fight earlier with you.”


  ‘Wouldn’t he have the same thought as you?’ as I said that, Yoon Jung In heaved a sigh of relief while dropping his gaze onto the floor.

  Looking at him, I moved my fingers to type a response.

  To: Kwon Eun Hyung

  Would you come over to the rooftop? I’ll bring Yoon Jung In there.

  Within five seconds, he answered back.

  Sent by: Kwon Eun Hyung

  Okay.

  I didn’t know about it for a good reason, but one of this school’s biggest assets was the fact that the rooftop was always open.

  ‘This school has a lot of places for one to talk quietly or to fight. From what I heard, the music room is always open too.’


  As I opened the rooftop door wide with that thought in mind, Eun Hyung, who was pacing around the white concrete floor under the bright sunny sky, came into my sight. His red hair and green eyes stood out, especially under the blue summer sky. I smiled at Eun Hyung, who was walking toward my direction.

  As if he also felt delighted to see me in school after a while, Eun Hyung suddenly stretched out his hand and patted my hair.

  “Donnie, they told me that you heard something bad from the girls in Class 1-1,” asked Eun Hyung.

  I shook my head to indicate that I was okay.

  Yoon Jung In, who came with me, looked at Eun Hyung and me with an enigmatic glint in his eyes. Anyway, that was the first time I spoke with Eun Hyung in front of Yoon Jung In.

  As I raised my head and looked at Eun Hyung’s eyes, I saw a sign of concern lingering within them, which made me feel sorry for him. He was worried about me because of this same exact thing not long ago too. Feeling embarrassed, I scratched the back of my head and detached my lips.

  “I’m okay. I’m very fine, for real… I know that the girls are out of their minds, and… before I could say something, the kids were already firing abuses like a submachine gun, so…”


  Then I raised my hand. ‘I tried to stop them. I swear! But it was already out of my hands.’ It was true. I didn’t want to egg Class 1-1 and 1-8 on to fight. I truly wanted to avoid developing the situation into those in a web novel!

  I strived to express how fine I was to Eun Hyung; however, he was still looking at me like I was a pitiful child. Getting that kind of attention even rose a sense of guilt within me. ‘Oh, no… you’re truly getting me wrong…’


  “That won’t happen anymore,” said Eun Hyung.

  “No… please don’t say anything to them because of me. I don’t want these to escalate badly anymore.”


  With that said, I tried to look as determined as I could.

  Eun Hyung was the class president of Class 1-1, so if he didn’t stand by his class, his position would turn into something sour―or so I thought, though I wasn’t sure.

  However, at the next moment, I opened my eyes wide after hearing his remark.

  “It’s not that I’m gonna do something. Things are already…”


  What? Already what?

  “Did someone say something already?” I talked as if I was shouting involuntarily.

  My question made Eun Hyung furrowed his brows. He then nodded and continued with a sigh.

  “As the girls stepped in the class, they cut you down to size while talking all kinds of bullshit. It drove Ban Yeo Ryung insane as well as Chun Young and Jiho… but everyone was already so agitated that I tried to stop myself from further involving myself since it wasn’t the right time to do so. I feared that one of those three girls would cause trouble.”


  Holy mother of pearl, I drew my breath in before asking back with a trembling voice.

  “So…? Wh…o, who said what…?”


  “Um… it was…”


  Eun Hyung rubbed his forehead as if he found it difficult to confess the truth. As the worst thought came across my mind, I frowned.

  “Oh, it wasn’t Ban Yeo Ryung. If she isolated herself in that class, she doesn’t have any female friends anymore.”


  “It’s not Yeo Ryung.”


  “Not her, then who?”


  “It was… Jooin, who exploded first. He looked the most nonchalant until then.”


  Having said that, Eun Hyung closed his eyes tightly and opened it back.

  Oh, my god! Yoon Jung In and I looked at each other in shock for a second. Seeing his pale face, I could understand how dumbstruck Yoon Jung In was. Since he had a far-reaching circle of acquaintances, Yoon Jung In might have heard that Woo Jooin was the friendliest and the cutest among the Four Heavenly Kings.

  Looking disconcerted, Eun Hyung opened his mouth.

  “I mean, honestly, it was Jiho or Chun Young who looked like they were soon burst into rage. Jooin just stayed so calm until then… I recalled later that Jooin would start laughing when he grew mad.”


  Geez… listening to his story, I also swallowed a sigh.

  The sun graced its rays upon the rooftop in a straight line. Standing in the middle of the heat, we looked at each other’s faces blankly for a while.

  After some time, I finally murmured in exhaustion.

  “Frankly, Eun Jiho and Ban Yeo Ryung would say more through their facial muscles… I can easily get what they want to say just by looking at their faces.”


  “Agreed,” replied Eun Hyung.

  I opened my mouth again, “And Yoo Chun Young… he doesn’t really show much facial expressions; instead, he always has no filters when he speaks. His mind would directly pour out through his mouth.”


  “That, I agree with you too.”


  Eun Hyung also replied shortly again. Just like me, he also displayed a tired look that one could see from those who knew people with a strong personality for too long.