.  Waving her hand as if she felt disturbed, Choi Yuri spoke to the guys.

  “Release her hand just for a moment. Guard the bathroom door as well as the windows.”


  Is there a bathroom here? Well, since it’s a large warehouse, I’m sure there’s a bathroom attached to it, even if it’s not in good hygiene for a long time.

  The Four Symbols then raised Ban Yeo Ryung to go outside while the two of us stayed inside. Staring nervously at the door that Ban Yeo Ryung just left, I switched my gaze to Choi Yuri.

  “Excuse me…”


  As soon as I uttered those words, she replied sharply.

  “No, not you!”


  When I sealed my lips, Choi Yuri continued to speak while throwing a cold glance.

  “What if you guys plan to escape when I let you both out? One person should stay here.”


  I expressed dismay as she blurted those out with her arms crossed.

  “Even when Ban Yeo Ryung succeeds in trying to escape, she’ll come back if you’re still here.”


  Gosh, I bit my lips again. Choi Yuri certainly knew Ban Yeo Ryung so well since she had once been classmates with her and spent more time together in high school than I did.

  In this regard, Choi Yuri had no choice but to know Ban Yeo Ryung as well as I did. She also cared too much about her friends. Thinking further to that point, I directed my eyes on her.

  She was not only classmates with Ban Yeo Ryung but also with the Four Heavenly Kings; therefore, she would have interacted with them a lot. That would be why she was assured that Eun Jiho wouldn’t abandon us and accept the negotiation terms.

  When our eyes suddenly met at that moment, Choi Yuri gave a pungent look.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Uh… nothing…”


  Being hesitant for a moment, I carefully detached my lips.

  “You… have been together with them for quite a long time… Do you really want to do this?”


  “What?”


  “I mean, because… I think you also know them enough. You’ll then also get that this won’t…”


  With a pause, I finally concluded my words.

  “Even if you do this, you won’t get anything.”


  There was a moment of silence. Scowling at me in the heavy air, Choi Yuri soon crossed her arms and leaned her back against the chair. I breathed an inward sigh while feeling her fierce gaze.

  ‘Is it backfiring to say things like this?’ I thought. Well, of course, it was no more effective than provoking the kidnapper if the hostage was being snobby in the first place; besides, when thinking about our relationship, it could sound like I was teasing her. Oh, that would be the worst guess possible.

  Despite all those dangerous possibilities, I felt uncomfortable to let Choi Yuri become a criminal. Although her arrow of hate was aiming at me, that was what I thought about her when we turned out to be the unilateral victims of ‘the flow.’


  Thinking to that extent, I took a deep breath to brace myself, murmuring, ‘Yeah, this is something only I can do.’ I then went on speaking seriously.

  “I mean, think about it. Although you meet Eun Jiho by doing this, what will be so meaningful to you?”


  Choi Yuri furrowed her brows. She then asked back sharply.

  “Why do you think it’s meaningless?”


  “You also know that Eun Jiho won’t listen to you if you force him like this.”


  She then turned her head and snorted with laughter.

  “At least he would listen to me better than when we were just classmates. The two girls’ lives are in his hands.”


  The word ‘life’ that slipped from her mouth made me feel as if my stomach was getting cold. Having a further conversation seemed like a stupid thing for now; however, just giving up in this situation also weighed on my mind. That was when I tried to keep myself occupied and detach my lips again.

  Choi Yuri’s attitude suddenly changed. Bending herself forward, she lowered her voice threateningly.

  “Hey.”


  I stepped behind instinctively. Nodding shortly, I answered back.

  “Um, yeah?”


  “You aren’t even in tension at all from earlier, huh?”


  Her words penetrated my heart like an arrow. Lowering my head, I thought, ‘Was it that obvious?’


  Well, I’ve been thinking all sorts of crap since I was kidnapped, so why not Choi Yuri notice that? Unlike Ban Yeo Ryung, who was out of her mind from being abducted, Choi Yuri was retaining her sanity.

  Besides, when considering what happened between me and her, intimidating me might also be the purpose of the kidnapping.

  I wasn’t confident in managing a straight face, so I just looked down.

  She was right. Sorry to say, but as what Choi Yuri just said, I wasn’t nervous at all. When I discovered Choi Yuri was the actual kidnapper, even the smallest tension I had soon disappeared.

  But it was true that if someone was about to cause serious trouble to us, the person should be, at least, someone else than her. In my point of view, unfortunately, Choi Yuri was written off as a lightweight.

  Furthermore, she already provoked an incident. I thought she had finished playing her role as the case closed, and therefore, there wouldn’t be anything happening with her at the center.

  However, if I spoke out these things, I would be treated as someone who wasn’t all there; moreover, Choi Yuri wasn’t the Four Heavenly Kings, who already had accepted these unrealistic things. I, therefore, couldn’t tell her about this.

  Wondering for a moment, I finally chose to rather smile awkwardly.

  “Um, maybe because I’ve encountered a familiar face.”


  That was such a ridiculous excuse even for me. How could someone get kidnapped by none other than a student who went to the same school? Most of the people would rather panic than becoming nervous.

  Looking at Choi Yuri’s face turning ferocious, I hunched my shoulders. Her following words were, however, something utterly unanticipated.

  Scowling at me with glaring eyes for quite a while, she blurted out, “You.”


  “Huh…?” I replied while feeling my fingertips slightly trembling.

  “I know you aren’t.”


  “…”


  “I’m talking about you.”


  While I was at a loss of words, Choi Yuri’s face turned dark.

  Looking at her brown eyes giving me a murderous look through her disheveled hair, I realized I did something wrong. It would have been more helpful to relieve her anger if I just remained silent instead of rambling such things to save her.

  She then struck a retort as if she was spitting out something.

  “You! You’re such an asshole. Do you know that?”


  “…”


  I kept my mouth shut. While I moved my eyeballs from side to side, her voice continued.

  “You aren’t nervous because you’re encountering someone familiar? No, it’s not. I can tell that.”


  “…”


  I still stayed put without saying anything. ‘How is she able to read my mind when she isn’t a mind reader?’ That was what I’ve been thinking of the moment.

  However, the unexpected words that she blurted out after made my eyes wide open.

  “You don’t have the right to judge others like that!”


  Her thunderous cry pierced my ears.

  Watching Choi Yuri, who suddenly shook her head and roared for the entire warehouse to ring loudly, I thought, ‘What is she talking about? I’m judging others??’


  While I looked up at her, she kept on speaking with her gasping voice.

  “You said something when we met alone in the rooftop… I clearly remember that even right now.”


  “What…”


  ‘What did I say to you?’ As I tried to drop those words, Choi Yuri’s furious remark cut in.

  “You said you didn’t know only beautiful, smart, distinguished, and wealthy people can speak their minds! Don’t you remember? It was none other than you who said that!”


  Blurting those out, she was now laughing loudly. I stared at her with fear while having no idea why she brought that up in this situation. I could, however, tell that her fury was more than just average. Still, why…?

  Catching her breath, she looked down at me then showed a smile. She continued to speak while still gasping.

  “But you, you don’t have the right to say that. Do you know why?”


  What she then said after, which was completely beyond my imagination, froze me like a statue.

  “I think it’s you who judge people that way, not anyone else.”