.  With a collapsing noise, Gong Haru’s body flew away and fell down right beside the students of Dae Woon High School, who still couldn’t get up from the floor. Watching that sight, the boys seemed to throw up in fright.

  Regardless of their reactions, the beauty with red hair, whose name was probably Lisa, strode toward Gong Haru and grabbed him by the collar then began to shake him.

  Smiling naughtily, she asked, “I felt a tickle in my ear, so I came here and heard a son of a bit*h talking shit about me. Are you curious about how a dog feels on one of the three dog days? Is that why you’re acting like this right now?”


  ‘Perhaps the high school bullies and fighters in this world have GPS devices in their ears. My assumption might be correct then,’ I thought.

  Gong Haru, who was getting beaten up by the girl named Lisa, opened his mouth staggeringly.

  “Hold on…”


  Oh, lord. Before Gong Haru completed his sentence, Dae Lisa punched him in the face. Now the boys from Dae Woon High School no longer seemed to resent Woo San or collide with Gong Haru. They were just trembling in fear while throwing themselves flat on the couch that was attached to the wall.

  The boys then tried to take a step out to the door like a hermit crab sticking out its head slightly out of its shell.

  “Wait right there with your necks out!”


  “Yikes…”


  “If you run away, you’d get beaten up twice more.”


  Dae Lisa’s savage remark, which she added just now, brought a lull in the room. That was when I had a chance to review my circumstances too.

  Once she appeared, the situation seemed to be over; besides, according to what Gong Haru, the nationwide Number 2, said, involving outsiders into this place wasn’t their policy. In other words, I didn’t have to bring Jooin, who dressed as a girl, to this dangerous and ridiculous place and even get along with the students my age.

  Thinking to that extent, I quickly turned my head to the side. Jooin, who still looked pale as a corpse in the blue light, came into view.

  When I found out that his gaze was fastened at Woo San, I could roughly understand what he was feeling right now. If I also met my cousins in a place like this, I would definitely have the same look that Jooin had on his face.

  “Joosun, let’s get out of here,” I whispered.

  As if he was excessively struck dumb by the encounter, Jooin seemed to lose even his usual, shrewd ability to act. Looking at Woo San absent-mindedly for a while, Jooin, at last, nodded awkwardly and took a step forward as I pressured him to leave repeatedly.

  At that moment, a familiar voice stopped us.

  “Hold on, there.”


  I, who was about to step outside while drawing aside the beaded curtain, turned stiff. Slowly turning around, I showed an awkward smile and replied, “Excuse me…?”


  Woo San was staring at us. Compared to the moment when he appeared while flipping over the table with a fancy kick, Woo San looked utterly different as if he now accessed a safety mode, a non-fighting status.

  As I got to, once again, take a closer look at his appearance, I was slightly lost in admiration. His light brown hair looked soft and smooth like that of Jooin; he had stronger facial features, which made him look notably handsome. His small and well-defined face emitted a romantic aura that I could easily imagine him wearing something like a beige duffle coat and standing under a deciduous tree.

  Woo San, who suddenly turned into a model-like guy from a beast, directed his brown eyes on the person behind me and flung a question.

  “Anyway, I apologize since I’m also responsible for this situation as a ranker. Are you okay? If not, would you like some tranquilizer?”


  Jooin just shook his head wordlessly. That was because, unlike Ruda or Lucas, he couldn’t fake a girl’s voice.

  Besides, he was confronting his cousin. Just by dropping a word, Jooin’s identity could be revealed. Thinking in that way, even my heart seemed to explode. The only way to avoid any trouble was to just leave this place as soon as possible. With that thought in mind, I turned my head and replied on behalf of Jooin.

  “No, thanks. I think my friend’s fine.”


  Woo San was, however, quite stubborn.

  “If you can’t trust this tranquilizer because it’s from ours, I’ll have it first. After about thirty minutes, you can check how safe it is and then take it. How’s that?”


  “Um, she’s really fine…”


  “No, she isn’t. She can’t even speak right now.”


  With that said, Woo San came closer to us.

  I could not dare to stop him from intervening between me and Jooin. Since I saw him causing a dreadful human disaster, I could barely move my feet.

  Jooin and Woo San finally exchanged eye contact in a close distance, which seemed too uncomfortable to even watch. Jooin began to breathe loudly; Woo San’s eyes dilated too. Someone’s voice then pierced through the suffocating silence.

  “Hey, Woo San! What are you doing right now when you just blamed the boys for doing such a thing?!”


  However, Woo San didn’t even try to listen. Someone else then approached and pulled Woo San and Jooin apart. It was the red-haired girl who was known as the nationwide Number 10. Tapping Jooin’s shoulder warmly, she turned around and struck a retort to Woo San.

  “San, what’s wrong with you too? Think about how scared she is when something like that has just happened.”


  Woo San, however, reacted very unexpectedly. I thought he would, at least, respond something, but all he continuously did was just opening and squinting his eyes wordlessly while showing a mixed feeling on his face. It looked as if he was being the main character in a TV drama who just recovered his lost memory.

  Hold on, a lost memory? I turned my head immediately to look at Jooin.

  Grabbing his wrist, I quickly bent my waist and uttered, “Thanks for saving and taking care of us. See you then.”


  “Wait!”


  The urgent voice was from Woo San.

  “If you don’t mind…”


  Dropping those words, Woo San was now holding his chest. My face turned pale at the sight, thinking, ‘Why are you grabbing your chest? And what’s up with that desperate look!’


  Woo San continued, “Would you please let me know? I never saw you before, but why…”


  After a short pause, Woo San confessed, “But why do I think you’re adorable, cute, and lovely?”


  “…”


  “Why am I feeling such things to a woman whom I saw the first time in my life? Why…?”


  BOOM! The anticipated bomb exploded in the room. No, it was a much severe bomb than my expectations.

  Woo San’s unexpected confession made everyone’s jaw drop onto the floor while looking on this side. Meanwhile, I turned my head and found Jooin’s face also looking as pale as the others. Gosh, he might indeed react in that way.

  Here, in this room, a forbidden love was just about to begin. While my head was flowing with the ending narration of a TV drama, I closed my eyes tight and said to myself, ‘OMG! What should I do? WHAT SHOULD I DO!!!’


  What should I so? I should get out of here ASAP! Running out of the room instinctively, I soon came back to the room again and pulled Jooin’s wrist.

  “Sorry, I was too desperate to take you with me.”


  Regardless of my absurd apology, Jooin, who looked pale as a ghost, just followed me outside the room. I was afraid if someone might come after us, but as soon as the top-ranking fighters, particularly Woo San, came over, they cleared out the boys of Dae Woon High School, who brought us here. Besides, Woo San, whom I was concerned about the most, didn’t tag along.

  How thankful that was! Thinking in that way, I quickly walked across the hallway while holding Jooin’s wrist.

  As if it wasn’t just the boys of Dae Woon High School and Woo San, who had a bad relationship, there was a fight going on here and there on the second-floor terrace, which had been very quiet when we came up. I heard some glasses breaking with a crash and even saw people having a dogfight like an action scene in a martial arts movie.

  Jooin, who gathered back his senses, suddenly pulled my wrist and began to run. His sudden change bewildered me, but he pointed at somewhere and shouted, “That way!”


  “Why?”


  “There’s a bathroom.”


  “For what?”


  Why was he suddenly heading to the bathroom in this situation? While I wondered about the reason, Jooin showed me his phone on his way to the bathroom.

  “It’s his call. If I don’t answer, he’ll feel suspicious.”


  [San hyeong ???]

  Yikes! Looking at the name flashing on the screen, I turned pale. Jooin, who looked quite the same as me right now, also heaved a deep sigh.