.  While a moment of silence swept among us, I opened my eyes wide and decided to quietly look at what the three people would do. Honestly, I was just an ordinary high school student unlike the three, so even if they told me they would leave me here and move on without me, I would understand and accept their decision. In this regard, I didn’t hold a different view about splitting teams in this way. Lucas would have definitely organized it well.

  However, Jooin seemed to have a different thought. He stared at Lucas doubtingly for quite a while.

  Lucas flung a question with a swiveling smile, “Why? We don’t have any time for this.”


  “Do you have any specific reason to go with mama?”


  Raising his hand, Lucas simply replied, “That’s because I have both combat power and technical knowledge, whereas you have strong technical knowledge and Yeo Ryung is a good fighter. However, this person here is…”


  At that point, I intervened and said feebly, “Stop, just stop over there….”


  ‘I know how incompetent I am, so would you please not confirm that in front of me?’ While I added in that way, Lucas showed a delicate smile then turned his head to look at Jooin.

  As if he got stabbed somewhere, Jooin was taken aback for a second. He then continued, “There’s another question. Why are we going to the rooftop direction and you to the basement floor?”


  “The security team is in the basement; besides, the slowest runner is in my team, isn’t it?”


  Lucas responded like that while directing his eyes on me, which made me grumble to myself, “Yeah, I suck at fighting, hacking, and even running, but my running ability is in the upper half of my age range. Besides, isn’t it obvious that I can’t fight and hack as a normal teenage girl? Geez, if it wasn’t about Ruda, I wouldn’t be involved in such a thing.’ I never felt my lack of abilities this much strongly.

  After a moment of silence, Jooin blurted out like a murmur and turned around.

  “Well, nothing’s wrong about what you said…then what else I can do? Yeo Ryung, let’s go.”


  “Yeah.”


  “Cool. I’ll send you the map to your phone.”


  “Okay,” Replying shortly, Jooin turned around with Yeo Ryung; however, before they turned back, I realized that Yeo Ryung was sending an outlandishly strong gaze to me. Her black eyes twinkled as if she had something to tell me.

  ‘What was she trying to say especially at this moment?’ While I wondered about her glance, Yeo Ryung, who hesitated for a while, just ran quickly toward Jooin wordlessly.

  As I stared at the spot that she just left, Lucas also came closer to me and uttered, “Should we go too?”


  “Oh… okay.”


  I grabbed his hand that he stretched out to me and began to run down the gray hallway.

  * * *

  The way to the basement floor was strangely so quiet. Running along with Lucas, I wondered, ‘Is it supposed to be this quiet in security companies? Maybe because today is a weekend? However, isn’t it usual for more events, which require security services, to be held on weekends or holidays? If so, there must be a few employees wandering in the building…’


  While I rambled those thoughts in my head, Lucas, who reached the end of the hallway, opened the door.

  He then led me inside, saying, “Come in.”


  “Okay.”


  Descending the floors in a hurry, I almost slipped and fell. Lucas, beside me, held my arm and raised me up.

  ‘Wow,’ hanging on his arms to keep my balance, I thought, ‘Lucas is also as strong as Ruda, unlike their fragile appearances.’


  He then said, “You don’t have to hurry yet. The critical moment comes after when meeting Ruda.”


  Hesitating for a moment, I replied, “Still… my mind is urgent…”


  Lucas, who was staring at me, smiled gently. His sky-blue eyes glistened in the half-darkness. He then flung a question with a bit lower voice, “… You seem to be very close to Ruda, right?”


  “Yeah.”


  Once I agreed nonchalantly, Lucas, who was descending the stairs a step at a time from beside me, asked in a soft voice.

  “How did you two get close? It’s a little odd to say this on our way to save him, but he isn’t that friendly kid?” With a grin, he added, “… Among us, he was called the Ice Princess.”


  “Pfft!”


  Hearing that name in a very unprepared situation, I slightly reeled from shock. Barely recovering my balance, I rubbed my stinging forehead and replied, “Oh, yeah… true. He isn’t that affable, but he doesn’t show his feelings in front of other kids. Usually, Ruda is such an ice breaker, who’s always cheerful and bright, so all our classmates love him.”


  “If he didn’t show his true color in front of other kids, then aren’t you the only one who knows his identity?”


  Lucas’s question sounded as if it was something quite unexpected. I rolled my eyes and responded, “Hmm, just me and a few who noticed that…?” Speaking in that way, I fell into thought.

  I couldn’t say that the nickname of Ice Princess didn’t belong to Ruda at all. I mean, even I came up with Yi Ruda in the first place when Lucas spoke over and over about the ‘Ice Princess.’ Taking a step downstairs, I recalled the time when I first met Yi Ruda.

  She held my hand without hesitance, leaned her head over my shoulders to look at the printout I received from the teachers’ room, and spoke exaggeratedly. I was so surprised to find out later that she was actually acting all of them, but on the other hand, I understood why she had to behave in that way.

  And the conversation we had in the hallway…


  ‘I never saw someone like you.’


  Thinking to that extent, I squinted my eyes for a second.

  This kid was making herself lonely. She behaved like she was made of ice that someone’s warmness would gonna melt her as soon as possible. Ruda, therefore, acted like getting close with someone would be very dangerous. She might have been afraid that she would also freeze others when they became intimate with each other.

  While I was absorbed in those thoughts, Lucas woke me up with a question.

  “What made you guys so close?”


  “Um, that is…”


  Well, Lucas also seemed to know about Ruda’s complicated family circumstances, so it wouldn’t be a big deal to tell him about our relationship.

  I began to talk about the encounter I had with Ruda and his father, Ian, in front of the Chinese restaurant. I also told him about the situation when the suspicious men in black chased us on our way to the subway station. Ruda tried to explain about the happening, but I told her not to, and the next day, what Ruda told me about… I confessed almost everything that took place between Ruda and me that made us get closer.

  When I finished telling those stories, Lucas smiled aimlessly.

  “You’re quite determined than you look. I’m surprised.”


  “Oh, haha…” I smiled awkwardly.

  I couldn’t tell him the truth that once I noticed Ruda was the female protagonist in the novel, I had to behave like that to pull her apart from my life. Well, but I was already here, so what else I could do? I heaved a sigh.

  I tried to stay away from Ruda to avoid this kind of happening; however, she had saved us once. Therefore, I couldn’t be an unthankful person. That was when I bent my steps while having those thoughts in my head.

  “I guess this was the answer.”


  “What? What are you talking about?”


  I wondered, “Is he mentioning the route? Not the direction where Yeo Ryung and Jooin are heading to but this way is the right path… Is that what he’s implying right now?”


  I stared at Lucas. Instead of responding to my question, he flaunted a refreshing grin and beckoned at the iron door that suddenly appeared.

  “Should we go? We’re almost there.”


  Nodding my head, I walked after him.

  * * *

  Bending his steps at a quick pace, Woo Jooin grumbled, “That Lucas guy seems very suspicious. Well, it’s too late though since we’re already inside here.”


  Ban Yeo Ryung, walking beside him, replied shortly, “Yeah…”


  Regarding her voice or attitude just now, she might be lost in different thoughts. Throwing her purple gaze at somewhere in a distance, Yeo Ryung was just frowning.

  Woo Jooin, however, quickly continued his words regardless, “My first question, if he was about to split teams, why didn’t he do that in the first place? It makes sense that he divided us in this way; however, he could have told us in advance when he already knew the structure of this building and had a plan to split teams.”