.  Eun Jiho was frowning at his pants, which was stained dark gray with water. ‘Thank goodness it was just water,’ murmuring that way to myself, I took a closer look at Eun Jiho from head to toe for the first time in a long time.

  His seamless, silver hair dazzled like a soft fur; his clear black eyes under that hair suddenly directed on me. Taking off the wet napkins clinging on his hand and putting them in the garbage one after another, Eun Jiho asked, “Why are you looking at me?”


  “Oh, um…”


  I slowly confessed the things that happened in my class today: the conversation that went between Lee Mina and Yoon Jung In, the need for fantasy to build chemistry between man and woman, and the story about how hard it was to bring romance into long years of friendship.

  Listening to my words quietly, Eun Jiho detached his lips, at last.

  “So, you’ve just checked if you get fluttered or not while looking at me. Is that what you did just now?”


  Rolling my eyes, I replied, “Well, um… not really, but…”


  “Is it yes or no?” Asking me that way, Eun Jiho gently pinched my cheek but soon got smashed on his hand by Yeo Ryung for doing such a thing.

  ‘Geez, woman!’ Grumbling for a second, Eun Jiho rubbed his hand and uttered, “But although there’s this long-term friendship, fantasy or something captivating can still last. We don’t know every aspect of the person you know.”


  “Huh?”


  I opened my eyes wide. Switching his gaze to somewhere in the air, Eun Jiho continued, “Such as Woo Jooin.”


  “Oh…”


  Not only me but also Yeo Ryung nodded at his response. Tapping his temple with his finger, Eun Jiho kept on speaking, “I have known him for such a long time but still don’t get him yet.”


  “Oh, that’s so true although it sounds a little away from what we call fantasy.”


  While Yeo Ryung also voiced out some words of agreement, I, who was lost in thought, opened my mouth out of the blue.

  “So does Eun Hyung. I also don’t get Eun Hyung yet.”


  “Oh, Eun Hyung…” Murmuring the name, Yeo Ryung’s black eyes subdued for a moment.

  Recalling the Hanwool Group anniversary party, I realized that Eun Hyung behaved slightly differently to Yeo Ryung compared to the past; however, when we were all together, that attitude wasn’t so noticeable since Eun Hyung acted the same as before.

  While I tilted my head in wonder for a few seconds, Yeo Ryung spoke convincingly, “Right. I also couldn’t get Eun Hyung that well.”


  “True.”


  “And Yoo Chun Young.”


  What she just said so determinedly made me burst into laughter for a moment. I wondered why she didn’t bring out Yoo Chun Young into her response until now.

  Eun Jiho, who was observing the look on my face, soon giggled and said, “I don’t think we’ll ever know him. He’s just a man of mystery, isn’t it?”


  “Very true.”


  The moment when I agreed upon his response, the car pulled over in front of our apartment. With a giggle, Yeo Ryung opened the door. That was when I got out of the car with a smile after her. I heard a voice from behind me. I looked back.

  “And you…”


  “Huh?”


  “My fantasy.”


  I paused my step for a second. Meanwhile, Eun Jiho suddenly stretched out his hand and adjusted my disheveled hair. Drawing my hair back over my ear, he gently pressed my forehead out of the blue.

  “Ouch,” I groaned in a low voice.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?”


  “What did I do?”


  While I tossed a question that way, Eun Jiho already got back into the car.

  Scowling at Eun Jiho waving his hand to us, I rubbed my forehead and slammed the door. That was when I soon realized how expensive that car was, which made me hunch my shoulders.

  ‘I didn’t scratch it, did I?’ Glancing at the vehicle with worries, I found Yeo Ryung approaching me. She asked, “Why are you standing like that, Donnie? Did he say something to you?”


  “Huh? Um, no…”


  Rubbing my forehead again, I slowly bent my steps. Once I looked back again, the car was already gone from my sight.

  That weekend, I was about to spend time studying.

  Recently, I took the nationwide September mock exam; the next nationwide test was in November, but our school made us take other mock tests, so we had those exams almost every month.

  If someone asked me about my results of the nationwide September mock exam, I would say I utterly screwed up since the test was right after a week from the time I rescued Ruda with Lucas.

  Therefore, I couldn’t blame myself that I wasn’t academically good; I wasn’t able to do my best on taking the test since I got sick from running around the whole twenty-story building.

  What happened to Yeo Ryung or Ruda then? It was such a lame question.

  Yeo Ryung would, of course, never get sick even if the Reed building was sixty-three stories high. Ruda, on the other hand, got the tenth highest score in the mock test, which he took as soon as he returned to school. The break he had seemed like nothing to him.

  Well, I couldn’t help. Once the alarm rang at nine in the morning, I got straight up from bed, sat at the desk, did my best to keep myself motivated, and grabbed the pencil to study.

  Although these kids were way above me in test scores, which looked somehow quite effortless, it didn’t become a reason for me to not work hard. Repeating some self-motivating words, I opened the workbook.

  The house was deadly quiet since it was Saturday morning. Even if I left the door open, no sound came from the living room. Only the birds chirped through the window above my desk.

  ‘Oh, no…’ Moving my neck into different directions, I tried to wake myself up and flipped the page of the workbook. The tip of my pencil, which was righting down some mathematical formula on the notebook, slipped long.

  I gave a big yawn in the end. Rubbing my eyes, I murmured, “Gosh, was it too harsh to study in the morning during the weekend…?” I carefully looked through my study planner.

  According to what I listed down on it last night, today I had to go through one round of every subject test: Korean, English, and Science… If those were what I was supposed to do in a day, it seemed okay to have lunch and work on them after one o’clock.

  I, eventually, changed my mind to enjoy the weekend morning in my bed. It was a dangerous world out there, especially during the weekend. Thus, I should stay safe inside my comforter for now.

  That was when I tried to throw myself into the bed while laughing in delight from taking a nap. My phone on my desk began to vibrate so loudly.

  RRRRR––Looking at the phone rotating half-way with noise, I quickly snatched it and said, “Hello?”


  [Donnie! I’m glad you’ve answered the phone. Thank goodness!]

  It was from Lee Mina. Her voice sounded very relieved, which made me wonder why.

  There weren’t any assignments for the weekend. Thus, did something happened in our class in the meantime? Except for that thing, I couldn’t come up with any reasons that made her call me so urgently.

  Lee Mina’s desperate voice continued.

  [Donnie, are you busy right now? Do you have anything going on today?]

  “Huh? Um, no, not really…”


  [Wow, you made my day!]

  Eh? Feeling confused, I was soon startled at her following words.

  [Donnie, then don’t you want to join the group hangout?]

  No one was beside me, but I glanced at both sides then asked back while pulling myself together, “What?”


  [The group blind date! I told you about this on Thursday! One person just canceled it, and we can’t go there without balancing the gender ratio. That’s why I’m asking you.]

  Oh, that made sense. Since it sounded quite understandable, I heaved a sigh.

  If the gender ratio didn’t match in this group hangout, one person from the other side couldn’t actively participate in the blind date, so he would feel very bewildered.

  With a grimace, I scratched my forehead while looking at the workbook. After a while, I sighed and replied, “Okay, fine. What time and where are we meeting then?”