.  “…”


  While there was a moment of silence, I quietly took off my hand from the wall and spoke in a low voice, “… Sorry.”


  “No problem.”


  Heaving a sigh, Yeo Dan oppa tapped my head as he usually did. Suddenly turning his head to look at the passersby, he changed the look on his face.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked while feeling anxious.

  “Hold on for a sec.”


  He suddenly opened the collar of his coat and hid me inside it. Having myself in his arms in an unguarded moment, I opened my eyes wide. Yeo Dan oppa’s turtleneck sweater was pressed down on my cheek. I could hear his heart pounding faintly through my ears.

  How long had it been? Once the collar of his coat disappeared from my sight as if a curtain was opened, I, who was in a daze, raised my head.

  I felt a little dizzy as if I suddenly got out from a heated spot to a cold place. Even my breath felt slightly hot.

  Getting my breath back for a moment, I asked, “What happened just now?”


  Yeo Dan oppa grimaced as if he was in an awkward situation. Stretching out his hand to adjust my disheveled hair, he opened his mouth.

  “The reason why I came here…”


  “Huh?”


  “It’s because of a stalker.”


  “What? A stalker?!”


  What the hell was he talking about?

  Still, with a grimace, Yeo Dan oppa observed the passersby in suspicion then suddenly pulled my hand and headed to the alley nearby.

  Once we arrived at an utterly desolated spot, he brought up his story in detail.

  The incident began about two weeks ago. Yeo Dan oppa’s stuff started to consistently disappear. Since he had a lot of mischievous friends, he thought one of them would be just playing around, so he just neglected it. However, as the happening took place more often, he got annoyed at last. Most of the response he received after voicing out his irritation was something like, ‘What the heck are you talking about?’ Yeo Dan oppa fell into confusion.

  That was when he began to get some strange letters in his backpack. Listening to that extent, I asked him with my eyes wide open, “Then, the letter I saw last time was also…?”


  Recalling the letter that he dropped in front of the elevator, I threw the question. Yeo Dan oppa nodded his head. His straight face looked quite gloomy somehow.

  “I don’t know what you’ve been thinking, but I was surprised since I didn’t even know that it existed in my bag. There isn’t any reason other than that.”


  Smiling awkwardly, I hid my hands behind my back in embarrassment.

  What I had been thinking? Well, nothing so special. I just wondered how the girl, whom Yeo Dan oppa was dating, would look like or what she had done in her previous life to go out with this super-hot guy in the neighborhood.

  Anyway, I heaved a sigh for some reason once the whole story about this letter thing got revealed, at last. I felt a little empty and relieved at the same time.

  I was then lost in thought again. Actually, the existence of a stalker wasn’t something that unfamiliar to Yeo Dan oppa. What I became more concerned about was something else.

  Hesitating for a while, I carefully flung a question.

  “Um, but, oppa… Since you have someone stalking you, is it okay to show up at a group hangout? You know the safety of the girl, who would be your partner…”


  Frowning faintly, he replied, “I also have that in mind, but… my friends read the letter and estimated that this person seems to be very noble and pure.”


  “Oh, that’s why…!”


  “If she’s such a romanticist, she wouldn’t be chasing a guy who has a girlfriend.”


  A-ha, so that was how things were going. I nodded my head.

  Unless that person was a wicked stalker, he or she would be just repeatedly taking Yeo Dan oppa’s stuff or leaving letters since the person wasn’t brave enough to reveal his or her identity. In that case, this method would block out the stalker, which was making a girlfriend.

  However, a question was still left. Tilting my head in wonder, I asked, “But it’s quite surprising that you accepted to join this event without hesitance. I mean, oppa, you hate getting along with strangers, don’t you? No, not just strangers, you also feel exhausted hanging out with your friends.”


  I often saw him showing a frantic look on his face while being dragged by his friends. I, on the other hand, liked people but couldn’t get along with others that well since I lacked confidence. However, Yeo Dan oppa felt tired of hanging out with people. His friends were so outgoing regardless that they often dragged him to get along, which I felt jealous and sorry at the same time.

  That kind of character was about to have some romantic relationship now. Really? I slightly frowned. Was I wrong that he would never get interested in other girls except for Yeo Ryung?

  How long it had been since I gave up my crush on him? Well, although the iron wall around his heart had collapsed, I wouldn’t have a chance to go out with him… Suddenly, I lifted my head while hearing something from him.

  “I didn’t accept it without hesitance.”


  “Eh? Then…?”


  “They told me they would let me know a secret plan to get the stalker away, so I came here on time since I had nothing to lose and then found that I was in a situation like this.”


  “Oh…” I uttered in a daze.

  “Those bastards,” Yeo Dan oppa blurted the words with downcast eyes. I laughed awkwardly then turned my head, thinking, ‘So that was what happened. It’s hardly likely he’ll join an event something like this.’


  Checking the look in his eyes again, I offered my sympathy inwardly to his friends. There would soon be a big fight in his classroom.

  At last, he talked about why he took me outside here. As if he felt so lighthearted to confess everything, Yeo Dan oppa asked me with a face that looked like a bright and clear sky.

  “I heard you came here to fill in someone. If you’re also in an awkward situation, do you want to leave together?”


  “Oh, so that’s why you asked me to pretend that I don’t know you?”


  Now I clearly grasped why he gave me that order out of the blue when he was a person who hated lies and couldn’t act well. Yeo Dan oppa nodded at my question without hesitation.

  Although he was forced to join this event, he surely didn’t want to go out with a girl yet. He felt sorry to participate since he didn’t long for any romantic relationship. At that moment, I showed up among the girls on the other side, so I would indeed look like an exit or a savior to him.

  Yeo Dan oppa stared at me with his deep black eyes. Receiving his glance, I was lost in thought for a moment but soon shook my head slowly.

  “Um… sorry. I still want to wait and see. I don’t feel that bewildered or something like that. You know the kids are all funny and nice.”


  “Yeah, I do agree with that,” he replied without the slightest hesitation. He didn’t seem to ask me against my will when I refused to do so. Well, did he ever force me to do something that I hated?

  Something then flashed through my mind.

  I asked, “Now I come to think of it, how did you know the boys, oppa?”


  “They are the hoobaes of my friends. Not that close not that far…”


  “Oh, I see.”


  Another mystery was solved. While I nodded my head, Yeo Dan oppa slowly pointed at the outside of the alley out of the blue.

  Once I bent my steps toward that direction, he walked after me while shoving his hands into his coat pockets. He then continued, “The boy, who was about to show up, made me join this thing on behalf of him all of a sudden, so other kids would have also become very bewildered. I think they haven’t received any messages that I’m gonna join here. Well, they were nice enough to not show how surprised they were.”


  “Oh, I get that.”


  “As you just said, they seem to be good kids. Maybe…”


  I showed a swiveling smile at the word that he just added cautiously. Finding the similarities between Yeo Dan oppa and Yeo Ryung always made me fun. Whenever it happened, I felt that he, who felt very unreal although he was my next-door neighbor, was getting so close to me.

  They gave a positive review to strangers under any circumstances. It was such a careful and considerate attitude as if saying something negative about others would harm them for real.

  That was one of their strengths that I realized how lovely Yeo Ryung was and the reason why I liked Yeo Dan oppa. They were the friendliest people I had ever met until that time.