.  If his mind wasn’t this messed up, he would have not chosen the option, ‘just run away,’ without having a conversation, which would never work for solving problems but worsen the situation instead. What was even worse was that a vague question kept arising in his head as time went by such as ‘Will this get resolved while giving some time to see how it goes?’


  He wasn’t sure, in the first place, how long his mind had been this way. He even tried to correct his state-of-mind dozens of times; still, Eun Jiho couldn’t clear up the feelings inside him. Thus, wasn’t he taking this situation too easily while expecting things would sort out with time?

  Unlike other circumstances, his head didn’t come up with a submissive answer to the entered value––Ham Donnie now has a boyfriend, who turns out to be such a nice person.

  Eun Jiho wanted to leash his feelings which had its own mind. While he heaved a deep sigh, Ban Yeo Ryung continued, “No matter how much Donnie behaves so cautiously, there will soon be rumors about you guys and her having a fight. If that happens, Donnie will really get stressed out aside from dating my brother.”


  What she just said was all true that Eun Jiho became at a loss of words. Sighing again, he clicked his tongue at Yoo Chun Young, who was touching the middle of his forehead from behind him. Eun Jiho suddenly felt somewhat unfair.

  I mean, the person, who had provoked this situation, would probably be Ban Yeo Dan, Yeo Ryung’s brother. He had a quite high stake in causing this entire problem, but how could Ban Yeo Ryung urge us to confess the truth and, at the same time, punish us for what we had done? Aren’t these two siblings going too far?

  At that moment, Woo Jooin, who was just listening to our conversation until now, opened his mouth out of the blue. Everyone directed their eyes on him.

  “Yeo Ryung, can I ask you this?”


  “Huh? What is it?”


  “I wonder how mama and your brother…… become together.”


  “Oh……”


  “Last time, when I saw them in mama’s house for a moment, there seemed to be nothing particular going on between the two.”


  Speaking that way, Woo Jooin threw a glance in this direction, which made Eun Jiho roughly grasp Woo Jooin’s intention.

  The ‘time’ that Woo Jooin just mentioned was about a memory of long ago in a distant past; it was the barbeque party they had with Ban Yeo Ryung and Ham Donnie’s families right before entering high school.

  That was indeed when they first ‘properly’ saw Ban Yeo Dan. Although they all went to the same middle school, Ban Yeo Dan didn’t join the student council or any club activities regardless of his excellent academic and athletic performances. Thus, they only saw him a few times while he received awards for excellence in grades.

  The relationship between Ham Donnie and Ban Yeo Dan looked like a guy taking care of or sharing some snacks with a younger girl living next-door. That was the atmosphere the boys grasped from the two. In fact, Ban Yeo Dan always kept a straight face, so even that friendly atmosphere between him and Ham Donnie was hardly noticeable. If someone else saw their relationship, he or she could have got them wrong as feeling awkward with each other.

  With that being said, if Ban Yeo Dan and Ham Donnie suddenly became an official couple from having a relationship that looked like nothing ‘particular’ had been going between the two, they might have literally ‘just given a try’ to start dating.

  And if that was true, their official relationship wouldn’t last long. Woo Jooin would have definitely asked the question while aiming at that aspect.

  ‘But Ham Donnie isn’t a character who just gives a try to date someone……’ That was when Eun Jiho had those thoughts in mind. Ban Yeo Ryung’s clearly ringing voice pierced through his ears.

  “I don’t know. They told me they had a crush on each other since they were young.”


  “Ah, really?” Replying that way with a stiffened face, Woo Jooin turned around to look at Eun Jiho and Yoo Chun Young and flaunted a cute grin. He usually smiled that way when he wanted to smooth over his mistake.

  When their eyes met, Eun Jiho found Woo Jooin mouthing, ‘Sorry,’ to them. Heaving a sigh, Eun Jiho raised one of his hands and covered his mouth without any response.

  As they came out to the schoolyard, the atmosphere around them was too frozen that it seemed like winter only in their direction.

  Aside from Class 1-1, there were a total of four classes outside in the schoolyard. Each grade used different areas, so it was easy to distinguish which class belonged to which grade; there were one sophomore class and three freshman classes.

  The freshman area wasn’t that wide, so each class stood as close as to recognize each other’s faces. Joining the line of Class 1-1 nonchalantly, Eun Jiho threw a glance aside. Beside him was Class 1-6, and the class next to them was…… The calm look on his face soon turned frowny. He murmured, ‘Speak of the Devil, and he is sure to appear…… Nothing’s wrong about those words.’


  Among the gathered kids, someone’s brown hair came into view. That brightness level of brown hair wasn’t that special; even though he was aware of it, Eun Jiho couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Moving busily, the girl turned her head, at last. Once Eun Jiho found the face he was looking for, he blurted out to himself, ‘If I only hadn’t seen you……’ With a sigh, he swept his hair back nervously.

  If someone made Ham Donnie stand in the middle of the street and let people vote to conclude that she didn’t attract attention, it didn’t work for Eun Jiho at all. Even that run-of-the-mill hair color caught his eyes; thus, what else could he do?

  That was why he tried to avoid Ham Donnie. He would turn his head to look at her just by the ends of her hair coming into his sight. It would make him hardly take his eyes off from her. The person, whom he was peeping at, would also notice his glance. And when their eyes meet eventually……

  At that moment, Ham Donnie, who was chitchatting with Yi Ruda in delight, diverted her gaze onto this side all of a sudden. Eun Jiho’s heart jolted.

  Hesitating for a moment, she soon waved her hand to this side. It was exactly in the direction where Eun Jiho and Yoo Chun Young was standing.

  He heard someone murmuring behind him, “Why don’t you say hi?” It was Ban Yeo Ryung.

  As soon as her question reached his ears, Eun Jiho realized that if he ignored that greeting, Ban Yeo Ryung would kill them first before Ham Donnie would feel heartbroken. Not even a narration in a horror movie would sound this spooky. Having those thoughts in his head, Eun Jiho lifted his hand, at last.

  ‘Right. I can’t just wish that time will heal all wounds since I once went through it was useless at some point,’ he murmured while pretending to have peace in mind.

  That was when a kid, who was standing in the line of Class 1-6 beside him, hesitated for a second but slowly raised his hand. His reaction was toward Ham Donnie. Eun Jiho naturally directed his eyes onto that side.

  “.…… What the……?”


  ‘Who is he?’ That was Eun Jiho’s first impression of the boy. Was he about 190 cm tall? Though he was hunching both his shoulders and neck while standing with a slight stoop, the boy didn’t have much difference in height with Eun Jiho.

  His black hair was so thick and disheveled that even his brows weren’t that visible; the pair of his eyes were hidden behind thick horn-rimmed glasses. Having prominent facial features and dark skin, the boy looked like a foreigner. His big and unique physique also played a part in his first impression.

  The boy overall looked unsuitable to a civilized society. It wasn’t to insult him, but that was how Eun Jiho received his impression honestly.

  So to speak, the boy emitted a vibe of wildlife, which had been hunting and sustaining its life actively in nature but later got caught against its will and confined in a zoo. Eun Jiho didn’t understand why he was feeling such a thing from a stranger.

  What mattered the most was that the boy accepted Ham Donnie’s greeting as if she was doing it toward him. In other words, he indeed had some interest in Ham Donnie at a certain level.

  When they finished warming up, each class began to move to their pre-arranged audience seats. Meanwhile, Eun Jiho found Ham Donnie, surprisingly, approaching that wildlife bastard, whom he didn’t even know his name, and greeting him intimately.

  “Hi.”


  ‘What the heck? Is she then really saying hi to that bastard? Wasn’t it only his delusion?’ Rambling those thoughts in mind, Eun Jiho then heard a shocking remark. The big boy stood closely to Ham Donnie and blurted embarrassedly, “Hammurabi.”


  “.……”


  Doubting his ears for a moment, Eun Jiho bent his steps after his classmates; however, it was also just for a second. He suddenly changed his direction like a vehicle making a U-turn in an action movie and walked straight toward Ham Donnie.