.  Quickly getting out of the hallway, Ban Yeo Ryung stepped into the elevator. She asked, “What’s going on?”


  “Jiho asked me if someone kept lingering in my head these days…… a person whom I can’t remember clearly,” replied Kwon Eun Hyung.

  “Oh……” sighing shortly, Ban Yeo Ryung’s face stiffened. While Kwon Eun Hyung looked at her face turning dark, the elevator door opened.

  The moment when they tried to slip out of the lift, someone in the lobby came into view. It was a girl with brown hair who just got out of the automatic door. The two then opened their mouths simultaneously.

  However, as soon as the girl disappeared outside the hospital, Kwon Eun Hyung and Ban Yeo Ryung closed their mouths again. The two looked at each other in awkward silence.

  Ban Yeo Ryung said, “I was just about to say something.”


  “Me too,” replied Kwon Eun Hyung.

  “It was so urgent……” uttered Ban Yeo Ryung. However, both of them couldn’t come up with what they were trying to say just now. Being lost in thought, the two came out of the hospital after quite a while.

  As it got closer to March, the winter weather, which made people almost freeze to death while wandering outside, became less severe. Thus, a lot of couples began to walk around the streets until late at night.

  Yoon Jung In and Lee Mina were one of those couples too. Since they took special classes during winter break at cram school, their schedules were quite hectic; however, the two couldn’t give up the late-night date.

  Once they finished all the classes and even the evening self-studying session, they went to a cafe instead of hopping on the cram school shuttle bus. Inside the cafe, there were full of young couples, students their age, and college students who tried to enjoy the mood of a winter night. The two then heard a group of kids, who were wearing middle school uniforms in their neighborhood, giggling excitedly.

  “Don’t you feel somewhat hollow in cram school lately?” uttered Yoon Jung In as soon as he took a seat.

  Lee Mina just furrowed her brows at his remark. It sounded quite out of the blue but not so surprising at all since Yoon Jung In was famous in school for speaking a load of crap. Thus, she just responded to him apathetically, “What the heck are you talking about? You won’t be saying some scary stories in the wintertime, right?”


  “Nah, I’m not trying to talk about scary stories, but don’t you think so too? You know like someone should be next to us while we’re chitchatting…… a person who has a very good reaction……”


  Lee Mina laughed at Yoon Jung In’s response while asking, “You mean we’re in need of a guest? Are we doing a talk show?”


  “No, that’s not what I meant, but……” uttered Yoon Jung In as if he felt something’s not enough. Regardless of his stuffy look, Lee Mina stretched out her hands to his face and grabbed his cheeks to tease him.

  “Oh my God, Mr. Class President, are you so bored in the long winter break? Well, who would be so talkative like you, huh? You’ve been waiting for too long!” said Lee Mina. It had been quite a while that her attitude seemed very warmhearted and intimate. However, Yoon Jung In pouted his lips sulkily.

  That was when he tried to utter, ‘No, I said, that’s not what I’m talking about. Think about it more seriously,’ with a concerned face. Suddenly, looking behind Yoon Jung In’s back, Lee Mina startled and poked him in his arm.

  “Eh? Hey, look behind your back……”


  “Why? What’s going on out of the blue……?” asked Yoon Jung In.

  “Don’t look back too obviously but just slightly……”


  ‘Geez, I’m not observing wildlife or so,’ grumbled Yoon Jung In. Slightly turning his head back, Yoon Jung In’s eyes widened just like his girlfriend, Lee Mina. He asked himself, ‘Why is he here?’


  Lee Mina poked Yoon Jung In again while saying, “It’s him, right?”


  “Then do you think there’s another guy in this world who has that vibe and a model-like physique?” whispering in a low voice, Yoon Jung In turned to look back again. ‘Should I reach out to Kwon Eun Hyung or not?’ He wondered and glanced at his phone with concerned eyes.

  The guy, who caught the couple’s attention, pulled his cap over his eyes and was even wearing a face mask, so his appearance was hardly visible. Only his sharp eyes and dark brows, which looked like they were delicately painted, and his cold blue eyes could be seen from a distance. However, those were enough to guess who he was.

  The guy wore three-stripes jersey pants under a navy bomber jacket; his long legs were extended under the chair across the table which was small enough to cover his lower half of the body.

  His overall look was enough to tell that he wasn’t just an ordinary person. That was why everyone in the cafe including Yoon Jung In and Lee Mina had their eyes directed on him. The group of middle school girls nearby had become quiet while staring at the guy.

  Looking at him for quite a while, Lee Mina detached her lips again.

  “Yoo Chun Young…… he’s a model. Isn’t he busy? Why is he here like that?” she asked.

  That was what Yoo Jung In tried to say just now. With a shrug, he replied, “How should I know? His friend isn’t me, but……” Speaking to that extent, Yoon Jung In suddenly furrowed his brows. ‘Eh? Whose name did I try to say right now?’ He wondered. The weird feeling that often struck him these days swept him again.

  Lately, it was always this way. When he tried to go grab something with his cram school friends, Yoon Jung In felt that someone was missing. He attempted to call that person but soon stopped to do so since there was no one left in the classroom.

  With a grimace, Yoon Jung In rubbed the middle of his forehead with his forefinger. He thought, ‘Now I come to think of it, how did I get to know Yoo Chun Young? Although I have a wide circle of acquaintances, Class 1-1 and Class 1-8 are at the opposite ends of the hallway. Besides, Yoo Chun Young isn’t that friendly character whom I can joke around with……’


  Yoon Jung In saw him at the party before, but that wasn’t enough to describe their relationship. Eun Jiho had been a bridge between the two; however, Yoon Jung In also began to get along with Eun Jiho not so long ago.

  ‘There must be a more plausible reason that we’ve become to know each other……’ wondered Yoon Jung In while rubbing his forehead. He then raised his head upon Lee Mina’s remark.

  “But why is he sitting there so miserably like a kid who’s been lost? It makes me go talk to him you know,” said Lee Mina.

  “.……”


  Yoon Jung In tried to utter, ‘Are you confidently declaring in front your boyfriend that you’re gonna cheat on me?’ However, as he got to glance at Yoo Chun Young again, he was really looking somewhat pathetic.

  Sitting beside the window, Yoo Chun Young’s eyes were constantly following the people outside in the streets; his hand was touching the edge of the cup meaninglessly. Thus, he truly looked like a kid who was bored without his guardian or a runaway teenager who should be taken immediately to the police station.

  Exchanging eye contact shortly, the couple got up from their seats, then quickly walked toward Yoo Chun Young’s table.

  Yoo Chun Young, who was staring out the window vacantly, turned his head at the voice suddenly coming from behind him.

  “Hey, Yoo Chun Young, long time no see.”


  “Uh……” Blinking swiftly over the face mask, Yoo Chun Young soon greeted back, “Hi.”


  He didn’t look particularly delightful; however, Yoon Jung In felt somehow grateful that Yoo Chun Young returned a greeting toward him. It seemed enough for an encounter after a while.

  There was a loud whisper from the middle school girls’ table, saying, ‘Oh my God, they initiated a conversation!’ The girls seemed that they were gonna approach Yoo Chun Young and flirt with him just now.

  ‘Maybe we did a good job then,’ thought Yoon Jung In. Heaving a sigh of relief, he pointed at the seat across Yoo Chun Young’s table with his chin.

  As soon as Yoo Chun Young nodded, Lee Mina took a seat first then Yoon Jung In sat after her.

  “It’s our first encounter after winter break, huh?” asked Yoon Jung In while raising his hand to touch his forehead. Behaving overly chatty as his usual character, Yoon Jung In continued speaking, “Did you get taller? How can your growth plate never get closed? Mine seems already done though.”


  Regardless of Yoon Jung In’s friendly way of speaking, Yoo Chun Young just stared at him calmly and gave him only the necessary response.

  “Maybe about 3cm? Well, I don’t know,” he replied. The conversation paused from time to time.

  ‘Is he feeling uncomfortable?’ With that thought in mind, Yoon Jung flung a question with a smile, “Uh, I just stopped by to say hi. I also heard something happened to you lately, so……”


  Everyone in So Hyun High School was aware of the car accident that involved Yoo Chun Young’s father as well as his recent recovery from a coma. It had even been the nation’s big news too.

  Since the look on Yoo Chun Young’s face wasn’t so good, Yoon Jung In switched to a different topic.

  “Why are you here alone? Is there anyone you’re waiting for?” he asked.

  Suddenly lifting his head, Yoo Chun Young scowled at Yoon Jung In with his cold blue eyes, which made Yoon Jung In flinch in surprise.

  ‘Did I ask him something wrong?’ wondered Yoon Jung In; however, nothing seemed special while dwelling on the question he just asked.

  Still, Yoo Chun Young looked as if he got to know the secret of his birth out of the blue.