.  “Oppa, why are you always too extreme? I, who also started dating for the first time in my life, get that it isn’t the answer. We can’t, of course, suit everything that we want from each other, but we should, at least stay open and talk to each other in order to figure out how far is our limits. Don’t you think so too?” I uttered.

  Yeo Dan oppa cast down his eyes to the floor and sealed his lips tightly as if he felt even more embarrassed. I stretched out my hand and knitted our fingers together. While he fixed his gaze at our clasped hands, I detached my lips again.

  “Oppa, you can always ask me. If there’s anything you want to know, just ask me first instead of thinking about it. If you’re going too far, I’ll let you know, then next time, you can skip that question.”


  “Who’s that person you met last Friday? And who was that guy standing beside you near the crosswalk? What else did you say after making up with Eun Jiho and Yoo Chun Young?”


  As if he was waiting for this time to come, Yeo Dan oppa poured out questions as soon as I finished speaking. I nodded while keeping a straight face. He then showed me a sour look then tossed me another question.

  “Am I be able to ask even these kinds of stuff?”


  “Oppa, it’s between you and me. We’re a couple.” I added, “If we aren’t this close, who are we gonna talk about these things to?”


  As I asked him back, Yeo Dan oppa looked down at me almost with tearful eyes then suddenly pulled our clasped hand.

  It made me fall into his arms in an unguarded moment. I tried to recover my balance but soon leaned myself on his arms firmly embracing me. It was just a usual hug; however, maybe because we had gone through a crisis just now, it felt somewhat special and more affectionate than usual.

  As if we had forgotten the flow of time, oppa and I stayed that way holding each other in our arms. Then once there was a loud honking from the apartment complex, that was when we pulled ourselves together.

  Quickly getting off from his arms, I checked the time out of the blue.

  “Ah, o…… oppa……” I uttered. “It’s Monday; we still have four days till the weekend, so we need to go to bed early.”


  “Yeah,” he replied while looking down at me with a soft smile in his eyes.

  Just until now, the situation was definitely me comforting him who felt gloomy and nervous. However, why did it change all of a sudden? Wondering about it for a moment, I soon turned around and said, “Oppa, good night then. The questions you just asked me…… I’ll answer everything tomorrow. Would that be fine?”


  “Uh-huh.”


  I added, “If there’s anything else, let me know.”


  “It’s okay yet. Aside from that……” He replied but suddenly slurred the end of his sentence while pressing the keypad to unlock the door.

  Turning my head back to him, I asked, “Huh?”


  “The TV drama…… can you just not watch it?” he uttered.

  Before I got to respond, Yeo Dan oppa finished pressing the keypad then went inside to his house while leaving me in the hallway alone in a daze.

  That was when I came to my senses and blinked swiftly. However, in the end, I leaned my forehead against the door and burst out laughing.

  I tried my best to lower down my voice so that my mom in the house wouldn’t hear me laughing outside.

  ‘Oh, so there was a different reason why Yeo Dan looked upset when I talked about Yoo Chun Young starring in the drama,’ I thought. With a grin, I said to myself, ‘He had been jealous of him.’


  Swallowing my laugh again, I murmured, “Geez, why is Yeo Dan oppa getting cuter every day?”


  In order to cool down my blushed cheeks, I might have to stand outside much longer.

  The very next day, I met Yeo Dan oppa again and briefly explained the things that happened to me lately.

  A sunbae named Hwang Siwoo, who didn’t make it past freshmen year, was disrupting the class atmosphere; Yoon Jung In and Lee Mina, my close friends, were both taking leading roles in the class, so they had a hard time letting it fly under their radars. Lastly, I told Yeo Dan oppa about Ban Hwee Hyul who was being Hwang Siwoo’s target for bullying.

  Yeo Dan oppa, listening to my story silently until that moment, asked, “You mean the boy you met near the crosswalk last time?”


  “Uh-huh, that’s him. Oh, you also met him before too at the alley behind our apartment.”


  Yeo Dan oppa perked the corner of his eye wordlessly which indicated that he wasn’t able to remember it. Thus, I explained it more clearly again.

  “You know the day when I was running away from some bullies chasing after me, you showed up just in time, so I asked you why you were here at this time of the day, then you said to me you skipped the after school self-studying session because you’re so sick of it.”


  “Oh……”


  “Yeah, that’s him, Ban Hwee Hyul, the boy you saved.”


  After my explanation, Yeo Dan oppa seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. He then dropped a remark which surprised me out of the blue.

  “.…… He didn’t seem to look like a target for bullying,” said Yeo Dan oppa.

  At that time, Yeo Dan oppa only saw the bullies beating Ban Hwee Hyul. Thus, how did he notice that Ban Hwee Hyul was actually strong? Were good fighters able to distinguish each other? Did they have something noticeable in their hidden fighting skills?

  People in the neighborhood also seemed to call Yeo Dan oppa, the ‘Fighting Dog from Hell……’ Once the fact that I tried to forget flashed through my head, I turned pale.

  Shaking my head, I shouted in my thoughts, ‘No, who cares about the nickname? At least, I don’t. It’s fine if he just stays human to me!’ I grabbed Yeo Dan oppa’ hand who was sending a doubtful glance at me.

  I continued, “Ah, anyway, so I was trying to give some helping hand. Lately, we’ve been having lunch together. Oh, of course, not just the two of us, but you know the Kim twins, huh? With the twins, too.”


  “Are you sure it’s fine to get involved with him?” asked Yeo Dan oppa cautiously.

  I nodded without hesitation, “Uh-huh. Hwang Siwoo, he’s just acting bossy and noisy, but he’s actually phony and hollow. I’m not scared of him even the half and half of you, oppa.”


  “Have I ever scared you?” he asked.

  “Um……”


  That was such a sharp question. While I averted my eyes awkwardly from him, Yeo Dan oppa didn’t ask me further too. Grasping his sleeve roundly, I kept on speaking, “But you really don’t have to worry. Nothing’s risky or dangerous to get involved with him……”


  At that moment, the follower of the survival of the fittest, whom I bumped into in the alley last time, entered my head, so I turned stiff for a moment. Soon after, I shook my head.

  Geez, why was I coming across such memory at this moment of all occasion? Besides, that weirdo wasn’t someone related to Ban Hwee Hyul since he came after me. Ban Hwee Hyul just appeared accidentally in that situation.

  Raising my head, I continued speaking, “Anyway, all good. I guess things will gonna be fine.”


  “Hmm……” Yeo Dan oppa didn’t look that satisfied with my response.

  Watching his doubtful expression, I slightly giggled then suddenly added, “Ah, but there’s one thing lingering in mind though I’m not sure about it yet……”


  “Huh?”


  Yeo Dan oppa lowered his head. I whispered in his ear as if I were telling a big secret.

  “Um, this has been a recent rumor. The day we finished taking the mock exam, Ruda……”


  * * *

  “Ah, come on! Hey, do you think that makes sense?”


  After the March mock exam, kids began to pour out that they had witnessed Ruda hanging out with Hwang Siwoo and his boys in town. Yoon Jung In shook his head at those stories. So did Shin Suh Hyun and the Kim twins. They all reacted the same.

  “Though I’m not so aware of his character, Yi Ruda seems to loathe wild and noisy folks like Hwang Siwoo,” said Shin Suh Hyun.

  Kim Hye Hill also uttered, “Exactly. Even when his close friends turn boisterous, Yi Ruda tells them to just shut up right away. Thus, why would he tolerate someone like Hwang Siwoo who acts insane on purpose to camouflage his weakness?”


  “Whoa, Kim Hye Hill. I raised a beast, not a little sister.”


  “Get lost, oppa,” replied Kim Hye Hill. She showed a frigid look to her brother, Kim Hye Woo, who was rubbing his chin in exclamation.

  The conversation stopped for a moment, but once we got to see Hwang Siwoo’s personal website, we all became speechless. Ah, how sad it was that contemporary culture had no privacy!

  The ten recent posts on Hwang Siwoo’s website were all photos taken with Yi Ruda. Those were taken in karaoke, internet café, and in front of the arcade punching machine where they accomplished a new record. In every photo, Yi Ruda and Hwang Siwoo were putting arms around each other’s shoulders which looked so natural like good old friends.