.  Scribbling something on the corner of the roll book, Mr. Noh, our teacher lifted his head again.

  “Then, do you know what the two talked about?” he asked.

  “Um…… about Ban Hwee Hyul’s little brother……”


  “Hmm, really? Anyway, thanks.” Staring at the roll book with a look of suspicion, our teacher then waved his hand at us as a gesture to imply that we were now free to return to our classroom.

  Soon as we stepped outside the office and closed the door, I bitterly muttered, “Am I be able to speak about Jung Yohan that particularly? Our school might contact him because of me.”


  “What if Ban Hwee Hyul is really missing? We must let our teacher know in advance about whatever detail we have,” said Yoon Jung In.

  “You’re right, but……” I slurred the end of my sentence. Rubbing my chin, I asked myself, ‘But is there really someone who can drag none other than Ban Hwee Hyul, the nationwide Number one, by force?’


  If that actually happened, then the only case left would be…… As soon as I had that thought in mind, Yoon Jung In spoke as if he had read my mind.

  “Even though he isn’t gone by force, and it’s his own will to disappear from us, Hwee Hyul must still come back to school, eventually.”


  “Huh? Oh, yeah, that’s true,” I nodded.

  Yoon Jung In continued, “If he’s about to just clear his head and will come back afterward, that’s good, but if he isn’t, we should go report the police and search for him. Besides, his brother is still……” Leaving his statement vague, Yoon Jung In suddenly sighed and disheveled his hair.

  I seemed to get his words left unspoken, so I also heaved a sigh. Letting the awkward silence prevailing in the air, we walked along the hallway.

  The next day and even the day after, Ban Hwee Hyul didn’t come to school. Our teacher, Noh Min Chan’s face also turned darker as days went by.

  “Does anyone really know where Hwee Hyul went to? Just in case, even if your friend doesn’t want to go to school, you must not hide him or her, but instead, persuade your friend to come to school,” sighed Mr. Noh.

  After he left the classroom, we immediately gathered at Yoon Jung In’s seat and discussed for a second. Yoon Jung In uttered clearly, “Let’s get Hwee Hyul’s address from our teacher and go visit his house.”


  Would Mr. Noh never have stopped by at Ban Hwee Hyul’s house to find him? Even though I wondered that way, I also nodded to agree Yoon Jung In’s suggestion. Although no one could dare to harm Ban Hwee Hyul if he made us his mind to protect himself, I still couldn’t live this way, feeling so uncomfortable.

  That was when the backdoor suddenly opened less than ten minutes left before the first class began. Flinching in surprise, I looked in the direction, expecting, ‘Is it…… him……?’


  However, the person wasn’t whom I was looking forward to.

  “Siwoo sunbae!”


  Lately, Hwang Siwoo didn’t come to school either, so the kids, who shoved themselves in the corner of the classroom like broomsticks, got up from their seats, looking rosy, when Hwang Siwoo showed up. Dashing to him like a wind, they took Hwang Siwoo’s backpack, pulled out his chair, and made a loud fuss.

  “Where have you been? Why are you here now……! Eek!!”


  Looking at Hwang Siwoo straight in the face, they stepped backward in shock. We tilted our heads in wonder while watching that noisy sight.

  “What’s wrong?”


  “I don’t know. Did something happen?”


  As soon as Hwang Siwoo’s dreadful appearance came into our view, we also groaned in surprise.

  Although he was always involved in some speechless, wicked things, Hwang Siwoo’s face looked shameless and radiant, but it was now full of wounds and bruises. Besides, his left foot was in a cast. The way of his walk looked quite weird, but why did I notice it right now?

  Staring at him with my mouth wide open, I quickly turned my head back. Lowering my voice, I whispered, “The ranking battle…… did it already start?”


  “No, I heard it’ll begin next week.”


  My face blurred at the response. The next person I threw a glance at was none other than Yi Ruda. As I directed my eyes to him, other kids also began to switch their gazes to Yi Ruda. Receiving our attention out of the blue, Yi Ruda’s eyes widened, but he slowly shook his head and raised both hands as if implying surrender.

  He insisted, “Since I committed something wrong, I do deserve to be called into doubt, but it isn’t me, for real.”


  “Yeah……”


  “It’s also not me who handed out the files to sunbaes,” uttered Yi Ruda.

  The kids then threw words of apology to Yi Ruda in embarrassment. As I also apologized to him alongside the kids, Ruda shook his head and disheveled my hair with a grin. Shortly after, he took his hand off my head and simply added, “But there won’t be someone having balls to mess up with him who’s getting protected by other rankers.”


  “Then……”


  “The person may be an important figure who doesn’t care about other rankers, or it’s someone who bears Hwang Siwoo a deep grudge that they got themselves in big trouble in a fit of anger. To be honest, Hwang Siwoo has made a lot of enemies around him, right?”


  The kids then diverted their gazes onto somewhere else.

  Looking at the empty seat even until now, which was right before the class to start, I mumbled, ‘It isn’t you, Hwee Hyul…… is it?” Then I shook my head. No, it wouldn’t be him since he promised himself he would never ever throw his punch and hurt someone after his brother’s incident.

  In fact, Hwee Hyul just said he was fine when we asked him if he didn’t want to take revenge on Hwang Siwoo who had harassed and insulted him. Instead, Hwee Hyul had told us that he even felt satisfied to become bullied. That Ban Hwee Hyul wouldn’t get motivated now to get his own back on Hwang Siwoo all of a sudden.

  However, it was strange that Hwang Siwoo was behaving that silent.

  During the whole class time, I glanced at Hwang Siwoo, who often disturbed the class in the past. However, he was now causing no trouble after showing up at school in three days. Yoon Jung In also seemed to wonder about the situation since both Hwang Siwoo and his clique also turned depressed somehow.

  A few classes quietly passed that way. Ruda then approached him and tapped his shoulders.

  “Siwoo hyeong, what happened to you?” he asked.

  Hwang Siwoo would definitely be aware of Ruda’s betrayal. Thus, I got tense in fear of Hwang Siwoo suddenly throwing his fist at Ruda, yelling, ‘It’s because of you, bastard!’ However, he just looked up at Ruda with blank eyes. In the end, Ruda returned to his seat, shrugging at us, as he received no response from Hwang Siwoo.

  It was lunchtime when something happened. Stepping into the cafeteria, we tilted our heads at the particularly noisy atmosphere today. At that moment, a student walking by grabbed Yoon Jung In and dropped a question.

  “Hey, did you hear that?”


  Yoon Jung In replied, “What? Hwang Siwoo fought with someone?” Expecting the kid to provide him some clue, he tossed a question while showing a look of interest.

  The boy, however, asked back, looking bewildered, “What? Why do you bring up Hwang Siwoo here?”


  “Eh? Then what’s all this fuss about?”


  “Geez, you really heard nothing? The news that Suh Doh Gyum, the mad dog, got attacked the other night and got almost beaten to death!”


  As the boy responded that way, not only Yoon Jung In but we, who were eavesdropping on their conversations, also became apathetic.

  Stretching out his hand, Yoon Jung In moved the boy aside who was blocking our way. He replied utterly, “Nah, never heard anything about Suh Doh Gyum or whatever.”


  Usually, Yoon Jung In might, at least, pretend to be responsive to those things, but our interest these days was only the injured Hwang Siwoo and the missing Ban Hwee Hyul. It was none of our business except those two.

  The boy replied, looking absurd, “Hey, how come you don’t know about it? Suh Doh Gyum is really somebody! The only person he wasn’t able to defeat was Kim Pyung Bum in his school, but they say that Suh Doh Gyum let him win on purpose. That Suh Doh Gyum lost a fight against someone for the first time! Although he was completely taken by surprise……”


  “Rankers fighting each other…… that has nothing to do with me. It’s a different world here.”


  “Gosh, that isn’t something in another world. As long as Suh Doh Gyum has been the strongest candidate for the nationwide Number one, this news matters to all of us. The strongest competitor position is, however, vacant now! Aren’t you curious about who’s gonna take that place?”


  Whoa, it’s been quite a while to hear someone providing information in such a natural way. I exclaimed, feeling myself being a neighbor of web novels after a long time. Meanwhile, Yoon Jung In walked past him with a sigh and took a seat.