.

‘Picking up someone at a rest area really happens!’ I didn’t know that fact during middle school.

As I peeped around that direction busily, Eun Jiho shook his head and said something to the girls. Eun Hyung also reacted the same but with a tough smile. Yoo Chun Young just tilted his head without any response then looked somewhere else. Even Woo Jooin smiled cutely as usual but had no signs of giving his number to anyone at all.

‘Well, it’s not their first time dealing with that kind of situation…’ As I understood what was going on, I decided to look for where Ban Yeo Ryung was.

She was talking about something in a bright face to some girls in her class. The reason why I wasn’t so concerned about her after we became different classes was that she was not an unsociable person at all. The only thing that lingered inside me was that there was always a girl who got jealous of Ban Yeo Ryung and tried to pull a stupid trick on her.

Only three years and a few months passed as we got closer but it was already three times that I saw her struggling with such situations. Baek Yeo Min, a girl in our class when we were a freshman in middle school, was an example who always smiled and acted best friends with Ban Yeo Ryung but back talked about her eventually. Although kids in high school tend to be more mature than before, no one could convince that there wouldn’t be anyone bitching Ban Yeo Ryung behind her back.

As I looked at her with mixed emotions then tried to step inside the bathroom, I kind of saw a group of kids wearing a school uniform getting closer to Ban Yeo Ryung’s direction.

When I got out of the bathroom, the scene got changed a little. The rest area was still crowded with people. In front of the steam rising-snack bar, kids chitchatted in excitement while grabbing paper cups with snacks inside. At a distance, a few buses rolled into the parking lot again. Some students were looking at the things spread on the stall.

And… most of the eyes were bent on somewhere.

In the middle of their gazes, there stood Eun Jiho saying something to Ban Yeo Ryung with a smile. As if he teased her as usual, Ban Yeo Ryung flew into a rage and soon, Eun Hyung intervened to arbitrate their quarrel. Yoo Chun Young grinned at the funny situation then Woo Jooin winked at my side as if he found me from far apart. A few kids turned to look in this direction, so I pulled my mouth up slightly to resemble the hint of a smile as a response.

When I saw a group of boys unable to get closer to her but just standing still apart from Ban Yeo Ryung, I finally grasped the overall situation. They probably would have approached Ban Yeo Ryung to get her number but the Four Heavenly Kings might have interfered to stop them. Since the four boys guarded Ban Yeo Ryung safely like that, no one would dare to flirt with her at all. ‘Hmm…’ As I nodded like nothing special had happened, the next situation then stiffened my face.

A group of girls in school uniforms stepped closer to Ban Yeo Ryung bravely. The leader standing in front was a girl with wavy curls. Blushing her face, she handed out her phone to Ban Yeo Ryung. Kim Hye Hill, who suddenly stood beside me, whispered in a low voice.

“Now, what the heck is that?”

“I know that Ban Yeo Ryung is pretty but that’s…”

‘A girl wants to get Ban Yeo Ryung’s number? Why?’ As I stared at that direction in a complicated face, something heavy was put on my shoulders. When I turned back to see who it was, there stood the shiningly bright Yoon Jung In.

He handed over some sweet potato sticks for me to try, so I had a few. Shin Suh Hyun, standing behind him, asked while looking at the fuss apart.

“Something’s going on there.”

“Yeah, the Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung as usual.”

“Oh, guys, we might be running late. Let’s go back to the bus.”

As soon as Yoon Jung In said like that, Kim Hye Hill and I came to consciousness. ‘Wouldn’t they be late?’ When I glanced at Ban Yeo Ryung in concern, our eyes met. She then sent me a smile.

When she smiled, her eyes curved into a crescent moon-like shape. People then got captivated by her gorgeous eye smile. While gazing at those who were jaw dropped at her beauty, I smiled back while waving my hand to her then got on the bus.

As I sat on my seat for a while, I felt the vibration inside my pocket. I took out the phone then checked the screen. ‘Eun Ji-goddamn-ho,’ the four words twinkled silver on the screen. I opened my flip phone.

“Hey, what’s up?”

Dude, stop sleeping.

‘…What the hell is wrong with him??’ I began to wonder.

* * *

What a sunny day! Ban Yeo Ryung, who rested her chin on her hand, raised her head when she heard a small exclamation coming from aside. Woo Jooin, who sat right in front of her while having Pepero between his lips, handed out another one to her. She was hesitant for a moment but soon took it with a smile then gave it to a friend sitting next to her.

Donnie’s face overlapped on her friend’s. Although Donnie was nothing else but riding a different bus, Yeo Ryung felt a little weird. ‘It’s just that I can’t get used to a trip without Donnie beside me,’ Ban Yeo Ryung said to herself, ‘So yeah, that’s what it is.’

She knew how much she was relying emotionally on Donnie. ‘I only have Donnie,’ she often thought; however, she became anxious about being unable to accept anyone as a friend forever.

Ban Yeo Ryung carefully observed her friend’s face next to her. Her round forehead, slightly tangled bangs, and a shoulder-length black hair resembled Donnie.

Her name was Choi Yuri, one of the few whom Ban Yeo Ryung opened her heart to in the class. Yuri, who was dropping the gaze at the floor, lifted her eyes as she noticed Yeo Ryung’s stare. She then put a grin on her face.

“Hey, why?”

“Nothing,” Ban Yeo Ryung said with a smile to put down the seriousness. Feeling cute, Yuri looked at her then began to talk about something.

Ban Yeo Ryung listened to her story, chitchatted with Woo Jooin in front of her, and said a few words to Eun Jiho, who was sitting right across her. It was a smooth start of the trip.

At the rest area, a situation that always happened took place again. When she came into a crowded spot, Ban Yeo Ryung became scared rather than getting excited or cheerful. She hated to draw others’ attention and especially, she felt so uncomfortable when people asked her for something with greedy eyes.

Ban Yeo Ryung frowned then stretched her hand out to aside. When she reached someone’s arm, it was then that she felt relieved. She pulled the arm and linked hers through it. Choi Yuri, beside her, chuckled.

“Yeo Ryung, what’s wrong?”

“There are too many people.”

“Let’s go to the bathroom and head back. Oh, look over there. Someone’s asking Jooin’s number.”

Like the other girls in their class, Choi Yuri also felt Woo Jooin comfortable. As what she just said, Woo Jooin, standing in front of the snack bar, showed an awkward grin to a girl. They were at a close distance from here, so she clearly heard his response.

“Sorry, I have a girlfriend.”

“Can you just give me your number? I want to be friends with you…”

“My girlfriend doesn’t like that.”

His friendly brown eyes looked mysteriously sharp and solid. Choi Yuri from aside mumbled in surprise.

“Jooin gave a flat refusal, very unexpected.”

“Uh-huh, that’s him usually.”

As Ban Yeo Ryung replied like that, she was perplexed by the lasting silence between them. Choi Yuri, beside her, sent a gaze that revealed a thirst for something. She looked as if she wanted to hear more about Woo Jooin but Ban Yeo Ryung refused to do so. It never went well for Ban Yeo Ryung when she got involved with a girl about the Four Heavenly Kings.

When Ban Yeo Ryung put a mixed smile on her face, Choi Yuri also responded with a grin then pulled her arm.

Luckily, it was a sunny day. Ban Yeo Ryung’s mood got gradually better too. When she encountered her classmates and chatted for a while with them in front of the women’s bathroom, a group of boys walked toward this direction from a distance.

They all looked determined while shining their eyes for something. Ban Yeo Ryung stepped back unconsciously. One of the boys came closer and flung a question.

“Excuse me…do…do you have a boyfriend?”

“…”

Ban Yeo Ryung rolled her eyeballs but couldn’t figure out what to reply. As she remained silent, a few girls around them sent a naughty glance at her. Some looked excited, whereas some looked jealous.

Ban Yeo Ryung hesitated to respond. When saying no, it was obvious what would happen next; however, she wasn’t even a good liar to say yes. At that very moment, a hand stretched out from aside out of the blue then was laid on her shoulder. She turned her head to find out who it was.

A familiar face came into her sight. A boy with a beautiful silver hair then spoke to the guys in front.