.

Eun Hyung heaved a sigh with a smile before slipping a chopstick into Yeo Ryung’s left hand.

“Here.”

“…? I have a chopstick in my right hand, though!?”

“You’re the only one among us who uses both hands.”

“So, I’ll have noodles with both hands?” while asking back, Ban Yeo Ryung laughed as if it were funny.

Looking very excited, Woo Jooin, who was beside her, took another chopstick and said, “I’ll also try having it with both hands. Let’s see who’s better!”

Eun Jiho, who sat across them, had an expression which indicated that the thoughts in his head were ‘These guys have a mind of a 9-year old…’ while looking at the two. ‘Your mental age is not that high, though,’ I thought.

He then said to me, “Enjoy the noodles.”

“Geez, others will think that you’re the one who cooked the noodles.”

“I mean, enjoy the noodles and grow bigger.”

“…”

“Grow bigger until you’re as big as a pig.”

Eun Jiho then laughed naughtily while putting some noodles in his paper cup. As I glanced at Yoo Chun Young while eating the noodles, I noticed that he still didn’t have any intentions of leaving the terrace and coming over to eat with us.

Our noodles ran out quickly within 10 minutes. The ones that were mostly to be blamed for this tremendous speed were… I scanned the kids who were sitting around the table while leaning on the couch. I should credit Ban Yeo Ryung on how we finished the noodles in the blink of an eye. She held the chopsticks with both hands while boasting, ‘I’ll show you my ambidextrous skills.’ Woo Jooin tried to follow her lead eagerly despite him being a lefty.

We had a lot of outdoor activities today compared to our activities yesterday; therefore, Ban Yeo Ryung was already drowsy with exhaustion. Woo Jooin buried himself in the corner of the couch while deeply asleep. Eun Jiho… I wasn’t sure if he was dozing off or not. As he sank his head on his chest, he seemed to be sleeping.

With a smile, Eun Hyung told me that he would ask the kids in the small room if they also wanted some noodles, so I nodded and opened the terrace door.

The breeze outside was quite chilly and cold for a summer night. I felt like my whole body was drenched in freezing water. Over my thin summer socks, I felt my feet touching the purple tiled floors of the terrace.

Leaning on the glossy silver balustrade, Yoo Chun Young turned back to look at me. I smiled.

“What are you doing?”

If the other party didn’t talk much, then, strangely, I would become more talkative. This also applied in the case of Yoo Chun Young and I. Well, I didn’t feel uncomfortable about the silence hanging between us. However, since Yoo Chun Young was a good listener, I became very talkative every time I was with him.

Today’s silence was, however, a bit odd. I couldn’t talk further, so that was all I asked and turned back to close the terrace door.

He remained silent. It didn’t mean that he showed no reactions at all until I stood beside him to lean on the balustrade. His blue eyes under his beautifully- shaped thin brows and blue-black hair were gazing at me.

His eyes seemed like they were fluttering with unusual emotions. Having that thought in mind, I looked at his eyes before dropping my gaze at the spot under the terrace. Below the building, ashy and pungent smoke ascended and scattered away around us. I thought that this smell must have been coming from the snack bar right downstairs. ‘It wouldn’t be a student smoking though…”

That was when I had those thoughts in mind. Someone’s fingertip reached my cheek. It felt chilly as if it captured the blowing breeze just now. As I got surprised, I turned my head to look at his side. At that moment, his other hand stretched out to hold my cheek and pulled my face toward him.

My eyes widened. The first thing that came into my sight was his long bluish lashes. His cheeks looked pale because of the light leaking through the terrace. Holding my face with both hands, Yoo Chun Young kissed my cheek, precisely at the spot where Yi Ruda kissed me earlier.

“…”

His lips touched my cheek for a short time. After a second, he removed his lips from me. Still, he held my face for quite a while.

I looked at Yoo Chun Young from a breath-taking distance. Maybe it was because I cast my shadow onto him, but I could hardly see his face. Only his jet-black brows appeared, which looked as if they were a little distorted.

That very moment was when he opened his lips to speak. Our distance was so close that I felt like he was talking right through my ear.

“You still have no feelings for me, right?”

His deeply submerged voice rang around my ears before slowly scattering away. I raised my eyes to look at him. Under his long, black lashes, his dimly-lit, blue eyes were directed at me.

“You wouldn’t be nervous at all… even if I do this to you, right?”

“…”

I didn’t respond but just furrowed my brows a little. His hands were still touching the area around my ears. I lifted my arms to push his hands away. That was when he released my face away from his touch.

Rubbing my face, I looked at him in confusion. Yoo Chun Young was also staring at me without showing any emotions in his expression. It made me fall into thought.

‘Not nervous? At all? Do you think that makes sense?’ I quietly stretched my hands and seized him by the collar. When our eyes met, Yoo Chun Young revealed a dumbfounded look on his face. When I pulled his collar, his head just gravitated to me. I shook him with all the force I could muster from my hands.

“Not nervous at all? Are you out of your mind?”

“What?”

I grimaced as I continued.

“Dude, you… you can’t just do that to me. You’re such an ass!”

“Wh…at…?”

“Not nervous? Do I look like I’m not nervous at all? Are you kidding me?”

“Hold on…”

Yoo Chun Young paused. When I released him from the firmness of my grip, he coughed before backing up.

I stared at him for a while then opened the door wide. The sliding door bumped against the wall with a loud thud.

Waking up due to that loud noise, Woo Jooin turned his drowsy gaze to our side.

“What’s up, mama?”

“I’m gonna go back to my room.”

“Okay. Did something happen?”

“No, not at all.”

I responded, then gently grabbed and released Jooin’s hand on my way to the front door. I swept my tangled hair back before leaving the room with my shoes only partially worn.

I slowly bit my lips while walking across the hallway that was brightened up by the pouring moonlight. Perhaps I looked too aggressive because a few kids who were walking past me cleared the way for me. Forcing my stomps crazily to our room, I suddenly stopped after smelling the pungent smell lingering around my nose.

The piquant and robust smell was a puff of smoke from a cigarette stick. It had the same terrible odor as the one I’d smelled when I was on the terrace. ‘Was it the kid who walked pass me by just now?’ With that thought in mind, I looked back.

Her back, which showed her neat, shoulder-length brown hair, looked identical to mine. ‘How can a girl smoke that badly? I’ve seen some boys smoke before but never saw any girls do it…’ I furrowed my eyes.

Maybe she went from a place covered in tobacco smoke or something like that. As I stared at her in wonder, I realized that her back looked quite familiar. ‘She might be someone I know or Ban Yeo Ryung knows…’ The girl then turned around to look in this direction.

Before I could avoid her eyes, our eyes had already met. Her light brown pupils also looked the same as mine. No one could deny that her overall face and features resembled mine quite much.

Gazing at me, she began to crumple her brows. ‘Did she recall a bad memory? I never saw her before, though…’ As I had that thought in mind, I saw her turning back and going along her way. She opened the door of a room and stepped into it; that room was none other than #301. It was where I had been until now and where Ban Yeo Ryung and the Four Heavenly Kings were.

Perhaps I whiffed too much smoke from a cig because I felt a little dizzy. Breathing in deeply, I retook my step to my room.

For some reason, I felt nauseous as I moved my steps further. When I went back to my room totteringly, I noticed how very silent it was inside. Kim Hye Hill and a few girls were sitting in the living room. They grew delighted when I came into their sights.

“Donnie, do you know what we’ve talked about while you weren’t here?”

“Did you know that Ruda was here!? Hey, this is insane!”

I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment before taking my shoes off. As I stepped towards their direction, I responded while feeling the brightness of our room.

“No, Yi Ruda might have not meant that. Ruda makes even meaningless words sound like captivating and mysterious.”

“No, you dummy! He speaks like that because it’s you!”

As soon as Lee Mina said that, the pack of snacks in her hand opened with a popping noise. The fish-shaped chips then burst out everywhere.