.

He then said to me, “Anyway, don’t mind it. Just because you spoke with your middle school alumni, the people who are taking a photo of it and spreading it out are weirder.”

“Hey, but I don’t think it’s just a simple matter,” said Kim Hye Woo.

His remark drew everyone’s attention. The whole class was already listening to the story in excitement. Rolling his eyes furtively, Kim Hye Woo swept his hair back and continued.

“The person who took the picture seems to know Ham Donnie’s middle school acquaintance. Those who are alumni from Donnie’s middle school are only Ban Yeo Ryung and the Four Heavenly Kings, so who else knows what the girl’s face is?”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

A burst of agreements came out from all around. Through the roars, Yoon Jung In exclaimed to Kim Hye Woo, ‘Whoa, you’re truly a genius!’ Kim Hye Woo gently smiled at Yoon Jung In then kept on his words; however, what he said afterward made everyone shake their heads.

“It seems quite intentional, isn’t it? You know, asking Donnie’s middle school classmate to approach her and take both of their photos… don’t you guys think so?”

“Oh, come on, isn’t that going too far?”

“Yeah, I think so too. I’m the one who said it, but even I think that I’m being too farfetched.”

“This ain’t a spy movie.”

Geez… I rubbed my face out of embarrassment. When it was about time for the morning assembly time, the kids scattered away to their seats, and I hung my plastic umbrella roughly on the windowsill.

I saw the schoolyard through the window and noticed that it looked like it had sunk entirely due to the rain. ‘What should I do…’ I stopped thinking before returning to my seat. At that moment, Yi Ruda paused his steps toward the locker and walked past me. When our eyes met, she showed me a grin.

“Hey.”

“Yeah, hi, Ruda.”

We didn’t have much time to talk, so I thought that she would just go past me, but unexpectedly, she loitered around. It looked like she had something to say. She then carefully asked me a question.

“Are you… ok?”

“Huh?”

‘Is she really asking this to me?’ I, who opened my eyes wide, soon showed a big smile at her. Yi Ruda indeed treated me as her friend, but she was also quite a worrywart when it came to me.

Sometimes, the distance between us seemed ambiguous. For instance, sometimes, she would look delighted, although she knew that I was about to hear something terrible from Lee Soo Yeon. Now that I saw her looking nervous in front of me, I, at last, convinced myself that I got her wrong.

I scratched my cheeks and said, “Hmm, kids seemed cool about it, so I think I’m fine so far. Well, what ‘s the worst that could happen just because I spoke to former classmate from middle school?”

“Hmm…”

“Um, why? Would something bad happen?”

Yi Ruda’s face suddenly turned serious, which concerned me too. Yi Ruda, however, swung her hand in the air as I asked her in wonder. She then tapped my head to comfort me before walking away.

‘Oh, come on… how can something happen because of such a trivial thing?’ I thought.

However, one of my biggest mistakes so far was to disregard how scary gossips were in web novels.

Unlike the serene atmosphere prevailing in Class 1-8, Class 1-1 was almost grief-stricken. The shadowy clouds over the sky had added some dark energy into the sagging air. The classroom was lit up with fluorescent lights, but the thick clouds blocked the somber atmosphere, making it hard to disappear.

While the kids in Class 1-1 threw a sullen glance at Ban Yeo Ryung, the air itself had shoved her face into her hands. None of them were mind readers, but the way she looked like at that moment was enough for the others to infer what laid within her heart. As she did so, Choi Yuri was sitting beside her.

Feeling sorry for her, Choi Yuri consoled Ban Yeo Ryung for the whole time; however, Ban Yeo Ryung couldn’t seem to escape from the shackles of her sorrow. It would have been better if the Four Heavenly Kings were feeling fine then, but for some reason, they also looked depressed.

From the morning assembly until the break after the third class, Ban Yeo Ryung just buried her head onto the desk. She then went outside the classroom and headed to the cafeteria since the Four Heavenly Kings encouraged her to rest her mind. With an exhausted face, Choi Yuri, who was staring at Ban Yeo Ryung’s back, approached the girls.

She looked especially dark against the overcast sky. The other girls were mostly showing frowns on their faces.

One of them said, “Who exactly is this Ham Donnie anyway? It’s always Yuri who’s suffering.”

“Hey, it also happened a few days ago. How can this be a coincidence?”

“No, hell no. Oh, shoot, how insane is that bitch?”

The girl who said that proffered her phone with a message. On the attached photo, Baek Yeo Min and Ham Donnie were smiling at each other indefinitely. As if it was taken in a hurry, their faces weren’t clear, but it was enough for one to distinguish their appearances.

The voices of the girls were quite loud, but no one argued with them. The students of Class 1-1 all looked exhausted. Displaying the embarrassment on her face, Choi Yuri was the only one who stopped the girls from gossiping.

“Come on, stop it. Maybe you guys are taking it the wrong way?”

“Hell no! Look at the girl who’s smiling with Ham Donnie, I’ve heard that she backbit Yeo Ryung so much in middle school freshmen year! She wasn’t like that at first, though. She only began cursing Yeo Ryung when befriended Ham Donnie. She renounced her friendship with Ham Donnie, but she was now suddenly behaving like this. Can’t you see the connection here? Don’t you think that she’s only pretending to cut ties with Ham Donnie to screw Ban Yeo Ryung?”

Like it was happening to her, the girl who spoke those words showed a horrifying rage on her face. Choi Yuri, who was listening to her remark, still couldn’t find the right answer.

Touching her brown hair, Choi Yuri just smiled awkwardly. When every eye was bent on her, she then responded.

“Well… I, honestly, think so too. You know, or else, there’s really no way to explain all these.”

Her remark finally brightened everyone. They all thought that it was obviously Ham Donnie’s fault, whom they could easily blame, but the evidence they had was ambiguous.

Besides, Ban Yeo Ryung, who was directly involved in this incident, didn’t show any anger but just sat down gloomily. When the girls talked about Ham Donnie to console her sometimes, she just shook her head with a reddened face and refused to speak.

The next person who suffered from this incident would definitely be Choi Yuri. Wasn’t she the one who was spending all her energy to sooth Ban Yeo Ryung since the morning began? Besides, Choi Yuri was Ban Yeo Ryung’s best friend, so she should be angry at Ham Donnie the most.

Choi Yuri rolled her eyes as if she was glancing around the classroom. Neither Ban Yeo Ryung nor the Four Heavenly Kings came into her sight. Being aware of their absence, the kids also showed a pressuring gaze at her to speak frankly. She, at last, moved her eyes from side to side and slowly detached her lips.

“… Yeo Ryung keeps denying, but if Ham Donnie really considered her as a friend, then she couldn’t get along with the girl, who spread bad rumors about Yeo Ryung in middle school and walk around town with a smile.”

“Right, so true!”

“So, I thought about it and… What if Donnie doesn’t want other girls to get closer to Yeo Ryung except her?”

“Gosh, that’s just freaking me out!”

A girl shouted, covering her mouth. Meanwhile, Choi Yuri looked a little more cautious. Rubbing her hands, Choi Yuri displayed her anxiety. It made the other girls perceive that she had another story to confide.

Someone then asked, “Why? What’s wrong? Yuri, is there something else you know?”

“Um… the user ID of the haters’ club…”

“Yeah!”

“It was ham310…”

Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise. Those who remembered Choi Yuri’s birthday, which was at the beginning of the semester, asked a question in wonder.

“Isn’t it usually the person’s last name and birthday? We have Ham and March 10th here, then, right?”

“Hold on, isn’t Ham Donnie’s last name also Ham?”

The words sent a flare into the atmosphere. ‘Oh my god, isn’t this a positive proof?’ While everyone nodded while looking at each other, Choi Yuri waved her hand in the air with a puzzled look.

“Oh, come on… I think I should have not said that. I’ve just heard Donnie’s birthday is March 10th since she’s Yeo Ryung’s friend… but I think that I can be wrong. Geez, I shouldn’t have said that.”