.

A moment of silence swept by. Meanwhile, Choi Yuri detached her lips with difficulty in a pale face. She couldn’t just release her snarls throughout the silence prevailing in the space. If the atmosphere kept on like this, Woo Jooin would lose interest in her and just leave the rooftop. ‘If that happens, I have no idea what words will spread out in the school tomorrow!’ with that thought in mind, Choi Yuri asked him convulsively.

“What… what do you want from me?”

She looked up at Woo Jooin with trembling eyes; however, Woo Jooin didn’t look agitated at all regardless of her pitiful face. Under his disheveled brown hair, his eyes still shone serenely. He then smiled.

‘Did he just smile?’ thought Choi Yuri. He then opened his mouth with a grin.

“Well, why else did I hand this out to you? Do you think I wanted to get some kind of apology from you?”

“Apology? Is that what you want? If I say sorry to Ban Yeo Ryung and Ham Donnie, would you spare me?”

‘What do you really want from me?!’ thought Choi Yuri as she raised her eyes. She then felt bewildered.

Woo Jooin didn’t even seem to be concentrating on their conversation. Turning his head away from her, he looked at somewhere else. Choi Yuri then saw Eun Jiho and Ham Donnie walking together in the direction where Woo Jooin’s gaze reached. Although it was quite a far distance for them to distinguish appropriately, they seemed to be holding each other’s hands while passing through the school entrance. A flame suddenly rose in Choi Yuri’s heart. ‘How come they’re doing that… when I’m involved in this annoying situation because of that bitch!!’

At the very moment, Woo Jooin, who was staring at them with a straight face, pouted his lips. He was still not looking at Choi Yuri’s side.

“Do you know the problem of thoughtless people? They think apology justifies everything, and forgiveness follows apology… That’s the problem. Without the guilt of what the wrongs they had done, they believe that mercy should follow indeed. ”

“You… you don’t seem like the Jooin I know.”

The flame bursting inside her didn’t subside quickly. Barely detaching her lips, Choi Yuri only spat out those words. Woo Jooin then showed a swiveling smile and looked at her side.

“We have different colors inside us.”

His words that were thrown like a stone lit the fuse. The swaying anger inside her then burst into a blaze like an active volcano at last. Her tears were about to drop. Standing in front of Woo Jooin, Choi Yuri exhausted her patience and eventually found the courage to shout.

“I’m sorry! I get that I’ve done wrong! So please… please don’t tell Jiho!”

“Do you know what you did wrong?”

“Yeah, I hated Ban Yeo Ryung… I hated her so much. When other girls and I tried to get along with Eun Jiho, he didn’t even bat an eyelash except for her. He smiles at Ban Yeo Ryung! He talks to her with a smile! What’s so special about that bitch? Being pretty and smart doesn’t justify everything. I heard from those who went to the same middle with her that she didn’t work really hard! She was gifted with everything that I didn’t have, ever since she was born so effortlessly! That bitch is right next to my crush… so think about it, how can I not hate her?”

“…”

“Even Ham Donnie too! Ban Yeo Ryung, at least, exceeds in everything, but Ham Donnie… she isn’t that pretty, not so smart, and there is nothing brilliant about her! How can she be that confident to dare stand next to Eun Jiho and you guys? If there is something she can have, why can’t I have it too? What does she have that I don’t? This is so ridiculous; it doesn’t make sense!”

Choi Yuri bit her lips firmly. When she saw him five years ago, she never missed a day thinking about Eun Jiho. He was, however, such a different person compared to her, so she tried to get closer to him slowly, or else her sudden approach would surprise him. Meanwhile, she decided to get ready to stand beside him one day and worked hard for five years!

What happened, though? While Choi Yuri suppressed her feelings for the last five years, one day, she found Eun Jiho staring at a different girl with warm-hearted eyes. His long finger casually touching the girl’s brown hair, the glowing intimacy he had in his eyes to her, and the conversation she accidentally heard from the terrace at the retreat… Gosh… Choi Yuri then closed her eyes tightly.

“But as I began to like her, oh, for god’s sake… when I woke up one day, I found out just by looking at her…”

“Her?”

“Ham Donnie.”

His voice was… oh, what she never even anticipated.

That was the first time she collapsed in front of someone this much. Choi Yuri gasped while catching her breath. She then lifted her eyes.

She felt suffocated as if a hand stretched out toward her within the shadows and grabbed her neck. Woo Jooin was still smiling.

‘Why? Why are you smiling? How can he be smiling so harshly at a person who’s showing the bottom of oneself and talking so desperately?’ That was when he stopped his smile.

He said, “Oh, I think I’m… getting a little angry.”

“What?”

“I didn’t really care about you, you know? It was just that you were too annoying or disturbing, but not that it made me angry; however, I’m about to get mad right now.”

‘What are you talking about…’ Choi Yuri just swallowed those words. Woo Jooin then grinned.

“Hey, why are you so madly stupid?”

“…”

“I’m not here to grasp why you hate Yeo Ryung or Donnie. Don’t you get it? Whatever the reason is, I don’t care. If you want to hate, then do it; it’s none of my business, but just because you hate someone, it doesn’t mean that you have a right to use, hurt, or isolate people.”

“Joo… Jooin…”

“What makes me mad right now is that Yeo Ryung can’t trust herself because of people like you. ‘The reason why someone does something to me is that I have a problem…’ That’s what she thinks about herself. Though she gets involved in a sad or tear-jerking situation, she believes she deserves it. She can’t even cry out loud, which makes me the angriest. Do you get it?”

With that said, Woo Jooin raised his hand to sweep his hair back. His action looked more impatient than before. Disheveling his hair all over, Woo Jooin murmured with a sigh.

“Oh, why… why… just because of people like her…”

Choi Yuri was at a loss of words. Instead, she was just looking up at Woo Jooin in surprise. She never imagined that Woo Jooin would look and behave this coldly and madly. Sweeping his hair back, Woo Jooin then spoke to her.

“You asked earlier what I want from you, right? Tomorrow in school, tell everyone what happened out of your own mouth. Tell them that it was you who made the haters’ café and spread rumors about Donnie. Tell them only these two facts, and we’re done with you. It’s up to you if you want to pour out every single word you said in front of me.”

His remark then made Choi Yuri lift her head out of the blue. ‘Oh, no! That’s why I’m grabbing Woo Jooin here!’ She then shouted hysterically.

“No, then Jiho will…!”

“Only Eun Jiho? Other people will know about it too.”

There was still a feeling of rage in his response. Woo Jooin, who dropped his gaze askew at her direction, smiled and continued what he was saying.

“Oh, you don’t have to do it. If you refuse, I’m gonna tell the whole school on your behalf. There won’t be any difference.”

“Does he have a good plan?”

Eun Hyung asked from beside me in an anxious voice. With a nod, I gave my phone to Eun Hyung.

Yoon Jung In was also saying the same thing to Eun Hyung, who kept nodding with a smile. He only had that look on his face when he’s with someone whom he felt very comfortable with, so I felt a little weird.

“Oh, really? Okay, it seems fine for us to go there today. Uh-huh, I have time now.”

Eun Hyung then stood up from his seat and grinned at my side.