.

I might have looked forward to becoming someone a bit more exclusive to him from just a friend who once said to be ‘the only person who doesn’t expect anything from him.’

Thus, that was how it went for me to think this way.

My goodness! I quickly shook my head and shoved my face into the workbook. As if he grasped something strange, Yoo Chun Young held up his blues eyes to cast a stare at me, but I tried not to lift my face. ‘If I raise my head now, he’ll catch me blushing. Gosh, that must not happen!’ I struggled to think about something else. The way his brain works was so unpredictable, which I could tell it from the happening on the school trip. Wasn’t Yoo Chun Young going too far when he kissed my cheek to find out whether my love cells existed or not?

"…"

It would’ve been just better to think about the mirage I encountered on the day of the courage test. ‘Why did I recall that?’ The moment I had that thought, Yoo Chun Young’s eyes, that were directed on me from across, turned darker. I got up from my seat in a hurry. There was a dragging noise from the chair. As if the sound was too loud, Eun Hyung turned around to see me.

"Donnie, where are you going?" he asked.

"Oh, um… to wake me up. I keep feeling sleepy, haha."

Ha, ahaha– My laughter even sounded too awkward to me; however, it wasn’t my first time to act like that, so Eun Hyung just smiled and nodded without adding anything. ‘He’s always quick-witted and considerate,’ having that thought, I heard Eun Jiho’s voice from beside me.

"Yeah, you sure did from earlier while keep drawing some damn circles around number 6. I thought you were cursed?"

AHHHHHH! I was so surprised that I almost yelled a question to him with my eyes open wide.

"Did you keep watching me?!"

Slightly furrowing his brows without any response, Eun Jiho looked as if he was telling me I didn’t even have to ask. ‘Come on, why are you making that face?’

"You! What about your studies? Why were you watching me instead of working on them?"

"Hey, I didn’t keep looking at you. Others will find me a stalker, woman!"

With that said, Eun Jiho waved his hand in the air. He then gave me a cheeky smile as if something came across his head.

"And I don’t have to study," said Eun Jiho, smiling.

"…"

I opened and clenched my fist at a loss of words. Although he dropped those arrogant lines, Eun Jiho’s face, dazzling in the sunlight, looked almost like an ancient sculpture that I felt him even more condescending.

‘Oh, lord,’ I lamented quietly after a long pause, ‘Why didn’t you permit me Ban Yeo Ryung’s athletic ability when I wasn’t granted for her brain! When would I get beat him?!’ Jooin, next to us, intervened with a swiveling smile.

"Wow, Jiho, what you just said was the best of all the things you’ve ever said."

"The best of all I’ve said?"

"Shut up, dude. It was the yuckiest thing I’ve ever heard."

‘Jooin…’ Looking at him next to me in astonishment, I felt a thrilling sensation rising deep within my heart. When our eyes met, Jooin smiled at me like an angel in the sky. Eun Jiho, however, looked more perplexed than I was for some reason. Then I heard him stammering something to Woo Jooin.

"Hey, you did put things out bluntly at me but Ham Donnie is now next to…"

"Huh? What’s wrong with mama?"

"Um… uh, but you… are you sure with this? I mean, hold on…"

What’s going on, dude? Staring at Eun Jiho, who looked rarely discombobulated, I twisted myself to get out from between them. Across the two boys, there stood Eun Hyung making a hand gesture at me to go do my things. The look on Yoo Chun Young’s face was invisible as it melted into the bright light. I just waved my hand roughly and backed away to get out of the library.

As I went into the bathroom and pulled the faucet up, cold water gushed out. Only wearing sunscreen, I washed my face in comfort and soon felt my heated cheeks slowly getting cooled down. When I wiped my wet face with a paper towel and raised my eyes, there was me on the other side of the mirror. My eyes were twinkling like those of a child who was waiting for Christmas in expectation of an unforeseen delight. Quietly gazing at the reflection of my eyes in the mirror, I suddenly frowned my forehead.

‘Where am I paying attention to when I can’t devote myself enough to studying?’ I thought, crumpling the paper towel to throw it in the trash can. ‘I will not fall into anyone,’ murmuring again the words that I said to myself for the last three years as if casting a spell, I felt a little better.

The moment I walked out of the bathroom, something appeared from beside me out of the blue. Stepping aside in wonder, I opened my eyes roundly as I realized who the person was. A canned coffee with beads of water… when I looked up, a stranger came into my sight. ‘Is he a student? I think so… since he looks like a senior in high school.’ Instead of a school uniform, the boy was wearing a white t-shirt and a comfortable looking cotton pants, which seemed to be a suitable outfit for summer break. When I suddenly stepped back, he looked slightly disconcerted. ‘Well, maybe because we could’ve bumped into each other,’ having that thought in mind, I lowered my head with a sign of discomfort on my face. Then I left the spot with short and quick steps. That was when it happened.

"Um…e… excuse me."

"…?"

Before answering back, I carefully looked around.

"You, the short brown hair."

I turned around to look at him again. Frankly speaking, I wasn’t able to distinguish other’s appearances well as my eyes got used to the splendors of the Four Heavenly Kings. Anyway, the boy was a run-of-the-mill type of guy. When our eyes met, he put a bright smile on his face. He then handed out the can to me. EH?

"That’s not mine."

"Yeah, I know. I’m giving it to you."

"…?"

‘Is it only me who doesn’t get this situation?’ with that thought, I dropped my gaze at the can which was given out to me. The guy looked, for some reason, quite nervous. Staring at him for a while, I took a step back. He then revealed a look of disappointment.

I said, "Oh, I mean, this usually doesn’t happen to me, so I’m a bit awkward, and I feel sorry for not giving you anything in return."

"Um, I’m just… you’re studying in the library with your friends these days, huh? I think we’re gonna see each other quite often, so that’s why I’m giving it to you."

He wasn’t that straightforward, but as I experienced many cases of Ban Yeo Ryung, I did have a little sense. Heaving a sigh, I scratched my forehead. ‘Isn’t he hitting on me? I don’t want to go out with someone at all, at least, until the end of high school. Besides, I have people who can’t even conceive the idea of romance.’ That was when I rambled those thoughts in my head. A hand was stretched out to me out of the blue. He was trying to make me take the coffee. OMG… My eyes were wide open in confusion. I knew his intention was something positive, but he didn’t need to be so proactive…

Suddenly, someone behind me grabbed my wrist and pulled it abruptly. The other hand was around my neck. The back of my head seemed to bump into a solid chest, so I lifted my head and found a familiar face right above me. Staring at him, I called his name.

"Yoo Chun Young?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh."

"I’m here to find you."

Um… I tried to respond but instead, I just brought my head back to the front. Though he was a head taller than me, we were in such a close distance that Yoo Chun Young’s voice sounded as if he was talking right next to my ears. It felt so weird; besides, I shook his arm around my neck, which, of course, didn’t move at all.

‘Come on? Isn’t this too much?’

In the meantime, someone else took a step closer to my side. When I turned around to see who it was, I blurred my face. It was Eun Jiho. He was giving his signature cold look, which often overwhelmed strangers; however, what I felt was… such a Jekyll and Hyde.

"Do you have a problem with her?" Eun Jiho asked, taking the lead.

"Um, I am… just…"

"Coffee? Why? You guys don’t know each other."

Eun Jiho then frowned his jet-black eyes. I saw the guy stepping back with a frightened face. ‘Oh god, Eun Jiho!’ Looking at what was happening, I opened my mouth.

"Hey, why are you freaking him out?"

"Come on, it’s ridiculous. Why would a stranger give you something to drink…?"

"It also happens to Ban Yeo Ryung many times."

Eun Jiho then immediately showed a look of how dumbfounded he was.

"Do you think she’s the same as you?"