.

She looked pleased a moment ago, but now her face seemed to be flushed with anger.

She then yelled, “Hold on, this is not a time for that! Who the hell are you? Why are you speaking such bull** from earlier! Are you a fortune-teller or what?!”

“Nope, I am not a fortune-teller…”

“Then?”

“I think I’m better than that,” I replied with a swiveling smile as if I reached a state of nirvana.

“Argh!!! Who are you for real?!!!”

Whether Na Yeri shrieked and disheveled her beautifully styled hair or not, I murmured to myself with a smile.

‘Of course, I have been reading web novels from a decade; thus, in this world, I’d be way better than fortune-tellers.’

As soon as I had that thought, Na Yeri poured out a fierce cry with her face blushed.

“You! Why do you keep smiling from earlier? Don’t you get the situation?!”

“Yes, yes I do.”

She then pointed at me with her finger and shouted, “You don’t deserve to be next to our lord Jiho at all! Get it?!”

After she uttered a shriek, Na Yeri then looked as if she was bewildered upon my undistracted smile. I responded to her yet with a kind grin.

“Yes, that is true. I’m just taking that position temporarily.”

“F… ine! Know your place like that! Get it?!”

“Yes, I will.”

After my response, the girls seemed to be at a loss of words.

Then, a moment after, one of them said, “Let’s just go, Yeri,” while displaying a feeling of exhaustion on her face.

Scowling at me for a second, Na Yeri asserted, “You! Don’t you think that I’m being indulgent of what you’ve done! NEVER EVER think that I’m being generous because you’ve said that Eun Jiho and I look good together, get it?”

“Yes, of course.”

Holding my hands together, I showed a warm smile at her. She threw a mixed glance at me while biting her lips, then suddenly walked closer to me.

‘Um, hold on. Is she gonna slap me in the face? I mean, in my cheek?’

That was when my intuition, which came from my experience of reading web novels for a decade, alerted me about something could be happening. Na Yeri suddenly stretched out her white hand to me. She then handed out something in my hand and put her hand back.

Blinking swiftly, I opened my palm.

There I saw a piece of personal information printed with gold foil on a white paper.

Na Yeri

Tel: 010-xxxx-xxxx

“…”

I said to myself, ‘Why does she carry business cards from this age?’

As I thought that way, Na Yeri’s coy voice echoed around my ears.

“You do have some social skills, huh? It’s nothing special, but call me if your life sucks!”

“Uh, yes…”

“I’m not forcing you to call me… get it?! Bye, then!”

Yelling out those words with a blush, she quickly took the rest of the girls to leave the spot.

Staring at the group of girls disappearing through the terrace door that led to the hall, I glanced over her card again.

“How can this situation finish without a slap…?”

I murmured with a serious face, ‘Na Yeri, your name belongs to a female villain; however, instead of slapping me, you’ve slipped your business card into my hand. How can that happen?’

I wondered for a moment.

Should I run after her and say, ‘I think I’ve gotten you wrong. Maybe you aren’t playing the bitchy role in here?’

‘No,’ I shook my head, thinking, ‘If I attempt to do such a thing, that’s when my life will turn hard.’

Anyway, was everything all done for now? I might have paid a small price for taking the male protagonist’s partner role to attend the party.

That was when I scratched my hair with that thought in my head. There was another group of kids approaching me. I looked into that direction while thinking if those who just left had returned; however, my face suddenly turned stiff as I found out they were all boys. The situation was getting worse. Grimacing quietly, I soon loosen up my strained face.

Oh, come on. What the girls had for their intention were roughly guessable, but boys?

They wouldn’t have any particular business with me. Unless they were having a brawl, the boys might have come out to the terrace to just take a seat.

Considering the situation in that way, I held the banister and diverted my eyes back onto the city view. The cloudy night sky, tinged with the building lights, still looked red. That was when their noisy whispers reached my ears.

“She is… his… right?”

“Then, if I win her over… am I being… same level with…?”

What are they talking about?

I glanced at the boys then soon turned frozen as I realized all their eyes were bent on me. After hesitating for a moment, I quietly took out my phone and thought, ‘Do they really have a business with me?’

No matter how much I put my brain to work, I had no idea at all why so many of them would come to see me.

Hesitating for a while, I turned around to go back to the party hall, but it seemed to be too late.

Those who were looking at me flaunted a smile. It looked friendly without any sign of hostility; however, I could clearly see their intention to relieve me, which was even more disturbing.

Every one of them was tall and handsome, just like the group of girls who were here earlier. Their decently groomed colorful hairs, luxurious slim fit suits, and expensive-looking watches were the epitome of those who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. One of the boys then took a step forward towards me.

I stepped back in perplexity. The back of my head then bumped into something.

‘Is it the banister?’ I thought, but I soon shook my head.

The rail wasn’t as high as the height of my head. Then, what would it be? Wondering what it was, I was suddenly flummoxed by a cautious touch that enveloped the back of my drooping hand.

I threw down a glance at it. A pale, large hand that had blue blood vessels almost visible through the skin patted the back of my hand for a second. It then came up and grabbed my shoulder.

From the moment I felt the warmth coming from the back of my hand, I had a vague notion of who he was. Grabbing my shoulders, he then finally turned me around to look at him in the face.

The light from the orange lamp scattered on his blue-black hair. Underneath the misty Seoul sky, his jewel-like blue eyes were staring at me silently with a clear radiance.

As I looked at his flawless white face and the quietude he always had, even the music playing from the banquet hall seemed to pause in the blink of an eye.

‘I have seen this face so many times, but why…?’ I wondered while looking up at his face speechlessly. When our eyes met, he turned his mouth up slightly to hint a smile. He then opened his mouth at last.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

The everyday word ‘hi’ even seemed to echo around me like something very special. Without realizing that he was covering my shoulders with his hands or the two of us were standing too close, I just lifted my eyes and glanced over him.

Showing a faint smile at me for a second, Yoo Chun Young then asked me, “Why?”

“You really look like a model.”

He then, for some reason, looked absentminded. Just until now he kind of hinted a sign of excitement on his face, but he soon returned to his usual, drowsy and tranquil look. He then cast a glance behind me.

The look on his face suddenly changed. Looking up at him, I flickered my eyes in surprise and thought, ‘Eh? Weren’t Yoo Chun Young’s eyes just now looked a little strange?’

That was when he released his hands from my shoulders. Only then did I realize we were standing too close to each other. Feeling a little embarrassed, I tried to step back from him; however, as soon as I attempted that, someone had his arms around me. My view then suddenly darkened.

Yoo Chun Young had his arms around my shoulders and pulled me into his arms.

Eh? Rolling my eyes in perplexity, I flung a question.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing, it’s just for a moment.”