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n.

nAside from my old promise––I would never ever fall in love with the Four Heavenly Kings––I wasn’t able to have a crush on someone.

nNo wonder I could do such a thing. In a world that didn’t reflect my will at all, how could I reach out to someone first? Wasn’t that the easiest way to break my heart?

nI didn’t want to play a game that had a specified outcome.

nWhile I rambled those thoughts in my head, Choi Yuri continued to speak with her tearful gaze still fixed at me; however, unlike her sad face, her voice sounded icy cold.

n“I wish you…”

nThere was a pause before she added, “… I wish you cry as much as Eun Jiho does.”

n“…”

n“I wish you fall in love with someone while feeling out of control just like me. Get lovesick, your heartbroken, and in the end, feel that your entire world has collapsed.”

nHer unfiltered, pure hatred that showered over me like a rainstorm ended up choking me. As if those words had pushed me into a deep pool of water, my view darkened and I felt too hard to breathe.

nFalling in love with someone while feeling out of control… That’s what I was most afraid of. In this sense, Choi Yuri’s curse was hitting the nail on the head.

nLowering my head, I murmured, ‘But why at this moment am I rewinding the thing between Yoo Chun Young and me in my mind?’

nThe word that he said to me in the clear sunlight on the schoolyard…

n‘I like you.’

nAnd the things that I thought while staring at him…

n‘I’m glad I don’t have a crush on Yoo Chun Young.’

nThat was when I shook my head while biting my lips. There was a loud thud outside the warehouse, then someone kicked the door open and stepped inside. Both Choi Yuri and I turned to look in that direction with our eyes wide open.

nWhen that person suddenly jumped into us, I, at last, grasped the whole situation. Ban Yeo Ryung, who got her hands free from the rope at some point, threw the two guys on the floor. Groaning in pain upon getting swept over the floor, the two guys were tied up with ropes all around their bodies.

nI was astonished at the sight, quietly exclaiming, ‘Whoa, Ban Yeo Ryung…’ I had no idea how she released herself from the strict security, but she knocked down the two guys and brought them here tied with rope. If she left them in the bathroom, it might have caused big trouble since they could recover their senses and alert other guards outside.

nSwitching my gaze to her slender arms, I fell into thought again. She might have had the two guys under her each arm to bring them here at once. How could she do that with those skinny arms…?

n‘How does your body structure work? What on earth is happening inside you?’ As soon as I murmured those to myself, Ban Yeo Ryung dusted off her hands then shouted at me.

n“Donnie, come over here!”

nWhen I heard those words, Choi Yuri and the rest of the Four Symbols, in front of me, turned around to look at me at the same time.

nChoi Yuri, who was throwing a teary glance at me until now, shrieked, “How dare you!”

nHer hands narrowly missed my arm.

nI ran across the warehouse immediately and dashed towards Ban Yeo Ryung. She also came running to me and pulled me into her arms. She then touched the rope tied around me. Even I thought that I would definitely stumble within five steps if I kept running like this.

nHowever, as we didn’t have any tools, it was difficult to get the rope off me. Shaking the thick and strong strands of strings, Ban Yeo Ryung exclaimed in despair.

n“Damn it! Why isn’t this working?!”

n“Um, Yeo Ryung…”

nI called her name quietly. I guess we would better run away instead of doing this here. Watching her obsessively untying my rope, I read her mind that she was trying to make me escape alone if something took place. In order for that to happen, my hands should be free to run away by myself.

nMeanwhile, the Four Symbols were approaching us. Ban Yeo Ryung then gave up untying the rope for now. Looking in their direction, she raised her fist at the eye level.

nAs in the UFC octagon, a strained atmosphere filled the whole warehouse space. Such tension was utterly unbelievable when looking at Ban Yeo Ryung’s girlish and innocent appearance; however, the other side seemed to be on full alert at the time when she had already knocked the two guys down.

n‘I wish they could have taken this side as a joke…’ Heaving a sigh with that thought in mind, I began to predict the fight results.

nIt was true that Ban Yeo Ryung was, ridiculously, a girl of great physical strength. Recalling the day when we had a chase with the men in black near the City Hall station, her movements were as quick as those of Yi Ruda.

nHowever, did she ever have this kind of a professional fight before? No. I shook my head. That was the problem we were confronting now.

nBan Yeo Ryung was different from Eun Hyung. Even if she was born with athletic ability, we couldn’t neglect the lack of experience. She could have knocked the two guys down outside probably because they fell asleep at the switch.

nThese guys here were, however, different. They were clearly aware that none other than Ban Yeo Ryung had defeated the two guys; therefore, they would tackle her with all their might in tension. In that case, the chance of winning would be less than a half. Thinking to that extent, I then quickly lifted my head when a voice cut through my thoughts.

n“Everyone come over here! They are trying to escape!”

nMy goodness! Choi Yuri was talking over the black cell phone. I didn’t know that the device also worked as a walkie-talkie. If I had known that earlier, I would have snatched that thing from Choi Yuri when Ban Yeo Ryung entered the warehouse!

nHowever, it was too late to regret it. When I noticed that there weren’t just one or two cars parked outside, I knew it wasn’t everyone in the warehouse, but how many people were around then? Rambling those thoughts in mind, I soon became at a loss of words upon the number of people, who came stampeding into the warehouse.

nAt least twenty people seemed to have filled the warehouse like a swarm of ants upon Choi Yuri’s order; besides, they didn’t all look decent and nice like the Four Symbols inside here. Most of them had bulky, tattooed arms, which I could roughly guess the field that they were working in.

nI re-calculated the possibility of me and Ban Yeo Ryung safely escaping from this place. Less than a half? Bull**, it was less than ten percent.

nI then realized the guy, who stayed right next to Choi Yuri, wasn’t there among the huge group of men in front of us. The tall, bodyguard-like guy who was wearing an in-ear monitor…

nWhere did he go? Was he not participating in this kind of situation?

nWhether he took part in this fight or not, the situation was, however, already going potentially explosive.

nMy hands were still tied up, and although Ban Yeo Ryung’s hands were free, her outfit wasn’t suitable to fight. About twenty people slowly surrounded me and Ban Yeo Ryung and began to narrow the siege. Watching the sight, I finally began to get afraid.

nShoot! I saw something like this only in zombie movies! I glanced around to find an escape route, but sadly, the pile of boxes blocked my sight. Ban Yeo Ryung and I exchanged eye contact.

n‘Just run,’ mouthed Ban Yeo Ryung. I nodded. A tense silence was still prevailing in the space. Suddenly, ‘THITH-THITH-THITH––’ a loud noise rang outside the warehouse.

nThe unidentified, deafening noise not only made me and Ban Yeo Ryung but also all the people inside the warehouse round their eyes with wonder. The chatter grew louder.

n“A helicopter?”

n“What the heck? There won’t be any helicopter coming here in the middle of the night.”

n“Even if someone caught us, why not use the car?”

nAbout five people among the rumbling crowd went outside the door. They might be observing what was happening out there.

nGosh, that was a chance to escape! It was, however, too late to do that. As if showing us that professionals were indeed professionals, the guys quickly arranged the line, which was briefly disrupted by the unidentified noise, and came toward us again.

nGlancing around, Ban Yeo Ryung then picked up a broken beer bottle that was dropped on the floor. While I flinched at her doing so, Ban Yeo Ryung approached me and began to rub the broken bottle on my rope. Those who saw her doing that shouted to each other.

n“She’s trying to cut the rope!”

n“Will the other girl also behave wildly like her?”

n“Go, stop them!”

nAmid the sporadic cry around us, the rope that was tying my wrists finally was cut off.

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