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n.

nWatching Yi Ruda driving the helicopter proficiently in the driver’s seat, I thought, ‘No matter how much I think about it, isn’t this also a balance breakdown?’

nBan Yeo Ryung and Yi Ruda… Where did their fancy fighting skills, which I had just witnessed, come from? How could they escape from the site of the kidnapping just by themselves? What about Yi Ruda driving the helicopter? If they were able to do such things, why would other characters exist and appear in this novel? Wouldn’t those characters lose their roles?!

n‘Is this novel really going on the right track?’ While I agonized again, I heard Ban Yeo Ryung speaking bluntly beside me.

n“Donnie is very kind, so she trusts you, but me? No.”

nWhat? Hold on, Ban Yeo Ryung! I quickly raised my head. Yi Ruda, sitting in front of me, turned the handle and grumbled, “Are you kidding me? Don’t you know who saved you?!”

nWhile I looked back and forth between them hesitantly, Ban Yeo Ryung crossed her arms tightly and blurted out a question, which made me dry cough.

n“Hey, do you have a helicopter pilot license?”

n‘Ban Yeo Ryung, you’ve been so strange since a while ago. Where in the world is there a character in a web novel who asks about having a driver’s license while riding a motorcycle?’ I thought.

nAs soon as I heard Ban Yeo Ryung’s question, I found Yi Ruda getting magically quiet. I said to myself, ‘Girl, please…’

nYi Ruda then looked askance at Ban Yeo Ryung with a sulky face.

nShe replied, “We’re not even allowed to get a driver’s license at this age, are we?”

n“What? Then, this is illegal! I knew it!”

n“What do you want me to do then? Should I let you get off? Huh?”

n“Just because I’ve checked to see if you have a license, are you asking me to jump off and die? Right now?”

n“Oh, guys…”

nWhile the two quarreled and I agonized over whether or not to ask Yi Ruda to focus on driving, the helicopter approached a building roof deck smoothly as if it was an independent creature.

nThe aircraft then began to slowly lower its altitude. Entering the helipad, which was marked with a circle and a gray-painted letter H in the middle on top of a gray building, the helicopter soon landed on the platform to a fare-thee-well.

nI looked at Yi Ruda with surprise. Although she bickered with Ban Yeo Ryung over the fact that she didn’t have any license or so, I could tell it from just now that Yi Ruda’s driving skill was more than just average and almost at a professional level.

nYi Ruda then jumped off the driver’s seat. While the rotor blades still generated a lot of wind, Yi Ruda, who grabbed her hair disheveling in the blowing air, stuck out the other side of her hand to us.

nBan Yeo Ryung held that hand to jump off from the helicopter; the next was me. Maybe because I had been kneeling on the cold floor for a long time, my legs were a little numb. Yi Ruda held me in a tight grip to keep me from stumbling.

n“Did you hurt somewhere?”

n“Uh, nope. I’m totally fine.”

nI tried to add, ‘My leg is asleep,’ but instead of doing it, I noticed that someone else was standing behind Yi Ruda. While I became speechless for a second with my mouth opened, Yi Ruda, who read my gaze, also turned around to look behind.

nAt that moment, the look on her face changed quite delicately. She seemed to have seen something very familiar but, at the same time, scary and even dreadful. So to speak, Yi Ruda looked as if she had encountered a monster in her childhood nightmare.

nShe then loosened up her strained forehead. What came out from her mouth surprised me.

n“Oh… mother.”

n“Mother?”

nIt wasn’t only me who was struck dumb. While Ban Yeo Ryung also came closer toward this direction in astonishment, Yi Ruda pointed at the lady and introduced her to us with her usual, refreshing voice.

n“Let me introduce her. She’s my mother, Jenny. Yi Jenny or Jenny Yi.”

n“Nice to meet you all.”

nWith that greeting, the lady extended her hand. Ban Yeo Ryung held her hand to have a handshake in the confusion of the moment. Next was my turn. Shaking hands with each other, I carefully observed Yi Jenny’s face.

nShe had black eyes with raised ends and was wearing a tight-fitting black two-piece suit. Having a sleek high bun tightly tied up so that the hairs wouldn’t come out, Yi Jenny looked like a very astute and thorough woman, who was in her early thirties at most.

nWell, when thinking about Ban Yeo Ryung’s mother and father, I had no choice but to nod. Many parents in this neighborhood looked notably younger than their age. Perhaps, it was running in their families. If so, would Ban Yeo Ryung and Yi Ruda also inherit the genes and become something like a vampire in the future?

nAnyway, Yi Ruda’s mother was utterly different from Yi Ruda, who seemingly emitted radiance as bright as Woo Jooin, even though a blizzard was raging inside her.

nThe air around Yi Jenny felt blade-like sharp, cold, and even heavy. Although she said it was nice to meet us, she looked interested in neither me nor Ban Yeo Ryung at all.

nYi Jenny then switched her gaze to Yi Ruda and asked her cool, calm, and collectedly, “Should we go, son?”

nMy eyes widened. Her way of speaking sounded as if things were prearranged, but where were they going in this situation? Besides, Yi Jenny didn’t ask why Yi Ruda took us here by helicopter as well as what happened. Those looked like none of her interests.

nSo was Yi Ruda who didn’t get surprised. As if she knew what her mother would already talk about, Yi Ruda smiled nonchalantly yet bitterly.

nShe then replied, “Oh, I see, cool. Yes, that was what I agreed on.”

nI stared at Yi Ruda answering back like that way. Strangely, her responding voice sounded like that of a prisoner captured by enemies, instead of a son’s voice.

nWhile there was a moment of silence, Yi Jenny said something to her in-ear monitor. ‘Is she also working in the security industry?’ While I had that thought in mind, Yi Jenny turned to look at me and Ban Yeo Ryung then spoke to us with the previous, apathetic voice.

n“I told them to keep the passageway open to the outside. If you leave the rooftop right now, there will be someone waiting to guide you the way.”

n“Oh, thank you.”

n“Just follow the person.”

nShe then closed the flip phone that she had been holding for the whole time with a slam and diverted her eyes back onto Yi Ruda.

n“Shall we go?”

nWith a nod, Yi Jenny followed her mother. The two then walked toward the opposite direction as if they were taking a different passage from us.

nBoth Ban Yeo Ryung and I stood still and stared in the direction, where they were receding to, for quite a while.

nYi Ruda suddenly appeared, saved us, and dropped us off over here. She was now leaving with her mother. What on earth was going on?

nI had no idea how to regard this situation. When my head was filling gradually with questions, Yi Ruda turned around to look at us out of the blue and came running in a hurry.

nShe then took out something from her pocket and quickly clasped it in my hand. When I checked what it was, a cell phone came into view.

nBlinking swiftly, I asked, “Why…?”

n“As soon as you get outside, call the Four Heavenly Bastards. Both of you don’t have a phone right now.”

n“Oh.”

nTaking the phone in my hand, I looked up at Yi Ruda’s blue eyes blankly. With a moment of hesitance, I flung a question.

n“But what about you?”

n“Huh?”

n“You also need a phone. When and where should I meet you to return it?”

nAs soon as I uttered those words, strangely, the look on Yi Ruda’s face clouded visibly. She was a person who seldom revealed her emotional agitation and always showed a smile. As if Ban Yeo Ryung also noticed the tumult of Yi Ruda’s feelings, she just stared at her without blurting any blunt remarks.

nReceiving our gaze, Yi Ruda barely displayed a grin and answered back. She sounded slightly hoarse.

n“Give it back to me at school.”

nWhat? I asked back while being flabbergasted.

n“Then, what are you gonna do during the break?”

n“No worries. I’m gonna be busy anyway.”

nInterrupting my dissuading hand gesture, Yi Ruda overlapped her hand over mine so I could have the phone in my clenched fist. Lastly, she tapped my hand and spoke with a smile.

n“See you at school.”

nAfter uttering that remark, Yi Ruda dropped her gaze at the floor at a slow pace. In a near distance, Yi Jenny, who dressed all-black, was waiting for her son while standing loosely.

nBehind Yi Ruda, strong winds were tearing up the thick clouds. The brightening dawn sky appeared between them. The sky was all blue.

nYeo Ryung then called me, who was staring at the sight wordlessly.

n“Donnie, let’s go.”

n“Yeah…”

nNodding my head without strength, I turned my steps. For some reason, I could hardly take a step forward. Yi Ruda’s bright blond hair, seen through the torn clouds, caught my consciousness and wouldn’t let it go.

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