.

‘Are you a mind-reading ghost?’ I hunched my shoulders for a second but soon replied as confidently as I could.

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I said nothing.”

“The overall air just now felt noisy somehow.”

I gaped at Eun Jiho’s response. It was truly unbelievable. Was he not enough for being a Korean boy with natural silver hair? Did he gain some mind-reading ability, therefore? As if he noticed from the look on my face that I had some strange thoughts about him just now, Eun Jiho’s hand came closer to me so that he could pinch my cheek.

Eek! Quickly avoiding his hand, I found Eun Hyung smashing the back of Eun Jiho’s head just in time. ‘Ouch,’ shrieked Eun Jiho in a small voice. He then turned around to look behind his back.

“Are you picking a fight with Donnie from the first day of school?” asked Eun Hyung.

“Gosh, why do you play favorites with Ham Donnie?”

“Act lovely so I can love you.”

When Eun Hyung replied with a severe voice, Eun Jiho suddenly grinned and lowered his body. Placing his arm loosely on Eun Hyung’s shoulder, Eun Jiho whispered, “Oh, then you want me to act lovely?”

“My bad. I said something stupid, so would you please get that off me?”

Watching Eun Hyung answering that way with a pale face, Ban Yeo Ryung and I, who was walking ahead of them, burst into laughter.

Soon, as if she also wanted to join that conversation, Ban Yeo Ryung spoke to Eun Jiho mockingly.

“Eun Jiho, show me something lovely too. Come on, do something cute!”

Eun Jiho, who never let Ban Yeo Ryung slide, flaunted a toothy smile.

“My aegyo has a death curse on everyone who sees it.”

Yoo Chun Young, who remained silent until then, replied to Eun Jiho’s remark.

“Watching that horrible sight will make everyone die even without a curse.”

After a moment of silence, Ban Yeo Ryung and I began to laugh while hitting each other’s arms. Eun Jiho’s sulky question then intervened between our laughter.

“Hey, have you seen it? HAVE YOU??”

“You said that we’ll die if we see it. Why would I do such a thing then?”

“Cool, then watch me.”

“Nope, I don’t want to.”

Behind the two quarreling boys, Jooin broke into laughter. He then stepped forward to join Ban Yeo Ryung and me as if it was a very natural thing to do. Jooin was a cheerful person, so he didn’t feel uncomfortable at all even if other girls were involved in going to cafés.

Shaking his head sideways, Woo Jooin said, “What a silly conversation to have from the first day of school?”

“Yeah, so true.”

That was when I replied with a snicker while feeling dumbfounded. Jooin suddenly directed his brown eyes on me. He then opened his mouth as if something flashed through his head.

“Oh, now that I’m thinking about it, mama…”

“Uh-huh.”

Replying nonchalantly, I was soon stuck with the stiff for a moment after his following question.

“I heard Ruda hyeong transferred to another school?”

I paused my step, but it was such a short while that I quickly took off my step before people behind me would notice it.

“Um, uh… yeah…” I replied.

I wished my voice didn’t sound as sad as possible. This unanticipated farewell was also a profound sadness for me.

Aside from that, I wondered why Jooin brought this up right now. Thinking about the reasons in my head, I soon turned around when I heard a sudden question coming from behind. As if he had been able to hear the topic amid the quarrel, Eun Jiho was asking me doubtfully, “Yi Ruda transferred to another school?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Even without letting you know? I never thought he would do that to you… So, you had his phone, huh? He could have then reached out to you while using another phone, couldn’t he?”

‘That’s what I was thinking too,’ nodding at Eun Jiho, I saw Yoo Chun Young flinging the same question while slightly squinting his eyes behind me.

“Yi Ruda?”

Looking at his wide-open blue eyes, I finally recalled something that I had forgotten for a while. Although tension was increasing every day between the two instead of a romantic chemistry, Yoo Chun Young was the most acquainted with Yi Ruda among the Four Heavenly Kings.

Even though Yoo Chun Young didn’t look like he was missing Yi Ruda that much, he might be feeling a little strange when someone he knew had dropped out of school and transferred to somewhere else.

Eun Jiho then uttered, “It’s weird.”

“Yeah, it is.”

‘Weird? Which part?’ That was when I tried to ask the question. Eun Hyung, who was rubbing his chin while listening to us, put his hand down and dropped a remark, which created a quiet stir among us.

“That kid looked like he was interested in this school.”

The excellent insight embodied in his words made me feel cold in the chest somehow.

Technically, Eun Hyung was the one who had the least encounter with Yi Ruda among the Four Heavenly Kings. Perhaps they bumped into each other only once at the cafeteria. Even that time, Eun Hyung was busy trying to fix the mess that Ban Yeo Ryung made due to her slip of the tongue. The words that Eun Hyung just dropped, therefore, were deeply insightful when Eun Hyung didn’t have met Ruda that many times.

What he said was true. Yi Ruda was literally so fascinated at this school. Although she felt everything too cumbersome at first, Yi Ruda later fell in love with it all, including the classmates of Class 1-8 and Yoon Jung In, who she had hated for being too noisy at first.

I remember the words she said to me while sitting in the hallway of the party hall with her skirt rolled up.

‘People are bound to live as they have learned. I used that as an excuse for camouflaging myself with lies in the classroom or at a party like this. That was when I saw you guys… who were just the same as usual anytime anywhere.’

Speaking like that, Yi Ruda revealed an indescribable affection through her eyes. I clearly saw that feeling she had, which she could hardly hide at that time. That was why I wanted to confess about the Yi Ruda I met at the party hall and the words she said to me around that time.

‘Once they see her eyes and hear her words, no one can deny that Yi Ruda has loved our class,’ I thought; however, it was frustrating that I couldn’t tell the truth about her for the sake of Yi Ruda’s secrecy.

I, who just experienced that my classmates were somehow misunderstanding Yi Ruda, was, once again, amazed by Eun Hyung’s insight.

I was at a loss of words for a second but barely recovered composure and replied with downcast eyes.

“Yeah… it’s weird.”

That was when I found a pair of glowing blue eyes directing this side from a dark place under the stairs leading to the main entrance. I switched my gaze from Eun Hyung to that direction in surprise.

“Mama, what’s wrong?” asked Jooin, who was standing beside me.

“Uh… nothing…”

When I took a closer look, there was no one under the stairs now.

‘Maybe it was a hallucination,’ I tried to think that way but couldn’t help feeling bleak. Pressing both arms into my body, I murmured, ‘Now that the season is over, we’re not gonna start something like an old-fashioned horror special, are we?’ We were, however, getting a weird vibe today including the new, suspicious student this morning.

I then bent my steps with Ban Yeo Ryung and the Four Heavenly Kings.

We would usually go to a restaurant then hang out in a café, karaoke, and a bowling alley one after another, but today we didn’t have much to talk about than usual. That was because we had met consistently in the library during the break in terms of ‘group studying;’ I also had phone calls with Eun Jiho on a regular basis.

We, therefore, just sat side by side in the PC bang for the first time in a long time and played video games between the kids who dashed into this place as soon as the opening ceremony was over.

And one thing struck me dumb; Ban Yeo Ryung was very good at video games. She usually enjoyed working out, reading, and watching movies instead of playing video games. Even her brother, Yeo Dan oppa didn’t play video games at all, so I was aware that she never attempted any online battles. However, once she got familiar with the game, Ban Yeo Ryung, surprisingly, was on a winning streak against Eun Jiho.

I was, of course, joining them too, but when it came to playing video games, I utterly sucked. Even the keys for going forward and going backward confused me that I kept bumping into the walls or died from falling off the end of the map.

On the chat window, Eun Jiho was starting to escape from reality.

Dope Silver Hair:

Hey, you ain’t Ban Yeo Ryung, huh?

Half-crazy Ban:

Yes, I am.

Dope Silver Hair:

Come on, tell me who’s controlling it for you. Is it Woo Jooin?

Half-crazy Ban:

Jiho, what should a man do?

Half-crazy Ban:

Face the reality~

Dope Silver Hair:

LOLOLOL Geez, Ban Yeo Ryung, you’re dead now FOR REAL

Woo Joo Explore the Universe:

Jiho, what should a man do?

Woo Joo Explore the Universe:

Not just talk big~

Dope Silver Hair:

LOLOLOLOL Asshole, you really my friend, huh?

Half-crazy Ban:

Jiho, what should a man do?

Half-crazy Ban:

Let your actions do the talking~

Slipping and falling for the fifth time inside the game, I was then laughing to death at the following chat log.