.

At that moment, Lucas, who was just watching what we had been doing, intervened with a quiet voice.

“Do you want to prove that much to your son’s friend that you know about your son more than she does?”

“Are you suddenly pretending to take care of that kid when you deceived and brought her here?”

“I feel sorry for what you’ve done to that kid.”

Even if he stood by me, I didn’t feel that thankful. While I cast down my eyes wordlessly, Lucas pushed his upper body forward and uttered, “Stop talking about something so obvious. Anyway, so although you saw the level of those who said to be Ruda’s friends, you still don’t want to kick him out of the successor position. Is that what you’re insisting?”

Yi Jenny nodded as if what Lucas just said was surely right. She replied, “Of course. I don’t need to review Ruda’s level just by looking at this girl, who knows nothing about Ruda.”

With a contemptuous smile, Lucas laughed in her face, “You’re still a maverick.”

“Hey, if you still wish to be my successor, you’re gonna have to use a politer method. If you keep taking this reckless approach next time…”

The look in Yi Jenny’s eyes turned cold for a second.

“Even if it’s you, I’m not gonna let you off.”

“Oh… yeah, yeah.”

Leaving behind Lucas’s sarcastic response, Yi Jenny got up from her seat.

I raised my head and looked up at her blankly. Yi Jenny spoke yet in an indifferent face, “Well, Ruda has returned to me because of you guys, so I’ll let you all out just for this time. However, there won’t be a next time.”

“Um…”

I still couldn’t respond to her. Yi Jenny continued, “I respect that you came all the way here, so I’ll let you see his face, but no long conversations.”

“Uh, yes.”

That was fine for now. Watching me replying immediately, Yi Jenny threw something to Lucas. A gold rectangular thing shining in the air was sucked into Lucas’s hand.

Yi Jenny continued, “Lucas, keep a watch on her and bring me the cardkey.”

“Can you trust me?”

“Enemy’s enemy is a friend. No one else than you’ll be a trustful watchman.”

Listening to Yi Jenny blurting that way, I, at last, found out the thing gleaming inside Lucas’ hand. It was Yi Jenny’s cardkey.

The key that we wanted so much to have in our hands came into our possession eventually; however, I didn’t feel that delighted. That was because the person who attained it was none other than Lucas.

Throwing a glance at me, Lucas babbled as if he felt excited, “Well, that’s good. I wondered how Ruda would look when being completely broken.”

What the heck was he talking about this time?

“If he realizes that meeting his friend, whom he has missed so much, today will be the first and last time, how will he look? What reaction will he take?”

Both Yi Jenny and I turned sick and tired of his remark.

‘That person has such a strong grudge!’ I murmured to myself. Yi Jenny, in front of me, uttered, “I have no interest in my son’s reaction or the look on his face, so just don’t attack him. If I find any new scars on his face, you’re dead.”

“Yeah, yeah,” waving his hand at her, Lucas replied with the top of his mind. Yi Jenny left the room. When there was only the two of us inside the space, Lucas asked me, “So, should we go?”

Unlike the time when I first stepped into this building under his guidance, I didn’t want to follow anymore. However, I was able to meet Ruda, at last, so I couldn’t refuse his suggestion. Although this could be the last time I would be able to see him…

Heaving a sigh and taking off a step in the end, I turned my head out of the blue to look at the opposite side of the hallway. The view of Yi Jenny receding from us came into my sight. Pouting my lips for a while, I opened my mouth eventually.

“Uh… excuse me!”

As if she had expected this, Yi Jenny turned her head calmly and directed her eyes on me.

“Why?”

Biting my lips, I spoke hesitantly, “Um… although Ruda right now is very different from what he wants to be, I think he has the right to pursue what he dreams about himself.”

That was true. Even if Ruda’s real nature was utterly different from the Ruda I knew, and even it was different from what Ruda dreamed about herself, I wanted to say this thing.

I wouldn’t believe that Ruda stabbed Lucas because she desired to do such a thing. There was no choice except for taking that approach as a prime candidate driven into competition. Therefore, I still believed that Ruda would show her different sides and make different choices in other circumstances. Just like what she behaved and looked when she was in school with us…

Although Ruda had a coldhearted personality, which was suitable for Yi Jenny’s successor position, if Ruda would keep pursuing and showing her different sides, she could change. Even if she could not attempt those things by herself, that was still fine. I had faith that people could change by meeting others just like Eun Jiho, Jooin, and Ban Yeo Ryung did back then. So was I. They had changed me too.

Yi Jenny just showed a twisted grin at my words in silence. She then turned around and bent her steps with big strides without forbidding farewell.

While her noisy footsteps resonated around the hallway and soon got far away, I suddenly switched my gaze to Lucas.

Although I said to Yi Jenny like that way, I was still having a regard for his feelings. In Lucas’ point of view, it would be quite offensive since I was supporting Yi Ruda, who was a perpetrator to Lucas. Not only just offensive, he could even lose his temper at me. Considering what happened between Lucas and Ruda in the past, that was nothing to be strange at this point.

Lucas, however, looked unexpectedly fine. He just pulled my arm and said, “It’s that way.”

* * *

When using Yi Jenny’s card, the small LED light on the reader turned green immediately without changing to orange.

Lucas pushed me into the room. He also came in and quickly closed the door. Before I had time to check the room properly, a gold figure falling all over in the corner sprang to her feet. I directed my eyes in that direction, at last.

The room had a desk, and the rest of the space was messy with sporting equipment. A very large bed was in the corner; in the middle of that bed, there was Yi Ruda wrapped in a comforter.

“Donnie?!” Shouting that way, she soon reddened her face as if she realized her appearance.

She tried to get out of the comforter as soon as possible, so I waved my hand in the air and said, “Oh, it’s fine.”

I spoke that way to say that she could have enough time to get up, but Ruda suddenly shrieked, “Fine? Hell no!”

With a cry out, she finally got out of the comforter and dashed into me. Quickly holding my shoulders, Yi Ruda looked all over my body to check if I got hurt or not. Her actions made me wonder, ‘Did Ruda really betray Lucas? Is it really this girl who left that frightening scar on Lucas’ flank?’

Once she finished checking if I was okay, Ruda turned aside and asked me, “Didn’t Lucas harm you?”

Her attitude was so confident that she sincerely didn’t look like a person who stabbed someone in the back.

I observed Lucas’ face for a moment, but instead of getting extremely angry, Lucas looked nonchalant just like he did when he was with Yi Jenny.

Ruda continued, “And you met Yi Jenny.”

“Oh.”

“But how did you get in here?”

That was when I pulled myself together and opened my mouth.

“Oh, that’s… um… we tried to sneak in and just let you out of here, but as you might have seen earlier, we failed since we didn’t have any matching cardkeys.”

“Uh-huh.”

“But, unexpectedly, we just had some face-to-face talk… then she said, because we tried so hard, she decided to let me meet you once. Of course, I won’t be able to bring you out though…”

Ruda heaved a deep sigh and perched on her bed. She then uttered, “Thanks goodness.”

Although I said that I wouldn’t be able to bring her out, Ruda didn’t seem to care about that part. She just showed a sign of relief on her face while grasping that I was safe, which made me so sorry about her.

However, that moment didn’t last long. Raising her head, Ruda scowled at Lucas. She asked, “Aside from that, didn’t Lucas do anything harmful to you? I mean, what did he say to you at the first place that made you come all the way here?”