.

‘Wow, those are such quick feet!’ I exclaimed in my thoughts while looking at the black human shadow running past the front and back doors. Something then flashed through my head. I quickly stood up from my seat, thinking, ‘Hold on, Class 1-1 is where Yeo Ryung and the Four Heavenly Kings are, isn’t it?’

Class 1-1 was famous for being the quietest and well-mannered freshman class. That was because, as we could estimate, the overall class atmosphere was under Four Heavenly Kings’ control; therefore, no one could dare to act out.

Some people seemed to criticize it as a reign of terror since it was indeed not a usual sight to find in regular high schools. However, ever since there was the Four Heavenly Kings in school, wouldn’t it be impossible to have a normal school life?

Anyway, there seemed to be something going on in that quiet and well-behaved Class 1-1. What kind of big thing was happening then?!

Just in time, there was someone who quickly grabbed the correspondent ahead of me; it was Yoon Jung In. Seizing the correspondent by the scruff of his neck, Yoon Jung In asked, “Why? What’s going on?”

“Eun Jiho… the desk…”

“Huh?”

Only hearing just a few words, I gaped in surprise. ‘Come on, did he really overturn the desk? How can Eun Jiho, who was such a patient character, behave like a typical school bully?’ The following words then made me shut my mouth.

“He banged his head on the desk.” 1

“What?”

“I mean, why? For what reason?”

Amid the shower of questions in suspicion, I murmured composedly with my chin on my palm. ‘Hmm, so he banged his head on the desk… Well, the situation isn’t so serious than I think.’ I lifted my head again at the correspondent’s following remark.

“And Yoo Chun Young…”

Eh? Did Yoo Chun Young also commit something?

“He is saying nothing.” 1

Huh? A cold silence hung in the air. A moment after, Yoon Jung In spoke on my behalf with a stiff face.

“Doesn’t he usually behave that way?”

“No, that isn’t what I’m trying to say,” replied the correspondent while shaking his head. “He is being wordless with a frightful expression.”

“Ah…”

‘If you’re talking about that look, that’s another story,’ I nodded. 1

Although Yoo Chun Young was always surrounding himself with cold air, he usually looked nonchalant rather than frightful. That would have probably derived from his sleepy and relaxed nature.

Argh! I raised my hand to dishevel my hair. It was such a pain in the butt while explaining my romantic relationship to the kids in our class, and now even the two boys were behaving somewhat hilarious.

I wished Yoon Jung In could dig in more detailed information about them; however, a short announcement came out from the speaker of all occasions.

“Ah… ah… we would like to announce that all the student council members to gather immediately at the conference room on the first floor.”

As soon as the announcement was made, the kids flung questions to each other.

“What’s going on?”

“No idea, but wouldn’t it be about a field trip or an athletic meet since it’s fall now?”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“I’m already bored…”

While I heard kids uttering negative remarks instead of hopeful comments, Yoon Jung In turned around in our direction and said, “Hey, let’s go check it out. Come on, Lee Mina.”

“Oh, okay.”

Jumping off from the desk, Lee Mina followed Yoon Jung In and left the classroom. Watching them leave, I later turned my head to look at the back door, but the correspondent already disappeared.

I thought while being astonished at the empty sight, ‘Well, although he was still here, what else I could do? I wouldn’t be able to ask him further since I’m a shy person.’

From the beginning of the second semester, the teachers took our phones away from us so that we could study more and didn’t give us back until all the classes were over; therefore, I couldn’t even send a message to the boys. Tapping my chin, I was lost in thought. What should I do…?

Should I go check out Class 1-1? If they were right beside our class, I would have done that already, but both our classes were at the opposite ends of the hallway. The distance between us was quite far. Thus, we would only have about three minutes to talk. I couldn’t hear anything special within that short time frame.

Indeed, should I wait until the end of class? As soon as I had that conclusion, there was another fuss in the hallway. Those who turned their heads to the hallway windows talked noisily, “Did something else happen?”

“Our school is complete chaos today.”

“Well, there was the announcement just now, so the teachers won’t come to the classes for a while.”

“Ah, really? Should I go check out the class next-door then?”

A few kids stood up to not miss this chance. ‘Yeah, that seems to be a good idea.’ That was when I tried to get up from my seat while agreeing upon them.

“Is there someone called Ham Donnie here?” 1

My eyes widened at the sudden remark coming over from the backdoor. Turning my head to that side, I found about six girls standing in front of the backdoor against the backlight of the hallway window.

No, it wasn’t even six people. Eight? Ten? Almost a group of girls in the entire class seemed to be blocking the door. Looking at their name tags, I grasped that they were seniors.

They didn’t look like bullies or delinquents. Instead, they were gorgeous, elegant, and emitted some model student-like vibe, which made them look like class presidents or student council members. Since our school was an elite private high school, we had many students like them compared to other schools.

However, the look on their faces was utterly different. Narrowing my eyes while watching their evil-eyed expressions, I soon came up with Choi Yuri’s face in my memories.

That was when I got aware of the overall situation. Yeo Dan oppa… I knew that he was quite a celebrity in our neighborhood, but I didn’t know the news would spread out to other grades this rapidly. ‘It’s way faster than my anticipation!?’ Furrowing my brows with that thought in mind, I raised my head again when someone in our class returned them a response.

“She isn’t here now. Should I deliver your message to her?”

A few kids, who were staring at me, turned their heads away at the same time and tried not to glance at me as much as possible.

A senior girl, who narrowed her eyes doubtfully, urged the kid, “Is she really not here in the classroom? You know what time it is, right? It’s three minutes before the class starts.”

‘Then why are you girls here right now in the freshmen hallway when it’s three minutes before the class starts?’ I complained only in my thoughts. However, her following words made me get the hiccups inwardly.

“I guess these kids are lying right now, aren’t they? You guys think that we’re in a different grade, so we don’t know her face. Am I wrong?”

‘Holy cow, she has quick wits!’ I was astonished at her sharp perception.

Beside her, another senior stood with her head tilted while leaning on one foot, which didn’t match her elegant appearance. She asked perversely, “What are you gonna do if we know her face? You’ve got guts, huh?”

“Um…”

The kid, who just replied to the senior girls, closed her mouth eventually. She then began to send a gaze at us as if she felt sorry. She seemed to be concerned that she might have escalated the situation.

I shook my head enthusiastically only in my thoughts, ‘No, you did so well enough.’ However, a moment after, their following remark brought a cold silence to the classroom.

“Counting the number of people, only three people are missing compared to the desks left. Two might have left the classroom since there was an announcement earlier, so let’s say they are the student council members. Only one is missing then. Is she Ham Donnie?” 1

“The chances are too low, isn’t it?”

What a sharp woman she was! Biting my lips for a second, I diverted my gaze back onto the classroom.

Everyone tried to avoid looking in my direction so desperately with stiffened faces. I couldn’t thank them enough.

Suddenly there was a fuss on the other side of the classroom. Pushing Kim Hye Woo’s hand away from hers, Kim Hye Hill was uttering savagely, ‘I said leave me alone. Get this off from me!’ Well, I kind of anticipated that Kim Hye Hill would take some action since she was a straightforward character.

Heaving a sigh, I finally got up from my seat. I shouldn’t cause any more troubles and make excuses. Besides, who knows if they were trying to bring me with them to have some good conversations?

“…”

‘But even I think that the chances are too low…’ While I murmured to myself that way, a few kids around me grabbed my arm and tried to stop me from coming forward. When I gently got them away from me and stood up, something unexpected occurred.

A voice suddenly came over which made me lift my head.

“What are you all doing here? Why are you blocking people walking through the door?”

The voice sounded soft like a spring breeze; however, something was sarcastic about the way the person spoke. The seniors would, of course, catch the innuendo.