.

It was only two weeks ago that I realized how blessed I was. Although I was surrounded by a lot of extraordinary characters and went through hardships while living a life far from ordinary, I grasped that I had been mentally secure and well-protected like a flower cultivated in the greenhouse.

At least, there was no need to doubt their minds. Unlike Chun Dong Ho, they didn’t say one thing and mean another. Thus, I knew that there would be no such things as smiling kindly in front of me and, at the same time, speaking ill of me behind my back.

In the first place, they were the people who didn’t even need to show a friendly smile to please someone they hated. So yeah, I could be doubtful of other people, but there was no need to become suspicious about the Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung’s minds. However…

“What is this…?”

“Donnie.”

“I mean, they could, at least, tell me the reason…”

Would it have killed them to tell me why they were behaving that way? Murmuring to myself, I soon swallowed my breath as the whispers from the students, walking past by me, got louder.

I quickly rubbed my eyes. Pressing my eyes firmly with my palm for a while, thankfully, I wasn’t able to shed tears.

‘My eyes wouldn’t have turned that red, right?’ Thinking that way, I took my palm off my eyes. The first thing that came into view was the pouring sky. I stared blankly at the sight.

I heard others murmuring. It got louder not because they caught me crying but due to the sudden rainfall.

“The forecast is wrong again. We screwed up Sports Day.”

“Yeah, but I understand. Look how clear the sky is.”

Another kid flung a question, “Now I come to think of it, isn’t there a term for this simultaneous rain and sunshine?’

I heard someone else replying, “Monkey’s birthday or a fox’s wedding?”

Meanwhile, Yeo Ryung grabbed my hand as if she felt concerned.

“Donnie, you really did nothing wrong.”

‘But to Eun Jiho, maybe I did,’ I swallowed my response that was left unspoken.

Ban Yeo Ryung looked like she wanted to stay with me together; however, today was Sports Day. No matter how much it rained, each class was busy with their own schedule.

Even when we arrived in front of Class 1-8, Ban Yeo Ryung didn’t release my hand. I kept saying, “I’m now fine.”

“But…” Hesitating for quite a while, Ban Yeo Ryung’s hand finally got off from mine. Waving at her, who was receding from me, I soon slid open the classroom door.

Yoon Jung In, who was talking loudly in the middle of the classroom, found me stepping into the space. He greeted me, “Hey, you’re here.”

Thankfully, he seemed to find no signs of myself crying just now. With a nod, I asked him dauntlessly, “How’s Sports Day going on in our class?”

“Ah, we were talking about it just now.” Replying that way, Yoon Jung In glanced around the kids and continued to speak, “The teachers would soon make an announcement. Since the schoolyard wouldn’t get dried until the afternoon due to the pouring rain, I guess everything we’re doing out there including the relay race might be all canceled.”

What the heck! We prepared so much! We could have won!! Amid the grumbling voices, Yoon Jung In clapped his hand to draw attention.

“We can still play dodgeball, basketball, or kickball in the gym, so those who’re participating in the games must stay inside the classroom. While others go outside and have fun, you guys should not.”

“Argh, that’s too unfair.”

While there were complaints all over the space, a loud metallic noise suddenly came out from the speaker. Hunching my shoulders in surprise, I heard other kids wondering, ‘What’s going on?’ Then the chief of school affairs made an announcement through the speaker as usual.

Class presidents and vice presidents in each class must come to the teachers’ room right now.

“Ah, there it goes. We’ll be back soon then.”

With that said, Yoon Jung In and Lee Mina jumped off from the desks and left the classroom together. Once they were gone, I sat between the Kim twins. As if they had quarreled earlier, the twins were looking at the opposite side with an empty seat between them.

The sky was still clear blue as if they had been water-colored, but the rain kept falling heavily from it. Watching that sight vacantly, I heard Kim Hye Hill murmuring in a low voice beside me.

“It feels like I’m daydreaming at the weekend.”

I just nodded at her remark still in a daze. It was exactly the same as how I was feeling right now. Touching my frizzy hair in the humid weather, I mumbled, “It’s a really weird day.”

I didn’t like rainy days that much. Even if it wasn’t always in a web novel, the weather in many fictions and films represented the female main character’s mind.

Well, things didn’t always happen on every rainy day, of course, but after much consideration, it was true that bad things had mostly occurred on a rainy day.

Besides, it wasn’t just pouring today. A bolt out of the blue… that was how I felt; therefore, I couldn’t get relived even more. Rambling those thoughts in mind, I disheveled my hair and then noticed a vibration in my pocket.

“Eh?”

Opening my flip phone with some slight expectation, my face soon tinged with disappointment. Gosh… However, Eun Jiho and I just bid farewell even in a very weird way, so it wasn’t strange that I had been looking forward to his text message.

I stared at my phone screen with mixed feelings; however, Eun Jiho and the other Four Heavenly Kings were still refusing to answer. Instead, the person, who sent me the message, was Yeo Dan oppa.

Sent by: Yeo Dan oppa

Don’t go anywhere else after school. Just wait for me at the back gate.

Sent by: Yeo Dan oppa

Make an excuse for cram school and just leave ASA

Reading the texts, my brows met in the middle. How could he send a message without finishing the sentence? It was a mistake he had seldom made.

What was going on for real? Having that thought in my head, I touched my phone. Kim Hye Hill’s question came over from beside me.

“Is he that oppa, your boyfriend?”

Alongside Kim Hye Hill, Kim Hye Woo was also looking at me. Resting his chin on his palm, he asked mischievously, “Why? Is he gonna bring an umbrella and pick you up?”

“Ah, come on. Stop teasing me.”

“Hey, he’s just your boyfriend. Haha!”

Even at Kim Hye Woo’s insignificant response, I pouted my lips. What he said was true, but the problem was Yeo Dan oppa and my relationship wasn’t real.

Turning my head to look at the phone screen again, I spoke to myself, ‘Well, but we’re still close next-door neighbors, so in terms of that relationship, he can come to my school and pick me up in the rain.’ I grabbed my phone with both hands and took it in front of my lips.

‘So please… please don’t let me think of any more useless things so that I could no longer give any special meanings to his actions,’ I mumbled like a prayer.

At that moment, Yoon Jung In, who left for the teachers’ room, just came in while opening the front door, so the conversation I had with the Kim twins discontinued. While I heaved a sigh of relief, Yoon Jung In shouted loudly while waving his hands, “Hey, we’re gonna have dodgeball, basketball, and kickball matches in the morning, and that’s it for today! All the students in freshman, sophomore, and senior year should gather in the gym.”

‘What? Oh my god.’ Yoon Jung In’s announcement dampened the kids’ ardor. Voices came out from all directions while their enthusiasm died down. Honestly, since we had come this far, I wanted to stay inside the classroom, watch some movies, and go home. What a bummer! I couldn’t hide my face showing those feelings.

However, at that moment, Yoon Jung In continued, “And in the afternoon, we’re gonna have regular classes.”

If the kids grumbled with some lingering feelings just now, everyone was now shrieking, ‘Urgh, what the hell! Are they insane!!??’ Then they soon shifted blame at Yoon Jung In.

“What were you doing when the teachers made that announcement? Didn’t you try stopping them?!”

“What could I say when even the seniors were staying calm?”

Now I had come to think of it, for the seniors, there wouldn’t be much different between holding Sports Day for the entire day and breaking the day into two split sessions: spending the day doing Sports Day events in the morning and taking regular classes in the afternoon for the seniors. No, it would be, instead, more beneficial to students who became more focused in school.

However, even if Yoon Jung In responded that way, the kids couldn’t hide how frustrated they were. Among those kids, I also shoved my head onto the desk and heaved a deep sigh. Nothing was working out today for sure.