.

Looking at the school entrance where students were still pouring inside, I uttered, “three more minutes, no, just five more minutes.”

‘Do you know how new students are ranked? The one who shouts, ‘Aja! Aja! Way to Go! Fighting!’ is the Number 2; a kid who behaves haughtily while saying, ‘The Four Heavenly Kings? What the heck is that?’ and walks back on his or her own road is Number 1. Lastly, a girl who climbs over a wall while running late to school but bumps into a boy who’s underneath and happens to kiss him is Number 0!’

The moment I tried to drop that remark, two long vans pulled over in front of the school entrance glidingly. All the students who walked past the entrance while chattering excitedly soon threw their glances in that direction.

The black van door opened, at last, and some boys with colorful hairs came out.

Who would they be? The Four Heavenly Kings. Watching them taking a step forward through the split crowds that looked like the Miracles of Moses and the parting of the Red Sea, I realized again that they were indeed the main characters here.

The students emitted explosive responses.

“They’re the Four Heavenly Kings!”

“How come the four boys came to school together?”

“Lord Jiho is so cool!”

“No matter what others say, I stan Lord Eun Hyung!”

As if I was now used to those narrations, they sounded very familiar. At first, those words seemed very cringy to hear, but now it felt quite strange without those overreactions.

The Four Heavenly Kings got off quite far in a distance from us; besides, since so many crowds were around them, thankfully, they weren’t able to find us here. Aside from myself asking them to keep being good friends also in our sophomore year, I still wanted to avoid attention.

Besides, there was another critical reason that I found very fortunate about those boys not being able to see us standing here. The appearing scene of the Four Heavenly Kings was very useful to grasp those whom I had to keep my eye on among the new students.

My eyes began to glance around the frozen crowds. I wondered if there was a girl who fell down on the ground while being swept along in the crowds. Wouldn’t the Four Heavenly Kings hold her hands to get back up then? Or wouldn’t there exist the Four Heavenly King’s first love?

Even some kids who murmured nonchalantly, ‘The Four Heavenly Kings? I said I’m not interested in those,’ while looking down at their word list to memorize vocabularies were worth keeping my eye on.

Someone then tapped my shoulders from behind me.

“Hey, Ham Donnie, long time no see.”

I seemed to get who this person was but didn’t respond. Regardless of my reaction, the voice kept clamoring, “Hey, did you attend cram school in the last week of the break? Why didn’t I see you there? When I asked other kids, everyone said that you came to the class. Hey, did you avoid me then?”

“Ah, hold on,” I waved my hand dismissively toward the back and concentrated again on the school entrance. ‘Since it’s an important scene now, would you please keep your mouth shut?’ I said in my thoughts.

Then at the moment, another voice returned.

“Donnie, I had so many things to talk about to you during the break, but strangely, I wasn’t able to keep in touch with you.”

The boy’s voice rang clearly in my ears that I was also sure this time who he was.

He continued, “I mean, rather than not being able to reach out to you, I could have, of course, contact you, but for some reason, I wasn’t able to even conceive the idea of doing that. Now I come to think of it, I have no idea why that happened. Anyway, I did have something to tell you…”

“Hold on for a sec. I have something to watch,” I replied determinedly still without looking back. A wondering voice then came back from behind me.

“Something to watch? You mean, those boys coming to school? Aren’t they your friends? Why would you…?”

“SHHH.”

At that moment, something finally happened.

A white thing fell down in front of the four boys who were bending their steps relaxedly while sharing some conversations like actors in a film set despite the pouring attention from the crowds. It was none other than a handkerchief.

The moment when the Four Heavenly Kings paused their steps shortly and the whole space became quiet, someone cried out in the middle of the crowd.

“Ah! The handkerchief I got as a present from my parents for entering high school!”

A girl who looked like a freshman stepped forward with tearful eyes. Watching that sight, I opened my eyes wide.

‘I mean it! It’s finally happening!’ I said to myself. ‘Then, is that girl the dark horse of this year?’

That was truly possible. Since the handkerchief fell down in front of them, the Four Heavenly Kings wouldn’t be able to just ignore and walk past it. And if the boys picked it up for her, they would naturally initiate a conversation such as, ‘Is this handkerchief yours?’ ‘Yes, thanks,’ something like that.

Once that thing took place, the girl, who got back her stuff, would ask, ‘Since I feel so thankful, do you mind if I can serve you something?’ They would then begin to grab lunch or dinner together; keeping it on, they could develop into a relationship that both could eat together as a couple forever…

‘They say that’s how a greenlight works between man and woman. Even I never knew that Yeo Dan oppa and I would become a couple instead of remaining as next-door neighbors forever. Watching each other’s faces for years can provoke a change of heart!’ That was when my face stiffened as I rambled such things in mind.

A moment after, one of the Four Heavenly Kings moved, at last. It was Eun Hyung, the most gentlemen among the four boys who had signature red hair and a warmhearted smile. Showing a bewildered grin on his face, Eun Hyung soon stretched out his hand to pick up the handkerchief. At that moment, something unexpected happened.

A thing flew over the handkerchief all of a sudden. It was a gold necklace.

Another voice came out from the crowds.

“Oh! The gold chain my mom gave me as a freshman present!”

And this time, a watch flew over and dropped near the four boys’ feet.

“Eek! The watch I got from my cousin as a gift entering this school!”

I thought for a moment, ‘Are these freshmen gifts okay to be deserved this way?”

Having that as a starting point, the Four Heavenly Kings gave up to pick up all kinds of gifts such as necklace, watch, handkerchief, and bag showering from all directions. They quietly turned their steps.

A bag then struck Eun Jiho’s nape.

“Yikes! The bag my mom’s mother in law’s cousin gave me as a present…!!”

Hiding in the crowds, Ban Yeo Ryung and I threw a complicated glance at the four boys leaving the spot. Someone behind us then said something. It was Yoon Jung In, who initiated a conversation with me earlier.

“Glad they aren’t the Eight Heavenly Kings.”

“…”

“Let’s say the Eight Heavenly Kings exist which include the Kim twins, Shin Suh Hyun, and me. We could have faced those things on every opening ceremony…”

I couldn’t deny but just nod.

Then I also greeted Yi Ruda who had been standing behind me from a while ago.

“Hi, Ruda. It’s really a long time no see.”

“Ah, yeah,” he replied while putting on a sour face. He asked, “But what were you doing just now? Why are you watching those bastards coming to school…?”

“Um, just…” I just smiled aimlessly.

While the Four Heavenly Kings were coming to school, I was planning to find the dark horse among the new students. However, getting to, unexpectedly, watch a documentary called, ‘The Unfortunate Opening Ceremony of the Four Heavenly Kings,’ I also felt odd.

Anyway, those boys all left the spot, right? If they found us here and said hi, that would be a big problem. Observing cautiously in the direction where the Four Heavenly Kings had disappeared, I confirmed that none of the colorful heads were coming into view. That was when I could bend my steps again.

The four of us, Ban Yeo Ryung, me, Yoon Jung In, and Yi Ruda, then began to share a conversation. I had wondered how the combination between Ban Yeo Ryung and Yoon Jung In would work, but even without me, they seemed to talk to each other smoothly.

Well, going through so many things, Yoon Jung In became someone like Eun Jiho to Ban Yeo Ryung. In other words, they both looked seemingly perfect, popular, and quite strict in having personal relationships, which others could think that it was quite difficult to approach them. However, once people got to know them, the two boys were just innocent idiots…

Anyway, Yoon Jung In had Lee Mina beside him; he wasn’t a kid who would behave something that Ban Yeo Ryung hated. Thus, I loosened up my mind and turned my head toward Yi Ruda.

“Ruda, now I come to think of it, didn’t you say something to me earlier?” I asked.

He replied, “Uh-huh. You know I tried to reach out to you in the last week of the break, but strangely it didn’t work. I mean, precisely saying, I definitely thought several times to call you but got to forget about it before I even knew…”

“Oh…”

“In the end, it’s true that I wasn’t able to keep in touch with you, but it was really strange,” said Yi Ruda. ‘I still can’t get what’s going on…’ Murmuring that way, Yi Ruda rubbed his hair like a cat.

I just watched him with a complicated glance.