.

Mina leaned over to me furtively, who was frowning, then asked, “That oppa… he isn’t really expressing his true feelings, huh?”

“He doesn’t; he can’t,” I uttered. Heaving a small sigh, I added, “Well, I thought that I was aware of him having been born that way since I had seen him from a very long time. However, maybe it’s different after becoming a couple.”

“Hey, of course, it is. It must be different. So…”

“Huh?”

Bending herself backward, Mina put her elbows on the locker and leaned against it. She asked, “So, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna tell him?”

“Huh? Uh… well… I have no idea,” I replied while resting my chin on my palm and looking up at the ceiling. I continued, “Anyway, he’s indeed a senior, so I don’t want to distract him. As I’ve mentioned before, that’s Yeo Dan oppa’s character, which isn’t incomprehensible… and basically, he’s a sweet guy.”

Mina replied, “Really? Well, it’s up to you, but be careful. You might think that those won’t linger in your mind, but before you even know, they do pile on top of one another inside you.”

“Pile on top of one another inside me?”

“If you don’t take care of your feelings while being a generous princess to him, you’ll suddenly go through an explosion of emotion,” said Mina.

Being absentminded for a second, I looked back on what she just said. My heart wouldn’t be that big than I thought…

Disheveling her hair annoyingly, Mina continued her words.

“Well, Yoon Jung In is usually very talkative, but he tries to read my mind out of the blue and suddenly asks me like, ‘Are you upset?’ There’s nothing I have to be upset about in that situation, but if I become quiet for a while, he behaves like that somehow.”

“Huh? Oh…” I murmured.

“Ah, so I tell him that everything’s fine but he doesn’t believe it at all and keeps asking me to stop being angry. Yoon Jung In then throws some stupid jokes to make me smile, which annoys me a little sometimes… However, he doesn’t make me feel anxious or concerned about if he hates me or not.”

The view of Yoon Jung In that Mina was explaining seemed to be illustrated in my sight. She slightly burst into laughter.

Well, Yoon Jung In looked like he would be such a sweet guy to his girlfriend. Besides, it was correct that he tried to read other’s countenance while being a little shy unlike his confident and cheerful character. Especially, when it came to the person he had a crush on, Yoon Jung In would, even more, behave that way.

I switched my gaze to Mina again. She was shaking her head.

“Whether they express their feelings too much or never do it at all… it matters either way. Uh, so exhausting,” she uttered, then all of a sudden, Mina lifted her head and dropped a question with a glow in her eyes.

“Hey, should we have a girl’s hangout after the mock exam today? You said that you have nothing to do after school too.”

“What?”

“The three of us, you, me, and Kim Hye Hill, let’s just have some girls talk. You know like things about those that we can’t usually talk about when there are boys around us…”

“What can’t you talk about?”

I turned my head in surprise upon a sudden voice intervening in our conversation. Checking out who it was, I soon heaved a sigh. Yoon Jung In was sticking out his head beside Mina with a nonchalant look on his face. Watching him acting that way, Mina had a tantrum.

“ARGH! Yoon Jung In!” she shouted.

He whined, “How can you go somewhere without me? It’s been a while to finish school early today. I’m so sad…”

Watching Yoon Jung In talking that way half-whiningly and half-seriously at the same time with downcast eyes, I took a step behind stealthily.

As if Mina also read some solemn vibe from Yoon Jung In’s voice, she looked a little bewildered. Listening to her making some excuses such as, ‘No, I mean…’ something like that, I quickly finked out.

Anyway, I didn’t want to get in trouble between these couple, so I was like, ‘They’ll figure it out,’ then returned to my seat. Instead of studying, I just rested my chin on my palm and was lost in thought again.

“Expressing true feelings…”

Honestly, I didn’t expect Yeo Dan oppa to show me his sincere thoughts or emotions since I was aware of the type of person he was.

Besides, even if he never put his feelings into words, I could still trust Yeo Dan oppa because he wasn’t such a person who could continue getting along with someone he hated.

Thus, I thought that I should be able to believe him.

But why…

“Why am I feeling sick?” I murmured in a low voice then touched my empty pocket dissatisfiedly.

I felt so resentful today that the teachers had collected our phones already ahead of the test. Well, even though my phone was in my hand, I wasn’t actually sure that a new message would have arrived.

While my stomach felt knotted, the teacher of the first class came into the classroom, at last, with a brown envelope in his arms instead of a roll book. The mock exam then began.

Taking a deep breath, I shoved my nose onto the test sheet.

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When I saw Ban Hwee Hyul’s face at lunchtime, I burst into the biggest laughter of the day. Even the Kim twins laughed their heads off while looking at Ban Hwee Hyul’s cheek.

Kim Hye Woo said with a giggle, “You have 2π on your cheek.”

“2π?”

“The number nine question of the math test.”

Just as what Kim Hye Woo said, a big graph featured in the number nine question of the math test was clearly printed on Ban Hwee Hyul’s cheek.

The Kim twins kept laughing about how neatly and precisely the printed content on the test sheet could be transferred to his face.

Laughing so insanely after them, I soon realized something. ‘Hold on, was the answer 2π? Gosh, I’m wrong then!’

Anyway, the Kim twins continued teasing Ban Hwee Hyul even though they put me into confusion. Ban Hwee Hyul would have become annoyed to the Kim twins for that reason; however, instead of losing his temper, he just rubbed his face nonchalantly.

That looked like a bear washing its face near a spring deep inside the woods… ‘No, I promised myself not to you this metaphor anymore,’ I spoke in my thoughts while shaking my head.

At that moment, the Kim twins stopped laughing and turned around to look at me.

“Oh, Yoon Jung In asked us earlier to let’s go hang out in town after finish taking the exam.”

I asked, “What?”

“We’ve heard that you also don’t have any schedule after school today.”

“Uh… yeah, it’s true, but…” I slurred the end of my sentence.

Actually, spending time with Ban Yeo Ryung and the Four Heavenly Kings had always been my schedule after school on the exam day. However, ever since I had been dating with Yeo Dan oppa, he took up the rest of my exam day afterward.

The reason why they didn’t ask me what I would be doing after school was that they might have already thought that Yeo Dan oppa and I would go out. Thus, if they got to be aware that I had spent time with other kids, Ban Yeo Ryung and the boys would definitely feel a little upset.

I observed the look on the twins’ faces. My mind reeled at their eyes full of expectation. Besides, we had been in the same class for two straight years.

In the end, I nodded and replied, “Okay, fine.”

“Wow, really? What happened?” asked Kim Hye Woo with a look of surprise while suddenly changing his facial expression. I gently slapped his arm.

“Hey, you told me to join you guys, didn’t you?”

Kim Hye Woo uttered, “I mean, you usually didn’t hang out with us even though we asked you several times. Though I suggested you this time again, I never thought that you would accept it.”

Changing the look on his face again all of a sudden, he spoke seriously, “This feels like… something like that…”

I wondered, ‘Something like that?’

“It’s like stepping into a very expensive fine restaurant, which I can’t even dare to think of dining in there, with all my money. Once I check the menu, all the foods are on sale that they are even cheaper than a hamburger,” he replied.

“Hey, you’re teasing me that I’m acting cheap and easy, huh?”

Speaking that way, I slightly kicked the back of Kim Hye Woo’s knees, which made him bounce on the balls of his feet exaggeratingly.

Kim Hye Hill looked askance at her brother as if he deserved that. She then diverted her gaze onto Ban Hwee Hyul. It seemed like something suddenly flashed through her head.