.

They whispered, “I get that he’s Yi Ruda, but how can Woo Joo In also laugh like crazy even in that situation…?”

“Anyways, don’t we have to stop him from doing that to Woo Jooin?”

Amid the small noise, Woo Jooin, fixing his gaze at Yi Ruda, detached his lips all of a sudden.

“See? I know mama very well.”

“Finished leaving a will?” asked Yi Ruda.

Woo Jooin, however, showed a swiveling smile. He uttered, “Do you want to know why mama refused your plan?”

Wondering about the reason for a second, Yi Ruda then let go Woo Jooin’s collar from his grip. Just as Woo Jooin barely put his feet on the floor, he cleared his throat then spread his crumpled collar.

“Did she ever tell you why?” asked Woo Jooin.

“Kind of… a little…”

Woo Jooin asked back, “What did she say?”

Scowling at the floor while remaining silent, Yi Ruda finally opened his mouth.

“… If I proceed with the plan, Hwang Siwoo will only learn, ‘I must not backbite or criticize sunbaes,’ instead of thinking like, ‘I must never harass or humiliate weak kids,’ but, first of all, she was also concerned about throwing Hwang Siwoo to his sunbaes filled with anger.”

Woo Jooin nodded, “Everything sounds correct. Anything else?”

“Everyone agreed to her, so that was the end of the conversation,” replied Yi Ruda. Lifting his head up, frowning, he added, “Didn’t you expect the same reason?”

“Nah, I have a different one.”

Yi Ruda asked, “What is it then?”

Woo Jooin leaned against the staircase banister with a smile. “It’s because of you,” he replied.

Yi Ruda’s eyes widened at the unexpected response. Furrowing his brows as much as he could, Yi Ruda roared, “Hey, I told you to stop playing. You really trying to argue with me?”

“No way. I’m not saying that mama hates you, hyeong,” said Woo Jooin, waving his hand exaggeratingly. Smiling, he continued, “The plan you presented… there is no consideration about yourself in that.”

“…”

A moment of silence swept the space. Opening his mouth to say something, Yi Ruda, however, just closed it back then narrowed his blue eyes to glare at Woo Jooin.

He blurted out, “Explain it to me.”

“Let’s say your plan turned out to be successful, and therefore, Hwang Siwoo left this school and transferred to somewhere else or so, but what would your position become in class afterward?”

Yi Ruda’s brows met in the middle at Woo Jooin’s response. He asked himself, ‘What would I become in the class afterward?’

As if he was being self-conscious of the people around them, Woo Jooin lowered his voice.

“Your insight is correct that once you’ve successfully dealt with Hwang Siwoo, other things will just flow into each other. In preparation for Hwang Siwoo disagreeing with outcomes by any chance, it was great that you’ve encouraged betting and cut that possibility off.”

Yi Ruda quietly nodded.

Woo Jooin kept on speaking, “Above all, the best thing about your plan is that without taking direct action, we can simply eliminate Hwang Siwoo. Even if something happens, there’s nothing for us to be blamed for.”

He then lowered his voice, even more, saying, “But let’s say things go well that way, and the situation is all cleared out. Once the class atmosphere returns to normal, will you be able to blend into that vibe? You’ve befriended Hwang Siwoo intentionally in order to eliminate his existence in class; you’ve even used a voice recorder to collect proof of such remarks disadvantageous to him. In the end, you’re like snitching on him to his close sunbaes.”

“…”

“In the back of their minds, everyone will be reluctant to get along with you. In other words, you’re becoming a total villain while you’ve done such good things to them.”

Yi Ruda uttered, “I don’t care about those things. Whether the rest of the kids in the class think of me that way or not.”

Throwing a glance to the staircase they had just walked past by, Woo Jooin replied, “Yeah, that’s true since if you’ve minded other people backbiting about you, you wouldn’t have used the plan of befriending Hwang Siwoo in the first place.”

Yi Ruda dropped a question with a sincere look of wonder.

“Then what’s the problem? I told you I’d be fine.”

“But it’s still painful to watch someone she likes getting blamed you know… although the person has expected that to happen.”

Yi Ruda’s ears reddened in a flash. Without missing the chance, Woo Jooin responded apathetically.

“Hyeong, that wasn’t what I meant. Mama has a boyfriend.”

“… I… I know that too!” Yi Ruda shouted while hiding his ears in his hands.

Looking at his reaction, Woo Jooin showed a smile then leaned back against the banister. He uttered, “Anyway, I’m clearly aware of what you’ve been missing in your plan and which part is going wrong. I made the same mistakes before, which mama blamed me about as well. So hyeong, you must also consider your safety and reputation…”

Refusing to listen to the end of Woo Jooin’s advice, Yi Ruda covered his ears and ran up the stairs that way.

Watching him receding with lightning speed, Woo Jooin smiled timidly. As he was left alone that way, Woo Jooin didn’t grin exaggeratingly as he did earlier. Shrugging just a few times, Woo Jooin shoved his hands in his pocket then tried to take a step forward.

That was when someone descending the stairs in a hurry bumped into his shoulders; however, it was that person who tumbled down on the floor.

Woo Jooin looked at the girl who collapsed on the floor with interest in his eyes. He was also not that big or robust––only when comparing him to the folks always staying together and hanging out with him––but the girl in front of him was too petite.

She didn’t seem to reach even 150cm; although she hid herself in a thick hoodie, he could tell that she was seemingly skinny.

Staring down at her, Woo Jooin soon flinched at her words that slipped out of her pouting pale lips.

“Would you please let go… my hands…?”

“Uh, my bad… you were almost tumbling down, so…” replying that way, Woo Jooin looked at the girl’s face right in front of him.

He was definitely aware of himself having a good impression since he’d been hearing that numerous times ever since he was born. Almost no one could speak badly or dare to spit at him if he boasted his killer smile. Only a very limited few, those who were able to guess his true intention, such as Eun Jiho or Yi Ruda rarely swore or struck a retort at him.

When Yi Ruda flashed through his mind, Woo Jooin frowned again. ‘Geez, I hate someone who resembles me too much,’ he muttered.

Thinking of Yi Ruda, Woo Jooin felt intimate as if they were blood ties, but on the other hand, he became uncomfortable as if he had seen an awful reflection of himself in a rough-surfaced mirror.

Woo Jooin examined the girl again. Anyway, he had never thought himself having a bad impression, but her face was pale like a sheet of paper or a bunny that encountered a lion. Just as he realized that her wrist was slightly trembling in his grip, Woo Jooin quickly released her hand.

Rubbing the part that Woo Jooin just grabbed, the girl kept repeating, ‘Thank you, thank you so much.’

That was an incomprehensible sight, and at the same time, quite pathetic to watch, so Woo Jooin threw a question.

“You’re a freshman, right?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah.”

It wasn’t a special question, but why was she flinching in surprise? Thinking that way, Woo Jooin clicked his tongue. He uttered, “If you’re like that because I was with a fierce-looking, blonde hair sunbae just now, don’t get too frightened since I’m not a scary person at all.”

“Uh… yeah…”

“For real. I’m not someone who gets mad when people bump into me in the hallway you know.”

Even though he thought that he had explained it to her kindheartedly, the girl still looked pale and just repeated, “Uh, yeah…” which made Woo Jooin feel quite sick of such a reaction.

Glancing around, he found that there were still a lot of people around the stairs.

‘If things keep going this way, people will gossip about me that I’m a mean sunbae to hoobaes. Perhaps it’s better to just leave asap.’ Heaving a sigh, Woo Jooin turned around. He said, “Then see you around.”

“Yeah, bye… See you around.”

Even when bidding that short farewell, her tongue seemed to slip a couple of times. Wondering if she was usually stammering when she spoke, Woo Jooin climbed up the rest of the stairs.

Once he finished going upstairs, a new thought entered his head all of a sudden. He looked at the staircase he just walked up.

The view of her back, which looked like a middle school girl with a dull purple hoodie over her head, was gradually receding from him. According to the way she wore that outfit, the girl might be sensitive to cold or a shy character.

Staring at her appearance from behind, Woo Jooin murmured, “Weird. She looks familiar though…”

If there was a problem, it would be Woo Jooin rarely forgetting someone’s face after an encounter. He, however, was now saying, ‘She looks familiar,’ not even ‘I’ve seen her before.’ Where did this memory derive from then? Woo Jooin rubbed his chin.

Even if it was Woo Jooin, he couldn’t remember every person walking past him in the streets. Perhaps, he had bumped into the girl a few times since they might live nearby the neighborhood. If not, then…

“Maybe I saw only a part of her covered face…”

Thinking to that extent, Woo Jooin came to a sudden stop.