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nBan Yeo Ryung seemed to have been confused with my recent behavior since she was appropriately spacing the words in her text. She might be feeling a distance from me. Ban Yeo Ryung was anxious about even the minor change in my mood.

nThis brilliant girl still remembered the change I made when we were freshmen in middle school. She was afraid if I was trying to get away from her like that again.

nAs I read her text out loud, a weak thought came across my head out of the blue.

nI closed my flip phone and placed it on my chest as if holding it for prayer. A few moments had passed since I lied like that on my bed.

nI wanted to say, ‘promise me,’ to Ban Yeo Ryung and the four boys. ‘Would you promise me you will never turn back and leave me?’ It was what I wanted to ask them. Ever since I realized everything was a novel, I had these concerns that hardly diminished from my head.

nWould they leave me once the novel was over? If they had broken the spell, would they leave my side after a few blinks? These concerns would never leave my head.

nThat was because they seemed like they were people from a completely different world, and I always had a hard time seeing the possibility of being friends with them.

nI grabbed my phone tightly then threw it somewhere at the bedside. Then I laid myself on the bed, pulling up the blanket nervously over my face. Still, I could not sleep.

nAlthough I was suffering from unbearable anxiety, I could not send such a text to them. That was because my inferiority complex provoked this matter of insecurity within me.

nI should just go to sleep. I shut my eyes tight out of melancholy. It was a day where I enjoyed eating delicious food and got to meet Yeo Dan oppa as well; however, it was still a gloomy day.

nI had a dream about Yi Ruda. She boasted about her angel-like blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and her slender body like in our real life.

nWhat she was wearing was a white toga from the Roman Empire, so she looked genderless.

nSurrounded by pitch darkness, she was walking straight along a bright path that looked like a line, which was the only path existing for her. I sat down from a distance, staring at her moves and fell into thought.

nWas there really a fate given to a person? Was it so firmly fixed and well-organized in a well-written novel that nothing could change it?

nThen what were we struggling to change? If our efforts would all be in vain, would it be a blessing or a curse?

nI thought that things would be graspable, but no matter how hard I tried, that thing would never belong to me… The one that came across my mind at the end was Yoo Chun Young’s face.

nThat summer, the image of Yoo Chun Young and I sitting alongside under the tree and staring at the schoolyard overlapped the scene wherein Yi Ruda was walking along the path.

nOh, dreams were such strange things. In real life, I tried so hard to forget about it, and I was not even smart enough to remember all the details of that scenery; however, the image I recalled from my dream was more specific than reality.

nI saw Yoo Chun Young’s exhausted face that day. His lip was moving at the same speed, bringing out the same words as he did that day.

n“It’s that… you seemed to have no interest in me.”

nHe then remained silent for a moment. At that time, I was just staring at him and was not aware of what he was saying. Not only now but also during that time, he truly had something that would draw people’s eyes to him.

nI felt the clear line from his forehead around my finger; I turned my head to see what it was and found Yoo Chun Young’s hand right next to mine.

nA short distance from the length of my knuckle. If I stretch out my finger further, it would really reach his finger.

nRight next to my pinky, there was Yoo Chun Young’s. His finger was long and pale.

n“That’s why I like you.”

nThe sweet words falling out from his lip was the same as before; however, it made me feel sad as always.

nOur relationship had already ended before it even started. The only path that would come across the complete darkness… I was sure that our relationship would never change.

nI brought back the words I mumbled almost like a cry.

n“It is a good thing that I don’t like you.”

nI hope for now and forever…

nThe last words I spoke sunk into tears. Yoo Chun Young who was inside my dream looked like a stuffed statue, frozen still so I could memorize the most beautiful moment in my life. I was just gazing at the side of his innocent and bright face in silence. Then everything around us became distorted and what appeared back was the scenery of Yi Ruda walking through her path.

nIt was apparently a tragedy that nothing would change regardless of my efforts. At least, for those who could not have the privileges I got such as the extras inside the novel, their lives were indeed a tragedy.

nArticle 7. How Come The Fortune-Teller Here is So Brilliant? Are You a Seer?

nOne of the common subject matters that appear in web novels or TV dramas was the occult.

nFrom a long time ago, we had heard about this from the stories of dream interpretations. For instance, a dream of a pig meant money would come, a dream of a dragon showed a stroke of luck in buying a lottery or something like that.

nWe often heard about people having prophetic dreams. The mysteries of dreams were a usual topic among us during our school years.

nNot only dreams but also fortune-telling frequently appeared in TV dramas and novels. You know, those fortune-tellers or shamans who foresee people’s futures with their special skills.

nStrangely, none had spoken about the accuracy of the tarot cards and none had heard that what the fortune-tellers had said was completely correct. In novels, however, a fortune-teller’s words were like a revelation of God.

nIf one were inside a novel and a psychic said, ‘Your boyfriend will not live long! Go find another man!’ with glaring eyes, one should definitely look for another guy.

nOf course, although I said these things, there was no way for one to find out if they were living inside a novel.

nThe reason why I was wasting this page, babbling on the occult was to explain this tremendous anxiety I had in mind. I apologize for the long intro.

nOkay, so what happened for the last few days? Let’s talk about that from here on.

nAfter encountering Yi Ruda in the Chinese restaurant, a few days passed and then, it wasWednesday, March 12th. Of course, there were March 8th, 9th and so on, but allow me to explain why I had pointed out March 12th specifically.

nThe first reason I had was that March 12th was the historical day of when I had taken my first mock exam in high school; second, it was the first time Ban Yeo Ryung had received a love confession as a high school student.

nOh, stop thinking that the guy was in such a hurry for confessing his love nine days after the entrance ceremony. I didn’t think he was in a hurry at all. That was because, in middle school, Ban Yeo Ryung had received a love confession from a boy on her first day of school as a freshman.

nAt that time, I was standing next to her with a stupid look on my face because I could not grasp the situation properly. While looking at the scene, I seemed to be thinking, ‘Oh lord, the world is going insane. I should escape from this world ASAP.’

nIf that attempt was successful, I would not be here; unfortunately, I was still with Ban Yeo Ryung in this school. I’m just saying.

nBack to Ban Yeo Ryung’s story, she dealt with the confession on March 12th frigidly. As she had already refused hundreds of love confessions before; Ban Yeo Ryung said to the boy with a nonchalant face.

n“Sorry.”

nThat happening occurred in the empty classroom of Class 1-1, where all the students left after the mock exam. Near the backdoor, there were the five of us, attached to the wall so we could eavesdrop on their conversation better.

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