.
The fact that the kids were concerned about her meant that they believed the rumor, which turned out to be these kids thinking about Donnie as… Ban Yeo Ryung closed her eyes with that thought in mind. She tried to come down herself and spoke to the boys.
“No worries. I don’t believe that kind of gossips.”
“What? But there is proof!”
Choi Yuri looked somehow puzzled.
“Proof? It was just a firm belief. It depends on how you think.”
With that said, Ban Yeo Ryung had to straighten her voice to prevent a leak of roar. ‘It’s true that things depend on how we think. We tend to believe what we want to believe without considering the person directly involved,’ she thought.
Regardless of Ban Yeo Ryung’s calm remark, it was quite visible that the kids were talking about such things. Girls whispered to each other and some glanced at Ban Yeo Ryung. She could read their lips saying, ‘Ham Donnie,’ ‘Ban Yeo Ryung,’ ‘the Four Heavenly Kings…’ One of their voices then reached her ears.
“How can she do such things like that to get closer to the Four Heavenly Kings? What a crazy bitch!”
The voice was so obviously aggressive that Ban Yeo Ryung turned her head in a flash. Covering her mouth, a girl was looking at her in a pale face as if she also thought her voice was too loud.
Yoon Chun Young stepped forward but Eun Jiho grabbed his arm. Both actions took place in an instant. It happened so fast that no one even noticed their movements except for those close to them. As Yoo Chun Young scowled at Eun Jiho with his blue eyes, Eun Jiho shook his head.
“Don’t,” Eun Jiho said in a voice so low and determined that no one around them could hear.
Woo Jooin, behind them, nodded silently in agreement. ‘Eun Jiho is surely better than Yoo Chun Young when it comes to grasping the flow of emotion among people,’ Woo Jooin murmured to himself.
He then said, “People gossip about mama that she is the girl who used Ban Yeo Ryung to get closer to us. If we step forward to side with mama, what would happen?”
His remark made Yoo Chun Young glance at Eun Jiho and Woo Jooin one after another. Yoo Chun Young then twisted his wrist to get out of the grip. ‘Yoo Chun Young may be poor at calculating such things because he doesn’t know anything about schemes, but he is never bad at brains,’ Woo Jooin felt relieved and turned his head. He heard Kwon Eun Hyung murmuring aside from him.
“Clever. We couldn’t intervene in such gossip like this.”
This time, Eun Jiho nodded his head. They all went back to their seats then. It was time to get ready for class.
Woo Jooin looked around the classroom with his textbook opened on his desk. His eyes then paused on Choi Yuri, who was sitting next to Ban Yeo Ryung and kept talking something to her in a friendly face. Ban Yeo Ryung displayed a sign of uncomfortableness in her eyes. Woo Jooin then narrowed his eyes.
After cooling down themselves, Kwon Eun Hyung and Yoo Chun Young looked unexpectedly nonchalant. Although the gossip spread out like this, it was just a firm belief, as Ban Yeo Ryung said before; therefore, it wouldn’t last long without any clear evidence. Besides, none of them in Ham Donnie’s class trusted the rumor. ‘If we don’t mind, it will be quickly forgotten,’ the kids in her class seemed to regard it like that.
‘Would it really be?’ Woo Jooin thought then called Eun Jiho, sitting in front, in a low voice.
“Jiho.”
“Huh?”
“I can’t let it go like this. We should hurry up.”
‘I have no idea what will go further if we stay silent,’ with that thought in mind, Woo Jooin looked back at Choi Yuri. He then put a cold grin on his lips again.
After school, Eun Jiho stopped his driver in front of Woo Jooin’s house. He opened the black Mercedes door. Behind him, there followed Woo Jooin with a face full of smile.
The weather was too hot and humid to stay dry. Eun Jiho swept his silver hair back and looked at Woo Jooin. They both stepped into Woo Jooin’s house then.
It was a decent two-story house. On the 2nd floor, there were Woo Jooin’s room and his father’s workroom. Jooin’s room had a slanted roof and opened ceiling without an attic, so the light poured through the tilted window, which brightened the whole space.
As Woo Jooin sat down on his computer chair while throwing his bag somewhere, Eun Jiho did the same. He then perched on Jooin’s bed.
“Dude, but it’s none other than, Naver, the number one portal site in Korea. How can someone hack such a huge website like that?” Eun Jiho said.
Woo Jooin blinked his eyes and bent a soft grin to him. He then pressed a number on his phone to call somewhere. Putting the phone on his ear, he opened his mouth.
“You know how many there are who work in the computer industry? They aren’t hacking Naver because they can’t. When four experts gather and take about 10 minutes, it’s a piece of cake to hack that website.”
“What? But why is it rarely hacked?”
“5 minutes.”
With that said, Woo Jooin opened and spread his fingers. ‘5 minutes?’ Eun Jiho asked back in a bitter tone with a blink.
Folding his fingers, Woo Jooin replied, “You know what IP is, right? It’s like an internet address of the person who accesses the website. No matter how many times they detour their IPs to Chinese servers by using programs or VPNs, they can avoid getting caught for only 5 minutes. Get it?”
“That means…”
“Penetrating security, hacking, and disappearing without a trace should be done within 5 minutes.”
His words made Eun Jiho turn pale. Even without that much of computer information, it still didn’t seem simple and easy at all. Eun Jiho asked back.
“Is there anyone on Earth who’s available for that?”
“There is… but those who have those abilities were already on the wanted list.”
“Then how do we find such a person and ask for hacking?”
“Luckily, I know someone who has that ability but still not listed as wanted.”
“Who is it?”
“Bee.”
It was such a word out of the blue. Instead of questioning back, Eun Jiho slightly furrowed. He thought, ‘Bee? Did he just say, bee?’
Outside the window, the sky was cloudlessly bright and no bees were flying around; therefore, Woo Jooin wouldn’t be talking literally about a bee. Only one occasion was left then.
“Woo Bee? You mean, your cousin?” Eun Jiho immediately responded while feeling dumbfounded.
“Yeah, Woo Bee, Sanny hyeong’s little sister.”
Woo Jooin then put a refreshing smile on his face as he usually did.
Eun Jiho, of course, knew who Woo Jooin’s cousin, Woo San, was. He looked scary from childhood but tried to stay low during middle school; however, after he entered high school, just because a senior picked a fight with him, he beat him to death, defeated every fighter who challenged him, and conquered the entire school. When Eun Jiho heard that news, he just murmured in a terrified face, ‘I knew that bro would be like that someday.’ Woo Jooin, at that time, also smiled back as an agreement.
When it came to Woo San’s sister, Woo Bee, however, nothing was that memorable. She was two years younger than Woo San, so she might be sixteen right now. She had a quiet personality and hated guys, so the only thing Eun Jiho remembered about her was that the fierce gaze she had at him as if saying, ‘Get lost except for Jooin oppa,’ while hiding behind the door.
Rolling his eyeballs, Eun Jiho spoke to Jooin.
“Geez, every time I walked past her room, she was always typing something, so I thought she was playing a game or so.”
Woo Jooin then replied in a smiling face.
“She would probably be programming or hacking something. You know, Bee successfully hacked Naver when she was fifteen. She didn’t try twice in a row while fearing how dangerous it could get, but now it’s over a year, so she says it’s fine.’
“What is with your family? What are they all doing? Are they all like aliens or so?” Eun Jiho asked back in a pale face.
Before Woo Jooin was about to reply something, a drowsy voice came over from the phone that he was holding.
[Jooin oppa?]
“Hi, Bee.”
[Hey, oppa. Is it because of that thing?]
“Yeah, I would like to ask you about that. I tried to do it when you have enough time… but the situation is going a bit off. Do you mind?”
[Of course, not! I already prepared everything as you spoke about it recently.]
“Thanks, Bee. Oh, by the way, Jiho is right beside me. Do you want to say hello?”
[No.]
Her cold voice rang their ears immediately.
