.
[To: Kwon Eun Hyung
Eun Hyung, which one looks the best?]
Eun Hyung, who was also the most morning person I had ever known, sent me an immediate response.
[Sent by: Kwon Eun Hyung
All of them look good. Lol]
Hmm, he also wasn’t that helpful. While I thought that way, another message arrived.
[Sent by: Kwon Eun Hyung
Where are you going?]
[To: Kwon Eun Hyung
Oh lol My classmate asked me for help, so I’m joining a group hangout!]
Hesitating for a second, I added a few more words.
[To: Kwon Eun Hyung
I’m not expecting something big, but just filling in for someone lol I won’t get blamed, right? Sad face]
There wasn’t any response for a while.
Hmm… Tilting my head in wonder, I put my phone down and tried wearing the clothes again then picked up one, at last. It was a red-brown blouse with fallen leaves and red fruit patterns on.
‘Let’s pair a jean on the bottom and wear a lightweight cardigan on top.’ That was when I murmured those words and hung the hanger on my arm. My phone rang again.
[Sent by: Kwon Eun Hyung
Lol Why would you get blamed? If someone dares to do that, I’ll]
There wasn’t any response again.
I stared at my phone screen for quite a while. Eun Hyung always finished a sentence along with a proper punctuation mark. Thus, he seldom sent any incomplete messages.
‘Eun Hyung?’ When I called his name inwardly, his response arrived.
[Sent by: Kwon Eun Hyung
What about wearing something more casual?]
[To: Kwon Eun Hyung
Oh, it’s fine. I already chose what to wear.]
[Sent by: Kwon Eun Hyung
Lol… Okay…]
What was he trying to leave behind that ellipsis mark? Having that question in mind, I checked the time and gasped.
‘I’ve been spending almost an hour just choosing an outfit! No, specifically, I spent half an hour from that time quarreling with Ban Yeo Ryung behind the door…’ Turning around, I uttered, “Yeo Ryung, I don’t have much time left until that group hangout, so I’m leaving! I’ll dry clean your clothes and return them to you. See you later in the evening.”
“Don’t go, Donnie.”
“Oh, come on. Nothing’s gonna happen to me. I won’t get any boyfriend from this event, will I?”
‘It won’t happen,’ adding a few more words, I headed to the shoe rack.
She didn’t have to bid farewell to me, but since she followed me to the front door, I gently patted her cheek and bowed politely to her parents. Once I stepped outside, my phone rang. I answered the call.
“Hello? Eun Hyung?”
[Oh, Donnie.]
Eun Hyung’s voice sounded warm as usual. ‘I’m getting quite a lot of calls today,’ with that thought in mind, I tossed him a question.
“What’s up?”
[Um, I just want to hand you out a list of people to beware…]
“Huh?” I asked him with a clumsy smile. For some reason, I can’t stop imagining ominous things.
<hr />
When I finally arrived at Twosome Place in Wangsimni on time, my mind was almost worn out. Gasping hard for no reason, I murmured, ‘Geez, Eun Hyung, how can you name about a hundred people for me to beware?’ There would be about a thousand students in Nam Gye High School; thus, it was the same as telling me to beware ten percent of them!
He tried to name more, but I asked him to stop. I heard him listing names while putting on my makeup, coming out of my house, and even until I arrived here. I didn’t have any excuses, so I couldn’t tell him to hang up the phone. If I did that, Eun Hyung seemed to take some action for some reason.
Other people had no problem joining a group blind date, but why was I experiencing difficulties even in the preparation step? Taking a deep breath, I raised my head when someone called me all of a sudden.
“Oh, Donnie. Thank god you’re here!”
The person, who walked across the weekend crowds and approached me, was Lee Mina.
‘Wow,’ emitting a whoop, I looked at her from head to toe with eyes wide open.
She always had a ponytail at school, but her long and radiant black hair was now swaying around her back. Now I had come to think of it, Lee Mina had really dark hair.
Wearing check patterned purple blouse, gray pants, and black short boots, she naturally linked her arms to mine and pulled me to the door.
“What are you doing outside? Are you embarrassed? Come on, let’s get in.”
“Uh, yeah.”
The café door gently opened and closed.
Mina didn’t look nervous at all having a group hangout ahead. Well, did she say the boys were from the same cram school she went to? Bending her steps on the black tiled floor, Lee Mina continued to speak without hesitation.
“You look so pretty today, huh? Everyone’s really nice, so don’t worry too much.”
“Oh, um, yeah…” I smiled awkwardly.
Before joining this event, I was concerned about a lot of things; however, once I went through such difficulties with Ban Yeo Ryung and Eun Hyung, nothing in this world felt scary to me…
Mina’s following words then made me quickly raise my head.
“Oh, one person is a stranger to me. He’s filling in one of his sides.”
“A sub?”
“Yeah, just like you,” replied Mina while nodding her head. “I was told that he’s in his second year in Nam Gye High School, but I never heard his name. Even if I did, I would still have no idea since he isn’t in my cram school…” Speaking that way, Mina directed her eyes on somewhere and stopped talking out of the blue.
I asked her, ‘Mina?’ and turned my head in the direction where she was looking at.
A group of boys was waving their hands awkwardly at us to say hi. As if they had arrived here earlier and already took their seats, I also found the girls from our class sitting across the boys. However, the person, who caught my attention, was someone else.
His outfit looked as if he didn’t want to stand out. He was wearing a black coat and a comfortable looking white t-shirt on top. On the bottom, he wore jeans and a pair of sneakers, which belonged to the outfit when going to the grocery store. Even he pulled his black beanie right over his eyes.
Still, his aura overwhelmed the entire space inside the cafe. Just as I expected, I could tell that people around him were all throwing a glance only in his direction.
Dropping his gaze under the table as if he felt uncomfortable, he suddenly raised his eyes then opened them wide. I found that his familiar, black eyes were focused on me.
‘Why is he here?’ I murmured to myself. Even if he was in a very comfy outfit, Yeo Dan oppa looked damn gorgeous.
Scanning myself from head to toe, I heaved a sigh. I tried my best to look good, but once I saw him, I quickly felt kind of cheap. He was only a year older than me; however, he emitted a mature vibe probably because of his height, appearance, or mental age.
When we came close and sat down, the boys tapped the table and said, “Hey, why are you guys running late? Something very interesting happened earlier. It was insane.”
Gawking at Yeo Dan oppa for a while, Lee Mina shook her head and pulled herself together, at last. She asked back, “Something very interesting? What’s that?”
“Have we been sitting here for about ten minutes? Guess how many college girls came by to our table.”
“I don’t know. How many?”
“Twelve! Can you believe that?”
Lee Mina quickly shouted in astonishment, “Did you say twelve?!”
I was also startled to hear what they just said. Feeling some distance as deep as a precipice between me and him, I moved my body back defensively. Although we would say hi to each other every morning, Yeo Dan oppa seemed very distant right now.
The boys continued to speak.
“He told them he’s in high school, but none of them believed that although they obviously noticed that we were high school students.”
That was quite a common sight when being together with the Bans. Still, I never thought that even college girls would flirt on Yeo Dan oppa. Well, looking at his overall appearance right now, I couldn’t help but understand that though…
The boys told her to sit in front of them; however, Lee Mina, hesitated while looking at Yeo Dan oppa as if she had seen an extinct dinosaur. I could understand her reaction since I had the same experience in the past.
I recalled the time when I first saw Yeo Dan oppa, which was four years ago. It was in front of my apartment entrance.
