.
His blond hair with silver highlights particularly dazzled; his skin looked fragile like a thin grade of paper that would easily tear. He wasn’t that tall, but his body was outstandingly well-proportioned; his long legs and small face resembled the features of a model or people overseas.
Observing the boy’s appearance, Yoon Jung In murmured in exclamation, “His excellent body proportion reminds me of Yoo Chun Young… but what did you just say? Someone from his school did something wrong to you?”
I squinted my eyes at his question and retraced the awful memories from a few days ago. Shortly after, I opened my mouth and uttered timidly, “Uh-huh, there’s this person… who’s worshipping the theory of evolution, so crazy about the survival of the fittest… He said to me that I won’t be able to survive because I’m stupid.”
“What? Haha, that’s hilarious. Hey, how can you always get criticized in such an interesting way? What a life, haha.”
“No matter how interesting it is, it’s still criticism. Do you think that’s funny? Maybe because it’s nothing to do with your life, huh?” I tossed a question sulkily, then at the moment, I felt a stinging gaze and turned my head back to that side.
The boy with a gray school uniform on was throwing an indescribable glance in this direction. He didn’t look captivated but seemed like some rare species had come into his view.
‘What’s with that look?’ I tilted my head but soon opened my mouth wide. ‘Eh? Is he… by any chance an acquaintance of that evolution theory worshipper?’ Since the number of students in science high schools was less than those in regular schools, my assumption could be correct.
While I narrowed my eyes upon the new suspicion, Yoon Jung In, who still didn’t grasp the overall atmosphere, burst into laughter. Tapping my arm, he asked, “Hey, what did the person say to you? Let me hear further. After swearing that you’re stupid, did he say something like you would go extinct after all while you’re genetically inferior, useless, or even worthless for the future generations to inherit? Geez, what kind of freak would say such things? Feel sorry for you, dude.”
Diverting my gaze back onto Yoon Jung In, I replied with a scowl, “I think it’s you who’s blurting out all kinds of craps from earlier, those that you’ve had in mind but couldn’t reveal until now, huh?”
“I mean since you say that the person was an admirer of evolution theory that’s all I can think of for now. Did he say something more unique than what I’ve just said? No? Ah, maybe because Sung Woon is a science high school, there seem to be many weirdos.”
The boy then got one step closer to us for some reason. It might be that the name of his school came out from our mouths or perhaps he didn’t want to bring disgrace to his school.
When our eyes met, he showed a decent grin and lowered his head for a second.
“Nice to meet you.”
Rubbing his chin, Yoon Jung In looked a little ashamed but soon spoke in a friendly tone that caregivers used when meeting each other.
“Ah, what we just talked about was… another story… anyway, please don’t get us wrong. She says she knows someone in Sung Woon High School, so… By the way, hi, nice to meet you too.”
As soon as Yoon Jung In finished rambling a greeting message, it was my turn. After long consideration, I responded to the boy with a mere nod. A wider smile spread across his face.
Watching that reaction, I realized immediately that the boy was performing an advanced level of acting like a good person. In the past, I would have never noticed it, but the times I spent with Jooin and Yi Ruda afterward had enabled me to find such things hidden behind.
Hmm, his grin resembled the smiles of Jooin and Ruda, which might be useful in building trust and making a good first impression. However, there was still a huge gap between his smile and his expressionless face. Not there yet, so I’d give you seven points out of ten.
While I had such thoughts in mind, the boy called me again.
“Excuse me?”
“Huh? Yeah?” When I lifted my gaze, he was directing his dark gray-brown eyes on me. As soon as we had eye contact, he showed a swiveling smile and dropped me a question.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Excuse me? What am I doing here…?”
“Oh, my friend is staying in this room, but I’ve never seen you until now. Are you a family member of another patient? May I ask whom it is?”
“Ah, we are…”
The moment when Yoon Jung In tried to respond on behalf of me, the door flung opened. Ban Hwee Hyul stepped out of the room with his usual, straight face.
Both Yoon Jung In and I had no idea what to say or how to react, so we just remained stiffened. Ban Hwee Hyul uttered to us, “Let’s go,” then suddenly turned his head toward the boy and looked at him for a second. Shortly after, he switched his gaze back to us as if the boy was out of his interest.
“Come on, follow me. Didn’t you say that we have to return to school?” urged Ban Hwee Hyul.
“Um, yeah.”
“The way out of here is complicated,” he added.
Yes, sir, we should now leave since the nationwide Number one was taking the lead of bringing us back to school. Having that thought, I took off a step after Ban Hwee Hyul, but at the same time, I clearly found something from the boy’s face. Fixing his gaze at Ban Hwee Hyul, the boy showed his feelings of humiliation for a second.
Feelings of humiliation? Why? While I wondered for a moment with wide-opened eyes, the boy switched his smile to the natural one he had put on his face earlier.
“Ban Hwee Hyul?” He called as if hailing an old friend.
Ban Hwee Hyul also stopped walking all of a sudden. However, he showed no signs of gladness or intimacy while turning around and looking at the boy’s face. He didn’t seem to know the boy at all. Regardless of his reaction, the boy took a step forward and kept on speaking.
“Oh, I really wanted to see you! So glad that I’ve come across you like this.”
“Do I know you?” asked Ban Hwee Hyul frigidly.
The boy, however, responded with a rich smile. He was indeed no ordinary type of person. “You don’t, but I do know Hwee Ahn.”
“Oh…” Dropping that word, the cold air that surrounded Ban Hwee Hyul like a suit of armor broke into pieces.
The boy held out his hand toward Ban Hwee Hyul who was opening his eyes wide in surprise.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Jung Yohan, probably the same age as you.”
Ban Hwee Hyul’s brows met in the middle again. Shaking his hands unavoidably, Ban Hwee Hyul said, “… Never heard your name from Hwee Ahn.”
“Maybe that’s true since I returned to Korea not so long ago. I went to Germany earlier last year and came back recently, so it hasn’t been long since I’ve returned. I’ve been stopping by this place quite lately too.”
“Oh, yeah?” Ban Hwee Hyul agreed in a flat tone.
Frowning, I said in my thoughts, ‘Ban Hwee Hyul, is that all you got? You must be more suspicious of him. That boy is emitting some shady vibe in every angle! Be more picky and incisive!’
However, Ban Hwee Hyul looked like he wouldn’t dare to further interrogate his little brother’s friend. That was when Ban Hwee Hyul tried to turn around while bidding a farewell, ‘Then, see you around–I wasn’t sure if his memory span would allow it though–.’
Jung Yohan blurted out a remark. “Hwee Hyul, as soon as I returned to Korea, I was quite surprised to find out Hwee Ahn staying that way; I’m still very mad, so…”
“…”
“Did you find out who had done that to him?”
Unlike the story he was talking about, Jung Yohan’s voice sounded too serene and elegant. At that very moment, a loud thud pierced through my ears and rang along the hallway.
Covering my ears instinctively, I squinted my eyes and turned my head toward the source of the noise. Ban Hwee Hyul’s huge fist was on the hospital wall. Thankfully, the wall looked fine. Heaving a sigh of relief, I diverted my eyes back onto Ban Hwee Hyul.
If it was someone else, I would have scolded that person immediately; however, since it was Ban Hwee Hyul who punched the wall, all I could think about now was, ‘Yeah, I could tell that you’re definitely the nationwide Number one throwing a punch at random moments.’
However, Jung Yohan’s attitude was somehow more unexpected. Glancing in that direction, I found him still behaving calmly even after watching Ban Hwee Hyul’s threatening abilities.
He continued to speak gently and low, “Indeed you didn’t find anything. Well, I heard that as soon as it happened, you left all your people and vanished away, so things could have gone only this way, right? There won’t be many things you can find out by yourself.”
Frowning, I wondered, ‘What? Does he already know that Ban Hwee Hyul is the nationwide Number one?’
