.
I followed Yi Ruda to walk out to the hallway as we felt others’ gaze at us pleading us to confirm if we were really dating. Then I questioned myself, ‘why do teachers in web novels ask characters to leave when they catch students doing something else at the class time?’
Outside, in the hallway, there was no one else but us. I heard the math teacher’s relaxed voice coming out of the next classroom. While I had my ears to that voice, Yi Ruda, who was standing in front of the window, spoke to me in a lower tone.
“Which part is true and false in the rumor?”
“Hmm, so…” I gently grinned while making my response. Then I kept on, “To be honest, Eun Hyung did not have a heart attack, actually, it was hyperventilation. What else… Eun Hyung didn’t hug me tight. He just collapsed because he lost his strength after seeing what happened to me. No one applauded too. Except for those, everything seems correct. Oh, and one more thing. They never beat Eun Hyung or anything. I just fell down when someone tried to snatch my phone to stop me from calling the police.”
“And that’s why your phone is broken?”
“Correct. I grabbed it tightly, so it would not get snatched, but I fell down with my hand to touch the ground while hiding… Oh!”
Then I came to realize something which made me put my hand suddenly inside the pocket.
I forgot to open my phone after picking it up from the mobile carrier. When I opened my flip phone, I saw that they had flawlessly repaired the screen. As I firmly pressed the power button, Yi Ruda flung a question.
“What do you mean by hiding? Hiding what?”
“Um… that is…”
I swept my hair in perplexity. Yi Ruda, who was still leaning at the window, had a calm face while waiting for my response, so I heaved a sigh and continued.
“Eun Hyung has a traumatic memory of a dump truck, so he showed difficulty in breathing in fear that I’d die. Since I was afraid if this could traumatize him again, I lied to him that I was okay and that he simply misunderstood.”
“A-ha.”
Yi Ruda nodded in understanding. I kept on with a sad face.
“Eun Hyung doesn’t want his friends to feel concerned about him having difficulty in breathing, so I guess he didn’t say that to anyone.”
“Hmm.”
Yi Ruda gently nodded and asked, “So both of you were hiding those truths, but now that the rumor is spreading everywhere, your friends will soon know about those things too, right?”
“Yeah, and…”
“Once they realize you guys both lied, they will get furious, correct?”
Yi Ruda differed from other female protagonists in web novels just for having such a marvelous insight. When I continuously nodded, Yi Ruda closed her lips tightly as if she had something deep to contemplate.
I stopped fetching a sigh and held Yi Ruda’s hands then I shook them to ask a question.
“Oh, what should I do? Any good ideas?”
“Hmm, I’m thinking too but I can’t think of anything special…”
“Geez…”
I kept shaking her hand with a sad face. She dropped a confused gaze at me then suddenly hugged me in her arms.
While my eyes became wide open while I had my head buried in her arms, she patted my head and spoke gently.
“Hold on. I’m still thinking.”
“Um, yeah…”
Surprisingly, she smelled like mint. Maybe it was because she was a female crossdresser, her arms felt tight. I blinked my eyes from feeling befuddled then decided to stay inside her arms for a moment. We were in the empty hallway, and I was exhausted both in mind and body.
Hmm, was it because she’s a female crossdresser? Yi Ruda had an unexpected reliable side on her. It was when I thought as this did I started wiggling my hand in embarrassment.
The phone inside my pocket began to vibrate suddenly. It kept on as if multiple phones started vibrating at once.
What… was it? While I felt discombobulated, Yi Ruda spoke to me softly.
“Did you open your phone just now? It might be receiving the delayed messages.”
“Oh.”
“Maybe you just received my messages.” She said with a smile.
I got off from her arms and took out my phone. There were indeed many missed calls and unread messages displayed on the screen.
Unread Messages: 103/400
Missed Call: 47
The number of unread messages was understandable, but how could there be 47 missed calls? I tried to check the recent call list; instead, I opened my inbox since I knew they were all calls from the Four Heavenly Kings or Ban Yeo Ryung.
The first unread message was from Eun Jiho which he sent on Saturday.
Sent by: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho
“Aren’t you coming back? Went to Africa for the coffee beans?”
He surely sent it. Then there were a few messages from Jooin which showed his concern about me while Ban Yeo Ryung called me instead of sending messages. Then the date of the messages I got suddenly leaped to the date today.
There were about twenty messages from the kids in my class including Yi Ruda and Kim Hye Hill. Then I saw a text message someone had sent 10 minutes ago right before the class.
Sent by: Yoo Chun Young
“Dump truck”
It was simply those two words; however, I could feel a violent temper bursting out of the text. As I drew my breath in, I saw my fingers, that were holding the phone, trembling with anxiety. When I clicked the next button, Eun Jiho’s message came into my sight.
Sent by: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho
“Dude, kids are totally pissed off LOLOLOLOLOL Wow, you!”
It was unbelievable that Eun Jiho could laugh at this situation. Well, at least he isn’t mad?
I fetched a sigh after feeling that things were starting to be a little hopeful. It was a fortunate thing for me to have fewer people to appease.
The next text was from Eun Hyung. As I went over his message, my face started turning dark.
Sent by: Kwon Eun Hyung
“Why did you lie to me? How could you say that you weren’t in danger that time? Heard you crawled out under the dump truck, which means it stopped right before you. Geez, I’ll see you at the break. Don’t go anywhere and just stay inside your classroom.”
Just stay inside your classroom… As I read over that sentence, a silly smile flashed over my face. Gosh, it’s totally fu*ked up. Hehe, hehehe. I was almost abandoning myself to despair as I pressed the next button.
Sent by: Ban Yeo Ryung
“Cya”
Ban Yeo Ryung’s short text was just as frightening as Eun Hyung’s long message. Then I saw the one Jooin sent as he made the grand finale of the horror text parade.
Sent by: Son
“lol”
Sent by: Son
“Lolololol”
I felt that my eyes were about to burst into tears. Whether or not it was class time, I should run away from them now; however, if I vanished away from this place, the English teacher would see that I was absent after class, and he would definitely call me to the teacher’s office.
Then let’s first text back Eun Jiho since he didn’t seem that mad about it. While Yi Ruda stared at me, I quickly moved my fingers around the keypad.
To: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho
“Hey, do you think I can survive their attacks?”
Within a few seconds, he replied. For the record, Eun Jiho was the fastest in typing messages among us.
Sent by: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho
“No way, you’re dead meat. LOLOLOLOL RUNNNN!!!!!!”
I deeply appreciated his kind advice always. For real, it’s very thankful.
I knitted my brows for a moment then moved my fingers to send a response that I had been wondering for a while.
To: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho
“But aren’t you mad??”
His reply arrived immediately again.
Sent by: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho
“Yes, pissed off!”
To: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho
“But why are you being so kind? Advising me to RUNNN”
Sent by: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho
“To make you run away from me as much as you can cuz I’m gonna kill you”
Sent by: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho
“Lol Let me enjoy your last frantic attempt”
I stood still in silence while gazing at my phone for a while. Yi Ruda, who was standing beside me, tilted her head toward me as if my face looked strange. She then asked in concern.
“Donnie, are you okay?”
“N…o…t at all…”
“…?”
I desperately held my trembling chin before responding to Yi Ruda, whose eyes were wide open in wonder.
“I…”
“Yeah.”
“I need to run away right now. Do you know any place to hide from here?”
