66 The Morose Angel, Agonising Over Her Bleak Presen (1/2)

While Gun was confronting Lee Do Joon, Hyuk drove Yeo Ri to her school on his motorbike. He drove as fast as he could while still simultaneously looking out for harm. He had a passenger with him, so he toned down on his recklessness.

Hyuk dropped Yeo Ri off at her school.

”Wait for Oppa to pick you up, okay?” Hyuk says.

”Mm.” Yeo Ri nodded obediently.

Hyuk stared at her with a complicated gaze. After hesitating for a while, he finally moved. He gave her a hug and kissed her forehead as he said his farewells. ”Don't worry, Oppa will protect you,” he muttered quietly.

”I know,” Yeo Ri gave him a small smile.

After seeing Hyuk off, Yeo Ri lost her smile.

She stared emptily into the air as she walked to her classroom. Unlike usual, she ignored the noisy fanboys.

Even when Min Chae came into the classroom and greeted her, she pretended to fall asleep. She didn't have any motivation to speak, much less converse with other people.

Yeo Ri was so out of it to the point that she could barely concentrate on her exams. The hours passed by in a blur. Before she realised it, the school day had ended. All the studying that she had done the day before seemed to have been flushed down the drain; she couldn't even remember if she was able to answer properly.

'What does it matter,' she thought sardonically. So what if her grades fell? It wasn't as if she had a future.

Yeo Ri laughed emptily at the thought.

She was just 14 years old, but her life can already be considered as over. She doubted that it could get any better.

”Yeo Ri-ah?” Min Chae noticed her strangeness. Throughout the whole day, Yeo Ri hadn't been herself. She was worried that something might have happened to her best friend. ”Did something happen? You don't look very good.”

”...It's nothing. I'm fine,” Yeo Ri lied, faking a cheerful appearance. ”It's just that... I think I studied too much and didn't get enough rest. When I saw the papers, my mind completely went blank,” she grimaced and sighed.