Chapter 41 (2/2)

I looked back at Jiho. Eun Hyung then said, “Let’s catch up after school.”

“Oh, yeah, okay. Text me after class.”

“Yup.”

Eun Hyung patted my head before he left the auditorium. This time, Yoo Chun Young and Woo Jooin were the ones who had their gazes at me.

As if the conversation we shared yesterday embarrassed him, Yoo Chun Young shrugged his shoulders and moved his lips to whisper ‘cheer up’ when our eyes met. I nodded back.

Woo Jooin, the last and the most exceptional one, bent his monolid eyes giving me a bright smile as he threw his body into my arms.

Hundreds of gasps and grunts burst out from everywhere. Oh, this dramatic reaction. I murmured and released Woo Jooin out of my arms. He had a sad face while dropping his golden eyes on me.

He said, “Mommy, don’t cry.”

“Okay.”

“If you cry, I’ll cry too.”

“I’m not crying.”

“Come on, stop crying. It makes me cry, too.”

‘I-am-not-crying.’ It was too exhausting to repeat the same response, so I said that to myself instead.

Woo Jooin had his hands on my shoulder during the whole conversation, which seemed like a big golden retriever having its two paws on me.

If I should categorize Woo Jooin, he belonged to dogs. However, there were moments when he took off his doggy side to reveal his human character, which was, for example, yesterday evening. That was his side I feared the most.

As Eun Jiho dragged Woo Jooin out of my sight, there stood Ban Yeo Ryung with sorrowful eyes, but she soon left the space as well pulled as Eun Jiho pulled her away.

Oh, bye. I bid farewell while waving my hands to them. Then I stared at the sunlight shedding through the glass doors inside the auditorium. The sky beyond was so sheer and blue that made me think of the author dropping her gaze at me from above. She would definitely be in a state of bliss after screwing me over like this. Perhaps that’s why the sky looked so bright.

I murmured while looking up at the sky, “Maybe, I’m getting punished.”

It was indeed a punishment for saying my desired to cut my beloved ones off my life in a flash by requesting to act like strangers in our new school.

The thought somehow eased my mind while having my hands shoved into the pocket and striding alone to Class 1-8 gallantly.

Through the opened classroom door, I could see kids already scattered around doing their things: enjoying chats while sitting in a group as if they went to the same middle school together. Some were gazing around on the seat alone looking shy. I even saw some sitting by the window, staring outside nonchalantly.

Among them, a kid who sat by the window had his back at me, which made his face invisible from my side.

The only thing visible was his yellow hair almost blonde similar to that of Caucasian people. Looking at his sitting posture, he did not seem to be a bully or anything like that. Above all, his skin tone under the bright sunlight was transparently fair, so maybe he hailed from a foreign land.

He wore a uniform for men; however, his hair was quite long for a boy. The slightly dark brown trousers looked great on his slim legs.

When I had my vacant stare at him for a while, someone passed me by so close that it nearly knocked me down like a feather. Only then did I realized that I was blocking the doorway.

The girl who almost bumped into my back as she passed me by also had an impressive appearance. All her facial features seemed as if like an artistic engraving and her outstandingly black hair was covering her temples.

Her pupils were pitch black with no speck of light gleaming from within, but as I inspected her, they seemed to have some hints of blue. Her skin as pure as a newly washed sheet.

What caught my eyes were not only her looks but also her vibe.

She had this aura of a holy crane paddling alone idly at a place from a distant lonesome island far from life. In other words, she looked like a person living out of touch with the world.

She lifted her eyes at me, which appeared gorgeous as her long black lashes created shade on her pale cheeks.

She then moved her lips mumbling, “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

She nodded at my response and dropped her gaze to my name tag before she quickly walked away to her seat in the back.

Behind her, another boy was following her track. Except for his height which was about 10cm taller than her, he looked like a photocopied version of her.