Chapter 290 (1/2)

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Yoon Jung In suddenly turned around to look at us and opened his mouth.

“Hey, I found a pack of candies. Who wants to have some?”

A moment of silence swept the space. Those who turned stiff then blurted one after another.

“Yoon Jung In, if you hate us, just talk!”

“No, it isn’t! I just wanted to share. You know sharing is caring!”

Yoon Jung In shouted those words as if he was complaining of an injustice. The kids then let out giggles; soon someone standing beside Yoon Jung In began to make a bet about whether they will die or not while having the candies.

Watching the sight, I couldn’t help but put an enigmatic look on my face. Yoon Jung In was betting his life on trivial things once a day since yesterday. Would he be okay? Anyway, it was fortunate that things had been settled in such a ridiculous way.

No, wouldn’t this also be called as Yoon Jung In’s curse? Laughing out of his absurdness, I found Lee Mina and the Kim twins also looking dumbfounded, which made me feel relieved.

The strained atmosphere was then loosened up in the next class. It was the first time to have this relaxed vibe since Yi Ruda’s dropout. We were having a class with our homeroom teacher, so he tilted his head in wonder and asked us, “Did something happen?”

The kids then began to tell the teacher that Yoon Jung In had cultured a toxic substance in his drawer. While another burst of laughter took place, I put my hand inside the pocket habitually to rub Yi Ruda’s phone.

At some point, I thought that I couldn’t do anything for Yi Ruda’s situation, so I finally just gave up. Since she already went back to her home country, there was nothing I could do. It was inevitable that I couldn’t express my thanks to her. We were, therefore, done here.

But what if she didn’t leave Korea yet? What if she just couldn’t keep in touch because she was under her mother’s tight surveillance?

I recalled Eun Hyung’s nonchalant but surprisingly insightful remark.

‘That kid looked like he was interested in this school.’

That would be correct. Yi Ruda liked her classmates as much as they liked her; therefore, wouldn’t it be too unfair for her that she hadn’t been able to let them know the truth?

Biting my lips firmly, I hid my phone under the desk and typed a message.

“Did you call me, mama?” asked Jooin while stepping into the classroom. He looked at me and Yeo Ryung, who was already sitting beside me. When I nodded, Jooin groped for the light switch before coming toward us.

The blurry purple classroom, which was mingled with darkness and schoolyard lights after the sunset, suddenly brightened. Stepping closer, Jooin then perched on the desk across us.

“Why did you call me?”

He asked me like that but didn’t look curious at all. I thought maybe Jooin already knew everything about my business. Last time, he pretended that he had no idea what had happened to Yi Ruda when he already grasped the overall situation beforehand.

Yes, it would be definitely true. However, it was hilarious to ask him for getting aware of everything when I was the one who needed his help but didn’t tell him what I was looking for. Heaving a sigh at a slow pace, I brought up the subject with difficulty.

“Um, it’s about Yi Ruda, who dropped out and moved to another school.”

“Yi Ruda?”

Jooin looked apathetic, whereas Ban Yeo Ryung displayed a look of anger contrastively. Hunching my shoulders, I flung a question, “What’s wrong?”

Her response, however, made me fetch a sigh of relief.

“Can’t you find his number or any other contact? If he just leaves like this, it’s too leery.”

‘Phew, at least, she wasn’t mad,’ I thought. Grabbing the hemline of her skirt, Ban Yeo Ryung continued to speak with downcast eyes.