Chapter 291 (1/2)

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Shaking my head strongly, I attempted to continue my remark.

“Anyway, what I want to say is that Ruda was taken away by his mother probably because of us. Thus, can’t we do something for Ruda?”

“Oh…”

“Ruda didn’t have a chance to bid farewell to anyone. Our classmates are very upset about that, and so does Ruda…”

I hung my head in sorrow.

“Yi Ruda will be very upset too. He would have not said goodbye to the class maybe because he was placed under his mother’s strict surveillance since he had been running away from her.”

“Then, what you’re saying is that…”

Nodding my head slightly, I replied, “I wish we can help Ruda escape from his mother again. If he already left the country, there’s nothing we could do, but, at least, we can find whether he is here or abroad…”

“I’m in.”

Yeo Ryung replied as soon as I dropped those words. Raising my head that was hung down, I saw her determined will glittering in her eyes.

Indeed, it was what I had expected. When Yeo Ryung knew that the reason why Yi Ruda had left the school in such a hurry was because of none other than us, I thought she would cooperate immediately based on her personality.

Well, I was just an ordinary high school kid, and even though Yeo Ryung was a girl of versatile talents, she was also a high school kid who had a law-abiding spirit. Thus, things wouldn’t work out that well although we united efforts; however, she was notably smart, which would be helpful than me struggling alone.

I then turned my head to look at Jooin sitting across us. Unlike Yeo Ryung, he didn’t have much respect for the law––sorry, Jooin–– but his hacking or tracking skills were so specialized that even the cops had given him credits for such abilities. He would, therefore, be a big help.

However, something that I utterly unanticipated happened. Staring at us for a while, Jooin then shook his head in silence.

His reaction was quite staggering. While I looked at Jooin in frustration, he spoke in a quiet voice.

“I disagree, mama.”

‘Why?’ I wondered. Lowering his head, Jooin put his palms together and continued to speak with a composed attitude as if he felt concerned.

“There’s something that you guys should know. Hyeong… I mean, I also feel sorry for Yi Ruda, but please understand that it’s not because of mama or Yeo Ryung that he got caught. That was about to happen someday from the very beginning.”

Detaching his palms, Jooin then flung a question.

“Don’t you remember? Every time he came to school, he jumped off from the window on the second floor when all the classes were over. He always seemed to be chased by someone.”

I nodded while showing the mixed feelings on my face.

“That’s true…”

“Thus, to sum up, Yi Ruda had been chased by his mother because of his own problems. It was something that occurred before he met you guys. Even though mama and Yeo Ryung didn’t get kidnapped, he would have been caught by his mother one day. The two incidents, therefore, exist separately, get it?”

He then raised his hand and pointed at his chest.

“Let’s say, Yi Ruda had a time bomb, and it exploded right now. Although it got exploded because of us, we weren’t the people who installed that bomb on him. In this regard, how can we tell that everything is our fault? There’s no need to feel so guilty.”

‘A time bomb…’ I repeated his metaphor in my head.

It was such a cold metaphor to use when Jooin had called Yi Ruda as hyeong back then. While I had that thought in mind, Jooin, who hesitated for a second, added, “And… we don’t need to volunteer to get involved in a dangerous situation.”

Looking at Jooin saying like that with his eyes directed on somewhere else, I realized that he approached that conclusion while putting our safety at the center of his thoughts.

Eek, I bit my lips. Not only Eun Jiho but also Jooin might have been shattered by our abduction. I had totally missed that fact. Even though Jooin was cool-headed, he was still our best friend.

Besides, it was true that Yi Jenny’s side looked a few more times dangerous than Choi Yuri’s case. We, who just got out of Choi Yuri’s evil hand under Yi Ruda’s assistance, was planning to step inside Yi Jenny’s kingdom with our own feet. How hilarious would Jooin feel about that? In his point of view, he had no choice but to object to the plan.