Chapter 342

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Then I heard Yeo Dan oppa and his friends talking to each other.

"My Yeo Dan, now you're a grown man. I did make you join the group hangout, but I never thought you'd bring someone here."

"Awwww, Yeo Dan, my cute baby..."

"Stop it."

Watching Yeo Dan oppa suffering from those hitting his butt naughtily, I narrowed my eyes and thought, 'Indeed, they are his one and only karma... It's like God's balance patch or the author's last-ditch effort of having a conscience.'

Meanwhile, the conversation had moved on to me at some point.

"Wait a sec... I think she looks familiar. Don't you?"

"Oh, hold on, I seem to remember... Isn't she your sister's friend?"

"Ah, right! Exactly, the girl next door! But... why is she here?"

A moment of silence swept the area; the boys then suddenly emitted a whoop.

Slapping Yeo Dan oppa's back one after another, they asked, "Now I get it! I knew it was suspicious for you to always take that thing in your bag even if it always turned into a mess. I knew this would happen someday!"

"That's right. I also thought she would be the only one. Geez, now it's all coming together! You got away from your stalker and met your true love."

Listening to those words, I put down the juice I was drinking nonchalantly as my ears reddened. That was because the conversation I had with Yeo Dan oppa earlier in the alley had flashed through my head. 'Yeah, that's what he said.' With that thought, I recalled his remark.

'But I like you so much that I keep bringing that stuff for you.'

When I reminisced about the words I heard from him in the quiet alley, the boisterous, market-like place seemed mute. Stretching out my hand, I somehow rubbed the side of the teddy bear sitting beside me.

I murmured, 'Thank goodness it's dark in here, or else they might have caught me blushing.' However, at that moment, I heard, "No, it's not what you think."

I blinked swiftly upon hearing Yeo Dan oppa's determined words. His voice sounded unusually angry. Although he expressed how irritated he was to his friends, he seldom lost his temper.

As if it wasn't only me who noticed the sudden change of his tone, the room turned silent out of the blue. Yeo Dan oppa's friends then apologized with a bewildered look on their faces one after another.

"Oh, yeah? Sorry, bro."

"For real? Rumors must have spread already, although you refused."

"I can handle that."

Talking that way severely, Yeo Dan oppa continued with a slight grimace, "I don't want to cause her any trouble."

I then heard some noise from beside me. While I looked in the direction and rubbed the empty juice bottle, the girl, sitting beside me, suddenly snatched the bottle loudly from my hand. Checking the label on the surface, she turned pale.

"Oh, lord. We screwed up."

"Why? Uh, wait, is that...?"

"That has alcohol inside! It's the leftover we brought from the retreat last time..."

Once I heard those words, my face turned pale. Gosh, what on earth were they drinking in the karaoke?

Although I was startled upon hearing the word 'alcohol,' which slipped from a student's mouth so nonchalantly, another part of me that I hadn't recognized until now, spoke, 'Well, that could happen.' Following that thought, I murmured, possessed, 'Yeah, that could happen.'

The girls then flung a question in bewilderment while surrounding me, "Are you okay? Can you tell me how many fingers I'm holding up?"

"Two."

"Eh? She seems fine... You can hold your drink!"

They responded in delight. Stretching my hand out of the blue, I pounded the table in front of me with a loud thud. The wooden bowls in the middle of the table shook, and the snacks fell onto the floor.

Not only the girls, but Yeo Dan oppa and his friends also turned to look at me with their eyes wide open. Meanwhile, I opened my lips.

"No, I am not fine!"

"I... I'm sorry, kiddo."

The girl, who was in a dither, soon tried to bow down on the couch. I shook my head determinedly and raised my finger to point at somewhere.

"Not you, unnie, but that person... because of that person..."

Everyone's eyes were bent in that direction. There stood Yeo Dan oppa with a frown.

"Did someone make her drink something?" he asked. Intervening my words, he diverted his piercing gaze onto both sides; everyone switched their glance back to him. It made me upset.

'Come on, I'm talking about something serious right now!' When I thumped the desk with my fist again, all their eyes returned to me. Yeo Dan oppa then called my name with a slightly perplexed expression.

"Donnie."

I scowled at his eyes with no hesitation. Doing that action for quite a while, I opened my mouth at last.

"Oppa... if you didn't want to cause me any trouble, you should have not lived next-door!"

"What?"

He looked very shocked. If this world was a cartoon, he would have had a 'LOUD THUD' text next to his face. I heard his friends whispering beside him, 'Oh, my god. He's in big trouble. They just started going out today, but she's already dumping him'

Jesus, shoosh! Pounding the desk again, I scowled at Yeo Dan oppa and continued, "Because of you, Yeo Dan oppa... I... I'm not tall, but my eyes... my standards are... as high as the stratosphere... Huh...?"

The room fell into blizzard-like silence, but a burst of laughter filled it thereafter as if a balloon had popped. Once it started, the seizure-like laughter erupted to and fro.

Everyone except Yeo Dan oppa and I collapsed on the floor and couch while laughing to death; however, I banged my fist on the desk and kept on speaking severely.

"So, my point is... if a person wants to be the bigger person... he must be responsible! But oppa made my standards so high up in the stratosphere, and he isn't taking responsibility at all..."

'Oh, lord. I'm gonna die! She's so funny!' While everyone rolled around, laughing at my remark, I slowly dropped my gaze onto the floor. Barely pulling my eyelids upwards as it suddenly fell so heavy, I concluded, "Do you get it? Yeo Dan oppa... if you aren't responsible, you can't be the bigger person..."

Someone, who intervened into my scattering words, shouted excitedly, "Dude, you should take responsibility for this situation."

"Shut up," blurting that way, Yeo Dan oppa wordlessly shoved his face onto his palms. Soon, people began to pound the table with their fists and chanted, 'Be responsible! Be responsible.' Taking off his hands from his face, at last, Yeo Dan oppa blurted out shortly, "Ah, I said, shut up.'

Scowling with that warning, he stood up and approached me. At that moment, I was dozing off with my hands on the table. Once he approached me, I quickly lifted my head. Through his brown hair that flowed down his face, I found him staring at me worriedly.

Bending his waist forward, it seemed like he was observing me then soon asked carefully, "Can you walk?"

I rubbed my eyes and replied, "Uh-huh... but I'm so sleepy."

He turned around without hesitation once I said those words then went down on one knee.

"Ride on my back," he uttered.

I slowly placed my arms around his neck and leaned onto his back as if I was dripping. Yeo Dan oppa never leaned a bit forward but stood straight up as if I was a Styrofoam, not a human.

Once he bent his steps, my head swayed after him, which made me frown. Through the faintly scattering noise, I heard voices that sounded like it came from dreamland.

"Hey, give me back that teddy bear on Monday at school."

"What? Are you asking me to bring this to school?"

"Then, would you guys rather keep it instead?"

His response didn't sound like the way he usually spoke. Wondering if I was riding on someone else's back, I pulled his neck more tightly into my arms. He halted his words for a second but soon added, "If you steal it, I'm gonna make you pay."

"Dude, who the hell would steal this thing?"

Leaving the jeering noise behind, Yeo Dan oppa straightened his back to give me a better piggyback then bent his steps again. I put my cheek on his back and heaved a big sigh. As if someone was dragging me down, my consciousness began to subside.