Chapter 370

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While I had those thoughts in my mind, Yeo Dan oppa switched his gaze to me and asked, "Did something happen at school?"

"Huh?"

"You look pale."

"Oh, maybe because of the umbrella?" I replied, feeling a little surprised that we were on the same page. Before I tried to add those words, he continued to speak, "I've been thinking about that since I saw you at school."

"Oh..."

Keeping a smile on my face, I dropped my gaze to the ground. Looking at the wet sidewalk, I murmured to myself, 'So that's why he looked a little strange since earlier and didn't ask me anything.' I slowly detached my lips.

"Um... just had some things with my friends..."

The look on his face marginally changed at my remark. It was like a mischievous whining, but he might have remembered how I told him, 'I don't have any friends,' or something like that in the café last time.

Slightly darkening his face, he uttered, "So that isn't resolved yet."

I nodded. Now that I had come to think of it, in Yeo Dan oppa's perspective, he could have imagined that things had been sorted out since I didn't mention it afterward. After all, Yeo Dan oppa didn't see Ban Yeo Ryung and me hanging out with the Four Heavenly Kings a few times.

I mean, he only saw us together once; however, he knew about them for a long time. Yeo Ryung and I had been telling him about those boys quite often. Thus, he wouldn't have considered the conflict among us, which suddenly started without reason, would last this long.

Thinking to that extent, a part of me felt empty. I stopped biting my lips firmly and blurted out, "You never know that things can happen this way."

Yeo Dan oppa's gaze reached me. The calm look in his eyes seemed to say, 'Tell me everything.' Swallowing my breath, I continued to speak.

"We were so close, but it only took a moment for us to grow apart this much even if I didn't know the reason."

"..."

"Could this really happen...?"

I suddenly blurted out a burst of laughter. Ha, haha... Pressing my crease firmly with my palms, I thought, 'Well, come to think of it, there wasn't any special reason we became close.'

I turned my head to look at Yeo Dan oppa. He was staring at me with an unusual expression. Maybe I should say something. With that thought in mind, I spoke.

"I saw something on the news recently..."

Fixing his gaze at me, Yeo Dan oppa remained silent.

"It's been scientifically proven that people get closer just by sitting beside one another. There's a high possibility of befriending those sitting close to you at the beginning of a new semester."

"..."

"So, I guess it's not that strange that we are suddenly growing farther and farther apart. When I first attended the same class with those kids in my freshman year of middle school, they all took seats around me on all occasions while Yeo Ryung was beside me."

I nodded, thinking, 'Right, that was why we became close. When we all first met, our seats were physically near each other; Yeo Ryung and I were already friends. There was a little trouble at first, but in the end, that was why we became friends; those reasons never changed.'

However, I kept murmuring, 'But... still...'

"... We've been doing fine so far..." Barely dropping those words, I choked up.

Yeo Dan oppa was bending his steps ploddingly beside me. The sound of footsteps on the muddy ground also came from under my feet. Listening to the noise, I detached my lips again.

"For real, we've been okay. I was never apart from them even during the summer break, and it wasn't that long ago..." Talking to that point, I closed my mouth to catch my breath.

'I'm too sorry to even look at your face.'

Eun Jiho's voice was speaking that way...

'You can do that to me. I mean, we can do that to each other.'

Yoo Chun Young's voice uttered those words; it felt so clear like he had spoken to me just now.

'But why did it turn this way?' I asked myself. Eun Jiho's umbrella was in my hand; Yoo Chun Young told me to speak to him again when the rain ended. However, why did I feel that we would never get close anymore?

The time we spent together, the conversations we had, and our futures we repeatedly talked about during those years of friendship... Where did they all go? We dreamt about keeping up with each other closely even when we all grew up and became older. It was the premise of our relationship now and forever. However, where did all those promises go? Why did they leave me this way here alone? Was that future never returning to us?

'What do they think of me now? And me... what do I think of them?' Rambling those thoughts in my head, I felt an unpleasant pain arising from the middle of my forehead, beginning to spread out all over me.

After quite a while, I opened my mouth again.

"Relationship... trust..."

"..."

"Those could change so easily."

As if the four years we had spent were all a lie, I could only come up with just one thing in my head when thinking about them.

What if they didn't want to see me anymore?

What if they told me they couldn't find any reason to stay together?

What if they said they had no reason left to hold my hand, listen to my story, share my agony, and take me out of my sorrow or pain? What if they didn't even want to think about it anymore?

What should I do then?

Suddenly, I lifted my head upon the thought that Yeo Dan oppa was still beside me. I tried to smile but didn't even feel like doing it. Showing a forced grin was enough in school. Thus, I just confessed everything I had in mind in the end.

"I'm sorry to rattle on all kinds of things out of the blue, oppa."

"No," he shook his head. I spoke to him again, "You might have felt awkward, right? ... Didn't even know what to respond... Sorry."

The look on his face turned enigmatic. It seemed like I hit the nail on the head, so I felt a little sorry for him. Knowing that he was clumsy at comforting others, I didn't want to reveal such things.

Raising my head, I estimated the distance to our house.

'Ah, it was worth walking while talking.'

We were now at the entrance of the parking lot. He would no longer have to feel troubled by answering or reacting to my concerns.

I uttered with a smile, "Let's go. You should wash your hair and take some rest. You were caught in the rain, weren't you?"

"Uh-huh..." he replied while nodding blankly. I gently lifted my leg and smiled, "Look. My legs are also in a mess."

The muddy water that splashed on my legs was now dried up, but it left some messy stains. Watching the sight, Yeo Dan oppa remained wordless when he could just say to me anything like, 'Take a bath,' or 'See you later.'

Perhaps he was feeling more troubled about my story than I expected. 'Should I say something?' Wondering what to do, I concluded that it would be better to let him go as soon as possible. Thus, I just bent my steps.

I suddenly stopped walking and flung a question I had in mind for the whole time.

"Oh, now I come to think of it..."

He raised his head again.

"You made a typo on your text. What happened?"

"Ah, that one."

He returned an unexpected response, which made me slightly gape.

"My teacher snatched it when I was sending a text. It's confiscated until the next exam."

What? Did he send a text during class time? Although he felt bored or didn't feel like taking the class, I could hardly imagine Yeo Dan oppa slacking off with a phone.

'Well, but...' Pulling myself together, I shook my head. Yeo Dan oppa could get distracted and play with his phone during class time. Why not? However, another thing flashed through my head. My eyes widened.

'Eh? Hold on,' I murmured in my thoughts. His teacher took his phone when Yeo Dan oppa was sending me a text. His incomplete message was only delivered to my phone. Yeo Ryung didn't receive it... in other words...!