# Chapter 13
“Ah, so you’re the ones who arranged today’s group date?”
“Yeah. Nice to meet you!”
The girls at the group date called Min Sihu by a strange nickname, and Min Sihu responded as if it was perfectly natural. I lowered my hand that had been rudely propping up my chin to under the table.
“Ah, we’re from Manhae High. I’m Yoon Seyeon, and this is Park Kyeong-a and Kim Idam.”
Kim Idam!
At the familiar name, I carefully observed the person who introduced herself as Kim Idam.
Kim Idam, Ban Pyoran’s friend who I needed to find. If I remembered correctly, the Four Kings would definitely encounter Ban Pyoran at the hospital someday. But now that we’ve met Kim Idam first, couldn’t we advance that meeting time?
After running this hopeful circuit in my mind, I smiled slightly.
“Nice to meet you all.”
“Hello. I’m Seong Haemin, and this is Min Sihu, and this is my twin brother Seong Haejun. Shall we sit down?”
Seong Haemin introduced us one by one. The girls, who giggled saying we were even more handsome than rumors suggested, sat across from us.
The conversational atmosphere wasn’t bad. My immediate goal of finding Ban Pyoran quickly seemed to be steadily progressing.
The only problem was that my hands and feet were being sacrificed.
“Is it true that you guys fought with Jeseong High recently?”
“Mhmm! Those Jeseong guys keep~ asking for it!”
“I really never dreamed Do Yunhyuk would end up like that.”
“Me neither. You guys are so cool. Especially Sihu—you’re so cute but you’re good at fighting too.”
“Kyaa! Thank you for appreciating Sihu!”
“Seoyeon High’s Min Sihu and Seong Haemin are really famous heartthrobs. The rumors are absolutely everywhere.”
“Oh right, could you sign this for me? I brought my diary!”
“…”
I nearly lost consciousness listening to the conversation, but I barely maintained my sanity with the demon-resisting power I had developed over time. I was incredibly thankful that I wasn’t the center of the conversation. If I had become the topic, I would have immediately bolted from my seat and fled, Kim Idam or not.
At least Min Sihu and Seong Haemin were creating a warm atmosphere by giving out autographs as if they were completely used to it, so I made the big decision to try to relax and watch this cringeworthy scene. If only I had popcorn to complete the experience.
“By the way, is there someone among you who knows Pyoran?”
“Mhmm! Here, Haejun!”
Just as the conversation was dying down, Kim Idam, who had been relatively quiet among the girls, brought up Ban Pyoran.
“How do you know Pyoran?”
“Ah, well…”
Kim Idam’s eyes narrowed sharply. I stumbled over my words.
I didn’t expect her to ask so directly and sharply. It was because I had been so consumed by the thought that I needed to find Ban Pyoran that I couldn’t make a rational judgment. Since I came to this group date impulsively, I had no prepared answer.
As I rolled my eyes around and stammered, Min Sihu brightened the mood with his beaming smile.
“Idam-idam! If you get angry like that, Sihu gets scared! Kyaa!”
I’m not sure how such words could be persuasive, but Kim Idam softened her gaze a bit. I made up an excuse that the name became familiar because I heard a classmate talking about what a nice person she was.
“A friend? What friend?”
When Seong Haemin heard the word “friend,” he immediately asked who it was, but I just smiled while sucking on the straw in front of me. After all, I couldn’t tell him that an internet novel informed me. Fortunately, Kim Idam didn’t pry any further.
“To care even about friends, Sihu is really considerate!”
“Mhmm, that’s my charm! Ahem!”
“Kyah, so cute! Then shall we… pair up now?”
The girls suggested with sparkling eyes. I took a deep breath inwardly.
Nice timing. I was relieved to escape the difficult situation… or not. Come to think of it, this was a disaster! Just imagining being split into three pairs and having to date one-on-one made me break out in a cold sweat. I carefully observed the mood.
I was painfully experiencing that impulsively participating in something inevitably leads to awkward situations. Because my vision had narrowed due to the obsession to find Ban Pyoran quickly, there were too many factors I hadn’t considered.
Could I sneak out quietly? But looking at the atmosphere, it seemed difficult.
No choice. If pairs were formed, I’d just have to take her outside, apologize, and run away.
While I was scheming like this, unexpected help came from a place I never imagined.
“Oh, who do we have here. It’s Haejun, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“Hello, Haejun? We meet again.”
Red hair.
The person who appeared so suddenly was none other than Do Yunhyuk. As soon as I saw the red hair, my face froze like a machine.
“Who is this? Oh my!”
“You’re… Jeseong High’s star, Do. Yun. Hyuk?”
The girls’ eyes widened when they saw Do Yunhyuk.
Of course, I was also very surprised. Not only by the appearance of the villain Do Yunhyuk, but also by the word choice of “star”…
“This isn’t even Jeseong High territory, why is Do Yunhyuk here?”
“How would you know if this place won’t soon become Jeseong High’s territory?”
“…”
From “star” to “territory”…
The word choice was quite something. I have to repeatedly remind myself that these guys were all supposed to be 17 years old.
‘Don’t they study…?’
Do Yunhyuk shrugged his shoulders as he sharply deflected Min Sihu’s wariness. As soon as Do Yunhyuk appeared, Min Sihu and Seong Haemin frowned deeply and took protective positions around me. Since I also found Do Yunhyuk quite uncomfortable, I backed away. After all, Do Yunhyuk was a scary guy who had even come to our school last time.
“Get lost.”
“I heard Seong Haemin has a phobia of women, yet here you are?”
“You oily tteokbokki Do Yunhyuk! You, you, you! You’ll go bald!”
Phobia of women…? What’s that about…?
Min Sihu hurled a curse at Do Yunhyuk that made absolutely no contextual sense. Meanwhile, our group date partners were screaming that Do Yunhyuk was indeed really handsome. Everything was descending into chaos.
Of all people to meet, it had to be Do Yunhyuk. I should have just quietly paired up as told. My thinking was too shallow. Is this what they mean by avoiding one thing only to run into something worse?
The gazes of all the other people sitting in the cafe were now focused on us. My face burned with shame.
I wanted to disappear from everyone’s sight.
Please exclude me. These are people I don’t know. I wanted to plead.
Do Yunhyuk, who had been responding to Min Sihu and Seong Haemin’s verbal sparring for a while, smiled cryptically at me before suddenly extending his arm to snatch me and pull me into his arms. My body trembled like a fish caught on a fishing rod. Despite being a fairly robust man myself, I was like a sheet of paper before Do Yunhyuk.
“Ack.”
“Shh.”
Do Yunhyuk whispered in my ear. Goosebumps rose wherever his breath touched. I tried to resist but it was useless. Perhaps this was what it meant to be the top fighter (the most shameful part was that I was using the term “top fighter”), but the grip that firmly bound my wrist was solid.
Seong Haemin and Min Sihu seemed very flustered by the sudden turn of events.
…Actually, do delinquent face-offs work by whoever grabs the wrist of the person in the middle first wins?
“Let go of him.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Oh no, Do Yunhyuk has stolen Seong Haejun!”
Avoiding Min Sihu and Seong Haemin who were trying to take back my other wrist, Do Yunhyuk skillfully took a step back. Do Yunhyuk wrapped his arm around my neck and shoulder while still holding my wrist. Since I was completely embraced in Do Yunhyuk’s arms, a momentary standoff ensued.
‘If you’re going to fight, leave me out of it. Please, seriously…’
Seong Haemin glared at Do Yunhyuk with eyes blazing like oil had been poured on a wood fire. Min Sihu had abandoned his characteristic pretense of cuteness and was grinding his lips askew. Gone was his usual cute impression; instead, his eyes flashed as if he was about to stab a voodoo doll repeatedly with a large needle.
I also tried pushing Do Yunhyuk’s chest with all my might as my own form of resistance, but he didn’t budge an inch. I have no idea how these guys are so strong. It’s enough to make me feel miserable as an ordinary person! I should start strength training.
Just then, Do Yunhyuk’s lips twitched, and with a refreshing wink, he left everyone with a thunderbolt of an announcement.
“Seong Haemin, I’m borrowing your brother today!”
What?
And immediately, he grabbed my arm and ran out of the cafe.
I almost reflexively cursed out loud, but couldn’t even spit it out due to the tremendous speed at which he was dragging me. I heard Seong Haemin and Min Sihu calling my name and following us, but I was being dragged along at such a great speed with my wrist in Do Yunhyuk’s grip that I didn’t even have the presence of mind to look back. I was busy shrieking “Aaaaaargh!” in an effort to stay alive.
Being kidnapped like this by this vile villain and used as a weakness against the Four Kings…
As the surrounding scenery flew by in step with my running feet, an internet-novel-typical scenario quickly unfolded in my head.
Either way, I’m clearly screwed!
After running for quite a while, practically dragging me along, Do Yunhyuk finally stopped sprinting when we reached an unfamiliar place. My lungs felt like they would burst from running so incredibly fast. My throat was parched as if it was on fire.
As I was coughing and unable to breathe, Do Yunhyuk kindly patted my back. But it hurt so much that I defensively moved away. Even though I suddenly moved away, Do Yunhyuk remained relaxed, as if confident he could catch me if I tried to run.
“Why are you so weak?”
What kind of person says something like that?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
