.

“…”

“You know, to be honest, you look freaking cold. Ham Donnie became such a straight shooter when she was half-awake and then she just went back to sleep like nothing happened, which made all of us crack up. After that, the kids began to say you’re a human A/C.”

Yoo Chun Young’s face at that moment was devoid of any facial expressions. His eyes were wide opened as if they knocked him down with a feather. Eun Jiho continued speaking with a smirk. It was still a funny situation to remember when everyone was springing at Yoo Chun Young to escape the heat.

As if he also thought the same, Kwon Eun Hyung’s smile never ceased too. Then the two boys exchanged glances and burst out a peal of loud laughter again.

That summer, Yoo Chun Young had to spend an arduous time suffering from how the boys would stretch out their hands around him so they could escape the scorching heat.

It was quite a mystery how the kids turned out to be that audacious when they usually found it difficult to get along with Yoo Chun Young. Now he understood that it was never a wonderful feeling.

Yoo Chun Young, however, heaved a deep sigh instead of going off the deep end. This aroused the two laughing men’s’ curiosity.

Soon Kwon Eun Hyung flung the question on everyone’s mind, “What’s that sigh all about? That ain’t something you’d usually do.”

“That makes me even more concerned.”

“Who? Ham Donnie?”

Eun Jiho, who sat beside him, asked with a guess, but Yoo Chun Young just heaved a long sigh. He then switched his hands to rest his chin on his other palm as he heaved another deep sigh. As he dropped his gaze onto the floor, a faint voice escaped his mouth.

“Would Ham Donnie be okay alone?”

“Why not? She seems to be silly sometimes, but doesn’t she get along with people pretty well? Maybe at lunchtime, we would definitely see her hanging around with other friends.”

“Yeah, Yoo Chun Young. No worries. We should be more concerned about these two folks.”

Eun Jiho then turned his head to point at the two people he was referring to: Woo Jooin, who sat beside him reciting an old poem, and Ban Yeo Ryung, who laid her head on the desk, stamping her feet again.

Then he continued, “These weirdos, I swear. I’m wondering if they could even have lunch at the cafeteria later.”

“If they refuse, we should carry them on our backs. No problem!”

Kwon Eun Hyung replied with a puzzled smile. There was something odd in what Eun Jiho said once he started looking at these two, so Yoo Chun Young drew another sigh.

In the meantime, unlike Yoo Chun Young’s concerns, there was something opposite going on in Class 1-8.

* * *

“I’m Ham Donnie from J… Ji… Ji Jon Middle School. Nice to meet you all.”

What the hell…!

As soon as I introduced myself in front of the class, I buried my face into my hands. It was because of the things I imagined when I was a freshman in middle school; those were the times when I was unaware of what would happen in my future and the scenes I had imagined back then came across my mind…

“Which middle school are you from?”

“Ji.. Ji Jon Middle School.”

“Bahahaha! J… Ji… Ji Jon!! She says Ji Jon Middle School haha!’

I never thought this imagination of mine would come true. As I plopped down onto my seat, I heaved a long sigh, waiting for other kids to react.

Everyone knew how it went. There would soon be a burst of laughter or eyes of sympathies circulating around me… However, I opened my eyes like a twinkle. Strangely, the expected reaction did not happen but a moment of silence kept on instead.

When I looked around the classroom, everyone seemed to have a dumbstruck face similar to mine. This part was the same as what I imagined so far; however, what came out from their mouths was beyond my expectations, and that made me cough. Hack!

“Ji Jon Middle School? Where Hanul Group and Balhae Group’s heirs went? You went to that school…?”

“What about the Four Heavenly Kings from there? Holy cow, unbelievable she went to the same school as them…”

“Amazing!”

“I’m so jealous.”

I coughed until Yi Ruda, the female cross-dresser beside me, who seemed to be a tolerable person for most of the situations, became thunderstruck. As I barely relieved myself, I had my hands on the desk, remaining silent for a while.

I thought, ‘Oh yes. This world is still where I belong…’

Then it would be okay. I mean, was it? While I groaned for a second, a glance darted towards me from the back.

When I turned around, I saw the two impressively calm-looking twins watching me with concern.

They seemed to be the only people among the classroom who realized the ridiculousness of my middle school’s name. At least a few normal people existed here. I shed invisible tears toward them and diverted my gaze back to the front.

All right, not that bad. As soon as I had that thought in mind, Yi Ruda who was next to my seat suddenly stood up. I felt a sense of futility then.

Oh, yes. I forgot about her. The female crossdresser, Yi Ruda. She was another female protagonist in this web novel who replaced Ban Yeo Ryung in her absence right now.

She looked around with a full smile on her beautiful face. Then she spoke beamingly.

“Hi, my name is Yi Ruda! I’m from America so I’m still not familiar with Korea. Hope you guys can help me out. Nice to meet you all!”

Her voice was so loud that her words echoed around the whole classroom for a while, deafening my ears.

I sat vacantly and stared at her. Yi Ruda then dropped onto her chair and winked her blue eyes at me. Some kids burst into cheers saying something like ‘very cute’ or ‘handsome’ at her. These roars made me frown my face again.

The word ‘handsome’ was usually for guys; although, Yi Ruda was about 172cm tall, how could they just accept that she’s a guy?

Thus, when I responded with a frown instead of a smile to her wink, I could see the wonder in her eyes. She asked me with a concerned expression.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong, Donnie?”

“Uh… nothing. I’m fine.”

I could not come up with any excuses, so I replied nonchalantly instead. As if she read something unnatural from my response, she kept her stare at me for a while.

When I realized that she would never stop gazing at me, an impressive voice flew over from behind. I turned my head to that sound immediately.

The girl from the twins was standing up at a slow pace. Her jet-black eyes, with a hint of blue under her blue-black lashes, glanced over the classroom before it fell onto me. It took my breath away for a second.

Soon, she stared at the teacher with an unruffled expression. Then she slowly opened her un-tinted lips.

“I’m Kim Hye Hill from Suk Bong Middle School. Next to me is Kim Hye Woo, my twin brother born 3 minutes earlier than me. Nice to meet you.”

I thought she would then get back to her seat immediately, but she hesitantly showed a grin instead. It was not a bright smile but still attractive nonetheless. As she sat down, the boy next to her left stood up.

He truly looked the same as Kim Hye Hill except for his height. His slim, lean, and tall body surely looked well-proportioned enough for him to consider a career in modeling.

He also had that calm face look on his face as he looked upon us.

He then shrugged hand said, “Kim Hye Hill already introduced me so… again, I’m Kim Hye Woo from Suk Bong Middle School. Nice to meet you all.”

Before getting back to his seat, he bent his blue-black eyes and gave us a grin. It seemed that the twins had characteristically attractive faces. Not that he looked as beautiful as a girl, but it was Kim Hye Hill who was close to a beautiful young girl with a boyish face.

Then a boy who sat all the way in front of the row beside mine stood up from his seat.

What first came across my mind was that he looked like Yoo Chun Young. Though he was not as handsome as Chun Young. Still, his overall features and sharp eyes were decent enough for them to look familiar. His brown hair was neatly styled in a way for him to indicate that he’s a high school student.

He stood still with a quiet face but soon opened his mouth to introduce himself.

“I’m Shin Suh Hyun from Suk Bong Middle School. Nice to meet you.”

As I heard his name, I knitted my brows without intention. Shin Suh Hyun? It sounded familiar.