Haemalgeum and Kang Yedam were hiding behind the aquarium pillar, attracting the stares of every passerby.
“Hey, isn’t that Haemalgeum?”
When the schoolgirls covered their mouths with both hands and bounced in excitement, Haemalgeum and Kang Yedam waved at them leisurely, but their eyes were fixated on Do Ihyeon’s retreating figure.
Dana’s guess that her friend, who rarely left the house, had come out to such a crowded place just to hang out, was completely off the mark.
Their friendship could hardly be called touching.
“I can’t believe I’m seeing this with my own eyes.”
“Still can’t believe it, huh?”
“That Do Ihyeon is on a date.”
“I never thought I’d get to witness something this entertaining before I died.”
Even though Do Ihyeon shot them a fierce glare as a warning, the two were completely unfazed.
They were tailing their precious friend’s historic first date as blatantly as possible, just to watch.
“Just thinking about Do Ihyeon’s glare earlier gives me chills.”
“I got goosebumps all over, seriously.”
“If he hadn’t told us to stay out of it, what do you think would’ve happened to us?”
“We wouldn’t have made it home in one piece.”
Recalling Do Ihyeon’s piercing stare from earlier, both of them swallowed dryly at the same time.
Just then—
“Hey… is Do Ihyeon looking this way right now?”
Sensing the intense atmosphere, Haemalgeum nudged Kang Yedam, who was peeking out from behind the pillar, and asked.
“No, he’s not, but why does it feel so—”
Suddenly, the owner of that fierce aura swept past Kang Yedam’s eyes.
As soon as she spotted him, Kang Yedam’s eyes widened as if they might pop out.
“Hey, hey! Isn’t that Ban Eun-hyeol over there?”
Without even looking back, Kang Yedam frantically waved her hand in the air and shouted in a hushed voice, worried that she might disturb Do Ihyeon’s date even in this situation.
Seeing Kang Yedam’s urgent gestures, Haemalgeum also spotted Ban Eun-hyeol.
His jaw dropped so far it looked like he might leap out from behind the pillar at any moment.
“Shouldn’t we stop him?!”
The direction Ban Eun-hyeol was heading was unmistakably where Do Ihyeon and Dana were.
Whatever it was, it didn’t seem like Ban Eun-hyeol was approaching Do Ihyeon with good intentions.
Just as Haemalgeum was about to dash out, Kang Yedam blocked him with her arm.
“Wait a second, hold on.”
“Wait for what? What if those two start fighting?”
Haemalgeum couldn’t understand why Kang Yedam was acting like this.
After everyone Awakened, the rankings were clearly set, and since then, fights between school’s top dogs were rare, but you never knew.
If those two did end up fighting, the aquarium would definitely turn into a battlefield. But no matter how anxious Haemalgeum felt, Kang Yedam just kept her eyes fixed on Ban Eun-hyeol with narrowed eyes.
Then, in a lower, more serious tone than before, she said,
“This isn’t something we can stop.”
“Hey, do you really think he’d use force on us? The rankings are already settled, why would he go that far?”
“People will do anything for love.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Annoyed by Kang Yedam’s cryptic words, Haemalgeum raised his voice, prompting Kang Yedam to turn around and look at him with exasperation.
“Pfft, clueless idiot.”
Muttering under her breath, she turned her gaze back to Ban Eun-hyeol and Do Ihyeon.
Haemalgeum, having unwittingly become the clueless one, could only smack his lips in disbelief.
After a moment, he cautiously pressed his hands against the pillar and peeked out to watch Ban Eun-hyeol’s back.
But as their conspicuous posture started drawing attention, they pretended to be engrossed in the nearby jellyfish while sneaking glances at Ban Eun-hyeol.
Kang Yedam and Haemalgeum kept glancing at Ban Eun-hyeol and Do Ihyeon, while the people inside the aquarium kept glancing at Kang Yedam and Haemalgeum.
No one in the aquarium was actually looking at the fish.
I was startled by Ban Eun-hyeol’s sudden appearance and stared at him.
His hair and clothes were a mess, as if he’d just been through something.
At first, I thought he might have rolled around on the dirt, but on closer look, it seemed he’d just come out of a Dungeon.
His expensive-looking black coat was splattered with blue liquid.
It was definitely monster blood.
“What are you doing here? And what’s with that look?”
At my question, Ban Eun-hyeol belatedly pressed down his tousled hair with his palm.
Before he could answer, I spotted a jellyfish.
I remembered how Do Ihyeon wanted to see the jellyfish, and Ban Eun-hyeol wanted to see the penguins.
Seeing the two of them bickering over such childish reasons during the school trip, and now again at the aquarium, made my head spin.
“Did you come to see the penguins by any chance?”
At my question, Ban Eun-hyeol’s face twisted in disbelief, as if he’d never been angry in his life.
“Or not. Then why are you here? Don’t tell me you came to see me?”
“Uh…”
“Wait, really?”
I’d just tossed out a joke, but the answer that came back was so firm and unexpected that I was taken aback.
I asked again, flustered, but Ban Eun-hyeol ignored my question.
Instead, he fixed his gaze solely on me and asked,
“Are you done looking around?”
“No, not yet.”
We still had a lot left to see before heading to the exit.
I hadn’t seen the sharks or the penguins yet.
But ever since Ban Eun-hyeol showed up, more and more people started crowding around us.
Before I knew it, people had formed a circle around us, and all I could think was that we needed to get out of here fast.
“Seriously, is that really Do Ihyeon? Wow, it’s my first time seeing him in person!”
“Good thing we checked after seeing 8145, right? When else would you get to see the number 1 and 2, plus the infamous Iljin High’s top 3, all at once?”
“But who’s that girl? Never seen her before.”
A sharp voice from a schoolgirl, clearly wary of me, sent a wave of anxiety through me.
Judging by the conversation, someone must have posted about us on 545, and the news spread like wildfire, drawing all these people in.
So now, I’d become some random girl with a long name stuck between Iljin High’s top 3 and Ban Eun-hyeol.
If I stayed here any longer, I had no idea what those schoolgirls who’d rushed over to see their faces would do to me.
If someone who remembered my face tried to kidnap me like the princess from Gonju-go, it would definitely be a hassle.
‘Once was enough for that kind of trouble.’
I did get kidnapped during the school trip, but that was a different story, so let’s not count that.
For now, getting out of here was the top priority.
“We should get going now.”
I spoke in a low voice, just loud enough for Do Ihyeon and Ban Eun-hyeol to hear.
“We tried to keep a low profile, so how did they find us?”
Do Ihyeon’s tone was as calm as usual, but I could sense a hint of embarrassment.
I was foolish to think just a hat and mask would be enough to hide us.
With those visuals, of course someone would recognize us just by our silhouettes.
“It’s a miracle you thought they wouldn’t recognize you.”
“You’re the one who really needs to hide.”
The atmosphere between the two was tense.
They looked like they could start fighting at any moment, and with so many people watching, there were just as many cameras recording us.
“Both of you, just shut up and follow me.”
I grabbed Ban Eun-hyeol and Do Ihyeon by the wrists and strode forward.
Pushing through the crowd that had gathered around us, I made a path and dragged my two friends through it.
As soon as we escaped the crowd, I quickly glanced around to get my bearings, then broke into a run.
“Huh? They’re running away!”
Run away? What do you mean, run away!
“Did we commit a crime or something?!”
I was speechless at the shouts behind us.
The people chasing after us quickly fell behind, and through the gap, I saw Kang Yedam and Haemalgeum running toward us.
Both of them were chasing after us, their bright blonde and orange hair flying in the air.
As we ran toward the exit, the last stop, the penguin aquarium, came into view.
I slowed down and pointed at the penguins.
“It’s the penguins! Hey, hey! These are the penguins you like!”
At that, Ban Eun-hyeol, who had been walking briskly beside me, sped up and muttered gruffly.
“Ugh, let’s just go already.”
The tips of his ears were bright red.
“He really is surprisingly shy, you know.
Makes him perfect to tease.
With that thought, I sped up, and people near the penguin aquarium who overheard us said,
“Ban Eun-hyeol likes penguins! Isn’t that kind of unexpected and cute?”
“Never would’ve guessed that from his face.”
Ban Eun-hyeol’s expression hardened as he walked ahead of me.
Once we’d made it out of the aquarium, we stood near the exit for a moment, surveying the area.
We had to decide where to go next.
“Hey, you go ahead. I have something to talk about with him.”
Now was the perfect time to talk to Do Ihyeon about the hooded girl.
Ban Eun-hyeol, who was about to grab my sleeve and walk ahead, stopped in his tracks.
“And you two, don’t follow us.”
He warned Haemalgeum and Kang Yedam, who were standing behind us, then tried to lead Do Ihyeon away.
“You still haven’t talked about that?”
Ban Eun-hyeol asked in a heavier voice than before.
Without waiting for my answer, he walked off first.
Watching his reaction, Kang Yedam and Haemalgeum glanced at me and Do Ihyeon, then quietly drifted away.
Do Ihyeon seemed to know what I wanted to talk about from the start.
We moved to a quiet place and checked to make sure no one was around.
Then, Do Ihyeon spoke first.