Chapter 122: Chapter 122
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He soon heard kids laughing uproariously from aside.
Someone else responded, “Dude, do you think that makes sense? How can he get dumped unless the girl is blind or something?”
“Hey man, who knows? Maybe he dated a celebrity before, and she dumped him?”
“Eun Jiho looks way better than the celebs.”
Listening to their continuous chat, Eun Jiho couldn’t bare his headache. When he put his palm on his head and groaned in pain, their eyes changed. Not only Woo Jooin but the other two Heavenly Kings also stared at him in interest.
The boy who flung the question swallowed hard and asked again.
“Jiho… have you actually been dumped?”
“…”
Eun Jiho remained silent for a second. ‘Oh, shoot,’ he murmured to himself again then rubbed his forehead with his hand. It looked like they already read Eun Jiho’s mind from the look on his face.
The silence prevailing in the dark s.p.a.ce seemed very eccentric. Then, in the next moment, they sent up rousing cheers. The boy who asked the question stuck out his blus.h.i.+ng face.
“Dude, come on! What happened?”
Eun Jiho glanced at the side. The rest of the Four Heavenly Kings were now speechless with grim faces.
The wind blowing from the terrace shook their hair. Eun Jiho then opened his mouth, which was purely and simply a very impulsive act.
“There was a girl I liked when I was in middle school.”
“For how long?”
“About a year and a half?”
“Whoa.”
While their jaws dropped out of shock, Eun Jiho lifted his eyes again to look at the other Four Heavenly Kings. It was understandable that they all looked stiffened.
When it was about the time in middle school, they would surely know who Eun Jiho had a crush on at that time. Since he got along with only a few girls, the scope of the subject became significantly reduced. ‘Who would pop up inside their head?’ With that thought in mind, Eun Jiho’s black eyes revealed a deeper glow. At that moment, a question returned from across.
“Why did she dumped you?”
“…”
Eun Jiho thought for a while then clenched his fist with a smile. It was a question that he honestly didn’t want to answer.
As if they read his refusal to answer after reading his face, the boy pulled his body slightly back to give up on getting answers from Eun Jiho. It was then that Eun Jiho detached his lips.
“She doesn’t even know it’s a confession.”
“What?”
“She still doesn’t know it’s a confession. I said to her, it was just a joke.”
‘Because I don’t want our relations.h.i.+p to get awkward,’ Eun Jiho mumbled to himself. He then raised his eyes to look at the others.
The first one who understood what Eun Jiho meant was none other than Woo Jooin. Looking at his face turning pale, Eun Jiho moved his eyes to check Yoo Chun Young and Kwon Eun Hyung. They also looked as if they were now aware of Eun Jiho’s remark.
On that day, when Hw.a.n.g Siwoo confessed his love toward Ban Yeo Ryung, a casual conversation went through between Eun Jiho and Ham Donnie. They were standing beside each other near the cla.s.sroom back door.
“Dude, you received a confession!”
That day, Ham Donnie looked as if she genuinely had no idea. ‘I’d rather be glad for that reaction,’ Eun Jiho thought while touching his lips quietly. It was what he intended, but when she really didn’t remember anything about it, he felt quite upset.
The attention he was receiving still stung Eun Jiho’s chest. All of their faces were pleading him to tell more about what happened between him and the girl. Under the dim light, Eun Jiho forced a grin.
At that moment, someone from across rubbed his eyes and rose from the floor. He spoke with his eyes full of drowsiness.
“Oh, I can’t stand this anymore.”
“Well, we have to wake up at 6 in the morning. Should we then go to bed?”
“I’m going to a different room.”
“Yeah, let’s wrap it up.”
Kids hid the empty bottles into the narrow s.p.a.ce behind the couch and threw the leftover snacks into the trash can. Then, they got up one after another.
One went inside the master bedroom, and the other two roughly wore their shoes to head to the next door. Watching them leave, Eun Jiho heard someone calling his name. He turned his head with a smile.
Inside the dark room, Woo Jooin showed a sign of seriousness in his eyes, which seldom happened. Kwon Eun Hyung, who was about to get up from the floor, furrowed his brows out of the headache. He didn’t look that sleepy, though.
He then found Yoo Chun Young staring at him. His blue eyes penetrated the darkness, directing Eun Jiho.
“What?” Eun Jiho asked with a grin.
“Nothing.”
It was Kwon Eun Hyung, who replied first. He didn’t look that surprised. He swept his tangled red hair back then left for the bathroom to wash his face. Woo Jooin tilted his head with a smile. He then said to Eun Jiho.
“Hmm, if you don’t want to talk further about it, then you don’t have to.”
“Who says I don’t want to?”
“Your face says it all. We don’t need to interrogate you just because you have a crush on a girl.”
With that said, Woo Jooin also moved his steps toward the small room. Perhaps he was going to bed. Eun Jiho stared at his back then turned his head. Now the only two facing each other in this dark s.p.a.ce were Eun Jiho and Yoo Chun Young.
Yoo Chun Young looked curious, but he also seemed to be not that interested in listening to his story. A moment later, he dropped his blue gaze onto the floor then walked past him.
It was then that Eun Jiho opened his mouth.
“Yoo Chun Young.”
“Uh-huh,” with a short response, Yoo Chun Young’s blue eyes directed this side. Eun Jiho then said with a smile.
“You must listen. I think no other than you should listen.”
“…”
“You were wondering anyway. No?”
“I don’t want to bother you and listen.
“I’m the one who wanted to talk about it.”
Yoo Chun Young hesitated for a moment but soon walked after Eun Jiho.
‘What a beautiful view,’ Yoo Chun Young thought while looking at the scenery below his feet. The building was unbelievably decent for a retreat.
The sea at a distance now sank deeply into the darkness. The terrace was unusually large. Since it was summertime, many rooms opened the terrace doors to cool down the heat. Through the open windows, he could hear people giggling in high tones from downstairs.
‘If I close my eyes and listen, I might hear all the sounds of the world… What floor is Donnie’s room on?’ Pausing his thoughts there, Yoo Chun Young took his phone out of his pocket. That was when he wondered whether he should text Donnie or not, who could be in bed.
He heard the terrace door sliding open from behind. It was Eun Jiho, who entered the s.p.a.ce. He brought two bottles of water from the fridge and handed one out to Yoo Chun Young.
“Our body needs to rehydrate for alcoholysis.”
“…”
Yoo Chun Young grabbed the bottle from Eun Jiho without another word. When he took a sip, he felt that his body would’ve been thirsty.
The two boys leaned on the bal.u.s.trade and enjoyed the breeze in silence. Standing like that for a while, they realized how unbelievably refres.h.i.+ng that night was for a summer evening. The touch of the metal shafts felt cold. How long were they doing that? Eun Jiho broke the ice at last.
“I knew liking someone doesn’t need to have a reason.”
The talk began suddenly. Yoo Chun Young was surprised, but he tried not to show it. Thus, he didn’t look at Eun Jiho’s face.
A moment of silence went by in a flash. Meanwhile, a blackbird flew in and pa.s.sed right before them. It caused a gush of wind to flow at them. Eun Jiho’s words continued at a slight interval.
“But as I began to like her, oh, for G.o.d’s sake…. when I woke up one day, I found out just by looking at her.”
“Her?” Yoo Chun Young asked and turned his head to face Eun Jiho.
Under the darkness, his face looked somehow more unrealistic. Yoo Chun Young could understand a bit why other girls became captivated by his appearance.
Waving his colorless, almost pale, white hair in the wind, Eun Jiho’s expressionless face was truly non-human. A look of bitterness appeared on his jet-black eyes.
“Ham Donnie.”
When that answer came, Yoo Chun Young wasn’t surprised at all. He just stood straight by leaning against the bal.u.s.trade. How could he not know that? From the video that he watched at Donnie’s house, anyone who saw Eun Jiho’s gaze at Ham Donnie would notice that he had a crush on her. Yoo Chun Young closed his lips tightly.
Eun Jiho smiled shortly then turned back to lean against the railing. The boy’s room was on the 3rd floor, so it could be quite frightening, but Eun Jiho didn’t show any signs of fear. He just lifted his chin a bit and cast his gaze upon the dark room.
“Do you remember when Ban Yeo Ryung, Ham Donnie, Woo Jooin, and I went to the same cla.s.s in our soph.o.m.ore year in middle school?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Shortly after that, I fell into her, so my crush began since my soph.o.m.ore year in middle school. That was why I went to her house very often. You know, her dad still asks every male stranger if he is me, Eun Jiho.”
“Yeah.”
Eun Jiho looked up at the sky then heaved a short sigh.