Chapter 57: Chapter 57

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When my dad moved his lips, the gray smoke from his cigarette puffed from within his mouth and scattered around the night sky. He then turned his head to speak with Yi Ruda’s father, which made the gentleman laugh after making a short response in very fluent Korean. Ban Yeo Ryung’s father joined their laughter as well.

They looked very close even though it was obvious that our parents had just met this gentleman now. What a talent, I thought.

My dad and Ban Yeo Ryung’s father shared that skill after sharing a lifetime together as friends. This talent of theirs gave them the ability to befriend a stranger almost as if they had known them for a decade after speaking with them for only within 5 minutes. Some might ask how something like that could be possible. That was because of the difference in their personality.

My dad usually talked with a typical Jeollanam-do attitude, abrupt and outspoken, but at the same time, he had an amazing humor that delighted people. However, my dad’s vigor could overwhelm those who had weak energy.

Thus, what offsets my dad’s flaw was the generous attitude of Ban Yeo Ryung’s father. He listened to others and spoke softly with a warm voice, which made others feel much more comfortable.

In this aspect, when both of them cooperated with each other as a duo wherein my dad would voice what’s in his mind while Yeo Ryung’s father would have his ears open, the game was done. This time, they did the same thing with Yi Ruda’s father, which made the three of them seemed as if they were best friends after talking within 5 minutes.

My expression turned sour after seeing the three men laughing broadly within the crowd.

I stared at them with a tragic-looking face. How did all these happen? Right, it was my mom who planned for a family dinner in a Chinese restaurant to celebrate the night. That was how all these began.

* * *

Our family and Ban Yeo Ryung’s family went out for dinner together often, so I had expected this to happen. Ban Yeo Ryung also showed me her phone that had a text which instructed her to come home before 6 pm to dine in a Chinese restaurant. This was how good neighbors worked. I shrugged and said, ‘cool.’

Next, we headed to Ban Yeo Dan oppa’s school. Since he was now a high school sophomore, instead of having an entrance ceremony, he had classes until 6 pm instead.

Ban Yeo Ryung thought it was quite uncomfortable to see two girls waiting in front of a boys’ high school. She thought it would be too pompous for two girls to stand in front of a male-only school; however, when we arrived at his school, her concerns turned out to be groundless.

Once we got there, we could see the shades of a group of girls sitting in front of the school entrance around the sign with the words ‘300 meters to the school,’. As we got closer, we realized how extraordinary the energy of those girls was.

As if someone had gathered all the high school and middle school girls around the neighborhood, all the girls wore different school uniforms and were shouting with bloodshot eyes.

“Yeo Dan oppa! Congrats for being a sophomore! I baked a cake for you!”

“Oppa! There are now only 2 years left until you become officially an adult! Only a few days left for us to get married!”

“Oppa! Yeo Dan oppa!!!!!!!”

Ban Yeo Ryung’s face revealed a sign of confusion as she realized that the girls were here because of her brother. Then she looked at me and asked, “Um, is my brother… a playboy?”

Just by the way the girls were calling Ban Yeo Dan’s name, she concluded that all of them were her brother’s girlfriends. Her brain, which worked fast during exams but slowed down when these things happen, was surely impressive. I applauded inside my heart but soon shook my head.

“Come on, you know that Yeo Dan oppa is single.”

‘For about 18 years,’ I added a silent reply. It was true. Surprisingly, Ban Yeo Dan never dated a girl even though he’s obviously an extremely attractive man.

Ban Yeo Ryung tilted her head to each side in wonder then asked, “Then, why are they like… that?”

“Oh, that’s because Yeo Dan oppa is hot. They are not dating him yet, but they want to, so that’s why.”

Then, I came up with a very realistic hypothesis.

If I were not Ban Yeo Dan’s neighbor but an ordinary girl who went to a school near him, wouldn’t I be there with those other girls? I rolled my eyeballs and thought of how possible it was.

To be honest, Ban Yeo Dan was the type of guy who was gorgeous enough for one to do a 5-hour wait in front of boys’ high school just to see a glimpse of him.

While I was thinking of those certain possibilities, the surrounding yelling suddenly got louder. That was probably the cue that he had finally arrived.

Generally, in a web novel, a conversation like this would often occur: ‘Oh, you like Ban Yeo Dan? I like XXX next to him though.’ What I was trying to say was that the guys around the male protagonist were also popular among the girls; however, that did not seem to exist in this novel.

As soon as Ban Yeo Dan came out of the school with his friends, all the surrounding girls were crying out only Ban Yeo Dan’s name.

He, however, had his hand shoved inside his pocket while his other hand was holding his phone. From his attitude, I could tell that things like this were something common to him based on his indifference to it. The ones who reacted to this situation instead were his friends.

Ban Yeo Dan’s friends tapped his shoulder or stomach to persuade Mr. Nonchalant to react at least a little. They all looked handsome and friendly with their bright hair colors. They were talking to him to say a unified point.

“Dude, come on! They’ve been here for hours just to see you. Why don’t you at least say hi?”

“Oh, Christ. He’s reading his sister’s text a hundred times now. Are you going to marry your sister or something?”

It was then did Ban Yeo Dan opened his lips. He raised his jet-black eyes that resembled Ban Yeo Ryung’s and looked around us. He then opened his red lips and spat out the words.

“Here.”

“…?”

Ban Yeo Dan’s friends did not seem to grasp what was going on. They looked at each other and asked Ban Yeo Dan while frowning their brows.

“Huh? What?”

“Here? Here, who?”

“My sister.”

Ban Yeo Dan then closed his flip phone and shoved it inside his pocket. He raised his head immediately to look directly at our direction

Girls were creating layers of human walls in front of us, so we could hardly see what was happening. However, based on how he found his sister without even physically seeing her, it made me think that he has some sort of ‘little sister radar’ or something like that.

While I blinked my eyes in surprise, Ban Yeo Dan strode toward us, stepping with his long legs. The girls stepped back and split aside like how Moses divided the Red Sea. At the same time, there appeared an open pathway between the brother and the sister.

Ban Yeo Dan walked toward us, striding along the red brick road.

The timid smile on his lips was definitely a sign of joy to see his sister, Ban Yeo Ryung. Seeing this made me frown. 17 years had passed; how come he still couldn’t get enough of his sister? The brothers of the female protagonists in web novels were totally out of touch with reality, I thought.

Ban Yeo Dan’s friends turned blank and froze as they saw Ban Yeo Ryung. Her beauty might have shocked them.

However, it did not last long. They soon came toward us with a cheerful face. As they started to speak to us, what they said struck me dumb.

“Wow, I thought Ban Yeo Dan was wearing a wig. They really look the same.”

“She sure is pretty. Hey, but guys come on, we’ve been seeing Ban Yeo Dan’s face for the last 4 years, haven’t we?”

“Of course! It was not enough to knock us down!”

“I was about to surrender though…”

While they came to us while chitchatting, Ban Yeo Dan spoke with Ban Yeo Ryung but soon bent his body to look at her forehead. When his white fingertip tucked Ban Yeo Ryung’s black hair behind her ear and disappeared suddenly, the spectators burst into cheers.

I just stared at the brother and the sister’s motions with a stiff face. Honestly, even I was so envious of her at this moment. Although I knew that she was always at risk of having an incurable disease and amnesia in return for having a hot brother and being around all the hottest men in the area.

While watching them, I was surprised by the way Ban Yeo Dan oppa suddenly glared.

He looked at me with a blank face then suddenly pulled his bag from behind him and swung it to place in on his chest and searched for something within. It was not long before he handed me something. I took it at the moment’s confusion.

It turned out to be the same coffee milk he gave me before. When I looked at him, I heard him reply with a soft smile.

“I got it today as well.”

“Oh, thank you, Yeo Dan oppa.”

I answered and tore the mouth of the coffee milk. Then the guys behind Yeo Dan oppa looked around us and stared at him.

They questioned, “Huh? Dude, is this why you took all the coffee milk before?”

“Hey, you’re not saying she’s also your sister, are you? Man, then you don’t really have any girl to pin yourself with and marry.”

As they pulled Ban Yeo Dan’s shoulder with these remarks, he just slightly frowned with little response. Then he opened his mouth to give, of course, a simple and vague answer.