The corners of my lips trembled. I soon bit them tightly. Ban Yeo Ryung would definitely buy time at ease. Yeo Ryung’s brother, Ban Yeo Dan, sometimes showed her some defensive tactics in concern of his little sister. What’s funny about these two was that both thought they could exactly follow the same moves once they had taught and learned. Until now, whenever Ban Yeo Ryung was in danger, the Four Heavenly Kings came to save her at the right time following the clichéd novel. She, therefore, didn’t have to use the defensive tactics, but now it was different. I was confident of Ban Yeo Ryung doing as well as Yi Ruda, when she could finally exercise her natural force. Staring at her for a while, I, however, shook my head again. Ban Yeo Ryung then grimaced. “Why…!!!” Bursting out yelling instinctively, Ban Yeo Ryung soon covered her mouth in surprise then looked at the driver’s seat. I got to realize that this vehicle completely separated the driver’s seat and the back seat just like a foreign cab. I didn’t care about this part at all since this was a luxurious car called for us from the party. Now it turned out that the things were arranged like this to get our minds off of the driver taking a different route. If available, we could, at least, snatch the handle. I played driving games in the arcade, so I knew where the brake and accelerator pedals were. Anyway, it would be way better to seize the handle instead of being dragged to a random place where this suspicious driver was bringing us to. We, however, couldn’t attempt that. Ban Yeo Ryung covered her mouth with a look of regret as she made a loud noise just now. Inside the car enveloped by a catastrophic silence, the driver talked on his in-ear device with a straight face. “Both girls just woke up. They don’t seem to fall asleep again.” Only saying those words with equanimity, he continued driving with his hands on the handle. I tried to open the door but it didn’t work. Ban Yeo Ryung bit her lips with a pale face. She then turned her head to me and spoke loudly as if she was shouting. “Why? Donnie, do you think I can’t?” “No, that’s not…” “I can do it! You know how good I am in PE class! I’m second to none in running that I can even beat Eun Jiho…” Intervening Ban Yeo Ryung’s tearfully continued voice, I spoke with a sigh. “No, to be honest, it’ll be better for me to be here and you to go.” “Never ever!” Screaming like having a fit, Ban Yeo Ryung suddenly sank her head on her chest. I blenched then called her name. “Yeo Ryung?” She then shed big drops of tears without any response. Watching the beads of tears falling under her chin, I quietly stretched out my hand to wipe her cheek. “Why Donnie… please just go…” murmured Ban Yeo Ryung while sobbing. She then added, ‘It’s all my fault,’ with a subdued voice, which sounded notably painful. Listening to her crying, ‘Why… why…’ I pulled her into my arms. ‘Why? Why can’t you just go and leave me here?’ I couldn’t drop a response to her question. Embracing her head tightly, I just murmured to myself. ‘Because you… you aren’t acting like a female protagonist. That’s why I can’t just leave you here alone…’ If she reacted, ‘What should we do?’ or ‘The boys will soon come here and save us, right?’ something very run-of-the-mill, I could have felt more relieved. However, as soon as she understood the situation, Ban Yeo Ryung told me to just run away as she could make her own way out to escape. Heaving a sigh, I just let out a giggle. It was true that we were involved in a dreadful situation, but I couldn’t help but laugh right now. How much wasn’t she like a heroine in a novel… ‘It would be fine,’ I mumbled. Ban Yeo Ryung, who was in my arms, then looked up at me in wonder. I, however, just swallowed the following words, ‘You’d be fine since you’re the female protagonist.’ ‘If you’re trying to act something unable to survive, I can, at least, stop you from doing such a thing. Hyang Dan-I, that’s my nickname, isn’t it? That’s why I’m here for you.’ With that thought in mind, I smiled bitterly. However, there was something else that made me anxious. When a ‘kidnapping event’ took place, I wasn’t sure whether the heroine’s friend could save her life or not… Feeling something eerie, I swept the back of my neck unconsciously. It was after a long time to worry about such a thing… ever since that beach incident. Law of the Web Novel, Article 21. When a ‘kidnapping event’ happens, the friend’s life comes and goes between the two. First, let’s say there is this case when the existence of the female protagonist’s friend becomes as light as air and doesn’t get mentioned in the novel even just for a single line. Often, the author spends several pages illustrating the tears of the female protagonist and the appearance of the male protagonist to create a dramatic escape scene; therefore, the friend never gets mentioned for a while. Once the main characters return to themselves after the successful escape, the friend is there staying next to them. The female protagonist’s friend shows up with tearful eyes only at the ending scene and pretends that she also had a hard time, saying, ‘I was so afraid!’ Of course, she may have struggled, but since nothing is mentioned about her during the abduction, her sudden appearance seems too… I can’t help but think about the friend sitting in the corner and having some popcorn or whatever while being kidnapped along with the female protagonist. ‘Okay, maybe I can be like that? No one will gonna care about me,’ I tried to come up with something hopeful. Next, the second is… I fell into thought for a moment. This is a little scary, but the friend gets beaten on behalf of the female protagonist. In this case, the friend is a sacrificial victim used for arousing the female protagonist’s anger… Furthering my thought up to that point, I looked down at Ban Yeo Ryung in confusion. Flickering her tearful eyes, Yeo Ryung asked back, “Donnie, if you’ve changed your mind right now…” “Nope.” “Keep thinking!” shouted Ban Yeo Ryung vigorously while holding my arm. “I can get rid of everything!” “No…” Directing my eyes on her, I soon shook my head. “I should definitely be next to you…” “Huh?” “I think you’re getting the genre wrong.” This was a web novel, not a martial arts or fantasy novel. As the scene of Ban Yeo Ryung yelling at some mob members, ‘Who’s your boss?’ felt quite real to me, I trembled my shoulders. Anyway, it would be good to stay next to her so that the genre of this novel could also remain unchanged. Pulling Ban Yeo Ryung’s head into my arms, I said to myself about the last concern I had in mind. Let’s say I could get beaten as things could go wrong. It might sound weird, but I actually wouldn’t give a shit about that since I was always being hit by the waves of the unreal world. However, I was concerned about the awaken Ban Yeo Ryung after my collapse. Quivering my shoulders in fear, I murmured, “What will happen if this splendid Ban Yeo Ryung even gets more awaken?” Would she turn into something like a human weapon or the next species of human? It would be a hundred times better to just lose my existence and become something like air. While I rambled those thoughts in my head, the car suddenly pulled over. It was so smooth that I could feel nothing until the car stopped. Likewise, when Ban Yeo Ryung realized that the car just stopped, she pulled my arm as if to tell me just let herself go, but I didn’t move an inch. ‘Please don’t attack him…!’ I thought. Meanwhile, the car door opened in the silence at last. “You’re here, Miss.” The driver’s smiling face looked nonchalant as when he picked us up earlier. I rubbed my arm that was feeling a chill then carefully took my foot outside the car. Ban Yeo Ryung, who grabbed my hand so tightly at the same time, also took her foot off after me with hesitance. * * * ‘Boring…’ murmured Yi Ruda. Perching on the tire embedded in the playground, he stretched his hands down between his legs and was looking up at sky blankly. He checked the phone habitually, but there weren’t any incoming calls. He also sent a few texts, but no message was received too. ‘Is she busy?’ He raised his hand and touched his face that had no makeup left now. Suddenly, Ham Donnie’s face, which he saw in the end at the party hall, entered his head. ‘She looked pretty though…’ It sounded cheesy to say so. The words wandered around his tongue and soon disappeared.