Chapter 534: Chapter 534

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Slowly pressing down my aching chest, I murmured to myself, ‘Of course, I don’t make sense, going back and forth between different universes on every March 2nd, but the power she has is truly illogical.’ All I could think about right now was just someone with absolute power making a ridiculous demand.

If such things in this world–Ban Yeo Ryung always achieving the best academic performances in our school no matter what, Yi Ruda’s background, the kidnapping of us, and the miraculous coincidences that occurred from time to time–had all taken place under the Creator of this world’s will, the girl could also be a character sent from the so-called God.

I clenched my fist.

“I’ll never let her flee away anymore.”

Next time, I should catch her with my own hands at all costs.

Once the girl, who suddenly flung open the lab door, left, the boy and girl stopped having their hot make out and got off from each other, wiping their lips with their hands. The girl then shouted to the person hiding under the desk.

“She’s gone! Come out!”

As soon as she yelled that way, a boy with disheveled brown hair popped out from behind the desk. Roughly fixing his messy hair, Woo Jooin urged toward the desk where he just crawled out.

“What are you doing there? She says to come out.”

Soon, a girl with a hoodie pulled over her head came out hesitatingly under the desk.

Woo Jooin narrowed his eyes upon the girl. She was looking around with wary eyes and grabbing her hoodie tightly over her face hidden inside.

“Why are you covering yourself when we know each other’s face?” he blurted out.

The girl looked at Woo Jooin with widened eyes.

“Huh? Oh…” she stammered as if she was at a loss for words.

Woo Jooin continued, “I believe building trust matters in teamwork.”

“Excuse me?”

“… Although we have formed a temporary alliance between us who don’t trust each other…” Woo Jooin added, “They say insubordination is worse than enemies, which means building trust matters the most. Don’t you think so?”

Woo Jooin laughed when he didn’t feel good. It would have been better if someone told that to her, but, of course, there was no one.

As soon as he stretched out his hand and took off her hoodie from her head, the girl coughed in surprise. Watching the sight with narrowed eyes, Woo Jooin sighed and opened his mouth again.

“Why don’t you throw these clothes away and change them into something else? But don’t wear the same thing in a different color. Just try to wear a different outfit such as a cardigan or a windbreaker jacket.”

“…”

“How ridiculous are you to wear the obviously same hoodie caught on the security camera in the hospital? Don’t you dare to wear that on your way out from here! If so, mama, no, the person you just met would catch you immediately. Get rid of it right now! Throw it in the trashcan or shove it somewhere in the locker and secretly come get it later. Get it?”

The girl pouted her lips in hesitation then uttered, “… It’s important to me…”

As soon as she said that way, Woo Jooin’s raised brows slightly came down. Touching his forehead, he increased his voice.

“If that was so important to you, you should have just put it securely in your room. Why did you wear it everywhere, acting suspicious and having too many irons in the fire? Do you think that’s thoughtful behavior? I mean…”

As if he also thought that his words were getting quite harsh, Woo Jooin stopped talking all of a sudden then shook his head. He bent his steps and slightly opened the door to look outside.

He uttered, “Come out. No one’s outside.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t go somewhere else but just head straight towards the nurse’s office. Go write down your name, fake your check-in time to an hour earlier and leave that as a record. Make any excuses possible to stay there for an hour or two then go straight to your classroom. Understood?” Woo Jooin quietly retorted, stepping close to the girl.

As she nodded to agree with him, Woo Jooin moved aside and made a way out for her.

“Here, go straight to the office.”

After the girl walked away and disappeared into the hallway, the boy, who still looked blank, detached his lips.

“Hey… you’re gonna keep our promise, right? You said you’re gonna erase the footage on the security camera.”

“Yeah, why would I lie to you? Both of us hiding in this place must also remain a secret, so it must be removed anyway. I can get rid of our footages together.”

The boy, looking at the open door until that moment, finally turned his head toward Woo Jooin and threw a question.

“Hey, but what’s going on between you two? Well, you guys don’t look that close to run together, holding each other’s hands, and hide under the desk. You aren’t a couple like us, are you…?”

Woo Jooin retorted, “You said you want to get that footage removed, didn’t you?”

That was enough to shut the boy’s mouth. Leaving the science lab, Woo Jooin added, “What you need to do is just erase your memories about us. Clear?”

Dropping the remark, Woo Jooin closed the door. Only silence prevailed in the space for a while.

Shortly after, the boy frowned and opened his mouth as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“Geez, he knows how to threaten people even though he doesn’t look like a bully-type of kid.”

“Is he doing that because he hates us?”

“I don’t think so? He’s been sarcastic to the girl beside him too.”

“Yeah, right?”

The couple fell into thought, looking at the closed door, then talked simultaneously as if they were on the same page.

“What on earth is going on between the two?”

They couldn’t stop being curious about Woo Jooin and the girl.

Before returning to my class, I stopped by at the classroom where Ban Yeo Ryung and the Four Heavenly Kings belonged, but they told me that Jooin didn’t come back yet.

I didn’t see him on my way back… then did it mean that he had finally caught her as he was convinced to do so? If not, did he fail to catch the girl?

How uncomfortable it was to have my phone taken by the teachers! I clicked my tongue but soon realized that Yeo Ryung was looking at me differently than she used to do.

I asked her in the eyes that looked stiff as a rock, “What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”

That was when the questions I had forgotten popped up in my mind. Lowering my body, I poured them out one after another.

“Oh, didn’t you get very surprised earlier? Are you okay now?”

Ban Yeo Ryung looked sulky during my fusillade of questions. After a moment, she opened her mouth to drop a response.

“Come on, you aren’t that interested.”

I jumped out of my skin, “No! What do you mean that I’m not interested in you? I just thought that catching the culprit was more urgent…”

“Never mind. You looked for Woo Jooin or whatever the kid’s name is, instead of me.”

How could Ban Yeo Ryung call Woo Jooin, ‘Whatever the kid’s name is?’ Very surprising! If her memories come back, I would definitely let her know what she said.

However, our classmates had carefully thrown a doubt that Ban Yeo Ryung had the possibility of never recovering her memories, so right now, I had to focus on defending myself.

“No! No way! Do you know how much I was worried about you? Huh? I dashed out of my classroom and ran all the way to you through the crowds. I also watched in the hallway from the start to the end–you and the girl almost having a handshake–even though I was surrounded by so many people.”

“Really? So, that’s why you didn’t even look back when I called you and just ran after the girl?”

‘Oh, lord. Damn it!’ I said to myself and wrapped my head. Why was I having such a bad day today?!

At that moment, Jooin came into the classroom through the backdoor. My face turned bright. I approached him and called, “Jooin!” Then I almost attached myself to him and whispered in a very small voice that only he could hear what I was saying.

“Did you catch her?”

“No. What about you, mama?” he replied immediately with no hesitation.

I was bereft of enthusiasm, but on the other hand, I understood that we could only end up letting her run away from us. Jooin wasn’t a hunter, and the school wasn’t a forest where things could leave their traces, so, of course, Jooin could fail to catch her. More than a thousand students were here in this limited space. Perhaps, my expectations were too high, being adapted to Jooin’s insane abilities.

“Well, what could I do? I lost her either,” I replied.

“But anything else you got?” Jooin tossed a question, staring at me with a piercing gaze.

For some reason, the look in his eyes seemed unusually tenacious but maybe the sensitive feelings I had earlier in the classroom were extended. Having that thought in my mind, I just tried to move on nonchalantly.

“No, nothing. I didn’t see her face since she covered it so desperately with that hoodie. Even though it got off her head for a second, she pulled it back over her face.”

“Anything else then? Did you ask the students in the writing club?”

“Not yet, I am gonna go ask them some questions later, but to think of it, she doesn’t seem to be a member there. She distanced herself from them when they walked together as a group. Thus, I should have become suspicious about her in the first place…”

Jooin replied, nodding with a straight face, “Hmm, I see. Let’s go together then.”

I wondered for a moment–the note that I picked up earlier in the hallway was in my pocket.