Chapter 10: Chapter 10

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She might have felt something strange by instinct. Yeo Ryung responded with an odd smile. I stared at her grin and remained silent. You really don’t know? For real? Jesus Christ!

Oh… I touched my forehead. Yes, although I decided to accept them as reality, and since they were my friends for the last three years, the fact that this was a web novel still did not change.

Everyone in school knew who the Four Heavenly Kings were except her. Even if those boys were the ones whom she always ate with, breathed in the same room, and went to karaoke together for the last few years.

I closed my eyes tightly with my hand covering my forehand.

The waters were still swirling from a distance. A few birds were flying in a black group in the bright white sky. As the fishing boat cleaved the water with loud motor sounds, the birds flying low at the surface of the sea went up high with a flap of their wings. I stood still and arranged my mind.

Okay, so generally, what is the friend’s role in this situation? Simple.

‘Omg, you don’t know our dear Four Heavenly Kings? How could you? They are Eun Jiho, Yoo Chun Young, Kwon Eun Hyung, and Woo Jooin. These four are all so handsome… >_

I went over the lines again in my head and looked at Ban Yeo Ryung’s innocent face. Sometimes, I mean for real, I see her ‘innocent and naïve’ face as ‘innocently despicable.’

After a moment, I completely set up my mind and said with a smile, “The four bastards.”

As I degraded them as the ‘four bastards’ at once, I waited for Ban Yeo Ryung’s response. She needs an eye-level education. Those four bastards were not suited to have that huge title of being the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ to Ban Yeo Ryung.

Ban Yeo Ryung laughed and soon replied as expected, “Oh, them! They went to buy cup noodles.”

“What? Why cup noodles in this place?”

“Jooin wants to have a cup noodle in the sea breeze? You know, like having cup noodles while shivering in the middle base camp of Mount Everest.”

I became speechless. Well, it was true that eating cup noodles against the shivering cold tasted the best. Still, how could the other folks not hold him back?

Anyway, when did they disappear? I then realized something after I saw the small convenience store at the end of the road where they seemed to disappear.

Wait a minute, am I alone with Ban Yeo Ryun in this place?

God, damn it. I closed my eyes tightly and counted down the numbers. Five, four, three…

“Hey ladies. What a beauty?”

They showed up. I knew it, I really did.

I saw them with a hopeless expression.

He was a tall guy with broad shoulders. His hairstyle was exposing his entire forehead. It seemed the use of wax to slick all the hairs backward worked wonders for him. His attractive forehead and his well-toned nose gave the impression that he’s a decent guy.

Yes, nobody in this novel, including the extras, was ‘ordinary looking.’ I sighed and gently pulled Ban Yeo Ryung, who stood next to me absent-mindedly. She did not seem to get that the beauty they catcalled was her – Law of the Web Novel. Article 4, The Female Protagonist Does Not Know She is Pretty.

I pretended I heard nothing and slowly pulled Ban Yeo Ryung’s hand. My face had an expression of ‘Your Highness, we’ve seen the sea for over two hours, and we have been absorbed by the soil of Mother Nature, so why don’t we start to go back?’

In order to be around Ban Yeo Ryung, having an acting ability was a must. I had to act as if I had an urgent call of nature, or pretend that I was a patient looking out of breath. Sometimes I even pretend I am a cool brother who would take care of her from the bad guys. There were thugs continuously hitting on Ban Yeo Ryung, and every time it happened, I kicked them out by showing off these brilliant acting skills.

I usually prepared these a few seconds before things happened. This time, however, I got aware of the situation too late.

The thug called us regardless of my bored face.

“Hey, don’t you want to have a bit of chat for a while?”

“…”

“Donnie, do you know him?” Ban Yeo Ryung whispered to me.

I closed my eyes tightly and said to myself, ‘are you kidding me!? This far away near the seashore takes two hours by the express bus from my place!’

However, if I stay in silence for too long, Ban Yeo Ryung will try to fight with them eventually. I know how dangerous something like that will be.

Ban Yeo Ryung, just like the other female protagonists in web novels, tends to speak whatever she has in mind and to catch herself in trouble.

I slowly turned around with my hands up high as a sign of surrender.

Then I said, “Oh, um…”

“None of your business!”

“We have other companies.”

I spoke calmly. In front of me stood a big man and a group of other boys with school uniforms on accompanying him who all looked like juveniles looking for nothing but trouble.

They were six in total. All of them had their hairs dyed in brown or gold, which caught the eyes of others, but to me, they were ridiculous. Compared to the Four Heavenly Kings, they were mediocre. Especially, when thinking of Eun Jiho. He had a surprising silver hair.

As my reaction was unexpectedly lukewarm, the guy seemed a bit abashed. He, however, had retained his smile and pointed at the person by my side. I could understand the meaning behind his little gesture without turning around. It was where Ban Yeo Ryung stood still.

He said, “Not you. Whoever comes with us could be changed by who we choose. And we choose that girl over there. Hey, would you like to hang out with us?”

“…”

Ban Yeo Ryung, again, had her lips closed. Her long lashes fell to her jet-black eyes and created a deeper definition. There was a thing she was not aware of and that was how gorgeous her face was when she kept her mouth shut like that.

A moment later, she looked at me and said, “Donnie, let’s go.”

Her response made the guy’s face redden. Not that he seemed angry. He seemed to have lost his mind with the sweet voice he had never heard ever in his life.

I held her hands in a hurry. As I tried to turn back, their voice came into my ears again.

“Hey, stop there.”

Holy Christ. I turned back again with a sullen expression. The convenience store was not that far away from us. The boys’ distance was enough for them to lend us a hand. It would be better to stay here and spend some time in peace. How long would it take for the four boys to buy their cup noodles?

I thought about it for a moment and then Woo Jooin popped up in my mind. Didn’t he spend at least 10 minutes choosing which cup noodles to grab before?

What should I do? Should I run away? As I considered the next course of action we would take, the guy with his hair combed backward came toward me. He looked down at me and had a bitter smile.

“Hey, you. What’s your name? Wait, she said Donnie, what’s your last name?”

“…”

“Answer!”

“Ham… Donnie.”

He then burst out laughing. Oh, I knew what he would say after looking at his face.

After a moment, he turned around to his friends and laughed.

“God, she’s Hyang Dani! Hyang Dani! What a match! Haha!”

“Who is Hyang Dani?”

As if there was someone who did not know Chunhyangjeon, the Korean folk tale, a shrill voice came out. Why not, the boy looked far away from reading books. As I looked at him, the guy in the front yelled at the stupid boy.

“Dude! You didn’t even read it? That’s the most erotic Korean folk tale ever! Pshaw!”

“Gosh, you bastard, that’s the reason why you know the classic?”

Then they all laughed aloud boisterously. I typed a message on my phone hiding under the padded coat. Guys, hurry. Come back ASAP. As I typed the message behind my back, they seemed to grasp what I was doing.

I looked up again. The guy was looking down at me with a crooked face.

“Hey, why are you looking so f*ckin relaxed?”

“Excuse me?”

“Hey, we’re all seven here in total. How many companies do you have there to make you feel this relaxed, huh?”

“…”

I bit my lips firmly without any response.

He then giggled again and asked, “Oh, are you all girls? Wish they all look like her. Hey, does that girl have a name made of gold? Why is she being so hard to get?”

“Don’t touch that girl!”

I was surprised by my response. As the guy stared at me looking annoyed, then I stepped back.

The reason why I tried to stop him from stretching out his hands towards Ban Yeo Ryung was that she was a time bomb that could go off anytime. If she gets involved, things will turn unpredictable.

I told him out of goodwill but he came back to intimidate me.

His eyes should stay away from Ban Yeo Ryung.

I looked up at him and asked, “Um… excuse me.”

“What?”

“What’s your name?”

He pointed his gaze down at me once again and snorted. OMG, did he notice? Would he beat me up, grabbing my throat while saying stop killing time? My heart was about to shrink from the thought of it alone.

I was relaxed because Ban Yeo Ryung, the female protagonist, would never get hurt. There would always be the four guys saving her. As I considered her safety, I had put into consideration that there also existed another plot, however.

The female protagonist’s best friend.

The main character was intact, but her best friend, who had no fancy boyfriend, would most likely be terribly beaten up…

After looking at her friend in the hospital bed, the female protagonist would decide to be stronger. So to speak, the injury of the main character’s friend provokes her to develop as a lady of vengeance. This situation could belong in that type of novels.

Holy mother of pearl, I felt my face turning pale before I even noticed. I looked up the guy’s eyes with frustration. He laughed confidently and spoke in a low voice.

“Eun Kyum.”

“…”

“My name is Eun Kyum.”

His name made me burst out of tears.