“Uaaah!”

The man went flying from Ban Ha Min’s kick.

‘What. Is this a dream?’

As I denied reality, Ban Ha Min winked while shooting bullets with his finger.

“……”

People around us started muttering and staring this way. Ban Ha Min’s expression turned solemn again as he looked down at the man and declared.

“I won’t let anyone who messes with Joo Eun get away with it!”

Please, just let it go.

Even Seon Woo Jin, who usually doesn’t react to much, looked dumbfounded. I could clearly hear what people were saying.

“What did he just say?”

“Joo Eun?”

“Is he talking about that girl?”

People glanced my way. I wanted to die.

“You, what are you doing!”

The man, finally coming to his senses, got up from the ground.

“Why is this crazy bastard suddenly kicking people!”

“You harassed Joo Eun first!”

“I didn’t harass her!”

“Liar!”

Ban Ha Min pointed directly at me and Seon Woo Jin.

“If you didn’t harass her, then why is Joo Eun arm in arm with Jin! Joo Eun always lies when she’s in danger!”

“……”

In a way, it was an insightful remark.

‘That kid is surprisingly sharp…’

I slyly let go of Seon Woo Jin’s arm I had been holding.

Ban Ha Min shouted triumphantly.

“I’m Joo Eun’s guardian angel!”

Come to think of it, Ban Ha Min often appeared whenever I was in a crisis.

I’m scared that one day I might really acknowledge this kid as my guardian angel.

“Guardian angel my ass! Are you in elementary school?”

“No! Ha Min is a high school student!”

“You think I asked because I didn’t know? Whatever! Hurry up and apologize!”

“Never! Bleh!”

Ban Ha Min and the man continued their verbal fight.

And I…

‘Wow… a pigeon…’

I gave up thinking.

The pigeon walked across the ground. Why isn’t it flying and just walking?

‘I just want to disappear from here right now.’

I weakly watched the scene unfold before me. If I just leave it, won’t Ban Ha Min take care of the fight and go home on his own? I hope he lets me off the hook.

‘I’d rather call the others.’

I took out my cell phone from my pocket and inserted the battery.

There were several text messages while my phone was off.

[Ju Eun, where are you?] [Hey, why did you turn off your phone?] [Call me when you see this!] [Take Hee Na with you] [Ju Eun, I’m going to head out first… See you later]

In order, they were from Seol Yu Bin, Yoo Hee Na, Yoo Hee Na again, Sung Ji Chan, and then Seol Yu Bin again.

‘Did Seol Yu Bin go home?’

Looking at the time, it was 4 PM. We had been hanging out since morning, so it had been a while… but don’t we usually hang out longer? She seemed to have low stamina, so I guess she got tired.

‘And Yoo Hee Na… wants me to call her?’

She didn’t answer earlier. I wonder if everything’s sorted out now.

I immediately called Yoo Hee Na.

“Hello?”

– Lee Ju Eun!

Yoo Hee Na yelled as soon as she picked up. Ouch, my ears hurt. I frowned slightly and said.

“What, what’s going on.”

– It’s big trouble! Ban Ha Min disappeared!

Looks like she only realized it now…

“Why is that big trouble?”

– If we leave that kid alone, he’ll cause some weird accident again!

As expected of Yoo Hee Na, Ban Ha Min’s longtime friend, she had great insight.

“It’s too late.”

– What?

“Ban Ha Min already caused an accident.”

In front of me, Ban Ha Min and the man were still childishly bickering.

When he was fighting with Seon Woo Jin earlier, the atmosphere was fierce, but now it just looked childish and pathetic.

As expected, Ban Ha Min has the power to bring anyone down to his level, no matter who he’s up against.

I sighed and said.

“We’re near the lost child center, so come this way first. Let’s meet up and talk.”

– Why did you go to the lost child center?

“Ban Ha Min was apparently there.”

– ……

Yoo Hee Na seemed at a loss for words too at the absurdity. With that, I ended the call with Yoo Hee Na.

“Seon Woo Jin.”

“What.”

“Don’t you think it’s about time you stopped your friend?”

Seon Woo Jin replied expressionlessly.

“I’ve never had a friend like that bastard.”

He’s really cold-hearted.

“Then if he’s not your friend, what is he?”

“Who knows? Your guardian angel?”

“……”

I firmly stepped on Seon Woo Jin’s foot.

“Ah! Lee Ju Eun, have you finally gone crazy?”

I went crazy a long time ago. Otherwise, would I have gone to an amusement park with you guys in my right mind?

‘It can’t be helped.’

I slowly backed away.

“What are you doing?”

“Just trying to pretend I don’t know them either.”

I naturally distanced myself as if becoming one of the spectators. I could feel Seon Woo Jin’s pathetic gaze on me, but I ignored it.

Before long, Yoo Hee Na and Sung Ji Chan arrived.

“Lee Ju Eun! What on earth is going on!”

I explained the whole story to Yoo Hee Na. After hearing the explanation, Yoo Hee Na muttered with a determined look on her face.

“This won’t do. I need to go!”

With that, she immediately approached Ban Ha Min and the man.

“Excuse me!”

Yoo Hee Na called out ambitiously.

“First, please calm down! People are all watching! Ban Ha Min, you stop too!”

Then the man looked Yoo Hee Na up and down and said irritably.

“What’s with this kid! Don’t butt into other people’s business and get lost!”

Those words struck a nerve with Yoo Hee Na.

“What did you say? Kid? Hey! Are you crazy?”

Her youthful appearance was one of the few complexes of the proud Yoo Hee Na.

Yoo Hee Na shouted furiously.

“Where do I look like a kid? Are you blind?”

“You clearly look like a brat, are you asking because you don’t know?”

“If I’m a brat, are you an old fart?”

“What did you say?”

Oh my, my head.

She went to stop them but ended up making things worse.

I rubbed my forehead and sighed. Glancing to the side, Sung Ji Chan was also shaking his head.

Yoo Hee Na, even more enraged than Ban Ha Min, fired back at the man.

“…Shouldn’t we stop that?”

At my words, Sung Ji Chan replied.

“If you can stop it, go ahead and try.”

“……”

In the end, the fight that day only ended after Yoo Hee Na finally got an apology from the man for his choice of the word ‘kid’.

I don’t know what’s what anymore.

[This is the timeline separator]

After everything was over.

With no energy left, I trudged home with Ban Ha Min.

Why am I going with this kid, you ask… It’s because we live in the same neighborhood.

That’s right. The culprit who caused me to run into the Three Stooges on the first day of my possession was none other than this kid.

“Sometimes Jin and Chan sleep over at my house too!”

At Ban Ha Min’s words, I thought.

‘Those guys must have it tough too…’

I don’t know about Sung Ji Chan, but there’s no way Seon Woo Jin would voluntarily sleep over at someone else’s house, so Ban Ha Min must have pulled some trick.

‘I need to move as soon as I have money.’

Not knowing I was having such thoughts, Ban Ha Min kept chattering away excitedly.

“I’m so happy to live in the same neighborhood as Joo Eun! Now we can hang out often!”

I’m not happy…

I thought I should never loiter around the neighborhood from now on.

If I’m not careful, I might run into Ban Ha Min on weekends too.

By the way, why is this kid so energetic?

He must have ridden three times as many rides as me. Plus, he even fought at the end.

‘I feel like I’m going to die from having my energy drained.’

Then a thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘Ah… did this kid suck away my energy?’

Looking at Ban Ha Min’s plump skin, I felt somehow annoyed. I grabbed Ban Ha Min’s cheek and pulled it hard.

“Ow ow ow. Joo Eun, it hurts.”

“It’s supposed to hurt.”

After letting go of Ban Ha Min, I dusted off my hands and said.

“I’m never going anywhere with you again.”

“Ehhh. Whyyy?”

You’re asking because you don’t know? Well, you probably really don’t know.

“Anyway, keep that in mind.”

“Boo.”

Ban Ha Min pouted, making his eyebrows look like the number 8.

But Ban Ha Min had great resilience.

“But today was fun, right?”

Ban Ha Min, brightening up again in no time, said with a wink.

I stared at Ban Ha Min with dead fish eyes and turned my head away.

[This is the timeline separator]

The next day.

‘But somehow we managed to get through it.’

I arrived at school with a haggard face.

I feel like I’ve aged 10 years just from going to an amusement park for one day.

‘Thinking about it again, it was a crazy thing to do.’

How could I have thought of going out with the Three Stooges?

It was truly a terrible combination.

What sins did I commit in my previous life to have to spend my precious day off with that combination?

I need to accumulate good deeds in this life so that in my next life, I can definitely become a stranger to Ban Ha Min.

‘By the way, what happened with Seol Yu Bin.’

I only received a text saying she was leaving that day, but I didn’t hear the specifics of how the situation proceeded.

Did the confession go well?

‘Did she get rejected? She probably got rejected. Still, I hope it ended well.’

I recalled Seol Yu Bin’s face before I ran away at the end. In my memory, Seol Yu Bin was smiling brightly.

Well, the atmosphere was good enough, so it probably wasn’t bad… but I should still make sure.

With a modest hope, I immediately went to find Seol Yu Bin in her classroom.

“Seol Yu Bin? Why are you asking about that weirdo? She’s not here right now.”

When I grabbed someone and asked, that’s the answer I got.

‘Strange. She hasn’t arrived yet?’

I glanced at the clock.

Well, it’s morning. It’s possible.

‘Or did she go straight to the infirmary?’

I said I understood and returned to my classroom.

‘For now, I’ll attend class and go check during lunch.’

It would be nice to hear the story while having lunch together.

So I waited for lunchtime to come.

When I went to the infirmary, I was greeted by Lee Yeon Ho.

“Hello.”

“I see you’re not even paying attention to me saying you’re banned from entering now.”

I ignored him and entered the infirmary.

However, I couldn’t help but stop at Lee Yeon Ho’s next words.

“You’re here to see Yu Bin, right?”

I turned around. Lee Yeon Ho was looking at me with a somewhat triumphant expression.

“Sorry, but Yu Bin isn’t here right now.”

I asked back.

“What?”

“I said Yu Bin isn’t here. She stopped by briefly this morning and left.”

Not here?

I unconsciously frowned. I instinctively felt something was wrong.

Lee Yeon Ho patted my shoulder.

“You’re too late.”

I had a bad feeling. Where did Seol Yu Bin go? If she’s not in her classroom or the infirmary, then where…?

No, before that, why?

“Here, Yu Bin asked me to give this to you.”

Lee Yeon Ho held up something in his hand and waved it.

I blankly stared at it.

It was a letter.