“Me?”

Choi Yu Han spoke nonchalantly.

“I’m always the same.”

It was an expected answer. Ryu Tae Geon nodded.

Choi Yu Han was the person who hated the Top Three the most among the people Ryu Tae Geon knew. So he would take any opportunity to hit Sung Ji Chan. “Always the same” meant that.

Ryu Tae Geon said,

“… Okay, I get that you want to hit First High. Then do you have a specific plan?”

At those words, everyone hesitated and trailed off. They were just letting their words get ahead of them. Ryu Tae Geon shook his head at his pathetic juniors.

At times like this, the reliable one was always Choi Yu Han.

“Choi Yu Han, do you have a plan?”

Then Choi Yu Han pretended to think, going “Hmm.”

“Well, should we try to find a weakness?”

“Weakness?”

“Yes, for example, a girlfriend.”

Girlfriend…

At those words, Ryu Tae Geon recalled something that had happened a few days ago.

That day, his ex-girlfriend had come looking for him after a few months.

“Oppa, I have a favor to ask.”

It was none other than Han Ye Won.

As soon as she came to him, Han Ye Won held out an ID photo she had.

The woman in the photo had a sharp impression with slightly upturned cat-like eyes.

“This is Ji Chan’s new girlfriend.”

It was unexpected information. But he couldn’t tell what she wanted by holding out this photo. Ryu Tae Geon looked at Han Ye Won.

“So?”

As if she had made up her mind, Han Ye Won bit her lips tightly and spoke with a determined expression.

“Teach this girl a lesson.”

Ryu Tae Geon frowned.

Seeing that expression, Han Ye Won hastily added,

“I’ll compensate you.”

An ex-girlfriend asking him to teach another man’s girlfriend a lesson… Ryu Tae Geon found the situation amusing and chuckled. Perhaps interpreting the laugh differently, Han Ye Won said,

“You can’t possibly still have feelings for me, right?”

“As if.”

Ryu Tae Geon scoffed.

“We were never in a relationship to have lingering feelings in the first place.”

That was right. They were not an ordinary couple. It was merely a contract relationship.

It started with Han Ye Won.

Han Ye Won always doubted whether Sung Ji Chan truly loved her. So she would deliberately act close with other men to see if Sung Ji Chan got jealous.

But at some point, Sung Ji Chan stopped showing any signs of jealousy, and anxious because of that, Han Ye Won made a bold move. She decided to pretend to cheat.

Of course, since Han Ye Won liked Sung Ji Chan, it wasn’t real cheating, she was just pretending to cheat.

The reason she chose Ryu Tae Geon as her partner was because he was the person who could provoke Sung Ji Chan the most.

And Ryu Tae Geon had simply accepted Han Ye Won’s proposal to pretend to date because he disliked Sung Ji Chan and wanted to mess with him.

For some reason, Ryu Tae Geon felt pity for the girl in front of him right now. Did she have to live like this? This was a sickness too. A terrible sickness.

So he impulsively opened his mouth.

“What do you want me to do for you?”

Only then did Han Ye Won’s expression brighten a little.

“Just… scare her a bit.”

Ryu Tae Geon nodded, saying he understood.

And that’s how the photo of “Sung Ji Chan’s new girlfriend” ended up in Ryu Tae Geon’s hands.

He happened to have brought that photo today as well.

Ryu Tae Geon took the photo out of his pocket.

“Does anyone here know this woman?”

The executives took turns looking at the photo. Someone said she looked familiar, but no one knew for sure who she was.

Perhaps Han Ye Won had been mistaken after all. In fact, Ryu Tae Geon had been a little suspicious.

If someone as famous as Sung Ji Chan had gotten a girlfriend, there was no way no one would have known until now.

So there was a higher probability of Han Ye Won misunderstanding out of jealousy than this woman, whom no one knew, being Sung Ji Chan’s real new girlfriend. At least that’s how Ryu Tae Geon judged it.

Just then, Choi Yu Han, who had been watching from the back, spoke up.

“Ah.”

Ryu Tae Geon caught that reaction.

“Do you know her?”

“Yes, I’ve seen her quite often recently.”

Choi Yu Han thought for a moment before speaking.

“Let’s see. I saw her once when we fought with Cute Boy, and once when Chic Boy kidnapped someone from our school.”

Hearing that, the other executives murmured.

“A woman related to the Top Three?”

“Who the hell is she?”

Ryu Tae Geon spoke up.

“Quiet.”

At those words, the room fell silent. Ryu Tae Geon glanced at the executives and said,

“This woman is Sung Ji Chan’s girlfriend.”

Then the murmurs grew louder again.

“Is that true?”

“According to the informant, yes.”

The executives talked among themselves.

“But I hadn’t heard anything about Sung Ji Chan getting a new girlfriend…”

“But the action leader said he saw this woman with the Top Three.”

“So is she really his girlfriend?”

Ryu Tae Geon asked Choi Yu Han,

“What do you think?”

Choi Yu Han grinned.

“Whether she’s his real girlfriend or not, it’s clear she’s close with the Top Three. I saw it myself. So I think she has sufficient value as a hostage.”

At those words, the executives exchanged glances. No words were spoken, but they understood each other’s intentions.

‘Let’s use that woman as a hostage to lure out Sung Ji Chan.’

And this time, they would give that despicable guy a proper beating!

Ryu Tae Geon also sensed that the discussion was more or less wrapped up. He hardly had anything to do in these matters anyway. The rest was up to his subordinates.

He handed the ID photo to Choi Yu Han.

“Show the guys this photo and have them catch the woman. You can handle it well, right?”

Choi Yu Han bowed his head.

“Yes.”

Ryu Tae Geon clapped his hands once.

“Good, then you’re all dismissed.”

“Yes, focus!”

And with that, the emergency countermeasure meeting of Haeseong High School came to an end.

After everyone had left, Choi Yu Han remained and quietly stared at the person in the photo.

He had an inscrutable expression, as if deep in thought.

As he was looking at the photo for a long time like that, someone approached him.

“Ah!”

Choi Yu Han turned his head.

Who was it?

It was a familiar face. Choi Yu Han wracked his brain to determine the man’s identity. And finally, he arrived at one answer.

He was one of the lower ranks who had been ambushed yesterday.

There was no reason for a low-ranking member to come today since it was an executive meeting. What was going on? He must have followed another executive.

Well, whatever. In any case, he wasn’t of the level to converse with the action leader.

Choi Yu Han flashed the man a grin, implying he should get lost quickly.

However, for some reason, the man kept hovering around Choi Yu Han while gauging his reaction.

What was he trying to do?

Eventually, Choi Yu Han couldn’t stand it and spoke first.

“What is it?”

Then the man hesitantly opened his mouth.

“That photo…”

Photo? Choi Yu Han looked at the ID photo he was holding.

Ah, what. Did he want to see it? She did have a striking appearance. Without thinking deeply, Choi Yu Han handed the photo to the man.

But the man didn’t take the photo and kept eyeing Choi Yu Han.

“Do you know who the person in that photo is?”

Choi Yu Han replied,

“They say it’s Sung Ji Chan’s new girlfriend, but it’s not certain.”

Then the man let out a gasp.

“S-So that’s how it was!”

At the unusual reaction, Choi Yu Han narrowed his eyes.

“Do you know her?”

The man kept nodding his head.

“How do you know her?”

Choi Yu Han patiently waited for the man’s words. The man spoke falteringly.

“Well… one of the people who ambushed us yesterday looked just like that.”

“Yesterday?”

The man cautiously observed Choi Yu Han’s reaction.

“Yes, actually I came today to tell you that. I saw that woman’s face. The atmosphere was too tense earlier to bring it up, but…”

Choi Yu Han nodded, signaling him to continue. The man mustered up courage and said,

“The one who beat down our Haeseong High School gang members yesterday was definitely a single woman. But when it was all over, suddenly another woman entered from outside. Then… one of the two suddenly took off her mask. So I could see her face and she looked just like the woman in that photo!”

Choi Yu Han frowned and scrutinized the photo again with concentration.

She looked fierce, but she didn’t seem like she would be good at fighting.

“Are you sure?”

“I-I’m sure! I can’t be certain which of the two I saw the face of… but I’m certain this woman was there!”

The man was very doubtful to Choi Yu Han. If he had been beaten by that crazy woman yesterday, he would have been knocked out. It was questionable whether he could have properly seen someone’s face in that state, and also whether that memory would remain clearly.

But the man seemed to firmly believe his own eyes. Choi Yu Han recalled the woman he had seen so far.

Come to think of it, there was always at least one of the Top Three by that woman’s side.

The woman Ban Ha Min had tried to protect.

The woman who ordered Seon Woo Jin around like a subordinate.

And… the woman who was being called Sung Ji Chan’s girlfriend.

Moreover, according to this man in front of him, the woman was “World Rank 0”, or her associate. Choi Yu Han didn’t know exactly who she was, but he was certain she was someone who mattered to the Top Three in some way.

“This… will certainly be fun.”

Choi Yu Han looked down at the photo with eyes full of intrigue.

The woman in the photo was staring straight ahead.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Something feels off.”

[What is it? o_o]

“My ear itches.”

I smacked my ear with my palm.

“Is someone talking about me?”

It’s just a saying, but when your ear itches this much, you can’t help but be suspicious.

But what reason would anyone have to talk about me? There’s no one who lives as quietly as I do.

[It’s probably just your imagination, right?]

Well… I guess so?

I laid back down on the bed with a yawn.

Ah, I’m sleepy no matter how much I sleep.

[You must be the only teenager wasting their Sunday like this, Jueun!]

No, that can’t be true.

Above all, I’m not a teenager. At least not on the inside.

‘It’s probably nothing.’

I rolled around on the bed and turned on my phone. I didn’t get any messages from Seol Yu Hwa today.

‘Yeah, seems like nothing’s up.’

Only then did I feel relieved and closed my eyes. I drifted off to sleep again.