Yeo Ri was pleasantly surprised to see Hyuk waiting by the school gates when school ended .

"Oppa~!" She broke into a large grin as she ran towards him .

"Hey! Don't run, or you'll fall!" Hyuk quickly caught her as she stumbled into his arms .

Behind Yeo Ri, Min Chae and Jang Mi jogged hastily to catch up with the girl . "Yeo Ri-ah, wait for us—!" Min Chae called out while she dragged Jang Mi who was running out of breath with her .

Yeo Ri ignored the onlookers as she wrapped her arms around Hyuk . "What brings you here, Oppa?" She looked around to see if he brought his motorbike with him . However, it was not around .

"Jin Goo dropped me off here earlier . Oppa is walking you home today," Hyuk says towards the puzzled girl with a suppressed smile .

"Oh!" Yeo Ri brightened, but then her nose crinkled, "but today I promised to go to the library with Gun-oppa and Jang Mi and Min Chae . "

Hyuk's face darkened . 'That little . . . ' he remembered that he specifically told Gun that he'd take Yeo Ri home today . However, his anger vanished at the thought of Yeo Ri spending less time at home . It was safer for her to be outside rather than be cornered in the house where that b*stard also lived in .

"Then, I'll take you to the library," Hyuk says .

"But what about your . . . " Yeo Ri paused . She scanned his body, staring at his chest that was still wrapped in gauze underneath his clothing . "Oppa, will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine . Besides, all I did today was laze around . I could use some exercise," he rea.s.sured her .

"Geez, Yeo Ri, you . . . " Jang Mi was about to scold Yeo Ri but halted when she took notice of Hyuk . Her face paled . "Ah . . . h-h.e.l.lo," she stuttered .

She remembered that this was the gangster that dragged away Park Jin Ae the other day . Min Chae wasn't with her at that time since she stayed behind to help a teacher with some tasks . Back when it happened, she was walking behind Park Jin Ae and her friends . Back then, Jang Mi was so scared that her legs almost gave out, though she wasn't even the target of Hyuk's baleful glare .

Seeing Jang Mi's anxiousness, Yeo Ri lets go of Hyuk and introduced him to her . Jang Mi had never seen Hyuk before so she thought that it was just Hyuk's usual delinquent aura that was scaring her friend . "Jang Mi-ah, meet my brother, Hyuk . Don't worry; he doesn't eat people, so you don't have to be scared of him," Yeo Ri smiled playfully .

' B-brother?!' Jang Mi gulped . 'So the one who exacted revenge on Park Jin Ae was Yeo Ri's brother . . . ' She knew that Yeo Ri had another brother aside from Gun, but no one really ever talks about this other brother of hers . Though Yeo Ri does mention him sometimes, the things she said about him varied greatly compared to what she had witnessed that day .

"N-nice to meet you, Hyuk . . . -ssi . I-I'm Y-Yeo Ri's friend, Lim Jang Mi," she hastily bowed in greeting, gripping the straps of her bag tightly .

"Hyuk-oppa, nice to see you again . " Unlike the first time she met him, Min Chae was more relaxed . She greeted him normally, glancing at Jang Mi with an understanding gaze . She knew just how intimidating it was to talk to him face-to-face for the first time .

" . . . Oh . " Hyuk didn't know what he should say so he simply nodded back in greeting, acknowledging the two girls .

"Let's go, Oppa . Min Chae-ah and Jang Mi-ah, too . Gun-oppa might already be waiting for us," Yeo Ri urged the group to start walking .

Min Chae and Yeo Ri tried to initiate a few conversations that included everyone, but after a few sentences, the conversations staled . In the end, the group walked towards the bus stop in silence . The air was awkward yet n.o.body knew what to say, so they all simply kept mum until the library was in view .