The Law of Webnovels

Chapter 189: Chapter 189

I heard Jooin answering back, so I turned my head to that side. ‘What the hell are they talking about?’ I thought, but he didn’t look surprised at all. He might have known who she was referring to.

Waving his hand in the air, Jooin said, “We aren’t sure whether Eun Hyung has implied the inner or the outer beauty of the girl, so I guess it’s hard to guess… Oh, Nara-noona, didn’t you say that you have something to do soon?”

Nara-noona? The name sounded familiar… Then the conversation that went between Eun Jiho and Woo Jooin yesterday came across my mind. I was told that actress Lee Nara was Woo Jooin’s cousin!

That was why she had such a remarkable appearance seldom found in ordinary people. I saw her every day on the TV drama, but how could I realize that it was her just now? I raised my head in a flash.

Lee Nara hastened with confusion and swept her disheveled brown hair back. She then shouted to this side.

“Oh, I should leave! Jooin, next time, try to find out who she is, and don’t forget to tell me about her!”

Find out who, for what? Was she really trying to identify the identity of the girl whom Eun Hyung likes? Then, what would she do next? While I stared at Lee Nara in bewilderment, she quickly squeezed her slender body into the car and started the engine.

I was a bit taken aback since she suddenly turned her headlights on. When I looked at my side, there I found Jooin gazing in our direction with almost transparent, light-filled, gold eyes.

Lee Nara’s car then went backward like a hurricane and swiftly left us alone.

Was it okay for a celebrity to drive like that? She’s almost the same as my mom, who’s still an entry-level driver for over five years…

As if a storm swept across, a vain silence surrounded the three of us as soon as Lee Nara disappeared.

The one who first regained control of herself was, unexpectedly, Ban Yeo Ryung. She mumbled with a sign of exhaustion on her face.

“Who was she…?”

“Oh, don’t you know her? She’s quite famous, my cousin noona.”

While Woo Jooin tossed a question to Ban Yeo Ryung with his eyes open round, I just laughed loudly.

Hey, Jooin, don’t you still get Ban Yeo Ryung? Last time, a well-known male model hit on her in the street, but she said, ‘Sorry, I can’t give my number to a stranger,’ and went back on her way before the guy could even respond something…

Ban Yeo Ryung rarely distinguished the differences between people’s appearances since most female protagonists in web novels were face-blind. As if he recalled it just now, Woo Jooin smiled while narrowing his eyes.

He then said to me, “Since I see the look on your face, mama must have noticed that… She’s my cousin, Woo Rinara-noona. She’s an actress. I told you about her because of Eun Hyung before.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Before I tried to say, ‘I remember,’ Ban Yeo Ryung asked us in shock.

“Eun Hyung? Why?”

‘Oh, Ban Yeo Ryung wouldn’t know anything about it,’ I thought while scratching my head. Whenever I had time, I often browsed the trending topics on the web; however, Ban Yeo Ryung didn’t enjoy jacking into the internet that much.

As I scratched the back of my head in perplexity, Jooin grinned and opened his mouth.

“Um, it’s a bit of a long story, but… Nara-noona saw Eun Hyung by chance and got blown away. She’s determined to kidnap him once he reaches marriageable age.”

Only then did I remember what I had forgotten. I quickly flung the question in an urgent face.

“What about the girl whom he likes? Did Eun Hyung have a crush on someone?”

“Oh, that is…”

Woo Jooin scratched his head as if he found it challenging to speak further. He then showed a refreshing smile that he would reveal when he was trying to deflect a situation. Unlike his grin, he pointed at the locked school.

Looking at how Jooin was pointing his finger at the sealed school with a young and naïve appearance within the darkness, he seemed like a devil guiding us to a dangerous place. He then displayed a swiveling smile inside the dark.

“Okay, let me explain it on my way.”

* * *

“So, you made it up? Just to avoid her kidnapping you?”

Ban Yeo Ryung asked mutteringly in disappointment. I could see how dissatisfied she was of herself while grabbing her jet-black hair from both sides and putting them each on her cheeks. She then heaved a sigh at the sky.

Earlier, she seemed to be reacting quite sensitively to something about Eun Hyung, so I wondered if she felt jealous by any chance. Ban Yeo Ryung was, however, just interested in something exciting to happen…

Staring at her disappointment, I realized that I was also all dressed up with nowhere to go. Why were others’ love affairs always so exciting?

Woo Jooin looked back and forth between Ban Yeo Ryung and me. He then showed a bright smile on his lips again. Behind him, I saw a rusted swing whirling with a creaking sound. Although it was empty, the swing was constantly and furiously swinging backward and forward as if it was moving in the wind. I suddenly lifted my head and looked at the scenery of the school.

Under the utterly dark sky after the sun declined, a deathly silence enveloped the school. With a few broken windows, a spooky ambiance spread out like clouds above the building.

‘Oh, that’s scary,’ I murmured to myself while rubbing my arms.

On the contrary, Ban Yeo Ryung, strangely, didn’t look as frightened as before. She just glanced around in curiosity while walking a few steps ahead of me. Following her, Jooin and I walked across the schoolyard.

Only a few long weeds were left, which looked almost dead, although no one seemed to have plucked them well. The tall trees surrounded the walls with their black shadows. In the distance, a globe was spinning round and round…

Ban Yeo Ryung then suddenly looked as if she found someone from afar.

She shouted, “Eun Hyung!”

“Oh, you’re here?” A cheerful voice replied.

Ban Yeo Ryung waved her hand and soon ran to his direction. Only Woo Jooin and I were left in the disconcerting silence all of a sudden. No, it wasn’t silent since the swing violently swung with a rattling noise.

This was the first time I had seen Woo Jooin after hearing about the story of his past. I dropped my gaze into the ground. ‘Spending some time together? The nuance sounds a little weird, though…’

When I looked at my side with that thought in mind, Woo Jooin, who seemed to be staring at me just until now, suddenly turned his head in surprise. He then continued his words.

“Oh, did you ask me about Eunmi, mama?”

“Um, yeah,” I replied.

My mind then converged on the word ‘mama’ that hung smoothly at the end of his sentence.

‘For what reason is Jooin calling me mama?’ having that thought, I looked at Jooin, who spoke lively as usual.

A dim light stained and dazzled on his profile face. Then, when he dropped a remark, I opened my eyes wide.

“Please keep this as a secret to Eun Hyung. It’s something important.”

“Huh?”

“Eunmi is Eun Hyung’s little sister. Kwon Eunmi, she is, of course, her real sister.”

I paused my step. ‘Eun Hyung had a sister?’ As I raised my head in wonder, it looked like Woo Jooin knew that I would feel confused. He stood still in the middle of the schoolyard and was staring at me with a sunken gaze.

Since I spent a lot of time with them for years, I was very familiar with their family backgrounds. Yoo Chun Young had two older brothers, whereas Eun Jiho and Woo Jooin were the only children in their families; however, I was never aware of the fact that Eun Hyung had a younger sister.

No, I got it wrong. I did hear about it once. I blinked my eyes.

Back then, when Eun Hyung brought out the story about his mother’s car accident… the day when it was drizzling outside…

‘When my mom went on a trip, my father took care of my sister and me at home while studying for his bar exam. My little sister was only two at that time since she’s three years younger than me.’

Three years younger than him… his little sister… those things that existed beyond my memories flooded into me, at last, like broken puzzle pieces.

‘The reason why I didn’t think further about his little sister whom I’ve never heard about until then was that…’ rambling those thoughts in mind, I looked up at Woo Jooin. He was staring at me while softly bending his brown eyes.