Min glances to her right. Realizing Myungsoo settle down next to her, Min inches away from him. Pretending to be unconcerned, Min still wonders. Why is Myungsoo here when he’s supposed to be with Jiyeon over there? He’s on his way to get her anyway, therefore, if he’s here with Min – the onep, for no reason, hit her last night – wouldn’t she get angry about that?

Min turns on the music and tries to lure her into sleep. Myungsoo is still silent beside her. The whole bus is absolutely merry with singing and gaming at the back of the bus. In contrast, scary silence surrounds the first row.

Until mid-day, the merry laughs fade away and are replaced by audible snoozing from the tired students on the way back to Seoul. Min opens her eyes and turns off the music yet still keeps her earphones on.

Suddenly, she hears from her back a conversation.

‘Hey, see the two in front of us?’

‘Min and Kim Myungsoo?’ – Someone replies. –‘But what’s up?’

‘Are they a couple?’

Min smirks. How can they think that she and Myungsoo is a couple when they look so hostile with each other like this? Min silently eavesdrops.

‘They aren’t. That jerk Myungsoo likes Jiyeon. She told me so.’

‘Ah’ – the other exclaims. –‘So, it means that Min is jealous, so she hit Jiyeon. And that’s why Myungsoo is there to calm her down. Well, that Min is too scary, huh?’

Right then, the music from her earphones starts. As she looks down, she realizes that Myungsoo has taken her mp3-player. He looks at her, as if he wants to tell her something but doesn’t dare to. And Min doesn’t bother to ask him.

A few minutes later, Min gets a text message from Myungsoo.

‘Don’t listen to them. You aren’t like that, right?’

Min doesn’t reply. And shifts her sight to outside the window. Jealous? Is she jealous of Myungsoo – her close friend – having special feelings towards Jiyeon?

Since last night, Min has been burdened with suppressed feelings. Min knows the true reason for her hitting Jiyeon but should she speak it out? No, of course no. Who would believe her? No one. No one would believe a freak like Min. Outsiders all think of one potential reason, which is that Min is jealous of Jiyeon for being liked by Myungsoo.

But does it make sense? Truthfully, Min is annoyed by that. But can it be called jealousy? Min doesn’t know. She wants to share this with someone, vaguely. But who? It can’t be Minzy. It can’t even be Soyeon. And of course, not Myungsoo as he’s directly relevant. What about L? Well, he’s the last one and seems to be the most suitable. He knows the relevant persons, he also can’t reveal to anyone (he’s a ghost!) and more importantly, he can come to her at anytime.

Yet, since last night – since when he was supposed to go after her as she swept his brother’s arms off her shoulders and ran away, he has been nowhere to be seen.

***

The bust stops right in front of the alley heading to Soyeon’s house. Min gets off and walks inside without looking back to reply the greeting from Myungsoo.

And as she stops in front of the gate, she realized L standing there, glowing in the afternoon’s sunlight.

‘Come with me.’

He says as she starts fumbling with the key chain to open to gate.

‘If it’s about your brother then no need to.’

‘Not him, it’s about you.’

‘About me ?’ – Min throws him an askew look. –‘Is there anything about me that you want me to know ?’

This time, L doesn’t reply her. He keeps silent for a while and pushes the door to her room, making way for her and following her to sit down at her bed.

‘You don’t seem to be in good condition.’

‘I know.’ – Min cuts him off. –‘If so, please don’t bother me.’

‘Not that.’ – L insists. –‘There might be something that you want to share with someone but unfortunately that someone can only be me, right ?’

Then Min has to stop what she is doing to look up at him in bewilderment. Damn, does he have some kind of telepathy to read her mind and know exactly what she is thinking like that ? Seeing her reaction, L smirks and stands up.

‘Ok. Just take a rest and call me whenever you want.’

Without waiting for a reply from her, L disappears into the afternoon sunlight to her amazement. Finally, why is he here ?

However, he is right in two points. First, she needs to talk to someone and he did suggest that would be him. And second, she has to take a rest. She’s exhausted.

28.

Soyeon says that she would be home late and buy Min dinner, therefore, Min climbs on her bed to take a long nap. As she wakes up, the clock is ticking seven and she suddenly feels like her mind has gone blank. Positively blank. Those annoying feelings about Jiyeon and Myungsoo are all gone and right now, relaxation is all over her.

Eight o’clock. Soyeon is home.

Eight-thirty, Min is done with her dinner and starts typing her part of research before sending to Dongwoon. And when she is typing and wiggling her head to the music from her mp3 player, the earphones are taken off from her ears. And she senses the familiar coldness wrap around her. L has come.

Yet now she doesn’t need him anymore. Therefore, she just ignores him and focuses on the researching.

‘Ya’ L nudges her elbows. ‘Why are you ignoring me? You said to have something to tell me, didn’t you?’

‘When did I say that I wanted to talk to you?’

The ghost replied with disappointment.

‘So you only care about my little brother, huh?’

‘Shut up!’ – Min wheels around to look at him frowning as he mentions his brother. –‘Can you just let me finish this?’

‘Oh you’re busy now? I want to take you somewhere.’

‘Does it have something to do with what about me that you wanted to tell me?’

L slightly nodded. That nod raised the curiosity inside her. For the last 17 years, Min thinks that she has known enough about herself but only when she landed in Seoul did she know that she was a mediator. And now, a guy who she only gets to know for only a few months has just told her that he knew something about her that she didn’t know!

Therefore, she decides to press Ctrl+S the document she is working on and turns to face L who, like always, still wears that messy hair and the Hwa Yang High uniform.

‘Let’s go!’

***

Min follows L to the rooftop of the house. It was dark around her and the coldness shivers her. Soyeon once told her that this winter would be much colder than usual but back then, Min didn’t care much. Yet, right now, she finds it reasonable.

‘Why here?’ – She grumbles, wearing her scarf properly. –‘Any other warmer place?’

L winked at her mischievously.

‘It’s warmer in my embrace.’

‘Gross!’

‘Just joking.’ – L grins. –‘I’m going to the main point now.’

And he starts telling her about everything. Not about her but about himself. About why he appeared in Ulsan, about the connection with Gina and above all, his position. At first, Min finds it hard to believe because those information sounds insane but as L says, she realizes one thing.

That more or less she sees the honesty in his look. Yep, for an undercover agent in HwaYang High, it is extremely critical that he hides away all factors of emotions and feelings but in Min’s opinion, everyone needs to express their feelings through action and emotions, though slight, we can still realize after a long time interacting with them.

‘So’ – Min looks at L as he finishes his story. –‘In the end, you’re not a normal person?’

A dumb and unnecessary question from Min. But instead of smirking at it, L replied with a look which made her have to roll her eyes over another place.

‘You’re not normal either. But do you know why I told you so?’

‘I’m wondering about that too.’ – Min hisses. –‘It’s about you but you told that it’d about me.’

L laughed. Those times that he was feeling this calm and mature made her wonder whether the image of a flirting and artistic guy is only his cover. As she just can’t recognize the L that people in Hwa Yang have been talking about everytime they are talking with seriousness.

‘Because I need your help?’

‘Me?’ – Another dumb question popped out from . –‘I can’t help you anything!’

‘Why not? You are protecting my Inseparables anyway. But’ – L shifts his gaze from Min to the outside, where there are hundreds of twinkling spots from the skyscrapers. –‘This one is more important and there’s only you that can do it.’

Each words from him provokes her curiosity even more. How much important she is to that ghost?

‘What kinda thing?’ – She pushes him.

‘Um…can you help me protect my brother?’

‘Myungsoo?’ – Min asks, wondering why L mentions his brother while talking about him. –‘Is he relevant here?’

‘Yup, of course he has nothing to do with mediator nor what happened to me. And he’d better not know anything or else he’ll be in danger.’

Pausing for while, L goes on and this time he sounds like begging Min.

‘You are his best friend and even my mediator. Only you can help me protect him.’

‘But’ – Min inquires. –‘What if I’d be in danger for protecting him?’

‘Have you forgotten that I’m here to protect you? Just be sure that I will always be your guard.’

Honestly at that time, Min didn’t think twice about his words but later on, as she is lying on the bed and tries to lure herself into sleep, she suddenly senses an element of strangeness. Why have he been beside her lately? He came just in time in Ulsan, he came to the training camp to prevent her from messing things up. Did he try to imply something, from the ‘don’t drive me crazy for worrying about you’ to ‘I will always be your guard’. That is not what a ghost and a mediator usually tell each other.

And what is even stranger is his look everytime he looks at her. There’s something mysterious, as if he wants to tell her but can not.

29.

Days after…

Min has realized a bitter truth: although L has told her to protect his brother, Myungsoo doesn’t need so. To be exact, he doesn’t know that, this protecting thing and even other things in which the fight against Jiyeon can be one.

No matter what, Myungsoo freely goes out with Jiyeon and hang out with those famous figures in the class. And somehow as he has achieved his target of being qualified for the competition and being accepted by Jiyeon, he pays no intention to tutoring session with her.

Therefore, the only thing she can do is to lock herself in the library, surrounded by the five nerds in Math team to kill time after school. Still, those boring time is a convincing reason for her to withdraw from the research contest with Dongwoon. True, talking with Dongwoon is much more tiresome. He always appears to be polite and serious, which makes Min not for under ten times wonder if it is his real personality or only a cover for his label as the ShinhaCorp president’s son. And Min also doesn’t like the topic in the conversations with him. She doesn’t understand what he means to continuously mention that mediator thing. It’s already brainbanging to deal with the Myungsoos and Min doesn’t want another mediator to annoy her!

But still, Myungsoo is the main source for her inconvenience lately. Let’s tell a story. Once upon a time, there was a guy confessing that he had no real friend until a certain girl appeared and then he declared that the girl was the one helping him live true with himself. But later on, that guy changed his mind. He abandoned his real-friend and went out with the ‘friends’ who had once looked down on him. That sounds bad, huh? Too bad.  And as if to add more disappointment to the story, Jiyeon has told Myungsoo to change his place with Yura so that she could be near him. When Myungsoo took his bag and sit down behind her, Jiyeon turned to Min to shot her a sarcastic look like ‘I’ve stolen your friend successfully!’. In response, Min said nothing.

Yet hard as she has tried, Min just can’t help glancing at Myungsoo – just his back – and sighing. As she comes across the running track, she also sighs looking at him running and then the papers on her hands which are full of exercises she has collected for him. After a while, she puts it down on the bench, beside the the pile of towels and water bottles of the athletic team. Assuming that it’s the best thing she can do in response, even though she can’t get it why Myungsoo can be a puppet under Jiyeon’s control like that. Is it his natural personality or is there something mysterious here? And does it relate to what L entrusted in her: Protect his little brother?

‘Min ah!’

Min has just left the field when someone called her name. In a second, she does think it’s Myungsoo but as she turned around, she determines that it’s not Myungsoo to call her with such enthusiastic voice. Unless Myungsoo is…Dongwoon.

And it’s really Dongwoon.

Min tries to pull a tired expression on her face, in total contrast to the smile Dongwoon put on his face.

‘What’s up?’

She asks, disinterestedly as Dongwoon catches her. In reply, Dongwoon holds up a movie ticket and winks with her.

‘Movie with me tonight, ok? This one is good.’

‘I’m not in mood.’

Min shakes her head in denial. Her response should be ‘I don’t want to go with you’, partly because she doesn’t like the atmosphere between her but the main reason is for the jealousy from other students to see her going with the most excellent student of grade 3 and also the heir to the famous ShinhaCorp. But Dongwoon doesn’t give up that easily. He takes a long step to face her and with his being much taller than her, his look seems to stab right on her black eyes. And a corner of his lips curves up.

‘Why not? It’s for your birthday, isn’t it?’

Min is stupefied. Birthday? How can he know that today is her birthday? As is he can read her mind, the smirk on Dongwoon’s lips enlarges into a full grine.

‘Are you wondering why I know that? – And he exhales, looking up to the sky before shifting his gaze back to her. –‘Only need a bit of searching in the students’ profile. So, shall we go?’

Min starts to process quickly. Go or not? Anyway, she can’t go back to Ulsan for this birthday and also, those she calls friends don’t know it’s her birthday today. Therefore…

‘Fine. See you tonight.’