By Zephyria 
Do Yun-hyeok, who had been forceful from the moment he brought me here, was no different inside the store. I froze amidst the clothes, which showcased an incredible sense of fashion.
Without even looking closely, just a glance told me I wouldn’t want to wear a single piece of clothing in here. This place could easily be called the epitome of Korea’s fashion dark ages.
These things are clothes, I guess…
While I turned pale, Do Yun-hyeok pondered, touching one ear in front of a rack. Is there anything to ponder here…? He rummaged through the hangers and quickly picked out some clothes. Then, he handed me a pile of hangers, his hands full.
“Let’s change first.”
“…”
“Hurry. Here.”
“…”
Please. I wanted to beg for forgiveness. Do Yun-hyeok, who was denying reality and stiff as Lego, dragged me into the fitting room.
Standing alone in the fitting room, I looked down at the hangers in my hands, dumbfounded. Looking at the bizarre clothes neatly hanging on the hangers made my head spin.
“Are you done?”
Do Yun-hyeok knocked on the door from outside and asked. My arms, which had been stiffly holding the clothes like a coat rack for a while, finally moved. Snapping back to reality, I was startled by the pieces of fabric in my hands and threw them on the floor.
“What is this? Why are these clothes in my hands?”
I must have lost my mind for a moment. I calmly composed myself and was about to open the fitting room door to go out.
“You haven’t finished changing yet?”
What could he do if I refused to wear them? I was ready to say, “Sue me.”
“If you haven’t put them on, I’ll help you. Open the door, Princess.”
Do Yun-hyeok’s words made me jump, and I quickly pulled my hand away from the latch. I came to my senses as if doused in cold water. Right, my opponent was a mad dog!
Bang bang bang! Do Yun-hyeok pounded furiously on the fitting room door. The door, which didn’t look very sturdy, shook as if it would fall off.
“I, I, I’m, I’m wearing them! I’m wearing them!” I shouted in a hurry.
“I’ll help you put them on, so open the door.”
Crazy bastard! Do Yun-hyeok genuinely intended to come in and change my clothes. With his personality, he would break down the door and barge in without hesitation.
Sweating cold sweat, I glanced down at the clothes I had thrown on the floor. The door, secured by a flimsy latch, rattled violently like a saddle on a galloping horse. It was only a matter of time before it broke.
Be forcibly changed by Do Yun-hyeok, or change myself.
Without hesitation, I chose the latter. I closed my eyes and changed at a frantic pace. Then, I flung the door open.
“There. D-done?”
I was out of breath, panting heavily as I looked up at Do Yun-hyeok. He pouted with genuine regret and shot me a look.
“I was going to help you. You’ve already put them all on.”
You crazy bastard! I almost screamed at his shameless face, but then I noticed the clothes Do Yun-hyeok was wearing and shut my mouth. Detailed descriptions are best omitted for Do Yun-hyeok’s sake.
“What. Are you smitten again?”
“…”
Honestly, he’s really handsome… It’s a real shame. Truly.
“Let’s go, Princess.”
Faced with fashion that threatened to bring a crisis to the fashion world, I had even lost the will to kill.
❖ ❖ ❖
Do Yun-hyeok really took me to a club. I wanted to uphold my duty as a model student who didn’t frequent entertainment venues, but I didn’t have the energy to resist Do Yun-hyeok. Based on my observations while he was around, Do Yun-hyeok didn’t act like a mad dog if I complied with his words.
Instead, I covered myself and my face with a hoodie that I had discreetly purchased at the clothing store. When Do Yun-hyeok was paying at the store, I had quickly grabbed a plain long-sleeved zip-up hoodie and pushed it onto the counter. Do Yun-hyeok, who had frowned at my hoodie earlier while we ate dinner at a restaurant, muttered, “Come to think of it, this is better. I’ll be the only one who sees it,” and didn’t argue about the hoodie anymore.
Thanks to that, I was able to enter the club without taking off the hoodie. “This hoodie is my lifeline,” I thought, vowing never to take it off. I clutched the hoodie as if it were a lifeline.
The club was smaller than I expected. Instead of loud, boisterous music, a relaxed, bouncy tune was playing, and colorful lights swayed and flickered. Do Yun-hyeok led me to a table across from the bar.
There was a stage on one side of the club. Unlike the crowded stage where people were dancing, our spot had people scattered around, making it a good place to catch my breath.
“Wait here for a moment.”
Do Yun-hyeok left the table briefly to get something and asked me to wait. In any case, I didn’t have the nerve to run off anywhere in a place like this.
Even though my life had been going off the rails since I started hanging out with the Four Heavenly Kings, the core of my being was still the diligent, model high school senior Seong Hae-jun. If I got lost in an unfamiliar place, I would stand still where I last saw my parents. That was the first rule of preventing lost children.
Left alone at the table, I looked around. People were gathered towards the stage. When I first came in, I thought they were all dancing, but looking again, a crowd was cheering around someone in the center.
Who was in the middle to make them so enthusiastic? Curious, I peered through the gaps in the crowd at the stage. I couldn’t see clearly, but it looked like a pretty girl was dancing.
Well, it’s a club, so that’s natural.
Just as I was losing interest and turning my head, I thought my eyes met the girl in the center of the stage. Did she see me? For a moment, she seemed to have a strange expression. It must have been my imagination. I rested my chin on my hand and looked elsewhere.
Rolling my eyes, I continued to scan the club. The wall finishes, the ceiling material… As I was looking at such things, a slight commotion came from the stage area. When I looked to see what was happening, the star of the stage, who had been surrounded by a human wall, was coming down. I immediately turned my attention back.
I had learned a bitter lesson in this world: one should not pay attention to people who draw attention.
Ignoring the stage and looking around for Do Yun-hyeok, I noticed that the person who had come down from the stage was walking towards me. As they approached, I deliberately averted my gaze to avoid making eye contact, even by chance.
“Hey.”
At first, I didn’t think she was calling me. My mind was filled with the thought, “She wants attention, so hurry up and leave.”
“Hey! Are you ignoring me?”
I was zoning out when I heard the other person shout sharply, and only then did I look up. A doll-like pretty girl was looking down at me with an irritable expression.
“…Me?”
“Who else? Who else is here?”
I looked around. There was no one else at the nearby tables besides me. Where had all the people who were there a moment ago gone? They had all moved away and were whispering while looking this way.
What kind of situation was this now? The familiar headache, which had become chronic, followed. Was I cursed? I seriously reflected on sins I might have committed in a past life without my knowledge.
The girl looked down at me and asked sharply, her impatience evident.
“Who’s the guy who brought you here?”
“Huh?”
“Who brought you here? Answer quickly.”
Her eyes were slanted, so even though she was clearly looking at me, it felt like she was glaring. It was truly awkward. Was it okay to answer “Do Yun-hyeok” here? For some reason, it felt like I shouldn’t.
Because this was Do Yun-hyeok’s club, it was likely territory belonging to Jeseong High School. If so, this girl would definitely know Do Yun-hyeok, the “top dog” of Jeseong High. If she happened to like Do Yun-hyeok, the situation would become very troublesome.
‘Why is this girl interested in me?’
As I pondered, I thought of another possibility.
‘Could it be because of Seong Hae-min?’
Looking back, the reason a big guy from Jeseong High recognized me on the school bus was my appearance, which resembled my twin, Seong Hae-min. And as everyone knew, Jeseong High and Seoyeon High had a bad relationship. In other words, I was sitting brazenly in Jeseong High territory, with “Seong Hae-min, the twin of Seoyeon High’s Four Heavenly Kings” written all over my face.
Come to think of it, I was left alone in a very dangerous place!
I cursed Seong Hae-min and Do Yun-hyeok to death in my mind.
“Are you ignoring me? Can’t you hear? I know your ears are fine, so why are you acting like this?”
The girl urged me on, but I couldn’t give a hasty answer. Whatever I said seemed likely to offend her. In that case, silence is half the battle. Her large eyes were filled with a mixture of impatience and anxiety.
“What? Do you have business with Hae-jun?”
The familiar voice from beside me was so welcome. Actually, it wasn’t that welcome. Do Yun-hyeok placed a beer glass on the table and looked down at the girl. Upon seeing Do Yun-hyeok, the girl’s face turned as cold as a wax figure.
“…Is it you, Do Yun-hyeok?”
As expected, they knew each other. I was right not to answer.
“What about it?”
The girl glared sharply at Do Yun-hyeok, who asked innocently. In her gaze, which masked irritation and annoyance, I could sense confusion and bewilderment. After a staring contest, the girl turned away first.
“Forget it. The mood is ruined. I’m leaving.”
“Oh, okay.”
“I’m disgusted by you, Mr. Do, really.”
Do Yun-hyeok didn’t stop the girl as she stomped away, her heels clicking. I found myself unable to tear my eyes away from the girl’s retreating back, her long, wavy hair swaying.
For some reason, I felt a lingering sense of unease…
Do Yun-hyeok plopped down on the chair with a thud. The strange sensation I had been focusing on was lost. Like a wild animal sensing a presence and fleeing, the sense of déjà vu from the girl faded instantly.