BTNF 11🔐

Chapter 11 …

At the entrance of the alley lined with houses, a group of children, around seven years old, were playing together.

They had been playing hopscotch, kicking shuttlecocks, and hide-and-seek, and finally, they decided the order for playing ttakji by rock-paper-scissors.

“Yes! First place!”

Soon, one by one, the winners stepped forward.

Haebum came in third. But Wooju, staying until the very end, kept losing at rock-paper-scissors and was eventually placed last.

“Wooju, do you want to switch turns with me?”

“No thanks. I don’t mind going last.”

Wooju didn’t care about the order of the game. When it came to skill, she had confidence no matter what anyone said.

She glanced at Haebum, who offered to swap turns, pressing down on her worn and tattered ttakji with his hand.

Haebum, unusually fair-skinned, was Wooju’s close friend, but technically speaking, not a neighbor.

He was a “prince” from the neighboring district, known for its expensive apartment complexes.

Yet somehow, Haebum came to Wooju’s neighborhood to play every day.

Sometimes, he even had dinner at Wooju’s house. On such days, his mother would arrive in a large black car, showering Wooju with sparkling gifts.

Wooju and Haebum were, in every sense, inseparable, recognized even by their families.

Especially Haebum, a head shorter than Wooju, followed her like a little puppy. Wooju, in turn, adored him like a younger brother.

Some boys teased Haebum, calling him a mama’s boy, but Wooju always intervened immediately, leaving no room for lasting hurt.

“Hey, Yoo Wooju. Let’s swap ttakji!”

Even Haebum, usually as gentle as a puppy, could suddenly change.

“No.”

“Ah, come on, swap with me! Just this once!”

When Wooju refused, Jiseung, the leader of the alley, used his large frame to intimidate her.

Being the tallest among the group, even the other kids froze, and Wooju flinched. At that moment, Haebum stepped in front of her.

“Wooju said no.”

“And who are you?”

“We each play with our own ttakji. That’s the rule of the game. If the rules are broken, the game becomes invalid.”

Jiseung’s nostrils flared like an angry bull.

Even though Haebum was sometimes teased, he was not someone to be trifled with.

Clear skin, high-quality clothes that changed daily, refined vocabulary—everyone knew he was a prince on a completely different level.

“So stop bothering Wooju, and play with your own ttakji. Got it?”

A heavy silence enveloped them.

Jiseung scanned the other kids, as if hoping someone would take his side. But no one stepped forward. Feeling rejected, he burst into tears and ran home.

“Are you okay?”

Haebum approached Wooju like a prince who had just defeated a villain.

Wooju, who had been looking down, slowly lifted her eyes.

“I could have said yes too, you know? Dummy.”

Of course, young Yoo Wooju was not easily swayed.

Wooju walked through the alley with a sullen face. Even holding a beautiful bouquet, her expression wouldn’t soften.

She had failed to be assigned to the same middle school as Haebum.

Having gone to the same kindergarten and elementary school, she had naturally assumed they’d also go to the same middle school, but Haebum’s neighborhood was assigned a different school.

Ever since learning that, Wooju had completely forgotten that she was finally getting to wear the school uniform she had longed for.

“Oh? Yoo Wooju.”

A familiar voice reached her ears. Looking up, she saw Jiseung, who had grown notably more mature during puberty.

“Did you hear the news?”

What she heard from him was quite shocking.

Haebum was going abroad to study. The source? None other than Jiseung’s mother, a hair salon owner who knew every tidbit in the neighborhood.

“He’s already prepared his visa and plane ticket to go to a school in the U.S. Didn’t you know?”

“Uh? Uh….”

“Since he didn’t tell you, it must be true. Ji Haebum is cautious and keeps quiet when it’s serious. But lots of people heard it besides me.”

Hearing that many people knew, tears suddenly spilled from Wooju—something even she hadn’t expected.

“Hey, are you… crying?”

Flustered, Jiseung hovered around her.

Wooju wiped her eyes with her sleeve, yet the tears wouldn’t stop. Eventually, she covered her face with her hands and sobbed loudly.

“What’s wrong?”

At that moment, a familiar voice approached from behind. Recognizing it as Haebum, Wooju quickly rubbed her cheek, but her face was already streaked with tears.

“Ji Haebum…?”

Seeing Haebum, Jiseung couldn’t even finish his words and just gaped. Haebum had grown at least a head taller since they last saw each other.

Haebum stepped forward in long strides and warned Jiseung in a low voice.

“Don’t mess with Wooju. If you do, I’ll chase you to the ends of the earth and pay you back.”

“I… I didn’t do anything! And who are you anyway?”

“Wooju’s friend.”

Jiseung, alternating his gaze between Wooju and Haebum, took a few steps back and shouted.

“Don’t make me laugh! Who even calls you guys friends!”

But the two were used to such words and paid no attention.

After Jiseung disappeared into the distance, Haebum, worried, cupped Wooju’s small face.

“What’s wrong, Wooju? Did Bae Jiseung do something again? Did he bully you?”

“…No.”

“Then why are you crying because of him?”

She couldn’t bring herself to say, “It’s because of you, not Jiseung.”

Wooju was too busy hiding her tears to notice Haebum’s expression.

Then she noticed his unfamiliar school uniform.

The dark navy jacket with a golden emblem clearly belonged to a nearby private middle school.

“You… went to this middle school?”

She also noticed his hair had been cut shorter than before.

Seeing Haebum, unfamiliar and yet new, made her heart flutter strangely.

So maybe the studying abroad was for high school, not middle school.

As she pondered this, a large hand gently touched the top of her head.

“The uniform suits you.”

Then he patted her as if soothing a child.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Uh? Ah, no.”

It was strange. Last year, he had been shorter than her, but when did he grow so much? His shoulders, hands, and feet all seemed bigger.

Wooju quickly turned her gaze away, though she couldn’t hide her flushed, warm ears.

“Ji Haebum. Where do you want to go for your first choice in high school?”

Wooju spoke with difficulty, trying to be brave, preparing herself for an answer that he would go to America.

“Already thinking about high school?”

“Just… because we’re separated in middle school.”

“I’ll go to the school you want to go to.”

Wooju stared at him, stunned.

“You’re not going abroad?”

She swallowed the question rising in her throat. If she spoke it aloud, what if Haebum really left? She couldn’t even bring herself to ask.

“Then I hope we can go to high school together.”

When Wooju said that, Haebum paused thoughtfully, then mischievously raised an eyebrow.

“Tell Bae Jiseung to go to another school.”

Thank goodness. He wasn’t leaving.

Only then did Wooju smile in relief.

At that moment, she didn’t even understand what she was feeling—she just wanted Haebum to stay by her side forever.