Unrest

Staying in the motel was very uncomfortable. The heating was bad, and they had a slight pest problem.

But more importantly, since Hyuk had only rented a small room with one bed, the two brothers were forced to sleep on the floor after conceding the bed to Yeo Ri.

She had offered to share the bed with the two of them, but they refused. The bed was too small to house all three of them.

Then, Yeo Ri offered to share with either of them.

But that suggestion was also rejected.

Hyuk didn't believe in himself enough to sleep with Yeo Ri, but he also did not want Yeo Ri to share a bed with Gun.

And so, the two brothers got into another argument.

In the end, it was decided that the two would share the floor together. Luckily for them, the floor was carpeted, which slightly lessened their discomfort.

Throughout the night, Yeo Ri would often get up and ask if they were really fine with sleeping on the floor. She would be happy to share the bed, but the two adamantly refused.

Perhaps because they were in a new environment, the trio found it a bit difficult to fall asleep. Added with the cold, they spent more time awake than asleep.

And before they realised it, morning came.

"Why did you book such a small room..." Gun grumbled quietly.

Hyuk shot him a withering glare, "I'm the one who paid for it. If you want a better room, go and pay it yourself, sh*thead."

With that sentence, he easily shut down Gun.

Gun could only keep his silence at his brother's words. If he still had some money, he would have done exactly that. But unfortunately, he had emptied his pockets to buy those few things from Hwang Se Jin. Until his results were released, he had to tighten his belt.

His school had a special reward for being number one. He would be awarded with a monetary reward, which was one of the reasons why he often strove hard to maintain his place on the exams.

Luckily, the exam results should be out in two days. Until then, he could only grit his teeth and suffer.

"I'm sorry, Hyuk-oppa, Gun-oppa. It's all my fault," Yeo Ri lowered her head guiltily. If not because of her, they wouldn't have needed to run away. They wouldn't have needed to sleep in this small and dingy motel room.

With just that one statement from Yeo Ri, the two stopped fighting.

"No, it's not your fault, Yeo Ri-ah," Gun says, patting her head.

"Stop moping, and don't apologise!" Hyuk frowned. "You didn't even do anything wrong," he added.

"Come on, Yeo Ri-ah. Let's get ready for school," Gun tugged her arm gently. She still had her exams to think about.

"Okay..."

Yeo Ri obediently listened to Gun. Afterwards, Hyuk took her to school.

She wanted to skip, but for the sake of not worrying her schoolmates and teachers, she forced herself to go. It would be bad if her teachers decided to call Lee Do Joon. She didn't want him to know what she had been up to, and neither did she want to face him.

"L-Lee Cheonsa!" A boy suddenly called out to her.

Yeo Ri stopped, looking around to find the person that had called out to her.

A gaggle of guys approached Yeo Ri.

She was walking alone, so the sight of three boys walking up to her was rather daunting. She couldn't help but stiffen up and tightly held onto the straps of her bag. "Y-yes?" She hesitantly answered.

"Lee Cheonsa, we have something to ask you," the boy who seemed to be the leader of the group braved himself to talk to the girl.

"Yes?" Yeo Ri glanced away, looking as if she was ready to run away. Being surrounded by so many guys was making her feel uncomfortable.

"That man yesterday... who was he?" The boy asked. "A-are you dating him?"

"Huh?"

Yeo Ri slipped out a sound of confusion. She wondered if she should agree to the statement or disagree. Since, technically, it was both right and wrong. She faintly wondered what Hyuk would think if she called him her boyfriend.

But in the end, she didn't have the guts to say so.

After all, their relationship was one that was forbidden.

"N-no..." Yeo Ri slowly spoke. Her heart twinged slightly as she shifted her feet. "That was my brother," she said. She hoped that the face she was making would not give her away.

"Brother? Your real brother?" The group of guys perked up. A sense of relief coursed through their heart, but the euphoria only lasted for a moment. Shortly afterwards, they were seized up by fear and worry. Lee Cheonsa's brother didn't seem like a friendly fellow. If they wanted to date Lee Cheonsa, then wouldn't it be difficult to get past the hurdle that was her brother? There was a rumour about how protective her brother was.

Unknowingly, they were under the assumption that Hyuk was Gun.

Among her peers, Gun was relatively well-known, since he was very smart. And many people assumed that Yeo Ri only had one brother, since not many people dared to spread rumours about Hyuk being her brother.

Actually, many people from her elementary school knew that she had two brothers, but ever since an incident where a Yeo Ri was taken as hostage to exact revenge on Hyuk, he started to act more low-key and would often threaten to beat up people who brought up their relation. In this way, Yeo Ri would not be involved in that kind of situation again.

"Yes, he is my... real brother," Yeo Ri lowered her head, concealing the odd look on her face.

"I-I see, I see," the leader says, nodding happily. "So he was your brother."

"Excuse me, but... why do you want to know?"

"Ah, no, it's nothing, Lee Cheonsa-ya!" The boys beamed at her. "We were just... curious."

After finding out what they wanted to know, the boys finally left Yeo Ri, letting her breathe out a sigh of relief.

Yeo Ri quickly headed towards her classroom.