NUTJOB FOR A REASON

[OH, IT'S rare for my honey to contact me first.]

Geun-wook, who was killing time in the PC bang/café with Choi Doyun and the rest of their clique, stopped playing the game to check Moon Yujin's message.

"Ah, you freaking nutjob!" Choi Doyun, who occupied the computer in front of him, complained. "Why did you pause in the middle of playing? Heal me first! Can't you see that I'm dying here? Huh, Sun Geun-wook?!"

"F*ck off," Geun-wook yelled at Choi Doyun while removing his headphone. "Moon Yujin's message is more important than this game."

"F*ck you, nutjob!" Choi Doyun, along with their other friends, yelled at him at the same time.

He just laughed it off because cursing was nothing to them (as long as it wasn't serious).

His smile faded as soon as he read Yujin's message, though.

<'Bat. Shin Aera. Steal.'>

It took him a moment before it clicked on him.

[Shin Aera stole Yujinie's baseball bat?]

He suddenly recalled the conversation that he once had with Yujin…

["Yujinie, why do you always carry that baseball bat with you?"]

["I will literally die if I lose this."]

["You can't be serious!"]

He laughed at her "joke" during that time, but Moon Yujin didn't. That was how he knew that she wasn't messing with him. He had already accepted the fact that he may never understand his weird childhood friend, but that didn't mean he would stop caring.

[Goddammit!]

He stood up and grabbed his things in a hurry.

"Sun Geun-wook, where the hell are you going in the middle of the game?" Choi Doyun yelled when he noticed that he was leaving. "Come back here, you freaking nutjob!"

Geun-wook ignored his friend and bolted out of the PC café in a hurry while calling Yujin's phone. He was already getting in a taxi when someone finally picked up his call. Much to his chagrin, an unfamiliar male voice greeted him. "Who's this?"

Apparently, the one who answered his call was one of the paramedics who rescued Yujin. While he was in the taxi, he asked which hospital the ambulance would be taking her to. After that, he hanged up.

Then he called Oh Rami.

<"What do you need, Your Royal A*sshole?">

Yep, it was how Oh Rami would greet him. Usually, he would retort with a crude remark. However, this time, he responded by telling Oh Rami the name of the hospital where Yujin would be taken to.

<"I'm sure you won't ask me to visit you in the hospital even though you're already on your deathbed,"> Oh Rami said, her voice sounded concerned. But, of course, he knew that her concern wasn't for him. <"What happened to Moon Yujin?">

"The paramedic that I talked to said it looks something similar to a heart failure."

<"But Yujin doesn't have heart disease?">

"That's why I'm sending you to the hospital," he said, impatient. "Go and find out what happened to Yujin."

<"You're not going?">

"Shin Aera stole Yujin's baseball bat."

<"What?!"> Oh Rami then proceeded to let out a string of profanities. <"I'll kill that f*cking b*tch when I see her!">

"Yujin needs you more. Aunt Hayi isn't back in the country yet," Geun-wook said, then he clenched his jaw hard. "I'll deal with Shin Aera myself."

***

YUJIN knew she fainted.

And before she had completely lost consciousness, she heard the siren coming from the ambulance.

[At least, Shin Aera really called the ambulance for me.]

She expected to wake up in the hospital, but she didn't expect to wake up in a hotel-like room.

"Moon Yujin, you're awake?"

Yujin wasn't surprised to see Oh Rami sitting on the chair beside the bed while drinking iced coffee. "Did you bring me to a hotel or something?"

"Of course not, silly," Oh Rami said, laughing. "This hospital belongs to my uncle. When he heard that my friend was admitted here, he told his staff to bring you to the VIP suite and give you the best medical attention they can give you. They put an IV drip on you since they don't want you to get dehydrated."

[Ah, right. I forgot that she's rich RICH.]

Oh Rami– ash blonde bob cut hair, sharp dark eyes, and reddish lips. Her best friend was known for her signature red lips. Many people often said that it made her look more mature, but that wouldn't change the fact that Oh Rami was gorgeous.

"What happened to me?" Yujin asked, then she tried to get up. It was a little difficult to move, since an IV drip was attached to her arm. "My chest hurt so bad earlier."

Rami put her iced coffee on the bedside table, then she stood up and helped her get up. She even put a pillow on her back, then she explained while adjusting the bed for her. "The doctor I talked to earlier said that nothing is wrong with you or your heart."

"Huh?" she asked, confused. "But I really thought I was having a heart attack earlier."

"According to His Royal Assface when he called me, the paramedics that rescued you also said that you were having something similar to a heart failure," her best friend explained. "But when you got to the hospital, your overall condition returned to normal. Even the doctors were baffled, that's why they wanted to observe you for a little longer."

"I see. That's strange indeed…" She trailed off, then she knitted her eyebrows when she realized that she had forgotten something important. "Right, how did you know I was here again? I remember sending a message to Geun-wook about my stolen bat. But I didn't tell him that I was dying back then."

Rami sat back in the chair before she answered her questions. "His Royal Assface called your phone after receiving your message, then he talked to the paramedics in the ambulance with you. After that, he called me and told me to go to the hospital to check on you."

The fact that Sun Geun-wook didn't come to the hospital made her nervous.

"Then did Geun say where he was headed to?"

"His Royal Assface said he'd confront Shin Aera for stealing your baseball bat," Oh Rami said, then she clicked her tongue. "Don't worry, Yujin-ah. I'll beat that b*tch once I see her later."

She appreciated the thought, but getting revenge wasn't her priority.

[I need my baseball bat back.]

"Rami-ya, did you see my phone?"

Her best friend opened the first drawer of the bedside table, then she pulled out her phone and handed it to her. "Here."

"Thanks."

She instantly checked her messages. As expected, she received one from Shin Aera. She instantly showed Oh Ramin the message.

<"Moon Yujin, if you want to get your baseball bat back, come to this place. If you bring Sun Geun-wook or Oh Rami with you, we'll destroy your precious bat to pieces.">

"Oh Rami, as the best woman fighter in our school, what do you think of this message?"

"That's obviously a trap," Oh Rami said after reading Shin Aera's message. "I bet that f*cking b*tch and her little friends are waiting for you in that location. They'll definitely beat you up or do worse once you get there." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Do you want me to kill them for you?"

"Don't do anything dangerous, Rami-ya. You're supposed to return to school tomorrow," she scolded her best friend. "Plus, your father said he'd send you overseas if you get into trouble again."

"Fine, I won't kill anyone today," Rami said. "But you're not going there alone, are you?"

"I don't have a death wish," she said while shaking her head. "I'll call the police and tell them that Shin Aera stole my stuff. Then I'll send them Shin Aera's location."

"It might be difficult to get Shin Aera punished since her father is a big shot," her best friend warned her. "Even my father will hesitate to go against her family. Not that I care about that. I'd still ruin that b*tch's face even if my father gets into trouble."

"I really don't care about revenge," she said. "As long as I get my baseball bat back, I'm good."

"Aigoo, aren't our Moon Yujin so forgiving?"

She suddenly froze when she realized that there was someone who was not as forgiving as her.

"Rami-ya, did you say earlier that Sun Geun-wook went to confront Shin Aera?"

"Yep, that was what His Royal Assface said."

"Can you call a nurse and tell them to remove the IV drip for me?" she asked. "And I want to be discharged asap."

"Why? You should rest more," her best friend said. "His Royal Assface will definitely get your baseball back for you, so just wait for him here."

"He'll kill them."

"Huh?"

"Geun's friends don't call him a 'nutjob' for fun, and you know that."

"Right, he's the top dog of Haneul High School, after all. Because of him, the other delinquents in the area don't even come anywhere near our school," Rami said, then she made a gesture as if she was slicing her neck with her hand. "He'll kill the people that Shin Aera brought, but don't worry too much. I haven't seen His Royal Assface beat a girl yet."

"That's not the problem. I must stop Geun from fighting this time," Yujin said worriedly. "He can't get hurt at all costs."

Because once Sun Geun-wook was hurt, his doppelganger might appear again!

***

[IT REEKS of blood.]

Geun-wook wasn't surprised, though.

After all, he beat up the five assholes that Shin Aera brought there.

By "there," he meant the old bowling center that was supposed to be closed to the public. But Shin Aera made that place into her own territory. He instinctively knew that she would summon Moon Yujin to that place.

And he wasn't wrong.

"You invited five boys from a delinquent school," Geun-wook said while looking at Shin Aera who was trembling and crying on the floor. The b*tch broke down after watching how he almost killed those bastards. "There are even cameras set up around. Just what were you planning to do if Moon Yujin came here alone, huh?"

"Y-You…" Shin Aera said in a shaking voice, then her eyes wandered to the three unconscious girls on the floor. "Y-you n-never b-beat g-girls before…"

"I only hit them once at the back of their neck to knock them out," he said. He wasn't trying to make light of what he did. But he needed to correct Shin Aera, since hitting and beating someone up were two different things. "You should worry more about yourself, Shin Aera."

Shin Aera looked up at him, her pupils shaking from fear. "W-What are you going to do, Sun Geun-wook?"

"I'll make sure that you'll never bother Moon Yujin again."

She looked very terrified of him now.

[And she should be.]

However, it seemed like someone– or something– else distracted his ex-girlfriend.

Shin Aera's gaze went past him, then her eyes went wide as she let out a blood-curdling scream while pointing her finger at something behind him.

When Geun-wook turned around, he thought he was facing a mirror.

[Yujinie, my doppelganger appeared.]

***

Please add SPOOKY SOULMATE to your library~