It had not been long since she went in, so there was no way she was finished already. What did she want?

I stared at the bathroom door while halfway between sitting and standing, still holding onto that string of suspicion.

A moment later, the door creaked open and a brown eye appeared, rolling around in the gap. She definitely seemed discontent.

"…I asked if you could hear me."

"Yeah, sorry. I can hear you."

As soon as she received my answer, Kim Ahyoung quickly closed the door again.

"…Turn on the heater for me."

"What?"

"It's above the light switch. Hurry!"

Although it wasn't difficult, I couldn't help feeling a little stupid for being so suspicious just a moment ago.

The sigh that followed also expressed my thoughts on the s.p.a.cious room.

There were posters everywhere, from the head of the bed I was sitting on to the closet door, the edge of the desk, and of course, on the walls and doors. It was to the point that it would have been faster to find a spot that wasn't decorated with the posters of musicians I didn't know singing and playing their instruments. The bathroom door had a man wearing an outrageous mask – or perhaps a woman with magnificent arm muscles – holding a microphone.

Other than those posters and the faint smell of an unknown chemical, the room was rather empty. There was hardly anything apart from basic furniture. There wasn't even a television, which would normally be in a room of this size. A big box under the desk grabbed my attention, but I didn't even think about touching it, as I had already experienced being burned.

Why had Kim Ahyoung run away from home?

Judging by the events until now, this was where she lived after running away. I had still only been threatened by Kim Ahyoung and had not gotten any explanation.

In the end, none of that really mattered. I only wanted this incident to be resolved quickly. Once that happened, I would be able to escape.

Or maybe I could just leave?

Although that would waste the effort of having followed her until now, it seemed like a better choice than the current situation. On the other hand, it was also true that my feet refused to move when I thought about Kim Ahyoung's ability to rule over the school and media in an instant.

Even in a relations.h.i.+p between normal people, it was always possible for them to cause indirect harm to each other. When speaking of Kim Ahyoung…. In all honesty, it was difficult to even imagine the full effect.

While I was in the middle of this internal conflict, the bathroom door opened.

Kim Ahyoung came out, surrounded in white, cloudy steam. She had a heap of clothes in her hands. The tracksuit that perfectly fit her slender body strangely matched this room.

When she saw me, she made an awkward smile with her flushed face, as if she had just remembered what happened.

"I forgot to turn the heater on. I'm not really used to it yet. My clothes were all drenched, so I couldn't put them back on to come out myself. Thanks."

However, I couldn't react in any way. Rather, my lack of a reaction was my reaction. Her appearance was more than enough to freeze me with shock.

Kim Ahyoung's blonde hair, her trademark, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it had been replaced by short black hair. Although some strands were longer than others, there was a boyish charm to it, since her looks had been outstanding to begin with. That was the moment I remembered that how one looked made up for everything else.

As I stood there and stared in surprise, Kim Ahyoung, who was skillfully drying her hair with one hand, tilted her head.

"What's up?"

"Your hair…"

Kim Ahyoung glanced up at the tips of her bangs and replied bluntly.

"Can't you tell by looking at it? I trimmed it myself."

Was it so messy because she actually cut her hair by herself?

"That isn't at the level of just tr.i.m.m.i.n.g."

"Why does it matter whether I cut my hair, stick more on, curl it, or burn it? Get out of the way."

After replying coldy, Kim Ahyoung frowned and walked towards me before pus.h.i.+ng me off the bed. After throwing her clothes on the spot I had just evacuated, she crouched down and pulled out her laptop. Why had she hid it in a place like that?

Soon, a song began to play on the laptop. It was a song that even I, who knew nothing about music, could recognize just from the melody.

『Knocking on heaven's door』

ㅡ Mama, take this badge from me ㅡ I can't use it anymore ㅡ It's getting dark, too dark to see ㅡ Feels like I'm knockin' on heaven's door ㅡ

"You know this song, right?"

"It's famous."

I nodded and replied.

"That's right. This is a famous song. However, most people, including you, don't know the original version that was sung by Bob Dylan. Do you know how often this song gets covered? This version right now is one that a band called Guns N' Roses covered. Everyone gets enchanted by the lyrics and the melody, and they think that all the versions that they hear are the same."

Kim Ahyoung, who had taken over the bed, pried her way through the singer's husky voice and continued.

"This is also dyed. I actually have light brown hair, but people often discuss the symbolism of my blonde hair, saying that it is in the genes of universal divas. They only know what they see."

As she said, one factor that helped Angel0 secure her position as the next generation's leading female singer – following the footsteps of Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey – was her brilliant, blonde hair that captured people's attention with just a glance. In the first place, being compared to people like them was the result of such similarities and symbolic factors.

In the end, the faint chemical smell in the room seemed to be from the hair dye, and it just hadn't faded yet.

"But, isn't that obvious? It's just that people aren't aware of it."

When I muttered a sudden question, Kim Ahyoung nodded and smiled weakly.

"It is obvious. What I just said was nothing but complaining. Anyway, I figured that people wouldn't find me so easily if I cut my hair like this. Do you reckon that's useless, since you realized it?"

I shook my head.

"No, if you just be careful with your sungla.s.ses, I doubt that you will be found out. Even a moment ago, I was just surprised that your hairstyle had changed. Right now, I think it suits you well."

Though it would look better if you got it trimmed properly, was something that I didn't bother to add on. She probably understood that more than me.

"…Thank you."

Kim Ahyoung replied in a soft voice as she pat her head with a towel. There was silence as the conversation stopped.

"But, why didn't you take your hat off when you went into the bathroom just now?"

It was strange when I thought about it, to not take off her hat out of all of her outer clothing.

"n.o.body wants to be seen with hat hair, you know? I think you're forgetting this, but I'm Angel0."

I marveled at the nonchalant reply she uttered as she dried her hair. There was no one else who could mention their own position as blatantly as she could. Nonetheless, I agreed with her.

"That's why I don't grow out my hair. It's a pain to take care of."

Kim Ahyoung chuckled softly at my surly reply.

"You didn't cut it short to make it look cool? I didn't know. Fair enough – now that I have short hair, it's nice, since was.h.i.+ng and drying it is easy. It's a little cold though, since it's winter and all."

Kim Ahyoung got up from the bed as she finished her sentence, and she hung her towel on the chair. I was wondering if she would be fine without using a hairdryer, but when I saw her pa.s.sively patting the tips of her hair, it didn't seem to be a huge problem.

At that moment, a sudden clap dragged me back to reality.

"Enough with the small talk."

Her eyes, which had been covered by the towel, had frozen over again. I had thought that the atmosphere had just relaxed, but it must have been my imagination.

Some evil words came from her angelic face.

"Now then, I'll begin to threaten you in earnest."

At the very least, what I knocked on wasn't heaven's door.

+ Author's comment: It's short… I should've cut it in 2 parts;;;