Ch.149Season of Pure Love (3)

-Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring

“Alright, that’s it. Everyone, hands off your test papers. The person in the back, please collect the OMR cards.”

“Ugh…”

The geography exam, the last subject of the first day of final exams.

As soon as the bell signaling the end of the test rang through the speakers,

I collapsed at my desk where my test paper lay scattered, dropping my head like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

“Hey, Ban Doyoung. Did you at least fill in all the answers before dying?”

“Uhuhuhuhuheung.”

“Oh, I see… You finished well. You even completed the essay questions on the back. Good job.”

From first period English, through second period self-study, to third period geography exam.

I had no recollection of how I’d been sitting at this desk solving problems.

How I maintained my sanity at the desk, how I solved the problems,

and how I carefully marked the OMR card with my pen—not with my mouth, of course.

I couldn’t properly remember any of it.

“Hey, Ban Doyoung… are you even awake? What on earth were you doing until yesterday that you’re half out of your mind?”

The situation must have been serious if even the class president, who usually spoke to Miss Ban Doyoung as if she had a rag in her mouth, was genuinely concerned about her.

“Do, Do Hamin, that jerk… indiscriminately inserting until dawn…”

“Wh-what…? Hamin inserted what into you? So you’re not a virgin anymore—”

“No… I meant that jerk Hamin crammed way more material into me through insertion education than he did before the midterms.”

“You crazy girl, that’s not ‘insertion education,’ it’s ‘injection education.'”

“Ah, right, that’s what it was.”

Do Hamin’s insertion—no, injection education that had been deeply stuffed into me until dawn the previous day.

Only after the content had completely evaporated from my mind could I finally return to my normal condition.

Literally, as if I had been possessed by something,

only a faint sensation remained at my fingertips of solving problems according to Hamin’s instructions, problems we had memorized together since last night.

Ah, right, I was originally possessing Miss Ban Doyoung’s body.

So what should I call this? A possessor who got possessed again—a double possession?

“Really… there are no restrictions like mandatory evening study sessions for these finals, so Hamin insisted on studying until dawn… If it weren’t for his [下民高趨] spirit, I would have collapsed from second period.”

The very day Solyoung left home,

Mom and Dad immediately invited Hamin into Solyoung’s now-empty room.

The reason was simple.

Mom, just like Dad, or perhaps even more than Dad, was very interested in her children’s education.

During her study abroad, I heard that Siyoung maintained a standardized score of around 60 despite also training.

It’s hard to believe how she achieved such scores when she didn’t even know how babies were made, but I guess I should just accept that setting.

How would Hamin appear in Mom’s eyes?

He not only provided the opportunity for her daughter to resume kendo, which she had abandoned for a long time,

but also transformed Ban Doyoung, who had always received nearly failing scores since elementary school, into a 70-point average student before the first semester even ended.

Wouldn’t he look like the best son-in-law candidate and an excellent tutor?

So even amid the misunderstanding about premarital pregnancy caused by Siyoung,

she might have said the timing was too early, but she never said it was absolutely unacceptable.

“Thanks to him, I saw the sunrise before lying down in bed. Of course, not in the same bed, but separately.”

“I didn’t ask about that, but for someone who went through all that, Hamin looks surprisingly fine.”

“Ugh, that’s what I’m saying. That jerk Hamin… until recently when he was this small, he used to pass out from physical exhaustion while studying.”

Hamin, who was seated at a distance due to the exam seating arrangement, was checking his answers with surprisingly alert eyes.

He didn’t look like someone who had stayed up all night with Ban Doyoung.

It had been quite a while since I’d seen Hamin getting nosebleeds,

or fainting from exhaustion without realizing it.

After his growth plates opened up through Ban Doyoung’s kendo lessons, he quickly surpassed her in height,

and his strength and stamina grew to a level that was no match for her.

Since then, Hamin rarely showed signs of fatigue or weakness.

During kendo lessons, it was often difficult to keep up with his desired intensity, so much so that classes would end early.

“I knew people grow quickly when they hit their growth spurt… but I didn’t expect him to grow this fast.”

I said, looking at Hamin who was sitting far away from me due to the exam seating arrangement.

At that time, he was so obscured by other students standing or sitting on desks that he wasn’t even visible.

Now, no matter how much others blocked the view,

there were signs that poked out, indicating Hamin was there.

Like that silly cowlick sticking up above his head,

or his indoor shoes protruding from under the desk,

or the [下民高趨] hidden inside his pant leg.

Ahem, let’s pretend I didn’t mention that last one.

In conclusion, the current Hamin had essentially become

someone Ban Doyoung could no longer handle with her strength.

“Hey, class president.”

-Squeak

-Scrape scrape

While I was voyeuristically observing Hamin from a distance, ignoring perspective,

some tall guy appeared with the sound of rubber or silicone dragging across the floor, blocking my view of Hamin.

It was Lee Jeongkyu, who was still using crutches after being discharged from the hospital.

He approached An Seongkyung’s seat, holding a test paper in one hand while struggling with his crutches.

Jeongkyu and a test paper.

It was as mismatched a combination as Ban Doyoung and mango-flavored cola.

“What are you doing here, Jeongkyu? Even though it’s almost cleaning time, during exam period we only pick up trash, not mop the floors.”

“Ban Doyoung, you fucking bitch, what does this mean?”

Ignoring Ban Doyoung’s provocation, Jeongkyu handed his completed test paper to An Seongkyung.

“Here. I came across a problem I couldn’t solve. Explain this to me.”

“Sigh… It’s you again, Jeongkyu. Did I promise you answers or something? I barely have enough time to prepare for the next exam, and now I have to explain each problem on a finished test to someone like you who won’t even understand? Get lost, I’m busy.”

Naturally, unlike Ban Doyoung whose relationship had soured due to misunderstandings,

in Jeongkyu’s case, he was the type of person filled with characteristics that An Seongkyung would genuinely dislike.

Even if such a person boldly presented his test paper and implied he wanted to study, An Seongkyung’s attitude wouldn’t change.

She could have been even more cutting if she wanted to.

Unlike Ban Doyoung, Jeongkyu was closer to being a real delinquent.

“Aren’t you the class president? Shouldn’t you be able to teach someone like me if you’ve studied so much? What’s the point of studying if you can’t explain it well enough for me to understand?”

“Huh? If this was something you could understand with just a brief explanation, would I be sitting here solving problems until 10 PM every day, you idiot?”

An Seongkyung and Jeongkyu bared their teeth at each other like wolves, looking as if they might tear each other apart at any moment.

“Sigh… Why do you keep coming to my seat and bothering me these days? I might understand if you came before the exam period, but why during exams? Am I some pushover who has to give you answers whenever and wherever you ask?”

-Well, isn’t that right?

The words rose to my throat, but

seeing the 0.5mm mechanical pencil in An Seongkyung’s right hand, I decided to hold back for now.

“They say you’re number one here, damn it.”

“…”

“Should I go around interrogating everyone who got good scores in each subject with this crippled leg? Making things noisy and uncomfortable? As if it’s not bad enough that everyone here looks at my leg thinking ‘serves that cripple right.'”

-Well, isn’t that right?

The words rose to my throat, but

seeing that this mobility-impaired Paildramon had lawlessness attached to both hands, I decided to hold back for now.

“…”

“…”

A moment of silence flowed through Class 1.

When the ticking of the clock at the back of the classroom seemed to be the loudest sound,

-Sigh

An Seongkyung exhaled deeply.

“Tsk… If it weren’t for Ms. Miso’s request, I swear… Bring your test paper and sit in front, blockhead.”

“Should have done that from the start. Red-head.”

“Call me that one more time and I’ll report you for sexual harassment.”

“You called me names first.”

-Thud

The two who had seemed ready to tear each other apart just moments ago

began to solve the incorrect problems together, with a single test paper between them.

“Why come all the way to me? Since we’re sitting in order of attendance numbers for the exam, you could have asked Hamin who’s closer to you. He would have explained it quickly without all this bickering.”

“I don’t ask that guy for help.”

“For what reason?”

“It’s embarrassing. Besides, he already has a big baggage attached to him.”

“…Hey, Paildramon. What did you just say?”

I glared at Jeongkyu who had glanced at me with a sidelong look,

but once again, there was no response from him.