Ch.27Taking Off Your Glasses Doesn’t Exactly Make You a Hottie (2)

While I rarely share drinks with acquaintances from elementary or middle school,

I often meet up with my high school friends even after becoming working adults.

Perhaps it’s because we met as boys and walked the path to adulthood together.

Right after I got laid off from my company, the place where I was recommended <Half of Half Island>

was actually a group chat with friends from high school.

I recommend accepting insurance or guarantees when friends ask,

but avoiding games, novels, or webtoons they recommend.

Because personal tastes can change.

“Ah, how long has it been since we met like this? Let’s get together often in the future, whether there’s good news or not.”

“You say that, but you’ll be the first to bail next time someone suggests meeting up.”

“What can I do if my wife tells me to come home early? Call me when you don’t want to go home, and I’ll come out.”

“Our faces have all turned into middle-aged men’s, but when we get together like this, it reminds me of our school days.”

After having a casual drink with high school friends,

hazy memories of school days would often surface.

The older you get, the more you can’t help but miss the past.

“Did you hear? Our homeroom teacher from senior year recently retired.”

“What? That person already reached retirement age? Damn… he was still so energetic when he was our homeroom teacher.”

“That just means we’re getting old too.”

When those fresh, bold, immature yet nostalgic memories of youth became the side dish,

even cheap alcohol in a small, humble establishment gained a certain flavor.

The bittersweet aftertaste from the gap and haziness between friends who shared the same memories and the middle-aged men they had become added depth to the taste of cheap liquor.

“Ah, those were good times… running around doing whatever we wanted, playing lots of pranks.”

“Ban Do-young, you still live however you want.”

“My life is pretty appealing.”

“This guy never changes.”

However, my friends didn’t seem to feel that bitter aftertaste from the gap, at least not from me.

I did look young for my age.

Now I look even younger.

“Hey, kids these days don’t even do night study sessions. They say forcing night study is a human rights violation.”

“What? Then who’s going to compensate for my violated human rights?”

“What are you talking about, Ban Do-young? You always skipped out.”

“Who are you calling a delinquent? I just left 10 minutes early every time, I never ran away.”

All alcohol is good, but sometimes it distorts the intersection of memories between friends and oneself.

As the number of drinks increased, there were days when voices would rise as everyone insisted, “You’re right. No, I’m right.”

Of course, it never escalated into severe fights.

In the end, the conclusion of our school day stories narrowed down to one:

“Those were good times.”

That’s what we’d say.

“Teacher Jeon was strict but a good person. I wonder if kids these days know that. Having such a stern teacher is actually fortunate for them.”

“You don’t realize it at the time.”

“Drinking like this reminds me of things that happened with Teacher Jeon.”

The past is overflowing with happiness.

Even things we didn’t consider happiness back then often turn out to be happiness in retrospect.

Whenever I missed that during reminiscence, I would lean on alcohol to find happiness in those memories.

“Ban Do-young, why are you already packing your bag when there’s still 10 minutes left in night study?”

“Teacher Jeon, classes run for 50 minutes with 10-minute breaks, so logically, night study should end at 9:50, not 10:00.”

“Hooh.”

“Moreover, this isn’t a class but self-study. Despite being called ‘autonomous,’ you’ve forcibly confined so many students, shouldn’t you show at least this much flexibility?”

“Hahaha.”

“I see you’re laughing to dismiss my point because you can’t refute my logic. Then I’ll be on my way.”

“There’s no logic here, just a switch. Come out and assume the position.”

“Shit.”

Hmm.

Thinking about it again, not all memories were good ones.

.

.

.

Even for a youth romance genre, this was clearly a Korean webtoon.

Not a Japanese-style youth romantic comedy school story.

So night self-study sessions, or “yaja,” had to exist.

Of course, in today’s world, no school forces night study.

Back then, it was “autonomous” in name but mandatory in practice.

Now, night study is truly a program that lives up to its name,

conducted only by students’ choice.

Bulsa High School, the setting for <Half of Half Island>, is an academic high school,

but not one that’s fanatically focused on college admissions.

When I first became immersed in the world of <Half of Half Island>, I worried about this.

I thought that in a school where corporal punishment still existed, night study would surely be mandatory as well.

Fortunately, the author wasn’t that old.

When they first distributed the sign-up forms, they announced it would be strictly voluntary,

which put my mind somewhat at ease.

Even up to the moment they handed out the forms,

I never expected that guy Do Ha-min would sign up for this.

It’s only natural, isn’t it?

What male protagonist in a youth romance genre

would stay at school until 10 PM for self-study?

“You submitted a night study application form?”

“Y-yes.”

“Why on earth?”

“Well, I can’t do it if I don’t submit one.”

“That’s exactly why I’m asking why you want to do it!”

“Do-young! You shouldn’t shake your head when you just had a nosebleed!”

But as expected of our model student Do Ha-min.

He didn’t disappoint in the slightest.

.

.

.

“I’m sorry, everyone. Due to some business this morning, I had to change the class schedule unexpectedly. I promise this won’t happen again, so I hope you’ll forgive me just this once.”

The time was now after 7th period, during homeroom.

Homeroom teacher Miso apologized for the suddenly changed schedule from the morning as she conducted the end-of-day announcements.

She said she had to be absent briefly due to some circumstances,

but honestly, I didn’t properly hear what had happened.

Partly because my seat was the farthest from Teacher Miso,

but mostly because I simply couldn’t pay attention to what the teacher was saying.

“Also, you all know that night self-study starts today, right? About six students from our class signed up, I believe. I heard from other teachers that our class had the most sign-ups. Hehe. You can’t imagine how happy that made me…”

Even if I had been sitting right next to Teacher Miso at that moment,

I probably wouldn’t have understood what she was saying.

I couldn’t focus on that at all given the situation.

“Seriously… what kind of school story protagonist voluntarily signs up for night study? It’s not like he’s an ace player rushing to his death after one taunt, right after his coach sacrificed everything to save him.”

“What are you mumbling about?”

“Nothing. Just saying you look like shit.”

“…”

When unexpected setbacks force you to change your plans, stress always follows.

And if those setbacks could have been avoided with just a little caution, the frustration doubles.

“…Why are you putting your leg on my knee while saying I look terrible?”

“My legs hurt from supporting your nosebleeding ass all the way here, that’s why.”

However, I couldn’t exactly punch Ha-min in the face right after his nosebleed,

so for now, I took out my frustration on his knee instead.

“Th-then just use my chair as support. I’ll stand since class is over anyway. We’ll be in a different classroom for night study anyway.”

“Did this guy just say ‘night study’ again?”

*Squeeze*

I applied pressure with my leg, forcing Ha-min back down into his chair as he tried to stand up.

Despite being pressed down by a girl’s strength, Ha-min couldn’t resist at all and remained stuck to his chair.

“…Where do you think you’re going?”

“Ugh. What… why are you doing this… what did I do wrong?”

“What do you think you did wrong?”

Who do you think is making me revise all my future plans?

“…Hard chairs are uncomfortable. Your thigh is just right.”

“Wh-what if Teacher Miso sees us?”

“It’s fine. The class president is covering for us.”

I exchanged a silent signal with Ahn Sung-kyung, who was looking back at me.

From short Teacher Miso’s line of sight, the class president sitting near the podium could block whatever was happening on our side by simply moving her body slightly.

“Whether you signed up for night study or not, do your best on the next exam. I’m already so excited to see how our class will rank.”

“Teacher Miso, don’t get your hopes up too much. Even though our class has many students doing night study, there are a few who bring down the average.”

“Hey, why are you all looking at me?”

The gazes of students who knew Ban Do-young’s school life from the setting all turned toward me.

I’d heard he wasn’t good at studying, but to receive this level of recognition…

I should probably check Ban Do-young’s report cards when I get home.

“Alright, that’s it for today. See you all tomorrow!”

“Thank you for your work!”

**

After homeroom, students began leaving the classroom one by one.

Ha-min also stood up with his bag, as he needed to move to the night study classroom after dinner.

“What are you doing, Do-young? You should head home. We’ll go first. Good work, Ha-min.”

“See you tomorrow, Do Ha-min.”

“…”

“S-see you…”

Do-young silently picked up her bag and followed Sa-hyang and Hye-rang out without a word.

She completely ignored Ha-min’s farewell.

“What did I do wrong…?”

Ha-min still didn’t understand why Do-young was taking out her frustration on him.

Only his thigh, which had been briefly pressed down by Do-young’s strength, felt sore,

telling him that her anger wouldn’t subside easily.