Look at These Guys?

I returned to the classroom alone after lunch.

I sat in my seat, propped my chin on my hand, and idly watched the chattering students.

I wondered what was so funny, as they burst into laughter, playfully nudging each other’s shoulders, and spun tales.

How the game was yesterday, how the entertainment show was. They formed a consensus on topics that were hard for me to relate to.

Perhaps it was because I was spacing out with a full stomach, but drowsiness washed over me.

I yawned deeply.

I had resolved to lead a normal school life, but that didn’t mean I was going to strengthen my friendships.

From the start, it was my thirty-year-old soul inhabiting this body. My points of agreement with the students were different, and there was a significant difference in mental age.

That’s why I felt the most comfortable when talking to Yoon Sia.

Of course, there wasn’t no age gap with her either, but it felt like that gap had narrowed.

The warm afternoon sunlight and my full stomach.

My eyelids slowly pressed down on my eyes, and I closed them for a moment.

…….

…….

…….

Then the surroundings became quiet, and I felt the air around me sink.

I slowly opened my eyes.

The students who had been sitting on their desks and chatting were all sitting in their seats.

And I felt their gazes. Not just one or two gazes like in the morning, but all the students in the classroom were staring at me.

What’s going on?

My neck hurt, probably because I had been propping my chin for too long.

I leaned back in my chair and stretched.

“Tsk, sleeping right in the open.”

I heard someone’s voice. It was a voice filled with resentment and disbelief.

I slowly came to my senses, and the scene around me came into view.

The person standing in front of the blackboard and all the students in the classroom were looking at me.

I must have fallen asleep and slept through class.

“…I’m sorry.”

The words of apology came out of my mouth automatically.

At my words, the teacher made a strange expression, as if looking at sweet and sour pork mixed with mint chocolate sauce.

The surrounding students also looked surprised. Well, if the troublemaker of the class suddenly became docile, everyone would think it was strange.

“…Go wash your face.”

“Yes.”

The teacher tilted his head a few times at my docile attitude.

I got up from my seat and left the classroom.

Walking through the cold hallway to the bathroom, I stretched my stiff muscles.

Sitting in an uncomfortable position had made my body unbearably stiff.

“…….”

Through the classroom window on the hallway side, I deliberately ignored Shin Jeonga’s gaze that was piercingly fixed on the side of my head.

After the 5th, 6th, and 7th periods, it was past 4:30 PM.

Soon, the homeroom teacher I had seen at the morning assembly came in to hold the after-school meeting, and all school schedules ended at 5 PM.

It felt strange to be going home while the sun was still up.

When I was in high school, I always walked home looking at the moon.

I slung my bag over one shoulder and got up from my seat.

Today was a day without tutoring. It would be perfect to go home, eat ramen, do homework, play on the computer for a bit, and then go to sleep.

“Going home? Let’s go to a karaoke to celebrate the end of your suspension.”

As expected, Shin Jeonga followed me.

“My throat hurts.”

“Then, a comic book cafe?”

Shin Jeonga kept talking to me as I left the classroom and headed for the stairs.

“Nothing to read.”

“A multi-room?”

“My MBTI is I, so I need to go home to recharge.”

I kept refusing and left the school, when Shin Jeonga suddenly stopped.

“Hey.”

I tried to ignore her and go my way, but her voice was clearly angry, so I had no choice but to stop.

“What.”

Shin Jeonga and I faced each other at a reasonable distance.

“…Did we do something wrong to you?”

“No?”

“Then why!!”

Shin Jeonga raised her voice.

Her sharp voice drew the attention of the students leaving the school.

“What are you looking at? Get lost, you fucking bastards.”

When my gaze turned to the students, Shin Jeonga stepped forward and snarled at them first.

Some were intimidated by her threatening demeanor, while others looked at my face next to her and backed away.

Shin Jeonga quickly approached me.

She reached out to grab my shoulder, and I avoided it by taking half a step back.

“…….”

Rejecting her touch seemed to have hurt her quite a bit, as Shin Jeonga bit her lower lip.

“You said we’d hang out together when your suspension was over… Why are you doing this…!”

Perhaps she had naively believed my words, as she looked at me pleadingly.

My heart felt heavy at her face, which looked like it would burst into tears if touched.

But I already knew that there was nothing worse than comforting her without thinking.

“We can’t keep living like this.”

“…What?”

Shin Jeonga sniffled and answered my words.

“Hitting kids, smoking, and taking drugs… Do you think it’s right to live like this?”

“…What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“It’s fun now, right? Doing whatever you want, hitting and bullying people you don’t like around you…”

I turned around and started walking again. I felt Shin Jeonga quickly catching up beside me.

“But what about after you graduate? How long will this life last?”

I kept talking to her, trying to persuade her.

“…….”

I walked back the way I had come in the morning.

I trudged along the well-paved asphalt road.

The school gate was getting closer.

“Now, of all times?”

Next to me, I heard Shin Jeonga’s voice, muttering as if she was dumbfounded.

“Even if it’s now.”

I corrected her, accepting her words.

“…Is that what you have to say? After doing whatever you want… you’re just going to wash your hands of it now?”

Her tone and actions were filled with deep anger, as if she was so angry that I was trying to distance myself.

“Life is originally a solo play.”

I shrugged my shoulders, gracefully accepting her anger.

As I reached the school gate, I heard a familiar voice.

“Ah! Inho.”

At the sound of someone calling my name affectionately in front of the school gate, Shin Jeonga and I turned our heads.

It was Yoon Sia.

Wearing a beige thin coat, she waved her hand happily.

“Teacher? What are you doing here?”

My eyes widened involuntarily. Yoon Sia smiled and came to me.

“Oh, Jeonga is here too? Hello?”

She greeted Jeonga brightly as well, but there was a 0% chance that Shin Jeonga, who was in a bad mood, would accept it kindly.

“Isn’t today not a tutoring day?”

“I know. Tutoring is tomorrow. I was just passing by nearby and thought it was around the time you’d be getting out of school, so I was waiting.”

Yoon Sia nodded when I asked.

“…But are you on your way to hang out somewhere now?”

Yoon Sia’s eyes alternated between me and Shin Jeonga.

“No. I’m going home. Since there’s no tutoring today, I’m going to go home, do my homework, and rest.”

“That’s commendable.”

Yoon Sia raised her hand and patted my head a few times.

Shin Jeonga narrowed her eyes and stared at Yoon Sia’s hand.

“We’re going in the same direction, do you want to go together? I didn’t interrupt you from going home with Jeonga, did I?”

Yoon Sia stood next to me, opposite Shin Jeonga.

“No, she’s going to hang out with her friends.”

“Ah… that’s too bad. It would have been nice if we could have gone together. Then Jeonga, have fun with your ‘other’ friends. I’m going home with Inho.”

Yoon Sia raised the corners of her mouth and nudged my shoulder.

“Are you really going home?”

After taking a step, Shin Jeonga, who was slightly behind, asked as if to confirm.

It was hard to explain, but it felt somewhat different from the questions she had asked so far.

“I have to.”

I repeated what I had said, and Shin Jeonga glanced at Yoon Sia before turning her body.

I briefly watched her disappear without saying goodbye.

I felt sorry for being so cold, but I couldn’t help it.

I hoped that Shin Jeonga would see my change and go down the right path as well.

Shin Jeonga, who had left the scene as if fleeing from an immeasurable sense of humiliation, sent a photo to Kim Jin-tae.

It was a photo of Yoon Sia that she had taken on the bus sometime ago.

“You fucking bitch.”

Shin Jeonga spat out a curse, recalling Yoon Sia’s face from just now, which had subtly mocked her.

As the number next to the photo disappeared, Shin Jeonga moved her fingers busily.

[Tomorrow night. Can you do it right away?]