episode_0019

The students go to school.

Even if they had a fun time on Saturday and slept in on Sunday.

When Monday comes, they have to go back to school as if it were nothing.

But despite everything being a hassle, surprisingly, there is no complaint about the daily school life they have to endure.

Compared to their past high school life, the amount of education they receive now is so relaxed that it’s almost unbelievable, and the environment where they can freely indulge in drawing, which is both a hobby and possibly a future career, is also positive.

There are other minor advantages like good facilities or being able to walk to school because their house is close by.

But the biggest advantage is definitely the eye candy.

As a guy, it’s inevitable that my mood brightens when I see a beauty.

If you stand behind Yoon Jiwoo, you’ll notice that beautiful girls gather around him from morning till he goes home, and the ratio of jealous glances directed at me increases as the days go by.

Tak

“Seo Jin! Are you not paying attention again?”

Oops.

I got caught daydreaming.

I look up to see it’s the math teacher.

With his head gently balding, he seems to have a particular interest in me.

“Hey, you. Even if you’re focusing on the arts, you still need to have the basics. Do you think you can get good grades by not studying and just fooling around in high school like you did in middle school?”

The math teacher continued to lecture me for a while.

…He lectures me so much. Especially with an inexplicable interest in me.

While the other arts students are left to sleep or do whatever.

Maybe he’s taking out his stress from his balding head on me.

“Sorry.”

“Go stand at the back and listen to the class.”

“Yes, sir.”

It’s tiring just to argue, so I obediently follow.

I quietly get up from my chair, hold my textbook, and lean against my locker.

“Don’t slouch, stand up straight!”

“…Yes.”

Geez, he’s so strict.

I reluctantly stand up straight and pretend to read and take notes.

From the corner of my eye over the book, I can see the kids looking at me with worried expressions.

They are guys with kind hearts, just like heroines.

“Don’t look back, focus on the front. We’ll be moving on with the lesson.”

A while later, Yoon Jiwoo, who was dozing off, also came to stand next to me.

“Hey. I don’t need to study.”

Yoon Jiwoo whispered quietly next to me.

“Still, as the teacher said, you need to have the basics. If you want to go to college.”

“Do I really need to go to college? They say you can enter the entertainment industry directly through connections in the wee hours.”

Is that so?

Well, there are quite a few famous entertainers who are graduates of the wee hours.

Not just entertainers, but also broadcasting station PDs, many entertainment industry insiders are the same.

This country is not just the center of education. It’s also a major stage in the world of romantic comedies.

Anyway, it seems like Yoon Jiwoo has set his sights on that path.

Well, with that face of his, he could just show his face on camera and fans would naturally flock to him.

The math teacher scolded Yoon Jiwoo for whispering and a while later, the class ended.

“Finish the practice problems I assigned today by next class. The midterm exam will have a high proportion of questions from the ones I gave you, so make sure to complete them. That’s all.”

After stopping the writing on the board and giving instructions, the math teacher left the classroom.

As soon as the teacher left, I leaned against my locker.

“Ugh, my legs hurt.”

Yoon Jiwoo was rubbing his numb legs.

After standing for 30 minutes without leaning against anything, my legs are tingling too.

I wish my high-performance body would make this kind of pain a little less intense.

“Jina! Jiyoo, are you okay?”

Isa, who approached after the teacher left, expressed her concern.

“Oh, I didn’t know you wouldn’t even tell me to sit back down.”

“The math teacher doesn’t seem to like you two very much,” Hong Yeon-seo, who approached with Lee Se-ah, leaned against the locker next to me and said.

It wasn’t just me who felt that way.

“Do you think so too?” I asked.

“That teacher is so obvious about it. I’m sure all the students know, right?” Lee So-yoon added, puffing her cheeks as she followed behind Hong Yeon-seo.

“Really. Why though? That teacher.”

“Well, you should use honorifics.”

Although Hong Yeon-seo jokingly replied, her expression didn’t seem very friendly towards the math teacher.

After a brief conversation, I returned to my seat with tired legs.

“I guess I didn’t pay attention in class, so I have nothing to say.”

I have nothing to say, but I still feel a bit upset.

I hope I lose 50 more hair strands while showering in the evening.

…Is that too much?

Still, I can’t help but feel grateful to the math teacher…

My mind was cleared by the presence behind me.

As the class resumed, the noisy classroom quieted down again.

This time, it’s…

The English class taught by the homeroom teacher.

I saw her in the morning, but she still came in energetically, greeting us.

Thanks to the math teacher, I was able to focus and listen in class.

“Shall we read passage A-1? Hmm… Let’s have Yoo-rin read it.”

As Yoo-rin stood up, her golden hair cascading down her shoulders, she confidently read the passage with a near-native level of English proficiency.

Receiving admiring glances from her classmates, Yoo-rin skillfully read the passage, and the teacher praised her with an impressed voice.

“Yoo-rin, your pronunciation is really good. You studied abroad when you were young, right?”

“Yes.”

Yoo-rin nodded calmly, and the children who learned a new fact about her lit up with excitement.

“Yoo-rin, you live so well. You’re pretty… good at studying, sports, and English… Wow. You’re like a perfect superhuman,” Lee So-yoon said enviously as she looked at Yoo-rin.

Then she quickly turned her head to me.

“Jin, what do you think?”

“About what?”

“About Yoo-rin.”

“What do you mean… Just, um, a friend?”

Is there anything more or less than that between us?

“A friend…”

Lee So-yoon mulled over the word “friend.”

* * *

“Ugh.”

Stretching my stiff body, I stood up and leaned back, wondering what to have for lunch.

“Should we have hamburgers?”

Without realizing it, Lee Se-ah and Yoon Ji-woo were now leaning on our desks behind us.

“I’m in for hamburgers.”

It’s been a while since I had a hamburger, so I agreed with Yoon Ji-woo’s suggestion.

There’s a fast-food joint on campus, so it’s an easy choice.

“If we don’t hurry, we won’t be able to sit and eat, right?”

Hong Yeon-seo, who walked over with her hand in her pocket, pressed her arm against my shoulder.

“Then let’s go quickly, why are you pushing me?”

“Just because, hehe.”

With a gentle push, Hong Yeon-seo moved aside and stood next to me.

At the same time, the others gathered around me as if they had been waiting.

I walked over to Seong Yoo-rin, who was still taking notes, and tapped her shoulder.

“Yoo-rin, aren’t you going to eat lunch? We’re going to have hamburgers.”

“Oh, wait… No, I’ll come.”

After briefly glancing between her notes and me, Yoo-rin put her pen in her notebook and followed me.

As we left the classroom, I asked her casually.

“If you had a lot of notes to take, I could have waited for you.”

The others nodded in agreement.

“No, it’s okay. I remember everything. I’ll finish taking notes after lunch.”

…Remembering everything. Quite impressive.

We turned our heads and headed to the fast food restaurant on campus.

It feels like we’re a group of troublemakers, walking around like this.

…And the way the freshmen are clearing the path for us.

I lightly pushed Yoon Jiwu, who was following behind me, to the front.

“You go ahead.”

Yoon Jiwu turned his head in confusion but obediently walked to the front.

As we walked to have lunch, a question suddenly popped into my mind.

“…Have you ever tried a hamburger?”

“Of course, I have.”

With my question, everyone’s suspicious eyes turned to Seong Yurin, who waved her hand dismissively.

Seong Yurin added a word.

“By the way, it wasn’t a homemade burger, I tried it at a fast food restaurant!”

Seeing her raise her voice rarely, she must have felt unjustly accused.

“Haha, just kidding.”

Iseah calmed down Seong Yurin.

The hamburger, after a long time, tasted really good.

***

“Jina.”

“What’s up?”

After school, on the way to club activities, Iseah followed me and stopped me.

“Are you free after club activities today?”

“Um… sure?”

With a bright smile on her face, Iseah approached me.

“Then, how about coming to my house for dinner?”

“Dinner? I don’t mind. But why all of a sudden?”

“Yeah. I’m in the cooking club, right? But I want to try out the recipes I’ve learned. And you always eat dinner alone, right?”

Since my parents moved to another province,

I either filled my stomach quickly or ordered food, so if I could have a home-cooked meal, I was more than welcome.

“Well, that’s true. Okay then, let’s go to your house after club activities.”

I, Iseah, and Yoon Jiwu’s parents, thanks to the close relationship between the three of us,

were almost like family, so we used to visit each other’s houses like it was nothing during elementary and middle school.

Now that we’ve grown up a bit and become teenagers, we don’t visit each other’s houses as freely as before.

“Let’s go to my house together. I’ll wait for you if I finish first.”

“Got it. I’ll text you.”

“Yeah! Come over for dinner often, not just today. You’re alone at home, right? My mom is really sad that Jina doesn’t come over these days.”

“Really? Well, I’ll come when I feel like it. I don’t want to be a bother by coming too often.”

I don’t really understand why Iseah’s mom is sad that I don’t visit their house, but if Iseah says so, it must be true.

“No! My mom would love it if you came over all the time. I like it too.”

Even if she says that, I can’t just go over every day. I have some pride too…

Being taken to her house by a friend to have dinner because I’m alone at home, I feel like a protagonist in a children’s story.

Where else can you find such an angel?

It’s a day when I feel grateful for being close friends with Yoon Jiwu.