episode_0169

November.

As if the festive atmosphere until last month was a lie, Jinsugyo has now become completely in a study mood, and the frequency of dozing off or talking during class has decreased significantly.

As the days got colder, the number of boys playing soccer on the playground seemed to have decreased significantly compared to before.

It was right before the college entrance exam, and everyone was taking precautions because there would be an uproar if someone got hurt while playing soccer. Like a sergeant in his final years.

In this college entrance exam hell, the only ones who had some time to spare were Eunji, whose entrance exam to the physical education college was confirmed, and Yuri, who passed the Seoul National University entrance exam with perfect grades and only had to pass the minimum cutoff for the college entrance exam.

And… plus maybe me too.

I couldn’t go to college because I didn’t have money, and when I tried to get a normal job, there was no way any company would accept me because I was a hard-core criminal who had been investigated by the police for assault and even had a record of being imprisoned in a juvenile detention center until last year.

All these people can do is part-time work, service, or delivery work.

If it hadn’t been for the weird fame he gained through the Jinsuje stage video and the video of him kneeling silently saying he was making atonement and getting beaten up by the victims, it would have been a confirmed hard mode in his life after graduating.

‘Broadcasting… broadcasting…’

A direction I never even thought about.

After listening to Yumin’s advice, I thought about it ever since and whether it was really okay to do it and, if so, what I would do.

Since I don’t have enough money, I can’t buy big equipment from the beginning, so should I do something like Yumin’s Instagram live like she usually does?

Or sometimes, there is an amateur team that sets up guitars and electric pianos and performs on the street in the main street in front of the station. I don’t know how to play the guitar, so should I try that first?

But I’m not that expert at that level…

“Ha… You look like a dog.”

If I had at least lived like a human, I could have just studied normally and applied to a normal company, but I was very annoyed by this situation where I was held back by a past that I did not commit.

Still… I have to live, so I guess I have no choice but to find a way within this.

As I was thinking about how to live in the future, I stopped trying to come to a conclusion that did not come immediately and opened the problem book for a moment.

Even though I’m not sure what I’m going to do in the future, I can’t just get an 8th or 9th grade on the college entrance exam.

I put my head down and started studying, even though I wasn’t always very good at it.

#####

The last weekend before the college entrance exam.

Me, Yuri, Eunji, and Suyeon rented a four-person room at a study cafe and gathered there to study together.

Of course, Eunji had nothing to do with the college entrance exam, so she just read the comic books she brought from somewhere, and the only ones studying were me, Yuri, and Suyeon.

“Ugh~ I’m tired. I hope the CSAT ends quickly…”

While I was in the middle of studying, Yuri, who surprisingly never said anything difficult while studying, was the first to lose concentration and stretched out, saying like an ordinary high school senior that she hoped the college entrance exam would be over.

“Why? Because I’m nervous?”

“No, that’s not true… The atmosphere itself is suffocating. I don’t really like this kind of thing.”

“Really? That’s surprising. Since you’ve always been studying, I thought you wouldn’t care much about the atmosphere.”

“It’s not me who doesn’t pay attention at all, right? Actually, it wasn’t entirely wrong to say that the atmosphere wasn’t that great…”

Yuri fixed his eyes on me, stared at me, and said something.

“It’s because of you.”

“Me? why me. I didn’t do anything strange.”

“When I was studying, I didn’t think much of it, but after experiencing various things because of you, studying isn’t the same anymore. I keep thinking about other things, and during that time, I feel like I just want to go to the arcade or Kono… It’s really all because of you. You made me like this.”

In a word, it means that he forced himself into entertainment and corruption when all he knew was studying.

I smiled very satisfied and placed my hand on Yuri’s thigh and rubbed it.

“Did you just think of the arcade or Kono? Didn’t you think of this?”

Then, as his hand went deeper and deeper into the inner thigh, Yuri blushed and slapped the back of my hand.

“No. It’s prohibited until the college entrance exam is over. What am I going to do if I get really weird and can’t get past the minimum cut? don’t I’m still barely holding it in…”

“Hmm?”

“Oh, anyway, no! I will refrain from even touching anyone until the college entrance exam is over!”

“It’s unfortunate… Okay. Instead, after the college entrance exam…”

Yuri blushed and crossed her legs, as if she had imagined something for a moment.

“Seriously, don’t make me imagine again…”

“Hey, can you two please be quiet for a moment.”

Surprisingly, it was Sooyeon who interrupted our conversation.

Normally, Suyeon and I would do something different and Yuri would tackle us, but now our positions are reversed.

After Soo-yeon started preparing for the college entrance exam… or maybe even after the People Theater documentary aired, she became unusually sensitive and picky.

I’m not the type of person to be mean to others just because I have to study, but even if I try to ask them the reason, I’m so sensitive that I can’t even ask for fear of making them feel worse.

“Sorry, did I talk too much? Yuri, let’s study again for now.”

“Because of who now… Sigh, no. Yes, I have to study. Sorry.”

Even though there was no reason to study, Eunji, who came to the study cafe and just read comics, glanced at us slightly, and no one said anything more after that.

For a long time, the only sound was the sound of a pen or mechanical pencil rolling across a piece of paper.

“Haaaa…”

Su-yeon, who was nervously scratching her head as she wondered what was going wrong with the problem, sighed and put down her pen.

“I can’t do this, really.”

“…?”

“Why, Suyeon. What’s wrong?”

“Ha… It’s the limit now. I can’t live with stress.”

“If it’s too hard, just get some air. Or just close your eyes a little.”

” Senior Seongjin.”

Instead of answering what I said, Suyeon called me.

“Huh?”

“I want to live with you at my senior’s house after the college entrance exam.”

“Puhaaakyan”

He then made a bombshell announcement, and Eunji, who had been quietly reading a comic book, spit out the drink she was drinking.

#####

The whole story that Su-yeon heard was as follows.

After choosing to skip a grade to be with me in the second semester, her parents thought that their daughter, who had been wandering, had decided to study again, and they started to teach Suyeon again like before.

Unlike Soo-yeon, whose only goal was to skip a grade, her parents teased and pecked at her like they did in middle school and made a fuss about her having to go to Seoul National University.

When problems at home began to arise again, Soo-yeon became stressed and did not even invite her parents to the wedding ceremony.

Su-yeon said that her parents were repeating exactly what they told her in middle school: Don’t waste your time on nonsense like other stupid kids and use that time to study at least one more thing.

Because of that policy, Su-yeon was forced to study abroad, lost all of her friends, and was put on hiatus for a year, which was like a trigger button for Su-yeon.

Nevertheless, he just endured it, but after the last Saram Theater documentary aired, his family was completely turned upside down.

– What are you talking about in that documentary?

– Just study quietly, right, boyfriend? When you go to college, you’ll naturally get a boyfriend, but I haven’t even graduated yet because I have nothing to do, and I’m crazy about men!

– I can’t breathe very well. what? Do you have multiple girlfriends? Would you call that bragging? No matter where you meet that kind of bastard!

– Are you conscious or not? How much time is left before the college entrance exam? Don’t you waste your time on festivals and other nonsense like everyone else? Now, you’re so crazy about men that you can’t even tell the difference. Are you sane? Break up immediately tomorrow!

Su-yeon, whose patience reached its limit, screamed, threw things on the floor, jumped up and fought.

And her parents also refused to back down their opinions and threatened to disown her if she didn’t get a top grade in all subjects on this year’s college entrance exam.

Since there was nothing else she could do right away, Su-yeon continued to study in a hurry and did not show it on the outside, but eventually, the stress that was growing day by day exploded.

After confessing the truth, Suyeon sat down next to me and complained.

“Senior, I can’t live any longer. After the college entrance exam, I will pack my bags and leave home that day. Let me live at your house, okay? I’ll pay half the rent too.”

“But you know because our house is small. If you live in a normal house and come to a place like that, it would be suffocating…”

“There is no place more suffocating than the corner of our house. Senior, it’s not possible, right? huh? I just don’t want to live in that damn house one more day. I didn’t want to see him like that, so I deliberately gave up all my studies and just lived, but it feels like I’m going back to studying for a while, so watch what my mom and dad are doing. That place is called prison.”

Suyeon just wanted to be with me, but she was trapped in a prison called home again, and her stress was reaching her limit due to studying without meaning or purpose.

What I can do for her is…

“Gun… It was so sudden that I’m a little embarrassed… But if you’re really confident that you won’t regret coming… I understand.”

At the same time Su-yeon had a smile on her face, Yuri and Eun-ji were so scared that they jumped up.

“Hey! What if I encourage you to run away from home?”

“Ji, you two are really going to live together?! Right after the CSAT?”

“If Suyeon’s house is as she said… Wouldn’t it be more unfortunate for Suyeon to be at home? I don’t mean to say this or that about other people’s family affairs, but you yourself are under such stress. I want to do what I can.”

In general, it wasn’t a very good solution, but if Su-yeon said, her parents were not people for whom general solutions would work.

“Really? You really said you understood, right? Did you just say that out of your mouth? I promise!”

“But is it okay? You said that if you really leave home, you will be disowned, but then your future life and tuition will be…”

“That can be solved with a scholarship!”

Sooyeon just didn’t want to study due to lack of motivation, but she wasn’t a bad person, so she confidently expressed her ambition to receive a scholarship and attend school for free.

“Then I want to live together too!”

“Me too! Since I’ve already decided on a college degree, can’t we just live together from today?”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute! Anyway, this is not a house that can accommodate 4 people. Guys, calm down for a moment!”

I quickly calmed down the jealous Yuri and Eunji, but they also did not give up on their intention to live with me.

So, in an instant, I made a promise to Soo-yeon that I would live together with Su-yeon after the college entrance exam, and then with Yuri and Eun-ji in the near future, and the college entrance exam day came in the blink of an eye.