The Applauding Extra 26

“Me.”

In-sae, who cut off Lee Seung’s words, voluntarily confessed and raised his hand. Lee Seung hit In-sae once with a deflated expression. In-sae, whose head was lightly hit, demanded 2 candies as compensation. Of course, Lee Seung ignored him.

“In-sae, did you also take my picture?”

“Yeah. Because I wanted to have it.”

I don’t understand why he wants to have my picture. It’s not even a picture of someone he likes, it’s just a friend’s picture, so why does he want it?

“Lee Seung. Just how many did you print?”

I asked with a frown. Lee Seung counted on his fingers.

“One for you, one for me. Kim In-sae, Nam Hee-ae… one for communal use. 5 sheets? That’s not many. But there were a lot of kids asking for them.”

“What’s communal use?”

“Consideration for kids who want to see it.”

I should praise his thoughtfulness toward the kids. So there were actually kids who wanted to see my picture that much. There’s nothing special even if they look at it though.

“Are you sure the kids didn’t think it was a picture of the Five Great Kings instead of mine?”

Lee Seung shook his head then suddenly stopped and pointed accusingly.

“I’m really thorough when I give guidance, you know?”

I let Lee Seung’s words slide. When I half-listened, Lee Seung seemed to get fired up and lunged to hit a nearby tree. Isn’t hitting a tree forest destruction? Should I report him?

“Let’s love the trees.”

I said while grabbing Lee Seung’s waist with both arms and pulling. He’s quite bulky so I have to grab him like this to pull him. Lee Seung made an even angrier expression then soon became enlightened.

I barely stopped In-sae from similarly trying to hit a tree next to us. In-sae stared intently at my hands wrapped around his waist.

“Ah, I wasn’t trying to hug you.”

I made excuses while releasing my hands from his waist.

“I didn’t mind.”

I’m relieved that In-sae doesn’t seem particularly bothered. Why is In-sae so generous about skinship? Well, I’m generous too though. Hee-ae glanced around then stuck close to me.

***

“We’ve arrived. Everyone worked hard climbing up.”

It seems the one who worked hardest isn’t us but the teacher. Judging by how they’re sitting on just any rock with a dazed look. I’m just as tired so I sat almost lying down on a rock. We had finally reached the summit.

I was lying down with my eyes almost closed when I suddenly asked In-sae.

“In-sae, even with your slit eyes, your vision isn’t uncomfortable right?”

In-sae obediently nodded his head. When I squint my eyes, I find it very uncomfortable, but In-sae seems to have adapted. I exclaimed in admiration that it was amazing. Then I sat up and asked.

“I’m curious, can you open your eyes once?”

In-sae tapped his chin with his finger a few times, then opened his eyes. They were gray eyes with a refreshingly straight eye line. This is the first time I’ve seen them properly. It didn’t seem necessary to go around with slit eyes, so I became puzzled.

“Why do you go around with slit eyes?”

In-sae shrugged his shoulders. This must be one of the settings that applies because it’s inside a novel. I gave up asking for more reasons. In-sae was lost in thought for a while then asked.

“Are the open eyes better?”

“I like both.”

I answered honestly since In-sae suits both well. In-sae seemed satisfied with the answer and showed a subtle smile. While we were catching our breath, the kids murmured then pointed at the Five Great Kings and said,

“Han Yeo-wol-nim who reached the summit is the very summit of this world… Num. Ber. One.”

“It’s not number one, it’s zero!”

Ah please. Are you really doing this? Please really don’t do this.

“Finally, when Ban Eun-gyeol-nim became greatly enraged and struck the earth, a massive mountain range was created and that’s this place, right?”

I didn’t know mythology was still being created in this day and age. Is this the process of mythology being created? I resented myself for thinking I’d gotten used to this crazy praise.

“The river flowing down there is one of Nam-hwi-nim’s subordinates, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You don’t even know that. Nam-hwi-nim is the Lament of the Deep Sea. There’s no way someone who rules the deep sea wouldn’t have a river like that as a subordinate.”

Since when did Nam-hwi rule the deep sea? That seems like something you’d have to sue the state over.

I steadied my expression that was rapidly about to crumble and urgently looked around. Ban Eun-gyeol, who hadn’t been able to let go of his suspicions since the last thug incident, was turning his gaze toward me. It was time to demonstrate my honed extra career.

“I’m so proud that I climbed this mountain. That magnificent posture of the Five Great Kings is not something humans can dare to imitate. This is the top tier class! The dignity of the absolute highest ranks.”

I’m living such a hard life. I suddenly felt sad. But fortunately, when I clapped wildly like that, the Five Great Kings lost interest.

I went to the edge to see the scenery below the mountain. The scenery below was dyed green with newly budding leaves. I could see the river the kids had praised and mentioned earlier flowing. Although the weather was cloudy, the scenery was at least decent.

I took a step closer while feeling the wind that was tickling me. Is this a bit dangerous?

“Shi-dan!”

Hee-ae urgently hugged me and pulled me back while shouting. I asked in confusion while still being held, only turning my head.

“Why are you so surprised, Hee-ae?”

“If you’d gone just a bit more, it was a cliff….”

Hee-ae made a tearful face. Hmm, so it was dangerous after all. Well, there are indeed many developments where right at places like this, thinking just this much is fine, going forward, and then just barely getting past a crisis of falling.

Hee-ae, you blocked the ‘accidentally slipping at the cliff edge’ route. It seemed like overprotection, but it was indeed a dangerous thing to do.

“Thanks.”

I smiled and thanked him, though I’m not sure if it was visible since Hee-ae was behind me. The strength loosened a bit from Hee-ae’s tightly hugging arms. I felt my momentarily blocked breath suddenly open up.

“You should let go now.”

I said while tapping Hee-ae’s hands that were still wrapped around my waist. Hee-ae mumbled something while still keeping his hands wrapped around my waist, then stepped back much later. Around the time the kids looked over in surprise, Hee-ae hurriedly withdrew his hands and buried his face deeply in his hands.

“I was too flustered.”

“I did something dangerous for no reason.”

I patted Hee-ae’s back. I feel sorry for making Hee-ae worry. Hee-ae, who removed his hands from his face, muttered.

“Really, maybe it wasn’t.”

“What wasn’t?”

“Friends.”

Did I just get cut off? Are we not friends anymore now? As if it was a word that unconsciously slipped out, Hee-ae flustered and tightly grasped my hand. I’m about to feel hurt.

“The thing is, actually. I think of you as more than a friend? I absolutely didn’t mean we’re not friends…… really, believe me.”

You had a spy in the middle of your words. What does ‘more than a friend’ mean again? As expected, more than a friend is best friend, you mean you think of me as a best friend, right? I think of you as a best friend too!

“Okay, I believe you. You seem very flustered, do you want to eat chocolate?”

I comforted Hee-ae while searching my pockets. Hee-ae hesitated then nodded his head. As soon as Hee-ae received the chocolate, he unwrapped it.

“It’s sweet.”

“That’s what chocolate is.”

“And, it tastes like cherry blossoms.”

“Was it a spring limited special edition?”

I asked in confusion. Shouldn’t I report this? My friend ate chocolate and it tastes like cherry blossoms. Not that it smells like flowers, but tastes like cherry blossoms. I seriously considered it.

“Hee-ae, I think it’s defective. Shouldn’t you spit it out?”

“No, it’s like that because I ate it while thinking of cherry blossoms.”

I’m sorry, I dismissed your poetic sensibility and rich sensitivity. I responded too seriously. Meanwhile, Lee Seung and In-sae came close.

“Hey, I was surprised. Suddenly you go near a cliff, and Hee-ae runs over and hugs you. Are you filming a romance?”

Lee Seung grumbled. I smiled awkwardly and made eye contact with Cho-yeon. We keep making eye contact these days. It seems Cho-yeon himself isn’t conscious of making eye contact all the time. I greeted Cho-yeon with my lips mouthing ‘hello.’

Cho-yeon’s expression wavered. He covered his face and crouched down. I ignored the twins next to him making a fuss about why he was like that.

‘Should I not have greeted him?’

Since he suddenly crouched down, I feel like I did something wrong. His typing was so fast, a text had already arrived.

[Mom][3:12 PM] Don’t suddenly greet me

Today’s diary. Cho-yeon told me not to suddenly greet him. But just now when I greeted him, his face turned red. Was he red from anger? I’m so sad. End of today’s diary.

“Kim In-sae was also in an uproar.”

“In-sae? No way.”

In-sae is always indifferent and nonchalant, there’s no way he’d be in an uproar. Lee Seung also exaggerates a lot if you look closely. Hee-ae said just barely loud enough to be heard.

“I should stop denying it now.”

I don’t know what it is, but congratulations on acknowledging it. Your honest confession looks cool.

‘Confession?’

I tapped In-sae and said.

“In-sae, if you put your name and my name together and read it vertically, it says ‘poet’ (shi-in).”

“Confessing (shi-in-hada)?”

Oh, an unexpected vertical pun. In-sae is a bit quick to confess.

“Hee-ae is ‘ae-dan’? Sorrowful (ae-dal-da)?”

Why does our Hee-ae have a sad meaning, don’t do that. Even so, we’re friends, right, but then he made a sorrowful expression.

Cho-yeon comes out as ‘yu-han’, is it ‘finite (yu-han)’ as in having limits? Or ‘yu-han’ as in having a gentle personality? That’s right, how long will he live pretending not to know at school? There must be a limit.

The characters that came out suit the three of them. What a coincidence.