“It’s nice taking photos together with Shi-dan.”
As Hee-ae smiled while bathed in sunlight, his brown hair swayed gently. Even though it’s summer, I want to drink hot chocolate again. I returned the camera to Lee Seung.
“Can you print out three copies for me?”
“Even if I don’t do it, Nam Hee-ae or Kim In-sae will do it for you. Those two are also making a fuss.”
Lee Seung grumbled. In-sae, who had been staring intently at the photos, rummaged through his pocket and pulled something out. I was about to scold him thinking it was candy, but it wasn’t. Something fluttered from In-sae’s fingertips.
“Shi-dan, a photo.”
It was a photo of In-sae. I recalled what I’d said over the weekend. I said I’d accept it if he gave it to me later, and it seemed he’d already brought it. I carefully received the photo and thanked him with all sincerity.
“Thank you.”
In-sae smiled. His mouth curved refreshingly. At In-sae’s smile, Lee Seung made a fuss saying he’d seen all sorts of crazy things. I was dumbfounded and stood in front of Lee Seung.
“He’s not a machine, of course he can smile.”
“He smiles often at Yu Shi-dan though.”
In-sae, who had been quietly observing, chimed in. Then I guess he just doesn’t smile at Lee Seung. Lee Seung shouted loudly, demanding I return his blood pressure. Saying he’d bring salt soon, Lee Seung sat down.
“Huh? Photos?”
Seon-yoon, who had been running over, saw the two photos in my hand and shouted. He shouldn’t run in the hallway or he’ll fall—I should warn him. He sat next to Lee Seung and spread both arms as he spoke.
“Come to think of it, hasn’t a trend started at our school recently?”
I guess I’m not a student at our school. I was merely puzzled at this story I was hearing for the first time in my life. I finished putting the photos in my bag. Seon-yoon couldn’t take his eyes off the photos.
“You gave a photo to Han Cho-yeon-nim before. That became the catalyst for a trend of giving photos to important people or people you like.”
“I had no idea. When did that even start?”
No wonder photos have been flying around in the classroom breeze lately. I thought the kids were obsessed with the Five Great Kings again since finals are a month away, but I didn’t know such a trend was going around.
“So last time, kids from Class 4 even confessed using that. Apparently those two ended up dating.”
“Our school is an all-boys…”
“That’s not important.”
Seon-yoon cut off my words immediately. So it really is true that everyone doesn’t care about that. Everyone’s so open-minded.
“Did In-sae and Hee-ae know about this?”
“We knew.”
In-sae answered while spinning the pencil that had been on my desk. Hee-ae was avoiding eye contact. I took back my pencil that In-sae had been spinning. In-sae looked sullen as he watched the pencil.
Hee-ae, who had been hesitating, straightened his back and took on a confident posture. He smacked his lips then pointed at Seon-yoon and me as he spoke.
“I knew about that trend too, so that’s why I told Shi-dan about it.”
“Oh.”
Seon-yoon was impressed. Then kids crowded around again and the conversation was interrupted.
***
It was lunchtime. Even though it was summer, the kids were constantly running around the playground, and lunchtime was no exception. I watched the kids who didn’t seem hot at all, basking in the bright sun.
Hee-ae’s feet, which had been still as he watched, twitched. Hee-ae focused on the ball. In-sae crossed his arms and watched Hee-ae and the playing kids. Finally, Hee-ae looked away and muttered.
“I want to join in too.”
“Yeah? Go ahead and try.”
I immediately answered Hee-ae’s casually thrown remark. I pushed Hee-ae closer to the playground. Although Hee-ae was flustered, he seemed pleased and didn’t resist much. Hee-ae hesitantly squeezed into the space between the kids and smiled brightly.
I waved my hand at Hee-ae, who was caught in the middle of the kids. Hee-ae waved back and naturally stood on one team’s side. He has good social skills too. They were just starting a new game, so the timing seemed to match perfectly. I could see some familiar faces too.
“It’s hot.”
In-sae said while blocking the sunlight with his hand. In-sae and I sat in the shade and watched Hee-ae and the kids. The occasional cool breeze washed away the summer heat. When summer comes, all colors become intense. In-sae sat down closer to me.
“Over there!”
“No, send it here.”
The kids shouted from here and there as they followed the ball. The kids moved so chaotically that I lost sight of the ball for a moment. I tried hard to check where the ball had gone.
“Huh?”
Just as I heard the sound of a dazed male student, the ball was flying toward me. I was bewildered as I prepared to catch the ball. Seeing how hard it was flying, I didn’t think I could catch it. Hee-ae, who had been nearby, turned his head toward me and came running.
“I got it!”
The sound of the ball hitting flesh was loud. Hee-ae ran right up in front of me and caught the ball. I felt awkward since I had been preparing to catch it. I read the room and lowered my hand that had been ready to catch the ball. In-sae also seemed surprised and had his arm extended in front of me to block it. In-sae also quietly lowered his arm.
“I’m glad no one got hit.”
“Hey, what if you kicked it wrong.”
The kids murmured and scolded one kid. Hee-ae lowered the hand holding the ball. Thanks to Hee-ae blocking the front, a shadow was cast creating shade.
“That was cool just now.”
I clapped my hands, pretending not to be flustered at all, and praised Hee-ae. Hee-ae seemed embarrassed for a moment, then turned around with a really bright smile. His golden eyes closed so much they couldn’t be seen. Refreshing.
“Hey, but aren’t you not supposed to catch it with your hands?”
“Idiot, then should he catch it with his feet when it’s about to hit someone? What kind of incredible feat is that?”
“You apologize.”
“I’m sorry.”
The kids bickered, then soon one tall male student came out and bowed his head. He seemed to think we didn’t look particularly angry and quickly disappeared.
“You were really startled, right.”
Hee-ae said, lowering his eyebrows. I shook my head and quickly gestured for him to go back. Hee-ae didn’t go right away and asked once more.
“Are you okay?”
“You caught it for me.”
Hee-ae smiled, his cheeks flushing. His worried eyes are appreciated. I was only a little startled, I’m fine. Rather, I was more worried about Hee-ae’s hand. The hand I glanced at was fortunately fine. Hee-ae hesitated, then kicked the ball hard and ran back to the playground. After Hee-ae disappeared, I unnecessarily exaggerated to In-sae.
“Actually I was so startled earlier that my legs lost strength…”
In-sae seriously jumped up and examined me. I was flustered and immediately clarified it was a joke. In-sae relaxed. He let out a bursting sigh and spoke. His already narrow eyes closed completely. He put his hand on his forehead.
“Don’t startle people.”
In-sae said helplessly and sat back down. He seemed to have been very startled momentarily. In the past, when I said my legs went weak, the reaction wasn’t this much, so I felt a bit awkward. I asked, lowering my gaze downward.
“Were you very startled?”
“Yeah. I worried for nothing.”
Is that something to say? I feel like I can hear In-sae’s thoughts. I wanted to laugh so I held it in. I blankly stared at the shade gradually disappearing in the sunlight. I stretched out my foot and stepped on the boundary of the disappearing shadow. I stood up from my seat and said.
“I shouldn’t pull pranks like that anymore, then.”
My heart feels refreshed. The tree shadow is cast. I played stepping on the shadows.
***
“Since when did our school have cleaning duty or something like that?”
“Didn’t they say the person who does the cleaning took a vacation? They said we have to clean for the time being.”
What kind of place has someone who even cleans the classrooms? This place is really strange. Ignoring my gaze, the class president lightly hit the blackboard and raised his voice.
“Anyway, Yu Shi-dan came out first. I’ll draw the last cleaning duty person.”
Cleaning the classroom with two people seems really hard, whoever gets picked last will have a hard time. The class president was about to reach for the lottery paper when he asked.
“You took out the Five Great Kings’ ones, right?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, I’m drawing. The name is…”
For a moment, the class president turned the lottery paper this way and that to check the name. The kids protested at the way he was building suspense instead of speaking quickly. The class president held out the paper in front and asked.
“Wait, hold on. Who didn’t take out Han Cho-yeon-nim’s name?”
The kids who had been chattering noisily became quiet for a moment, then became noisy again. Whether it’s the lottery paper person in charge or whatever, I don’t even know when that was decided. The kids pressed the person in charge of the lottery paper.
“To forget that, Seo Lee Seung. I promise to participate in all fan club activities for 3 days.”
After negotiating to 4 days, the incident was concluded. The kids lamented that such a thing couldn’t happen. Hee-ae watched the kids with a subtle expression.
“Let’s draw again. How dare we make Han Cho-yeon-nim clean?”
The class president folded the paper and put it down on the teacher’s desk while reading Cho-yeon’s mood. The twins, who wouldn’t miss out on something like this, made a fuss saying Cho-yeon’s name came out. I can hear Cho-yeon’s sigh from here.
“It’s fine. I’ll clean.”
“What did you say?”
Someone reflexively asked back at Cho-yeon’s answer. Realizing their mistake, the kid covered their mouth and bowed their head in apology.
“We couldn’t possibly dirty those noble hands. We’ll take care of all this kind of thing, so please rest comfortably.”
“That’s right, Han Cho-yeon-nim, please rest comfortably. We must revere the lofty Noble Prince of the Full Moon.”
Contrary to what I said with a smile, Cho-yeon frowned. He particularly hates his nickname, so whenever someone says his nickname, he has that reaction. But these days it seems he’s reached enlightenment since he doesn’t even sanction it.
“I was picked, so what can I do. I’ll do it.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
