I hurriedly stopped talking. In-sae, that wasn’t meant for you. The kids who were watching In-sae and me gasped and covered their mouths.
In-sae was still staring directly into my eyes, showing no intention of looking away. I’m completely and utterly screwed. I averted my gaze in embarrassment and tried to explain.
“You heard wrong.”
“No, I didn’t. Don’t make excuses.”
Okay, this method failed. I have no idea what In-sae is thinking after accidentally hearing the kind of praise I’d only give to the Five Great Kings. I barely managed to lift my head and face In-sae.
“In-sae, your eyes are open?”
I shouted in surprise. In-sae must have been quite shocked because he had given up on his usual squinting and had his eyes half open. A mysterious light glimmered in his gray eyes. In-sae closed his eyes again and said.
“You said you fell in love. What did that mean?”
So that’s what surprised you.
“It didn’t mean anything special. You’re supposed to include a love confession in words of praise.”
In-sae lowered his head and brought his mouth close to my ear, as if to whisper.
“I love you.”
“What?”
What did I just hear? I jerked backward in surprise, almost convulsing. In-sae shrugged his shoulders and said nonchalantly.
“It was the same kind of praise Shi-dan gave.”
I was too confused to say anything. He said it was praise? I don’t think so, it sounded way too meaningful.
“There is… meaning. I don’t say meaningless things.”
For a moment, In-sae seemed unfamiliar to me, and I backed away. My head is spinning. The kids who didn’t hear In-sae’s whisper murmured amongst themselves.
“Didn’t Yu Shi-dan just say something to Kim In-sae? Like ‘fall in love’ or something?”
“Right. He even complimented him on being handsome.”
I’m not grateful for today’s helpful explanation at all. Could you not firmly confirm that I gave him that kind of praise? I desperately grabbed the kids around me and said.
“Let me explain. Explanation, listen to my explanation.”
“What did you just say? You complimented him on being handsome, right?”
Cho-yeon asked in bewilderment. Really, I can’t believe this timing. It must have been a problem that I unconsciously turned my head. My stomach felt strangely queasy. Why is that Kim In-sae saying things like that?
“Of course I was praising the Five Great Kings-nim.”
“Shi-dan, you were looking at In-sae when you said it.”
“It’s polite to look at someone when they talk to you. Hasn’t everyone read those self-help books about perfect communication skills? They say things like that in those books.”
In the meantime, In-sae, back to his squinting eyes, literally buried his face in my right shoulder. His sleeping habit was like this last time too, was it actually a habit? But right now, I’m confused because of you. I pushed In-sae away. Hee-ae looked back and forth between In-sae and me and said.
“It sounds like you’re making excuses. Tell us honestly.”
“Why would I make excuses to you guys?”
“Why did you praise In-sae instead of the Five Great Kings-nim?”
Hee-ae asked in a sulky tone. Could this be a delivery error? I put the wrong address for the praise. My mind was completely scrambled by the kids’ interrogation.
“Why on earth, to In-sae.”
“Hee-ae, why are you acting like you want to hear it too?”
“How did you know? That’s right, say it to me too.”
“Why do you want to hear this?”
“Who doesn’t like hearing compliments? Can’t you do it for me?”
It’s strangely persuasive. Oh, whatever.
“Fine, I’ll do it for you too. Of course we can’t leave out our Nam Hee-ae-nim. Is this what they call a heartbreakingly beautiful puppy? You’re so pretty and beautiful that my heart might stop.”
The kids were about to eat popcorn like they were watching a good show. But there’s always room for excuses. I clapped my hands with a bright smile.
“We all deserve to be praised. This was a ‘praise your friends’ campaign.”
“Don’t try to pull a fast one. You’re trying to gloss over it, but I’m not falling for it.”
How did he know I was pulling a fast one? Cho-yeon said irritably, but I didn’t give up and continued.
“How about everyone try giving heartfelt praise to their precious friends?”
“When you put it that way, it sounds credible.”
Seon-yoon, you’re so innocent? Thanks for saying it sounds credible! Hee-ae’s face turned red as he said clearly.
“Shi-dan, say it one more time.”
It’s a strangely excited expression. After In-sae, now Hee-ae is acting strange too. No. He’s been strange from before. There were definitely too many strange things to just brush off as ‘we’re friends, so this is fine.’ I made an awkward expression and answered.
“Actually, there’s a daily limit on the number of praises, so that’s it for today.”
My fragile psyche can’t handle doing this anymore. While I was talking to Hee-ae, Cho-yeon was looking at the floor with a face like a dejected cat. Why is he acting like this now? Should I praise Cho-yeon fairly too?
“Han Cho-yeon-nim has shining silver hair that can’t even be hidden by the shadow of this building. There really is a reason why I think of Han Cho-yeon-nim when I see the full moon!”
Wasn’t that what you wanted too? Cho-yeon didn’t even move, as if he had stopped breathing. It must be quite awkward. He turned his face away.
“Yu Shi-dan really is a weird kid.”
“Right now, you guys are the weirdest ones.”
I answered while looking at Cho-yeon, Hee-ae, and In-sae. In-sae pointed to himself and asked.
“I’m weird? Why?”
“Because you keep saying meaningful things. Suspiciously.”
The three people I’d thought of as friends until now felt unfamiliar. Meanwhile, the kids in the class made agonized expressions and then waved their hands wistfully.
“Now that the Five Great Kings-nim have come, we’ll let go of Han Cho-yeon-nim. We were happy.”
Cho-yeon abandoned his usual prickly expression and made the most pitiful puppy-dog eyes in the world. Kids crying appeared here and there. The Five Great Kings looked surprised at the crying kids but stuck close to Cho-yeon, acknowledging him.
“Cho-yeon. Have you been well? I was so. sad. not being able to meet my best friend Cho-yeon!”
“Don’t say things like we’re friends, I’m going to cut ties with you guys.”
Cho-yeon declared he was cutting ties with the Five Great Kings. Meanwhile, Fake Hwi, who I thought had fainted, got up and started climbing the school wall. The kids watching screamed. I looked at Fake Hwi with a dumbfounded expression.
“Isn’t he a spider instead of a Fake Great King? How tall is our school wall that he can climb up there?”
Fake Hwi stopped climbing the wall and shouted at me.
“How dare you compare me to a lowly creature like a spider…”
“Ugh, creepy.”
I cut off Fake Hwi’s words in the middle. I just can’t stand it. I should check if I got goosebumps on my arms. Fortunately, they’re fine.
“Aseon High School, all of you be careful. I’m going to declare war, keke. Kek.”
What war are you declaring by yourself? It’s been ages since all the Fake Great Kings except you got caught, Fake Hwi.
Ding-dong-
“The bell rang!”
The kids ran off urgently. I also ran frantically toward the classroom.
Cho-yeon’s shocking declaration of cutting ties was temporarily forgotten because the bell rang. Fortunately, the teacher was much later than us. We barely avoided the crisis of being late for class.
The kid who sent me a love letter must have seen the two pencils I put in as a sign of rejection yesterday, because they were neatly arranged in my locker. I felt somewhat sorry, but I put them back in my pencil case and took out one of them to take notes.
“Hee-ae.”
“Yeah.”
What a gentle reply. Hee-ae, who immediately took his eyes off the ceiling, smiled. I lowered my voice.
“About the praise earlier, I’m sorry.”
“That praise? Why are you apologizing?”
I made an apologetic expression and hesitated. Hee-ae patted me and said kindly.
“What if the person you said you like overhears and misunderstands? If they think you and I like each other, you’ll be in trouble, won’t you?”
Hee-ae’s eyes widened. He smiled and waved his hand.
“No way, they won’t misunderstand at all.”
“It was a situation anyone would misunderstand, though?”
Hee-ae made a pondering sound and dragged out time. He finally answered after several dozen seconds had passed.
“That person is busy thinking about other things. So, Shi-dan, what are you thinking?”
Hee-ae spoke gently and drew something on the desk with his finger. It’s probably a flower shape. Why are we moving from talking about the person you like to talking about me?
“A flower?”
I looked at Hee-ae’s finger, which had stopped drawing the flower shape. Hee-ae, who smiled so refreshingly that even his eyes crinkled, made eye contact with me. I said half-heartedly.
“When you connect it like that, it makes ‘that person’ sound like me.”
“Why do you think it’s not Shi-dan?”
I was momentarily at a loss for words. For some reason, I couldn’t meet Hee-ae’s eyes and looked away. I just opened and closed my mouth before letting out a deep sigh.
“Everyone talks about the person they like that way, right? They fell in love at first sight, they came to like them because their unique personality stood out. I’m not that kind of person, am I?”
“Focus on class. Your attitude today is terrible?”
At the teacher’s sharp shout, I hurriedly grabbed my mechanical pencil. Hee-ae tried to say something more, but glanced at the teacher and stopped. What was he going to say? My mind is complicated.
But as I told Hee-ae, there’s no reason for anyone to like me. There’s no way anyone would like me, an extra, when they could go for Cho-yeon and the Five Great Kings, who are the main characters.
***
[Uncle][8:21 AM] So why have the Five Great Kings been suspicious of me for the past two days?
I sent a text to Cho-yeon while adjusting my shoes. The way to school is crowded, and the Five Great Kings are walking ahead.
I could hear the bustling sound of “Five Great Kings-nim” from a distance. Not a bad morning. Except for the punks who swaggered over. Why is my house on an alley? At this rate, I’m going to get attached to these punks. One of them, a male student with blue hair, looked at my uniform and asked.
“Aseon Boys’ High School uniform?”
“Oh, it’s Fake Hwi.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
