That fan meeting, could I possibly skip it? As soon as I confirmed the face, I made way. Nam-hwi appeared spectacularly, waving both hands.
“If I become a bother, I’ll leave.”
“Not at all. It’s rather an honor. It’s none other than the Deep Sea’s Funeral Song, Nam. Hwi-nim, isn’t it. Of course there’s a seat available.”
If I honestly say it’s a bother, I’ll lose my lungs.
I urgently switched my stance and put on a customer service smile. The kids instantly cleared a path, and even the owners of room 217 came out to the hallway and vacated the room.
Maintaining that warm smile of his, Nam-hwi entered room 217 as if he were a celebrity. Lee Seung couldn’t continue speaking and trembled.
Cho-yeon, who appeared late, saw this situation and gave a look hoping for an explanation. Unable to speak directly, the kids murmured and indirectly informed him of the situation.
“They say because that Han. Cho. Yeon-nim is coming, Nam-hwi-nim also said he would come?”
“Right. They say he asked if he could join too while making that beautiful smile instantly sad.”
“I almost cried seeing that. Do you have a handkerchief?”
At the murmuring of the information network role, Cho-yeon perfectly understood the situation. My eyes met with Cho-yeon who was scanning the crowd with an annoyed face. When I smiled at Cho-yeon, he made an even more annoyed face. Why are you like that to me?
“Oh, I know that expression. It’s the expression of frowning while pretending to dislike something good.”
A fan club member right next to me said. Is that expression like that? It seems too fierce an expression to say that, isn’t it misunderstood? And would there be a reason to be happy about making eye contact with me?
‘Ah, because we’re friends?’
Right, you do have a lot of hardships. You don’t even have many normal friends. I felt like I could fully understand Cho-yeon. In the meantime, Cho-yeon entered the room without hesitation and shouted.
“Why are you coming here again?”
I heard the sound of Nam-hwi saying something. Cho-yeon’s clear shouting came through accurately without missing a single syllable.
“Everything you do, you say you’re sad. Why don’t you look in the mirror and practice your expressions?”
Nam-hwi’s voice was buried and couldn’t even be heard. I quietly pretended not to hear, pretended not to see. The kids also tried hard to ignore the scene of Nam-hwi being verbally crushed by Cho-yeon. It seemed to quiet down for a moment, but eventually Cho-yeon came out to the doorway shouting.
“Do as you please.”
In Han Cho-yeon language, that means it’s okay to do it. The fan meeting was suddenly held like that. I sent a look to Cho-yeon that said I was truly sorry.
Cho-yeon frowned with all kinds of expressions and eventually smiled bitterly. He must be dumbfounded himself. Lee Seung fixed his gaze on Cho-yeon’s smile as if he wouldn’t miss it.
“Line up one by one, say what you want to say, and leave.”
Self-proclaimed manager Lee Seung led the class kids and made them line up. Before we knew it, kids from other classes also started gathering noisily. Should I say it’s merciful, or is it neglect of duty? Even though they saw the bizarrely formed single line, the teachers just passed by.
Hee-ae, standing in the back, was unexpectedly calm without trembling.
“Hee-ae, are you okay?”
“I don’t really tremble much anymore?”
Hee-ae lifted his head with a proud expression. Then he started practicing, muttering what he would say to Nam-hwi.
“In-sae.”
In-sae, who had been watching, raised his head. I tried imitating his way of speaking since In-sae always calls “Shi-dan, Shi-dan,” but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Shi-dan, why.”
“Aren’t you doing it?”
“Yeah.”
Why is such an indifferent kid a fan club member? I wonder if In-sae sometimes regrets joining too.
Gradually people left and I also came to the front of the door. I don’t know where they brought chairs from, but Nam-hwi and Cho-yeon were sitting on luxurious chairs.
“Nam, I really respect Nam-hwi-nim. I love Han Cho-yeon-nim so much!”
A skinny boy ran out making a sudden love confession. His cheeks were dyed not red but pink. Cho-yeon stared blankly at the air at the out-of-nowhere confession.
Behind that kid, a large student entered and took a spirited posture.
“I will do a three-line poem with Han Cho-yeon-nim’s name. Everyone give me the rhythm.”
A male student with a uniquely colored hair, perhaps dyed, looked at us and shouted. I responded and shouted loudly.
“Han!”
“After midnight passes, the moon.”
“Cho.”
“Competes with seconds as it sets.”
“Yeon.”
“Like smoke, even this moment now disappears, but my love for Han Cho-yeon-nim will be eternal.”
There’s a humanities student here. Wasn’t our school a science school? I felt our school’s identity confusion. Unlike his somewhat fierce appearance, the male student even drew a heart with his hands cutely and left. At two consecutive confessions, Cho-yeon’s eyes rapidly clouded over.
Next was my turn. I approached in front of Cho-yeon and said.
“I will show my heart not with words but with actions. Please accept this.”
I handed over my photo that I received from Lee Seung earlier and turned my face like a shy child. It was so funny but I struggled to hold it in.
“It’s my photo. Look at it and think of me!”
The surroundings instantly became noisy. Even though I turned my face, I could almost see Cho-yeon’s expression asking if I was crazy. I bit down hard on my teeth trying to hold back laughter.
“Look at Han Cho-yeon-nim’s expression.”
Why, how is it? I turned my head to see Cho-yeon’s expression. I shouldn’t have looked. The expression is too scary.
“Think of you? You say all kinds of things.”
Cho-yeon, maybe because it’s inside a novel, even if you say it small, it’s all heard. Even I think I said that too well just now. Today too, I perfectly teased Cho-yeon. Today’s score is 100 points.
Cho-yeon stared piercingly at my hand holding out the photo. It’s a look of continuously conflicting over something. As expected, he won’t accept it? Just as I was pondering, Cho-yeon reached out with an urgent expression.
“…Thank you.”
Cho-yeon greeted. It was unexpected that he accepted the photo. I could see him hesitating about what to say, but I waited patiently. Finally Cho-yeon turned his head and said.
“I’ll think of you.”
I pretended to be moved, made eye contact with Cho-yeon, and covered my mouth. Is this place the restaurant for fan service? It seems Cho-yeon accepted it because we know each other. I’m not going to receive a text from Cho-yeon later full of bad words, am I?
“Who is it? The photo is annoyingly well-taken.”
Cho-yeon, I just thought of you. I told you even small words are all heard? Just looking at your expression earlier, I thought you’d tear up the photo, so I’m a bit worried. As I came out and looked back one last time, Cho-yeon was carefully putting away the photo. As expected, are you this area’s hard outside soft inside?
As soon as I came out, the kids crowded around.
“Shi-dan. What did you do?”
I gave a photo.
“That Han Cho-yeon-nim just now accepted that?”
Ah, it’s a secret. I have some connections with him.
“If I also give a photo, will Nam-hwi-nim accept it?”
As soon as a classmate said with dreamy eyes, his friend frowned with all kinds of expressions.
“Wake up from your dream.”
“Why, Han Cho-yeon-nim accepted Yu Shi-dan’s photo.”
“Originally Han Cho-yeon-nim accepts it if you poke at him.”
Cho-yeon, what do we do? It seems the kids have completely seen through you.
***
Before we knew it, the third day of the school trip dawned. I looked at the cloudy overcast sky and stepped on the dirt. A sign with □□ Mountain written large welcomed us.
Befitting Gangwon-do which has many mountain ranges, hiking was not missing from the schedule. I already felt only overwhelmed and just tried hard to empty my head blankly. My usually poor physical education grades seemed to flash before my eyes.
“Ah.”
I suddenly stopped and was startled by In-sae’s face who turned around, so I stopped walking. I waved my hand to In-sae who had stopped right in front and brought his face close and said.
“We almost collided.”
I changed direction and started walking again. At the very front the homeroom teacher was walking, and at the very back the Five Great Kings and Cho-yeon were walking. I appropriately squeezed in the middle and climbed the mountain.
Hee-ae was walking so lightly as if he had come out for a walk. I envied Hee-ae’s stamina and let out rough breaths.
When I had climbed to some extent, I was completely exhausted and dragged my feet. Hee-ae with a face full of worry grabbed my arm and tried to support me.
I somehow felt warmhearted and looked at Hee-ae with the eyes of looking at a grown grandson. Hee-ae grabbed my arm tighter and pulled me.
“Shall we rest for a bit?”
“Yes!”
I shouted immediately. Of course it wasn’t just me but several kids also nodded with clearly tired expressions. The homeroom teacher who looked most tired was dripping with sweat and gasping for breath.
If you count by date, now is spring, but it was true that it was a bit hot. Perhaps because of that, here and there people rolled up their sleeves and fanned themselves with hand fans. Actually, the biggest winner was Hee-ae who came dressed lightly saying he gets hot easily.
“Shall we go again?”
That “bit” is too short. Is there no service here? I didn’t need support anymore, but Hee-ae deliberately didn’t let go of my arm so I just left it and climbed the mountain.
“Shi-dan. Look, flowers bloomed over there. You said you liked flowers, right?”
Hee-ae pointed to nameless flowers blooming far away and said. I opened my eyes wide, amazed that he remembered so well.
“You remember?”
“Of course.”
Hee-ae made an expression full of pride. It was just something said in passing but thank you for remembering.
“Yu Shi-dan. Should I tell you something?”
Lee Seung, who has free time these days, stuck to my side and said. When I stared at Lee Seung, he spread his arms wide and said.
“I’ll tell you who took your photos…”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
