The rumor that there was a dog hole in the warehouse heated up the school. The angry gym teacher blocked the dog hole with a wooden plank and even hammered nails into it.
The gym teacher threatened that they would install surveillance cameras soon and left. Aside from that incident, it’s a relatively peaceful lunchtime.
Inside the classroom, the kids’ noisy conversations were going back and forth. Then they playfully fought, and soon started running around. I was opening the door when I almost bumped into the running kids.
“Sorry!”
The kid apologized with a smile and ran off again. I’m bewildered by what this commotion is as soon as I arrive. I was about to return to my seat but stopped.
“Did the seats change without me knowing?”
“Huh? There’s no way that happened.”
The kids who were chattering in the next section stopped talking and answered. I pointed at In-sae who was lying down at my seat.
“But why is this guy doing this at my seat? In-sae. In-sae?”
I called several times but In-sae didn’t budge. I bent down and looked closely at In-sae’s face. He always goes around with his eyes half-open so I can’t tell if he’s sleeping or not.
“Are you asleep?”
Even when I asked, no answer came. Despite how noisy it is, In-sae seems to be falling asleep, still not moving at all.
I touched In-sae’s arm a few times. Then In-sae suddenly opened his mouth.
“I used to do this often.”
I stepped back in surprise and shouted,
“You scared me. I couldn’t tell if you were awake or not.”
In-sae shook his disheveled hair and sat up. I pondered In-sae’s words and felt something strange.
“But you’ve done it often? Did you touch me while I was sleeping?”
“Survival check.”
“What survival check? Are you making excuses?”
I asked with an absurd expression, but In-sae just smiled and moved aside. I looked at In-sae’s smiling expression for a moment. In-sae felt my gaze and turned his head.
“Why?”
“Nothing. There was no particular reason.”
I answered while shaking my head. In-sae stared at me intently. I fiddled with my ear and approached the windowsill. The playground was crowded with kids who came out to practice. Hee-ae, who was just coming in, looked at the kids and asked,
“All the other class kids came out to practice for the sports festival. Don’t we have to?”
“We have the Five Great Kings-nim, so won’t everything work out well?”
At someone’s comment, the kids scolded them. Seon-yoon looked at that kid with pitying eyes and said,
“You’re an extreme fan of the Five Great Kings-nim. Then since it came up, let’s go.”
“Come back.”
In-sae, who was about to turn back, hesitated. Lee Seung made an absurd expression, and Hee-ae showed a puzzled look.
“Shi-dan, you’re not coming? We’re all practicing together.”
“Right, we should go together. It’s lonely to be left out alone.”
Hee-ae joined in with a sad expression. The kids who were watching pushed me out of the classroom. I barely managed to put on my jacket as I came out when Hee-ae pointed out,
“Shi-dan. You really do need to exercise.”
“The only exercise I know how to do is breathing exercises, so I’m in big trouble.”
I answered with an already tired complexion. Hee-ae smiled with his eyes beautifully folded and patted my back. It seems to mean cheer up. I flinched in surprise every time Hee-ae’s touch reached me.
“Look how crowded the playground is. Everyone’s working hard.”
“We came out but what are we going to practice?”
“The basics of exercise is definitely figure-8 jump rope. Choi Seon-yoon, come here.”
Seon-yoon and Lee Seung, who have similar heights, held the rope. The kids hesitantly lined up. I was trying to sneak out in the middle when I got caught by Hee-ae. Hee-ae kindly grabbed my arm and made me line up again.
“You got caught. Won’t you do it properly?”
The kids shouted and fought among themselves. After jumping over the rope, I discovered Cho-yeon walking alone.
“Cho-yeon! You come practice this too.”
“Who, me?”
“You’re the only one in our school named Cho-yeon.”
“I knew that. Who doesn’t know that?”
I gestured for Cho-yeon to come closer. And as soon as Cho-yeon came, I made him join the rope line. Cho-yeon, who ended up participating in group jump rope practice inadvertently, made an absurd expression. Hee-ae looked at Cho-yeon and asked,
“As expected, since it’s a group thing… did you bring Han Cho-yeon too?”
“That’s right. We can’t leave out a few people.”
I answered cheerfully. Hee-ae still finds Cho-yeon awkward so he calls him with his family name attached. The kids jumped the rope and my turn came.
When I couldn’t jump easily and hesitated, In-sae pretended to push me. I blocked In-sae with one hand.
“Don’t push, don’t push. I’ll go this time.”
I took a deep breath and jumped over the rope. Why do we even do group jump rope? I’ve hated jump rope since I was young. Fortunately, I succeeded in jumping without getting caught on the rope.
“You’re good at it, so why did you hesitate so much?”
Hee-ae asked while easily jumping over the rope. I touched my forehead and sighed.
“No, actually I’m not good. I was just lucky this time.”
After how much more practice did we do? Hee-ae got caught on the rope and fell.
“Ah, I scraped it a bit.”
“Did your palm get scraped?”
I searched my jacket pocket. There were still quite a lot of band-aids left that In-sae gave me last time. At that time, In-sae said it didn’t matter if I used them however.
“Come here for a moment.”
“Hm?”
Hee-ae asked back and approached me with quick steps. I tapped my hand to mean show me your palm. Then Hee-ae reflexively grabbed my finger tightly.
“Don’t hold my finger, I meant show me your injured hand so I can put on a band-aid.”
“Aha.”
Hee-ae smiled and let go. He showed his scraped palm. I took out a band-aid and carefully attached it. I think I attached it quite neatly. Hee-ae clenched and opened his hand a few times then said,
“Thanks. It’s just scraped so I don’t need to go to the nurse’s office, right?”
“Still, apply medicine when you get home.”
I lifted my head while looking at Hee-ae’s hand with the band-aid attached regretfully. And I was briefly captivated by Hee-ae’s golden eyes. As if surprised, Hee-ae’s pupils grew larger for a moment then returned to their original size.
“No, it’s just that seeing your eyes up close is fascinating.”
I quickly pulled back and made excuses. These days I haven’t tried to be this close, but I made a mistake. I smiled unnaturally.
“Want to see more?”
Hee-ae brought his face dangerously close. I opened my mouth blankly in embarrassment. I lightly pushed Hee-ae’s face away.
“I don’t think you need to be that considerate. It’s okay.”
“You said it was fascinating, don’t you want to see it closer? I wanted to see your eyes up close because they’re fascinating.”
Hee-ae tilted his head. I barely held back the headache rushing in. I became more confused because of Hee-ae’s unexpected behavior.
“No, it’s okay. Really okay.”
I almost shouted and backed away far. Hee-ae made a sulky expression while brushing aside his brown hair that closely resembles fallen leaves. I took my gaze off Hee-ae and looked around. The kids were looking our way.
“Hey, what are you doing? You guys?”
“Watching a good show.”
Lee Seung and Seon-yoon said one after another. I looked at Hee-ae and answered,
“My friend got hurt so I treated him. In-sae, I used the band-aids well.”
“Yeah.”
In-sae answered while roughly nodding his head. I calmed my mind quietly again. After taking a deep breath, my head and heart became calm again.
Lee Seung pointed at In-sae and made a fed-up expression.
“I’ve been friends with this guy since middle school but I’ve never been like that.”
I pointed at the two and asked,
“You’ve been friends since middle school?”
“We were. Ah, I should have cut ties earlier.”
“That’s what I should be saying.”
In-sae immediately retorted. The class kids pointed at each other and said,
“I’ve known that guy since middle school too and it’s already become like that.”
“Most of the kids here are from Aseon Middle School. Most of us know each other.”
“After all, it’s closest to Aseon High. Which middle school did you go to?”
“Me? Chaeseong… I won’t tell you.”
I almost said the middle school I attended before possessing without thinking. I shook my head vigorously and only repeated that I wouldn’t tell. I definitely memorized which middle school I graduated from but I forgot.
“Why? Don’t tell me you forgot?”
“Amazing. How do you forget which middle school you went to?”
I remember the middle school from before possessing well. But since I don’t have any particular excuse, I decided to just become a careless kid. I brushed it off with a laugh and avoided eye contact.
“Suspicious? Tell me which class you were in during middle school first year.”
“Then tell us what your homeroom teacher was like in middle school third year.”
“If you can’t remember this too, we really need to be suspicious.”
Several kids in the class shouted with laughter in their voices. I was lost in thought for a moment then put my hand to my head and sighed.
“I remember. It was Yeonseo Middle School, right.”
“Shi-dan, did you really forget?”
“Yeah.”
I answered bitterly. In-sae put his hands in his pockets and made a strange expression. At this rate I’m going to get really confused. I almost made a mistake just now too.
“At least you’re lucky you remembered your name.”
In-sae said indifferently. That’s right, I’m lucky. It would have been troublesome if I couldn’t remember my name until the end. I should go home today and memorize my personal information again. In-sae said with his hands still in his pockets,
“Shi-dan doesn’t seem to remember past events well.”
“Did I live too ordinarily in middle school?”
I answered with a deliberately serious expression.
“Let’s just turn the rope now.”
Lee Seung lost interest in me and grabbed the jump rope. Right then the warning bell rang. I looked at the clock on top of the school main building and said,
“The warning bell rang. We should get ready to go to the classroom.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
