GBH 100

Under a high, clear blue sky without a cloud in sight, the festival day dawned. The festival began with the light steps of 1st and 2nd year students coming to school without their book bags. The previously empty schoolyard was now filled with club members setting up tents, driving in steel poles and covering them with blue waterproof tarps.

While 3rd year students had regular classes during the two-day festival, they were allowed to participate in the festival on the afternoon of the first day instead of having their usual lessons. As the afternoon came and 3rd years poured out, the festival truly came to life with the increased number of people.

And as always, there are those who stand out wherever they go. Among the 1st and 2nd years, rumors spread about a mysterious sunbae who had swept up prizes from the sports clubs. 

“Did you see that sunbae?” evolved into “I heard that sunbaes took all the prizes from the tennis and soccer clubs,” and eventually was shortened to just “Ah, that sunbae?” becoming a designation for a specific person.

Even the newspaper club students preparing the water balloon throwing game talked about “Ah, that sunbae?” as they went to replenish balloons. Though his identity wasn’t certain among the 1st and 2nd years, there was vague speculation that he must be a 3rd year based on how the 2nd year comics club members called him “hyung”.

Three male newspaper club members pushed up their glasses with their shoulders. Wearing different styles – horn-rimmed, round, and angular glasses – the three boys were carrying baskets full of water balloons. All the while, their mouths never stopped chattering.

“I’ve seen him every time we play soccer on the field during lunch. Was he on the soccer team?”

“I saw him going around with the comics club members doing promotions. Anyway, I heard he’s taken all the prizes.”

“But why didn’t we see him at last year’s festival?”

As they waited for a group of club promoters to pass by, the boy with horn-rimmed glasses jerked his chin towards the air. 

“Hey, look over there! It’s that sunbae!”

It was a giant air bounce rented from the student council. Taking up an entire corner of the field, the massive unicorn-themed air bounce was like an enormous playground. Centered around a unicorn torso about 5 meters tall, it featured various inflatable play equipment like a huge slide, spiral staircase, and slanted walls to climb with ropes.

The air-filled bounce house was soft enough to minimize injury risks, but the sinking floor made it difficult to move around. Many students climbed on like a swarm of ants, bouncing, falling, and rolling around with laughter.

Still, some competitive students struggled to reach the highest points of the air bounce, but one person stood out remarkably. Leaping and bounding past the falling and slow-moving students, Song Yi-heon moved like a cat.

In fact, pointy cat ears adorned Song Yi-heon’s head. Caught by the comics club members doing face painting, he not only had a cat nose and whiskers drawn on, but was also wearing a headband with cat ears.

Forgetting he was wearing the headband as he jumped, Song Yi-heon raced along the unicorn’s spine with a flushed face. Though lacking in strength, his body’s flexibility and elasticity allowed him to take the next step before his feet could sink in.

“Wow, that’s incredible.”

“So damn cool…”

Even the safety staff in blue vests seemed to be seeing such a student for the first time, their heads turning to follow Song Yi-heon as he practically flew across the air bounce.

“Is that sunbae a physical education prodigy?”

As Song Yi-heon leaped over obstacles like jumping into the center of the sun, entering the shadow of the unicorn’s head, his features became visible. His small face with delicately arranged features was distinct even from a distance. The boy with round glasses lifted his frames to observe closely, then recognized Song Yi-heon.

“I know that sunbae.”

Song Yi-heon was positioning himself to slide down the 3-meter air slide standing on both feet. Lowering his body to maintain balance like a snowboarder, Song Yi-heon stretched his right leg forward and began to slide on his socked feet. His youthful features were filled with mischievous playfulness.

“I heard … that sunbae is a gay.”

“Ah, so that’s the sunbae? I heard about that too. They say he was severely bullied last year because of it.”

Students in Song Yi-heon’s path instinctively rolled out of the way as he slid down the slide at an unmatched speed. His short hair fluttered, his uniform shirt unbuttoned and flapping like white wings on both sides, the white t-shirt underneath rising in the wind to reveal his waist. His waist narrowed from the ribs, becoming slender above the hip bones before widening again along his frame.

Despite the bright sunlight, the boy with horn-rimmed glasses couldn’t take his eyes off the slender waistline and muttered, “If that sunbae is gay… well, I guess he deserved it.”

The so-called “that sunbae” had sharp ears. As the sunbae who had just come down the slide suddenly turned to look at them, the gossiping boys, feeling caught, huddled closer together.

“W-what? Why is he coming this way?”

Song Yi-heon suddenly ran towards the boys and jumped onto the trampoline set up along the edge of the air bounce. The boys lifted their heads to follow his light body rising into the air, shielding their eyes from the sun.

On his second jump on the trampoline, Song Yi-heon leaped even higher. But this time, his landing point was the safety railing surrounding the trampoline. Grasping the metal frame of the railing covered in netting, he launched his body outside the barrier. His flexible body curled to reduce the impact of the landing.

Song Yi-heon landed stably on one knee on the field and dusted off the sand from his palms. A safety staff member blew a whistle and approached him.

“Hey, student! Don’t do such sudden actions! You could break your neck!”

Easily ignoring the staff’s warning, Song Yi-heon ran off again. Unlike the soft, sinking surface of the air bounce, the solid ground of the field allowed for greater speed. 

The boy with horn-rimmed glasses, frightened by Song Yi-heon’s sudden approach, shouted, “W-why are you doing this?”

Smiling, Song Yi-heon snatched the water balloon basket from the horn-rimmed glasses boy. His smile seemed devilish, scaring the boy who tried to hold onto the basket, losing his balance in the process.

“Whoa…!”

Song Yi-heon tripped the falling boy’s feet, controlling the direction of his fall. The round-glasses boy let go of his balloon basket to catch the horn-rimmed glasses boy. Just as they thought they’d stabilized,

Smack!

Song Yi-heon cheerfully pushed the back of the horn-rimmed glasses boy’s head, causing him to fall onto the round-glasses boy. They collapsed together into a puddle from a burst water balloon. The angle of their fall was exactly as Song Yi-heon had intended, with their lips pressed together.

“So, are you gay?” Song Yi-heon smirked, confirming their lips were firmly connected. “Next time, just greet me normally. I don’t have prejudices about this kind of thing. Got it?”

* * *

Kim Yeon-ji, struggling down from the air bounce, looked for her friend who had easily jumped over the safety railing. Holding a branded sneaker in her left hand, she looked around in the direction Song Yi-heon had gone. 

Seeing him walking back in the distance in his socks, she waved her arm high. “Hey! Song Yi-heon! Take your shoes!”

Seemingly unashamed of being the only one without shoes, Song Yi-heon was casually exploring under the tents when he spotted Yeon-ji and ran over. His socks were wet from whatever he’d been up to after suddenly jumping over the safety railing and startling people.

“Thanks.”

“Why did you suddenly jump over there?”

“They were talking behind my back.”

Song Yi-heon, taking care of the tight-lipped Kim Yeon-ji, took off his wet socks and put on the shoes he had removed to ride the air bounce. Looking for a place to throw away the wet socks, he found a garbage bag. On his way there, he was startled by his reflection in a mirror hung on a club tent pole and touched his head.

“Oh, snap.”

He removed the cat headband and threw it away with the socks, then rubbed at the whiskers drawn on his face. 

Yeon-ji peeked from behind, disappointed. “Why are you throwing it away? It suited you well. Keep wearing it.”

“Stop joking. Do you have any tissues?”

Not joking though, Yeon-ji grumbled as she pulled out wet wipes from her side bag and handed them over. Rubbing his skin roughly, Song Yi-heon wiped off the cat’s nose and whiskers. They then bought takeout Sikhye (sweet rice drink) from the baking club and explored the festival preparations by different clubs.

Though they hadn’t expected much from a high school festival, today’s high schoolers seemed quite sophisticated. Even nearby residents seemed to have come to look around. As Kim Yeon-ji kept falling behind, Song Yi-heon walked with his arm around her shoulders. They finally caught their breath sitting on a bench, sipping their Sikhye. 

Patting her legs, Kim Yeon-ji asked why she had been chosen as Song Yi-heon’s partner today.

“Why did you fight with Se-kyung?”

“We didn’t fight. Do you think I’m always fighting with Choi Se-kyung?”

“You only hang out with me when you fight with Se-kyung. Because you have no one else to play with.” Kim Yeon-ji stirred the rice grains at the bottom of her cup with her straw, hitting the truth. 

Song Yi-heon bit his lip and pointed at the distant unicorn head of the air bounce. “… Want to ride that unicorn one more time?”

“No thanks. You’ll just play alone again.” Yeon-ji glared at Song Yi-heon, who had excitedly climbed up alone as soon as they entered the air bounce, without helping her when she fell.

“But really, we didn’t fight.”

It wasn’t a fight, but the problem was that things had become special. Song Yi-heon chewed on his straw for a moment before glancing sideways at Kim Yeon-ji.