GBH 128

“Yi-heon, you…!”

Jeong Eun-chae’s expression was tremendous. She had been searching for Yi-heon, clutching her startled heart wondering if an accident had occurred, but seeing Yi-heon running perfectly fine at the sports complex, all strength left her body and she collapsed on the spot.

While driving to the sports complex parking lot, Eun-chae had been planning to scold Yi-heon severely to ensure this never happened again. However, upon seeing Yi-heon safe, her throat choked up and she couldn’t say a word. Soon tears welled up in her eyes. 

Yi-heon was suddenly afraid.

He was done for.

He was weak to tears. Especially women’s tears. If a man cried, he could at least pat him on the back and say, “Buck up, kid,” but when a woman cried, there was no solution at all. 

Yi-heon immediately apologized unconditionally, “Te-teacher. I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”

However, Eun-chae turned away to hide the tears brimming in her eyes. 

As her fragile back shook, Yi-heon felt like unrecyclable garbage and panicked even more, “I must have gone crazy for a moment.”

In a panic, Yi-heon reached out to turn Eun-chae around, but he couldn’t actually touch her and just floundered. His mouth, being the only thing that worked, babbled on, “I’ve never been to school before, so when I heard about the sports day, I lost my mind and… Teacher!”

Those words became a sharp needle. They pierced Eun-chae’s tear ducts like popping a water balloon, and when a sob escaped, Yi-heon barely stopped himself from collapsing.

“Yi-heon, I didn’t understand your feelings…”

The real Yi-heon had attended school, but it was hard to say he had truly attended. School isn’t just a place for studying. It’s also a place to build social skills and create memories through various activities, empathizing, uniting, and cooperating with friends. But the real Yi-heon had never experienced empathy or unity at school. How much must he have regretted that to think of sneaking into the juniors’ sports day? 

Eun-chae’s heart ached. “I know you’ve had a hard time at school for the past two years, and I should have paid more attention… How much regret must you have had to secretly come here… without even telling me…”

“Uh, teacher, that’s…”

“Yi-heon, I’m, sob, I’m sorry… I should have done better for you…”

“Ah, no. It’s not exactly like that… Even if it’s not like that, I, I, when I said I’ve never been to school…”

Eun-chae was misunderstood. Listening to her, he could tell she was feeling sorry for the real Yi-heon. If he used this well, he could get away without being scolded. At least he could alleviate Eun-chae’s tears. 

But was that okay…? As Yi-heon was confused, his eyes changed just like when he had decided to go to the sports day this morning. Then he swallowed hard and spoke in a tone like reading from a Korean textbook.

“But, but I think it’s okay now that I’ve experienced it today.”

“Yi-heon…!”

Se-kyung, who knew the truth, frowned behind them with a clear ‘That’s not right, is it?’ intention. 

Seeing this, Yi-heon glared at him, silently pressuring him to keep his mouth shut. Only Eun-chae, who knew nothing, hugged Yi-heon and sobbed, feeling sorry for the real Yi-heon.

Upon arriving at school, Yi-heon had to face scolding once from his classmates and once again from the teachers in the staff room. He paid dearly for worrying people by disappearing as if evaporating, then relieving them by returning safely, toying with people’s emotions.

Finally, after being thoroughly scolded by the grade head teacher, Yi-heon was able to return to the classroom only after writing a reflection paper in the counseling room. Past the end of school hours, the classroom was quiet as the students had gone home, with only the curtains by the window fluttering.

“You’re back?”

Se-kyung remained in the classroom that seemed empty. Sitting on a desk by the window, he stood up with Yi-heon’s bag, as if he had been waiting for him.

Not only Yi-heon, who had been running around and cheering all day, but also Se-kyung, who had been anxiously searching for the missing Yi-heon, were exhausted. 

As the two trudged down the stairs, Se-kyung suggested, “Should we call the class for a dinner?”

Yi-heon stared blankly, not understanding what he meant.

“The charm of a sports day is the after-party, you know.”

High school students who receive allowances usually went to all-you-can-eat meat restaurants. It was an established procedure. Wanting to let Yi-heon enjoy the sports day to the fullest since it had come to this, Se-kyung waved his hand.

“Forget it. Why call the kids who are studying?”

It didn’t seem right to force them when Yi-heon himself was okay with it. Se-kyung just shrugged. As they passed the school gate, when Yi-heon stood firm in the alley opposite to where the car was parked instead of going to the parked car alley, Se-kyung asked curiously, “Aren’t you going?”

“Didn’t you say we should have an after-party?”

At the words implying he would go with Se-kyung even if not with the class, Se-kyung couldn’t help but laugh incredulously.

“Don’t you have to study?”

“Who else would I hang out with if not you?”

It was a strange thing. Just by being friendly, without even a hint of the usual aegyo, with just one straightforward remark, all the mental and physical exhaustion from the entire day seemed to melt away.

‘It’s cheating.’ Se-kyung wrinkled his nose bridge, trying not to give in, but his hand was already taking out his phone.

Figuring he’d already wasted the day for studying anyway, Se-kyung sent a message to the driver waiting in the alley outside the school gate to go ahead, and guided Yi-heon to the all-you-can-eat meat restaurant they had gone to with the class last year.

Street lamps lit up the darkened streets, and office workers heading home and uniformed students going to academies poured onto the sidewalks. Se-kyung with his backpack neatly on both shoulders and Yi-heon with his backpack slung over one shoulder walked side by side, avoiding the crowd.

It was when they were just walking without even trivial chatter. Suddenly, Yi-heon laughed out loud.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Just because.”Despite his lip corners being sore with fatigue, Yi-heon stretched his lips into a smile that formed dimples, unaware of the pain. “Because I’m happy.”

Although he felt sorry for worrying the teachers and classmates, if he could turn back time to this morning, he would make the same choice. He had even experienced a sports day that he thought would always be someone else’s story. He couldn’t say he had done everything one might do at school, but after experiencing the festival and sports day, he felt like he had lived an ordinary life, doing all the things others do. It was strange to feel such satisfaction from just a festival and sports day.

“I’m embarrassingly happy like a child.”

Without needing further explanation, Se-kyung understood. Guessing the circumstances of Yi-heon’s soul, Se-kyung played along with the happiness Yi-heon spoke of, “Happiness is usually nothing special, you know.”

“You’re right about that.”

The shape of Yi-heon’s swaying bag was uneven. A trophy that couldn’t fit entirely into the bag stuck out, preventing the zipper from closing. It was the trophy given along with a certificate to the winner of the Popularity Award. The cheaply made, hollow golden trophy, made to fit a low budget, shone brilliantly reflecting the city lights.

***

It was an ordinary home in one of many apartment complexes. In the living room, where the savory smell of doenjang jjigae, the dinner menu, lingered, a female student in sleep pants was lying on her side, monopolizing the sofa.

Shin Ji-soo, from Class 3-1. At school, she made many male students’ hearts race by letting her long straight hair flow while exuding coldness, but at home, she tightly tied her long hair in a topknot at the crown of her head and maintained a comfortable appearance. She neatly pushed back any bothersome stray hairs with a facial headband, not tolerating even a bit of discomfort.

Ji-soo, who had been accepted to a mid-tier university in Seoul, reigned as the household dictator, using her university acceptance letter as her badge of office. She flipped through the channels on the TV, which she monopolized just like the sofa. She enjoyed the luxury of fixing the channel on a famous entertainment show she couldn’t watch while studying for the college entrance exam, while using her phone. However, her brows were deeply furrowed.

“Ah, so annoying.”

It had been just over two months since she became an adult. As soon as she reached the age where she could legally drink, invitations to drink poured in from everywhere, but the person she actually wanted to hear from remained silent, which was frustrating.

“Should I just close my eyes and contact him first?”

If she didn’t do that, it was obvious that her contact with Song Yi-heon, who showed no interest in her, would be cut off as they went to university.