“It looks delicious.”
Yuwon, opening the plastic in the shape of a hamburger box, took a bite of the jelly as if eating a real hamburger.
“Does it really taste like a hamburger?”
“No, it just tastes like delicious jelly.”
“What? That’s cheating. It should taste like a hamburger.”
“Then it wouldn’t be good.”
After dividing the hamburger jelly into three parts, Yuwon sucked down another sip of banana milk. Perhaps due to the sweetness of the jelly, the banana milk flavor wasn’t very noticeable, but still, eating his favorite sweet and warm things made him feel better.
Crossing the cloud bridge and ascending the stairs, Yuwon subtly shifted his position as he saw Hyun Gyujin naturally taking his place behind him. Since the day he had a severe cold and stumbled down the stairs, Hyun Gyujin always took his place behind him whenever they climbed the stairs. Just in case he fell again, Hyun Gyujin could catch him immediately.
Normally, Yuwon thought of it as a thoughtful gesture and felt grateful, but today, just the thought of Hyun Gyujin being behind him made his fingertips tingle, and his heart pounded. Yuwon secretly pressed his palm against his heart, feeling even sore.
Entering the empty classroom before 6th period, Yuwon took out his textbook from the third row and also retrieved the problem sheet he needed to solve before tonight’s tutoring session.
“You should go and solve it too.”
“It’s annoying.”
“It’s a waste of money and time.”
“Oh, whatever. I won’t go that far.”
“Then from next month, I’ll do it alone. You don’t like tutoring much, and you don’t have to force yourself because of me. I’ll talk to Auntie. You can say you won’t do it from next month…”
“Oh, you’re really good at threatening, seriously. Fine, I’ll solve it. I’ll solve it, okay?”
Grinning, Hyun Gyujin, with bowed head, returned to the seat at the end of the same row as Yuwon. Yuwon wanted to sit next to or right behind him, but because of his height and large build, the teacher suggested he sit at the back rather than too close to the front. Despite appealing that his long legs didn’t disturb the person behind, the teacher didn’t listen. So, Hyun Gyujin disliked the teacher.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Naturally, he didn’t even think about it. How could he have such rough thoughts about a weak kid who seemed like he would fall over with just a light touch? To Hyun Gyujin, Yuwon was someone he had to protect at all costs.
“Ah, I’m so damn tired.”
As soon as they took out the tutoring teacher’s given problem sheet, fatigue overwhelmed them. Hyun Gyujin solved the problems with his head tilted crookedly with one hand. It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle solving problems; he just didn’t want to do it, despite knowing he could do it better than anyone once he started. He just didn’t want to do it.
“What are you doing? Studying all of a sudden?”
Kim Junjae, who came in after gym class, patted Hyun Gyujin’s shoulder, looking at the problem sheet where numbers were flying roughly.
“We have tutoring today.”
“You all become real nerds. Doing homework diligently for tutoring.”
“Did you just call Yuwon a nerd?”
Not intending it that way, but interpreting it strangely, Kim Junjae, feeling flustered, slammed the desk for no reason. Hyun Gyujin tended to take anything related to Yuwon, whether it was a joke, a truth, or sincerity, very sensitively. It was an extraordinary and peculiar friendship, tinged with a playful vibe.
“Speaking of which, you. Mongyu is originally diligent, upright, and a kind person, and suddenly you’re acting like this?”
“If I don’t, then we won’t do tutoring together.”
“With Mongyu?”
“Yeah.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? You don’t want to do it anyway.”
“Get lost.”
Looking at Hyun Gyujin, who was scratching out the numbers on the problem sheet with a face that seemed to say he’d rather die than do it, Kim Junjae, impressed, tapped his pocket on the school jacket from the outside. The cigarette pack inside rustled.
“… ”
Understanding the meaning of coming after smoking, Hyun Gyujin, who had secretly smoked since being lectured by Yuwon, quietly rose from his seat while observing Yuwon, who was still quietly solving problems.
As much as he wanted to take him along, Yuwon disliked him smoking. Whenever Yuwon found out that he had smoked, he would nag him to quit, showing pictures of lungs decayed by smoking. After being lectured a few times, Hyun Gyujin smoked secretly without Yuwon knowing.
Sneaking out of the classroom and ascending one floor, Hyun Gyujin entered the art room at the far end of the floor, which was unused due to construction. As soon as he opened the door, the smell of cigarettes permeated. Choi Haeyoung, who had apparently been here for a while, was smoking with a gloomy face while wearing a gym uniform.
“Hey, close the window. Didn’t you get caught last time when they saw smoke coming out of the science lab window? Do you want to get caught here too?”
“If I close the window, the smell sticks to my clothes. And mom is already super suspicious.”
“It’s a miracle you haven’t been caught yet, you idiot. Damn reckless guy.”
Seeing Choi Haeyoung shake his hand sobbingly, Kim Junjae, impressed, patted the pocket of his school jacket towards Choi Haeyoung. The cigarette pack inside rattled.
“Hey, why is he in that state?”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you. Yesterday, I went to pick up Mongyu, and it was a damn jackpot after going.”
Laughing as he spoke, Kim Junjae was hit with a deodorant thrown by Choi Haeyoung, who tsked at him. Nonchalantly, Kim Junjae, who took it as expected, lightly sprayed deodorant back towards Choi Haeyoung.
“That jerk got scolded by Yoo Haeun on KakaoTalk yesterday.”
“Oh, you idiot! I told you not to say that!”
“Oh, well. It’s nothing. It’s not like I cared. I was already sick of it, so I let her criticize me.”
Yesterday, while playing games with friends in the PC room, they went ahead first to match Yuwon’s academy ending time, and something funny happened afterward. Although Choi Haeyoung pretended it was nothing, his swollen eyes and face told a different story. Seeing this, Hyun Gyujin skillfully spat out acting as if nothing was wrong.
“So, did you cry after the fifth period?”
“Oh, who cried?”
“Look at your face and insist.”
Kim Junjae, who laughed with his face and body folded in half while looking at Choi Haeyoung’s swollen face, avoided Choi Haeyoung, who got up to avoid him, as if he would be trampled.
Anyway, these noisy guys. Until the cigarette was halfway burned, Hyun Gyujin wandered around the art room, watching Choi Haeyoung and Kim Junjae bicker childishly. When he saw the window frame with many cigarette burns, he extinguished the fire by splashing it with water.
“Hey, Hyun! Give this guy some tips on long-term relationships How do you behave so trashy that you can’t last for two months?”
“You son of a bitch, if I catch you, I’ll really kill you today.”
“Hyun said he could be with Mongyu for over six months just by following him. Watch and learn.”
Kim Junjae, who climbed up to the table that was pushed to one side and not used as an art room, avoiding Choi Haeyoung, who was about to burst, shook him, lifting him up slightly. Hyun Gyujin, seeing this, groaned.
“So, did Choi Haeyoung cry? Hey, Kim Junjae, you crazy guy. Why make a kid cry and act like this? You should be quiet.”
“Wow, did Choi Haeyoung really cry? Hey, why are you crying? It’s a joke, of course.”
Kim Junjae was surprised as he approached, and as soon as he got close, Choi Haeyoung swiftly stood up, wrapping his arms around Kim Junjae’s neck. Kim Junjae’s scream echoed through the art room.
As if expecting it, Hyun Gyujin, who laughed, sprayed deodorant on Kim Junjae’s gym uniform. The artificial fabric softener scent soon filled the air. Personally, Hyun Gyujin preferred the smell of tobacco over this strong soap scent, but he had no choice if he wanted to avoid being caught by Yuwon.
Without saying a word about leaving, Hyun Gyujin left the art room alone, descended the stairs, and entered the classroom through the back door. Some who saw the imposing figure of Hyun Gyujin, even without him saying anything, began to quiet down. Whether talking or not, Hyun Gyujin, looked at Yuwon’s back, who was still sitting with the same posture and solving problems while sitting in the same position.
“Oh….”
Next to the problem number he had to solve was a drawing of a cigarette. It seemed that Yuwon came and drew it while he briefly left the seat. From the long cigarette end, curly smoke rose, and an X sign was drawn on top. Anyway, all these cute antics were done alone. Hyun Gyujin, who took out his phone, took a picture of the drawing.
Thinking that Yuwon would have drawn this while he was away, he couldn’t help but laugh. Hyun Gyujin looked at him, and he raised his head, feeling unfairly treated, looking at Hyun Gyujin’s eyes that seemed to inquire, and lowered his head as if he was wronged. Suspicious, Yuwon, who had opened his eyes narrowly, turned his body back around. Just as he was about to say he didn’t draw it and why he kept suspecting him, the teacher came in through the front door. Almost standing up but not quite, Hyun Gyujin smiled, looking at Yuwon’s round and neat back of the head. He hoped the just-started 6th period would end quickly.
