By Zephyria 
In one corner of the classroom, a low voice echoed clearly from the morning.
“He didn’t come?”
The strength had left the voice of Seung-pyo, who had barged into someone else’s classroom as soon as the first period ended, asking where Ryu Jae-min was with a frost-like intensity. At Seung-pyo’s question, the students of Class 2 nodded.
“Why isn’t he coming? Did he say he’d be late today too?”
“We don’t know either.”
The atmosphere among the students was also somewhat awkward. Their expressions suggested they were thinking about how they hadn’t heard any personal stories from Ryu Jae-min, with whom they thought they had finally become close after playing basketball together despite being distant for a long time.
Seung-pyo hadn’t slept a wink. The aftermath of the ocular terrorism he suffered in the archives was that powerful. After returning home yesterday, Seung-pyo tried everything to erase the afterimage of that perverted guy from his brain and retinas.
He finished a hundred push-ups and went outside in the winter cold to run for thirty minutes. Even after moving his body violently enough to sweat, Jae-min’s face would not disappear. Since exercise didn’t work, he tried to compose his mind calmly by searching for and following a meditation method to clear distracting thoughts on the internet.
He even found a cute book called a coloring book that his Hyung had bought long ago and shoved away without even opening, and tried coloring, something he only did as a child. Holding colored pencils with half-peeled skins in his large hands and scribbling colors, Seung-pyo cleared everything in front of him in less than five minutes.
Though his eyes were clearly seeing the drawings in the book, his mind kept bringing up the image of Ryu Jae-min gasping for air with a slight frown, so far from clearing his thoughts, they filled up to the brim, which was distressing. Eventually, while he was cooling his head by sticking it in the freezer, he was kicked in the thigh by his Hyung for wasting electricity, and he grumbled as he returned to his room and lay on the bed.
There was no other way.
He had no choice but to meet the guy tomorrow, pour out some proper insults, and clear his mood. How dare a lunatic perform perverted acts in front of him without permission? Question: Find the difference between a flasher who suddenly opens his clothes on the street and Ryu Jae-min. Answer: No difference.
Oh Seung-pyo, who had never once imagined in his life that he would be in a position to see something he shouldn’t because he got caught by a pervert, felt his head simmering with humiliation. It was true that he had provoked him first by telling him to jerk off, but how long ago was that? That was then, and now is now; why was he justifying his perverted behavior by bringing up something said in the past?
Grinding his teeth from the moment he arrived at school, intending to half-kill Ryu Jae-min, Seung-pyo stormed into the Class 2 classroom as soon as the first period ended. However, the news he encountered was the same as yesterday. Ryu Jae-min had not come today either by the end of the first period.
“But why? You were looking for Ryu Jae-min from the morning yesterday too.”
At a student’s question, Seung-pyo answered half-heartedly without relaxing his furrowed brow.
“I have something to get from him.”
“Did you lend him something?”
“Something like that.”
Seung-pyo gave a vague excuse and left the classroom. As he trudged down the hallway, the homeroom teacher of Class 2 happened to be approaching from the opposite direction.
Should I ask?
To find out what was happening with Ryu Jae-min and why he kept skipping the first period, asking the homeroom teacher was the fastest and most accurate method.
However, he didn’t like the fact that it might look as if they had become close enough for him to ask another class’s teacher about someone’s private life. There was a time when the name Ryu Jae-min existed only as text on the test score poster, and this situation, where he was trying to confirm the reason why the guy was skipping the first period, was unpleasant.
Like yesterday, he might come to school from the second period. Even if something was happening today, he would come tomorrow, and the feeling of stamping his feet because he couldn’t wait until then was not pleasant.
“Ah, Seung-pyo.”
But before he could organize the distracting thoughts rushing in, the Class 2 homeroom teacher called out to him first. Seung-pyo, who had intended to just bow and pass by, responded as if he hadn’t been thinking about anything.
“Yes?”
“This is perfect. I had something to ask you.”
“Me? What is it?”
“You know Ryu Jae-min from my class, right? By any chance, do you have any lost property to receive from Jae-min?”
Seung-pyo didn’t answer immediately and blinked.
Why did the Class 2 homeroom teacher know about that? It was only yesterday that Ryu Jae-min said he had lost his phone and couldn’t return it. To suddenly hear a situation known only to the two of them from the mouth of the neighboring class’s homeroom teacher—he couldn’t fathom how things were unfolding.
Seung-pyo hesitated for a moment on how to respond, but soon nodded. The teacher asked again for confirmation.
“The phone?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I’ve confirmed it, so that’s fine. I got a call from Jae-min’s house. I’ll receive it first, so I’ll send it to you through your homeroom teacher.”
He said he lost it, but now he’s sending it through the teacher?
He didn’t understand what was what. Seung-pyo urgently called out to the teacher who was about to enter the classroom after finishing his business.
“Teacher.”
“Hmm?”
“Is Ryu Jae-min not coming to school today?”
“Ah, Jae-min decided not to attend supplementary classes starting today.”
“What?”
Seung-pyo’s eyes widened at the teacher’s answer, which far exceeded his expectations. The teacher continued calmly, as if it weren’t a particularly surprising matter.
“He said he’ll study at home until school starts. It would be better if he continued with us, but if there’s something he wants to study, it can’t be helped.”
It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. The school recommended that students attend the vacation supplementary classes if possible, but since it was merely a recommendation, there were always some who skipped. Because they weren’t regular classes, they didn’t affect attendance records; consequently, many students who ranked at the top of the school preferred to take special vacation courses at famous academies or get private tutoring rather than spend their time in the school’s supplementary classes.
Teachers tried to secure as many students as possible, but since they couldn’t force them, they tended to step back without further insistence if a student or parent strongly protested.
“Do people really drop out halfway through like this?”
“Well, if there’s a reason, I suppose they might.”
As Seung-pyo’s tone grew blunt, the homeroom teacher of Class 2 looked at him with curiosity.
“Is something going on with Jae-min? Is this about the basketball game?”
“No, that ended ages ago.”
It had been two days since it ended. Before the teacher could say anything more, Seung-pyo gave a slight bow and left. He walked briskly down the hallway without a specific destination, eventually coming to a dead stop in front of the resource room.
If the whole school knew what Ryu Jae-min had been doing in this small classroom, where old learning materials slept in silence, the entire place would be turned upside down.
‘This bastard, until the very end.’
When was it that he had the nerve to expose his dick right in front of me like a lunatic, and now he’s feeling embarrassed after thinking about it? To skip school and run away—that was something only a loser among losers would do. Seung-pyo was aware that he himself was acting unlike his usual self, unable to suppress his indignation over being caught up with such a pathetic guy.
With a sullen expression, Seung-pyo returned to his own classroom and looked for one of the guys he usually hung out with. He wanted to talk via message as quietly as possible, but Oh Seung-pyo was currently a man without a usable phone.
“You said you go to the same academy as Ryu Jae-min, right?”
“The vacation special? Yeah. We’re in the same class.”
“Did he show up yesterday too?”
“Who knows. How would I remember that?”
Why don’t you remember? Is that guy the kind of person who doesn’t stand out? Seung-pyo snapped internally but kept his mouth shut. His classmate asked back, sounding curious.
“Are you going to start attending an academy too? You don’t usually go.”
“I’m going into the second year now, so my Hyung told me to go if there’s a decent place.”
“If you’re going to register, want to go together today?”
At those words, Seung-pyo cleared his throat, looked down, and pretended to be indifferent. The slight urgency in his tone vanished, replaced by a sense of ease.
“There’s no need to rush over there.”
“Suit yourself.”
His conversation partner quickly lost interest and turned his gaze back to his phone game. Seung-pyo quickly grabbed the guy’s shoulder.
“But it’d be better to go quickly before the vacation ends, right?”
“I guess so. Since it’s a special course.”
After promising to go to the academy together after school, Seung-pyo returned to his seat.
The last time he had attended an academy was back when he was young—places like supplementary learning centers, Taekwondo studios, or art classrooms—because it was fun to hang out with friends and because, like most kids, it was hard to stay home alone after school.
Around the time the friends he used to roam the neighborhood with quit Taekwondo or small studios to enroll in entrance exam academies, Seung-pyo chose to spend his time at home or play games and basketball with the relatively free friends instead of moving academies with them. As for studying, well, he usually got good grades by cramming, so he didn’t feel the need to sacrifice his time to an academy.
That was the story until he met Ryu Jae-min.
“Oh Seung is going to an academy?”
“You’re attending an academy now? It really feels like we’re going into the second year.”
A few kids who knew that Seung-pyo had been bluffing by relying solely on his natural intelligence wore wistful expressions, like old men reflecting on the passage of time. Seung-pyo answered awkwardly.
“I’m just checking it out.”
He had no interest in the classes. He was only going because he had several issues to settle with that insolent bastard who had done something unforgivable to another person and then hidden away.
‘If I’d known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have bothered apologizing first.’
This time, it was the pervert’s turn to apologize to Seung-pyo. In his heart, he wanted to slap him across the face, but since the situation had become complicated, he decided to refrain from physical violence. He was also curious about how the phone he supposedly lost had ended up in the homeroom teacher’s hands.
Regardless, Oh Seung-pyo’s goal was to cleanly sever this unpleasant connection before entering the second year and return to how things were at the beginning of the first year—where they only recognized each other’s existence as letters on a poster.
The ‘academy’ he visited for the first time in years was completely different from the neighborhood study rooms or arts and sports studios in his childhood memories.
They called it an academy, but unlike those places in his memory that were practically playrooms, the atmosphere was solemn from the moment he entered. There was a staff member at the counter managing consultations and attendance, and the friend who brought him stood before them with his phone on.
“Why the phone?”
“You have to register attendance through the app.”
Seung-pyo clicked his tongue inwardly. In a place where even the hallways were quiet, unlike at school, Seung-pyo whispered to his friend.
“I guess you can’t even go to an academy without a phone.”
“You can register with an attendance card too.”
They were thorough. He wouldn’t even be able to skip by using the excuse that he lost his phone. While Seung-pyo looked around, his classmate explained to the counter staff that Seung-pyo was a student accompanying him to register for the vacation special. The staff member guided him through the curriculum, and Seung-pyo explained his situation.
“I don’t have a phone right now. I’ll use a card for attendance until I buy a new one.”
“Please do that.”
Seung-pyo wrote down his basic personal information on the document handed over by the staff, and as soon as he finished writing quickly in scribbled handwriting, he looked around. He was restless, looking like someone who was searching for something.
“What are you looking for?”
“Nothing. Do we just go in?”
“Yeah.”
The two entered the lecture room. Unlike a school classroom, the wide lecture room had desks placed quite densely. His friend placed his bag on an empty desk and said,
“You can just sit anywhere that’s empty.”
Like his friend, Seung-pyo placed his bag on an empty desk and kept looking around. The seats were already quite full, but there was no sign of Ryu Jae-min.
Among the students sitting in the room, some had already started self-studying, while others were whispering and chatting quietly among themselves. Not being used to the atmosphere, Seung-pyo felt a bit fidgety.
“I’m going to the restroom for a second.”
“Okay.”
He stood up. He thought it would have a similar atmosphere to school, but perhaps because it was a place where only students intending to study gathered, the classrooms and hallways were suffocatingly quiet. Although Seung-pyo always walked confidently anywhere, he somehow found himself muffling his footsteps.
Wondering if Ryu Jae-min might be in the hallway or somewhere else, he silently scanned the surroundings and happened to pass by the closed instructor’s waiting room. Voices drifted out from inside.
“He says he’s not coming starting today.”
“Does he have a complaint about our class? He’s the top student of the first year at Ilyang.”
At the worried tone, Seung-pyo stopped dead in his tracks. Unfortunately, there was only one person who could be described as the top student among the first years at Ilyang Boys’ High School.
…No way, he’s not even coming to the academy?
“He says that’s not it, but I don’t know. I don’t think he’s the type to just say he won’t come, and parents are so diverse.”
“It’s concerning. He was doing so well.”
“Should I have reported it immediately when he was late for self-study a few times? But self-study isn’t a formal class, so doing that much is…”
Seung-pyo listened intently, but he didn’t hear any more about Ryu Jae-min. Rather than continuing the conversation, he felt the people inside were about to step out, so Seung-pyo quickly moved away.
The restroom was just an excuse. He had left the classroom just to look around, and as he moved wherever his feet took him, he ended up back at the entrance where the counter was.
For some unknown reason, his heart was pounding, and he wanted to get out of there. It was just as he left the academy lobby and reached the elevators. Timely, the elevator doors opened, and a student wearing a different school’s uniform stepped out. The student’s eyes widened upon spotting Seung-pyo.
“Oh Seung-pyo?”
“Kang Ji-seon.”
“Do you go here? It’s been so long.”
The student who stepped out of the elevator was a middle school classmate of Seung-pyo’s. Kang Ji-seon was a student who had always ranked second in the entire school during middle school—in a way, someone in a position similar to the current Seung-pyo.
Of course, there was a difference. Unlike Oh Seung-pyo and Ryu Jae-min, who frowned the moment they met, the two of them had been quite close during their middle school days. In front of the vending machine right next to the elevator, the two classmates grabbed a drink and caught up for the first time in a while.
“You were never interested in academies or tutoring. Did your grades drop in high school?”
“…You too?”
“It was a bit like that at first, but now I’m more or less maintaining them.”
Ji-seon took a few gulps of the drink and then asked,
“By any chance, are you in touch with Su-hyun?”
“Jung Su-hyun? I heard she’s not even attending school properly these days. She’s been saying she’d become a singer since forever, so I guess she’s really going to be an idol. But why are you asking me?”
Jung Su-hyun and Kang Ji-seon lived in the same apartment complex and were childhood friends who had attended the same schools from elementary through middle school. Naturally, they were very close. Their paths first diverged when they entered high school; Ji-seon, who was good at studying, went to a girls’ high school famous for entrance exams, and Su-hyun became a trainee at an entertainment agency after a group dance cover video she filmed with school friends became a hit on the internet as soon as she entered high school.
He thought they would still be close even if their schools were different, so it was strange that Ji-seon was asking about Su-hyun, who still occasionally exchanged messages with him. Ji-seon answered while throwing away the drink can.
“She’s been busy lately, so we haven’t met often. It’s hard to get in touch with her.”
“It’s been a long time since I last contacted her too.”
They tried to talk more, but the door opened and one of the academy instructors poked his head out. He looked at the two of them, who were standing side by side chatting, with a stern gaze.
“Class is starting. Get inside, quickly.”
“Yes.”
Can’t even talk freely here or there. Seung-pyo stepped back into the academy. Since Ji-seon had come for a different subject, their classrooms were different.
“Study hard.”
“You too.”
Seung-pyo returned to the lecture room. He gave a vague answer to the friend who asked where he had been, sat down, and glanced around, but Jae-min’s face was nowhere to be seen. It seemed the ‘top student’ the instructors were talking about was indeed Ryu Jae-min.
‘If I’d known, I wouldn’t have registered.’
It looked like he was stuck attending the academy until he entered the second year. Since he registered today, they might cancel the registration and give a refund if he asked on the same day, but he had already told his Hyung to withdraw the academy fees from the living expenses account because he would study hard. If it became known that he canceled the registration in a single day, his Hyung might tell their father.
Nothing was going his way. Today, everything felt suffocating to Seung-pyo. He couldn’t find Ryu Jae-min, whom he needed to meet and question about yesterday; it was clear that something he didn’t know was happening, but there was no one to ask; he couldn’t cancel the academy he had hastily registered for; and he couldn’t even have a long conversation with a middle school friend he hadn’t seen in a while.
Since it had come to this, he changed his mind and decided to seriously listen to the class to see what kind of lessons Ryu Jae-min—who only skimmed through special lectures by famous instructors—had taken. However, as he watched the young instructor deliver a fluent lesson to the students, Seung-pyo eventually ended up having a random thought.
Ah, I want to become an adult quickly.
* * *
The next day, Seung-pyo stopped by the faculty office for a moment because he was called by his homeroom teacher. The teacher opened a desk drawer, took out an object, and held it out to Seung-pyo.
“Is this yours?”
“…Yes.”
The phone was neatly placed in a transparent ziplock bag, as if it were a piece of criminal evidence. It was a ridiculous way to package it. As Seung-pyo looked down at it with an absurd expression, the homeroom teacher explained awkwardly.
“I didn’t put it in there; it was like that when I received it.”
“Yes.”
“You may go.”
Seung-pyo bowed slightly and left the faculty office. He stripped off the ridiculous ziplock bag and checked the condition of the phone that had returned to his hand after a long time. It was perfectly fine, with no particular scratches or broken parts.
Whether the battery had been charged or not, the screen turned on immediately when he pressed the power button. A photo of the distant Pacific Ocean, which he hadn’t seen in a while, greeted him. As he stood in the hallway staring at the screen, students passing by rushed toward him.
“Oh Seung-pyo! Did you finally buy a phone?”
“Eh, no? This is the one I was using.”
Seung-pyo replied expressionlessly.
“I found it.”
“How?”
“The person who picked it up returned it.”
“Wow, only now? They should have returned it sooner.”
My thoughts exactly. Seung-pyo sneered inwardly and shoved the phone into his pocket. One student made a misguided deduction, claiming that the person must have tried to sell the phone secretly and returned it when it didn’t work out. At least the expression on his face while racking his brain was sharp.
Back in the classroom, sitting in his seat, Seung-pyo took out his phone again. He briefly opened the messenger, where hundreds of unread messages had piled up, then briefly opened the internet app, and then pressed the photo gallery. As he quickly scrolled back through the album, which had stopped at a photo taken more than a week ago, a photo he had forgotten about caught his eye. His thumb, which had been sliding smoothly, stopped abruptly on that photo.
Come to think of it, he had taken this.
A photo he had secretly kept with the thought that looking at that hateful guy’s face would fuel his will to study. After seeing all sorts of unsightly things, what ultimately remained in Seung-pyo’s hand was only the side profile of Ryu Jae-min, gazing far into the distance.
After staring at the expressionless face that didn’t move on the screen, Seung-pyo put the phone down with a bitter feeling. The suffocating feeling in his heart, which had felt blocked since yesterday, showed no sign of easing. Looking out the window, he saw skeletal trees with all their leaves fallen, except for a few pine trees, and a dry, dusty playground. His suffocating mood turned into a sense of desolation.
There wasn’t much left of the supplementary classes. After the rest of the vacation passed, it would be March, and both Seung-pyo and his friends would become second-years.
Will I be able to beat Ryu Jae-min next year?
Asking himself the question, Seung-pyo frowned slightly and rested his chin on his hand. He was starting to feel strange. The more he said he hated him, the more he kept thinking about him.
Why do I,
“Everyone, sit in your seats quickly!”
…want to see him?
The tail end of his thought was scattered and left unfinished by the noisy sound of students crashing into their seats. At the teacher’s shout to quickly take out their books and get ready, Seung-pyo straightened his back, which had been almost slumped over. He was already bored.