“Fine.”
I snatched one of the flowers with a red ribbon that had been taken from me and gave him 10,000 won. Both would end up in the homeroom teacher’s hands anyway, but I didn’t know why I deliberately reached for the red ribbon. Kkotmoa, who briefly placed his gaze on the red ribbon in my hand, grinned widely and sincerely tried to give me change. However, he was short on change because he had already given change to kids who had paid with 10,000 or 5,000 won bills.
“I’ll go to the school store later, get change, and give it back to you.”
“Don’t sneakily pocket it while doing that.”
“…You don’t call it a tip. Other kids all joke around saying ‘it’s fine’ or ‘it’s a tip’ at times like this.”
Still, I knew he had honestly and sincerely given everyone their full change. I could tell from the beginning just by him deliberately handing Kang Junwoo two 10,000 won bills.
“Am I the same as those bastards?”
“Of course you’re different. You’re my desk mate. You’re also my Do Teacher.”
The fool who didn’t know how many times I rode a roller coaster from each thoughtless word he spouted added kind-hearted words with a radiantly smiling face.
Right, what would you know when you’re just a mere flower? You just keep blooming beautifully like that. I’ll do all the headache-inducing stuff.
I got motion sickness as the harmless flower smiled only at me.
The homeroom teacher, who received carnations from all the class students, got teary-eyed with his robust build. In addition to the carnation the class president representatively pinned to his chest, carnations were piled high on the teacher’s desk. Kkotmoa, who had said with his own mouth that he was quite competent, had already gone to the front of the desk and prettily arranged the carnations in the basket he had brought.
Sometimes when he bustled about doing competent things like that, I wondered if this was what it would feel like to have a younger sister. Even if Kkotmoa wasn’t familiar with handling flowers, he was quite talented at arranging them. The carnations that had been messily placed randomly on the desk now formed a hill in the basket, boasting a pleasing appearance.
“Hey, did you see the homeroom teacher? His eyes got all red from being moved, right? Look at this, it’s fucking hilarious.”
As soon as break time started, Kang Junwoo came to my seat and showed me his phone album. In the photo taken from the very back seat with maximum zoom, the homeroom teacher had a hideous expression with reddened eyes, just as Kang Junwoo said. I only felt like I’d seen something I shouldn’t have since morning. Kkotmoa next to me also laughed looking at the photo.
“I think our homeroom teacher has a really soft heart. Class 17’s homeroom teacher also received carnations from all the class students, but far from tears, he just said thank you once and that was it.”
“Class 17’s homeroom teacher is a crazy dog who won’t let go once he bites. You have to have appropriate expectations.”
“Still, calling a teacher a crazy dog is too harsh.”
“Aw, how is our Kkotmoa going to survive this rough world being this kind? I’m so anxious I can’t let our Kkotmoa go outside.”
“Crazy bastard. Is he your son? Making all sorts of ridiculous worries.”
Words I should have kept inside carelessly burst out of my mouth. Listening quietly to their conversation, I was so dumbfounded. When it was just Kang Junwoo and me, my mouth sometimes got rough, but I had never done that in front of Kkotmoa. Sure enough, Kkotmoa stared at me with a surprised expression.
“Hyeondo-ya. You say things like that too?”
“Wow. Do Hyeondo, you fucking bastard. How much have you managed your image in front of Kkotmoa for him to be this surprised with his eyes wide open? Our Hyeondo, do you want to look good to Kkotmoa? Is that why you’ve been managing your image?”
“I’ll kill you.”
I wanted to rip out the tongue of that bastard Kang Junwoo who was making lisping sounds. I don’t know why I managed my image in front of Kkotmoa either. What’s important is not the reason, but the fact that I was really managing my image in front of Kkotmoa, just as that bastard said. The problem was that I only became aware of it after that stupid guy spit it out with his mouth.
The second period was the homeroom teacher’s class, and the homeroom teacher who was moved by the carnations bought us hamburgers during second period. While saying the strange words that for seniors, stamina is grades.
If you had that kind of thinking, you should have bought often.
Kang Junwoo said what I was also thinking and just got scolded. It was the difference between a smart person and an ignorant person. Even when thinking the same thing, the difference in situational judgment ability of whether to say it out loud or not often revealed ignorance.
A set menu was placed in front of each person. Hamburger, french fries, cola. I don’t like fast food. Basically, I didn’t really like fried food. So when Kkotmoa bought me fried food at the snack bar, I didn’t know I would eat fried food that deliciously.
“Aren’t you eating, Hyeondo-ya?”
I was just looking at it because it was awkward to eat or throw away, when the guy who had already eaten half his hamburger asked. If you look carefully, this kid really likes eating. That said, I had never once seen him eat voraciously like Kang Junwoo who has a big appetite. He always eats so demurely and neatly, nibbling away quite a lot. Stuffing both cheeks until they were bursting and chewing was cuter than I expected. Thinking that such a kid would always yield the delicious things he wanted to eat to five-year-old Deonggeori made my heart ache for no reason.
“I’m not thinking about it. I came after eating breakfast.”
“You come after eating breakfast too?”
“Yeah. Mom’s so extreme about it.”
Actually, if it weren’t for Mom, I would have slept more during breakfast time. However, due to the habit already ingrained in my body, if I didn’t eat breakfast, my stomach would rumble noisily and torment me. Because of that, these days I went to the kitchen first in the morning before Mom even nagged. Instead of saying I don’t like fast food, I cleverly made an excuse. Because I saw Kkotmoa eating too deliciously. In case if I said I disliked it, it seemed like there would never be a chance to go to a fast food place with him.
“Don’t you eat breakfast before coming?”
“Yeah. In the morning I’m busy just coming to school. If I want to avoid waking Jaea, I have to prepare stealthily, so if I make something to eat, he’ll catch me right away.”
“Why can’t you wake him?”
“Because he cries saying he won’t be separated from me. According to Dad, he’s not like that after I’ve already gone to school, but if he wakes up when I’m there, he clings to me and throws a tantrum saying not to go to school and just cries and cries.”
“…Whose younger brother is the one who’s supposed to be understanding unlike a five-year-old?”
“It’s because he’s half-asleep in the morning. You don’t know, but our Jaea is really, really understanding. Even though I go late every Wednesday and Friday, he’s never once whined.”
I thought there were only daughter fools and son fools, but there was also a younger brother fool. While he finished eating the hamburger, Kkotmoa’s bragging about Deonggeori continued, but there was no content that particularly entered my ears. All my concentration was allocated to the lips chewing as he talked while eating the hamburger. Unlike other bastards who shoved it in their mouths and chomped away, this kid demolished his portion demurely with his small mouth, nibbling away.
“Eat this too.”
I thought there was no way he would eat more after eating a whole hamburger plus cola and french fries with that slender body. I too, when I occasionally ate hamburgers, one was enough. Since it was time to eat a lot, rather than being full, I got sick of it. So I didn’t know Kkotmoa would sparkle his eyes like this.
“Thank you, Hyeondo-ya. I’ll eat well.”
Whether he had no intention of refusing from the beginning, or no, whether he knew in advance that I would give it to him, the hand taking my hamburger set was clean without a single error, as if prepared. He cutely ate the thick hamburger with his small mouth. Just watching him eat made some unknown place itch. Fluffy emotions I didn’t know surged.
“Maybe because you gave it to me, it tastes better.”
From riding the roller coaster so much, even though I was sitting still in my seat, I felt like my body was floating. Just the fact that his eyes without double eyelids curved long and sharply, creating dimples on cheeks that looked soft like a baby’s, now made me dizzy. This is not a normal reaction.
“I don’t know why the kids don’t know you’re this affectionate.”
“……”
“I like that you’re affectionate.”
The roller coaster descended at a 90-degree angle boasting maximum speed. My heart beat violently and I was dizzy. All the cells in my body swirled rapidly. Along with the thrill, I felt an inexplicable fear. The back of my neck heated up and my earlobes became hot. Even though it was clearly painful enough that my ribs ached, I… I was smiling.
Since it was Teacher’s Day, classes ended at 3:30 today. Even so, kids doing night self-study would remain at school, and the rest would go to reading rooms or academies to study. Since today is Wednesday, Kkotmoa and I also go to the cafe to study. Because we’re seniors. Except for this crazy bastard who can’t get his head straight even though he’s a senior.
“School ended early too, so let’s hang out for the first time in a while. Where should we go?”
As soon as homeroom ended, the guy who came to my seat smoothly draped his arm over my shoulder. Seeing him try every time even knowing I’ll immediately swat it away, this bastard is seriously stupid.
“Go where?”
“Why are you being prickly again? Should we go shopping at your department store? Or we could go to your hotel and feast for the first time in a while.”
I had absolutely no intention of letting Kang Junwoo interfere with the time when Kkotmoa and I studied together at the cafe. I originally had no interest in shopping, and the hotel steak was somewhat tempting, but it wasn’t as valuable as Kkotmoa. To put it bluntly, I could go eat hotel steak anytime I wanted. But Kkotmoa, who was busy taking care of the kid, doing housework, and helping at the flower shop, wouldn’t give me time alone with him except for the set times on Wednesdays and Fridays.
“Shut up and go study. Or increase your tutoring sessions.”
I wanted to get rid of this bastard before Kkotmoa, who went to the bathroom, came back. If Kkotmoa heard this useless talk, I felt like he would say let’s have fun together today. He would probably do that even just from being tired after wrapping flowers until 3 AM. However, my selfishness said not to miss the time that only comes twice a week.
“Hyung-nim will pay, so go today and order everything you want to eat.”
“Is it because I don’t have money?”
Mom gives me 500,000 won a month in allowance, saying a high school student doesn’t need more money than this, no, that even this is a lot. However, I had three credit cards that Father gave me secretly from Mom. One of them was even a ‘limitless black card’ that supposedly only a few people in the Republic of Korea have. I still vividly remember Kang Junwoo rolling around clutching his stomach in envy the moment he saw I had a black card. So the fact that he kept challenging me even knowing he couldn’t beat me with money was evidence once again showing how ignorant this bastard was.
“Man, you’re really fucking stubborn. Who doesn’t know you have no one else to go with besides me?”
