“You’re doing this no matter what. Unless you don’t want to talk to me for two weeks.”
Even being struck by lightning from a clear sky wouldn’t feel like this.
Having faced Hwan’s raw abilities, Huiseo left those chilling words and turned away. Now beyond not speaking casually, he wouldn’t even talk at all. In that situation, the one thing Hwan could be certain of was that if he couldn’t talk to Huiseo for two whole weeks, thorns would definitely grow in his mouth.
So there was no other choice.
“…What can I do. I have to do it.”
Seeing that even though he was refusing so stubbornly, Huiseo was rarely coming at him like this, for some reason he didn’t know, Huiseo really wanted him to accomplish it. Though the dream goal was 60 points, even if that was unrealistic, he decided he would definitely exceed 50 points at least.
He couldn’t live even a single day, let alone two weeks, without talking to Huiseo and being distant.
Unlike the English quiz that was the same day, fortunately it was still June. That is, there was time left until final exams.
And so, Hwan, who had firmly made up his mind even slapping his own cheeks, started cramming right from that night. No, he tried to start. If only there hadn’t been something bothering him beforehand.
“…Somehow it doesn’t feel like a good desk for studying right now?”
Actually, since he hadn’t done anything at his desk all this time, it wasn’t messy. But perhaps because of that, he didn’t like the empty feeling instead. No, no. I can’t study in this mood.
For that reason, Hwan, who had been pondering for a while, suddenly murmured softly.
“…Should I write down some kind of resolution?”
It seemed like quite a good idea, so Hwan’s lips curled up slightly. Right, when starting anything, such things were necessary.
And whenever my mind slackens, I’ll look at it and pull myself together.
Resolving like that, Hwan hurriedly rummaged through his drawer and found a post-it note of an appropriate size. Then he picked up his phone to find suitable words to write on it.
‘Study motivation quotes’
[If it doesn’t work, make it work]
[Effort never betrays you]
[Sleep is for the dead]
[Study 10 more minutes and your husband’s face will change]
‘No, his face will be the same though.’
Making such idle retorts, he wrote down a few other things he liked and neatly lined them up in a row in front of his desk.
As he looked at them proudly, somehow a certain teacher’s incisive remark came to mind—’Kids who can’t study are the most showy about these things’—and pricked in the conscience, Hwan then quickly opened his math book and buried his nose in it.
But it still wasn’t easy.
“Ahhh….”
Just looking down at the problems made his head throb.
“It’s written in Korean, so why can’t you understand it…?”
What am I supposed to do?
There were so many problems he didn’t know to the point of being ridiculous even to himself, which was the problem, but Hwan still tried to recall the sincerity with which Huiseo had persistently taught him by his side until he left. It must have been annoying to have to explain the same content over and over because he couldn’t understand.
Even so, Huiseo continued to tell him slowly and kindly without showing any sign of displeasure. Could that be done with ordinary patience?
Could that be ordinary affection?
It was pathetic to keep whining while having such a Huiseo.
‘I’ll do it.’
I’ll show you.
If Huiseo wanted it that much, of course he had to do it.
‘While I’m at it, I want to exceed 60 points and sleep together too!’
Having firmly ignited his will like that, from that day on, Hwan amazingly came to live without putting down his math book except when eating and sleeping. That was naturally the same at school.
Until now, this had never, not even once, happened.
‘My goodness.’
Hwan was studying for dear life.
The other friends in the same classroom also looked surprised seeing such a Hwan without exception. There were even some kids whispering softly among themselves, wondering what was going on. So even though he pretended otherwise, Huiseo somehow looked proud, and that alone made Hwan’s shoulders rise.
‘When I do it, I really do it.’
Will they see me differently? Hwan’s lips curled up slightly.
Huiseo stuck right next to such a Hwan and was pouring out problem explanations almost at the level of a vending machine that dispensed when pressed. How does he know all this? He really was an amazing guy. But in doing so, it seemed to unexpectedly plant a somewhat different feeling in the kids who had been watching from around them.
The school-wide top student where kids who studied quite well gathered—in other words, Jeong Huiseo was the object of admiration.
Watching such a Huiseo kindly explain precisely the key points whenever asked, a group emerged who wanted to sneakily ask about problems they didn’t know too. Still, they seemed to hesitate for a few days, watching for reactions.
But before long, one kid who finally gathered courage came to Huiseo with a thick book in his arms.
“…Hey, Huiseo-ya. Could I maybe ask you about this too?”
And then, perhaps worried about being coldly rejected, he babbled on about circumstances no one asked about, saying this was academy homework due today and he’d looked at the answer key but couldn’t understand it well. Hwan, who had been listening to such nonsense silently, soundlessly put strength into the hand gripping his mechanical pencil.
‘Obviously he’ll say no, right?’
Hwan inwardly had such expectations.
Well, of course. What kind of Huiseo is our Huiseo?
‘The only one Huiseo pays attention to like this is me.’
There was a childish and arrogant belief in a corner of his heart.
But lo and behold, when Huiseo too readily said “Sure?” and accepted the workbook, Hwan’s face hardened at a rapid pace. Honestly speaking, it couldn’t help but be a shock.
‘Sure? Suure?’
You’re saying “sure” right now?
The relieved kid laughed as if breathing a small sigh of relief, but on the contrary, Hwan sharply glared at the problem he had been solving frantically as if it were a family enemy.
One might think he was making a big fuss over just explaining one problem to a classmate, but even if blamed for being petty, he really couldn’t help disliking it. He hated Huiseo explaining to someone other than him in a friendly voice.
He couldn’t stand how annoying it was that their faces were stuck so close together while looking at one problem.
‘I hate it.’
Hwan’s insides boiled watching from the side. So much so that he even felt like snatching away Huiseo’s hand moving busily over the workbook.
Look at me.
Look at me.
‘The most important thing to you should be me.’
Shouldn’t it?
In the betrayal felt alone, Hwan even came to look at Huiseo with resentful eyes. Of course, Huiseo, who wasn’t giving even a brief glance to such a Hwan, was completely unaware.
But the similarly clueless kid in front, having heard all the explanation about the problem he brought, excitedly flipped to another page noisily and pushed forward another problem.
“Then what about this? What about this one?”
‘…This bastard, what?’
It was outrageous.
Feeling like he couldn’t watch that scene anymore, Hwan now started thinking about how he could ‘properly’ interfere with them. Should he push forward his own book and snatch Huiseo away ostentatiously? Or should he directly snap at them to take it easy?
‘Whatever is fine but.’
With that clueless person paying no attention at all even though he was glaring fiercely from the side, the latter might be more appropriate. He would get scolded by Huiseo again for saying mean things, but oh well, who cares, he decided to close his eyes and just get scolded.
‘Right, I’m an attention seeker.’
If he could monopolize Huiseo’s attention even like that, he would be satisfied.
Just as he was twisting open his suppressed lips with that feeling—
“……?”
Hwan suddenly felt a hand gently patting his right thigh from under the desk out of nowhere. Startled, he looked down and could easily find the owner of that presumptuous hand.
It was Huiseo.
While showing nothing outwardly, he was taking advantage of being in the very back seat by the window to soothe Hwan while others couldn’t see.
Saying he actually knew everything.
Hwan’s lips twitched as his angry heart had already melted away somewhere without a trace.
‘…Who would think their heart would be appeased by this?’
Even though it was already appeased, he grumbled pretending otherwise for no reason.
The ‘hmph’ sound didn’t come out, but Hwan’s head turned primly toward the window. But his honest hand slowly moved down and firmly grasped Huiseo’s hand that had been patting his thigh.
“So this function graph meets here at….”
Then Huiseo’s explanation, which until now had never once stopped and flowed like clear water, paused and broke for a moment.
“…Because it’s me.”
He soon continued the explanation again as if asking what happened, but a smile spread across Hwan’s lips, who knew the circumstances. He couldn’t laugh openly showing it, so strength pressed firmly into his lips. Actually, even that was hard to hold back, so he pretended to rest his chin on his other hand and covered his mouth for no reason.
His mood was soft as if asking when he had ever been sulky.
Hwan and Huiseo’s ears were heating up hotly without anyone knowing.
***
“Ah, seriously. Do you know how many math problems I could solve in this time?”
Hwan complaining was a familiar situation experienced every time. But when he now said something unbelievable that they’d never heard before, all the imperial family members waiting for the upcoming event stared at him with wide eyes.
“What did he just say?”
“What? Math?”
“That math I know? Not some new slang?”
After confused murmuring continued, second hyung Ho poked Hwan’s side and asked.
“Have you finally gone crazy?”
“No, you kept saying study, study, but why is it a fuss even when you do study?”
Just as Hwan, embarrassed for no reason, bristled even more than usual and jumped up—
Huiseo, who had been standing behind, couldn’t hold back and burst into a small laugh, “Pfft.”
awww