Go Un stood silently, looking down at the swaying brown crown of a head. Unlike earlier when he’d been swaggering, his posture was quite upright.
“Um, Seonsaengnim.”
The lamb-like tone became quite serious.
“……What now.”
Seo Juhan asked with subtle anticipation. Perhaps even if he couldn’t receive a counseling fee, couldn’t he at least receive a ‘thank you’?
“I still have my wish coupon left.”
The low voice that seemed to have descended to the ends of the earth feigned innocence. Juhan’s face, which had been soft with a strange sense of satisfaction, crumpled harshly.
“……Wish coupon?”
Seo Juhan asked through gritted teeth, pretending not to know.
“Yes. You said before that since I worked hard as class representative, you’d grant me one wish.”
Go Un boldly asserted his rights with an innocent face.
Seo Juhan’s eyes widened as he trembled.
Beyond the guy’s back, he could see a head of hair walking past. The English Teacher was walking out of the teachers’ office with a toothbrush in his mouth.
“I don’t think that ever happened.”
Seo Juhan spoke in an indifferent voice while suppressing his anger.
“You did give it to me.”
“I did?”
It was a response saying ‘absolutely not.’
“Yes.”
Go Un smiled warmly with an eye-smile.
“You said it must have been hard but I endured it well, so you were proud of me.”
Unlike his green voice, the content transcended imagination.
Ah, this crazy bastard……!
Seo Juhan’s eyes became fierce. Contrary to his expression that looked ready to pounce at any moment, his earlobes heated up as if dyed with flower water.
The more that happened, the more wickedly Go Un’s mouth curved. He looked unbearably delighted.
“But you seem busy these days, Seonsaengnim, so I’m going to use it after finals are over.”
Go Un spoke in a polite voice while smiling leisurely.
That reverent voice and weighty attitude inspired trust and faith. It was as if the guy he’d known in April had returned. Anyone watching would think he was a very well-behaved and admirable class representative.
Seo Juhan was at a loss for words and gave a rotten smile.
Suddenly, Go Un’s eye level, which had been up there, dropped low.
Seo Juhan flinched in surprise, his shoulders trembling. However, the chair wheels caught on the desk corner and wouldn’t go back.
“I’ll be looking forward to it, Ssaem.”
Go Un’s sultry voice rang in his ear. Seo Juhan gritted his teeth and gripped the chair armrest tightly. His face, full of fury, flushed red like a strawberry.
“Goodbye.”
Go Un greeted him and bowed deeply until his waist bent. He gave a subtly languid glance, then turned his back. His swaggering footsteps looked very light.
That lunatic!
Seo Juhan glared until that retreating figure was completely out of sight.
Clack. The teachers’ office door closed.
Only then did Juhan exhale the breath he’d been holding and dry-washed his face.
It was a sweltering summer day without a breath of wind. Even with the windows open, the heat that couldn’t escape seethed indoors.
Seo Juhan sipped from the tumbler containing tea that was too hot for the season. His breath was hot, making his polo shirt flap constantly.
* * *
With cheerful sounds, copy paper was steadily churned out one sheet at a time. The large multifunction printer that only printed in black and white was fulfilling its duty.
Beep.
That was short-lived. The mechanical device declared a malfunction and stopped.
Ah shit! Seo Juhan cursed inwardly and jumped up. Then he trudged toward the multifunction printer that had jammed paper for the fourth time.
Lately, this kind of thing happened unusually often. And of course, it was the farthest station.
Juhan pulled open the side of the multifunction printer. He grabbed and pulled out the stuck paper. It was folded in a zigzag like a fan and was hot.
Bang!
Since the machine wouldn’t listen, he closed it hard. He pressed the round restart button.
The multifunction printer began rebooting. Paper poured out in a stream. It seemed to finally be working properly.
Beep.
Ah, seriously…….
This time <Out of Paper> appeared.
Seo Juhan strode to the opposite wall and opened the cabinet. It was where they usually stored bundles of A4 paper.
It was completely empty.
“…….”
Was it natural that when luck ran out, everything went wrong as if on cue?
Seo Juhan had no choice but to leave the teachers’ office. He trudged down the stairs.
“Hello.”
He bowed his head and opened the first-floor administrative office door.
No one paid attention to the teacher whose face was familiar. The administrative staff were either talking to someone with serious faces or on the phone.
Seo Juhan entered with dry eyes. He glanced around like a deer while moving his feet.
What do you know, there was nothing where stacks of A4 paper should have been. However, Seo Juhan hesitated, unable to rashly ask about the whereabouts of copy paper. Everyone seemed too busy.
Moreover, there was one more person wandering around after coming to do business like him.
“Hello.”
Seo Juhan addressed the familiar back.
“Oh, Juhan Ssaem.”
Student Affairs Director Park Daekwon turned around and spoke as if pleased.
“Good timing meeting you. I had something to ask.”
“Yes…….”
Seo Juhan answered casually. In his head, ‘blockhead’ floated up.
“Can you switch classes with me this week?”
“Ah, which class?”
“The information class. You have 6th period free on Thursday.”
“Ah, yes. That’s fine.”
Seo Juhan readily accepted. For him as a rookie teacher, notification-style class time changes were countless.
“Thanks. I’ll tell the class schedule coordinator.”
“Yes. Do you have something going on Thursday?”
“I have to take my mother to the hospital that day.”
“Ah…….”
Seo Juhan bobbed his head as if sympathetic.
“She regularly goes to a hospital in Seoul. The siblings take turns accompanying her.”
“…Yes.”
Seo Juhan lowered his eyes and silently nodded. However, at moments like this, he couldn’t feel purely sympathetic. He had to feel the absence of his own mother, whom he normally lived forgetting about.
“Everyone looks busy. I should come back a bit later.”
Park Daekwon glanced back and grinned.
“Anyway, thanks, Juhan Ssaem.”
“Ah, um…… Seonsaengnim.”
Seo Juhan caught the Student Affairs Director who was about to take a step.
“I was curious about something…….”
“Hm? What is it?”
Park Daekwon stopped in his tracks. He showed signs of wanting to answer with sincerity whether coming or going.
“Well…….”
Seo Juhan hesitated before opening his mouth.
“It seemed like Go Un has a hyung. Did his hyung also go here by any chance?”
“Hyung? He has a hyung? I haven’t heard of that.”
Park Daekwon furrowed one eyebrow and tilted his head.
“Ah……. Is that so?”
“Hmm…….”
Park Daekwon looked into space as if deliberately pondering.
“I think there was a kid with the surname Go…… Did he go here very quietly? But it’s not like the Go family are the only Go’s in the world.”
Only after muttering to himself did he finally reveal his ignorance.
“I don’t really know. But why about his hyung?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Seo Juhan waved his hands as if he’d asked an unnecessary question.
Park Daekwon, who’d been watching that appearance closely, asked.
“But are you two close?”
“Pardon?”
“I was wondering why you’d ask me instead of just asking him directly.”
“Ah…….”
Seo Juhan awkwardly lifted the corners of his mouth.
“Go Un also came and interrogated me about stuff.”
“……What did you say?”
At the news that the guy had been investigating him, Seo Juhan narrowed his eyes.
“Just trivial stuff. Last time he asked if teachers also have to study and take tests. Whether our salary gets cut if our grades are bad, things like that.”
Park Daekwon chuckled as if he asked all sorts of odd things.
“I don’t know what he’s thinking.”
It was absurd talk.
“I know.”
Seo Juhan calmly agreed. However, he seemed to understand why Go Un had such questions.
Just then, the facilities manager entered the administrative office, sweating profusely.
Park Daekwon and Seo Juhan moved to a corner to make way.
Then suddenly Park Daekwon asked as if just remembering.
“By the way, they said the air conditioning would start this week but it’s not on yet. It’s not just the Student Affairs Office, right?”
“Ah, yes. It’s not on on the 5th floor yet either.”
“Actually, even when the air conditioning is on, it’s not very cool. The 5th floor is really a steamer, a steamer.”
“Right. These days it’s so hard to teach I could die.”
Seo Juhan gave an awkward smile as the acrid smell of sweat suddenly rose up.
Park Daekwon carefully observed that clear face that looked somewhat loose somewhere.
“Honestly, Juhan Ssaem, I’m saying this now…….”
Then he cautiously began.
“There are quite a few difficult kids in that class. Well, Go Un was particularly famous.”
Park Daekwon made a gesture of covering and shaking his face with his palm.
“Partly because of this.”
He chuckled deeply and continued.
“Hwang Sihyeok? Those guys also had some incidents last year.”
Park Daekwon glanced sideways and lowered his voice.
“It’s a bit much to talk about here. There are kids who make you wonder why they were put together when they should be in different classes.”
“…….”
“Juhan Ssaem, you haven’t noticed anything like that?”
Park Daekwon asked in a voice with years of experience. His eyes were meaningful.
Seo Juhan thought back carefully. But nothing came to mind.
“……Yes. Not particularly for me.”
Even so, he lacked confidence, wondering if he was missing something.
“Really? Then that’s fine. Maybe it’s better not to know. You’d get prejudiced for no reason.”
Park Daekwon patted his straight shoulders as if encouraging him. His voice became lighter again.
“Gichan—that kid is bright every time I see him. Just beaming. Even if they’re bad at studying, I like kids like that.”
“Ah…… Haha.”
Is that so. Seo Juhan didn’t actively agree and laughed awkwardly.
If you visited the police box once at night, you wouldn’t say that.
“Even when you scold them, they forget and giggle after turning around. Should I say those kinds of kids seem like they’ll do well when they go out into society?”
Seo Juhan slowly nodded. Now that he thought about it, as the Student Affairs Director, he would already have a record of numerous police box visits. He somehow felt solemn.
“It’s easier for me when kids listen well. But should I say they live too tightly controlled? There are kids like that who are oppressed under their parents’ shadow and endure through sheer force. When you see those kinds of kids, they don’t seem good at all either. Rather, they seem like they’d have the hardest time adapting when they go out into society.”
“……That’s right.”
Seo Juhan was a bit displeased but reluctantly agreed.
“Well, there are no kids like that here. Oh my, it’s already gotten this late.”
Park Daekwon fussed while taking out his phone.
“Thanks for your hard work supervising lunch too.”
Then he waved his rough hand and moved with busy steps.
“Yes, goodbye.”
Seo Juhan greeted Park Daekwon as he left the administrative office.
