Hakyoung had exchanged letters with Yumyeong to the point of exhaustion during their childhood. The way Yumyeong developed his letters was all too familiar to him. On top of that, the peculiar shape of his ‘ㅇ’ sealed the deal.
“People usually draw the ‘ieung’ counterclockwise, but I like drawing it clockwise. It makes writing faster that way. You should try it too. Once you get used to it, it’s comfortable.”
Thanks to that, Hakyoung had also learned from Yumyeong in childhood to write the ‘ieung’ clockwise.
It was hard to believe that another person with such a unique handwriting style existed.
In the end, Hakyoung was certain that Yumyeong was the one who wrote this letter.
“Is he an idiot?”
The moment he realized this, he couldn’t help but mutter to himself in disbelief. He couldn’t understand Yumyeong’s bizarre behavior of fighting to the death the day before and then sending a heartfelt confession letter.
Wasting time like this not for any other reason but solely to put him in an awkward position and test him.
And during exam period, no less…
Even as he thought what a pathetic and incomprehensible guy he was, his heart was pounding at the same time. Thinking about how Yumyeong must have set everything aside and thought of him while writing this letter made his body heat up. Even knowing the contents weren’t true, each line reached his heart and lodged there.
Perhaps it was because the form of relationship he had once wished for seemed to be contained within it.
After letting out a deep sigh, Hakyoung looked at the chocolate.
The chocolate had been stored for so long that its surface had dried white. After examining it back and forth for a while, Hakyoung carefully took a bite of the small chocolate.
Since it was the first thing he’d received from Yumyeong, he planned to savor it.
***
The exams were over.
The last day of midterms was the first day of May. At the end of spring, at the beginning of summer, Yumyeong found the winter uniform jacket that had been forgotten in his closet.
“Ah, right. This is still here.”
It was Hakyoung’s winter uniform jacket that he hadn’t worn even once because the weather had warmed up so quickly after receiving it. Thinking that Hakyoung probably hadn’t asked for it back because the weather had gotten warmer, Yumyeong opened his door and went out.
“Here.”
Perhaps because exams had just ended, the dormitory was quite noisy. Yumyeong bumped shoulders with someone who happened to be running down the hallway screaming, and he frowned in that direction while hurling an expletive. Meanwhile, the owner of the uniform jacket showed no intention of taking back his clothes.
Yumyeong held out the uniform again.
“Why won’t you take it? Take it.”
Only then did Hakyoung take it back and ask.
“Did you wear it?”
“Yeah… a few times?”
Yumyeong answered while scratching his head.
That wasn’t true. Yet Yumyeong found himself lying without realizing it.
To tell the truth—that his consideration was useless, that he’d only worn it once, and that the weather had warmed up a lot—something held him back from saying that. It bothered him to dismiss Hakyoung’s thoughtfulness in considering him when he had a cold.
So even though he had forgotten he’d even received it, Yumyeong blurted out a lie he couldn’t even understand himself, saying he’d worn it a few more times.
Hakyoung nodded and obediently accepted the uniform. And then he added another nagging comment.
“Make sure to dress warmly.”
“Well, it’s almost summer now.”
Yumyeong turned around, and the door closed.
Alone in his room, Hakyoung lifted the uniform to his nose and inhaled. Along with the smell of the fabric came the faint scent of fabric softener.
He couldn’t tell which of those was Yumyeong’s scent.
***
“Alright, I’m going to hand out the midterm report cards now.”
Thin slips of paper rustled in the homeroom teacher’s hands.
As students were called one by one and returned to their seats with their slips, the classroom gradually fell into silence. Here and there, sighs of lament or relief could be heard.
[Rank (Tied Rank)/Number of Students
91/99]
Yumyeong unconsciously grabbed his hair with both hands. Since he hadn’t studied, expecting anything would have been greedy, but the number before his eyes was still a shock.
’91st place.’
Even when he rubbed his eyes and looked again, the number and rank were definitely his.
“Hey, did you do well?”
The guy who had always been 2nd place when Yumyeong was 1st in the class asked from the seat in front, as if probing. Instead of answering, Yumyeong cursed under his breath and responded vaguely.
“Why are you asking…”
Then he crumpled the slip in his hand. Seeing that expression and feeling relieved, the school’s 2nd place couldn’t hide his smile as he faced forward. Even while thinking that face was annoying, Yumyeong couldn’t bring himself to badmouth him. After all, it was his own fault for not studying and bombing the exam.
“Also, Yumyeong, come to the teachers’ office for a moment after class.”
At the homeroom teacher’s words, Yumyeong lifted his head.
“Yes… Should I go now?”
He answered as if it were nothing, but the gazes of his classmates suddenly focused on him felt uncomfortable.
There were some like Hanju who sent purely worried looks, but there were also those who didn’t. Heeun was staring at him too. It made him feel dejected, thinking she must find him pathetic.
Deliberately putting on an expressionless face, Yumyeong went out through the back door.
As soon as he arrived at the teachers’ office shortly after, Yumyeong immediately wanted to leave again. That was because Teacher Jang, the PE teacher who loved picking fights, shouted loud enough to make the entire office ring.
“Hey you, I heard you bombed the exam spectacularly again? What kind of nonsense has gotten into your head, tsk.”
“Teacher! I’ll talk to Yumyeong.”
“You must not know, but kids that age aren’t the type you can reason with. In our day, we’d just take a bat and—”
Several older teachers showed agreement with Teacher Jang as he mimed swinging a baseball bat. The homeroom teacher sighed and cut him off.
“I got it, I got it… Yumyeong, sit here for now.”
He desperately wanted to say something back. But thinking of the homeroom teacher who had spoken up strongly on his behalf, Yumyeong kept his mouth tightly shut and plopped down in the small chair in front of him.
“Your report card will be sent home.”
“I know that.”
“Right… I wanted to talk to you before then. Would it be okay? Can I call your parents?”
At those words, Yumyeong raised his head and slowly blinked.
Would his parents, who wouldn’t answer his calls even if their lives depended on it, actually answer a call from his homeroom teacher? He was curious about that. And if they did answer, what would they say about him?
But the homeroom teacher seemed to interpret Yumyeong’s hesitation as being for a different reason.
“Do your parents not know about your grades? Even last semester’s grades…”
“I never hid anything.”
“Then your parents must have seen all your report cards.”
“Yes.”
“They didn’t say anything separately?”
“…”
Yumyeong frowned and shook his head slightly. Of course, he could well imagine that his father was disappointed. But he had never ‘heard’ it in words.
“I know you’re a kid who can do well if you put your mind to it. But there’s no reason for your grades to drop, so it’s really upsetting. You know how I feel, right? I’m not upset because you can’t be first, but if there’s something troubling you…”
“I know.”
Yumyeong gave a small smile. He was grateful for the homeroom teacher’s concern, but he couldn’t say that the biggest problem was those very parents.
“Alright. I’ll try calling your parents. I’ll explain things well, so don’t worry too much…”
“…”
“Nothing’s wrong with dorm life, is there?”
“No.”
After the short, trivial meeting ended, Yumyeong left the teachers’ office. The hallway, already emptied of people, was quiet. Having packed his bag alone, Yumyeong trudged across the empty hallway and headed to the dormitory by himself.
“Haah.”
Lying on his spot on the lower level of the dormitory bunk bed with its low ceiling, Yumyeong thought blankly about how his life had ended up like this.
Until first year, he had never thought his life had gone wrong. He had just denied the ominous premonitions.
Watching countless protagonists in movies, dramas, and manga spend their shining teenage years, he had vaguely expected his own seventeen to shine as well. Believing that the vitality of that age would lift up his life too, he had entered this school with expectations.
But now?
With his parents’ neglect, his grades were at rock bottom. Even if he tried from now on, his wrecked GPA was questionable whether it could recover, and on top of that, he’d been dumped by a girl. How was his school life? He’d made enemies with the seniors right above him in first year and fell into a quagmire. Moreover, though group punishment had been abolished, individual punishment remained, and he still couldn’t escape from it.
Sinking into depression, Yumyeong turned over, showing his back.
That’s when it happened.
Knock knock knock.
He heard someone knocking on the door. It was obvious who it was. In this dormitory, there was only one person who knew how to knock before entering someone else’s room.
Yumyeong didn’t answer.
“I’m coming in.”
A moment later, the door opened.
Only then did Yumyeong think that he didn’t want to show his dejected state, and he sprang up from the bed as if bouncing. Sure enough, it was Hakyoung who had entered the room. In one hand, he held an A4 paper folded in half.
“What is it?”
“I’m making a club. Want to join?”
“What?”
Yumyeong made a dumbfounded face without realizing it. Even knowing he’d been dragged to the teachers’ office about his grades, Hakyoung didn’t bring that up at all and was only talking about clubs. The thought naturally came to him that there must be some ulterior motive.
“Out of nowhere?”
“I was originally planning to apply as soon as exams ended.”
Saying that, Hakyoung held out the folded paper once more. Yumyeong snatched it and scanned it with his eyes. The club name read “Astronomy Club.” He suddenly recalled tearing Hakyoung’s club application in half before.
‘So that’s what it was.’
Yumyeong frowned.
“But why me?”
“I’m short on people.”
“That’s why I’m asking, why me… We’re not even that close.”
“…”
When there was no answer, he raised his head to find Hakyoung looking down at him silently. His face was expressionless, but his dark eyes, as if soaked in water, trembled slightly. As if he hadn’t even imagined being refused.
“Ha. What’s with that shocked face all of a sudden?”
Had he really thought he would accept? That was so unexpected that Yumyeong found himself laughing without realizing it.
