This High-Teen Mid-Series is Scheduled for Early Cancellation 11

“Alright, everyone’s here.”

“Yes.”

Opening the library door, a fat teacher came in, yawning widely. His legs were thin and his feet small compared to his body, making him look exactly like a giant tomato stuck with spaghetti.

I was the only one who answered obediently, which was a bit embarrassing. Don’t they all respect their teachers? In Korea, they said you shouldn’t even step on a teacher’s shadow! Anyway, these Americans!

“Anyway, this early in the morning—yawn!”

The teacher yawned again, his mouth stretching wide as if it might tear. It was early. It was 7:06, after all.

“Write an essay with over 1,000 words about who you are. Don’t repeat the same word 1,000 times—use all different words, clearly and precisely.”

The teacher threw a stack of white paper onto the desk where I was sitting with a thud. His voice thick with drowsiness, he tilted his head left and right and patted his shoulders.

“Don’t move, don’t talk, don’t sleep, don’t leave for no reason, and sincerely reflect on your wrongdoings. My office is right next door, so don’t get any funny ideas.”

The teacher’s eyes swept over the kids one by one, lingering longest on Joel’s face. Joel shrugged with his arm draped over the back of his chair and his legs propped up on the desk.

The teacher even stretched and kept yawning—yawn, yawn!—before shuffling out of the library. Inside the reading room after the teacher left, I glanced around and passed the paper to Harper, who was closest to me.

“What? I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Harper opened her mouth in disbelief and frowned at me. Philip let out a snicker.

“What about pouring nail polish into Richard Vernon’s bag—did a cat do that?”

“That bastard stole mine and broke it! I’m the victim here!”

“Why would Richard steal nail polish?”

“He must be a pervert! Oh, Jun. I’m not attacking you. Your black nail polish was a bit tacky, but still. Your bare nails are pink and cute. Don’t worry.”

Harper turned toward Philip, who was sitting in the very back row, and vented her grievances. Then she suddenly turned toward me, grinned, and lightly tapped my shoulder. Thanks for apologizing, really grateful. But she’s so annoying. I’m July, not Jun. Should I thank her for saying my bare nails are cute? Hahaha…

Harper started taking selfies, Philip was operating his phone with his chin propped up, and Joel was pulling out a book stuck in the wall… A book? Joel Gomez reading a book? That doesn’t suit him at all. …Oh, it’s “Harry Potter.” Book 3, “The Prisoner of Azkaban.” I read it in English when I was studying English.

Natalia had taken the paper without me noticing and was writing her essay, covering the content with her whole body. She’s the only diligent one, so I don’t know why she skipped class. I looked around and approached Natalia.

“Hi.”

“Hm?”

Natalia, who had been writing her essay diligently, lifted her head with a start. She seemed wary, so I sat down in the seat next to her, smiling as harmlessly as possible.

“Natalia, I saw you at the party the other day, remember? We said hi to each other.”

Natalia blinked. She seemed a bit surprised that I knew her name. Then she looked at me with narrowed eyes and opened her lips in a circle.

“…Oh, I remember. It was the party on the first day of school a few days ago. Your name has a J in it…”

“Right. It’s July. July Baek.”

I carefully took a pencil from Natalia’s pencil case and wrote my name on the desk to show her. July Baek. Natalia stared at the letters for a moment, then pushed the paper she was writing her essay on toward me. At the top, it said “Natalia Newton.”

“You were writing your essay really diligently.”

“…Yeah.”

When I pretended to glance at the essay, Natalia quickly covered the content with her arm. Her hunched posture made her look like a turtle. Natalia must be timid and cautious by nature. I had to be careful.

“I don’t know what to write. But why did you come to school today? I’m here because that bastard punctured my tire with my pen. I suffered getting up early even though it’s the weekend.”

I lowered my voice and pointed with my thumb at Joel, who was sitting crookedly. Natalia glanced at Joel following my finger, then whispered along with me.

“I… got confused about my schedule and couldn’t get into class. It’s the first time that’s happened. I guess I’m distracted because it’s the beginning of the semester.”

Natalia smiled awkwardly. When she pulled up her lips, her protruding tooth showed slightly. It felt more like a charming point than a flaw that diminished her appeal. This space full of strangers must have been uncomfortable for her too. Natalia, who had been rubbing her arms, looked around and this time spoke to me first.

“Are you close with Joel Gomez?”

“No, not at all! He just took my pen.”

I don’t want that misunderstanding even if I die! I shook my head vigorously. Natalia nodded as if she understood completely.

“Ah. Joel Gomez is a bit… scary. There are a lot of rumors about him. And he’s a senior too…”

“I’m a senior too.”

“Really? But why have I never seen you at school before?”

“…Um.”

I thought for a moment, then just stuck out my tongue without bothering to explain at length. My saliva-wet cheek piercing sparkled!

“I used to have piercings on my nose and lips too, besides this one. And also… I was… I was…”

I couldn’t bring myself to describe in detail what I looked like back then. Like someone making a difficult confession, I grimaced and clenched my fists, unable to continue. Natalia blinked at me, puzzled, then snapped her index and middle fingers together.

“Ah! I think I know! You were an EMO kid! So you’re that July! I thought you were someone with the same name. Your hair was long. And you drew eyeliner like this! When you asked me if I had eyeliner, I was sorry I couldn’t lend you mine.”

“…I did?”

“Yeah. But you said you didn’t like mine because it had pearls in it. So you borrowed Sandy’s. But you didn’t return it, and Sandy was really annoyed…”

“I did that…”

Natalia’s index finger went back and forth around her eyes. July, you crazy bastard. What the hell did you get to use a whole box of eyeliner that was in the corner of the closet, and you went around borrowing that stuff? Pearls, what even is that! And why do you borrow other people’s makeup and not return it!

“That’s why Sandy didn’t recognize you last time either… She was determined to get her eyeliner back when she saw you. She said it was from a luxury brand.”

“…Tell her I’m sorry. And tell her I’ll buy her a new one…”

My head started to hurt, so I pressed my forehead. Natalia laughed softly and answered, “Okay.”

“You don’t do that stuff anymore? You cut your hair and took out your piercings too.”

“…I’m a senior. I need to mature.”

“Are you thinking of going to college?”

“I have to.”

“Where?”

“…Who knows.”

There’s no way there’s a “Korean University” in America… What are July’s grades like anyway? Since I’m in America, Harvard would be—oh, but before that, I’ll leave this world. So my ultimate goal is only Korea University Medical School.

“Natalia, are you thinking of going to college?”

“No.”

Natalia’s tone was firm as she tapped the paper with the tip of her mechanical pencil, tap, tap.

“…Really? You were writing your essay so diligently, I thought you liked studying.”

“Yeah. I do like it. But I won’t be able to go to college.”

Natalia smiled once and started writing her essay again. Does she have some family circumstances? I thought she was from an ordinary family… There must be some private situation I don’t know about.

I figured we’d talked enough, and since I didn’t want to disturb her, I got up from my seat. I looked around, thinking I should somehow get Natalia and Dave together. But Dave wasn’t visible. I definitely didn’t hear anyone leave, so where did he go? I walked around the library reading room in a circle. And then,

“July.”

“…Urk!”

I found Dave in a corner seat inside the bookshelf. I was so startled by the touch on my back that I couldn’t even scream.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

“Yeah. I thought you were a ghost. But why are you here?”

“Mm, just. My essay isn’t going well, so could you help me?”

Dave grabbed my wrist as if it were obvious and led me to his seat. Maybe because he’s an athlete, the body temperature of his palm touching my skin felt incredibly hot.

“How is your essay not going well? Actually, I haven’t written much either.”

I sat down side by side and asked. David’s paper on the desk was completely blank without a single letter written, not even his name. You have to write something to have it go well or not… I pulled the paper over to write his name for him, and Dave’s palm covered my hand.

“July, actually, it’s not about the essay… I said last time. That I wanted to talk about my worries.”

“…Oh, right.”

I was surprised by the sudden physical contact happening repeatedly, but I acted nonchalant.

On the day of Harper’s party, in the bathroom, he said that. That he wanted to consult about his worries since I’m a year above him. He may have a big body, but he’s still only sixteen, so he’s still young. As his hyung, I should help him. Besides, Dave is the male lead, so it would be good to build up a lot of favorability.

“Let’s talk about your worries later. First, the essay…”

“Ugh, I’m tired!”

As if intentionally cutting off Dave’s words, Joel shouted loudly while stretching. Naturally, I looked toward the sound and our eyes met. Joel, tilting his head sideways crookedly, opened and closed his mouth.

What.