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With the exam approaching, art and physical education classes that have completed the scope of the test have been replaced with self-study. Under the cool air conditioner breeze, they each studied on their own or fiddled with their cell phones, waiting for lunch.
Lim Dae-han, who was sitting next to me, gently waved a fan in my direction. Anyway, my seat is just beneath the air conditioner on the ceiling, so I claimed to be a cheater despite the fact that the wind was blowing in a straight line. I shifted my gaze away pretending not to know and focused on the question.
“I can’t study.”
Lim Dae-han spoke in low tones. I rolled my eyes while pretending to be friendly, then returned my attention to the question. I continued to read Silla’s foreign policy. I kept glancing at Dae-han as I read the text. Lim Dae-han shook his fan with his chin on his hand for a moment before returning his body to the front.
By far, I’m telling you, if Dae-han has been studying or not. He has never studied! He was so good that he switched seats under the guise of studying, but he brought the peach emoticon arm pillow and slept with it. If that’s the case, I told him that he didn’t have to pick me up in the morning anymore, but he didn’t even pretend to listen.
And the second problem was Dae-han’s friends.
They didn’t let him go unattended even for a moment.
“Hey, Dae-han. Come back.”
Sometimes they tempt him to skip classes.
“Dae-han, wait. Huh?”
They also call him to smoke.
“Hey, Dae-han~ I heard you ignored Hak-pyeong Oppa’s Kakaotalk.”
They even came here to report a contact issue…
Anyway, my peaceful spot became a hot place in an instant. Lim Dae-han showed no sign of being sorry for the disturbance. He spoke freely with them and even went outside to smoke. The messenger made an absurd explanation, claiming that Dae-han deleted his contact because he had begun studying. Even though actually Dae-han has been spending endless time with me…
Dae-han always had an arrogant attitude. He crossed his legs, tilted his head slightly, and touched his cell phone. I glanced at Dae-han’s phone to see what he was up to, and he was playing cookies run on it. It was a game that was long out of the trend. Lim Dae-han turned to me and our eyes met.
“Send me a heart.”
Lim Dae-han said that cause a heart is a life in the game. In response to his pointless request, I carefully took out my cell phone. Then I send a heart to the message delivered by Dae-han. I’m not a big fan of this game, but I had no choice but to install it because Dae-han asked me to. When I didn’t have anything else to do, I’d play it for a while, but the main purpose was to send a heart to Lim Dae-han. Lim Dae-han sighed as he thought about how relieving it was to receive a heart.
He must have grown tired of playing after such a long time, as he was lying on his stomach. Lim Dae-han buried his face in the peach arm pillow, then looked at me intently before burying his forehead in the arm pillow once again. The tip of his ears was red.
Suddenly, even my face became hot and I shifted my gaze. I kept my mouth shut because I didn’t know what to say. Why does Dae-han like me so much? Honestly, I don’t know. I wasn’t even being humble. There must be many prettier people around Lim Dae-han. I wasn’t very manly, nor was I very feminine. It was just me.
By the way, after Dae-han switched seats, I ran into another problem. He was the reason I am unable to study. Now was the best condition to study. The air conditioner wasn’t broken, and some of them were cold enough to even wear jerseys over them. It was even better because there was no class and only self-study. However, I could not study English because of Dae-han.
“Dae-han.”
I poked on Lim Dae-han’s shoulder with my fingertips. Lim Dae-han, who was moving his body slightly, turned his head and looked me in the eyes. He seemed to be staring, but his eyes were ferocious. His eyes were powerful. The bones in the face were also noticeable.
“Why aren’t you studying?”
Unlike me who asked cautiously, Lim Dae-han was quiet. I don’t know what the word diligent meant to him, but he seemed satisfied with just going to school every day and thought it was diligent. Of course, every time Lim Dae-han went to school, he rated himself as diligent, and Jung Ji-pil would grit his teeth from behind. TI was in a lot of pain because I had to accept complaints that didn’t even sound like words because of him.
“Ah.”
Lim Dae-han took one arm one arm from the arm pillow in which he was burying his head. He then supported it with his stomach. He leaned against the desk and frantically searched the drawer for the workbook. Whether borrowed or his own, one mechanical pencil was always in a drawer without a pencil case. He took out the mechanical pencil and opened the workbook. The first one or two pages showed signs of drawing and scribbling, but after that, it was blank paper. It was enough to resell it at a used bookstore right now.
I saw Dae-han made an insincere gesture while pulling out a workbook. Lim Dae-han read the definition by tracing it with a sharp pencil. Nonetheless, I thought it was a good thing he purchased the basic book.  If he bought a book that had hundreds of questions, he could just throw it away.
Furthermore, the social exploration area Lim Dae-han was focused on was a memorization subject rather than Korean, English, and mathematics, so it was helpful to improve grades. I was suddenly overcome by a strange, unidentified feeling. Was this what they call a teacher’s heart? To tell you the truth, I was terrified.
“This, Dae-han.”
I don’t know why I stutter. Lim Dae-han, who had been reading while putting his cheek on his palm and drawing a line without sincerity, rolled his eyes as an answer. I reached out and took the workbook that was sitting quietly on Dae-han’s desk. Then I trembled. I’m not even a teacher, and I despise this sort of thing.
I checked the table of contents with a ballpoint pen.
“Until lunchtime, solve it from here to here.”
My voice comes out quite strong. I feel satisfied and pleased. Lim Dae-han scoffed and pouted his lips.
“What are you doing? You aren’t even a teacher.”
It was the best thing to say to make people feel uncomfortable.
Still, Dae-han did what I told him to do first. When he didn’t know, he tapped me and asked. There was no sign of shame just because he didn’t know. It was unexpected. When he asked me a question, I expected his face to turn red as usual.
Dae-han finished a portion of the questions that others would have taken an hour to complete in two and a half hours. I cursed and sighed to see if he’d figured it out, but then he slowly looked into my eyes. I didn’t react much. I cursed to myself. I cursed quietly to myself. Lim Dae-han used to be good at swearing, and I was curious if he had noticed.
Lim Dae-han began evaluating by turning to the very back page. He hid it with his body because he didn’t want it to be visible when I turned my head. This was why I enjoy big things. Even if you turn it slightly, it covers everything.
“Did you get many correct answers?”
I asked Lim Dae-han while tapping on his shoulder. Lim Dae-han’s body temperature increased dramatically. He turned red in an instant, like a kettle that turns red when it boils. He paused for a moment before opening his mouth.
“No.”
“Did you make a lot of mistakes?”
“… Yeah.”
“It’s okay. You can study from now on.”
I comforted Dae-han, who was embarrassed. Looking at it like this, I thought I was quite talented in education. I didn’t want to do anything, but I should start thinking about college now. I was alone with my thoughts, and I flipped through the workbook that Lim Dae-han had unfolded aloud. He then lied down again because he had finished his work. He seems to be an unrivaled bear at times like this. He’s so big that he’s simply rolling around.
Just then, the bell rang announcing lunchtime. Jung Ji-pil smacked me hard.
“Are you eating with Dae-han again?”
“Yeah.”
I didn’t answer, and Dae-han replied instead. Jung Ji-pil wrinkled his brow and openly expressed his displeasure before approaching the other guys. I fiddled with the workbook tip that I hadn’t put away.
There was one thing that made me uncomfortable while having lunch with Dae-han. It was good to eat. I’ve now adapted to Dae-han’s eating habits, as he eats a lot in a hurry. But there’s a problem…
“Dae-han, let’s go eat.”
“Hey, let’s just join class 1 so we can eat and play soccer later.”
They are Dae-han’s friends.
I have to say that they are Dae-han’s friends, but anyway, the guys who rubbed their hands and feet with Dae-han were struggling to talk to him somehow.
Even this morning, they approached Dae-han, who was struggling with the workbook and asked as to what he was doing. They quietly left when Lim Dae-han, who was already uncomfortable, asked them to leave his seat. They didn’t give up until lunchtime when they came to talk to Dae-han.
I couldn’t do anything about Dae-han’s friends because I couldn’t stop Jung Ji-pil, who openly showed hostility to Dae-han, and Dae-han didn’t gossip to me about Jung Ji-pil. Lim Dae-han was indifferent whether his friends came or not. He spoke well to me, though.
Nonetheless, he seemed to be quite interested in the word soccer, so after a few conversations with them, Lim Dae-han returned his attention to me.
“Let’s go eat.”
Other schools usually serve special meals on Wednesdays or Thursdays, whereas our school served them on Fridays. Dae-han’s plate had twice or three times the amount of fried rice as the other guys. And AngX, which he obtained by gently smiling at the aunts, was completely placed on my side. It was because Dae-han had received all four and had given them to me.
Honestly, when the food was served this way, Dae-han friends would look at me strangely. When I said, “I don’t eat this much. I couldn’t eat this much,” Lim Dae-han sighed, saying I was like a child who had been reprimanded by some uncle. Then, after being intimidated once more, I had no choice but to take it all and stuff an entire bag of yogurt into my pocket.
We went to the cafeteria together but we went to the classroom separately after we finished eating. Lim Dae-han, who had only entered the classroom building to take me there, walked slowly with the other guys toward the back gate.
Then I suddenly had a thought that if I also smoked, Dae-han would have taken me with him. I shook my head because I knew it was ridiculous even when I thought about it. Instead, I simply take a step up the stairs while sucking on the AngX.
Unlike those who return to class smelling like cigarettes, Lim Dae-han returned to his seat after brushing his teeth, gargling, applying hand cream to his hands, and spraying lavender scent. To be honest, it wasn’t that it didn’t smell, but I can’t say anything because he has been so meticulous in hiding it.
Lim Dae-han had just entered the classroom when the class bell rang. Since it was physical education, I thought it would be self study.  I was just about to take out the workbook when the teacher entered.
“Come out, you punks. The class president already came out and don’t say anything.”
It was a scolding.
“Aishh…”
Half of us complaining.
“Waahh!”
The class was simply divided in half. We eventually changed into our gym uniforms. I took a look out the window. What kind of sport would you do in this July weather? Ha… I let out a sigh and changed my clothes. I glanced at Lim Dae-han who was also taking off his uniform. He was wearing a black t-shirt underneath the uniform. To be honest, his body… shoulder… clavicle…
“…”
I turned my head and stared at him unknowingly. Fortunately, Dae-han did not notice my gaze.
The sun was bright as a blade. My entire body was on burning, and my throat was dehydrated. Sand grains glistened on the floor of the playground, which lacked even a single lawn. It’s all over if you fall. That was all I could think about. Standing still gradually sapped my body’s strength. Perhaps because he knew the weather was hot, the teacher hurriedly said.
“Those who wants to continue playing may do so, and those who wish to rest should rest. You punks. This is what happens if you squirm in class every day. What was it, come out and get some sun… Get some vitamin D…”
Most of the classmates went out to play soccer after hearing the nagging for a while. Even the guys who initially cursed at the teacher saying they wanted to study in the classroom seemed itchy in front of the ball. However, Jung Ji-pil and I both chose to sit on the bench.
Dae-han was in the center of the playground. He was having a good time as well. He was on the verge of dying in the classroom, but he blossomed when he went outside to play. Lim Dae-han and I clearly did not get along. There’s no way that I, who prefers to stay at home, and Dae-han, who is so lively and prefers to be outside, would get along.
I was staring at the playground in a daze. The guys who had formed a group dispersed.  Dae-han stood in the center. Lim Dae-han kicked the ball with his instep as well. It was different from me, who hates ball sports.
Soon after, the soccer game began. In addition to their movement speeding up, Jung Ji-pil grumbled next to me.
“Look at that jerk, he doesn’t pass the ball to the other guys and uses it all by himself.”
He grumbled about Dae-han who was taking the initiative. Not knowing why he was doing this, I asked Jung Ji-pil.
“Why do you hate Dae-han so much?”
“Is there anything you don’t like about it? And he rarely likes the other guys to begin with.”
He wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t sure about Dae-han at first, and I didn’t like him much. In fact, the person who caused the disruption in the classroom was the one around Dae-han rather than him, but it didn’t look good because Dae-han was the center of it.
But now that we’ve gotten to know each other, he just gets along with the guys. He can be overbearing at times, but…
“There are a lot of guys who likes him…”
“Hey, they’re all the same bastards. A punks.”
So there isn’t much else to say. I spoke quietly with Jung Ji-pil while watching Lim Dae-han. Still, I wanted to hear more about his opinion.
“Still, I don’t think he’s a bad guy”
Jung Ji-pil took a deep breath, as if preparing to play a match in response to my words. I don’t think he’d react this strongly, but he exaggerated for no reason.
“Hey, don’t be fooled. He was ripping off Youngshik in class 2. They forcibly took his cell phone and handed it over to Dae-han.”
“He has a lot of money.”
“He told the guys to turn on a hotspot. It was in 1st grade. He didn’t pay them even until he had drained all of the data.”
“He’s using unlimited… .”
Rather, he was using a Wi-Fi. Jung Ji-pil squealed at my respond.
“Hey! How do you know it wasn’t back then!”
“Don’t shout.”
My ears felt like they were going to burst. At Jung Ji-pil’s shout, Dae-han glanced back at us. I took a deep breath. Even though he was angry, Jung Ji-pil lowered his voice for a moment. He whispered as if it were a secret story.