Chapter 12: Chapter 12 (1/2)

”He didn't stutter one bit.”

”I lost track.”

In shock, Seo Kw.a.n.g and Bom murmured to each other. Sun Hwa, in awe until a moment ago, frowned in the meantime and replied, ”Are you telling me a human can be swarming with that many words? There's something gross about that. You, you're weird too. Don't you think of those things when you look at other people?”

”Not really. I was just focusing on the words.”

Sun Hwa was getting annoyed by Juho's cheerful denial. His skill was incomparable to somebody who ended her turn with 'eyes, nose and mouth.' There was such a drastic difference even though they were given the same subject. Juho didn't stop even for a brief moment. There was not one bit of hesitation. From the alien words like id and superego, Sun Hwa was able to feel the vast difference in their vocabularies.

”You have good grades, right?”

”No, not at all.”

Recognizing Sun Hwa's expression growing darker every time he answered, Juho went back to his seat, avoiding eye contact with her.

”Who are you?”

”What do you mean?”

Dumbfounded, Seo Kw.a.n.g looked at Juho.

”How were you able to say that many words?”

”It's nothing. They're things you hear everyday.”

”You haven't even been alive for that long,” Seo Kw.a.n.g said boisterously. Then suddenly, he quietly whispered to Juho, ”It was nerve wracking.”

”What?”

”You were looking at Baron the whole time. I thought you were going to say the word.”

”The word?”

Seo Kw.a.n.g grew impatient and said in an even quieter voice, ”Like, black.”

”Oh! There just wasn't enough time.”

”Time?”

”Yeah. I worked my way out from the inside. It took me a while to come up to the surface. Baron has a lot on his mind.”

Seo Kw.a.n.g was surprised. Black was such an obvious choice. Without intending on belittle Baron, of course. It was not a bad word in and of itself. However, words tend to be sensitive and delicate. It didn't take much for them to turn into something completely different. That was why they needed to be treated with caution.

The second anybody brought up the word, everything froze. The air became uncomfortable. Seo Kw.a.n.g had never met a black person in his life. Though Baron was technically born from a Korean father and a black mother, he was always identified as black because of his skin color. The school never taught him how to respond to situations like that. They never taught what was polite and what was not. Baron wasn't confident about handling words that he'd never seen or learned before. At Baron's jarring appearance and ident.i.ty, Seo Kw.a.n.g did everything within his power to avoid contact with him.

Seo Kw.a.n.g tried to think of words that described Baron. This time, from the inside out. 'Skin.' It was the first word looking from outside-in, but from an outward perspective, it was the last word to come up. Inner-being, and appearance, Seo Kw.a.n.g compared the two. When he was getting to know someone, the inner-being of that person was the most important thing and what gave the person significance. He took his favorite book and placed it onto the shelf.

He felt empty. He felt stupid for living in anxiety that entire time. He looked at his notebook. The page was filled with Juho's words. Next to it, Seo Kw.a.n.g wrote other words. 'Black.' 'Dark.' They felt so insignificant next to Juho's vocabulary. Though Seo Kw.a.n.g had more to say, he had to stop himself as Mr. Moon began speaking.

”Good job! I a.s.sume that this was everyone's first attempt, but I could see that you're all learning. As you saw from Juho, there are always plenty of words you can think of even when you're not supposed to repeat words. Even in this tiny room.”

Juho did an excellent job. It had been noticeable from his self-introduction. There was something about him. His vocabulary was impressive, but it wasn't the only thing Mr. Moon had been shocked by.

The room is full of useless things. Considering that it was being used as the school storage room, there were countless random things. Of course, as Seo Kw.a.n.g had said earlier, there were plenty of unseen words. With Juho's vocabulary, it wouldn't have been too difficult to capture even more words. Among the many candidates, Juho had fixed his eyes on Baron. Also, he ignored the most obvious difference. Mr. Moon glanced over to Juho as he was sat quietly. If he was shrinking the gap between Baron and the rest of the club members with a conscious effort, he would be beyond ordinary.

On the other hand, Baron was surrounded by strange emotions. All Juho did was list words, but his feelings were swaying left and right as if he had been comforted. Because he had already decided to take no interest in the business of the first years, Baron had always thought that he wouldn't be taking the initiative to talk to them. He looked at Juho's calm face. 'Who is this guy?' Baron was tingling with a new curiosity.

”Ah!” Seo Kw.a.n.g made a curious sound.

Sun Hwa glanced over at him, but Seo Kw.a.n.g's eyes were on Juho.

”What? Did something get on my face?”

Juho was no different from the usual, but Seo Kw.a.n.g was convinced of something. 'This guy schemed something similar in the past. This was calculated. It was intentional.'

”You nut job!”

”What's this about all of a sudden?”

Juho felt like he was being falsely accused by his friend, but Seo Kw.a.n.g didn't mind. He kept at it, ”Nut job!”

”I've never been to the school library.”

”Me neither.”

”I've been here before.”

With the exception of Seo Kw.a.n.g, it was everyone's first visit to the school library. They weren't there because they wanted to be. They were at the library because of the mission given by Mr. Moon.

”Each of you will check out one book from the library. There's no criteria, except you must pick a book among the ones you've read.”

The interior of the library was visible through the gla.s.s entrance. The first thing that could be seen were the books that were on the shelves. Seo Kw.a.n.g hummed excitedly. The library was about the size of a cla.s.sroom. It was not a big library, by any means. Still, the library was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with books.

As the members walked into the library, they encountered a group of students from the Book Club, reading on their desks. Seeing how they weren't startled by their presence, the Book Club must've already known about the visit.

”You're all from the Literature Club right? Grab what you're looking for and leave quietly.”

”You got it.”

The Chinese teacher warned them sternly as the Literature Club came into the library. He was not only known as the homeroom teacher for the Book Club, but also for his strictness. With Juho being the only calm individual, the nervous first years quietly walked away from the Chinese teacher as fast as they could. As they blindly followed the tall bookshelves, the members reached the new-release section. Next to it, was a small plastic container. It appeared that students could write out request for their desired books. Inside of a clear plastic container, were only five sheets of paper. They matched the number of Book Club members who happened to be reading in the library.

”They have 'The Trace of a Bird.' They're quick.”