Chapter 16: Chapter 16 (1/2)
Translated by: ShawnSuh
Edited by: SootyOwl
”Not quite. I already knew that it was the Literature Club. I even turned in the application myself.”
”Then, what makes it a mistake?”
”Why do you keep asking?”
”Just applying what Mr. Moon taught us,” Juho replied light-heartedly. Of course, he had no intention to dig any further if Baron expressed discomfort. ”Are you feeling uncomfortable?”
Juho saw the dry expression on Baron's face. He didn't seem to be uncomfortable or feeling like he was on the spot.
Baron let out a short sigh and continued, ”More like ha.s.sled. Especially by you.”
”What did I do?”
Seeing how Juho was looking intently at him even before getting to the main point, Baron took a brief moment and continued, ”If you're different, you stick out.”
It was a rather random answer.
”And you're alone when you're running away. I had to try several times harder than others because of my color,” he added.
'To not be left out,' Juho heard something that Baron hadn't said with his own lips.
Baron continued with his story, ”Wearing a matching uniform wasn't enough. Neither was eating the same food. If you want to blend in, one must see, listen, dislike and like the same things as everyone else. It wasn't much of a challenge to laugh at something that wasn't funny or criticize someone or something that I don't dislike. It was tolerable. At the end of the day, I made friends and my school life became enjoyable.”
As he finished speaking, Baron scowled. He was revisiting a bad memory.
”There was a guy. I wasn't close to him, but I knew what he looked like. He was an average Joe, and we ended up in the same cla.s.s in our third year of middle school. I'm not sure if he was having a hard time adjusting to his new environment, but he was running away from it all before I knew it. On the other hand, I was fine. Honestly, I didn't care about him. There were no issues, and then I graduated.”
Baron stopped for a brief moment before continuing, his voice cracking slightly, ”But the other guy didn't. I heard he died.”
The wind blew. The air was cold.
”When I heard that, I thought 'What is this? Why did this have to happen? Should I have done something? What? How?' I kept on thinking after coming up to high school. Before I knew it, a year had already pa.s.sed. Still, I haven't reached an answer.”
Meanwhile, Baron told Juho that he thought of a hobby that he'd been forgetting about, ”I had a sudden realization and bought a sketchbook, but I didn't really feel like joining an art club, let alone drawing by myself. So, I just went for it. However, as you know, things don't usually work out if you jump in with your eyes covered.”
”What didn't work out?”
Baron scratched his head at Juho's question. With an absent-minded smile, he confessed his mistake.
”I thought the Literature Club was one of the lazy clubs.”
A lazy club, Juho and Seo Kw.a.n.g thought the same thing at one point.
”Which means...”
”I wasn't planning on being the sole artist in the club. All I wanted to do was draw while surrounded by other people who were busy with their study guides.”
A so-called lazy club meant any club that utilized their activity time for independent study sessions. Juho imagined Baron drawing by himself in such a club. Compared to the image he portrayed, he seemed rather timid.
”I tried to pull myself out, but Mr. Moon wouldn't let me, saying that there weren't enough members. Since I had nothing to lose, I confessed to him. 'I'm not going to write. I'm going to draw.' Do you know what he said?”
”What did he say?”
”He said, 'That's fine too.'”
Baron shook his head as if dumbfounded by what Mr. Moon had said.
”He really made me stick out like a sore thumb from the first day. I didn't think the timid first years would come after me so proactively.”
'Aha! Now it made sense as to why Baron was in the situation he was in.'
Baron probably wanted to make up for his past of wanting to be like everyone else. At the same time, he probably wanted to be forgiven. Yet, he had been left alone after all the time that had gone by and everything that took place in between.
At the end, he started pus.h.i.+ng himself. He consciously tried to swim against the current. He consciously tried to be left alone. Only, the Literature Club didn't leave him to do that to himself.
”You've hit the nail right on the head when you mentioned what a student wanted.”
He wasn't the sole artist in the Literature Club. He was made so by Mr. Moon and the other members. At some point, Juho had asked everyone why they were trying so hard to get a writing sample from Baron. The answer had been simple, ”He's the only one in the club we haven't gotten closer to.”
Juho looked at Baron as he sat still. Behind him stood the biggest tree in the school. It might look lonely, but underneath the dirt, there was a complex network of roots mingling with that of other trees.
”Although trees don't even move...”
”What are you saying?”
”Over there.”
Right as Juho was about to explain, a voice came from behind them. Juho turned around to see 'Baron girl.' 'That was a surprise.' As Juho stared at her, she gave him a light nod.
”Thanks for the help.”
Then, she pulled out her hand. There was a loaf of bread in it. It was a piece of sponge cake from the cafeteria, the most expensive item in the shop.
”Oh, no! You don't have to.”
”Thank you,” she repeated. Despite Juho turning down her gift, she remained insistent. When he finally took the bread, she turned around and walked back into the school building. It was a reward that had been completely unexpected.
”Would you like half?”
”I'm fine.”
”Oh, yeah! That reminds me. Didn't you receive a black plastic bag?”